Pokemon is a franchise that has constantly been innovative when it comes to gameplay. What many people ignore about the series is that each new game has something new that is not unique to just the pokemon. For the most part, the community has been really supportive of these changes. They might have been slightly annoyed at some of the differences but soon came to love them. However, there are a few that the community still dislikes. With eight games announced there are many features that I want back, and many features I want to go for good.

First on the list is the removal of Z-Moves, the high base power abilities that allow any pokemon to use a powerful move of any type as long as they have a move of the type of their respective Z-Move. I was a dedicated Pokemon fan up until generation six. I got each main series game probably always within a week of release and played them all the way through. The seventh and generation games were considered easy due to the Z-moves and received extremely harsh criticism. While mega evolutions have cool designs and make the game somewhat easier, they are not just a single “oh I used a Z-move so you’re dead” sort of thing. The argument for Z-moves is that their animations are nice. They offer something new to the game that is seen frequently in a lot of other role-playing games. While extremely powerful moves are seen in other RPGs such as Final Fantasy, Digimon and more, those don’t have an online competitive scene that is still active. Balancing powerful moves offline is easy as it is possible to simply raise the health of bosses, but online is an entirely different story when it comes to these moves. They do look nice, and if they do go I will miss the beautiful graphics; however, I will not miss them in gameplay.

Pokemon has always had a consistent formula when creating games. Eight gym badges, an elite four, a champion, and a somewhat interesting post game either involving new gameplay or a unique story. Generation seven however, took a spin on the typical formula and made “Kahuna’s” to enhance the story. While this is cool and all, the typical formula should stay in place for future games. Eight gym leaders make the game linear, and pokemon shouldn’t be a Skyrim type game based on exploration. The seventh generation games are not necessarily Skyrim level exploration, but they are a lot less linear than the rest of the games. Pokemon is for the gameplay, and the gameplay happens to not be geared towards exploration. The generation seven games are fine for being slightly different, but the generation eight games should follow the simple formula.

Finally, for what to come again in the new games are extensive. Johto’s pokemon walking behind you is something that everyone enjoyed and Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee had. Let’s Go was a mess in terms of gameplay, but they did get the fun factor right. More visuals allowing players to immerse themselves in the world would certainly attract a lot of players. More mega evolutions are most likely going to happen, but are not certain. Mega evolution is fun and allows better gameplay than Z-moves while gaining a significant battle boost. Some mega evolutions are extremely strong but have counters that can wall them. What I do want most though is a very expansive post-game. The second generation games allowed a player to explore two regions and then had an even bigger post game after exploring both. That is what I want in the eighth generation games. Even if they decide to go to Kanto it still is worth it. Preferably another region, but any works just fine. The second generation games proved that a pokemon game can still be linear while offering loads of content that a more expansive game would attract.

Generation eight has my hopes up for what has to come. The starters and the map looks beautiful as well as the graphics. The map especially has me greatly excited. The UK atmosphere certainly is going to be beautiful, and it seems relatively linear while also offering some amount of exploring. Since the generation games will be 60 dollars, these games better be good. The generation eight games are a pivotal release and will help set the series back on track in terms of popularity as it once was in the earlier generations.