Unleashing Exciting Possibilities: Pokemon's Future Impacted by Square Enix's Success

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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and Pokemon Legends: Arceus marked a significant turning point for the Pokemon franchise, as they embraced a fully 3D open-world approach. Despite their strong sales and positive reception from fans, there is a faction of the fanbase that remains unsatisfied with this transition. Unfortunately, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet encountered numerous technical issues and bugs, leading some to believe that the franchise should explore a different path. Taking inspiration from Square Enix's successful approach to their classic games, it could be worthwhile for Pokemon to look back and consider remaking the beloved Blue/Red and Yellow versions in the popular 2D-3D art style seen in Octopath Traveler, Live-A-Live, and the upcoming Dragon Quest 3 remake. This would potentially capture the essence of the original games while offering a fresh and nostalgic experience for longtime fans.

Reception to Scarlet and Violet Presents a Perfect Opportunity to Reboot Pokemon

Despite receiving mixed reception from fans and mediocre review scores, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet achieved a sales figure just shy of 21 million units, placing them as the fourth highest-selling games in the franchise. However, the titles faced criticism for the numerous bugs and performance issues experienced during launch, leading Nintendo to acknowledge the problem and announce forthcoming patches. Although improvements have been made since then, the open-world aspect of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet may still be considered lacking in comparison to the best open-world RPGs due to its sparse and unpopulated nature.

Instead of continuously striving to catch up with the graphical and performance standards set by other AAA RPG franchises, it may be opportune to return the series to its origins. A complete ground-up remake of the first three games in the franchise, which introduced fans to one of the most successful IPs of all time, could attract a new legion of fans while enticing those who have lost interest to return. When contemplating the style of these remakes, the 2D-3D style exhibited in Octopath Traveler is a more appealing option than the style employed in the recent Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes.

The 2D-3D Art Style Is Less-Demanding and Appeals to Fans' Nostalgia

Square Enix's success with Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy has led to the adoption of their unique 2D-3D art style for remakes of their beloved titles. The art style flawlessly combines charming 2D pixel art from Square Enix's classic days with beautifully rendered environments, creating a sense of nostalgia by presenting these games as they are remembered. Additionally, this art style offers the advantage of being less demanding on hardware compared to fully-realized 3D open-worlds.

Given Pokemon's pixel art origins on the Game Boy, it would be a perfect fit for the use of the 2D-3D art style in future releases. This style not only evokes nostalgia for long-time fans, but also ensures that the games would not suffer from performance issues like Scarlet and Violet did upon release. Instead of constantly trying to catch up with the advancements of AAA RPG experiences, it's time for Pokemon to play to its strengths by embracing its origins and charm.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch.