Pokémon Go looks fantastic! But...

This week, it was announced that in 2016 the game Pokémon Go will be released for iOS and Android. And based on the teaser trailer, it looks AWESOME! In case you missed it, link here. If you didn't miss it, just watch it again, because it's sweet!

Pokémon Go Trailer

This looks really cool! Pokémon on your phone and you encounter them as you walk/travel around! You can also get the Pokémon Go Plus accessory to alert you when Pokémon are near. I would have no problem letting my nerd show with this thing.

The last time I was this excited for something Pokémon related, I saw this:

 Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge

The idea from Google for April Fools day to "search" the world for Pokémon. So, you open up your Google maps and, Boom! There are some Pokémon! And they looked like this:

 

 

Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this game and I am STILL frustrated that I couldn't catch Mew. It was great... for a gimmick. But as you can clearly see, the trailer oversold what was actually going to happen (which most trailers do).

 

What I am getting is that this game LOOKS cool. The idea isn't new but it seems like a great application for the concept. But there is no way this game will be anything near what the trailer is showing. There is one idea they hinted at in the trailer (or maybe I optimistically imagined that they hinted at it) that could make this really awesome.

 

Let's be fair; I'm not expecting to get a mobile game that is going to give us a VR type presentation. But I think if the gameplay elements from the Augmented Reality Pokémon Dream Radar were implemented into this game, it would be a close facsimile to what was presented (even though I kind of hated hitting all of those glowing orbs, get rid of the orbs). Even if it were to draw in some aspect from Pokémon Snap (which if they do it right, I would accept this as a Pokémon Snap 2) they would be able to have a very attractive aspect to this.

I guess, I am trying to slow down the hype train a little bit because I don't want to be disappointed. This could be really great if it is handled well and if we get some in game footage soon so that we have a realistic idea of what it will be like. If this game isn't as good as expected, there is no way I'm going to pay anything for this! (Oh, who am I kidding!? I am going to go get the Go Plus accessory the first day... Pokémon, can I just write a check now, or do you accept PayPal? Do you need blood of my first born child? Please be kind with in app purchases... Please)

Oh, and for a portion of the gaming community, there's this:

FRANIS HATES POKEMON GO - RAGE

You can find this article by me and many other great things related to Pokémon at the PUCL Podcast website.

Who's excited for Pokkén Tournament? Not me!

For me, video gaming has typically been a hobby where I lock into a few key series and play them to their fullest extent. This is why I own a copy of every single main series Pokémon game. And Professor Layton game. And Mario Kart Game. There was a point where I owned every Soul Calibur game, including all 3 versions (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube) of Soul Calibur two. Needless to say, once I get into a game series, I lock onto it and play it a lot.

There is another video game series that I have also delved into deeply. Twelve-year-old Snag went down to the arcade one day when he was at the mall with his mom and she let him have a dollar to go play a game. For some reason, a fighting game caught his eyes. He dropped the coins in and started playing. Before he knew it, he was locked in battle with an opponent. Massive punches were being thrown, devastating kicks landed, and it seemed as though a ball of energy was released when the best of these attacks landed. It was amazing. This was Tekken 3 and to this day, I still want a Tekken 3 machine in my eventual game room. Like other video game series, I played these games quite a bit.

With all of this being said, when it was announced that there would be a Pokémon fighting game developed by the makers of Tekken, you would expect that I would be super excited. Unfortunately, I’m not! There are several reasons for this that I will try to describe here.

The first reason is that I don’t think styles of the two games mesh very well. In the game footage that I have seen for Pokkén, there is something about it that seems distinctly not Pokémon. Obviously, when there is a crossover between games or genres, there will be stylistic choices that are necessary. This was at its best in the game Pokémon Conquest. This game, though, doesn’t mesh well with the Pokémon style, in my opinion.

The second reason that I am not very excited for this is the battle style seems out of place. Obviously, going from a turn-based RPG to a fighting game will have a stark difference in game style but when I imagine Pokémon fighting, this is not what I envision. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks really nice as a 3D fighting game and the fact that the characters can easily move in 3-dimensions is awesome, but these battles don’t seem organic. The battle style almost seems like there are fighting game characters wearing Pokémon costumes (I can only imagine Law putting on a Blaziken costume and Paul Phoenix donning Machamp attire).

The third reason that I will discuss here is the cast of characters that was chosen, thus far. At this point, Lucario, Machamp, Suicune, Gardevoir, Pikachu (and Pikachu Libre), Gengar, Charizard, Weavile and Blaziken have been announced. Seriously, I know it is the series mascot, but what is Pikachu doing in a fighting game? It seems as though some major game favorites have been chosen, but there seems to be little to no harmony between them. This is probably the hardest part to describe, but these characters don’t seem to be ones I would have chosen for the game. In a similar manner, the places in which they are fighting seems really weird (although, fighting in obscure places tends to be a hallmark of most fighting games). Where are the trainers? Are these wild Pokémon fighting (a wild Machamp, not likely)? Why are there other random Pokémon just hanging out in the background?

Ultimately, it seems like the entire game was very forced. I don’t think this kind of fighting game is a good match for Pokémon. What should have been done instead? Since the early days of both franchises, I have thought a crossover with Smash Bros would have been amazing (a Pokémon exclusive Smash Bros game if you will). They have some Pokémon ready to go, models made for others with at least one attack, the art style and gameplay are much more in line with what I envision a Pokémon battle to be. This is the fighting game Pokémon deserves. That or a true battle simulator like Thatch’s Stadium 3 (which I think would be really cool). What do I think this means for the franchise? To be perfectly honest, considering the last console Pokémon game was a Pokémon Rumble title, now followed up by this, I think this could be the end of the few console games we actually get for the series.

You can find this article and other great thoughts about Pokémon at the P.U.C.L. Podcast website: www.puclpodcast.com.h wwwttp://www.puclpodcast.com/http://www.puclpodcast.c