Where would you like to see 'mon games go?

[DwarvenExodus]

The monster-catching genre has become dull, repetitive, and unoriginal. The good old design is becoming old. What do you think would make you play mon games again\more? Personally, I would love to see a different genre take on mon games, such as, well, anything real time. Actually, come to think of it, a TBS would be pretty cool as well. Any Thoughts?

[Knaight]

I would love to see a turn based strategy design, focusing on micro tactics. Think somewhere between DROD and Battle for Wesnoth. Heavy emphasis on terrains, varying range based on elevation, capturing being done as a matter of skill entirely requiring tactics as a team, etc.

For that matter, lets talk phased turns.
Phase 1) Leader casts spells, uses items, etc. whatever is appropriate to the game. Typically this involves changing terrain.
Phase 2) All creatures move, with tiny moves relative to the size of fields.
Phase 3) All creatures attack.
Phase 4) Aura's, item effects, etc.

[Jair Barik]

To a degree I would say that FE represents the whole 'mon' TBS genre. New characters are recruited, sometimes from or during battles.

The problem with a TBS in a mon style game is that TBS doesn't often work that well with random encounters and capturing can become more complecated.

RTS can work for the genre an example I recall being Mech Platoon a game in which your army is chosen from a group of robot types based upon what pieces you have collected. You start with some pieces and other pieces are collected from fallen opponents during battle by your worker units. So if you kill and loot a specific unit repeatedly you will eventually have the parts to build that unit in the next level.

[Octopus Jack]

RTS can work for the genre an example I recall being Mech Platoon a game in which your army is chosen from a group of robot types based upon what pieces you have collected. You start with some pieces and other pieces are collected from fallen opponents during battle by your worker units. So if you kill and loot a specific unit repeatedly you will eventually have the parts to build that unit in the next level.

I remember Mech Platoon, very good game

[Jair Barik]

Played through it multiple times but never could get the last few pieces that were only available on the last level. Think in the end I got stuck on the final world playing as the blue army.

[Zeful]

I'd like to see a mon' game where the catcher is a viable combatant. Though his level ups would have to be inferior to most mon's so soloing the game without any is particularly hard.

[Comet]

I'd like to see a mon' game where the catcher is a viable combatant. Though his level ups would have to be inferior to most mon's so soloing the game without any is particularly hard.

Shin Megami Tensei, which is incidentally my favourite mon' franchise, does this in practically every game. You can build your main character(s) to be a competent fighter or a powerful mage or anything in between but you're still going to have to assemble a whole party of demons around yourself if you wish to survive.

[tyckspoon]

I'd like to see a mon' game where the catcher is a viable combatant. Though his level ups would have to be inferior to most mon's so soloing the game without any is particularly hard.

Shin Megami and the Dragon Quest Monsters series both do this. There's more to the 'mon genre than Pokemon (ok, ShinMegaTen is usually a very different tone than a traditional 'mon game, but the demon recruitment system is definitely a 'mon thing.)

[Jair Barik]

I can't remember its name but there was this one hybrid TBC/RPG where there was one dungeon (randomly generated whever you enter) and you could have up to 3 monsters+the main character with you at any time. The catch was whenever you leave the dungeon your character dropped back to level one and you only had complete control over him (you could only control the monsters attacks not their movement)

[SilentDragoon]

Tales of Symphonia 2 you have 2-3 monsters with you and can catch and add to your party any you find on the field. They evolve and skill up at a much higher rate than the main character, and in any fight the main character is under your control while the monsters act on a gambit style system. If all human (non-monster) members of the party are knocked out its game over. Decently fun game. Never played Shin Megami and only played Dragon Quest 8 which had very little monster participation, but they sound similar.

[tonberrian]

Honestly?

I want a MMORPG 'mons game. And I don't even like MMO's.

[Linkavitch]

Honestly?

I want a MMORPG 'mons game. And I don't even like MMO's.

Epic. Vast 3D overworld where you can have fantastic battles, joining or leaving at any time, even if it was not your fight, random encounters to catch 'mons.... this could be good.

[Eternal Drifter]

Epic. Vast 3D overworld where you can have fantastic battles, joining or leaving at any time, even if it was not your fight, random encounters to catch 'mons.... this could be good.

Indeed. And if the masters of the monsters could also fight as well... attack and be attacked... that would make it even better!

[Foeofthelance]

Epic. Vast 3D overworld where you can have fantastic battles, joining or leaving at any time, even if it was not your fight, random encounters to catch 'mons.... this could be good.


Hmmm, bosses, catchable or not? I'd prefer not, honestly, if only to prevent the sort of grind you see in WoW. Or, better yet. Level scaling bosses? Make it an entirely free range world, with most encounters following a FO3/Oblivion type encounter chart? That way every fight is worth it. Bosses can't be captured, but will drop rare items to aid in capturing rare monsters...

[Graymayre]

SimRocket!

As the head of Team Rocket, you have to regulate all the sources that pokemon give you and the healing centers that replenish them! mastery of where and what trainers do would be the key to your enconomy. Think Simcity but with the proletariats being replaced by a legion of enslaved animals.

I want to play that game just thinking about it. I can imagine all the money you can suck out of those hapless trainers as they blow thousands of simoleons trying to keep those little creatures alive.

[Zevox]

Hm, a tactical RPG monster game might be nice. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor uses some aspects of the genre, and it was great, but it still works combat in a traditional SMT way, and doesn't really have you recruit the demons in combat.

Technically I suppose you could say that Disgaea already does this, but monster capturing isn't a big part of that series, and the monsters tend not to be as useful as non-monster characters, with a few generally high-level exceptions.

But yeah, a Shin Megami Tensei, Dragon Quest Monsters, Pokèmon, or some other type of series trying a monster-focused tactical RPG sounds like it has potential.

Zevox

[waterpenguin43]

Epic. Vast 3D overworld where you can have fantastic battles, joining or leaving at any time, even if it was not your fight, random encounters to catch 'mons.... this could be good.

YES!!!! Haha!
That, and more focus on terrain, would make them awesome for me.

[Prime32]

Honestly?

I want a MMORPG 'mons game. And I don't even like MMO's.Pokémon Online would be awesome.

Assuming there are restrictions on the use of legendaries.

[Cheesegear]

Assuming there are restrictions on the use of legendaries.

Legendaries just shouldn't be catchable. That's why they're Legendary.

...I just want to run around with an Arcanine.

[DwarvenExodus]

Yeah, anything other than a traditional RPG would be great. Anyone heard of any outliers like this?

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I'd like to see combat go real time. Maybe using SMB as a base. Or TWEWY.

[DwarvenExodus]

Really, any change would be good, even if it remains the same game at the core. Maybe they could make 'catching' require player skill, instead of being random.

[pffh]

Pokemon: Total War

I'll lay siege to cities with an army of pokemons.

[Jair Barik]

Really, any change would be good, even if it remains the same game at the core. Maybe they could make 'catching' require player skill, instead of being random.

I resent this statement. Holding B whilst pressing down at just the right moment is a key part of catching mons! (or at the very least I like to believe it is as I continuously do it out of force of habit)

[Hunter Noventa]

I can't remember its name but there was this one hybrid TBC/RPG where there was one dungeon (randomly generated whever you enter) and you could have up to 3 monsters+the main character with you at any time. The catch was whenever you leave the dungeon your character dropped back to level one and you only had complete control over him (you could only control the monsters attacks not their movement)

Sound like Azure Dreams to me.

[Jair Barik]

Sound like Azure Dreams to me.

Indeed it was!
Game boy colour version to be precise.

[Linkavitch]

Legendaries just shouldn't be catchable. That's why they're Legendary.

...I just want to run around with an Arcanine.

in a MMORPG, yeah, cuz then one person would have the only (insert legendary poke here) and everybody would fall before him, except the people with the other Legends. If, like, a Pokemon Master NPC had some of 'em, and you could try to take on him, that would be one way to have 'em actually in the game, but beyond that, I agree with you.

[ungulateman]

It doesn't need to go anywhere.

I would like a Pokemon MMO, but not replacing the core games themselves.

[Lord Raziere]

I dunno....

how about one where the mons are giant and you destroy the environment around you and the player as to ride on the mons to be safe?

[potatocubed]

I think you could adapt the mons to a TBS system with very little difficulty. If you fielded your entire team at once rather than one at a time it would naturally make combat (slightly) less dependent on type-matching and more on tactics.

I'm thinking more Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea than Battle for Wesnoth, though - terrain has an effect but there's more focus on individual combatants and their skills. I'd like to keep the overall game simple and relatively straightforward.

Although... that said, it would make wild Pokemon catching unbearably tedious. (I mean, even more so.) You'd need to either find a way to speed it up or institute a whole new mechanic for catching wild mons.

[Dihan]

The monster-catching genre has become dull, repetitive, and unoriginal. The good old design is becoming old. What do you think would make you play mon games again\more? Personally, I would love to see a different genre take on mon games, such as, well, anything real time. Actually, come to think of it, a TBS would be pretty cool as well. Any Thoughts?

Opinion stated as fact.

There's a reason why all the Pokemon spin-offs aren't as good as the main series. The main series of Pokemon works well and if it's not broken, why try and fix it? There really aren't that many of these types of games to call it "old" when other genres such as FPS and those rhythm games, in my opinion, get even more generic with every single version that's released.

The Pokemon games are a lot more complex than you think. You should see some of the formulae that are used (like the ones for catching Pokemon). A lot has changed with the fundamental gameplay mechanics since the first release of Red and Green in Japan.

What would make me play Pokemon more? A new region and a new generation of Pokemon. Yay for Pokemon Black and White!

[Ogremindes]

There's a reason why all the Pokemon spin-offs aren't as good as the main series. The main series of Pokemon works well and if it's not broken, why try and fix it?

Following that logic: Why make another one? Red/Blue is perfectly good, Fire/Leaf works with current hardware, we don't need any more.

[Comet]

Following that logic: Why make another one? Red/Blue is perfectly good, Fire/Leaf works with current hardware, we don't need any more.

Funnily enough, that's exactly what I think. Though that's more due to me only having played Red properly, so it's especially dear to me. I can just about handle remembering 150 'mons, any more and my head is likely to explode :smalltongue:

I am interested in trying this newest thing they have coming out. Too bad the names are just...bland ("Black" and "White"? Seriously?)

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I am interested in trying this newest thing they have coming out. Too bad the names are just...bland ("Black" and "White"? Seriously?)

It's for the retro flavour, a shout out to the simple days of 150 mons, 'red' and 'blue' :smalltongue:

Incidentally, am I the only one who's main interest in the new games is to see how they make Team not-Rocket even more retarded?

[Comet]

It's for the retro flavour, a shout out to the simple days of 150 mons, 'red' and 'blue' :smalltongue:


Even so, they could have picked some actual colours. Instead of, you know, the most cliché set of opposites in the history of ever.

What's more, I know for a fact that I'll never be able to say "I'm playing Pokémon Black!" with a straight face. Pokémon needs to be shiny, damnit! :smallbiggrin:

[Oregano]

The problem is that Pokémon dominates the genre which is what everyone thinks of when you say 'mon games' but the genre is actually pretty diverse with all sorts of style and gameplay mechanics.

Even if you're bored of the main Pokémons you could always try the Ranger games.

[Zevox]

I think you could adapt the mons to a TBS system with very little difficulty. If you fielded your entire team at once rather than one at a time it would naturally make combat (slightly) less dependent on type-matching and more on tactics.

I'm thinking more Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea than Battle for Wesnoth, though - terrain has an effect but there's more focus on individual combatants and their skills. I'd like to keep the overall game simple and relatively straightforward.

Although... that said, it would make wild Pokemon catching unbearably tedious. (I mean, even more so.) You'd need to either find a way to speed it up or institute a whole new mechanic for catching wild mons.
You know, Pokèmon isn't the only monster-game series out there. Dragon Quest Monsters and Shin Megami Tensei already have you field numerous monsters at once in a more typical RPG fashion, and have different ways of acquiring the critters from Pokèmon. New monster games with different formulas don't have to be Pokèmon-based. Heck, they could be an entirely new series, rather than an extension of any existing one.

Zevox

[DwarvenExodus]

Opinion stated as fact.

There's a reason why all the Pokemon spin-offs aren't as good as the main series. The main series of Pokemon works well and if it's not broken, why try and fix it? There really aren't that many of these types of games to call it "old" when other genres such as FPS and those rhythm games, in my opinion, get even more generic with every single version that's released.

The Pokemon games are a lot more complex than you think. You should see some of the formulae that are used (like the ones for catching Pokemon). A lot has changed with the fundamental gameplay mechanics since the first release of Red and Green in Japan.

What would make me play Pokemon more? A new region and a new generation of Pokemon. Yay for Pokemon Black and White!

Actually, while I agree with you largely, I do know about IV's, EV's, and the lot. And, as always, YMMV on everything I say, and I understand that. I'm just saying, that at least in my opinion, a change in genre would be a very interesting prospect, no?

[dsmiles]

I could tell you where I'd like the entire 'mon genre to go, but my post would be scrubbed for profanity.:smallbiggrin:

[Raroy]

I could tell you where I'd like the entire 'mon genre to go, but my post would be scrubbed for profanity.:smallbiggrin:

May I ask you why you dislike 'mon games?

May I ask everyone else to not comment on his posts in a hostile manner?