>>32062963I don't agree.
The spirit of Pokemon is monster collection. Tajiri loved to collect insects and that was the main inspiration for the games. The first games were even marketed with the slogan "Gotta catch 'em all".
How you catch them all, it's up to you. You need to explore every nook and cranny, and talk to friends which have the complementary version in order to complete your Pokédex.
I think Pokemon games would greatly benefit of an open world approach as it would be much more immersive and interactive, as you can finally see first-hand how Pokemon and environment interact. But wild Pokemon battle mechanics would need to change a lot. You can't keep interrupting the overworld experience whenever you find a wild Pokemon, so all the catching must be on the overworld. Trainer battles can be the same, as it's a more controlled environment.
Game Freak is not known for making bold decisions to change their formulae. I'm sure they don't overexert themselves as they fear future games would be overshadowed by the current ones. So I don't think they will ever implement open world.
