>>33890288Yeah, so were Gen 6 and 7.
Black and White was a solid improvement on Gen 4. Don't get me wrong, I like Gen 4 more because there were aspects of B/W that didn't appeal to me, but looking at it strictly in terms of improvement of the core game, it was a smooth transition and the core games got better.
Same applies to X/Y -> S/M. Yes, S/M did drop the ball in many places, but the core underlying game was marginally better, though I would compromise on that point and say that S/M may be the exception to the rule. There are some things that go beyond feature additions that actively make the game less fun.
I think the point I'm getting at is that the classic Pokemon formula works and has worked since R/B. However, with every new piece of hardware, inevitably Pokemon has to move away from that - whether it's 3D models, graphical overworld, the addition of Wi-Fi, extra screens etc. It's a constant battle between keeping the Pokemon formula, but adapting to the new technology. The problem is that ever since Pokemon moved away from sprites, the changes have been turbulent and risky, Pokemon Switch will be the same story, especially as Pokemon leans heavily on portability and local connectivity and we haven't seen as much of that from the Switch - it's not as ubiquitously portable as handheld consoles.
GameFreak work best when they're comfy - they do great work when confined in a familiar space, which is what made R/B/Y/G/S/C feel so big on the Game Boy. They need to get comfy on the Switch because the next Nintendo console won't be different enough to cause a turbulent change. Once they're in that groove, we'll start to see better games.
