>>38125857(cont.) The demands of 3D games development + the smartphone generation put the series in a stranglehold. Casuals don't care about the types of features and content that made the DS era so memorable, so why bother developing for it anymore?
XY did a-lot of things right with its core features, like Online, EV Training, Battling, etc. But it was sorely lacking in content, story and even difficulty (despite having just introduced difficulty settings in BW2). ORAS worsened our perception of the games with increased railroading during the story, and the removal of the Battle Frontier, explicitly for casual gamers. Then we got SM, which was loaded with painfully slow dialogue and and overbearing companions who never leave you alone.
Ultra should've been what BW2 was to the 5th Generation. But instead we get an Orange Doggo, a handful of mini-games, no significant changes to the story apart from the final hours...You know the story.
The wild success of Pokemon's own mobile app even convinced Game Freak that more casualized gameplay would be a good idea with Let's GO. Another game set in Kanto with the same map, same roster, same progression...And I am thoroughly disenchanted.
Now here we are. Pokemon is gone, and smartphones killed it.
