>>42899514There was a time that Game Freak's small size was a legitimate advantage. It's harder to direct larger projects and still give it that personal touch that elevates media to be more than the sum of its parts and gains the "soul" quality we talk about. But that mindset and staff was perfect for the early to late 90s, not so much the 00s and forward. Their stubborness and inability to adapt is now hurting the brand as whole. Gen 6 and 8 were peak soulless, Gen 7 at least tried to do a few things different and make genuine improvements to the structure Gen 6 introduced. Gen 6 just felt like "Pokemon on the 3DS" and Gen 8 is the same for the Switch. Hopefully we see soul again in Gen 9, but it's doomed to sell less than Gen 8 no matter the quality.
