So at this point, anyone with half a brain understands that GameFreak, with their current staff and deadlines, is unable to make a respectable 3D RPG game. I'll even say that it is perfectly understandable - Pokemon was never a sustainable model in the long run, with its hundreds of monsters that require constant reimplementation and yearly software output tied to merchandise and anime. GF reached their peak in Gen 5, when they struck a perfect balance between visuals and gameplay, and Gen 8 was the point where they finally snapped, making a game that looked truly shameful when compared to its peers. And Arceus shapes up to be even worse, with its WoW-esque low-res textures and atrocious framerate.
Meanwhile, back in 2018, Square Enix released Octopath Traveler - a JRPG that (quite masterfully) combined 2D sprite work with 3D map design, and some modern visual flair - it's definitely one of the prettiest JRPGs on the Switch. People loved that game, especially for its visuals, saying that it was a great example of style over polygon count, something any good Switch game should strive for. They loved it so much, SE announced both a sequel and a full-blown remake of Dragon Quest 3 (one of the most important and famous videogames in their entire catalog) done in the exact same style.
And it is also exactly what GameFreak did with Gen 4 and Gen 5 many years prior, but with modern technology. Sure, D&P and B&W didn't have bloom up the wazoo, but the idea worked in the exact same way, and you could see it clearly when playing the game upscaled on an emulator. SE is literally making bank on ideas that GameFreak realized on the NDS a decade prior, while GameFreak themselves sink deeper and deeper into mediocrity.
So, is it possible for GF to wake up and make a new soulful 2D game with beautiful artwork and all the gameplay features/story they could cram into it? Or are we cursed to watch them blindly churn out yearly garbage from now on?