Pokémon games were originally designed to provide the illusion of adventure. Different routes, little towns to explore. You felt like you were going on some grand journey but the whole map could fit inside the tutorial area in a Zelda game.

The problem is that games now don’t need to cheat and make adventuring an illusory thing. Real adventure games now exist. Fallout 3, BOTW, Death Stranding to name a few. Games where you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want.

The Pokémon formula has always been about tricking the player into thinking the games are bigger than they are. It doesn’t work anymore.