Pokemon is nearly 20 years old at this point, and it has an amazing legacy- people around the world know what it is, they come together for some amazing fan projects based on the series, and series icons and mascots are among the most valuable and recognized properties in the world.
That said, it’s also a lot of baggage- 20 years’ worth of mechanics and expectations, over 700 Pokemon, six different ‘generations,’ each with its own mechanics and geographical regions to explore… a lot of times, the suggestion to wipe the slate clean and reboot the franchise has been raised. And in an interview with Gamespot, Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda, director of the Pokemon games, tackled that idea head on.
“One of the main appeals of Pokemon over the years is the concept that even through all these games, you can have people 20 years apart but they can still talk about Pokemon,” he said. “There’s always the gyms, the elite four champions, a lot of the pokemon are featured throughout all the different generations. A lot of that shared experience, even if you’re 20 years apart, is something that’s really appealing about Pokemon. So right now, I think keeping that element of the series, and seeing all of these new Pokemon from X/Y treated equally with the previous generations, I think that’s really exciting. And we really want to focus on that for the moment at least.”
That said, he also said the idea wasn’t necessarily entirely of the table. “But if I leave Game Freak I can’t speak to the future,” he added.
Personally, I think Pokemon has its issues that need to be addressed, but a reboot would be the wrong way to go about them.
Pokemon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire launch exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS November 21; stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.
