I'm a very big fan of RPGs, and I was a pretty big fan of Pokemon too. Though, I have played up to Generation II only(Gold/Silver/Crystal)
Now, thanks to a thread in another forum, I would like to talk about how I believe Pokemon needs to change. I know some of you will bash me, yell at me, or God forbid, maybe even try to find where I live and kill me in my sleep for this(don't get any ideas ), but I believe that Pokemon's getting really old now. And I don't mean how long the game's lasting.
I mean, the game's aspects; the gameplay, the story, the RPG elements... it's old stuff. Every new game is essentially the same game as the original Game Boy classic. Catching Pokemon, fighting the 8 Gym leaders, the Elite Four, thwarting Team Rocket/whatever other name it's going to get. It's all the same. The only difference is you live in a different region, different minor characters(which don't really have much development with you other than your rival...), different moves, and different Pokemon. Every time I look at people play Pokemon, I wonder why it's so great nowadays even though it's the same thing it was like 15 years ago. I'll stick with the older ones for now, until someone can give me a reason to keep playing the Pokemon games. I don't even play Pokemon that much anymore.
I don't want to end Pokemon if that's the impression you're getting from me, I just want Pokemon to be better by getting change. I know, Pokemon is a "kid type" game, but there's hardcore gamers out there that play Pokemon too, and yet they're not really wanting a more involving and challenging experience... and who says kids don't want a challenge too?
So, here's some of the main things I think needs changing.
1. The story. it's too bland. Argue with me all you want, but it's basically the SAME story. I think they should have a little more deeper story, regardless of how "kidfriendly" this game is supposed to be. Have more character development! More interesting characters instead of the usual archetypes set by the original game! Maybe have a romance in the game or something... I don't care!(gee, someone's really going to kill me for that last one ^^; ).
The point is, Pokemon needs a more involving story, and what it has now is far from it. Now, some people might say "Oh, but then Mario and Zelda games have the same story basically and you're not dissing them..." Well, long running franchises like Mario and Zelda games have a different thing going on. Mario, is essentially a platformer or an action game. I don't think Miyamoto and the other people who work on Mario exactly try on making a different story, it's a platformer, I think Miyamoto is more focused on gameplay than on story for Mario anyways. Pokemon on the other hand, does indeed try to make it different, but it's too much the same. Plus, the gameplay isn't so different in Pokemon either, while Mario's really vamping up on the gameplay aspects so... Pokemon's on a rather bad disadvantage. Zelda? It's not the same story everytime. You don't want me to go there...
2. The gameplay. It's again, too similar to the original. I think Pokemon needs a big overhaul and renovation. The fact that after 4 generations, the only thing the gameplay changed in Pokemon was the fact that you could have 2 on 2 battles, more Pokemon, more moves, and some random Pokemon contests and stuff isn't very innovating. I think GameFreak can and should really put a lot more into these games. Why not allow passage to ALL regions? Character customization? No HMs so that you could save your precious four move list for more powerful moves? Maybe even change the four move list? Change the whole RPG aspect of Pokemon? New battle system? I really think Pokemon needs some change.
3. some miscellaneous stuff, like the Pokemon sounds. I really wish they could just have the anime voices rather than some 8 bit beeps and screeches. That is way overdue. You're using decade old technology GameFreak! Get with the times!
And, What is with all the freakin legendaries? I think they need to tone down the legendaries just a tad. I mean, Arceus? really? You're going to give a Pokemon a God complex? Are you serious? I mean, Mewtwo was alright but Arceus is just ridiculous.
I can't think of anymore things at the moment, but I think you know how I feel about Pokemon right now. Face it, Pokemon needs to change, in a good way. Whether you accept that or not, it should happen . We're arriving the fifth gen right now with Black and White, and yet, it's not going to change... It's going to be another "expansion pack" to the world of Pokemon gamers.
P.S: Please, take it easy and read the ENTIRE thing before you make some sort of argument. Don't flame me

Wait. You're saying that Pokemon isn't a long running franchise? It's made like 10 billion dollars and it's been around for almost two decades.

Also, the reason why the story isn't really changing, is because most players don't pay attention to it anyway. They just go through the motions to build a team, and to play the minigames and stuff.

I do hope the story does get deeper this time around, though. It looks like it will. I have high hopes for the fifth generation of games.

iBOCK : No, I mean I don't mind it being old, length wise. I meant that the game mechanics were getting old... maybe I should've made that more clear ^^;

I agree that the game's core mechanics haven't really changed. I think in the next games they will though, since the battles will have fully-animated Pokemon and they move faster.

So it's a step in the right direction

iBOCK : Yeah definitely. I guess they could gradually change XD

I will say this: the core battling mechanics have changed greatly. It's now much more technical and strategic. Physical and Special moves aren't determined by type, there are IV's and EV's coming into play, and the new item types introduced every generation freshen up the playing field. So the core of Pokemon is changing, just not as drastically as some people call for. I for one like that. Now, of course I want a deeper story. It's a freakin' RPG, it's supposed to have a good story, whether people care or not! And overworld mechanics need some touching up, they are getting stale... but battles? Perfectly fresh for me, and getting fresher every generation.

I stopped playing them after Crystal and Silver because they were just the same and they kept adding pokemon which made it stupid. I like the original 150. But I have watched my friends play through every one past the second generation. This doesn't mean it is one of my favorite games ever, but Dragon Quest Monsters is similar and each game has different gameplay and different stories. They probably won't change Pokemon though because it's the second best selling game franchise ever and Nintendo seems to only care about money nowadays and not hardcore gamers. Every company does honestly.

chugchu : You seem to have that whole "consumerism" mindset with the whole video game industry don't you . But yeah, I stopped playing after the second gen too.

bignatealpha : See, that's why I feel like if I want to play a better RPG, I could always go for Final Fantasy or other JRPGs, or Western RPGs(WRPGs? XD) for a more involving story and a more refined, drastically tuned battle system. And of course, the story needs to change now XD.

mdynasty926 : Well, the Pokemon battle system is quite refined, actually. It's different enough from the others that I think it's good as is. If only they'd fine-tune the OW and story aspects as much, we'd have the best RPG out there on our hands.

bignatealpha : Well I'd always like FF games better for battle systems, but that's just my opinion
is there something really wrong with the overworld or something? I haven't played the last two gens so I wouldn't exactly know.
I'd agree that if the story was more involving, then it would be probably a great RPG as well. I think it would be a little hard to match RPGs made by companies like BioWare or Square Enix but with Pokemon it's pretty possible.

mdynasty926 : There's nothing really wrong with OW exploration and all, it just gets... bland. The PokeMart and Pokemon Centers are always predictably and oftentimes rather inconveniently placed, trainers are as aggravating as ever, Movement prior to running shoes is slow as heck--and still takes forever until flying is unlocked, random encounters have gotten very, very old, and wild grass feels like it is placed specifically so that you have to dash mildly, constantly healing/spraying repels in order to survive. Also, the fact that you always get a bike, rather than something newer and cooler is irritating. I guess my biggest complaint is that travel and exploration have changed about as much as the story over the years.