I originally was just going to keep it to my small thoughts on Twitter, but I got a few questions about it so I wanted to write something in… more detail and after thinking about it, I guess I have a bit more to say.
I’ll start with Pokken Tournament DX just because I won’t have much to say about it. So it’s Pokken. With the added Arcade characters. And a few more things. And on the Switch. And well, I just don’t really care. I tried really hard to get into Pokken, but in the end just got… bored. Unless some of my favorite Pokemon end up on the roster (or heck, an Audino who’d Mega Evolve), I don’t think it’d ever really reel me in enough to care. I’m not surprised to see a bigger version brought to the Switch, but when it comes down to it, I think I’d rather see a new Pokemon Stadium title which had a side mode being what Pokken Tournament is along with other minigames. I think, in general, fighting games just aren’t as interesting to me anymore.
While I wasn’t pleased with the announcement, especially considering the slow build up on how the Nintendo Switch exists and having a game and it just being Pokken (even though I didn’t expect a main title on Switch yet, I just… constantly forget Pokken exists and it’s like the one thing I would’ve have wanted to see–I don’t even care for the Pokemon Ranger series and I would have taken that) was disappointing and that moment of suspense, despite how small it was, ended up being a big let-down for me. I did really like the trailer they played though and that was probably the highlight of the Pokken part of the Direct for me.
But I did feel it was a bit long. As someone who also really loved all the Pokemon Sun and Moon Shorts leading up to the game, I really wished they had just put the longer up after and had a shorter one to discuss other things. Whether it be more about Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, stuff about updates for mobile games, about WHERE THE HECK IS DEETCTIVE PIKACHU BECAUSE I WANT THAT GAME SO BADLY AND IT ENDED ON A CLIFFHANGER… ahem, or even other side games.
More than half of the 8 minutes was dedicated to just Pokken stuff though and that was really disappointing. There wasn’t really enough content for that to be it. I just hope maybe we’ll see more stuff on Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon at E3 as well. Unfortunately, they only confirmed hearing about Pokken for that too thus far :/
Before I get into my thoughts on Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, I want to briefly address the Switch rumor that accidentally broke out. I’ll admit, I generally don’t look at the Press Releases right away (I like to focus on everything shown first before really going through that) so just from the trailer alone, I didn’t even know there was any confusion. Ignoring people who had made the rumors for ages now, part of the incident was due to an accidental mention on the Press Release which got fixed about 90 minutes later:
We would like to address rumours based on a clerical error on the Pokémon press site; Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon are coming exclusively to Nintendo 3DS family of systems and are not due for release on Nintendo Switch. This listing on the Pokémon press site was made in error and is not indicative of future plans. Please refer to the Pokémon Direct for the full details of the game.
While I do think, before the Direct hit anyway, there were plenty of reasons to believe a game could be on the Switch, there was nothing that hinted to that during the Direct itself. Pokken Tournament on the Switch and the clear 3DS cartridges for Pokken Tournament guy’s nephews was shown in a clear divide and even when the logos showed up at the end, it was with just 3DS mentioned under them. To me, there was no point where it wasn’t the 3DS and while I think a Switch version still could have been cool, I’m not surprised. And considering this is an “Alternative Story” to Pokemon Sun and Moon, it makes sense they’d use the system they already have assets and things built for.
I think what I question the most right now is what “Alternative Story” really means. Is it a sequel? Is it a completely different plot/timeline (Sort of what they did with ORAS versus the original Gen 3 games)? They really didn’t expand on it. At most, we’ve seen what looks like some new totem Pokemon, some new areas:
(This just makes me really want Pokemon stuff in Animal Crossing though)
And things like this where it looks like Solgaleo and Lunala get fused with Necrozma.
And I wasn’t too fond of that in B2/W2 with Kyurem so not fond to see it back.
But in general, it does look like new areas and content, but without more information first, I’m not going to get my hopes too high just yet.
At the very least, it’s clear there’s some changes. Besides the new clothing, the room has gotten a make-over with the Nintendo Switch, painted walls, an autograph instead of the Pikachu plush, and even new curtains.
Of course, who knows, it could be a new protagonist rather than just a continuation of our own Story. It could be a separate timeline thing. I just really want to know exactly what it is, at this point, before I get any hopes too hyped up.
I also hope maybe I’ll get to have a Ponytail this time because it was silly not to have one on a Tropical Island. It DOES look like at least one new hairstyle plus new clothes so fingers crossed on a customization update overall. And no colors locked by which game you have because that sucked. :/ Also just… really want something like the Dex Nav back as that made Pokemon collecting so much more fun.
But yes, fingers crossed we hear more about the games soon. If only to expand upon the “Alternative Story”.
