The gaming end of the Pokémon franchise looks to be getting some potentially beneficial shake-ups in the near future, at least with the mainline entries. Those are the most important to the community overall, but spin-off games have also been making their way back into the fold recently. A remake of the original Mystery Dungeon games released last year and the long-awaited sequel to the charming fan-favorite New Pokémon Snap just launched.
The latter received a pretty positive critical reception and seems to serve as a good appetizer for the upcoming Sinnoh remakes from ILCA and Game Freak's most ambitious game to date by far in Legends: Arceus. With The Pokémon Company seemingly trying to refresh the games, here are a few reasons why more spinoffs should be in the cards.
Change Of Pace
While Pokémon GO definitely made a big splash and is a spinoff, they haven't been emphasized much overall until more recently. The aforementioned two games released on Switch are the most recent bigger examples, but something around this scale should be looked at more often.
These spinoffs could serve as good palate cleansers in between Game Freak--and now ILCA--mainline games. A change of pace is welcome as long as those mainline ones eventually keep coming since variety is a critical factor. It's especially critical in a franchise as massive as Pokémon that's constantly pumping out content.
More Time For Game Freak To Work
Perhaps the most important indirect reason for having more spinoffs is to allow Game Freak--the longtime main series Pokémon developers--more time and space to put out a quality game. It's become more apparently far more recently, but since the main games' transition to 3D models, they've taken steady dips in the quality of content in certain areas.
Namely post-game content, discarding fan-favorite features from previous games, restrictive world design, and intrusive cutscenes. Allotting more spin-off projects on the scale of New Pokémon Snap would give the GF team more breathing room to create something particularly special, like Legends has the potential to be as long as technical issues are ironed out.
More Time For ILCA To Work
Another benefit is to potentially give ILCA more development time as well. Part of the pleasant surprises that came out of the Pokémon Presents in February is that development on Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl was outsourced to a new studio, allowing GF sole focus on Legends: Arceus for next year.
Hopefully things pan out well by the late 2021 launch--presumably November--and TPC has ILCA stick around to be part of the mainline rotation permanently. If they tentatively have more Pokémon games in the pipeline, more spinoffs mean more time in the oven for ILCA's games too.
Capitalize On More Nostalgia
As with the Mystery Dungeon remake and Snap sequel, there's--surprisingly--even more nostalgia to be potentially capitalized on thanks to past spin-off games. Several of those series developed their own dedicated sub-pockets of fanbases branching off from the mainline appeal, and with Snap's success, there isn't an unrealistic chance of the likes of the Pokémon Stadium series, Colosseum, and, in some form, Pokémon Ranger.
The latter would be an admittedly more complicated revival given the touch-screen functionality, but some creativity could be all that's needed. A return of the Stadium games could solely focus on the strategy aspect and perhaps even become the new competitive metagame format.
New Spin-Off Series
Of course, another opportunity is to take the time to start some brand new spinoff series. While not all these offshoots prove to stick around, there's clearly some creativity in coming up with these games. Bringing in new developer studios to offer their own takes on the world would add even further to the gaming space's variety when it comes to the Pokémon franchise.
As one of the most profitable media franchise in the world, expanding horizons seems like something that should be embraced, and especially so since its world is so vibrant that the possibilities for premises are practically endless--and the wild success of the Switch and power behind the Pokémon brand name alone.
Renewed Good Will
New Pokémon Snap was a new injection of excitement into the community, as the Nintendo 64 original easily became a charming fan-favorite of long-time players. Putting players in the world as a form of safari adventure was a wonderfully imaginative twist on the formula, and it was still over 20 years before the game got any extra attention with a sequel.
Pair this up with upcoming Sinnoh remakes and a Breath of the Wild-like prequel and this could be the time to strike while the iron's hot. The games in general have always done well commercially, but this extra bit of enthusiasm could mean that spinoffs are more relevant again.
More Genre Experimentation
Given that the mainline games focus on being turn-based RPGs, spinoffs will naturally look to deviate from that format to some degree. Leaning more on these games in the yearly-release model of Pokémon gaming content would make venturing into different genres important to avoid getting more stale if TPC insists on having something out on such a fixed schedule.
Roguelikes, rail-shooters, and other formats have been played with, and throwing in other curveballs would surely be welcome. Given how many creatures are in this world, a Dynasty Warriors crossover could be a fun game, especially since it's already successfully collaborated with Fire Emblem and The Legend of Zelda.
Adding A New Mainline Developer
If TPC were to invest a bit more into spinoffs in between their major projects while bringing in different studios, perhaps they could find a new mainline developer. It's too early to tell how much they'll lean on ILCA since Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are their first projects. Surely their level of success or shortcomings will have a say, but if things pan out well then perhaps a third studio will be added to the rotation.
With there essentially being three "main" series now--Legends, Let's Go, and the traditional generational/remake games--there could be one studio in charge of one series going forward. It's a long shot, but an interesting thing to speculate about in terms of how willing TPC is to future-proof the franchise.
Pokémon Conquest
Of all the beloved childhood games, there are others that gone overlooked but developed a strong cult following. The Nintendo DS game Pokémon Conquest is one of those games that was received well and has an enthusiastic set of admirers, but unfortunately got nothing more afterward.
It was a collaboration with the Nobunaga's Ambition series to turn Pokémon into a strategy RPG, which is something that seems a good fit for a spinoff of this franchise. Given the rejuvenated following of Fire Emblem with the 3DS games and the most recent Three Houses, making a sequel to Conquest for the Switch would scratch a good niche itch.
Colosseum Spiritual Successor
While Colosseum certainly has plenty of fans that would love to see a remake or a sequel to Gale of Darkness, another route is to make a spiritual successor to it of sorts. Meaning, a spinoff that retains the JRPG genre, but serves as an offshoot to the generational games of the mainline series and made on a smaller scale.
This hypothetical game wouldn't need anywhere near the species count that currently exists, rather, 200 or so select creatures and using the rest of the development budget into other areas. A studio could use the smaller scale to make a game that's not necessarily open-world, but that features more open environments that feel more vibrant with life and don't feel like the restrictive hallways of Sword/Shield, Sun/Moon, etc. and innovative new gameplay mechanics.