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The Pokemon franchise has yet to feel at home on Nintendo's main-line consoles. With a lot of criticism directed toward the Nintendo Switch's lack of power from a hardware perspective, the news of a new console has many Pokemon fans hopeful for the future of the series. Since there is still little known about the Nintendo Switch 2, it can be fun to speculate how the future system will improve the franchise.
So, what should players expect from the next generation of the franchise? Will the new console magically fix every issue that players have had with the franchise for years? While the future is never set in stone, looking forward with a bit of optimism can be exciting. With a franchise as experimental as Pokemon, nobody can say what will come next for certain.
Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer
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5 things Pokemon should fix with Nintendo's next home console
1) Optimization
It is universally agreed upon that the state in which Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were released is entirely unacceptable by modern gaming standards. Though the bugs and glitches are the fault of the developer and have mostly been patched since the title's release, the performance of the games weighs heavily on the Nintendo Switch's dated processing power.
With a new console surely bringing more substantial power, it would be fair to assume that the quality of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will only improve with the change of hardware. However, with the Nintendo Switch 2 reportedly keeping the gimmick of being a partial handheld, more information is required before jumping to that conclusion.
2) Larger maps
Pokemon Legends: Arceus was a great step in the right direction in terms of map design. Rather than hosting one big, empty open world, the game was split into several smaller maps with more content. While this is a great way to keep loading times low, it does the vast Sinnoh region an injustice by presenting its many vast climates through such small levels.
With the switch to a more powerful console, having a map with similar quality to the Legends title, with the scale of the recent Scarlet and Violet games, is not an impossibility. With the models just being recently updated in the newest titles, it would be interesting to see what Game Freak can produce, with their focus being solely on the map design.
3) Bring back the National Pokedex
Though a constant complaint with every modern season, the possibility of every creature in the franchise culminating in one game becomes more likely with time. For those who may not be aware, the number of creatures that are obtainable in every title has been significantly cut following the transition from handheld to home consoles.
This was arguably the most controversial change that Game Freak has ever made, especially with the company claiming it made the decision to focus on Sword and Shield's graphics, which was quickly debunked.
Since Game Freak brings a lot of the creatures back into the modern titles in later updates anyways, having a game where all creatures will eventually become available would be a great thing to see.
4) Return of multiple-region maps
Though it has not been done since the second generation, giving players a game where they could travel between two different regions is something that has been referenced and experimented with throughout the franchise. For example, the docks of Unova are known for receiving iconic vessels like the S.S. Anne from the Kanto region.
Some of the more recent and notable instances of different regions being mentioned in games include one trainer in Sword and Shield telling the player that the Galar and Kalos regions are very close to one another and can easily be reached via a short swim. The geography of Paldea also implies that the Kalos region is very close by.
5) Better battle animations
While the models for each Pokemon have definitely improved from Sword and Shield to Scarlet and Violet, the animations used for attacks have almost all been downgraded from the title prior.
With battling being the main form of gameplay associated with the franchise, it would make sense for Game Freak to spend the most time making sure battles are as appealing as possible.
Overall, the most important thing that could come from a hardware upgrade of a new generation of consoles is a huge visual and graphical quality update. It is no secret that the Pokemon franchise has been feeling lazy in the modern era, but it is not too late for Game Freak to turn that around with the help of Nintendo's next-generation console.
