Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire [3DS Hoenn Remake, November 2014]

[SuperLink]

I'd like to add that while the current regions are big and expansive I don't think they anywhere near push the 3DS to its limits. Gen6, like most Pokémon games, show that GameFreak really are a small dev team with limited ability to get game performance running at maximum unlike Nintendo. With a little more time or a little more help, I have no doubt they could make a game with two regions. Not doing it is probably more a choice in difficulty scaling or pacing more than it is about cartridge space.

 

I'm going to second the wish that I think the next game should be a game with multiple regions in some form, mostly because I feel that's the only way they can address everything that XY and ORAS want to address but don't bc GameFreak love leaving things out to make us spend more money. A game with Kalos and Hoenn, a game with Kalos and Kanto, or a game with Kalos and a new region, who knows, but I think either of those scenarios would make a game that would make a lot of people less annoyed with the thought of buying a game again (though it also does introduce the thought that they could have done this all along and really are holding back way too much with the first game of each gen).

 

Also even tho I think this is what GameFreak should do I don't think it's what they will do. In terms of what they will do I think FFWF's guess is more realistic.

 

All I know is that GameFreak will probably let down expectations again, probably because they keep letting expectations get too high because we all know they're capable of more than they deliver P:

[Kuzu]

Jesus Superlink, talking with you is such a drag sometimes lol.

[Spin Attaxx]

 

Yeah, Hoopa Unbound ain't exactly Robin Williams :U

 

(Also, upon seeing this, my mind instantly played this. Damn you Masa & Mune.)

[-Robin-]

It reminds me of a Saiyan turning into a Great Ape, so I'm calling this Great Ape Hoopa/Hoopazuru from now on and no one can stop me.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

O_O

 

That thing got badass really fast.

[Mania Pipe]

That looks pretty cool! I can't wait to see this thing in action!

[PSI Wind]

Here's his unique attack, Hyperspace Fury. All I can ever think of is: ORAORAORAORAORA......ORAAAAAAA!

[Solkia]

I hope the stupid movie isn't the only distribution method.

[PSI Wind]

I hope the stupid movie isn't the only distribution method.

In Japan, it will be. We'll get him via GameStop or Wi-Fi, as usual. Or, you know, you could hack him in like I did via Powersaves :V

[Tori Himemiya]

Here's his unique attack, Hyperspace Fury. All I can ever think of is: ORAORAORAORAORA......ORAAAAAAA!

>big and yellow

>sparkly

>evil cocky son of a bitch

>rapid fire punching through time and space

>thinking of jotaro/star platinum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-NidcMz_xk

The MUDA is strong with this one.

[Kuzu]

Its amazing how fucking terrifying it looks compared to its bound form, and the fact that it grows twenty one feet tall. Its fucking larger than Groudon

[TCB]

A quickie on sales from Serebii; from launch to March 31st, 2015 (you know, if you still care):

 

X&Y - 13.85 millions units sold

ORAS - 9.94 million units sold

 

Oh, and you can get a 'Battle-Ready' Dragonite from Gamestop starting from June 22nd to July 12th

[Solkia]

XY has no right to outsell ORAS

[Kuzu]

XY has no right to outsell ORAS

[SolFlint]

So, I'm honestly unsure if this was ever brought up in here or in the general Pokémon thread. (I searched here and didn't find anything related to it)

Looks like there was an interview done back in December 2014 after ORAS was released, and the Italian site Pokémon Millennium had done an interview with Masuda about the game, where one of the notable things that was said was why Battle Frontier wasn't present and why the game was made the way it is today:

http://www.pokemonmillennium.net/notizie/2684-intervista-esclusiva-junichi-masuda-e-shigeru-ohmori-ci-svelano-alcune-curiosita-su-pokemon-rubino-omega-e-zaffiro-alpha/

A reddit user had posted a translation of the key parts of the interview and I ran the interview page on Google Translate and it more or less says the same things the reddit translation says (in more broken English due to it being translated literally): https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/2olmtb/interview_with_masuda_on_oras_and_why_there_is_no/

Alright, I'll be posting translations as edits, these translations are from /vp/, so verification would rock.

Q:Pokemon ORAS have some features that have never been implemented before, such as Soaring in the sky and DexNav. Are you going to keep them in the next generation of games? Are there going to be any changes?

A:The basic structure of Pokemon games and the elements that keep the series together like Gyms, Elite Four and Champions are not going to change. We still haven't decided which of the newly-introduced features we're going to keep; we never distinguish between "experiments" and "features to keep". It all depends on the fans' reaction.

Q:There's been a lot of hype for a hypothetical remake of Ruby and Sapphire these last years. The internet was flooded with "Hoenn confirmed" images and you, Mr. Masuda, have been able to see this enthusiasm for yourself with your countless followers on Twitter. We were wondering if all of this had anything to do with your decision to make ORAS a reality.

A:This time we have indeed been influenced by fans and we had planned to make these remakes for some time. November 21 2012, the day of the tenth anniversary of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, I decided to assign the role of Game Director to Shigeru Ohmori, it was the first game he worked on as Director since he joined Game Freak.

Q:We noticed ORAS had a lower difficulty level compared to previous Pokemon games. What bought you to this decision? Any chance that future games will have the possibility to adjust difficulty level as seen in Black and White 2?

A:What? How come you've already played the games? hearty laughter [the games were supposed to come out in Italy the day after the interview] We created a "balanced" game that was suited for our time and age, where everyone is very busy and young people have various means of entertainment. Using smartphones and other devices they can access a great number of games, so the time they dedicate to a single game is less than in the past. The player can choose to keep on playing after the main story and continue to the post-game, where the difficulty rises and there are much more difficult Trainers and challenges to overcome.

Q:Why wasn't the Battle Frontier in the remakes?

A:This question is connected with my previous answer. We didn't put the BF in ORAS for this very reason. Interviewer's note: In short he means that they didn't include the BF because only a very small part of the players would have fully appreciated and made use of this feature; nowadays players get bored and frustrated more easily and they aren't interested in things that are so demanding/challenging.

Q:The soundtrack in HeartGold/SoulSilver was completely made anew from the original Gold/Silver, whereas in ORAS the arrangements were very faithful to the original music and some areas even had music that was made specifically for them. How come?

A:It's a rather technical matter, we had some limitations whan creating music before but now with the Nintendo 3ds the whole process is a lot easier and we can take full advantage of the potential of the console.

Q:How do you choose what region a Pokemon game takes place in? Do your journeys influence that decision? What about Italy, is there a chance a future Pokemon game could take place in our peninsula and feature some typical cities and cultural elements?

A:First we choose the theme of the game and then we decide where it will take place. For example, in X and Y we picked France because of the "beauty" theme (Kalos means beauty in Ancient Greek). We wanted to highlight this aspect seeing as this was our first game on 3DS. In Black and White the theme was "union" so there were a lot of different people and cities, all united together (that's where the name Isshu/Unova comes from). Perhaps in the future we'll find a theme which could be represented by Italy, who knows... laughter

Interviewer's note: we didn't have time to ask about MegaFlygon and MegaMilotic but they already answered the question in GameXplain's interview. [basically they choose which Pokemon will be blessed with MegaEvolution depending on three elements: 1 - which Pokemons are more used in official tournaments and wifi competitions, so they can balance the game and shake up strategies 2 - the importance some Pokemons have in the main story (see Lucario) 3 - finally, they also consider what the fans want the most]

So what do you think about what was said by Masuda in this interview, because personally, if what they think their demographic is caused them to skimp out on content like the heavily sought Battle Frontier, I'm pretty much done with the main series at this point.

[Jetronic]

So what do you think about what was said by Masuda in this interview, because personally, if what they think their demographic is caused them to skimp out on content like the heavily sought Battle Frontier, I'm pretty much done with the main series at this point.

It's stupid, mostly because in order to unlock the 3rd/4th fights with Wally, you need 50 consecutive wins in any of the Super battles in the Battle Maison. And the AI there cheats. Masuda's logic is very bad here.

[Kuzu]

I don't like the answer, but it makes sense at least; nobody but those who played Emerald 10 years would have cared about the Battle Frontier.

 

Still could have added it tho.

[Salamander]

It's stupid, mostly because in order to unlock the 3rd/4th fights with Wally, you need 50 consecutive wins in any of the Super battles in the Battle Maison. And the AI there cheats. Masuda's logic is very bad here.

...That seems like a very easy thing to add, though, compared to developing a whole Battle Frontier?  Much though I think the Battle Frontier should've been in, it would be a huge investment of time and resources whereas coding in a couple of new Wally refights sounds like the work of an afternoon.  And indeed, are we sure that the decision-making in that case is "to unlock more Wally fights you need 50 consecutive wins" rather than "your reward for 50 consecutive wins is more Wally fights"?

Outside of that point, though, I think Masuda's wrong about the number of people who'd use the Battle Frontier.  I am always amazed at the number of people online who are willing to go the full distance in breeding and training and all that.  Competitive Pokemon playing does not appear to be a matter of simply a handful of people.  I think he's underselling the Battle Frontier here; it strikes me there's a lot to interest people there and a fair number of people who'd play it.  I always gave them my best shot even though I'm just a main game player without any interest in competitive aspects, as the gimmicks were fun and interesting.  In any case, as a member of the development team it's his job to get people to want to play it, and if that isn't happening, maybe they could start with not hiding large amounts of game content away in the postgame after the rest of the game has outstayed its welcome...?  I also think his logic of "people have more distractions these days and don't want to be bored" is faulty chiefly on the grounds that Pokemon games have only been getting grindier.  DexNav!  PokeAmie!  Nothing but long, repetitive busywork.

Also, and I could be very wrong here, I think Masuda's being a bit disingenuous anyway as if they weren't going to include the Battle Frontier then why did they have more than a few in-game references to it?  Why not just ignore it entirely on the grounds that it wasn't in the original Ruby/Sapphire?  I still think you'll be able to get a ship over to the completed Frontier in Z.

[Mania Pipe]

As disappointing as not having the Battle Frontier from Emerald in its proper form and just Battle Maison, but I think it's a bit silly to not buy the games just because Emerald's Battle Frontier was not present. Maybe Z will have the Battle Frontier, or at least the Hoenn Frontier Brains be battled.

However, I still agree that having to struggle through the Maison's consecutive battles, which is the only way to have a rematch battle Wally is just really stupid.

[Thrippa]

I certainly played the Frontiers, even though I wasn't any good at them.  And with Super Training that aspect is now a whole lot more accessible, so it does seem a strange time to drop them.