What I Want to come to the Gen IV Remasters

I’m still super happy that we are finally getting Gen IV remasters and am going to preorder my Shining Pearl for download regardless of what people say about the graphics.

With that being said, there are certain features from the original games and the recent ones from other generations that I do hope get implemented in the remakes. Since GameFreak and ILCA have decided to make these remasters faithful, I have no doubt most of these features will be returning.

Now, I’m not demanding these things appear in the game because like I said, I have always seen video games as a form of leisure and interactive storytelling. I never set my expectations too high for franchises I love because I would like to keep an open mind.

Here’s what I’m hoping to see.

Poffin Cooking

In the original games, if you wanted to raise Pokémon’s conditions to make them do better in contests, you have to feed them Poffins which are like little round buns. I didn’t realize the importance of doing this until I played Pearl. It’s not just about choosing the right moves, but it’s all about first impressions too which is what raising the conditions help with.

If this is coming back I do hope they don’t make it too easy. While ORAS were good remakes they made making Poke’Blocks so simple that all you needed to do was select your berries, hit the button, and that’s it. No need to use the original blending machine and rely on pressing the button at the right time. You could also feed your Pokemon as many as you liked until you basically maximized all their conditions and they had no preference of what flavor they liked the most. They also got rid of the feel thing which impacts how many you can feed them. For some people, this is good because it can get complex and your Pokemon might no longer eat anymore and their condition isn’t high enough to win a contest!

That being said, I actually enjoyed cooking Poffins and have always loved entering my Pokemon in contests, even if they didn’t turn out too great. My Palkia liked sweet Poffins even though he was not made for cute contests and aimed towards tough ones! But, if we can cook Poffins again, maybe a balanced system needs to be put in place where it’s not too hard like where your Pokemon’s sheen is maximized but you still can’t get far in contests, nor should it be too easy where you can just go all out like you can with ORAS!

Battle Frontier

This didn’t come until Platinum, but post-game content in Pokémon games I never found to be exciting. Diamond and Pearl only had the Battle Tower but when Platinum added that plus four other facilities, it drew me in. I spent most of my time at the Hall and Arcade.

I remember being challenged by the leader of the latter once and she crushed me. I felt like I never got a chance to launch an attack despite the roulette results put her at a disadvantage. I always wondered what is it that you get out of beating these facilities, the Pokemon you see there don’t get added to your Pokedex and somehow none of the BP prizes appealed to me, except for the Rare Candy. But maybe there was no purpose, maybe I just played at this place because it was fun and addictive. They carried it over to HG/SS which was great and what disappointed me about the post-game content in ORAS was that the Battle Frontier was just simply teased on a display and there was very little to do at the resort. Simply, put I miss the Battle Frontier and would love to have it return.

Post-Game Giratina Content

I did enjoy the Delta episode in ORAS that gave us the opportunity for additional lore and we could catch Rayquaza (though some argue that it was made too easy taking out the bike puzzle in the Sky Pillar tower), so who says we can’t have something similar with Giratina? It’ll be hard to implement because Platinum already had something put together with our encounter with Giratina. How would the remakes execute this? Something like a remaining member of Team Galactic tries to capture Giratina or some lunatic opens a portal to the Distortion World only to discover that Giratina is more interested in us than them?

It’ll be interesting for sure, but I’m certain we will be able to catch Giratina either way, in the original games we were able to at the hidden fourth lake so here’s hoping. I just think that adding some new lore to it would make it more exciting

Pokemon Amie or a similar feature

Of all the features that X/Y and ORAS brought, I never cared for the PSS and could most certainly rely on winning battles without the Super Training (even though I did use it) but the thing I loved the most was Pokemon Amie where you could develop deeper bonds with your Pokemon. You could pet them, feed them little cakes called Poke’Puffs, and play games with them. This would increase their affection for you which is different from friendship. Affection would allow your Pokemon to perform better in battles like land more critical hits, dodge more attacks, sometimes endure hits that would have caused them to faint or hell, even shrug off status conditions!

I enjoyed this interaction with my Pokemon and loved how whichever one I sent out in battle would turn and look at me just before the fight began if their affection was high enough. Sun and Moon brought this feature back, only this time it was called Refresh where petting and feeding returned, but you could also groom your Pokemon too! Regardless, I would love to see this again in some form, it doesn’t have to be identical to the previous ones but still.

Legendary Hunts Without Special Events

This is a complete no-brainer for me. While this approach works for children and teenage players, it doesn’t work so much for any adult Pokemon fans with jobs and families. I was upset when I missed out on Platinum’s Darkrai event and couldn’t figure out how to connect my DS to the Internet to participate at that time. It was the first legit way to catch that Pokemon, as before that, the only way you could was with cheats.

But for adult gamers with busier lives, we want to be able to get an opportunity to catch a Legendary Pokemon at our own pace and not within a limited time frame. ORAS offered us daily Mirage Spots which I regret not grinding for, and I think my decision made sense because one spot daily would take forever, and there was nobody around playing anymore to StreetPass so I could get more Mirage Spots. On top of that I was also getting busier to even bother grinding.

It would be nice if obtaining these Pokemon and other rarer ones offered tasks that didn’t involve you having to get data from other players or having to play at a certain time or date. It would create more flexibility for those who do not always have free time.

No restrictions to the Amity Square

Hearthome City was the place in Sinnoh I spent most of my time at when I was not battling since there’s plenty to do there. While I have covered Poffin Cooking and I already know that contests will be returning, one thing I have not talked about yet is the Amity Square.

The Amity Square is located at the Northern part of the city and has two entrances. It allows you to stroll with a “cute” Pokemon where you can find random items (mostly accessories). While I thought the aspect was fun as a teenager, it didn’t take long for me to realize how discriminatory this feature was. The Amity Square staff would let you only stroll with certain cute Pokemon like Happiny, Clefairy, Drifloon, Psyduck, Pikachu, Buneary, Pachirisu, and eventually only four Pokemon from the National PokeDex were added and then Platinum added the ability to stroll with your starter Pokemon, regardless of which evolution they had reached.

I’m not sure what the devs were thinking when they designed this area in the original games. Perhaps it was the assumption that in Sinnoh, the acceptable Pokemon to stroll with were the most popular in the region. Every house I entered in the game, if it had any Pokemon roaming around freely, it was always one of those seven. But the point is that every player’s preference of Pokemon that they find cute is different. Some would argue that Pichu is just as cute as Pikachu. While others might say that Gulpin is adorable too. How about we just diminish the cute factor completely? Why can’t we just stroll with any Pokemon we like? Hell some people might find buff looking Pokemon like Aggron to be cute in a way!

I’ll never forget this Black Belt Trainer that was at one of the entrances to the square. When I talked to him he said was upset that they wouldn’t let him enter with his Gyarados and Steelix and called it discrimination. Well, I agree with him. Maybe I don’t want to stroll with a Happiny, maybe I want to stroll with Cresselia instead!

Resort Area Villa / Survival Area Battleground

Again, more Platinum features here and rumor has it these remakes will feature a lot of those things so here’s another one from me. In the Resort Area, you obtain your own Villa and can furnish it. Every so often, certain NPCs such as your rival, mother, and even Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, and Cynthia will pay you a visit. There’s not much to do in it but it’s nice to have.

Then there’s the Battleground in the Survival Area which allows you to have rematches with Gym Leaders and certain Trainers you help along your journey. I enjoyed doing this daily back then so I hope it returns.

Mega Evolutions

At first I only saw Mega Evolution as a cosmetic feature when it was introduced, but it can be useful in battle because it can boost stats and sometimes even change what kind of ability the Pokemon has. In ORAS I felt overwhelmed with how many Mega Stones there were that I felt like all the other items in my bag were going to just collect dust since it’s hard to resist the opportunity to use Mega Evolution when it is available!

Nevertheless, I loved it more than Z-Powers from Sun/Moon and if it comes back, I hope this time it’s not overused and I doubt it’ll be put on any legendaries but I can live with that. Most of the Megas I did have were absolutely badass and I would love to see some of them on Sinnoh-native Pokemon as well as on the first Pokemon to wield it like Lucario.

Those are the things I hope to see in these remasters. If none or not all of them come when more footage of the games is revealed, I’m not going to let it discourage me from playing because I always look for the silver lining in the clouds. I’m sure I will find something to enjoy in the games, maybe even something totally new that I will love!

👽Emily