The Pokémon franchise is no stranger to remakes—Game Freak has been producing them since 2004—but they typically exist to modernize the older games, aligning them with the newest generation of titles. This approach has yielded some of my favorite Pokémon games, yet I can’t help but wish for something a bit more inspired when it comes to gaming’s biggest franchise.
### Embrace Retro Aesthetics and Offbeat Art Styles
Many video game remakes take older games and give them gorgeous, modern visuals. You’ll find cleaner character models, busier environments, and effects that the original games couldn’t have dreamed of. Franchises like *Resident Evil* have thrived on this model, but it’s not one that every publisher should aspire to.
Take Square Enix, for example. Sure, the *Final Fantasy Remake* series are as AAA as video games can get, but this same studio produced the remakes of *Dragon Quest 1-3*, which utilized the HD-2D art style that originated with *Octopath Traveler*. Square Enix could’ve spent triple the development time remaking the original *Dragon Quest* trilogy as 50-hour games in the same engine as *Dragon Quest 11* (and it might’ve even been awesome). However, the remakes they delivered honored the foundational RPGs without sanding down everything that made them classics.
This concept would be a perfect fit for Pokémon.
The next games in line to receive remakes are 2010’s *Pokémon Black* and *Pokémon White*. It’s likely that when these remakes inevitably arrive, they’ll feature smooth 3D models for Pokémon and human characters. But that’s not what made those games special.
When I think of *Black* and *White*, I think of their unique pixel art style, one that could only exist at the tail-end of the DS era. These games had pixel art and used sprites, but for the first time in a mainline Pokémon game, the sprites were animated.
Look at the sprites in this climactic battle against N:
The way Zekrom and Reshiram’s sprites animate, bringing them to life as their bodies illuminate with elemental energy, establishes a sense of scale and weight without losing any of the gorgeous detail in their designs.
I love the 3D Pokémon games, but there was something special about the personality in the old-school sprites.
Pokémon is a franchise that’s big enough to have it both ways. Give me *Black* and *White* remakes with the HD-2D art style, and save your graphical leaps for Generation 10 and beyond.
Square Enix has shown us, through the *Dragon Quest* remakes and *Octopath Traveler* games, that you can make utterly gorgeous games that still carry a retro aesthetic.
This isn’t to say that everything needs to be HD-2D; I just want to see some artistic experimentation.
*Pokémon Brilliant Diamond* and *Shining Pearl* were actually steps in this direction. Although the Generation 4 remakes were criticized for their chibi art style (which I liked), I’m glad they weren’t just artistic retreads of *Sword and Shield*.
### Don’t Be Afraid of Change
There’s a place for 1:1 remakes, but an iterative franchise like Pokémon would benefit from shaking things up when it’s time to revisit past adventures.
Look at *Pokémon Omega Ruby* and *Alpha Sapphire*, some of the best Pokémon remakes in my opinion, and it’s all because of what they change or add.
– The DexNav was a cool way to target specific Pokémon encounters and was in many ways a precursor to the overworld encounters in later games.
– The Delta Episode expanded Hoenn’s lore and introduced a memorable new character in Zinnia.
– I liked the Battle Resort!
I’d love to see future Pokémon remakes take swings at narrative changes or add content that recontextualizes parts of the original game.
To once again use Square Enix and *Dragon Quest* as an example, the upcoming *Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined* will feature a storyline where players meet a future version of Kiefer, a key character in the original game. I have no clue how it’ll make sense or tie into the character arcs, but boy am I excited to see!
While I’m on my soapbox, these philosophies should apply to spin-offs, too.
I had a good time with 2020’s *Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX*, but as I stated in my review, the game failed to innovate or do anything interesting with the source material. *Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time* is one of my favorite Pokémon stories ever, and it’s ripe for a modern reimagining that honors its classic tale while trying something new.
### Looking Ahead
We’re just over a month out from Pokémon Day, where Game Freak and The Pokémon Company will celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary. I expect this day to be packed with announcements about the future of Pokémon, and I couldn’t think of a better time to usher the series into a new era.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/147461/pokemon-remakes-opinion-feature
