10 Lessons Pokémon Needs To Learn From Palworld

7. More Animated Pokémon

pokemon palworld
Nintendo

There are 1025 Pokémon to Palworld's paltry 113 Pals.

Naturally, expecting Game Freak to individually animate that many characters with bespoke movements and attacks isn't feasible but then again, it has no need to do so. A great deal of natural overlap already exists across Pokémon's thousands of different species, they're just not all of a modern standard. A reliance on turn-based combat (more on that later) has made Game Freak complacent, not seeing the necessity of revisiting antiquated animations lifted from older titles in the 3D era when core combat remains largely the same.

Scarlet and Violet, as well as the pair's predecessors, got rid of random encounters and had Pokémon frolic in the overworld, so the right decisions are already being made on that front. The only foible worth scrutinizing there is a desire to see these sprites engage in other activities beyond just wading through grass without aim.

Pokémon Snap does a terrific job of showcasing how different species would behave when humans aren't around. The inspiration is already there. Why not take full advantage of it?

Contributor
Contributor

Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.