13 Things Nobody Wants To Admit About Pokémon

I’m sure playing the games online is immeasurably fulfilling and unimaginably rewarding, but the single player mode is lacking in any tactical complexity. You engage someone in battle, and tap A repeatedly, using your favourite move continuously, until that person goes away.

When you run out of PP, you swap to your second favourite move. At no point will you even think about using ‘Leer’, or ‘Tailwhip’, because those moves barely have any effect. You’ll always be on the offensive, and the battles themselves will always come down to whoever has the biggest number next to their name.

Don’t get me wrong, not every RPG has to be as complex and nuanced as Baldur’s Gate 2, but some strategy wouldn’t go amiss. It would give the gameplay some much needed depth, plus it would help the games themselves feel less repetitive.

I’m not suggesting a huge overhaul here, but something needs to be done to energise the combat system. I mean, how many of us groan audibly every time we’re caught in the long grass? Well, there’s a reason for that: the battles just aren’t dynamic, and they don’t engage the player in any meaningful way. Instead, the series should adopt a system comparable to that of Paper Mario, a system which incorporates rhythm and timing in order to create a better sense of immersion. At least that would be something.