So as much as I've come to dislike Pokemon as I've gotten older (here's a grisly & spectacular alternative in beta: http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen.htm), I do understand their basic appeal.
Essentially, they run on this trope: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ABoyAndHisX.
But there are a couple of problems with the way the Pokemon/Digimon/Whatevermon franchises tend to execute it. On account of the insane OCD collecting subgame (which apparently accounts for a not small amount of the appeal) and the incredibly wooden turn based combat- it all winds up feeling... almost exactly like a collectible card game. And by consequence it's impossible to care much about *your* particular color coded fox/metal plated dragon.
I figure if western game dev took a crack at making a similar game they should try the following:
A) First person perspectives & fully rendered, open environments.
Nothing ultra-realistic or high def, just something appropriately stylized and polished.
B) Smaller selections "mons" with distinct behaviors and capabilities.
As opposed to giving people an essentially limitless number of creatures doomed to eventual repetition (even the game I pimped up above is guilty to some extent), give people a small number of critters with unique pathologies to choose from off the bat. IE: A hound facsimile that's loyal & obedient, a bird of prey stand-in that's willful but lethal, a komodo dragon-esque reptile that's fully amphibious, a lumbering beast of burden you can ride? (Just a off the top of my head...)
C) Actual training mechanics.
Meaning that seeing as how the game consists of you training an animal, the game should actually demonstrate the process of training an animal. Since I've already established my views on first person perspectives, I'll just link a youtube clip of the Ant Lion sections of Half Life 2 to give you an inkling of how I imagine it'd work:
Naturally it'd need to be more sophisticated than the above (creature A.Is would need to have the capacity to learn ala Black & White, they'd need to behave differently based on species, among other things).
D) The capacity to customize one's mon to their own preferences.
How they look, how they act, the whole shebang.
Thoughts? Relevant or otherwise?
Essentially, they run on this trope: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ABoyAndHisX.
But there are a couple of problems with the way the Pokemon/Digimon/Whatevermon franchises tend to execute it. On account of the insane OCD collecting subgame (which apparently accounts for a not small amount of the appeal) and the incredibly wooden turn based combat- it all winds up feeling... almost exactly like a collectible card game. And by consequence it's impossible to care much about *your* particular color coded fox/metal plated dragon.
I figure if western game dev took a crack at making a similar game they should try the following:
A) First person perspectives & fully rendered, open environments.
Nothing ultra-realistic or high def, just something appropriately stylized and polished.
B) Smaller selections "mons" with distinct behaviors and capabilities.
As opposed to giving people an essentially limitless number of creatures doomed to eventual repetition (even the game I pimped up above is guilty to some extent), give people a small number of critters with unique pathologies to choose from off the bat. IE: A hound facsimile that's loyal & obedient, a bird of prey stand-in that's willful but lethal, a komodo dragon-esque reptile that's fully amphibious, a lumbering beast of burden you can ride? (Just a off the top of my head...)
C) Actual training mechanics.
Meaning that seeing as how the game consists of you training an animal, the game should actually demonstrate the process of training an animal. Since I've already established my views on first person perspectives, I'll just link a youtube clip of the Ant Lion sections of Half Life 2 to give you an inkling of how I imagine it'd work:
Naturally it'd need to be more sophisticated than the above (creature A.Is would need to have the capacity to learn ala Black & White, they'd need to behave differently based on species, among other things).
D) The capacity to customize one's mon to their own preferences.
How they look, how they act, the whole shebang.
Thoughts? Relevant or otherwise?
