Is Game Freak Getting Lazy With Pokémon?

Pokémon, undeniably, has the biggest cultural influence of any game series on society, ever. Call of Duty, Tetris, Battlefield – they don’t even come close. And that’s thanks to the primary developers of the monster-hunting adventure, Game Freak.

The developer has made or overseen all of the games in the series, from Pokémon Red and Blue, all the way to Pokémon Sword and Shield, releasing this November. The CEO of Game Freak, Satoshi Tajiri, created the franchise 22 years ago and has stuck with it ever since, and has never faltered.

The Pokémon formula has always managed to lead to success in its long-running series. But that same strength is also one of Pokémon’s biggest weaknesses. Therefore, begging the question; are Game Freak getting lazy?

[NecrumOddBoy]

Hey now! The Smokey Dong Bong Pokemon are some of the more originals in the series. lol

[Sgt_Slaughter]

They've put other projects above it despite Pokemon being the reason they're even known and cared about in the first place. You can make other projects and that's perfectly normal, but don't disrespect the fanbase that made you who you are to begin with.

Personally I think they have become increasingly lazy over time. There are battle animations on the GameCube and even N64 (Pokemon Colosseum/XD: Gale of Darkness, and Pokemon Stadium 1 and 2) that are clear as day more in-depth and visually appealing than Sun and Moon/Sword and Shield have, and that frankly is borderline pathetic. Saying you can't have the entire Pokedex in your game due to "higher quality animations" yet having barebones animations and 3D designs worse than a predecessor is just making excuses for the lack of effort put into the title itself.

Do I want Pokemon to fail? Absolutely not, but I want them to overhaul the series and actually give a damn for something that sells 8-15+ Million copies every time. The fans are also partially to blame for not voting with their wallets and instead giving them the green light to do as little as they can because the fans will still buy it.

[SegaSaturn669]

Despite how much money this series makes, it still looks less technically (and creatively) impressive than most indie studio titles. I think the music might be its saving grace, but you can walk through the game with no difficulty.

Pokemon evolved into a series meant for small children.

[FullmetalRoyale]

Idk if lazy is the right work. To be clear, the last Pokemon game I beat was on GBA, and I have only briefly played some older 3ds one. But I can imagine how difficult it can be to just keep inventing pokemon. Difficult from a muse perspective perhaps.
I'm not sure how fun it can be to keep doing the same thing. That's why I was a bit surprised by how similar in design the Switch game seems to be to the game I played as a child. All of that being said, I will probably be getting the new game at some point.

[PCgamer98]

Sadly they can afford to be lazy since it's pokemon and it's still an easy 10-20 mil copies sold even without barely changing the formula.

[SkatterBrain]

Yeah

[lellkay]

They have been lazy for years.

[badz149]

I think lazy is not the word we use to describe Game Freak. They are not lazy as there have been multiple pokemon games released almost every year since its launch. Check the Wiki page if you don't believe me.

The correct word would be "complacent". For a series as long running as Pokemon, the tecnical and graphical evolution of the games are moved very slowly. Looking at recent Games, it's not too far fetched (pun not intended) to say there are game on the PS2 that look better. Sure resolution was lower back then but there are many games with better character models and animations compared to recent releases from Game Freak. It's like they don't even care as Pokemon fans are the biggest herd of sheep ever and the games will sell regardless.

[AK91]

You only figures this out now?