Alola,
fellow nerds! Here at Straight Outta Kanto
(https://www.facebook.com/StraightOuttaKanto91/ or
insta: @straightoutta_kanto twitter: @KantoOutta) we are majorly
excited about the new and imminent Sword and Shield Expansion Pass
releases.
However,
one is never satisfied with what one has and always yearns for the
elusive and out-of-reach. I for one am still dreaming
of a Pokemon Gen 4 remake and will not rest until I see this dream
realised for Nintendo
Switch.
For
those of you currently unfamiliar, “Gen 4” refers to the Pokemon
Diamond, Pearl and Platinum series of games from 2006 – 2009. The
games are the franchise’s fourth RPG line and is set in the
stunning fictitious Sinnoh region.
This generation of
the Pokemon series has continuously been overlooked for remakes and
reboots so often by the game’s creators so that this fact is now a
long-running in-joke amongst Pokemon pop culture community.
If
you are amenable dear readers, I would like to share with you a few
snippets of my vision (and based on discussions with members of
the https://www.facebook.com/groups/1623889321229114/ Pokemon
Fan Club Ireland)
for what a Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum reboot for the Nintendo
Switch could
look like.
I
have ten points, in no particular order, of things I feel we all
would dearly love to see.
1. A Mt.
Coronet/Snow Point Wild Area.
Yes!
Can you imagine a region as vast and beautiful as Sinnoh having
certain routes upgraded with Gen 8 Wild Area function!? Mt. Coronet
and the routes proceeding Snow Point City in particular offer ample
opportunity for such an upgrade. The post-game resort and battle
areas also lend themselves with ease to becoming Wild Areas, as do
the three legendary lakes. The improved cinematic graphics and audio
capabilities of the Nintendo
Switch as
well would greatly enhance an already winning soundtrack and region.
2. HD Cynthia.
Cynthia
is hands down one of the most strategically strongest (and toughest)
Champions of all time, one with an extremely interesting background
and is a hands-down fan favourite. Cynthia is a badass.
Cynthia and her
historian grandmother both. Cynthia is one of the most hands on
champions in the game with regards to tackling the evil Team
Galactic and
frequently re-appears in later games to continue kicking your ass.
There’s many rumours circulating that Cynthia is a mother and has a
child who is also a Pokemon trainer. Were there to be a Gen 4 remake,
I think a good meaty dose of Cynthia with plenty of, if not
backstory, then “what happened next” style story building around
her would be welcome by all.
3. Distortion World
Post-Game Side Quest.
Forgive
me for being greedy, but if we get a fleshed out Cynthia in the
remakes, I also want a fleshed out Cyrus! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT
HAPPENED TO CYRUS AFTER HIS BUTT WAS ORIGINALLY KICKED IN THE
DISTORTION WORLD! Where did he go!? Did he ever return from the
Distortion World!? IS HE STILL THERE!? A Distortion World post-game
story in the style of the Grovyle;s from Mystery
Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness could
be phenomenal. Also, Distortion World as a Wild Area, anyone!? A Wild
Area with perhaps legendary Hoopa rings similar to the OR/AS reboots,
because let’s face it, a Wild Area Distortion World ain’t gonna
have no boring old Pidgeys in it…
4. Pokemon follow
you!
Yeeees!
Let’s keep this trend of Pokemon following you around outside the
pokeball going! Reserved for Yellow, G/S/HG/SS and the Let’s Go
games, this is a feature that the adorable and kick ass denizens of
Sinnoh deserve! I. Want. My. Piplup. To. Follow. Me. Around.
Adorably.
5. FREE THE HM SLAVES!
Alola’s Ride
Pokemon changed… everything!
No more HM (Hidden Machine) moves were required to take up precious
space in your Pokemon’s move list and the Bidoofs, Sentrets and
Zigzagoons of the world were safe! Sinnoh was such a horrifically HM
heavy region I would desperately hate to see the new and improved
game functions regress from their current state of freedom to HM
locking certain areas and Pokemon. The Let’s
Go games
got around the HM issue in a pretty nifty way, by having your
Pikachu/Eevee learn a special trick to get around the HM requiring
obstacles, the game creators were able to make a faithful remake
without cumbersome features.
6. Sinnoh Mythology Explored.
Each
Pokemon game and region comes with it’s own unique and layered
culture, lore and mythology but Gen 4 is where the game
creators really start
hinting at some meaty history.
Allusions to eating Pokemon and possibly marrying them all the way to
Pokemon and humans being one and the same, Gen 4 raised a lot of
questions we all want
answers to. Cinematic flash-back cut-scenes fully explaining the
histories hinted at in the Canalave City library would be AMAAAAZING.
The screen of the Nintendo Switch alone is huge, and also hooks up to
your telly – so imagine a big dramatic Pokemon history re-enactment
about the origins of Sinnoh on the big screen!? Come on lads! DO IT!
7. Underground Wild Area.
Underground
Wild Area, anyone!? Or, failing that, just a really juicy, mini-game
filled visually spectacular Underground feature for Nintendo
Switch.
I would play the heck out of that. It was enjoyable as a clunky
little poor graphic game for Nintendo DS, there’s no excuse for it
either not feature in a Gen 4 remake or to be less than its original
DS incarnation. Making it a bit more like the Secret Bases of Hoenn
is probably asking too much…
8. A Full Darkrai and Cresselia post-game quest.
Darkrai
is one of the coolest rare Pokemon additions in the decades long list
of Pokemon and is the antagonist in some of the darkest Pokemon
storylines that the franchise has created to date. That coupled with
the fact he has a direct opponent in
Cresselia – the Holmes to his Moriarty if you will – has left me
wanting some class of in-game Darkrai/Cresselia showdown for years.
What better venue to stage this showdown than on Sinnohs very own
Full Moon island after a dramatic battle to save Sailor Eldritch’s
Nightmare-ridden son… I’m telling you. The
Darkrai/Cresselia/Sailor Eldritch Arc of Pokemon D/P/Platinum is one
of the saddest non-entities of the franchise. The possibilities for
an epic post-game duel and rescue mission are endless. I
want this post-game
quest more than
I want the Distortion World one. And I really want
the Distortion World one…
9. Sinnoh Formes.
I
have actually really enjoyed the regional variants added to the later
games since Pokemon Sun and Moon and I for one welcome our new Sinnoh
Forme overlords. While regional formes felt gimmicky initially with
the Alolan ‘mon, I actually think Game Freak hit the nail on the
head with the Galarian Formes and would love to see how some of the
national Pokemon can be updated for a region as diverse and lush as
Sinnoh.
10. More.
Eeveelutions.
I
DON’T CARE WE ALREADY GOT TWO NEW EEVEELUTIONS IN SINNOH.
I.
WANT. MORE.
It’s
been years since our last new Eeveelution – we deserve a
new Eeveelution and as Sinnoh has already proven itself to be a
region where new evolutions of Eevee cann thrive – I WANT MORE!
So
that’s it in essence! Of course, there are many, many arguments for
and against a multitude of other functions and features and
characters and plots in the Gen 4 games that are not discussed here
today, but that’s what the official Straight Outta Kanto social
media is for!
Twitter:
@KantoOutta and @VenusDeVilo
Instagram:
@straightoutta_kanto and
@venus_de_vilo
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/StraightOuttaKanto91/
and https://www.facebook.com/VenusDeViloTheVoiceOfHorror/
Join
the Pokemon
Fan Club Ireland Facebook
Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1623889321229114/
Listen
to the Straight
Outta Kanto Podcast Radio Show
https://open.spotify.com/show/0FRul8v6Xpy8JFD8clhlok?si=-f1uecxqT5erPBqigRIALg
and
the music of Venus
de Vilo
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7hSAeNpNk7ydf8lgE93sHn
on
Spotify.
