My wife and I recently purchased the Nintendo 2DS XL, the
first handheld either of us have owned since the good ol’ days of Gameboy
Color. That means I finally got my hands on Pokémon
Ultra Moon, the latest game in the popular franchise. And I’ve been having
a blast! Now that I have a permanent case of game designer brain, it’s nearly
impossible not to quietly catalog all the design differences in this iteration while
I play. So for this post, I wanted to look at a few of those changes, how they
improve the game, and what was sacrificed as a result. (Note: the last Pokémon
game I played was Fire Red, so it’s possible some of these changes occurred in
games before Ultra Moon.)
One thing clear from the start of Ultra Moon is that you’ll be practically drowned with items from
everyone you talk to. Items from NPCs are a staple of Pokémon games and
practically all RPGs, so the difference here is in volume. You quickly
stockpile a bunch of potions and pokéballs in what amounts to the game’s
tutorial. I like this change. Giving these items away generously encourages
their use right from the start. Similar to the last piece of cake at a party,
one or two potions in the inventory might never get touched. But when you get ten right away, they seem
like a resource the player can use freely. And the increased potions and pokéballs
mean the player has more freedom to do “fun game stuff” instead of running back
frequently to Nurse Joy for healing.
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| Are you hearing that jingle in your head now? (Image found on Giant Bomb) |
As is the case with any design decision, this generosity
from the designers has a cost. Increased item availability reduces their
perceived value and should theoretically make the game easier. In the end, this
design decision makes the game faster
as opposed to easier. Items like potions already have an opportunity cost built
into the battle system—if you use an item during your turn you cannot attack.
And I think the added time doing “fun game stuff” is worth the decreased perceived
value of potions and pokéballs. After all, the game is all about catching
pokémon and not about collecting items. Pokémon are the loot (which is a little
ethically sketchy now that I think about it).
Another change is the number of timely heals provided before
a pivotal fight. Some of the toughest battles in Pokémon occur when a rival or
ne’er-do-well challenges you in an ambush situation. It seems like Ultra Moon goes above and beyond to make
sure you never end up in the frustrating spot of losing simply because you didn’t
know you needed to visit a pokémon center first. This undoubtedly makes the
game easier, but not every game is about Dark
Souls-esque “gotcha” moments from the designer. The narrative battles in Ultra Moon are more telegraphed, but in
return the player more in control.
One final thing I’d like to point out is the addition of
z-power moves. These moves can only be used once in a battle, even if you
switch to another pokémon with a different z-move. These attacks are especially
powerful and also come with a lengthy and exciting animation. While the
animations look amazing the first few times, I did eventually start to set my
DS down and get a drink whenever one was used. Perhaps there’s an option I
missed to skip the animations. Anyway, the best aspect of z-power is the
connection it highlights between the pokémon trainer and the pokémon itself.
Those moments would often pull me into the game and help me feel invested in
the actual characters instead of simply making the correct tactical choices. In
longer battles they also add an interesting decision of when to finally use
your z-move, but those moments are sadly rare—most NPCs seem to carry only one
pokémon.
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| The most adorable z-move (image found on TechnoBuffalo) |
It’s certainly easier to polish a hit series than create a
hit game out of nowhere. But game designers still make plenty of mistakes when
releasing sequels. Successful polishing seems to come when the designers
understand what the game is trying to do. I think that’s exactly what happened
with Pokemon Ultra Moon. These
additions and outright changes keep the game fresh, but also move increasingly
toward the game most fans want, which is a relaxed game about collecting
eclectic pocket monsters and building an unstoppable team (and bond) with them.
