Dev Take Tuesday – Polishing a Popular Game Series

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.

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.

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.