3. Pokémon with proper voices
No, we don’t want Pokemon to actually talk, as that would be terrifying. After all, we’re still trying to forget the time Ash’s Pikachu spoke during the movie Pokemon: I Choose You. However, it’s about time Game Freak ditched the equally nightmarish mechanical noises each Pokemon currently makes. They sound more like terrifying robots than cute wild creatures, so we’re hoping we can finally hear their real voices in the upcoming Switch game. If Pikachu can say its own name in previous games, then so can the rest of the gang.
4. More Pokemon Snap
Part of what made Breath of the Wild so wonderful was that we could document our journey with the camera rune. If we happened to see something cool, we could simply whip out our trusty Sheikah Slate and get snapping. This feature also made it incredibly easy to share our best moments with other adventurers from all around the world. After all, a beautiful world filled with majestic and cute critters is just begging to be photographed. Pokemon Sun and Moon’s Pokemon Finder touched on this area, but the limitations of the 3DS hardware made taking spectacular photos pretty much impossible.
Fans have wanted another Pokemon Snap game for a while now, so being able to capture our favorite creatures goofing around would certainly be a way to keep us busy. The Switch’s motion controls would only serve to make the point-and-click nature of the game’s camera even better. Additionally, this feature would serve as an excellent break from all the battling and training, especially if we can share photos of our prized Pokémon with real trainers.
5. Greater online functionality and mini-games
While Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon offer the most robust online experience we’ve seen from a Pokemon game, we still feel it could be made a lot better. Casual online battles, ranked play and trading are a must, but we’d like to see more jolly cooperation between trainers. While Sun and Moon’s Festival Plaza opened up more interactions between players from around the globe, it still didn’t make us feel connected to those around us. We’d like to see player avatars randomly appear during our quest to catch 'em all. If you come across another player’s avatar, you could either choose to battle them or simply find out how they’re doing on their journey.
Meanwhile, past Global Missions have given us a glimpse of how the Pokemon community are willing to pull together to achieve various challenges and milestones. These communal events have ranged from catching/trading Pokemon, hatching eggs and even surfing aboard a Mantine in the Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon mini-game. It would be great if future challenges allowed us to work with other players in real time, or at the very least let us see their avatars taking on the game’s various trials. The Switch is also the perfect console for cooperative play, so it would be nice to see some mini-games make an appearance.
Pokemon’s online experience is known for its fierce competitive battling scene, but it needn’t always be a stressful experience. Pokemon Switch could provide a more light-hearted approach between trainers, and it would be awesome to play mini-games locally with friends or take on an opponent from across the pond. This would allow players of all skill levels to join in on the fun without the worry of having to be competitively viable.
