As you may have heard, the names of the new Pokémon games were possibly leaked today. I say “possibly” because of the vague chance the names are placeholders for later… but they aren’t. It wouldn’t make any sense, unless this is all a big plan to trick us all. Which is unlikely. The new Pokémon games will be titled… (run away now if the titles are too spoilery for you (spoiler: they aren’t)…)

Pokémon Moon & Sun. This may be the last time I can say that the new titles aren’t totally ludicrous. It’s easy to wonder how creatively tied down Game Freak’s Pokémon games are becoming with the titles being based on the whim of a dictionary. “Moon and Sun? Crisis averted. Now, how do we shoehorn our arbitrarily decided celestial spheres into the actual games?”.

Pokemon Sun & Moon Logos
I admit, seeing the logos alone gets me irrationally excited. I’m already considering which one to buy based on the logos (I’m leaning Moon,) and enthusiastically hoping they will be fresh and different — games that warrant my excitement again. But realistically, I don’t expect them to. These will in all likelihood be 3DS games (I was almost expecting the new gen to be on NX after the 3-year gap since X & Y,) that look awfully similar to the last chapter in the never-ending Pokémon anthology. There will be a variety of new Pokémon, a new region, maybe even a new type. But the world will be barren, the new features will be fleeting gimmicks, and Game Freak’s terror of changing one of the most winning formulas in history will, once again, hold the series back.

I write this harshly because while I know everything above seems likely now, this is the last chance for me to try and put forward my pessimistic side on the games, non-existent pen to non-existent paper. Because when the Pokémon Direct starts and the trailer is shown, new Pokémon, new moves, another set of new features, and a whole new world will be more than enough. That homely feeling of a whole new Pokémon might be too much to escape. I hope the negative part of me is wrong, but it doesn’t matter if it isn’t. I can’t imagine Game Freak not getting their sale out of me.

Mr. Fuego

Hi.

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