Pokemon fans are eagerly waiting for news on the ninth generation of the series. Pokemon has other upcoming releases like Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but a new generation is still something to be excited about. The ninth generation of Pokemon is particularly exciting for fans because the series could be seeing some big changes after Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes the series open world for the first time.
This is something that Pokemon fans are eager for, especially after many were let down by Pokemon Sword and Shield not taking full advantage of its jump to the Switch. While the newest upcoming Pokemon games will likely influence the ninth generation, Pokemon should also look at the recently released Monster Hunter Stories 2 for inspiration. The game features a similar monster-focused turn-based combat system as Pokemon, and was so successful that many fans found Monster Hunter Stories 2 to be better than Monster Hunter Rise, the newest mainline release in that series. With this in mind, there are definitely some notes that the new generation of Pokemon should take from Monster Hunter Stories 2 to not become overshadowed by its competition.
Anybody who has ever played a Pokemon game, and likely many who have not, can explain how Pokemon are caught. The player battles them in the wild, lowers their hit points without knocking them unconscious, and then throws a Poke Ball to try and capture them. The system has remained largely unchanged for around 20 years, and Monster Hunter Stories 2 found a way to improve it. Rather than directly capturing monsties, players in Monster Hunter Stories 2 find eggs on the map to incubate at their base.
This approach allows Monster Hunter Stories 2 to make acquiring new monsties a more involved process, while also allowing players to better stack the odds in their favor. Eggs are found in nests that randomly spawn on the game's maps. Each nest is associated with a different monster, allowing players to track the monsters they want back to their nests where they can then scavenge through the different eggs to find the one with the highest rarity. The process is not too difficult, but it makes it more engaging to collect all of Monster Hunter Stories 2's monsties.
Combat is arguably the biggest mechanic in Pokemon. While playing through a single game, players go through countless Pokemon battles that are all turn-based and use a system of strengths and weaknesses for each type of Pokemon to add a strategic element to the battles. The series has tried to introduce numerous new features to mix the combat up, whether it be Sword and Shield's Dynamax, Z-Moves, or Mega Evolutions, but the series has struggled to find any changes that meaningfully alter the experienced and stick around for long. However, Monster Hunter Stories 2 found some meaningful ways to change the game's combat without losing its core identity.
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This is done by introducing rock-paper-scissors-style attack categories. During combat, the player uses skills and attacks to choose what type of attack their monstie uses when it engages in a brief one-on-one strike with them. How much damage each monstie takes is determined by the rock-paper-scissors game, which forces players to memorize monster attack patterns and tells, while the player also has a special gauge used to cast skills and abilities. Players also equip a specific weapon that can alter their team's abilities in combat, and players actually fight alongside their monsties. It all comes together to help Monster Hunter Stories 2's combat system feel more involved, varied, and complicated than Pokemon's has for many years. It can take some getting used to, but it can be very rewarding when players master Monster Hunter Stories 2.
Another aspect of Pokemon that some fans feel has been lacking in recent releases is the series' presentation. Not only do some fans have concerns about newer Pokemon not feeling as lovingly designed as originals, but battles in the series still don't have a lot of life to them. Most Pokemon use the same animations for each move, and those animations frequently don't have a lot of movement. With how many years the series has spanned, it is unfortunate that so many animations still just see the model of a Pokemon wiggling to indicate a tackle as it did back on the Game Boy Advance. Animations are much more detailed and unique in Monster Hunter Stories 2, even if some players did feel that Monster Hunter Stories 2 took it a bit too far.
Regardless of whether or not Monster Hunter Stories 2 has too many animations, the animations are more detailed and energetic than any across the Pokemon series. This is especially true for each monstie's unique move. The unique moves each have their own personalized animation that fleshes out the monsties themselves and gives them a lot of personality. Actions like a monstie protecting the player from acid rain with its massive tongue are great, and can even be combined with others to become a separate, unique animation. There is a lot of variation, and they add a lot to the battles in a way that could really make the ninth generation of Pokemon feel like a dramatic step forward. The animations also help battles feel more dynamic, even when players start getting into Monster Hunter Stories 2's extensive endgame. There is no telling how much the new generation of Pokemon will change, but hopefully the series is taking a look at what advancement other games in the genre have made.
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