Why Pokemon BDSP Failed As A Remake

It's safe to say that BDSP did NOT live up to expectations and this shows more as when compare these remakes to those of the past. In this video I go into detail about why Pokemon BDSP failed as a remake.

[capt.frebreeze]

My problem was that they basically took the OG games, made it worse, turned it into 3D and didn’t really add anything new. Even platinum had more things added than BDSP. It should’ve been like ORAS where they added so much new things from mechanics to Redesigns to plot, that it basically felt like a new game but still felt true to the original… ORAS is how a REMAKE should be

[Padgriffin]

The fact they managed to remake the Shaymin glitch and didn’t account for the fact that the main character could now travel in 8 directions rather than 4 in Snowpoint gym, allowing you to just bypass the puzzle by pointing the joystick up and slightly to the left/right is amazing

[RoseSupreme]

HGSS and ORAS have the most important mechanics to include into any remake going forward - HGSS and ORAS have *SO MUCH* content, with the latter even acknowledging the things that came out after Hoenn and redesign the region around that to truly make it feel like a modern retelling rather than being 1:1.

[Marcomanexists]

BDSP was soul crushing for me. My life revolved around Gen 4 back in 07 when DP were released. All my friends were just as immersed as I was in the world. DPPT are games I hold very close to me. But BDSP? It broke my heart. Instead of an ORAS style remake we got a remaster that’s not even as good as platinum… Now I’ll never get the chance to see Sinnho reimagined (even if PLA exists). It’s the first time I’ve ever felt hurt by a video game.

[crashbandicooch]

The rhetorical question where you asked if Pokémon devs just puts minimal effort because they know the games will sell millions of copies regardless, the answer is an astounding yes.

[pacnat_]

As a Leafeon lover who always has a Leafeon on my team whenever I play platinum, you cannot imagine my disappointment when they decided to revert back to the “yeah you’ll get an eevee AFTER you beat the game” in BDSP :(

[en--ev]

HeartGold and SoulSilver are still, and unfortunately always will be, the peak of Pokémon remakes. They're amazing games, the best in the series in my opinion, but it’s really sad to know and see that gamefreak just hasn't and isn't going to put that same indie love and passion into their mainline Pokémon games anymore.

[maffiaguy]

Heartgold and Soulsilver were the best remakes just because they allowed you to have 16 BADGES and can travel to the Kanto Region which NO OTHER POKEMON GAME can do.

It was just insane to go back to the Kanto region after beating the Johto Gym Leaders and E4 and was unexpected to even surpass collecting 8+ badges.

[MilkLadsForever]

The thing that disappointed me the most with BDSP is the lack of character redesigns. I liked seeing the characters getting refreshed designs for the current age. In ORAS, characters like Maxie and Archie got massive glow ups. I also love how Pokémon remakes may introduce new characters for certain features, such as Aarune for secret bases and Lisia for contests in ORAS, and Celio for the Pokémon Network Center, a feature allowing you to connect to other Gen 3 games in FRLG. BDSP didn’t have any character redesigns or any new characters for the new features. Imagine if we got a new character to introduce us to Ramanas Park, or redesigns for any of the characters in BDSP.

[zachthepokemaster]

Interesting topic, even with FRLG as remakes of the original RGB/Y, they were able to add all the Pokémon(in the Kanto-Honnen Dex at the time) in the game and made them available to the player(s) buy getting multiple games.

[dalepeters]

The argument that "it's not a Platinum remake" falls flat when HGSS had Crystal content and ORAS had hints of Emerald content in the Delta chapter.

[NbBscutGaming]

What concerns me is the fact that multiple 3D iterations later and you can really see gamefreak and sub studios struggling in the 3D aspect of the development. Many decisions and assets in the game raise an eyebrow really quick to anyone with any sort of industry oriented graphics experience.
From literal seams in the meshes (rather than UV seams) to blending multiple rendering pipelines, to how they handle asset management, it's no surprise that many of the core titles can't maintain beyond a 30 lock.
Combine this with multiple other issues, and I genuinely think GameFreak has reached a point the name itself sells the series and as such they are focused pretty much exclusively on profit over quality. The reason for this is left to speculation, but something to keep in mind is Pokemon is almost if not 3 decades old now. 30 years is a long time for the creator to keep things up, and he isn't exactly hurting for money either.
If anything from the 3DS to now has shown me anything about GameFreak, it is that they are indeed 2D devs messing in 3D space and just no longer really care for the same values they had back at it's inception.

[MRzRosalie]

I feel like Firered and Leafgreen are underestimated as remakes so hard. They were fantastic as remakes.
The entire Sevii islands were such a fun postgame experience, that I really missed in Let's Go.
I really thought LG was the worst when it came out, because it added so little new stuff. But now that BDSP are a thing even LG seems fantastic, since they did add SOME new stuff. The art direction and style was great. The pokemon were to scale and had some texture to them. The best looking pokemon games on the Switch imo.
Lackluster on new content, but way better than BDSP.
Still, FRLG will stay my go-to for the optimal and most complete Kanto experience.

[iviyohane]

For me, the true remake is Legends: Arceus. A Legends: Kyurem is all that I need for Gen 5.

[natelikesgames]

i think that everyone’s favorite pokémon generation usually being the first one they played makes a lot of sense seeing that pretty much most of all pokémon games following the same pattern, therefore the first one the person plays feels the most original and most memorable

[Lotuswalker]

What I always wished for a remake, was that they actually change and upgrade the content. Like dont give the trainers the same pokemonn they had in the og games. We now have a vast amount of pokemon from each type. So why give the trainers all the same team ???

And tbh I actually prefered ORAS over HGSS. As they didnt address Johtos biggest flaws in the leveling curve in the mid and late game.

[fifipii]

my concern with gen 5 remakes is game freak will let ilca make them and we will end up never seeing any of the bw2 content again... bc if they couldn't add platinum content to bdsp there is NO WAY they're smushing together two whole games;;;;

[thesupreme]

I was really disappointed with BDSP because the climax is kind of bland. The red chain breaks and then team galactic are just like “oh well, I guess that’s it” and leave. There was also no cutscene where the sky goes all crazy like in the originals

[gunslinger]

Personally I would love to see the Pokémon Black and White remakes include their sequels as DLC. Important to remember that Pokémon White 2 actually takes place after Pokémon Black because you received the legendary dragon that N had from the first game (which in black it was reshiram). Not only would you get both legendaries, but it’s also worth considering that Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem are technically parts of the same dragon. So if it was DLC (or post game content) we could finally get to see the dragon they make when all of them combine.

Since the characters you play as in Black 2 and White 2 are different from the first games, maybe it could be one of those separate story things, and at the end of black 2/white 2 you fight the team that you finished with in the first games. Ultimately I think it would end with you being able to play as either of them and of course combine your Pokémon storage.

How would you guys go about adapting the second games? Would you perhaps do what was originally done and have them come out separately?

[tnuhenaj]

I swear to god somebody high up at game freak or maybe just the whole team has to hate diamond, pearl and platinum. It's not just this insulting excuse of a remake. In general there has been no support for the generation at all. Legends arceus was hardly a gen 4 game. The starters were from different generations and the region didn't resemble sinnoh in the slightest. Not to mention that game actually gave more love to other generations with the regional variants and enamorous the extra member of the genie trio which was out of nowhere and just happens to be garchomp's kryptonite in gen 9.

The biggest indicator for me is pokemon variants. Not a single regional variant or paradox pokemon version for any gen 4 pokemon (iron valiant is explicitly stated on bulbapedia to take traits from both gallade and gardevoir). The surrounding generations have had numerous regional variants for their native pokemon, especially gen 5.

Which doesn't have an obvious explanation why. Diamond and pearl sold very well and on a pretty massive poll were voted as japan's fave pokemon games. Both legends arceus and BDSP had the shortest run of support for any pokemon game before being replaced with scarlet and violet. Having gen 4 as one of your favorite generations is just pain.

I would've been happy if they had simply done the graphics in the style of gen 8 being able to explore sinnoh in 3d like that and nothing else. But they failed even that. Was a good wakeup call to finally step away from pokemon for good though.

The worst thing is that even if they get their act together and make a decent gen 5 remake i should be happy but i'm going to feel even more crushed. It had to be my fave gen that got the only pile of crap as a remake out of all of them.