TFW NO 2D PKMN (PLAY CASSETTE BEASTS!!!)

I'm a longtime fan of old school JRPGs, especially Dragon Quest. I just love how they try to portray a world in simple or even abstract 2D graphics. Thats one of the reasons, why I am on my third playthrough of Pokemon RBY this year. (first the english version of Red on my hacked N3DS, then japanese Green Version and now the german version of Yellow with relatively bad Pokemon). Thats also the reason, why I am playing Dragon Quest XI Definitive Edition S strictly in 2D, I didn't touch the 3D mode once. Not only does the 2D mode get rid of some of the fluff that comes with 3D games that are relatively open world, I also love the dedication of the games creators to include that much effort into a mode, that will be skipped by most players, or only looked at for a chapter. This much extra work just for the old crowd of Dragon Quest fans. It helps too, that the 2D mode is quicker to finish, so it's more likely that you can complete it even if you don't have that much time anymore to play video games (I stopped Tears of the Kingdom because it's just too goddamn long, and I don't have time for such a commitment). This made me think "Why is this only a thing in Dragon Quest?" Why isn't there a 2D mode in new Pokemon games?

Pokemon is one of the most profitable franchises in the world, while Dragon Quest is really only a cult hit in Japan, so it can't be a budgetary reason. Most longtime fans would even say that Pokemon started going downhill when it hit 3D (me as well, I think that Gen V with Black and White 1 + 2, was the swansong of the entire franchise with beautiful 2D Pokemon sprites that were even animated in battle). Especially the bad performance of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet could have been avoided, if the game was not a 3D open world but 2D. The company has shown, that they can handle 2D games, while the 3D games have been laking. Also, since the games are always coming out on Nintendo consoles, which are behind the other consoles and PC on a technical aspect (which I think is a good thing, since there is no technical arms race and more experimental games can be made on a budget), it would be better not to try to ape other AAA titles, especially as a company that can't handle bigger games. The complexity should lie in the games mechanics and the interactions with the world and NPCs (maybe story too, but we are talking Pokemon here), not the graphics/dimensions of said world. I'm thinking HD versions of the design of the DS games, also kinda like the PSOne version of Dragon Quest VII, which means topdown perspective and 2D overworld sprites, but polygonal trees and houses (and a camera that can rotate like DQ VII), while the battle screens are fully 2D but with gorgeous animated HD Pokemon sprites. No more Youtube Videos about why the newest Pokemon game looks like ass/Ocarina of Time, no more bitching about framerate, when the 2D sprites move in smooth 60 fps without setting the Switch on fire.  

There would be two options for Gamefreak to reintroduce 2D into the franchise. Either as a full standalone 2D game, riding on nostalgia or a game that combines both 3D and 2D like DQ XI. And here comes the first problem: Gamefreak is never going to run the extra mile of including an extra 2D mode  into their 3D game. That would only take time of the development team and make the 3D mode even worse and the 2D mode probably lackluster too. Also, since they still target mostly children, who they think would hate anything not cheaply animated in 3D (see Disney refusing to make feature films in the old hand drawn style, since they claim it would make way less money than the 1000st 3D animated Frozen sequel), we likely will never see a new sprite based Pokemon game. The remakes of Gen V are going to look like the remakes of Gen IV and might be just as bug ridden. 

To end this post on a somewhat postive conclusion, at least there are independent Developers making new 2D Pokemon-like games. Either fan-games like Pokemon Uranium or actual new IPs like Cassette Beasts. Play Cassette Beasts!!!