Pokemonis one of the most lucrative franchises in the world, and naturally it has had a large number of spin-offs over the decades as a result. Some of these spin-offs become larger series of their own that grow and change over time,likeMystery Dungeon, but some - like Conquest and Colosseum - are left behind despite a significant portion of the fan base calling for the contrary.
The world ofPokemonspin-offs is in an interesting place right now. It seems like a lot of the spin-off attention is focused more on the mobile gaming world at the moment, with titles likePokemon Unite, the newPokemon Sleep, and the massive hitPokemon GO. Not everything is mobile, though, with recent games likeNew Pokemon SnapandPokemon Legends Arceuskeeping console spin-offs alive. The franchise has so many more successful spin-offs from the past, however, and they’re largely being ignored, much to the chagrin of many players who grew up hoping for more entries.
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Pokemon Conquest Deserves a Chance
The combination ofPokemon’s massive set of unique monsters with unique abilities and the tactical RPG battling system of serieslikeFire EmblemandFinal Fantasy Tacticsis a match made in heaven that remains a hidden gem on the DS. Even thoughPokemon Conquesthas a fairly small community, at least by franchise standards, it still begs for a sequel, if for no other reason than the potential that this title shows.
The biggest criticism laid againstPokemon Conquestby many is that it can feel a bit too simplistic at times. The combat and the number of obtainable Pokemon would benefit greatly from expansion, something that a sequel could build upon perfectly. At the time ofConquest’s release,Fire Emblemwas still a franchise that Nintendo considered largely unviable in the West. It was literally a month after the release ofConquestthatFire Emblem: Awakeninghit North America and launcheda wave of popularFire Emblemtitlesthat remain relevant to this day. In light of that, there’s really no excuse to not bring a newPokemontactical RPG to the Switch. There’s certainly a market for this genre, and the recentAdvance Warsports will only hold genre enthusiasts' attention for so long.
Pokemon Colosseum Should Make a Comeback
UnlikePokemon Conquest,Pokemon Colosseummanaged to at least squeeze out one sequel before being sealed in the vault. Prior to Generation 6, bothPokemon ColosseumandPokemon XD: Gale of Darknesswere the only references gamers had for what this franchise could look like in the world of 3D, and they achieved a level of quality that some argue the main series' 3D titles have yet to match.
Really, these games should have set the standard for the franchise moving forward. It was very apparent to most who played this spin-off series that double battles are the optimum way to experiencePokemon’s combat system. It allows for so much more variety and experimentation while reducing the groan-worthiness of some moves like Protect, which serve no purpose other than extending a battle’s length unnecessarily in most single-battle contexts. On top of that, the level of detail in battle animations is purely unmatched by anything the franchise dishes out today, something that is truly shocking considering the nearly 20-year gap betweenPokemon ColosseumandPokemon Scarlet and Violet.
For some reason, rather than continuing down the trail that the twoColosseumgames blazed, the mainlinePokemonseries continued on its path of introducing new battle systemsevery generation only to underutilize and ultimately forget them, like Gen 5’s triple and rotation battles. If that’s the path the main games will continue to take, it would at least be nice to get a newPokemonadventure in the Orre region sometime soon.
