i agree, i LOVED nexus for its insane combat and class variety but it definitely went on for like 2-3 labyrinths longer than it should have. im considering going for the 100% cause im insane, but idk if im emotionally ready for that yet lmao.

im also planning on doing a video essay on V and nexus soon since i don't see them get talked about all that much, still a WIP though

I think Pokemon's biggest problem is the limbo The Pokemon Company exists in. It's 1/3 Creatures Inc, 1/3 Game Freak, and 1/3 Nintendo. So it was created by one guy who has a company, developed by another company, and published/console-exclusive to a third company; together they form The Pokemon Company.

At this point, if they could somehow buy Nintendo out of the company, Pokemon would have so much more room to grow! Jumping to multiplatform games for less hardware restrictions, allowing more development time, and freeing up their restrictions as far as Nintendo's policies would do so much for the franchise!

Alternatively, if Nintendo just bought out the Game Freak development portion and made them a team at Nintendo of Japan, they could be given a bigger budget, a bigger team, and maybe loosen up development time to allow for more of that Nintendo polish to shine through where it's needed most. Either way, I feel Pokemon as a series is just in a weird place, and has been for a long time. I think that's some of the biggest contributing factors to the recent game's mixed reception...

...but even if all else fails, we play and replay the old games! I started with Gen 3 way after they came out, moved up to a 3DS with Gen 6, then went back and played HeartGold and White. And I still have more to go! Ultimately I'm not too worried, as long as there's main and side games I haven't played, plus sub-series like Legends, I'll be just fine

Oh yeah, I almost forgot they did a Mystery Dungeon remake! Haven't played any of those games yet, but the Switch remake seems like a good one Ranger would definitely be harder to recreate, but I'm sure they could institute some kind of system if they tried hard enough. Nintendo seems to be a big fan of the bare minimum though...

I look forward to seeing what happens with the Legends sub-series moving forward, I think it has a good chance at being a rival to the main series in terms of popularity and sales! I know I, for one, won't purchase the recent games (namely Scarlet/Violet) until they get their act together as far as pre-release quality assurance and polish. If they put the same effort into the Legends games moving forward, it could build into a great sub-series!

thank you!! ive really been enjoying EO, nexus and V were two of my favorite games i finished last year

Pokemon has definitely been suffering for their lack of quality spin-offs. The hype of Pokemon Go has been gone for a while, though was fun while it lasted. We definitely need to see more classic spin-offs and new ones like the Legends style. I really enjoy Colosseum/XD Gale of Darkness on the GameCube! It would be awesome to have more traditional main series games be supplemented by smaller, story-driven games with unique mechanics that enhance the gameplay in meaningful ways.

And of course, Ranger and Mystery Dungeon could make a triumphant return right now, I think there's a lot of fans looking for more games like that but having to turn to other companies/developers for that style of game. Even if they were just remakes/remasters of the old games, as long as they were high quality I could see that going well.