Have you played Pokemon Colosseum? It's a Gamecube game so it shows it's age now, but it also shows what a dedicated JRPG team could do with the Pokemon franchise if let loose on it. Personally I think that after that game and it's sequel The Pokemon Company permanently blacklisted the idea of letting another company do a standard jRPG with their franchise, because it made the core Game Freak product look bad by comparison.
I have played XD and if I recall it was similar to the other 3D pokemon games in terms of story? Except less pokemon were available? I don't mean to be negative of course, they're good games and Mirror B is best girl forever
Maybe I'm overselling it a bit, but consider it came out alongside Firered/Leafgreen and Emerald. The jump to 3D, the new capture mechanics, the story that took place in the Pokemon world but didn't revolve around just ranking up as a trainer and becoming the champion - it's the high water mark of the franchise for me.
But it also came out riiiiiiiight at the end of my being in the target demo for Pokemon, so maybe it was just exactly what 13 year old me wanted.
Have you played Pokemon Colosseum? It's a Gamecube game so it shows it's age now, but it also shows what a dedicated JRPG team could do with the Pokemon franchise if let loose on it. Personally I think that after that game and it's sequel The Pokemon Company permanently blacklisted the idea of letting another company do a standard jRPG with their franchise, because it made the core Game Freak product look bad by comparison.
I have played XD and if I recall it was similar to the other 3D pokemon games in terms of story? Except less pokemon were available? I don't mean to be negative of course, they're good games and Mirror B is best girl forever
Maybe I'm overselling it a bit, but consider it came out alongside Firered/Leafgreen and Emerald. The jump to 3D, the new capture mechanics, the story that took place in the Pokemon world but didn't revolve around just ranking up as a trainer and becoming the champion - it's the high water mark of the franchise for me.
But it also came out riiiiiiiight at the end of my being in the target demo for Pokemon, so maybe it was just exactly what 13 year old me wanted.
True, when I think about it they were pretty good for the time. I kinda feel like revisiting them.