Therefore, GF can touch Russia in future mainline games.
Being really pedantic, that's less GF doing Russia and more going "what, this? No, this isn't Russia. This is ours."
Actually I think it's more of a "hey these islands are over here and we need some out-of-the way locations".
They included not because they think Japan owns them or as an "open door" to make a Russian region later, they included them purely for geological reasons.
The first four Pokemon regions may be based on Regions in Japan (with Kanto & Johto directly named after them), but in the world of Pokemon (at least nowadays) they are not Japan. Each Region essentially serve as their own Country, and exist separate from the real world location they're based on (including any controversies).
The problem right now preventing a Russia Region is that the Russian Government is currently an antagonizer to a brutal war against the Ukraine for tyrannical and unjustifiable reasons (and able to do it because Ukraine doesn't have the protection of the United Nations). Its vastly unpopular with most of the world atm, to say the least. And with Pokemon games usually trying to highlight the Region's culture, people (aka customers) may feel uncomfortable with a game depicting Russian culture in a positive light at this current time. Also, GF likes to first vacation in the country/countries they make into a Region and ever since the war Russia has not been a good tourist destination.
Oh, so I don't derail this thread completely (if I haven't already anyways), one place that has the potential to make an interesting region but will never happen for real-world political reasons would be Cuba. Cuba is quite geographically diverse and would offer a pretty interesting layout for a region, but being the perpetual subject of a questionably legal embargo by the UN makes it pretty unlikely that it would ever happen.
Not to mention anything they'd want to do with Cuba they could just as easily do with the Bahamas or Jamaica. Though these places would likely be DLC locations (and being Gen 9's DLC showed DLC locations can take place in other places in the world, we don't necessarily need the main region to be someplace close by like Florida or Mexico).
I do think With the next generations. A region based off China would've been problematic If pokemon was unpopular, Not very famous, or If Even forbidden! And as I live.in china, I know that Even here (the region With the bloodiest history related to Japan) Pokemon is very popular. Pokemon qu'est is a game that continues developping in China And china only. Sure, video games are 16+ somewhy, But Still I do think it's possible. And Even sooner than We might think With the treasures of ruin pokemon being inspired of chinese legends.
It was discussed as one of the first things in this thread though I never commented on it, but here's my opinion on China's chance to become a Pokemon region: High. I'd argue even Very High, nearly on the same level as other popular suggestions such as Greece & Italy.
Does China have problems? Yes. But unlike Russia at least China isn't at war with anyone, they're issue is more imperialist (insisting certain Countries are a part of China and then throwing their economic weight around to bully everyone to agreeing). But here's the thing: That is modern China. A PokeChina could in theory lean on the historical side of China with only slight inclusion of modern day when it's needed and non-problematic. This isn't a luxury that Russia or Cuba has. It's a convenient work around GF can use.
Much earlier on someone talked about the Middle East/MENA not being a viable location because land, and thus Pokemon, diversity would be lacking but I've got to disagree there.
Yeah, honestly environment diversity arguments are not really an issue as, at worst, GF will just add a biome or stretch a niche location into something bigger if is just so happens to match a place they want.
Goes without saying Middle East's issue is more political (saying this as if not all regions we've pointed out problems with isn't political cause that's really the only restriction).
But I started thinking about what an actual region would look like if you did one in Louisiana and realized the obvious thing to do would be make it a Mississippi River based game, with Chicago and the Great Lakes at one end and New Orleans at the other, and I was like 3 levels deep into planning that out when I realized that literally no one outside the US would know any of the cultural references, why those bodies of water matter so much, etc.
Yeah, I don't anything South/West/Mid US is impossible. The thing is what they may do is pick a general "area" they want to do, pick a state or two that's in the middle of it, and then smoosh in features from all the surrounding states. Heck, this would also include neighboring Countries.
- Texas & Mexico are so closely linked they might as well make them a single region.
- Want a good collection of Southern states? As you said, just make a region encompassing several states along the Mississippi River (I'm pretty sure while doing research for such region they'd at least read Huckleberry Finn).
- Moving North, The Great Lakes would make for a great central setting for a Region, and you'd be able to include parts of Canada (notably Ontario, maybe also a bit of Quebec).
- As for the Wild West, well partner if you use Utah as the center I'd say you touched all the other states you'd see in a Western (including Nevada; the Game Corner will return but now its an entire city!).
I would love it though because they could throw a little shade and have a pair of Kaiju legendaries that you've got to find by visiting the in-game analogues for the nuclear waste disposal site in Nevada and the Bikini Atoll out in the Pacific (not dissimilar to the Legendary Birds of Gold and Silver).
Yeah, so this is actually another thing people also should keep in mind: In no way is the story going to be based on any issue affecting the based Region.
- Paldea is about a central mystery concerning a giant crator in the middle of it with reality bending crystals (one notably about the Professor going crazy and summoning altered Pokemon based on their temporal obsession, including the Mascot Legendaries). Paldea is based on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal).
- Galar was about the League being a major league sport, the boss of it obsessed with a future energy crisis & extreme methods to prevent it, and a medieval knight legend; all which wind together at the end with the Mascot Legendaries being the knights of legend who need to be summoned to slay an energy dragon that the League Boss was using to "solve" the energy crisis. Galar is based on mostly England.
- Alola was about the Professor creating a new Pokemon League while a boss of an international Pokemon rescue organization goes crazy and either summons interdimensional aliens to live with them/tries to calm & heal a powerful interdimensional alien before it comes to cause a huge ecological disaster (Mascot Legendaries being interdimensional aliens). Alola is based on Hawaii.
- Kalos was about a leader of a global humanitarian organization going crazy and thinking soon the worlds resources will completely deplete due to ever increasing population and decided to commit global genocide while making members of his organization immortal (Mascot Legendaries being batteries to the super weapon whom are based on Norse mythical creatures and have power over Life &
Death Destruction). Kalos is based on France.
See what I'm getting at? Which is why I say a Real World Location exclusion is mostly current political based then ecological. GF is gonna make a ton of stuff up anyway, including the story. This lets them focus on what a Region based on that location has to offer while ignoring the local controversies which most people will either not be aware about or not take that much issue with.
totally right. I think Not only Nintendo will veto nuclear, But Also THE STAGE OF JAPAN AND GAMEFREAK ITSELF.
- I think you give Nintendo too much power here. If GF decides to make a game focusing on nuclear power, unless its very politically charged I don't think Nintendo would be too concerned.
- I think you also overstate Japan's concern over the topic of nuclear power. Like, you know Japan has nuclear reactors (there's a famous incident with one). While originally Godzilla started as an allegory for the danger of nuclear power, overtime it has evolved to being used to represent different issues and in some cases the hero (or at least the "less" of two evils).
I do not think a game where the Mascot Legendaries represent aspects of Nuclear Power is impossible... though also note that they will likely not go too heavy into issues concerning Nuclear Power. Like, the story will actually be about two competing groups who have found ways to create energy, one from the Pokemon World itself (Fission) and one from a cosmic source (Fusion), and the big conflict is that the way their either producing/extracting or processing/distirbuting the energy is causing problems that lead into the Mascot Legendary causing havoc. Maybe somewhere in there will be a small PSA about things like nuclear waste & radiation, but it'll kind of made subtle by a giant monster going crazy which the player can catch and then make to do competitive battles or do silly dances in beauty pageants.
The amazon is cool and epic and i like it because im a patriot etc but dog i swear if they make a brazilian region and its just the amazon rain forest, são paulo and rio id get so mad. Would genuinely prefer to not have a brazilian region at all
I don't think they would just do the Amazon Rainforest, they'll definitely have Towns & Cities dotted all over the place. How I see it they can:
- Extend the Amazon Rainforest's game analogue so that pretty much all wild areas is part of the rainforest with a few outliners to add different biomes.
- It'll just be one giant area, maybe something akin to Galar's Wild Area.
Finally, someone who notices it's not just (most of?) Wales who got left out. It's everything south of London.
Cornwall for example is very much MIA.
This is why it also bugs me when people say Galar is based on the UK. No, no, it's based on BRITAIN. The UK is a wholly different thing.
If they were going to properly adapt the UK we'd need like... 10 more DLCs.
Yeah but at least Galar got two DLC ... but my country is waiting for DLC (I was born in south of France, I was to see Marseille in Pokemon !!! :D)
As I mentioned above, now that GF is experimenting with the DLCs not having to be (physically) directly connected to the Region of the main game, maybe we will see DLC's placed in the left out UK Countries and show more of Southern Kalos for France (the Pokemon Academies are a good setup for that; Paldea has the Uva/Naranja Academy, Unova has the Blueberry Academy, which Academy would Galar & Kalos have?).
