A Massive Region-Hopping Adventure Leaked

There have been a truly ridiculous number of Pokémon leaks recently, and, should they end up being true, they’re giving fans a detailed insight into the kinds of games they can expect from the franchise in the coming years. From major Gen 10 reveals to the next Legends game, these leaks are the ultimate resource for those desperate to learn anything about what Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have up their sleeves.

However, perhaps the most interesting of the major Pokémon leaks is the reveal of what Game Freak has in store post Gen 10 and the subsequent Legends title. The next major Pokémon game is seemingly unlike any that have come before it, at least in this current 3D era, and that is immensely exciting. More importantly, this next Pokémon game has one key feature that means it’ll avoid the biggest issues that have plagued its predecessors.

The Next Major Pokémon Game Might Be Massive

It Could Span Several Regions

The map of the Sinnoh region in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

Alongside the Gen 10 name and region leaks, we also got a look at Game Freak’s slate up until 2030. Posted to the subreddit r/GamingLeaksAndRumors, the major leak revealed that at the top of that list were the Gen 10 games, which are allegedly scheduled to release next year. After that is a Galar-focused Legends game set to launch in 2027, and then, after that, is Pokémon Project Seed. It is potentially Game Freak’s most ambitious game to date and easily the most exciting of all the leaks.

Pokémon Project Seed, which, according to the leaks, is set to release in 2029, is a region-hopping adventure set across Johto, Sinnoh, Kanto, and Hoenn. Ostensibly, it is attempting to repeat the success of the Heart Gold and Soul Silver games, albeit doubling the number of regions it’s exploring in the process. That is an inherently exciting pitch, especially considering how both limiting and lacking in wonder the Nintendo Switch era regions have been.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many details beyond that, other than some concept art. So, all of this should be taken with a pinch of salt. However, after years of Pokémon feeling outdated and in dire need of ambition and a newfound sense of direction, Seed offers hope. In fact, I truly believe that Seed has the opportunity to not only be an excellent and ambitious Pokémon game, but also the game to save the franchise.

Pokémon Project Seed Sounds Amazing

A Region-Hopping Adventure Would Be Perfect

Four players running across the open world in Pokemon Scarlet.

Pokémon Project Seed sounds incredible for two key reasons, both of which I believe are enough to push the series in the right direction. Of course, the most obvious is its premise, something that feels daringly ambitious for Game Freak in a way that even its first foray into the open-world genre lacked. Recreating four distinct regions across one experience is a bold move, especially as all four of the games they’re associated with were originally designed for the GBA or DS systems.

The towns, even in the Sinnoh region, were comprised of little more than a handful of buildings. Should Project Seed be real, then it’ll likely expand upon these regions significantly, at least when it comes to the scale of their towns and key locations. Even if each region is a largely truncated version of its original self, its visual design will feel drastically larger in scale, if only thanks to the capabilities contemporary technology allows for.

More importantly, however, is the fact that something of this scale necessitates releasing on the Nintendo Switch 2. For too long, Pokémon has been hampered by the relatively weak hardware it’s designed for, something that wasn’t an issue during the Game Boy and Nintendo DS eras, but became a serious problem on the 3DS and especially Nintendo Switch. Pokémon must abandon the Switch if it has any chance of surviving the next few years, as the outdated console is only holding it back.

Including four giant regions in one title should surely mean that Game Freak will be allowed to design the game for the Nintendo Switch 2. Even if each region is an instanced open area, they’ll still likely need to be far bigger than anything Nintendo has put out on the Switch. However, I suspect users will expect a seamless open-world, the likes of which Heart Gold and Soul Silver couldn’t deliver back in 2010. Frankly, something so wildly ambitious is the only thing I can imagine winning back the goodwill the series has swiftly lost over the past few years.

Pokémon Needs To Do Something New

It Needs Something Ambitious To Get It Out Of Its Rut

The player standing in Lumiose City in Pokemon Legends Z-A.

Frankly, what made me so excited when I first heard about Pokémon Project Seed through the leaks is its ambition. It has felt like Game Freak and The Pokémon Company have been resting on their laurels for far too long, with each entry feeling like it is just about achieving the bare minimum for what it should be. Pokémon Legends Z-A, for example, has offered up the most uninteresting city-based location imaginable, despite there being so much potential in the concept.

Scarlet and Violet’s disastrous open-world somehow felt like an early prototype for what open-worlds could look like, rather than a game released after some of the greatest games in the genre had revolutionized it years prior. Even games like Let’s Go Eevee, Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond, and Legends Arceus often lacked fundamental gaming features, ensuring they forever feel like games that should have been released in the early 2010s.

Pokémon Project Seed, should it actually be real – and I really hope it is – marks the first time that Game Freak is doing something new. It isn’t the same experience with a murky new coat of paint or with the addition of a poorly implemented new feature or genre. It is a massive undertaking that demands impressive specs, money, and a bigger team to pull off. Which is also why I’m a little worried about it.

Project Seed is supposed to release four years from now, with two other games launching in the interim period. Game Freak’s 207 employees – as of March 2024 – are surely not enough to pull off three games in four years, including a wildly ambitious title. Perhaps Project Seed will end up feeling like yet another mediocre game that falls short of its potential. However, for the sake of the Pokémon franchise’s longevity and the patient fans who are quickly growing to resent it, I sincerely hope Project Seed ends up being the amazing game we all deserve.