If you could change some aspects of any game for the better, which game, and what would you change about it? Feel free to do multiple in one post, or reserve them for separate posts.
Pokemon (the entire series, not just one specific game)
-The first thing I'd change is removing the prompts the games give when you want to use an HM move on an obstacle. Why does it need to ask you? The player walks up to the obstacle and presses A with the intention of getting past it, so asking if they want to use Rock Smash on a cracked rock is stupid and a waste of time.
-The next thing is scrapping HMs entirely, as most of them are useless in battle anyway, and just waste valuable move slots. Instead, put those moves on TMs like every other move, and replace the overworld functionality of them with key item tools that are player activated, like the bike. For example, the replacement for Rock Smash would be a pickaxe or drill, and the replacement for Cut would be a handaxe or something.
-The games after Gen 2 became incredibly linear, to the point it doesn't even feel like you're on an adventure anymore, but being taken on a tour, because you have no choice on where to go next. I'd find a way to make the worlds more open like they were in the first two gens (the branching point being Lavender Town in Gen 1, and Ecruteak City and the entirety of Kanto in Gen 2) while still telling the same stories they intend to tell.
-Finally, bumping up the difficulty of the games overall. They are, and have always been way too easy, to the point it's laughable. They hype up the gym leaders, champions and elite four and such, but because of how Super Effective works, you're almost guaranteed OHKOs every single time, because it's so OP. It's really anticlimactic. Instead of damage being so high, or HP so little, balance it out so the battles play out more like battles, instead of mostly one sided sweeps.
Pokemon (the entire series, not just one specific game)
-The first thing I'd change is removing the prompts the games give when you want to use an HM move on an obstacle. Why does it need to ask you? The player walks up to the obstacle and presses A with the intention of getting past it, so asking if they want to use Rock Smash on a cracked rock is stupid and a waste of time.
-The next thing is scrapping HMs entirely, as most of them are useless in battle anyway, and just waste valuable move slots. Instead, put those moves on TMs like every other move, and replace the overworld functionality of them with key item tools that are player activated, like the bike. For example, the replacement for Rock Smash would be a pickaxe or drill, and the replacement for Cut would be a handaxe or something.
-The games after Gen 2 became incredibly linear, to the point it doesn't even feel like you're on an adventure anymore, but being taken on a tour, because you have no choice on where to go next. I'd find a way to make the worlds more open like they were in the first two gens (the branching point being Lavender Town in Gen 1, and Ecruteak City and the entirety of Kanto in Gen 2) while still telling the same stories they intend to tell.
-Finally, bumping up the difficulty of the games overall. They are, and have always been way too easy, to the point it's laughable. They hype up the gym leaders, champions and elite four and such, but because of how Super Effective works, you're almost guaranteed OHKOs every single time, because it's so OP. It's really anticlimactic. Instead of damage being so high, or HP so little, balance it out so the battles play out more like battles, instead of mostly one sided sweeps.