The spotlight has dimmed on Pokémon Day 2023 and fans around the world have chimed in regarding their feelings about the presentation. While a majority of players were just happy to get information about game updates and the confirmation of DLC for Scarlet and Violet, there is a loud group claiming this Pokémon Presents was a disappointment.
This is almost always the case when it comes to new Pokémon content being revealed, but there are quite a few reasons for some fans to be a bit let down this time around.
Scarlet and Violet got a blowout during the final half of the show, with The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero being announced as a two-part DLC for the Gen IX games. These expansions will feature over 230 returning Pokémon, new Legendaries, and a story that builds upon where things left off after the final battle in The Great Crater of Paldea.
Related: Biggest winners and losers in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet patch 1.2.0
Despite getting plenty of info on that DLC, almost the entire rest of the presentation was spent on updates that were already live or small pieces of content for other games. Here is a basic overview of everything revealed:
- Pokémon World Championship key art shared
- Pokémon TCG Classic product revealed, more details to be shared at Worlds in August
- Stopmotion Pokémon animated series, Pokémon Concierge, in production at Netflix
- Pokémon UNITE update featuring Zacian and Boss Rush mode recap
- Content went live before the show
- Pokémon Café ReMix update recap
- Content went live before the show
- Small Pokémon Masters EX update showcase for Champion and Galar content
- Pokémon Sleep re-revealed after multiple years of silence
- Showcases some interesting mechanics
- Pokémon Go Plus Plus auto-catcher revealed too
- Paradox Tera Raid event featuring new Pokémon—Walking Wake and Iron Leaves
- Paradox Suicune and Paradox Virizion variants added to the game immediately
- Pokémon Go interlinked features with Scarlet and Violet going live
- Gimmighoul (Roaming Form) and additional content now available in Pokémon Go
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC/Expansion Pass reveal
- Part 1: The Teal Mask set for Fall 2023 release
- Part 2: The Indigo Disk set for Winter 2023 release
- Pre-order bonuses detailed
The majority of this content was either predicted or expected in some form, give or take some release dates or content shadow-dropping.
There were some nice surprises, but outside of Sleep being shown again and the Gen IX DLC content, it felt a little underwhelming when it came to reveals.
While no content is ever guaranteed during a showcase like this, a lot of fans were hoping for more, whether that be in the form of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon title being announced, as was rumored a few weeks ago, or other spin-off games getting their time to shine. But unless you count Sleep, there was no sign of a new side game.
Related: Years on, Pokémon fans still solving Detective Pikachu sequel mystery
At the bare minimum, there was hope the recent inclusion of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to Nintendo Switch Online could lead to some of the original Pokémon games like Red, Blue, and Yellow being added—especially since they had already been re-released on the 3DS eShop.
But there wasn’t even an update on Pokémon Stadium or Stadium 2 releasing for NSO’s N64 collection, and those games have already been announced to be coming to the service before the event even ran.
So yes, while some of the disappointment fans are feeling comes from potentially overhyping themselves based on leaks, rumors, or their own imagination, it does feel like this Pokémon Presents was received at room temperature.
That doesn’t mean it wasn’t good, but it did leave something to be desired.
