For a franchise all about monsters who evolve in superior forms, Pokemon is pretty stagnant. While Nintendo is very conservative when it comes to updating its beloved games, it also recognizes when it’s time to do something cool and experimental, like send Mario to space or turn Zelda into an open-world masterpiece. But core Pokemon games, the role-playing games that serve as the backbone for the entire enterprise, never get to be that radical. The Pokemon Company argues that because these games primarily appeal to children—any Pokemon game will be some generation’s first Pokemon game—there’s no need to overcomplicate the proven, 25-year-old formula. Whether you buy that reasoning or not, it’s hard not to feel like it excuses laziness. The #Dexit controversy was ridiculous and overblown (there are already too many Pokemon to begin with), but I think fans would’ve accepted cutting down the number of Pokemon in Sword and Shield if those games overall had higher production value.