Yes I was indirectly referring to Little Town Hero. I straight up haven't even heard of the GEAR stuff! Also, I don't think "triple A marketing" would describe Little Town Hero.Let's pretend that they can't slow down (which they can, they said so themselves they decide the game's timeframe, but let's pretend), and that they care about a minority of nitpicky fans about how long the games take (they don't), still I feel GF has ignored or even got in a way of potential workarounds that'll let them have a game longer in development. Simply put, hire 3rd party companies to make side games to fill the void if they MUST make a game every year. GF aren't ever going to let a 3rd party make a main series game, but they've let plenty make side games. Why not set an initiative where they, say, let two other companies develop a side game that will be the "main attraction" for two years in a row giving GF about 3 more years of development time.
I'm guessing this thought is toward the GEAR Projects and the failure of Little Town Hero? Yeah, that's a steep hill to climb and I do feel bad for GF that, though they also don't help themselves when they refused to change their development cycle.
Little Town Hero feels like a side project game stretched to be at least a double A game, given triple A marketing, but given no extra time to have its mechanics more thoroughly built upon, graphics to be more polished (& coming up with a system to make the non-major NPCs be different models), and story fleshed out (at the very least so that that you reach the story ending and not a "to be continued"). If GF REALLY felt like LTH had a strong franchise opportunity, what they should have done was develop it over time for a few years with little to nor corners cut. But, whether because they refuse to change their development cycle methods or were desperate to have a new franchise to focus on (or maybe a combination of both), they rushed LTH making it have the same shortcomings are modern Pokemon games and, well, if I want that I'd play a Pokemon game. They themselves ruined LTH's chance, and that's something I can't feel sorry for them about.
As you said, these thoughts are complicated and are as much about the developer as it's about the franchise. Especially a franchise that has a complicated ownership on top of everything else.
It ended on a "to be continued"? That's a huge oof, wow.
Also, you guys want a fun Game Freak game? Try Mendel Palace on NES, their very first game. Flip tiles over to kill enemies. It's very basic but fun enough and each world has its own music. It is still an NES game, but pretty fun for what it is and I enjoyed my time with it.
Edgy as heck boxart.
To quote TV Tropes:
"The cover artwork and modified title screen for the American NES version was actually a result of a misconception within Game Freak's staff, who believed that American players actually preferred mean-looking "realistic" characters."
tfw your boxart looks like rejected EarthBound enemies.