Each time a brand new Pokemon sport comes out, the fandom appears to separate into two: those that get pleasure from it and those that declare that GameFreak has reached one other layer of all-time low. When Pokemon Scarlet first got here out, my opinion was near the second camp as a result of quite a few bugs and the shortage of attention-grabbing new Pokemon within the early sport. However then, I lastly determined to get the DLCs and truly clear Scarlet, and what I spotted? I used to be flawed. Pokemon didn’t get unhealthy or go downhill or something like that in any respect. It nonetheless provides the very same feeling because it did once I first booted up the sport as a child.
Pokemon is a type of franchises that suffers from having an enormous fanbase. With hottest sequence, folks know what they need and what they’re entering into. It’s not like Individual A can play, say, Last Fantasy XVI in a manner so completely different from the way in which Individual B does that they arrive out of it with a wholly separate expertise. However Pokemon is like The Sims. There are such a lot of folks with so many various expectations or desires that it’s nearly unattainable for GameFreak to please everybody. Gamers who solely care concerning the story, characters, or Mon assortment points in all probability don’t care as a lot concerning the meta or the issue. Therefore, their opinions on varied points of the sport will vastly differ from those that play Pokemon principally for the PvP parts. It’s a precarious balancing act with no proper reply exterior of merely making separate video games for separate demographics.
I’m a participant who cares about clearing the story, taking photos with my favourite NPCs, placing collectively cute outfits, and finishing the PokeDex. My associates are the sorts who make OCs. It’s fairly much like how I play, besides there’s an extra layer of creativeness concerned. Our conversations are completely different than those I’ve with my pal who performs extra competitively. Studying and listening to folks evaluate the stats or movesets of Pokemon A and B as a way to resolve who they need on their workforce is like watching my favourite present in an unfamiliar language. And I doubt they will relate to my having Froslass on a workforce for no purpose aside from “It’s Ice/Ghost and fairly.”
Everybody’s manner of taking part in Pokemon is legitimate. It’s not like we reside within the Pokemon world the place Paul’s technique of choosing and selecting Pokemon primarily based on their stats is thought to be villain habits. Since I’m not a aggressive participant, I don’t fairly perceive the meat that individuals had with mechanics like Dynamaxing or Terastalizing. I don’t interact with them past story battles, in order that they’re about the identical as Mega Evolution, which the PvP folks apparently beloved. To not sound like essentially the most stereotypical feminine gamer ever, however the one issues that may actually trouble me about Pokemon now are a scarcity of attention-grabbing characters and avatar customization. Shock! I care extra about hanging out and looking out cute than I do about battle mechanics. For these considering, “God, I wager her favourite Eevee evolution is Sylveon (derogatory),” yeah, you’re proper…it’s…
However does that make me much less legitimate a participant? It actually shouldn’t. That may be like saying youngsters who solely care about accumulating a workforce of legendaries are taking part in the sport flawed. Heck, you possibly can argue that they’re the precise target market for GameFreak. That’s one thing we should always all bear in mind. These video games are E for Everybody and sure, that features the little child who doesn’t trouble whether or not a transfer is a Bodily or Particular one when letting their Pokemon be taught it.
A typical criticism folks have about Pokemon as of late is that they’re too simple. Mechanics like tenting and Amie make elevating Friendship a breeze. Even when it’s as much as likelihood, Friendship in NPC battles can really feel overpowered. NPC trainers problem you with just one or two weaklings of their workforce. The common Expertise Share severely reduces the effort and time it takes to degree up a weaker Pokemon. Truthfully, I really feel just like the outdated technique of beginning with a weak Pokemon you need to prepare after which swapping them out with one thing stronger was annoying as heck. It wasn’t enjoyable and it didn’t make the sport tougher. Tedium doesn’t equate problem, and problem doesn’t equate enjoyable. I’m on Staff Common Expertise Share. However sure, it sucks we are able to’t flip it off.
What bought me fascinated about how Pokemon’s high quality is simply pretty much as good, if not higher, than the earlier video games is the sensation of pleasure. Isn’t that what the video games are all about? Exploring Paldea jogged my memory of once I first set off from Twinleaf City, and the newer Pokemon video games giving fitness center leaders and rivals extra depth past one or two traits makes the sport truly really feel like an RPG.
I do know folks hated Sword and Defend, however I personally actually loved it for the character writing and tenting. Bede, Marnie, and Hop all had such satisfying character arcs all through the story, and the fitness center leaders felt extra fleshed out than ones previously video games. I’m glad that GameFreak continued this with the rivals in Scarlet/Violet, as they have been actually the very best components of the sport. Sure, I’m conscious that characters like Lillie and N existed, however I felt like their video games solely had one or two actually attention-grabbing characters in comparison with the Change generations.
Okay, Scarlet has a number of points. There’s a purpose I dropped the sport for so long as I did. The open world is absolutely buggy. There are additionally manner too many aged Pokemon. That is its personal downside with little or no decision exterior of one thing much like Black/White the place older Pokemon are solely out there after the story. Some folks actually like utilizing or catching Pokemon that debuted in previous entries. Others favor new ones. The tenting mechanic was horrible in comparison with Sword/Defend’s. My largest beef is with the advertising and marketing. Whereas it’s not unattainable to finish any plotline or problem any fitness center chief/Staff Star boss/Titan within the order you need, the shortage of degree scaling could make it both a lot too onerous or a lot too simple in your workforce.
I admire GameFreak’s half-successful try at doing one thing new and impressive. It didn’t all the time work and video games are too costly now for the “Effectively, you tried!” participation trophy. But when a significant criticism from followers is that the video games are stagnant and by no means change up the method, then being mad that GameFreak did change up the method feels foolish. Additionally, that is one more downside with the massive fanbase. Not everybody dislikes the actual fact they comply with a method! I didn’t care, however I nonetheless favored the way in which Scarlet went about fusing a number of storylines collectively. If the brand new path of Pokemon was to concentrate on the story and characters on the expense of PvP, I’m completely superb with that. Granted, from what I hear, the present meta is genuinely gratifying so now I’m not fairly positive why folks talked about Scarlet and Violet prefer it’s irredeemable trash.
Truthfully, each time “New Pokemon video games SUCK!” discourse comes throughout on my timeline and I learn via it, I by no means see an precise concrete criticism. It seems like folks like Pokemon the franchise, however they haven’t fairly accepted that the Pokemon video games have been by no means so troublesome that they’d current a problem to somebody with a common understanding of sport mechanics. GameFreak all the time designed them with youngsters in thoughts. With GameFreak remaining mum on what’s in retailer in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, in addition to the way forward for the mainline video games, it’s onerous to inform what we’ll see subsequent 12 months. Right here’s hoping the fan reception might be higher than previous video games.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available on the Nintenedo Change.
