Pokémon Twentieth Anniversary Retrospective (Updated)
Due to this year being the 20th Anniversary of Pokémon, I thought I'd take the liberty of talking about my thoughts on the series. I think I can say I'm with everyone when he or she says that they were exposed to the Pokémon Series ever since it's inception. But I personally never showed much of an interest until I made friends with someone from my church that was really into the Pokémon series back I think around the late 2000's. I suppose it's an irony that he would lose interest in the series around the time I got into Pokémon, and I got him back into the series sometime after.Anyway, I got curious about the games when I had gotten Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Weirdly, I wouldn't buy a Pokémon game until about four years later. That's all I can say honestly. I guess now to talk about the games I've played in the order I had purchased them. And I would like to hear your opinions on my thoughts on the games I've played, along with your thoughts on each game you've played.Pokémon SoulSilver: It was during spring break at my high school. I read enough reviews on the Gen IV remakes prior to buying it, so I went to Toys'R'Us, and got the game. According to my 3DS, I've clocked in at 700+ hours, and all I can say is....how???? Did I really enjoy the game that much? Guess I did. I haven't really touched it in a good while, but as my first Pokémon game, I found it to be really enjoyable. If I had any criticisms, they would come off as nit-picky to everyone reading this. I honestly can't think of anything else to say, so I guess onto the next game.Pokémon White: At least a month if not two after I was hooked onto Soul Silver, I would later get the first entry of Generation Five. Like SoulSilver, I found White to be just as enjoyable, but despite putting over 300 hours on it, I've started to really dislike the game. Before I start talking about the issues I have with the game, I guess I might as well talk about what I love about Generation Five, since I'm sure at least one person or Pokémon is wishing for me to stop speaking so negatively about Unova.Positives:The story; This is possibly one of the best parts about the game. I'm getting tired of the silent protagonist trope, but I still have to applaud Game Freak with the story that they had created with Pokémon Black and White. Bianca and Cheren are my favorite rivals in the series, and I'm a personal fan of their development across the events of Black and White.Team Plasma; I don't know about anyone else, but I think they're one of the best villainous groups to date. Despite N's goals of wanting to create a literal black and white world, there's a sense of grayness to their goal. And in a way, you want to sympathize with Team Plasma's interests, and I love the game for that. Which also leads me to the next subject; er, character.N: Let's be honest on this one. I've only met one person on the interest that has a
genuine hatred for N, everyone else I've listened to has acknowledged about N being one of their favorite Pokémon characters, and yeah; he's one of my favorites, too. I think it's his character design, that might be it. Funny Trivia: The cube that hangs on N's belt is known as a void cube, and official concept art shows that it was originally going to be integral to the plot at one point, as some kind of key or something around those lines. I would personally love to see Game Freak revisit this idea in a Generation Five remake. End of fact!Anyway, N is possibly one of my favorite examples of a sympathetic villain, the next up being Ganondorf in the Wind Waker. We all know of his goal to separate Pokémon from humans, but you almost want to side with him on what he stands for. And I'm probably the only one that wants to give the kid a hug when it's revealed that he was just a puppet leader with the puppeteer working in the background right at the end of the game. As for N's character, I'm convinced he suffers from a level of autism. Let me explain: it's established that he has a really high level of intelligence, which I think can be best seen by how fast he can speak in-game, which basically says that he can pick his words really quickly. And we're given hints that he's an expert in math. For one, his Trainer ID is 00002, and two is the first prime number. Speaking of which, his battle themes are a translation of prime numbers. Don't know how a series of math numbers can translate into a musical composition, though. (Sighs) Now onto the negatives of Pokémon Black and White. Go ahead and tear me up all you want:I actually don't know where to start. I've actually got only one or two negatives, and yet those negatives severely outweigh the positives I have for Generation Five. But believe me, I want to love Generation Five, because there is so much it does right. Call me lame, but I find it really exhausting, along with tedious to level up Pokémon, an issue I've always had with each game I've had prior to Gen Six. Weird thing is, I never found it tiresome to work on leveling up my party in Soul Silver, yet I hate doing the same thing in White. And just how much it tends to tire me out seriously reduces my motivation to revisit Generation Five. Heck, I end up playing something else anytime I consider doing a revisit of Gen Five, since I don't find it that fun to replay. (sighs) I really hope that a remake of the Unova games will change my opinion of Black and White. Edit: As of this writing, I'm currently replaying White to see if my opinion's changed on the game.Because I have never beat White 2, I can't really give a full opinion on it. But I will say this; It's the first and only video game I've ever pre-ordered, and it's possibly one of the biggest regrets I've ever had as a gamer. The farthest I had gotten was up to the Chargestone Cave, and I gave up on the game. I know
I've already said this, but I've always had bitter memories on the later half of Generation Five. Heck, that's kinda why Unova is what it is in my Pokémon Story, even though I'm really regretting doing that. And because of that, along with some stuff I've wanted to get rid of, I'm thinking of rebooting my Pokémon story. But like a Lucario once told me, I should just do what I feel most comfortable with. I should mention that I feel that I tend to end up writing for the sake of writing, something that I should stop.I guess Black 2 and White 2 could still be recommended to give a look, perhaps you'll see something in those games I haven't.Pokémon Ruby: After the bitter taste Generation Five gave me, I didn't have any excitement for Gen. Six actually. Yet, I still had a lot of fun with Soul Silver, and after watching Chuggaconroy's Let's Play for Pokémon Emerald, I thought I'd take a look at least at Generation Three. I thought about getting Emerald, but I wasn't a fan of some of the stuff that was changed from Ruby and Sapphire. So I grabbed Ruby, and loved the series all over again. I honestly don't know exactly what it was, but something about taking a trek through Hoenn revitalized my interest in Pokémon. On top of that, I have Generation Three to thank for introducing me to what is now my all time favorite Pokémon, Milotic. Sure, I wish it got the same amount of attention as Gardevoir, Lucario, Lopunny, Blaziken, or Zoroark. But in a way, I'm grateful that Milotic hasn't been done to death for Pokémon romance stories like the five Pokémon I mentioned. I think it helps give more creativity for what can be done with Milotic. And in my personal opinion, I think Generation Three is a perfect place to start for those new to the Pokémon Games. Pokémon Y: I guess flash forward to October of 2013. X and Y just came out, and I was hearing the overwhelmingly positive reviews. So I grabbed Y from a Wal-Mart, and played the heck out of it. If I haven't made it obvious, Gen. Five shattered my interest in Pokémon, while Gen. Six effectively restored my interest just as quickly. I think it's the faster paced gameplay for me. What probably helps is the addition of diagonal movement. I have to go on a tangent about this, but it's always bugged the heck out of me how the main series Pokémon games didn't incorporate diagonal movement until Gen. Six! I can forgive at least in the first two Generations, the third to a degree. But Gen. Four comes around, and still no diagonal movement?! I'm sorry, I can forgive hardware limitations in the first three generations....I should just shut up about this. Oh, yeah. There's also a roller-skating mechanic which I whole heartedly adore, no doubt thanks to the 3D controls. Anyway, my favorite part of X and Y would have to be the buff that the Exp. Share had gotten. I know it's overpowered now to be able to level up an entire party, but I think it's a
major benefit for those that have little free time to play the game. Heck, you now get experience for catching Pokémon, which I think is a nice little bonus. And for anyone that is into competitive play, Gen. Six is the ideal place to start. The fact that you can boost stats without having to grind on a bunch of particular Pokémon makes it so much easier to get into competitive play. I've heard mixed opinions on Mega Evolutions, and I personally have a neutral opinion on the idea of Mega Evolving. I do lean towards the more positive side of Mega Evolutions, at least for competitive play. For anyone that has a negative opinion on Mega Evolution due to "ripping off" Dragon Ball Z or Digimon, I can't make any statement about that. Simply put, I never grew up on Dragon Ball Z because of my parents DESPISING ANIME! From what I've seen of the show, along with memes, I can't say I blame them. As for claiming the Mega Evolution rips off a similar mechanic from Digimon; One, I remember nothing about Digimon. And two, there's Mega Evolving in Digimon?!That aside, if I only had one issue with X and Y, it's the story. Team Flare is essentially fashion Nazis, and while they do have whom is arguably my second favorite villainous leader Lysandre, he doesn't make up for how under-developed the group is, even if he has the most character development out of anyone in X and Y. And for everything X and Y does right, it does feel in a way like a glorified tech demo for what a full 3D Pokémon game can be capable of. ***Then came Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. If X and Y were tech demos, then I'd say that the Hoenn games are the full product. Where do I even begin when talking about this game? As remakes of Ruby and Sapphire, I personally feel they are the definitive experience. What probably helps these two games is the improvements that Gen Four and Five brought in, which lead to what I feel is a much more enjoyable experience then even the original games. And that's honestly the best way I can sum up what I feel is my now favorite Pokémon game to date Without going into too much detail.I also own FireRed and Platinum, but like White 2, I've barely put any time in on all three games I mentioned. Final Thoughts: I'm honestly not a Pokémon enthusiast, but I still enjoy the games. And this might be a bit random to confess, along with rather random timing to do this, but I don't think I would be the same person I would be today if I didn't get into the Pokémon games like I did back in 2012. And I don't feel comfortable openly explaining why I feel that way. Anyway, feel free to tell me how you feel on the Pokémon series, how you got into the games, and so on.