I'm done with Pokemon

[sp1nz | 611]

I still plan to collect the games but I lost my enthusiasm at X/Y. They did so much wrong after the great Black/White generation I had played just before starting X/Y generation. I started with Pokémon Blue when it released (I was 11 years old), watched the cartoon series often, owned a bunch of cards and the first Pokémon movie etc. More detailed post in how I view the generations I played:

Maybe nicest way I can put it is that they went from 90s kiddie games to 2010s kiddie games, always for children but there is a large gap between the type of player these represent, thus the former either finds it way too casual, even if it was always quite casual or has gotten bored with the barely evolving formula. Still the jump from Black/White to X/Y was one of the biggest changes to the formula yet but it went to a different direction than where my taste was.

[AstralSoul | 502]

Gens 1,2,3, and 5 have been the highlights in the series to me, and since gen 6 it has been progressively worse. I keep buying them and playing them hoping to rekindle the spark I had in gens 1-3. Gen 4 was the first time I felt disappointed with a Pokemon game and the only reason I think gen 5 recaptured my interest briefly was because I was playing it alongside a friend for the first time since gen 1 and also because it was refreshing to see all new 150 Pokemon rather than a rehash of the same old Pokemon with a few new ones mixed in. I think part of why I'm so bored with the series is because how many times can I catch Pidgey and Pikachu? I'm tired of the seeing the same Pokemon over and over. In gens 1-3 I wanted to keep every single Pokemon. I wanted a full Pokedex. After that it became too much. And now with 900+ Pokemon, and so many of them aren't even that good in design, I just have zero motivation to collect in them. Sun and Moon was probably the worst in the series, I don't even remember it. I always say the worst thing a game can be in forgettable. Sword and Shield aren't any better though. The joy the games once gave me is gone. Like I said I keep playing them in hopes it will rekindle the spark but at this point I think I'm chasing something that just will never exist. I was even really excited for the remakes of Gold/Silver and Ruby/Sapphire and I loved those. Even Let's Go which was a remake of the originals was great. But I couldn't care less about the remakes of Diamond/Pearl and while the Legends Arceus game looks like it has potential I'll probably never play it because I can't even finish Sword/Shield. But anyway I'm glad I'm not the only one. The love for the series is gone. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,507]

Good @Gloves.  Now you can join the dark side and play the series you should have been playing this whole time.  Not that PG grade school bullshit!

[Gloves | 11,759]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

Good @Gloves.  Now you can join the dark side and play the series you should have been playing this whole time.

I can never seem to actually finish a Shin Megami Tensei game lol.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,507]

Just now, Gloves said:

I can never seem to actually finish a Shin Megami Tensei game lol.

Well that's because they're hard as fuck

[Gloves | 11,759]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

Well that's because they're hard as fuck

Lol nah, I've never had any difficulty, I just have a hard time with the fairly repetitive gameplay loop. Especially with the Persona series. The whole school day / inside mind world cycle gets tiring for me.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,507]

1 minute ago, Gloves said:

Lol nah, I've never had any difficulty, I just have a hard time with the fairly repetitive gameplay loop. Especially with the Persona series. The whole school day / inside mind world cycle gets tiring for me.

Sounds like a problem for a pushy backlog thread to solve 

[Brickman | 3,978]

6 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Good @Gloves.  Now you can join the dark side and play the series you should have been playing this whole time.  Not that PG grade school bullshit!

They did do that Pokemon ripoff with Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children but that doesn't have an English release and it also looks way cooler than Pokemon.

[Brickman | 3,978]

8 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Lol nah, I've never had any difficulty, I just have a hard time with the fairly repetitive gameplay loop.

That is basically what Pokemon is too haha. At least with SMT & Persona you have to think and actually can die. Pokemon I just spam two moves most of the time.

 

[DefaultGen | 5,395]

38 minutes ago, Shmup said:

That is basically what Pokemon is too haha. At least with SMT & Persona you have to think and actually can die. Pokemon I just spam two moves most of the time.

My strategy is to get something like a Kadabra ASAP and spam Psychic through the entire game.

[zeppelin03 | 314]

I was the right age for pokemon. Watched a ton of the cartoon, bought loads of pokemon cards, played red and yellow over and over.  It was one of my favorite games.  I didn't continue with gold. When the mood struck I just emulated yellow. I have played Heart Gold in the last few years and it was amazing.  It seems safe to assume the series peaked on the DS.

I enjoyed Sword & Shield but didn't go into it with high expectations after giving up on Sun/Moon. I didn't think Sword was bad just uninspired.  Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had large maps with big creatures and great detail for switch.  How they could only make one zone walled in is beyond me.  I would rather they had just skipped the wilds and done a normal Pokemon game.  The story felt rushed for the last third or so as well.  

It seems like game freak is struggling with what to do now that their games are on a console and not just hand held.  I hope they turn it around in a few years.  Arceus seems interesting while ugly.  If not pass that over to Monolift and give someone else the 2D RPGs to work on.  Snap gave me hope they can still make a good game.

Edited September 14, 2021 by zeppelin03

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,055]

38 minutes ago, zeppelin03 said:

I was the right age for pokemon. Watched a ton of the cartoon, bought loads of pokemon cards, played red and yellow over and over.  It was one of my favorite games.  I didn't continue with gold. When the mood struck I just emulated yellow. I have played Heart Gold in the last few years and it was amazing.  It seems safe to assume the series peaked on the DS.

I enjoyed Sword & Shield but didn't go into it with high expectations after giving up on Sun/Moon. I didn't think Sword was bad just uninspired.  Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had large maps with big creatures and great detail for switch.  How they could only make one zone walled in is beyond me.  I would rather they had just skipped the wilds and done a normal Pokemon game.  The story felt rushed for the last third or so as well.  

It seems like game freak is struggling with what to do now that their games are on a console and not just hand held.  I hope they turn it around in a few years.  Arceus seems interesting while ugly.  If not pass that over to Monolift and give someone else the 2D RPGs to work on.  Snap gave me hope they can still make a good game.

They didn’t make Snap. Bandai did

[Makar | 1,946]

I have to agree with you. The last 2 gens have been quite the letdown. If you haven’t played 5th or 6th gen I do recommend those. All the megas and z moves and dynamax and different forms and whatever other nonsense they keep introducing is really just meh. 

[Makar | 1,946]

This is completely unrelated but if you need a good game freak game, check out pocket card jockey 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,011]

My take on the newer ones. 

I liked Sun and Moon but I just kept asking wheres the rest of the game? It was just so bare and empty, I was desperately looking for Z to revisit an actually constructed over world.

Pokemon let's go was fun but only on handheld mode. I liked the idea of mastering pokemon and having substantial post game battles with Green was cool. I liked the pokemon go style gameplay too. I'm actually missing that shoot off as it's the best one they've made in years (decades?).

Sword and shield I had to like, make my own rules to make it fun. I decided I'd be the ghost trainer and only use my start + all ghost Pokemon. The DLC was boring as fuck and I just couldn't get through the 2nd half. No more fetch quests pls. 

I'm looking forward to the diamond and pearl remakes. I just wish the Arceus they'd stick w what works. The let's go, brilliant pearl, soul silver look is what we want. I don't need a BOTW GTA feel to pokemon. Cartoony and boxy is fine. 

It comes down to game freak actually sucks as a dev and caught lightning in a bottle TWICE with gen 1 and 2. Since then, the rest have been, ok? At best really. 

Anyway, my expectations are always low and I just try to enjoy it in my own way. Don't evolve Pokemon unless I had to to beat a gym, use shit pokemon I catch along the way and try to always keep a theme with my team. Otherwise you just steamroller through the game. 

 

 

[LaC | 104]

I got to go to the E3 when Pokemon was launching. Got the press kit, demo cards, etc.  It all seemed special at the time, but I was like oh what is this shit, wtf is nintendo doing? I was done then.  So we are now in the same boat.

I think it was just beyond my generation, obviously, because I was an adult.  I can see the appeal, but still surprised it continues to last.   There is just something about the cute factor that latches onto each generation which is why it continues to flourish I'd guess.  It doesn't matter how bad the games are.

 

 

 

 

[JamesRobot | 5,786]

It's hell getting old.

[OptOut | 8,880]

I am only ever into pokemon for the endgame content, after all the boring story shit is done. Catching all the pokemon, breeding and training them to do the battle towers and stuff like that, the battling is my main jam in pokemon, and all the stuff necessary to get the pokemon the way you want them.

For that reason, I find it VERY hard to get into a Pokemon game, unless it really grabs me and keeps me going all the way through to the end. Last time I managed to even SEE the endgame was Pokemon Y, which is definitely one of the best Pokemon games IMO.

Gen V was REALLY good too, and obviously I like gen 1 and 2. The others are largely a meh from me at this point, and Gen 3 was like a knife through my fucking heart at the time. Never forgive. Never forget.

[CMR | 518]

I'm just here to brag that I've still never played a Pokemon game.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

5 hours ago, Gloves said:

Lol nah, I've never had any difficulty, I just have a hard time with the fairly repetitive gameplay loop. Especially with the Persona series. The whole school day / inside mind world cycle gets tiring for me.

Same here, the only one I ever did was I guess sort of a side story, Last Bible (Revelations the Demon Slayer in the US on GBC.)  SMT 4 and other I've never come close, never got my ass handed to me, but the grind an loop are painfully annoying and I just get bored of putting up with it and stop, not for a lack of liking the game but the tolerance of that wears out.  Persona I know is worse so I've never bothered at all at least on those.

[erac | 78]

I already felt that way by gen 3. First two gens were awesome, but the third added too many new pokemon, and all kinds of superfluous crap like beauty contests and home decoration. I've played the stuff up to and including the DS gens, and probably will try the Switch ones, but not having high expectations. Seriously, there's about 1k pokemon now, try to catch them all or even to memorize them all lol.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,055]

3 hours ago, erac said:

I already felt that way by gen 3. First two gens were awesome, but the third added too many new pokemon, and all kinds of superfluous crap like beauty contests and home decoration. I've played the stuff up to and including the DS gens, and probably will try the Switch ones, but not having high expectations. Seriously, there's about 1k pokemon now, try to catch them all or even to memorize them all lol.

Catching all the pokémon was the only thing that really interested me. I mean I am a collector after all. So having more never bothered me but not having access to use all of them in the new games did bother me. I like to grab random ones and train them for a bit or just do some battles for fun. But they went and ruined that

[Tanooki | 4,929]

Catching got old for me because of the wretched leveling taking forever.  Oh no let’s not equally if any share xp with the party.  Better over time but still…draining.  

[Alder | 243]

Collecting them all was always the main appeal to me too. I don't care about battling or anything, I just like completing things. I got Blue for my birthday as a kid and got sucked into it, ended up getting Red and Yellow for Christmas so I could trade with myself to complete the Pokedex. I had friends with the game but they weren't as far as I was and I was impatient. I ended up getting multiples of some so that I could have one of each, in order, stored in the PC. I think that's now referred to as a living dex.

Nicknames were forbidden too... I never once felt comfortable nicknaming my pokemon and it always triggered me that some of the in-game trade exclusives had nicknames.

[KokiriChild | 1,644]

Lifelong Pokemon fan. Gengar is my favorite Pokemon so your tattoo sounds awesome.

But I have to agree, Shield was the first mainline Pokemon game that I couldn't even finish. The hand-holding and railroading has gotten so bad, it feels like a four hour long "Press the A button" simulator. 

I disagree very hard with their design philosophy that "easier/casual" = "more accessible/fun." I realize its a kids franchise, but we played the mainline Gameboy games with no issues. In fact, the mysteriousness of the game with things like Missingno. and Mew made the game that much more fuckin' cool! Rumors on the playground were what made the game so eternal!

I also have a personal connection to the greater IP, as I was a very serious Trading Card Game player at the regional and national championship level for a long time. That game too has been having the same issue. Power creep and oversimplification that takes all strategy and finese out of the game. 

Its such a shame, because the solution is SO EASY to fix. It's not an issue of the deisgn of new Pokemon, or moves, or regional mechanics/gimmicks. Literally just don't make the game borderline impossible to lose. If you're worried about scaring away newer/younger fans, just add a "Hard Mode" for oldschool players.