Pokemon Games Suck but I Still Love Them

 

                                   Pokemon Games Suck but I Still Love Them

I like to separate art into four quadrants. On one axis is quality: high on the top, low on the bottom. On the other axis is personal taste: like on the top, I don't like on the bottom. Everything is rated based on it's quality, and whether it fits my personal taste. The Pokemon games are a series I enjoy that is low quality. Pokemon games are not high quality video game art. From a critical standpoint they are pretty average and predictable. I still love them for personal reasons.

                So why do I think they're low quality?

Grindy repetition. A problem that is common to a lot of RPGs, battles are too repetitive, and once you level up enough you can basically beat anything with any party and (almost) any move set. The rock paper scissors aspect of battling helps this only SLIGHTLY as it's really a numbers game. Get bigger numbers and win. There are a lot of random meaningless battles to reach your destinations, though it's possible to skip them with different items, then you might end up underleveled! So, you basically must fight.

The characters are not very interesting. Again, this might be my "first generation" bias but I thought that the characters in the first generation were somewhat interesting. The trouble with later games is they basically reuse a lot of these characters, rather than coming up with ones that are distinct for each series. The narrative arc is also, pretty much the same. Beat the 8 gym leaders, and then beat the Elite Four. Then you go for momma's little boy to a big strong hulking collosus of a man (or woman as an option in later games in the series).

Aesthetic predictability. Most (though not all, see Pokemon Sun and Moon, for example) Pokemon games share a similar art, music and sound effect style. One battle theme. One special battle them. Title theme. Walking theme. Pokemon make their noises when you encounter them. Lots of grass. Always more grass. Does anyone have a riding mower?

               Why do I enjoy them?

Nostalgia. Pokemon Red and Blue came to Canada at the right time in my life. I had just moved from my eleven year home, to a new province and much smaller community. As a youngster I was only allowed to play video games at friends houses but not allowed to have them at home. Until age ten when I got a regular Nintendo (at a time when the Nintendo 64 had been out for a couple of years). A year later we moved, and at that point the Nintendo was broken, so I guilted my mother into getting a Gameboy. Red and Blue were the big games in sixth grade, and after several months of watching the more privileged kids play, I finally got a copy of "Red" for Christmas.

Ease of play. I spend my mental energy on work, school and various creative endeavours. I play video games to relax, even to have something to do with my hands while I listen to a podcast... or "take care of business." I know these games so well, that they require little mental effort. Catch Pokemon. Level them up. Go to gym. Get the HM. Do the little side quest. Go to next town. Repeat. I know there's little variations here and there but the core gameplay is essentially identical, and I'm fine with that.

Collecting. Even though, at a certain point it becomes busywork, I enjoyed the collecting aspect of these games. I had to catch them all. I even got a link cable, and eventually got all original 150 monsters. Beyond the first 150 (1) or 250, that was enough for me. Past that point every dog, cat and toaster oven idea for a monster had been creatively exhausted.

Pokemon games are not high quality video game art. From a critical standpoint they are pretty average and predictable. I still love them for personal reasons. The original rival, modelled after the anime series' Gary Oak, hit the right level of annoyingness and slightly badassness. "Smell ya later!"