The Problem With Pokemon

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are coming soon, and Pokemon's experiencing something that I don't think I have ever seen before: nonchalant attitude.

For as long as I can remember, before any Pokemon game came either incredibly positive or negative reactions.  People either said "this new one is horrible, they've ruined Pokemon forever" or "This is gonna be AWESOME!"   Even when remakes came out, there was very loud reaction to it.

This time though, I don't feel like there's much hype.  Sure, there's the usual "This game is probably gonna suck" or "This game's gonna rock," but the hype is nowhere to be seen.  I'm planning on buying it myself, but even I'm not feeling the excitement I usually find with Pokemon games.  Heck, I was excited for X and Y, and I still love it, but this game in particular I feel excited, but I'm certainly not shaking from excitement: why?

Now, for those of you that know me are aware that I'm of the opinion that modern Pokemon is more meant for kids than it used to be, which is why everything now seems much more childish and silly to us adults.  However, that doesn't necessarily make it bad.  Heck, we have games like Mario and Sonic, and yet those are loved by all.  Pokemon used to be as well, but lately the hype has been specifically for younger ones.  Why?

While I have no answers, I do have a few theories as to why this is. 

1: The Story



I'm sure most of you saw this coming, but what I'm about to say might surprise you.  I'm actually enjoying the way the story of Pokemon is heading (excluding the anime, obviously).

Gamefreak has been doing something for the last few years that I'm not sure people ever expected from something as silly as Pokemon...a story.  Not just a story straight out of a children's book, but something with serious questions, deep characters, and a few actually thoughtful morals.  Even though X/Y might not have had the greatest story as their villains were meh, there were still many deep and cool moments.  

I've played many of the prior Pokemon games, and in terms of story, there hasn't been much.  Even when we got to the Ruby/Sapphire era, the story felt like more of an excuse to move from one place to another.  It didn't feel like there was much purpose, and wasn't really that deep.  I'm actually playing Emerald right now, and despite having some interesting characters, not much is done in terms of story.  Compared to modern Pokemon, it's obvious that now they're actually trying to improve the story of the games.

...this is where the problem of their target demographic comes in.  The story of Pokemon, while having some serious thoughts, is really downed in areas for the children, and it's obvious.  Despite X/Y having some cool story, the villains were literal jokes, and every time a thoughtful question was brought up, it was answered by something straight out of an episode of Veggietales.  

Before, the story wasn't that major, so it didn't really show.  The story was childish, but not a primary focus, so it wasn't really that noticeable.  Now that they have a clear focus on the story, I feel like their focus on keeping it kid-friendly is made plain for all too see, making it much more unappealing to teenagers and young adults.  

2. The Same Game



Man...so many Pokemon.  It's hard to believe there were once only 150.  

Now to make things clear, this argument has nothing to do with "all the modern Pokemon designs suck".  I actually like a lot of the new ones...I think the problem is actually something entirely different.

Up to the 3rd Gen, almost all of the Pokemon in each new generation, were...well, new.  They were all new Pokemon, with new creatures, new typing, new abilities, all sorts of cool stuff.  

Come 4th Gen. Something seemed a bit different.  We noticed some old faces coming with the new ones.  Pikachu, Psyduck, Goldeen...not many, but a few.  It was a small enough amount that people didn't really notice.  5th Gen was the same, but with a few more old faces returning.

Then came the 6th Gen.  Out of the ordinary near 150 new Pokemon, only about 1/2 of those were actually new Pokemon.  The rest were ones from older games brought back again.  Megas were introduced, but they were still just older ones made new-ish.   That's not many new faces to add to the mix.

Here's my theory: it's not how the new Pokemon look that's the problem, it how reused the old Pokemon are.  And not just the Pokemon themselves, but the whole game!

 

Over the past many years, Pokemon as a whole...hasn't really made many changes.  Sure, the graphics are improved, combat's improved, and story's improved; but as a whole, Pokemon hasn't changed much at all.  You're still a 10-year old trainer walking around, battling strangers and going to become the champion.

Now, a game doesn't have to change conceptually to feel very new, but what's being reused is more than that.  Ever since Gen 3, little to nothing has been changed about the game as a whole.  Sure there's been new Pokemon, a few forms a battle, and some different minigames, but there hasn't been any substantial changes in Pokemon for as long as I can remember.  

No matter how classic or cool of a concept you have, everything ages over time: eventually, people will get tired of it.  People will only be able to enjoy Super Mario Wii Throwback for so long before wanting a new way to play, or Sonic, or pretty much any form of media.  No matter how great your concept is, changes have to made eventually.

And Pokemon really hasn't.  Sure, there's been a few out there titles, but none of them are really that large of titles.  Beyond those, Pokemon has barely changed at all for so long that I think people are starting to get bored of it.  You don't necessarily have to change the concept completely to do something new and cool either.  Like maybe make the Pokemon battles in a way where you actually move the Pokemon around and fight as them, or experience the Pokemon universe in space, or fight alongside your little friends.  Some form of gameplay mechanic that hasn't really been done before that makes people curious and want to try it out.  I think that is sorely needed in the universe of Pokemon right now.

3. Too Short



I'm going to summarize right off the bat this time.  Pokemon is way too short.  

Back in the day, what made Pokemon so awesome was the main game.  Playing through the story and experiencing the world of Pokemon, trying to become the champion of Pokemon; that was what everyone wanted and what made Pokemon so cool.

But with how wireless and internet gaming has developed, things have changed.  Now, what matters to everyone is the post-game.  When you've finished beating all the NPCs, become champion, and created your team, you're now ready to experience the world of Pokemon by fighting real people...

...but what else?  This is something I have specifically noticed lately as I've been thinking about the Pokemon games.  Once you've beaten the main storyline...there's really not much to do beyond fighting other people.  There might be one place you haven't visited or Pokemon you haven't caught, but there's not anything significant to accomplish.

And Pokemon battling has been the same for so long that you can only battle people for so long before you'd rather do job paperwork.  After about half an hour of doing nothing but battling, I'm already sick of it, and there's pretty much nothing else to do!

Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver I think had the right idea.  When you beat the main game, there were still so many things to do and explore, new minigames to play, but you were also at a level where you could compete with other people.  

I think the right route to go would be to do something along with those games, or have more connectivity early on, like the ability to go into each other's games and explore the world of Pokemon with a friend, or maybe even both.  Something that would make the experience more interesting for a longer period than about 10 hours.

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So, yeah.  Be aware that these are merely my opinions, and I'm not really sure if any of my ideas would work or not.  I do still think that Pokemon is cool, I am looking forward to the new Ruby and Sapphire, and I think they'll still be around for years yet.   However, I do think that if some changes aren't in place soon, that the series might end up becoming something of the past.