Not to start this off with a tangent, but I have to
ask a question: which theme song from the Pokémon
anime is your favorite?
I know that -- by virtue of being the first of the
bunch -- the first theme is undoubtedly the most popular, and holds a special
place in the hearts of gamers the world over.
(Voltech Pro Tip: look
up Powerglove’s take on the song for a metal delight.) But I think it’s important to at least give
the other songs their fair shake, especially with so many songs collected over the years. Compilations are fully available on YouTube,
and I listened to one a while back. Some
are good. Some are…less good. But you know what? My favorite of the bunch is the Galactic Battle theme -- which is weird, because I haven’t seen
a single episode of that season. I don’t
even know what season the show’s on right now.
Twenty would be my best guess.
The takeaway here is that the sheer number of
songs codifies the franchise’s enduring legacy.
You know you’ve made it big when a compilation of theme songs creeps
past the thirty-minute mark -- and while there’s no guarantee that everyone
will like everything you do, at least you’ve put something out, right? There’ll always be people that buy in
wholesale, no matter when they decide to do so.
We should celebrate that; newcomers, veterans, and everything in between
can come together and enjoy something magical.
And now that that thinly-veiled argument against
the “genwunner” mentality is out of the way, let’s press on with gusto. And lots of fancy balls.
I’ll be the first to admit that the impetus for
this post isn’t necessarily the upcoming Pokémon
Sun and Moon, as valid as those two games may be. No, I’ve been thinking a fair bit about Pokkén Tournament recently. I don’t think anybody would’ve ever seen that
game coming before its reveal, but damned if it’s not appreciable. Not to devalue the mainline games’ signature,
turn-based style, but the idea of going ham while directly controlling sick
monsters like Blaziken gives me a case of the vapors.
Maybe that’s because of my “unique
circumstances”. Obviously, I’m a fan of
the franchise. But to be honest, I’ve owned
just one of the main installments -- so
despite knowing about the games, my purest jumping-in point was Pokémon Black. Yep. I
don’t know how it stacks up overall to the other games (I know virtually nothing about Diamond/Pearl and the 4th Generation at large), but you
know what? I had plenty of fun with Black.
I got into the series late -- the DS was my very first handheld system,
after all -- but I enjoyed my time with the game.
The problem was that I enjoyed it too much.
If what my mom once said is right, then my family
has a history of/penchant for addiction.
I can believe that, especially in lieu of my time with Pokémon Black. I was not ready for its sheer breadth; I did
my best to build the ultimate team, spearheaded by my Samurott, OG. I spent a huge amount of time leveling and
evolving as many mons as I could, including grinding the crap out of a Boldore
to see what its final form looked like…unaware of the fact that it only evolves
after trading. The staggering number of options overwhelmed
me, and the nuances could have devoured me like a giant serpent if they wanted
to. I took on Cynthia’s Garchomp, and
learned firsthand just why it has the
reputation it does. Eight badges gained,
Team Plasma thwarted, and the champion title firmly in hand; over the course of
88 in-game hours (likely more, thanks to me rage-quitting at times), I did as
much as I could and constantly wanted to do more.
Little wonder, then, that I was practically one
with my DS for a good while. I was
falling asleep with the thing in my hands -- mid-battle, no less -- and waking
up with the thing in my hands. That was
well before I even started going up against other real-world players. But incidentally, I never did; that’s a deep,
dark hole, and I decided that I had to trade in the game before those pocket monsters
led to me withering into a skeleton.
Well, into more of a skeleton,
anyway.
I know that there have been complaints that
Nintendo and Game Freak have been selling the same game over the past twenty or
so years. But since this is Nintendo
we’re talking about, the house that Mario built can usually get away with it
because the formula works. (Plus,
there’s typically a big gap between one release and the next -- which makes the
inevitable reunion a bit sweeter each time.)
Pokémon’s one of the last
bastions of turn-based combat; true, the spinoff games have taken the franchise
to some different gameplay dimensions, but when it comes to the core
releases? It’s fairly familiar.
It’s one of those cases of “easy to learn, hard to
master” when it comes to the system, especially if you get in deep with the
intricacies of Poké-optimization and Poké-eugenics. Type advantages can form a big part of
strategies and team composition, but they stand in addition to resource
management, offense, defense, and proper timing. I remember using my Galvantula for some
sneaky hit-and-run tactics, arming my Samurott with Ice Beam to help deal with
Dragon-types -- in case my Beartic bit it -- and I got a shocking amount of
mileage out of my Sawsbuck’s life-sucking, healing abilities. Who knew a deer could make such a strong
defensive wall? Is there something
you’re not telling us, Bambi?
I think I was lucky to get my official start with
the series via Black. It may have shown up on the DS, but the world
of Unova was one I found well-realized -- lots of cool areas with some neat
visuals despite the handheld’s limitations.
(I’m pretty fond of the Ferris wheel scenes.) With that said, I think that there’s a
personal appeal Pokémon offers me: I
find the world interesting, and strangely appealing. That’s kind of a given when you’re dealing
with a franchise that regularly goes “Oh yeah, there’s another continent out
there. Go explore it, you idiot!” Because geography is for suckers.
In any case, there
was a short interview in the back of a GameInformer
issue that brought in one of the franchise’s major figureheads. In that interview, he mentioned his take on
the Pokémon universe -- and in a lot
of ways, it was meant to be something like a utopia. The jury’s still out on how effective of a
utopia they built -- the sheer level of twee on the world’s surface might be
poison to some -- but it’s hard to deny that there’s a lot to go starry-eyed
over. Clean towns, sprawling cities,
incredible technology, and a society with a generally-sunny disposition…and a
penchant for sending ten-year-olds into the world to fend for themselves. Then again, it says a lot when parents are
certain enough in global safety when they’re able to commit to a ritualized
exodus of innocent children.
I won’t deny that there are probably some grisly
aspects of the Pokémon world (there
ARE basically gods walking among them, so that could beget religious zealots
and/or catastrophes raining down on a whim).
But you know what? In some ways,
the franchise offers a respite. Plenty
of games have gone down the grim, gritty, and grisly route; some of them have
done so successfully, while others…haven’t. Either way, Pokémon is proof that not every game needs to be gritty to win over
an audience -- especially an inclusive audience.
Not to play the “think of the children”
card, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder if the medium in its current state
is always welcoming to everyone. You can
probably answer that for yourself, because there are a crapload of legitimate
debates raging right now. But
regardless, I feel like having more Pokémon
is always going to be better than having less; it’s a pleasant world that
puts a huge emphasis on cooperation, self-improvement, and the pursuit of
goals. That’s accomplished with
something close to fantastic monkey knife fights, but still. If I had a kid, I’d rather they bonded with
their favorite monster instead of their favorite gun.
And that brings me to what might be the clincher
for the whole franchise.
The franchise is creeping closer and closer to the
1000-Pokémon mark. That’s a lot of
critters, large and small, to keep track of.
And yeah, I know a lot of people have had a laugh at some of the more
recent designs’ expense; one of my major players was a living(ish) chandelier,
after all. Not every monster is a
winner, but not all of them need to be. Pokémon keeps marching forward,
providing newcomers and veterans alike with a fresh start and a chance to
befriend a whole new cast of creatures. Even
if they’re not real, they’re an extension of the player -- pixels and polygons
that become real, and gain meaning,
because you’re going on a journey with them.
In a lot of ways, Pokémon hasn’t changed that much over the years. But it’s compensated for by an overarching
theme: evolution. Your team gets stronger, and you get stronger
in kind. You change into someone else
each time you boot up the game, and change even more as you progress through
routes, gyms, and countless battles. The
symbol of that evolution is the bond you form with your team; you may start off
with a bobblehead of a starter, but the road to the championship will turn you
both into hardened warriors -- fighters better than you would’ve ever thought
possible. There’s a real sense of
romance that’s hard to overlook -- and even if you do, you’re still engaging
with a game on a deep level, custom-made to fit your preferences.
But that’s a pretty roundabout way of saying
“there are some sick-ass mons in this game, and that’s awesome”. I’m partial to Blaziken, but I’ve got no
problems bowing down to something like Mega Scizor.
So yeah.
Technically, I don’t have the deepest bond with Pokémon -- which arguably makes me a poser -- but I still have some
incredible respect and deep love for it.
I know there are people out there that love it way more than I do. I respect that, too; I watched the
live-action video for Pokémon GO when
it was released, and I couldn’t make it through without a big dumb smile on my
face. Maybe in the future, that’ll be
the level of fidelity and freedom the franchise will reach. Until then?
I think the games are doing pretty well for the time being.
Although I will contend a certain point: if
Nintendo released a mainline game (or something close to it) on a main console
with the breadth of a Xenoblade game
and the online functionality of the average MMO, it would win more than just
the console wars. It would win reality itself.
But that’s all in my opinion. What’s yours?
Like Pokémon? Hate it?
What do you want next from the series?
Anything you want dropped? What’s
your favorite monster of the whole bunch?
Feel free to weigh in at your leisure.
I’m all ears -- though I should preface that with a confession.
I’m seriously not a fan of Dragon-types. Too many bad experiences. But now I can’t help but laugh, knowing that the
games got an entirely new type almost specifically
to counter them. Fairies for the win,
it seems.
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