BY THOMAS MAZZAFERRO
1/21/2020
One particular memory that shows how much Pokémon means to me always stands out in my mind: I will never forget reaching the fifth grade, when I condemned myself “too old for Pokémon.” It was a noble effort, until Diamond and Pearl were released a year later and I found myself on a secret Pokémon journey. Hiding from my friends that I had once again picked up my cap and Dex. It wasn’t until one weekend in sixth grade that I went to a friend’s house and saw the box for Pearl on his dresser. When I smiled and pointed at it he looked embarrassed and said “It’s a really good game I just wanted to try it.” This was the day we realized our entire group of five friends were hiding from each other that we still play Pokémon.
When it comes to this franchise, we all started somewhere. Nearly every video game fan has stepped into the tall grass at least once in their life. Whether you began with the 8-bit Red and Blue or the three dimensional world of Sword and Shield, you’ve experienced the daunting task and seemingly endless journey that is a Pokémon game.
Everyone has their own style when it comes to enjoying this world and the creatures that populate it. This is where Pokémon sets itself apart from other online games. Players can become skilled at various things that contribute equally to the community. Some trainers are especially talented at battling, some breed Pokémon with perfect stats, others might spend all their time searching for the rare Shiny Pokémon. This is what Pokémon is, a community and a world.
Pokémon has been around for over two decades, and I still buy each game the day they get released. About one hundred creatures get added to the massive pool, some new and often forgettable characters show up, and every NPC thinks you’re the greatest human to ever live. This is the cycle Pokémon has followed since the very first installment in 1996, very rarely deviating at all.
As someone who has played every game, I’ve experienced every single time Game Freak has added a new feature to Pokémon. Some of them make players beyond excited, while others leave us scratching our heads in confusion. However, when it comes to Game Freak and the exciting new gameplay elements they add, one thing is certain: They will be taken out of the next game for absolutely no reason. For example, 2009’s Pokémon: HeartGold and SoulSilver added the ability to take your Pokémon out of their Ball and walk with them! This added a whole new layer of unique personality to each of the game’s four hundred creatures, finally allowing the player to interact with them outside of battle. Fans prayed this fun cosmetic addition would be here to stay but sure enough, Game Freak failed to add it to the next games, Black and White. It has been over ten years since then, and Pokémon following the player outside of battle has still not appeared in another main series game.
I personally loved that feature, but I find it very interesting that losing a small addition like this is what Pokémon fans choose to be upset about. The fact that this cosmetic feature was such a massive blessing to this community speaks volumes as to the lack of ambition Game Freak puts into Pokémon. To get to my point, I will use the announcement of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as an example. Imagine the big exciting new feature in that game was the ability to dye Link’s clothes. Imagine it as a usual classic Zelda game, but you can dye your clothes. What if fans were freaking out with excitement about something like that? That would really say a lot about the forward thinking of Zelda’s developers. In reality, Breath of the Wild revealed itself as a genre-blending non-linear story with a massive open world, serving as a completely fresh breath of air for the series and a prime example of what a modern video game should be.
Pokemon fans are being fed junk food while Zelda gets chocolate cake. Junk food is all Pokemon fans are given, so we don’t really know any better. All metaphors aside, it’s mind blowing that the Pokemon games have consistently been developed since 1996 and still to this day the games severely lack: non-linear story, dynamic character customization, true open world, MMORPG elements, and social online features. These are features we should be receiving, not an overly elaborate and detailed curry cooking system like in Sword and Shield. Game Freak is truly pushing the limits of their constantly recycled formula after twenty years. The sad truth is, Pokémon games have felt consistently lazier, easier, more repetitive and less memorable since the 2010s began.
It’s frustrating to think about whether or not the perfect Pokémon game will ever appear. The developer’s complete lack of boundary-pushing leaves the series in a growth-stunting limbo. Fans have endless ideas for how to mature the series, myself included. Pokémon: Sword and Shield is uglier, less engaging and less charming than both Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild. Until they create a Switch title that is able to stand next to both of these games, (which have changed their corresponding series forever) Pokemon will continue to be only okay and never great.
Until Game Freak takes a step back from their profit-focused formula of shelling out incomplete, outdated games, Pokémon is far from the best there ever was. Now, Pokémon: Sword and Shield has cut out half the roster, therefore four hundred Pokémon are available as opposed to the actual nine hundred they have made over the years. Taking out features is a thing of the past, now they take out the single most important parts of the game. The ability to catch and train whatever you want, a unique team of your own personal favorites, the ability to transfer Pokémon from past games; all of these are ways players can express themselves and stand out as a unique Pokemon trainer. Game Freak seems to not want to create a massive online Pokémon world. Game Freak would rather create a tiny Pokémon box for each individual player. We all get to be the god of our own little Pokémon game.
Some of us don’t want to be a god. Some of us grew up watching Ash trek across Kanto, camping out at night, traveling with his friends, battling random trainers at his skill level. The Pokémon anime showed us a world we want to live in, not one we want to rule over like we do in the games. Game Freak, if you’re out there, we just want to experience the everyday life of Pokémon trainers. We want a world where not everyone can be “the very best.” We want to fight for it. Give us that at least.
THOMAS MAZZAFERRO 