Pokemon games used to be so weird, man. I’m not even talking about thereallyweird ones like Raichu’s Bolt Deflector or Escape From Gengar’s Mansion, I’m talking about the main series games. The ones that weren’t afraid to make you fight actual ghosts or Dynamic Punch god. We used to be a proper country.
I don’t know if it’s the advent of 3D graphics or the infantilisation of its audience, butPokemonhas lost this weirdness. I had high hopes for theTeal Mask DLCafter the Sinistcha reveal trailer involvedthe matcha Pokemon draining people of their life force, but now my only excitement remains contained to live-action trailers andPokedex entries.
Modern Pokemon Is For The Younger Generation
There’s a lot I dislike about modern Pokemon, but I also understand that it’s a series I’ve outgrown. I realised the same thing with Doctor Who when I was about 12 and David Tennant regenerated into Matt Smith. As my age was increasing with time, the age of the show’s target audience was proportionately decreasing. What was once a family show was now a kid’s show, and I was rapidly growing from kid to teenager. Pokemon is undergoing the same trajectory.
That’s not entirely a bad thing. For Pokemon to continue its success, it needs to attract new audiences. It understands that kids are the ones who buy more t-shirts and plushies and trading cards (at least for the most part), so that’s who it targets. As a result, the games are easier, more transparent, and create less intentional friction for fear of turning these little minds away.
Some of these changes are positive. The ease of acquiring bottle caps and training up perfect-IVed monsters to take to the competitive VGC scene is a godsend to casual battlers like me. I love having different methods to shiny hunt, despite the fact that I think I preferred it when shinies were mythical creatures whispered about on playgrounds and internet forums.
But there’s downsides, too. EvenNuzlockesfeel too easy. You’re gifted free items and heals on every step of your adventure. There is no challenge. But worse than that, and worse than the technical limitations, is the lack of edge that Pokemon has these days.
Pokemon Has Lost Its Edge
I’m replaying Pokemon SoulSilver at the moment. I’ve fought Whitney, a tough battle that is more difficult than anything Scarlet & Violet threw at me, and made it to Ecruteak. This is the creepiest city in Johto, thanks to the fact it lives in the shadow of the Burned Tower, the remains of which have been left as some kind of monument to the Pokemon that were lost in the fire.
Weirdly, Whitney’s Clefairy caused me more problems than her Miltank this time around, thanks to some unfortunate (for me) Metronome rolls.
There’s nothing similar in modern games. Sword & Shield had some great town designs, but they were just facades. Ballonlea was the perfect opportunity to create some mystique, add a dash of dramatic storytelling, either environmental or a side quest of some description, and it was passed over completely. I couldn’t even name a city from Scarlet & Violet, they were that bland and generic.
The Ogerpon story in The Teal Mask DLC flirted with this edge, putting a twist on local folklore in order to subvert expectations and turn you against the adorable mythical creature that had been helping you thus far. I’m not entirely sure what turned me off this story, perhaps it’s the cutesy art style or the fact I’m burned out on modern Pokemon, but it just didn’t hit the same as the creepiness in the old games. Compare it to the myth of the Burned Tower, the Distortion World, or Lavender Town. It comes up short every time.
I still own my old Pokemon games, and can dip back into them whenever I want. That’s what I’m doing right now and what made me think of writing this piece. But it’s a shame that Pokemon, a series that bottled lightning time and time again throughout the ‘90s and ‘00s, has regressed. If only it could recapture that edge, that weirdness, that creepy magic of the Game Boy and DS eras, then maybe I’d be excited about Pokemon again.
