Honestly the main reason the discourse around this game is annoying is that the whole idea of an edgy version of pokemon is juvenile as hell, but people are instead moralizing about stealing from fucking nintendo
this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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It's sad too because I don't want edginess, I want Nintendo to just explore Pokemon like they're living creatures.
The worldbuilding is so shallow and the Pokedex entries don't make sense. And the new Pokemon roll out to replace the old ones (hate that it's called dexit).
It's frustrating to think about the proposed ideology of Pokemon about stewardship, compassion, and working together when the franchise itself is just that, a franchise.
It's frustrating to think about the proposed ideology of Pokemon about stewardship, compassion, and working together when the franchise itself is just that, a franchise.
Tangential to that, it always annoyed me growing up with the media and the games that key to all the stories is the idea of individual pokemon actually being important and growing meaningfully as part of a largely static team, but in the games they're just disposable type, stat, and move pools that get switched out or binned indefinitely and your static team at the end is a bunch of stuff you caught in the last fifth of the game or less. The one, singular exception to that in my experience was when I caught a shiny vulpix in one of the gym challenges in Sword (of all places), and that became my sweeper for the entire rest of the game and both DLCs, but that's the most edge case of all edge cases being something that was insanely rare and special in its own right, that was also a very strong and viable pokemon, with nearly perfect stats on top of that.
Like there's a huge disconnect between the sort of collecting gameplay and the story about growth and whatnot, since you're basically playing a looter shooter and the pokemon are just new weapon rolls to be evaluated and kept or tossed, and none of the franchise's mechanical attempts at fixing this have worked because they're always just limited gimmicks that can't get in the way of that core looter-shooter progression loop.
Consequently, I've always wanted to see something where a given pokemon's progression is more fluid and has higher peaks than just "this is a one stage low-stat trash mon and that's all it will ever be, bin" or "this has one mid-tier evolution that comes super early, good early game bruiser and then trash as soon as something better comes along," as long as you actually invest in it and keep it around. But I don't think Pokemon could ever do something like that, because that turns it into an RPG where pokemon are mechanically characters instead of weapons and the evolutions or whatever are like classes they prestige into instead of fixed forms.
in the games they're just disposable type, stat, and move pools that get switched out or binned indefinitely and your static team at the end is a bunch of stuff you caught in the last fifth of the game or less.
That's on you, Pokemon games are generally pretty easy and you can beat them with most any party. I beat gold with pretty much just my feraligator because I was a dumb kid who didn't level anyone else.
I think there's something deeply contradictory in Pokemon's messaging that there is a quantifiable hierarchy in power, even in the anime. Training is great and everything, but a starter bird wouldn't win in a matchup with any fully evolved mon, let alone a legendary.
There's a cynicism that's passed off as realism that decides that one creature is inherently better than another. Is that biological essentialism? I had a similar issue in Steven Universe where Jasper was treated as a superior fighter to Amethyst regardless of training and tactics.
Like yeah, a physically weaker creature might not win in a battle of strength, but that doesn't mean there's no way to win a fight in another way. And even if not, it's fucked up that there is an inherent value system in place.
Then again all of the Pokemon values they express in the series falls apart when you look at the fact that it's possible to trade a Pokemon, and there's an incentive to do so. It really fucked me up as a kid seeing ash trade his Butterfree and then later feeling sad when Butterfree left on his own accord and was sad. Pokemon are depicted as sentient and it's bizarre at this point they still incentivize trading with the tagline: Gotta Catch'em All!
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I mean, it just kinda sounds like you want Monster Hunter then (or maybe MH: Stories given it's a turn based team RPG ala Pokemon).
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nah, i'm moralising because you can sell people into slavery, protecting nintendo is incredibly cringe
What if you could say yes to join Team Rocket on Nugget Bridge?
Nintendrones are the most brainwashed corporate bootlickers I've ever encountered
Speed running to be the most annoying gaming fanbase
I like Pokemon because wooper is cute and I like seeing the funny animals. Yes the world has a massive cognitive dissonance where the story is about becoming friends with Pokemon and the gameplay is about kidnapping and using them to fight. I don't care. Every 10 year old has realised that about Pokemon.
I'm glad Pokemons monopoly is being challenged because they might have to actually try more than they did with SV but I want people to shut up about Palworld. It's just ARK with Pokemon instead of dinosaurs. I should play ARK now I think about it
who cares, diegetic essentialism yack yack yack GO OUTSIDE.
Based, keep telling them comrade
For real though, if Nintendo sues Palworld and wins then you can say goodbye to any spiritual successor to any game ever getting made ever again. I don't think they will, but they fukken might.
Given that both companies are Japanese, and Palworld's development has been very public over the past 3 years prior to the recent early access release... if there was something to sue for, Nintendo would have been on it years ago IMO
I've always been aware the world of Pokemon is a lot darker than the games let on
such a sophisticated mind right here
I'm so twisted
Lol I don't like bullying people for critically analysing their media however silly it is but I can't stop this exact thought from crossing my mind whenever I hear someone saying "you know Disney movies are actually really dark and--"
Totally get what you're saying. Analyzing your media is good. Even finding or making an arguement for darker themes or making up a "darker" version of non dark media is fine, even sometimes great or funny in a good and intentional way.
And i don't have a problem with someone doing a dark analysis of pokemon, whether i agree with it or not. What i think deserves derision is how it comes off as "unlike you, I a smart and serious person was always aware of intended darkness and adult themes within this massive commercial children's media. You may not like it, but this is what peak analysis of Pokémon is."
This is a game for adults!!! I scream holding up a picture of a little uwu pink haired cartoon creature holding a Tommy gun
It is at best a game for 13 year old boys
This is giving 14 year old boys too much credit. They’ve matured exactly zero over the course of that year, they just got better and being little shits.
The invention of the concept of the “teenager” has been a disaster for the human race.
I support anyone who fucks with Nintendo. I hope they lose their lawsuit as well. Copyright law is bullshit anyway. No corporation should be able to claim ownership of fictional animals in a video game.
The joke about "let the fans make the game!" Is sometimes true. I'm sure if a small group of devs were legally allowed to, they would make a pretty good classic pokemon game. But because Nintendo wants every penny that could be warned from the franchise, they can't help themselves but to go after the competition in courts.
God this conversation again. Ever since 1996, kids and adults have done the age old, "WOULDN'T YOU WANT A REALISTIC POKEMON WITH BLOOD AND SEX AND VIOLENCE?" Because that's something the series was severely needing.
D-Digimon?
the sex is there but usually it just gets existentially dark
I like palworld a lot, but this mf is cringe. I love Nintendo games, but fuck Nintendo for putting the same raggedy game out over and over. Let me force my Arbok to build me a house at gunpoint goddammit.
Thank you Nintendo for not making a game for this guy
I thought there was no lawsuit lol
I cant go back to pokemon either cause its a garbage game for babies
I don't really care either way, but looking at the "paldeck" from this game it's ridiculous just how shameless they were in copying pokemon designs wholesale.
Most Pokemon aren't all that inspired to begin with. At some point you run into kind of limited options to display "cat + fire" or "mouse + electricity" unless you wanna let go of design conventions wholesale
There’s a picture floating around comparing some of the original Pokémon to dragon quest designs from the time.
The concept of “original design” when it comes to a monster or ghost or animal is pretty dumb.
“I hope Nintendo’s lawsuit fails”
Good news, they’re not going to sue them, never were.
Palworld is genuinely good. More like ark+pokemon. Nothing stoppin you from making a pal commune with fancy beds and spas. Also you can capture the cops in the pal spheres and have them work on assembly lines for re-education.
isn't Shin Megami Tensei already edgy pokemon? what am i missing here?
Pokemon is technically less edgy shin megami tensei since smt came first
Hell, Megami Tensei is from 1986 (not that good of a game tbh. Megami Tensei II otoh is surprisingly good, in spite of some old age related jank)
People seem to forget that the monster collecting rpg thing was gonna be a craze and pokemon happened to be the spark. There's more subtle lead ups as well but tomogatchi should be enough
3d survival crafting guns edgy pokemon is pretty different from top-down jrpg turn based battle edgy pokemon.
ah, that explains it, how silly of me
Look Palworld is grounded in reality and full of real world problems which is why its better than Gamefreak Pokemon.
This is basically just the "Barney is gay and I want to shoot him" shit being rehashed
I actually like that Nintendo is getting some competition in some of its long entrenched genres. I recently started playing an early access game called Dinkum that's an Animal Crossing competitor, and it's refreshing to see it go places where Nintendo won't (there's some light combat, a more robust terraforming system, a way bigger island, and more importantly doing mundane shit like going in and out of buildings or catching fish/insects doesn't lock you into 5+ seconds sequences). It's still a little janky at times and rough around the edges but it's a very entertaining game if you liked (or tried to like) the most recent Animal Crossing.
Try out My Time at Portia/Sandrock
Not quite the same but the vibes are great
Can someone shove this dweeb in a locker already?
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