Let’s Make a Pokémon Game part 0: The hell is this?

              Pokémon is the highest grossing franchise of all time, with double the total revenue of Star Wars. It kickstarted the “collect’em all” trend that spawned franchises like Beyblade, Bakugan, and Yu-gi-oh. There are probably kids who probably can’t remember who their grandparents are, but they sure as shit know Pikachu. Its name is so ubiquitous that spell check will correct “pokemon” to “Pokémon”. The games are some of, if not, the most popular turn-based rpgs of all time. And yet they are mid as fuck.

              For fear of angering the rabid Pokémon fans, let me make it clear that I love Pokémon. A lot. One of my core childhood memories is my mom and dad buying my brother and I 3ds’s and Pokémon sun and moon for Christmas. I love Pokémon games and my childhood, like many others, can’t be properly summarized without mentioning the anime. But this doesn’t change the reality that the games are uninspired and aren’t innovative.

              Now, I’m not saying there is no effort put into the games. There are clearly some very talented people working at Gamefreak. The designs, of both characters and the Pokémon themselves, and reasoning and choices behind those designs are clearly evidence of that. However, the games themselves are only evidence of apathy and stagnation. The reason for this is simple; Pokémon is a guaranteed profit no matter what, so they just meet the bare minimum for the game itself. The target demographic has been and is still children, with a secondary demographic of uncritical adult children who are less concerned about the game they are playing and more concerned with depicting the animals and the children that are the protagonists in- I have been advised to continue this joke no further.

              So, what am I doing here? I think I’ve established that I’m not a blind hater of Pokémon, but that I am also dissatisfied with the current trend of Pokémon games. What I want to do is to craft a concept for a Pokémon game. The voice-actor, writer, and youtuber Brendan Blaber, known online as JelloApocalypse, has made a video where they detail a pitch for a hypothetical Pokémon game. Similarly, another YouTube channel by the handle of Lockstin and Gnoggin, also has two video series where they create conceptual Pokémon games, one set in their “Kaskade” region and the other based on pokemon’s newer “legends” subseries, however they focus more on the writing, world building, and designs of the region, characters, and Pokémon. My goal is to do a bit of both. Also, I realize that Blaber is a contentious figure online, but this is a post about Pokémon not internet drama, so I’m going to move on.

              I want to make a concept for a mechanically interesting game, that both modernizes and stays true to the Pokémon formula, while also integrating interesting world building and compelling writing. However, what I’m not seeking to do is to waste much time on the designs of Pokémon and characters. The main reason is because I’m not currently skilled enough to do what I would want the designs to look like in a way that I find up to my standards and I am too broke to hire an artist who is, and because I like a lot of the modern designs.

So, let’s begin

LINKS

JelloApocalypse channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JelloApocalypse

JelloApocalypse pokemon video: https://youtu.be/tGhpDOx0CMk?si=4Hbc2l7WztP5SCVe

Lockstin and Gnoggin channel:

Lockstin and Gnoggin “Kaskade” video series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp67IGu5BvKWDEE2-jNkwxzeg7bN4Yk51&si=4URAtDFnms2YzAOr

Lockstin and Gnoggin Legends series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp67IGu5BvKXoiyXSdwGJCDsDOfgqs11Q&si=ajQk-I9PFuqY6M6A