As a relatively recent newcomer to Pokemon, I get that there's certain pieces of franchise history I'm unfamiliar with. Pokemon Sword and Shield may not shake things up in a big way, but I found its low-key atmosphere compared to what I'd seen of other series plotlines very charming. Pokemon Colloseum already fed my interest in an "edgy" Pokemon, and Arceus seemed like a pleasant shake-up to the formula as I understood it. I haven't really sat through the sensation of the games being too "kiddy" or too much of the same for too long. That's just not a fan history I have. So maybe, the plotline found in Black/White was something people were really craving. 2010 was deep in that gamer edge era. It would make sense for people to be clamoring for it.
But wow, this game's plot just doesn't work for me much. The whole "Pokemon is animal fights" thing is notorious, but the franchise trying to acknowledge that just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. People I know have explained to me that "oh Plasma is just PETA, you aren't supposed to take them seriously." But that rings hollow to me when the language Plasma uses feels so... politically familiar. Plasma talks about culpability, it talks about corrupt systems, and it lines out their worldviews in pretty clear ways. Its the language of revolutionaries, not the language of PETA. Every character has to quickly leap in to respond "How silly! Pokemon would just leave if they were unhappy" in ways that feels like the writers couldn't fully form a real argument against Plasma's goals. We just sort of have to accept the game's claim that Pokemon love the state of things and not seriously give Plasma's words weight. And I don't like that feeling! I don't come to Pokemon for these discussions, I don't care about these discussions. Its a video game. Seeing the game trot out plot beats like "oh the leader doesn't actually care about this issue, its all about power" just puts a pit in my stomach. I get enough of this shit from MCU villains who are "right but kill babies" or anti-union episodes of tv or whatever. I know that's not what's actually happening, but so much of the dialogue and plot arc echoes the exact same motives behind it. You know?
Ignoring that mess is an especially useful tactic when the pokemon mechanics feel so good. My partner explained to me how controversial the all-new Pokemon only gimmick was, with other friends on the call nodding that they prefer Black/White 2 for giving them their faves back. But I think it works. So far in my Pokemon experience, I would find a reliable team early on and generally stick with it throughout the game. In this one, I was constantly juggling characters in and out. Changing my team layout took up about 20% of the game time and I was happy to do so. It felt like I was really experimenting with the system in ways I haven't before. It just works in a way that feels fresh somehow.
They really shouldn't be putting out so many of these games though. A new game every year or two just seems too many.
But wow, this game's plot just doesn't work for me much. The whole "Pokemon is animal fights" thing is notorious, but the franchise trying to acknowledge that just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. People I know have explained to me that "oh Plasma is just PETA, you aren't supposed to take them seriously." But that rings hollow to me when the language Plasma uses feels so... politically familiar. Plasma talks about culpability, it talks about corrupt systems, and it lines out their worldviews in pretty clear ways. Its the language of revolutionaries, not the language of PETA. Every character has to quickly leap in to respond "How silly! Pokemon would just leave if they were unhappy" in ways that feels like the writers couldn't fully form a real argument against Plasma's goals. We just sort of have to accept the game's claim that Pokemon love the state of things and not seriously give Plasma's words weight. And I don't like that feeling! I don't come to Pokemon for these discussions, I don't care about these discussions. Its a video game. Seeing the game trot out plot beats like "oh the leader doesn't actually care about this issue, its all about power" just puts a pit in my stomach. I get enough of this shit from MCU villains who are "right but kill babies" or anti-union episodes of tv or whatever. I know that's not what's actually happening, but so much of the dialogue and plot arc echoes the exact same motives behind it. You know?
Ignoring that mess is an especially useful tactic when the pokemon mechanics feel so good. My partner explained to me how controversial the all-new Pokemon only gimmick was, with other friends on the call nodding that they prefer Black/White 2 for giving them their faves back. But I think it works. So far in my Pokemon experience, I would find a reliable team early on and generally stick with it throughout the game. In this one, I was constantly juggling characters in and out. Changing my team layout took up about 20% of the game time and I was happy to do so. It felt like I was really experimenting with the system in ways I haven't before. It just works in a way that feels fresh somehow.
They really shouldn't be putting out so many of these games though. A new game every year or two just seems too many.