I was 9 when Pokemon was blowing up in America, the exact perfect age to be swept up in the marketing and become the bane of my parent's bank account. I begged my grandparents to get me both Red and Blue for Christmas, and bless their hearts, they caved to my demands. They probably didn't know both versions were the same game with very minor differences, otherwise they might've had the better sense not to waste their money. I ate, breathed, and dreamed Pokemon for several years; the 90s equivalent of a whale, ever unsatiated and unstoppable in my consumption.
Anyway, I think this game is pretty crappy now.
Blue and Red are essentially Baby's First RPG. Gameplay is as shallow as can be, the main loop is glacially paced, and completing the Pokedex is pure tedium. Some of this is because of hardware limitations, and some of it is by design. In any case, it's a very hard game to come back to now, appealing only in its quaintness. Even then, my nostalgia was barely enough to tolerate my last playthrough, and I think now I'm finally broken, rendered completely incapable of finding even a modicum of enjoyment from Gen 1.
At the risk of going into a screed about the franchise at large, the remakes of this game aren't even worth your time. They both play it a bit too safe, and as such fall into the same dull traps as the original. Let's Go Pikachu initially piqued my interest by eliminating wild Pokemon battles, which would mean wading through less of Pokemon's tired one-note combat, but somehow it made the entire game even more interminable. It's nice to know that the latest release (Arceus, at the time of this writing) actually does something to liven up the experience, but for too long Pokemon has been boxed in, being this one very specific thing. The older I get, the more exposure I've had. The more I play, the less I want to play more.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It can temper reexperiencing something that is in fact pretty awful, or make you fight for a product that is not worth the time or energy just because it's become so deeply tied to a specific moment and a specific time that's important to you. But nostalgia has a limit, and I think I found mine.
Box art still rules, though.
Anyway, I think this game is pretty crappy now.
Blue and Red are essentially Baby's First RPG. Gameplay is as shallow as can be, the main loop is glacially paced, and completing the Pokedex is pure tedium. Some of this is because of hardware limitations, and some of it is by design. In any case, it's a very hard game to come back to now, appealing only in its quaintness. Even then, my nostalgia was barely enough to tolerate my last playthrough, and I think now I'm finally broken, rendered completely incapable of finding even a modicum of enjoyment from Gen 1.
At the risk of going into a screed about the franchise at large, the remakes of this game aren't even worth your time. They both play it a bit too safe, and as such fall into the same dull traps as the original. Let's Go Pikachu initially piqued my interest by eliminating wild Pokemon battles, which would mean wading through less of Pokemon's tired one-note combat, but somehow it made the entire game even more interminable. It's nice to know that the latest release (Arceus, at the time of this writing) actually does something to liven up the experience, but for too long Pokemon has been boxed in, being this one very specific thing. The older I get, the more exposure I've had. The more I play, the less I want to play more.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It can temper reexperiencing something that is in fact pretty awful, or make you fight for a product that is not worth the time or energy just because it's become so deeply tied to a specific moment and a specific time that's important to you. But nostalgia has a limit, and I think I found mine.
Box art still rules, though.
Weatherby
1 year ago