Pokemon--Where has the journey taken us?

[Ryu Shimazu]

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I write this in blogs and not PC because...well I figured a huge majority here would relate.

Seeing as this is a Nintendo related forums, I kinda assumed everyone knows (or has played/been playing) the new generation of Pokemon.

Now, Pokemon is always a weird subject to talk about. You have the:

-People who say it's gotten lame
-People who say it's for kids
-People who love EVERYTHING about it
-People who like some, dislike others
-People who will bash 4th gen to the grave.

Now if anything, I'm the fourth one. I can think openly enough to say if 5th was 1st gen and vica versa, we'd diss on Voltorb more than the Fungus, but I'm honest enough to say a lot of 4th gen's add on evolutions were indeed lamesauce.

Where I'm going with this, is that the release of this made me think about my life. Pokemon got me into RPGs for the most part, and has been a part of my lifestyle for fifteen years. This blog comes with more a question- How has it been there for you, if it all?

Pokemon gave me two of my best friends, and socially was acceptable so it also made that aspect of school easier.

Just wondering if seeing a new generation made people think about their childhood at all, or if I'm just alone.

(Also, I have to say this is the best set of games since G/S/S. In terms of mechanic upgrades of course R/S/E win but I'm referring to story, characters, and just the designs)

 

[Teran]

You know I dunno why everyone bashes on 4th gen. It really streamlined the game and felt really fresh in a lot of ways. I thought it was great, it revitalised my enthusiasm for the series.

I was starting to get a bit >__> with RSE actually, 3rd gen would have killed it for me had it not been for Colosseum and XD lol.

 

[Fuelbi]

For my social life, it's done nothing good to boost it because everybody where I live is all #2 about it.

As for my video games, it currently stands as the only RPG I'll ever like mostly because the fact that you get 6 magical animals to control makes the game for me

 

[Life]

I have a few #3 friends, most others are #2. IDC really. Pokemon is an excellent diversion, however.

 

[*JuriHan*]

Gen 4 metagame wise was one of the best imo, it had the attack/special split which made a lot of pokemon viable. In game wise I thought it was awful though... the enviroment was really uninspired and dull. Only thing I disliked about gen 4's metagame was stealth rock. Even though many pokemon became boosted with the split, pretty much if you were ice/flying, bug/flying or fire/flying bar maybe Ho-oh if you played him correctly you weren't viable at all in standard play.

Heart Gold is my favorite pokemon game. God like remake imo. I was like.. "this would of been a flawless remake if they somehow allowed you to listen to the original music"

*Finds key item gameboy sounds*

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111 1!!!"

 

[Hyper_Ridley]

As for my video games, it currently stands as the only RPG I'll ever like mostly because the fact that you get 6 magical animals to control makes the game for me

This so much. Rather than play as generic anime teenager (or pre-teen) who has to save the world from God-of-the-week, your party consists of various wildlife which do battle with other wildlife to prove themselves as top dog.

 

[Shorts]

I think Pokemon's fifth gen did the opposite. Instead of looking back on my Childhood I looked to the future. Black and White has an awesome storyline the beats Red and Blue's storyline. Sorry, it just does. The game was created amazingly and while I think some of the Pokemon are lame, every generation had lame Pokemon. The franchise has done nothing but gotten porgessivly more complex, more interesting, and just generally better. There is a reason why Pokemon always sells like hotcakes. It's a good series.

I'm excited to see what's next to come with the 3DS. Hopefully the announced Pokemon game will be either a 3rd gen remake, or a mystery dungeon at the least. (I'm not too fond of PKMN Rangers)

 

[Ryu Shimazu]

I just didn't like the designs of the fourth generation. The characters, Team Galactic, everything. It all felt lame. Team Plasma and Lord N feels pretty good, though.

It was just a big miss for me =/

 

[Fuelbi]

I liked Team Galactic's designs (bar the hair)

I'll have to agree on many pokemon being total **** though. I did not like Magmortar, Rhypherior, Tangrowth, Happiny and more.

I will say that I really did end up liking Froslass and Mamoswine though

 

[Teran]

Man I loved Team Galactic.

I have to say a lot of the pokémon designs also grew on me a lot. I ended up liking most of them, and I found the legendaries especially appealing. Dialga is one of the coolest pokémon of all generations imo.

 

[deepseadiva]

I have this fond memory of popping Pokemon Yellow in on the drive back from Toys R Us, around when I was 8.

I can't really describe the feeling well (trying to avoid the word "magical"). The box the game came in. The cartridge. I remember walking around Palette Town. The drive back was gray and rainy - we actually went to a bookstore my dad used to frequent to buy a magazine. There was a parking garage.

Not that any of that rambling means anything to any of you, but it's odd that I have so much detail about such a little event. I'm sure you've heard of flashbulb memories, the kind of memory where you instantly remember where you were when you heard something - 9/11 being the common example. The day I got my first Pokemon game is nothing but crushing nostalgia.

Now, I don't think this new gen is particularly special.

But I have a 9 year old sibling now, Andy, and he got Black and I got White. It's funny because I know he's going through the same thing, and funnier still that I get to race with him collecting gym badges. I even give him hints and describe to him type advantages, crap I spent most of my childhood memorizing.

The core of this though is exactly what every game since Yellow has told me. What Yellow told me from the start - Pokemon, and the love you put into them, brings people together. It's not fictional. It's not the old man in the game talking about the world in the game, he's talking about us. About everyone here in Colorado and the US and Japan and Germany.

But mostly me, and mostly Andy.

...my heart. Oh god.

This game, man...

 

[Ryu Shimazu]

This is how I felt, and this is why I blogged it:

I feel 5th generation in terms of design might be the best they ever did. There are some things in this generation that are amazing beyond words.

-Serperior is the first grass starter I geniually(sp) liked.
-After beating the game, instead of using a bunch of old Pokemon, I'm using Gyarados/Tyranitar+ 4 5th gen. Gyara mainly because of the water HMs(and cause I love him), and Tyranitar... well yeah.
-The story has to be the best one ever written.
-All the legendaries "feel" like Pokemon. My problem with Dialga, Palkia and Giratina were how they didn't fit. Dialga/Palgia looked like robots, making Giratina the only Pokemon looking thing out there.

 

[Flutter NiTE]

I prefer the first 2 generations. Mostly because It has the 3 birds / 3 dogs. +, Pokemon Crystal, best Pokemon game to date. I skipped over Diamond and Pearl, and Soul Silver / Heart Gold. (didnt know about those remakes). And after seeing these legendaries, I'm going for this.

 

[SharkAttack]

Even though Pokemon came out in 1998 I didn't get hooked on it until 2002. I thought the concept of it was dumb from it's inception, but then I played Red version on a long car trip to Cedar Point in June of 2002 and got hooked. I trained a lineup and it was fun. I got Gold version a couple of months later that game was great as well.

I was into Ruby and Sapphire in 2003, but was mad when I found out you couldn't trade your Pokemon from previous games onto it. Despite this I still played Ruby.

Then FireRed and LeafGreen came out and that totally turned me away. I found it dumb that they just made remakes of the original games yet I couldn't trade my past lineups onto the newer ones. Why would I play a remake of a game all over again when I already have a lineup from those games? I never played Pokemon again. I wonder if this continued to happen with each generation.

 

[Pogogo]

The problem is not everyone is the same age. I want people to start with the original red blue but they obviously can't. I want people to start with SSB64 but they can't. I myself missed the snes completely.

You cant hate 4th gen because the competitive battling was so good. That said I defy anyone to play ruby and saphire and hate it if they like r and b

I definitley agree with the dialga palkia and deoxys thing. But what about ice cream cones and dogs....

You couldnt trade into it because the engine was different lol. Effort of linking two diff engines is not worth the game ljust recreating new poke

 

[Espy Rose]

Just gonna say my part really quick:

5th Gen felt so much like 1st Gen for me when I started the game. I had very little idea what was going to happen to me, or what Pokemon I'd meet on the routes. Every twist and turn had a new surprise waiting for me to challenge and overcome, and I'm pretty sure every one of us who has played the game already has a number of Pokemon stories we share with others.

In my opinion, Black and White are the strongest bunch in the entire series. Such a fantastic game.

 

[GwJ]

The reason people bash 4th gen, or at least MY reason, is that the pokemon and the story were lacking. I loved the improvements on the system, but the actual game sucked for me.

 

[EpixAura]

Personally, I really liked 4th gen. It seemed like a more streamlined 3rd gen. Speaking of which, 3rd gen was my least favorite.

5th gen was alright. I tie it with 4th gen, because 4th gen seems to go on a little bit longer than 5th, or maybe that's just me. Of course, 5th gen was better, but it seemed shorter, so it's a tie. Still loved it, though.

Pokemon Generation Tier List
2nd Gen (G/S/C)
1st Gen (R/B/Y)
4th/5th Gen (D/P/Pt)/(B/W/Grey - because we all know it's coming.)
3rd Gen (R/S/E)

The only ones I think twice about replaying is 3rd, because it's my least favorite, and 1st, because I've played through SO. MANY. TIMES.

 

[Pogogo]

3rd is amazing go die.