Full disclosure: Pokemon Red and Blue came out when I was 12. I was the perfect age. I remember watching the premiere to Pokemon's cartoon the first week 7th grade started. It was all my friend, Jonathon, and I could talk about. Pretty soon the whole grade was obsessed and we talked about it in between what was happening on TRL or WWF/WCW. I soon found out there was a Pokemon game, dusted my Game Boy Pocket, and my dad bought me a copy of Blue. I loved that game and the entire social experience that came with it. I was so proud when I got my 151. By the time time I was 15 in 2000 I was all Pokemon'd out and dropped it. I never played Gold or Silver.
I didn't play a single Pokemon game until Black 2. I heard great things about Black and White and how they were refreshing takes on the franchise so I figured I'd give the sequel a shot. I was utterly bored. I think I quit after the third or fourth Gym. Something about it couldn't maintain my attention.
I gave Pokemon X a try a few years later. It was okay. I liked it. I managed to beat it, unlike Black 2, which is something I can give it credit for, but I didn't think it was great or memorable. It was just a fairly okay-ish RPG to play at the time.
I got Alpha Sapphire and fucking loved it. Finally, the Pokemon magic came back. I loved stalking Pokemon and treating it like this Pokemon safari simulator. I was addicted to catching each and every Pokemon in every area. I couldn't get enough.
Then I got Sun. Again, I couldn't manage to beat it. It was so boring to me.
I hadn't touched a Pokemon game since and just figured maybe the franchise wasn't for me and that ORAS was just an aberration. It also seemed like what the Pokemon fanbase cared about and what I (a casual Pokemon observer) wanted from the franchise were entirely different. I couldn't give two shits about a full Pokedex, for example. This entire dilemma made me question what I ever saw in Pokemon Blue. "I loved that game to death. Was it actually good or am I crazy?"
I recently got a Game Boy Color to play Tetris with. I hate how Tetris on my phone just drains my battery so I figured I'd go with the real thing. Somehow, some way I lucked out and got a copy of Pokemon Yellow. I figured I'd try it.
I hadn't played Gen 1 in over 20 years. I have almost no nostalgia for it beyond the social experience. I forgot how the games were crafted, much less what their design ethos was like. A few hours into Yellow and I can safely say this is precisely what I want from Pokemon.
Things Pokemon Yellow does better than modern Pokemon. This list is quite long and from only the first two or three hours:
It sucks I can't trade with people with a real Game Boy these days.
Once I finish Yellow I'm going to get Crystal and finally go through Gold/Silver and then I'll play Emerald, Platinum, and finally Black 1.
I'm really looking forward to the new Pokemon that's coming out. Not the ugly one. It looks like it will embody the safari/Pokemon stalker aspect I loved about ORAS so much. Maybe there's hope for me as a Pokemon fan after all.
I didn't play a single Pokemon game until Black 2. I heard great things about Black and White and how they were refreshing takes on the franchise so I figured I'd give the sequel a shot. I was utterly bored. I think I quit after the third or fourth Gym. Something about it couldn't maintain my attention.
I gave Pokemon X a try a few years later. It was okay. I liked it. I managed to beat it, unlike Black 2, which is something I can give it credit for, but I didn't think it was great or memorable. It was just a fairly okay-ish RPG to play at the time.
I got Alpha Sapphire and fucking loved it. Finally, the Pokemon magic came back. I loved stalking Pokemon and treating it like this Pokemon safari simulator. I was addicted to catching each and every Pokemon in every area. I couldn't get enough.
Then I got Sun. Again, I couldn't manage to beat it. It was so boring to me.
I hadn't touched a Pokemon game since and just figured maybe the franchise wasn't for me and that ORAS was just an aberration. It also seemed like what the Pokemon fanbase cared about and what I (a casual Pokemon observer) wanted from the franchise were entirely different. I couldn't give two shits about a full Pokedex, for example. This entire dilemma made me question what I ever saw in Pokemon Blue. "I loved that game to death. Was it actually good or am I crazy?"
I recently got a Game Boy Color to play Tetris with. I hate how Tetris on my phone just drains my battery so I figured I'd go with the real thing. Somehow, some way I lucked out and got a copy of Pokemon Yellow. I figured I'd try it.
I hadn't played Gen 1 in over 20 years. I have almost no nostalgia for it beyond the social experience. I forgot how the games were crafted, much less what their design ethos was like. A few hours into Yellow and I can safely say this is precisely what I want from Pokemon.
Things Pokemon Yellow does better than modern Pokemon. This list is quite long and from only the first two or three hours:
- More regional based Pokemon. Limited number of Pokemon is better. In some cases, less is more. I can barely remember all of the Pokemon Types in modern games and the tradition of trying to put in every single Pokemon there ever was in every game has obviously had negative results. For one, fans always expect it which spoils them. Two, it makes no sense, naturally, for every creature to be available in a particular part of the world. Three, it's just too much. Shin Megami Tensei gets it and limits demons you can acquire each new game. Pokemon's obsession with more, more, more is a negative, not a positive. Over the 20 year history Pokemon has amassed almost 1000 Pokemon, maybe they've exceeded that number. Is every Pokemon going to need 1000 Pokemon? This isn't feasible much less maintainable. GameFreak should have cut their losses ages ago and started going for limited dexes. Apparently Black and White 1 has a limited dex. Smart design decision that apparently had blowback. This is why you never listen to your fans, who in this case, are obviously wrong, and trust your designers vision.
- Less handholding/talking. Modern Pokemon games are rife with constant game interruptions, handholding, telling you how to do this, telling where you go, how to achieve that. It's mind numbingly condescending and dull to the point where I am actually embarrassed to play a modern Pokemon and question how most adult fans don't feel similarly. Pokemon Yellow lets you travel whereever you can that's permitted or not gate kept and you can make mistakes along the way. This makes for a more involving experience. The less interruptions there are the more it's about *your* adventure
- It's not as cute. Modern Pokemon games really want to make the main character feel special with constant sucking up and buddy time from losers like the dancing kid in Pokemon X. Gary is a full on *jerk*. He steals the Pokemon (Eevee) Prof. Oak meant to gift you, he tells his sister not to give you a map. You want to kick his ass every time he showed up. Each time I kick his ass I just feel so smug for wiping the prick in asphalt. Modern Pokemon gives no such satisfaction.
- Better resource management. Once upon a time, RPGs were about decisions. How much money you have, how many are in your party;etc. In modern Pokemon you have endless supply of cash. I've never questioned what to buy or when because I always have a full stock of options. But in Pokemon Yellow you have actual decision-making. Potions cost 300p, Pokeballs cost 200p. even with 3000-4000p you're going to make some choices due to expense unless you're one of those people that enjoy grinding (I don't, so I don't do it). This makes each Pokeball thrown all the more suspenseful because you know that shit is going to cost you 300 bucks and it better fucking catch it. Then there's the fact there's wide encompassing features that make things ridiculously boring like XP Share feature. Switching my Pokemon around when I need to concentrate on different creatures makes it truly feel like *my* team.
- Better flow and adventure. This encapsulates all prior issues, between the constant cutscenes, the handholding, endless assortment of options, and linear design flow. In Pokemon Yellow you truly feel like you're on an adventure and it's *great*. You can pass by Indigo Plateau at the beginning of the game and I forgot how much the game steels you with a resolve to get better and haul ass and truly be the best there ever was. Modern Pokemon games have no such drive. You're always this special fuck with latent talent who seems to have everything handed to them, from Mega Evolution shit to whatever the fuck was going on in Pokemon Sun.
It sucks I can't trade with people with a real Game Boy these days.
Once I finish Yellow I'm going to get Crystal and finally go through Gold/Silver and then I'll play Emerald, Platinum, and finally Black 1.
I'm really looking forward to the new Pokemon that's coming out. Not the ugly one. It looks like it will embody the safari/Pokemon stalker aspect I loved about ORAS so much. Maybe there's hope for me as a Pokemon fan after all.
