The Depressing Modern State of Pokémon

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Which Pokémon game was your least favourite of the Switch Era and why is it BDSP?

[@CoolMicrowave]

violet that game made my eyes hurt

[@FTChomp9980]

BDSP is still my most hated.

[@jaceybella1267]

My least favorite is Sword and Shield. I think it's objectively better that other recent games in a lot of ways, but I just find it the least fun to play. Scarlet and Violet manages to feel a bit novel, despite the pain of looking at it, but Sword and Shield is just such a dead experience for me. I can never hone in and have fun.

[@Kardfogu]

Hey, BDSP is just Diamon and Pearl, but worse. It's just worse version of an okay game that I would never like to replay ever again because how terribly bad the story was. Scarlet, Violet, Sword, Shield, I can't pick a worst one, they all the worst games ever, their quality is some Big Rigs level crap, the new pokemon are so ugly even their own mother couldn't love them and the story, it's oh my god so bad. Gen4 I would never want to ever replay because of Team Galactic, but Gen8-9 I would never want to play it ever for even the first time, in fact, I would like to travel back in time and stop myself from trying to. I'd rather kill my past self to avoid the suffering that Gen8-9 stories bring...

[@GameFreakSucks]

SwSh forever broke me because of dexit and the ugly galar fossils which to this day are still not fixed, BDSP and SV are also extremely awful

[@CaptScrotes]

The worst part is, Nintendo will hunt down any fan games and mods that produce objectively better pokemon content.

[@Spectrum0122]

Even the ones they don't sell anymore

[@alyssarichardson2544]

the Fisher-Price Abortion shouldn't even exist, or at least no Pokemon games on it. *Inclement Emerald takes a big ol' steamy coiled-up shit on literally every modern Pokemon game.* It runs on my phone via emulators perfectly and it was always a handheld game, with the popularity of mobile games I thought they'd pull a Sega, but the Nintendo acolytes let them get away with ANYTHING. I honestly thought it'd be the straw that broke the camel's back, gen 10 should just be a still screen with "fuck you, pay me!" or AI that taps into your most vulnerable spot and emotionally abuses you alongside a loud, ear-piercingly shrill, nails on a chalkboard type sound with faulty electrics that fry your FPA/Switch, it would STILL sell 30m copies.

[@CheepsAhoy69]

Actually, the fan pokemon games don’t get taken down very often at all

[@moonbound6478]

This is false information, out of all pokemon fan games only like two were taken down. EmeraldRogue, Infinite Fusion, etc. are all still up

[@CaptScrotes]

@@moonbound6478 apologies. I spoke out of ignorance! I did some searching and there are so many games. I only knew about the prominent take downs!

[@Tomtom-nb8cm]

My biggest gripe was that they removed all the small stuff that made the games so good. Talking with people and finding little things that made Pokémon feel alive was all gone and replaced by mediocrity

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I’d say there’s still some cool details you find in recent games such as spear pillar getting destroyed in legends Arceus and it staying like that in the diamond and pearl games, but yeah the older games definitely had a lot more of those small details

[@bigjen8238]

I used to always walk into every house when I get into a town and talk to every single NPC by default. But when I played Sword I just stopped after a few towns, the houses were just copy pasted interiors and the NPC were talking to me like I was still in a tutorial after several gyms, or just uninteresting stuff

[@cococock2418]

talking to people and finding little things is not why anyone ever played the old games... why must you lie

[@NeroTheAntiHiro]

@@cococock2418its an element of 90s games. Talking to people, finding out secrets or lore because information was limited and rumors were more common. It’s not why anyone played. Thats obvious. It is missed dearly by many of us. Had to be there.

[@Exodia_Misogynist]

​@@NeroTheAntiHiropokemon has always been shallow, easy and straightforward lmao

[@shuizaffre]

Moral of the story: ACTUALLY GIVE THE DEVELOPERS ENOUGH TIME AND RESOURCES TO MAKE A FINISHED GAME. No more of this "has to be out by holiday deadline" nonsense.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Yup. Couldn’t agree more. Should be a practice for the entire gaming industry but whatever we need to start somewhere

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

Good quality over big quantity.

[@simonw.1223]

​@@theglasshalffull6958 and what I heard is overhaul their software

[@haroldnecmann7040]

Moral of the story:"stop giving money to shitty developers 🖕

[@aydengarcia9073]

​@@haroldnecmann7040Not everyone can do that sadly.

[@nobleskywalker4639]

You wanna know the worst part? The franchise is more profitable now than it has ever been. Like seriously I'm not joking I wish I was

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Yeah.. no matter how much criticism we give there’s no doubt that the revenue is what matters most. Who knows tho I guess? NSMBU still sold very well but Nintendo knew how much they criticized the game so they went ahead and took their time with Mario Wonder and look how that turned out! Sadly these are different studios but hey I guy could wish

[@juannaym8488]

the franchise, yes, the games meanwhile seem like they are gigantic in sales, but when you put the sales numbers in relations to the console sales and the whole size of the industry, they're leaving a lot on the table The fact that to this day, RBY are the best selling games in the series is pretty strange, considering how much smaller the video game space was back then

[@bigtimetimmyjim6486]

@@juannaym8488 Pokemon speedrunner Werster has a very short video that elaborates on this further. If you compare Pokemon to other franchises on the Switch, its growth is actually really poor in comparison.

[@Exodia_Misogynist]

Pokemon is the most profitable because Disney is in shambles lmao

[@LuigiMario-ni3rj]

Because adults refuse to grow up. The world sucks and Game Freak / Nintendo knows they can profit off of people's misery.

[@foggy8298]

As a reminder, BDSP 1.0 version launched without a title screen and with a midi ost ripped directly from Diamond and Pearl

[@kingp260]

To be fair that version was never purchasable on the eShop, and cartridges would force boot into an update unless you launched them without internet. 1.1 was out on Day 1, I think they just ran out of cart space.

[@foggy8298]

@@kingp260 nope, unacceptable. Nobody would say “to be fair” about it if it wasn’t Pokémon. The only reason they ran out of cart space was because they were trying to fit it all on the smallest cartridge they could fit it on at the expense of the consumer forcing them to download an extra gigabyte on their switch And what if they don’t have internet? Pokémon is a children’s game. There are many kids who’s parents don’t let them have internet. Imagine being that kid getting brilliant Diamond for Christmas and getting stuck with that travesty. Laughable.

[@chicoazteca]

@@kingp260 " I think they just ran out of cart space." which means that physical copies are useless on this game since its a unfinished, broken version in the future when you cant download and patch any of these games ever

[@Toastedcat1]

@@kingp260 They didn't really run out, they just did it to save money. It cost less to make a bunch of cartridges of the size of the game that was used, and then just shove the updates to the owner's switch itself.

[@Shi_gai]

@@kingp260there’s such thing as people who don’t have Wi-Fi, I’m sure a lot of people had to suffer with the 1.0 version because they weren’t able to update the physical version of the game. All because they were too cheap to put the game on bigger carts.

[@darkrootambush3860]

I’m honestly surprised you didn’t even mention that Leon dealt with all the random gigantimax pokemon off screen

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Although I didn't say it outright, when I mentioned "the game is able to immerse you and then immediately take you out of it" I was talking about that exact moment lol

[@darkrootambush3860]

@@theglasshalffull6958 very fair

[@Dany-rx7rs]

😮

[@mazeppa1231]

I kind of understand what route they were going with that, but yeah, it could've been executed much better than this, lol. I mean, if they didn't want the player to be in the spotlight and give that role to a "stronger trainer", then at least give the main character a role or something... just to get involved in some way. Not just slap us with a newspaper going "oh, look.. Leon did something and it's okay now". Player helping Steven out in a double battle against Team Magma in RSE is a good example of that... or teaming up with Lance to fight Team Rocket in gen 2. Or him sending you to do something that helps him out indirectly... like... anything just to get involved, lol.

[@alyssarichardson2544]

How the fuck can anyone say that word without physically recoiling in agonizing cringe? GiantMcLargeHugeMyDadCanBeatUpYourDadMaxxing? Get fucked, like, Mr. Hands level fucked. On that note, I'm entirely convinced if the game came out now it would be "dynamaxx(ing)" ...until I realized the fact that *Dynamax is a REAL LIFE FUCKING CORPORATION THAT WORKED ON THE GAME!* (iirc they've something to do with rendering/modeling/animation or some shit). *Absolutely fucking shameless... /spit*

[@dragonlord6484]

I genuinely believe Sword and Shield were meant to be 3DS games but when Game Freak realized that it was gonna be on the Switch they threw the Wild Area together as fast as they could!

[@roycks12]

I've heard that there weren't gonna be overworld wild pokémon in the wild area (only tall grass random encounters) and that it was a last minute addition to be on par with the let's go games. I'm not quite sure if this is true tho but it wouldn't surprise me nontheless.

[@blogtrump9965]

Sword and shield amazing game too

[@nintonintendo1]

​@@blogtrump9965 that's, like, your opinion man. I find them the worse mainline non remake game.

[@blogtrump9965]

@@nintonintendo1 just biased to say that tho lol

[@quartzteeth8429]

​@blogtrump9965 how is that biased? It's a valid opinion. S&S sucked ass.

[@frognuke]

why does he look like he keeps trying to throw dice at me

[@scrittle]

Over-acting, imitation, who knows.

[@connermckinnon5520]

Idk but I can barely watch him on screen when he does it.

[@sUpC12]

​@@connermckinnon5520same. It's super jarring & distracting

[@robertharper3114]

Lol

[@DarkOmegaMK2]

Because he's stupid.

[@PinkC0bra]

The way me and my best friend both cheered for legends Z-A MOSTLY because it would take longer to release says it all...

[@theglasshalffull6958]

It’s sad how that’s something that genuinely gets us excited nowadays lol

[@TheAwesomeDarkNinja]

It's the weirdest feeling looking at a franchise you love and your biggest hope is for a game NOT to release soon.

[@ferb9623]

Depressing

[@phillnyetheplaylistguy3759]

Definitely the only thing the Pokémon and call of duty fan base can relate to.

[@mariobrand2257]

Bro nothing will change. Pokemon Legends Arceus also came out later and still looks horrible. Still the closest game that could've been amazing on the switch.

[@YourLocalGoat_]

His hands the whole time: ✋🏻🖐🏻👌🏻✋🏻🖐🏻👌🏻✋🏻🖐🏻👌🏻✋🏻🖐🏻👌🏻

[@King_Kiwi1998]

LMAOOOO that’s the 1st thing I noticed

[@freddieperkins6953]

It's so off-putting 😩

[@felemiah]

@@YourLocalGoat_ How sensititve does someone have to be to consider "off-putting" as hate? It's absolutely distracting

[@Qythero]

Lol it’s so distracting

[@marcop.525]

🇮🇹🤌🏻

[@volterkeg]

I honestly wouldn't have cared that they reused animations if they didn't use the animations as an excuse for cutting content.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

If Gamefreak was just more truthful there would’ve still been backlash but I think the fans would’ve been a lot more accepting of it

[@ghostofalltime4934]

Exactly. 150 pokemon would be fine if they all got bespoke animations and looked "real" in the battles.

[@Glockenspheal]

I think that statement did more bad than good, it kinda removed the blinds on what has always been a sub-par franchise, we used to not only tolerate, but adore the games just because they had tons of lovable, catchable friends, but without that, we all started noticing the cracks, and oh what massive cracks they were.

[@dawgtheundying5303]

Atlus reuses assets between games all the time but nearly every SMT game slaps. But Atlus Devs have dev time that game freak wish they had.

[@Edelweiss1102]

They could have reused all 3DS assets for what I care, we never played Pokemon for quality graphics, let's not kid ourselves. But then they cut Mega Evos, Z Moves, half the dex, a bunch of moves and other stuff with the excuse of "quality animations", only to then use slightly updated 3DS assets anyway. It's obvious they simply had no time to port everything or remake it even better, and had to come up with some excuse.

[@josefarias5216]

People didn't actually want a DP remake: They wanted a Platinum remake. And unfortunately that's a completely different game in the same region.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

People were so blinded by nostalgia for sinnoh that they completely forgot platinum is the main reason as to why they loved it so much, it makes me wonder what the fan reception would be like If the games looked exactly the same but it was a platinum remake instead

[@franciscapicornellarrom4518]

​@@theglasshalffull6958 This also makes me wonder if gen 4 would have been liked as much as it is if Platinum didnt exist

[@timothymarzelli3874]

@@franciscapicornellarrom4518 Gen 4 also had HG/SS, and D/P weren't bad games. Gen 4 absolutely would've still been loved.

[@leodorval2236]

​@@timothymarzelli3874 but not nearly as much. If were taking about just D/P they're not Bad games at all, but they dont compare to Pt / HGSS/ BW1 and 2

[@dimitrijames00001]

​@timothymarzelli3874 HG/SS is only loved for nostalgic reasons too, i garuntee if that mess of a game was released today it'll be in a top 10 worst game list

[@roxaszy984]

The dark type gum leader signing on the cutscene is really insane because back in Black and white 2, the 2ND gymleader is also singing, and YOU CAN HEAR LYRICS on the gym theme, THEY ALREADY DID SPEECH. not to mention team plasma Colress' theme with counting

[@nintonintendo1]

P O K E M O N POKEMON (pokemon)

[@theglasshalffull6958]

God I completely forgot about that part in BW2 that makes the entire dark gym feel even more pathetic now. Gamefreaks decisions are genuinely baffling sometimes like why would they just NOT add voice acting when cutscene desperately needs it but goes ahead and has Ed sheeren sing the credits scene for scarlet/violet?

[@roxaszy984]

@@theglasshalffull6958 to me the most baffling decision on Game freak's part is the iconic line: "we are moving to a more powerful console, with much more to offer so lets cut away about half of the pokemon becasue poor switch cant run it otherwise.... but convienently we can sell back some of them with DLC" (of course this isnt what they said, but what they did which spoke louder) like I get if you really need to pass on some pokemon, either those with no competetive use, BUT WHY LEAVE FAN FAVOURITES?! like I personally love charizard more than any pokemon, and while it was cool to have it in scarlet & violet (also I genuinely loved that game, and it was not really that buggy for me, guess I have been lucky but I also acknowledge the issues) like my heart goes out to other people who couldn't have their favourites in the game then there is this whole extortion with pokemon home, like if you compare it to pokemon bank where it was 5 bucks a year, it was all cool, lots of boxes for your pokemon and you can take ALL of them back at ANY time. pokemon home however? three times more expensive for the year or once per month which often is more expensive than a year plan (that's how they get you, pay more for saving even a little, just as predatory as all of the micro transactions where they give more if you pay more and let the copium endure the pain with "well at least I get a little bit more value out of this") and you can take IN everything, but you can NOT take all of them out, essentially holding your pokemon hostage and risk deletion if you dont pay for a long time. what a middle finger to all of the fans, like the whole idea is the emotional value people have in their pokemon and letting them come along from the earliest game, and then just hold them hostage like that. Me no like. AND my biggest gripe with all of this, Nintendo's extremely hostile behaviour towards their fans, IMAGINE the cool stuff people have already made and would still be making but Nintendo loves their Cease and Desist orders I have personally decided that I will boycott nintendo. even though I am really interested in seeing pokemon Z A because I miss Kalos.. although if the game is taking place only on Luminose city... that's gonna hurt. still I will at maximum. play a game someone has already bought, like borrowing from a friend and such. After writing this and reading it through, I got a theory pop up in my mind, you remember AZ from pokemon X & Y?? Pokemon Z A..... AZ.... plis let us see AZ again

[@TwilightChomperEnthusiast]

@@theglasshalffull6958What makes it even funnier is that Team Yell’s chants in the opening sounds an awful lot like booing.

[@meeb_consumer]

Cassette Beasts, having banger lyrical versions of almost every track in the game (including both Overworld and battle) that the game switches to at important points,

[@redjack2629]

To be fair, while Koraidon and Miraidon have more character to them than any other legendaries, Cosmog DOES come close.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Ok yeah I guess cosmog does count in it’s own way. Granted I never played ultra SUMO so idk If they play a bigger role in that game then they do in the originals

[@Dany-rx7rs]

😮

[@princesspikachu3915]

@@theglasshalffull6958Same role complete with “get in the bag Nebby”. Ultra games get unfairly hated. There is reason to play them and the originals and to own one of each.

[@jimmyjohn6479]

@@princesspikachu3915no reason to play one if you played the other at one point i genuinely thought i got some sort of hacked version that only changed the clothes

[@ndartehkewl1282]

@@jimmyjohn6479not necessarily, its certainly not worth PAYING for the difference but ultra necrozma and the ultra wormholes and all that were pretty dope

[@mishdornots]

life lesson : every big media brand will eventually have that "sonic 06" moment; the only different is brand recognition.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I would say a series can have varying levels of a Sonic 06. What would be Mario’s sonic 06 then?

[@mishdornots]

@@theglasshalffull6958 it hasn’t happened for him yet perhaps he can be the exception

[@SpyroGamer2008]

​@@mishdornots I'd say, "Paper Mario: Sticker Star," is Mario's Sonic 06 moment. That and, "Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash."

[@mishdornots]

Btw I mean mainline Mario games I know the spin-off can get weird and dips in quality but for most part Mario fine

[@Zombieworm98]

​@@SpyroGamer2008 I think most people consider Paper Mario a separate, smaller franchise. I think the worst Super Mario (Bros) game was NSMB2 for the 3DS, and even it's not awful just not great. Honestly most bad Mario games are just low effort spin offs

[@wesnohathas1993]

As someone who plays a wide variety of rpgs, it astounds me every time how low of a standard Pokémon is held to. This series has seriously just been coasting on brand recognition for well over a decade now. Maybe even the majority of its lifetime.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I mean people just like their simpler RPG's sometimes. And although I'd want Pokemon to make something more ambitous akin to other RPG's I can see why so many people choose to still play it due to how casual and approachable it is

[@pascalsimioli6777]

@theglasshalffull6958 pokemon is bad not because of its simplicity but because they manage to fuck up even that simplicity with absolute ignorance and lack of talent. To imply that people's complaints are invalid because they just want pokemon to change its identity is... Silly at best and utterly dishonest at worst. TLDR: we should have a license for people to upload their stupidity on the web.

[@JuanLeon-oe6xe]

​@@pascalsimioli6777 People are too easily fooled, take cancer triger for example, another infernally simplistic pseudo-JRPG which is "beloved" solely because it was shat by the same moron behind cancer ball Zhit. Moron who, I remind you, is so fragile, questioning -his- its representation of blacks is tantamount to _insulting_ -him- it.

[@Allustar]

Sometimes simple is better, but Pokemon is not just simple. It's stagnant. It doesn't do enough to evolve as a franchise.

[@edwardnowakowski5990]

It’s worth saying, Kirby star allies also had a LOT of free content updates post launch that fills in its lack of content

[@theglasshalffull6958]

While that is true, I was mostly talking about the immediate reactions to Star allies and how it was upon release, after all the free updates the game definitely feels a lot better but When I talked about it in my video I was referring to how it felt at first

[@edwardnowakowski5990]

@@theglasshalffull6958 true, although, if anything, the extra post release content strengthens your point that Hal laboratories buckled down and strengthened their brand rather than monetize consumer goodwill

[@lpfan4491]

SA is still a snoozefest because they simply backloaded the lot of new content, rather than enhancing the existing content or interweaving the new stuff in some way.(That Heroes in another dimension is the most visually uninteressting and samey campaign in Kirby history does not particularly help, it weighs down the excitement of it being really good gameplay content a bit)

[@nexusgalaxy9249]

​@lionsasbirds1017THIS. If we're going to pay for a $60-$70 game with barely any content, it's not acceptable

[@mmpsp693]

@@theglasshalffull6958 A LOT

[@mrcwillis6970]

I want to be excited for Z-A but… I just don’t see why I should be, it’s incredibly sad how the state of Pokemon games are. Glad there are more and more people releasing and talking about this, Pokemon fans deserve better.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I’m an optimist and the fact that these games are coming out next year (hopefully sometime in the latter half) makes me want to be hopeful But I can understand why it’s hard to be excited for it

[@mrcwillis6970]

@@theglasshalffull6958 I’m just gonna need prove to see if they are willing to do better that’s all. I want to be hopeful but with just how bad they have been it’s really hard to. Hopefully Z-A will be the start of something great and new.

[@Zermus-ss6gb]

I used to think Pokémon fans deserved better - but then over 24 million people bought Sca/Vio. They got what they deserved.

[@nagolloop935]

The reason I’m scared for Legends Z-A is actually because it was announced for next year which judging from what we know and how Pokémon news is usually handled implies it’s going to be the most rushed Pokémon game in recent time. I’m still holding hope that when we do eventually get a real gameplay trailer that it looks decent but I temper my expectations because with what that first trailer was next year is way to early if they don’t wow us when we see gameplay.

[@Sparkarnation]

I'm carefully hyped for Legends Z-A but skipping a year in a row in 2024 and instead 2025 makes me hopeful. Game Freak may make a new generation for the new console in 2026 (aka. Pokemon's 30th Anniversary), but not sure it would meet expectation of the fans.

[@joshuakolton9955]

Crazy that the best looking Pokémon games on the switch were the first ones. The quality has gotten worse as the switch ages.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Well I guess I could say Let’s Go fit the Pokémon development cycle the most in a weird way? Unlike SWSH, LA and SCARVIOL Gamefreak didn’t have to worry too much about the story/new character and Pokémon designs and whatnot since they were directing copying a game from before. So more time could’ve gone into making the game ACTUALLY look good. This in no means is an excuse but it’s just a head canon I just thought of right now

[@Dany-rx7rs]

😮

[@Dany-rx7rs]

😮

[@crestofhonor2349]

Probably because they were the least resource restrictive games to create. Made it much easier for them to get the lighting right as that’s the main issue with all of the games afterwards

[@skeleton819]

honestly dont mind the simpler cartoonish artstyle

[@MatrixPlays]

Franchise died for most of us after Pokémon black and white. Not sure why, just feels like it was all downhill after that

[@TheResidence.mp4]

The hype disappeared for me at Sun and Moon's release. Just couldn't get into the game and didn't really get excited for anything past then.

[@aragornelesar3862]

Yep, B2W2 were great, everything after was just empty.

[@Paulxl]

@@TheResidence.mp4 You just grew out of it. That happens.

[@TheResidence.mp4]

@@Paulxl I havent grown out of Pokemon, I'm still deeply in love with the franchise. I just think the quality of the games took a noticeable dip and it hasn't really recovered since.

[@wesnohathas1993]

I'd even say a lot of the older games were overrated as well. My whole time playing through Diamond on the DS I just couldn't enjoy it, and from there White was only a marginal improvement.

[@alexchampion58]

My biggest financial regret is buying scarlet AND violet on release day… I’m never doing that again

[@TheReZisTLust]

It was actually shadow released an hour early. I played for an hour before talking to the tauros owner in the 1st town and having ti hard restart cause I took auto save off. I had a fem kitty 😢.Try it with the next game tho.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I also bought the game the day it came out and honestly I didn't experience too many glitches or bugs but the performance issues and shitty graphics were so noticable

[@gamesmoney1025]

Same here. I'm done preordering Pokemon games..... I'll see reviews of future games before I decide whether or not I'm willing to purchase future games

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

I actually gave up when realizing the designs are ugly and hurt my eyes. Even I regret defending the character designs by comparing them to the New Pokémon Snap character models. The anime aesthetics just rule that they never need to be realistic in fantasy.

[@HighLifeProds17]

I feel the same way about BDSP.

[@oyeh8908]

I'd argue that deadlines are the least of Game Freak's problems. I recommend watching Cydonia's video, "The Worrying Testimonies of Those Who Worked at Game Freak" (He's an Italian KZbinr, but the video is fully subtitled in English). He does a very good job translating and analyzing employee reviews of Game Freak, and it paints a depressing picture of the studio's psychology and mismanagement. They genuinely lack talent and passion.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I’ve actually watched a similar video by Guirrem Red (I think that’s his account name) where he reads off some employee reviews from Gamefreak and from what I gathered, while most of the employees aren’t treated badly and have a good pay, the extreme time crunch and lack of innovation make it not the best studio to work with which… is very sad to hear Thanks for the recommendation thought! I’ll give it a watch when I have the time

[@haroldnecmann7040]

Yeah, fuck gamefreak and everything they stand for 🖕

[@taylon5200]

​@theglasshalffull6958 it's definitely worth the watch, not to change your mind or anything but to get a deeper understanding 9f the series design philosophy and the arbitrary rules they need to follow. It's a hell of a mess and really brings everything together mixed with the time crunches as to why they're pumping out some real mediocre products despite being the largest media franchise on the planet.

[@Mr.perfectcell88]

mio fratello? is possible?

[@nintonintendo1]

​@@Mr.perfectcell88il palle

[@hannahrose13420]

my wife left me for the gym challenge

[@theglasshalffull6958]

A horrible fate for any man who lives in Galar

[@jarethanson8775]

My gym left me for the wife challenge

[@ducc1]

"You can always pirate Nintendo games, it's always morally correct" -That one meme on the internet

[@theglasshalffull6958]

As long as Gamefreak/Nintendo gives us no other options to playing their classics, we will continue to sail the 7 seas!

[@tails183]

Honestly, as long as they keep murdering fan games and doing scummy crap, I will. Until they prove they're a good company, meh.

[@TheDragonLegacy]

It's turning into a modern "Oh you want access to all the pokemon? Well here's 30 behind a paywall. We'll add more next quarter when we need more money."

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Well tbf I think the Pokémon themselves aren’t actually behind a paywall, just all the DLC. But if I’m wrong please correct me because idk for sure

[@goGothitaLOL]

@@theglasshalffull6958yeah it’s just the DLC Even with the new DLC mons and items/TMs, if someone is willing to trade them with you, they can

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Yeah that’s what I thought it was. That does make the whole idea of returning Pokémon a lot more bearable but still kinda sucks we’ll never truly have all 1000 or so Pokémon

[@Dany-rx7rs]

😮

[@princesspikachu3915]

@@theglasshalffull6958Except in the mobile spin off Pokémon Go. Gen 9 Pokémon were made available less than a year after SV launched.

[@butthemeatwasbad]

Whereas I think "but the game is still fun" is valid, I fear that mentality is how we got to where we are. They know they can spit out the worst-rated pokemon game, still make bank, and then move onto the next project.

[@pascalsimioli6777]

The problem is that is always a reply to a completely different conversation. "... And that's why pokemon is a low quality franchise" "yes but it's still funny" Motherfucker "fun" was never part of the conversation, quality was. Stop coping and misunderstanding objective vs subjective.

[@bugonboris6681]

Honestly, I'm less worried about the "but it's still fun" excuse being used for Pokémon, and more so with all the soulless content farm channels and mobile games that we've been getting lately...

[@wall6587]

Considering GF's recent streak, I feel like avoiding B/W remakes at all cost just to preserve nostalgia

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I feel like eventually BW remakes are gonna come out but it’s totally on Gamefreak whether they wanna go the BDSP route or the ORAS route with them

[@Slickgary007]

@@theglasshalffull6958they are probably skipping a remake since they made bw2 and that’s why they are going for legends z-a

[@lpsotakutrash]

I'm still disappointed Scarlet & Violet sold more than Arceus. I'm sorry, but Arceus understood the assignment.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Well scarlet and violet had the power of being released new the holiday AND being the beginning of a new generation But make no mistake, 16 million sales (or however many Legends Arceus made) is still a really good number

[@leopardgecko4226]

Arceus was the latest pokemon game I've played since gen 3, almost 20 years ago. I loved it but holy crap, so many Pokemon I've never seen lol.

[@TheWeedIsland]

bruh they're both Unity engine indie project-tier games. Arceus understood the assignment? why do games from ps2 era look and run better?

[@justjoannak]

​@@leopardgecko4226 My goodness, that's a *BIG* gap!

[@leopardgecko4226]

@@justjoannak Yep. It made it interesting though!

[@realfishu]

Do yall remember during the final credits of SWSH that the cursor would go across the screen 💀😭

[@theglasshalffull6958]

They have to add that credits scene like a couple of hours before the game released because HOW TF did they get away with that

[@buqvomit1224]

i totally forgot about this!!

[@justjoannak]

Replying to boost this

[@SugaMot]

One of the things I find most egregious about scarlet and violet is the obvious lack of research and effort put into the region. Paldea is supposed to be based on Spain but there is next to nothing that actually indicates this minus the use of Spanish. Why is the main food sandwiches and not heckin paella? Where is the culture? The history? Why is one of the gyms set in a Japanese restaurant and not a traditional Spanish one? Spain has such iconic landmarks like the villas and churches of Toledo, or the aqueduct of Segovia but none of that is represented. Instead of fairytale like towns with cute little alleyways, gorgeous stone buildings, and welcoming small shops, paldea is a complete wasteland. Just open fields with scattered towns. In the past with games like Sun and Moon and X and Y, the culture of each region is very apparent. Lumiose City is such a great representation of Paris, Alola had such a strong culture. Paldea is... nothing and it saddens me cause Spain is one of the most beautiful places I've been

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I 100% agree with what you say. I offhandedly mention that Spain "doesn't even use uniforms" but there are so many other examples of paldea just not being a good representation of what Spain is supposed to be. And other regions in the past outshine it in every way possible

[@komarunaegi7460]

Paella and other Spanish dishes are served in a lot of the restaurants you can visit. Sandwiches were likely picked thanks to the simplicity of it for the sake of the minigame they wanted to implement for it, and to support the Herba Mystica subplot. Pokémon is also a Japanese series first and foremost, and Japanese influence has always been present in its games, even in foreign regions. Abundant Shrine and the Genie Trio in Unova have nothing to do with American culture at all, for instance, so there’s a degree of fantasy and mixture with Japanese culture that’s always been present no matter where the setting of the games are. Otherwise, I agree that less research for Spain seems to have been done for Paldea for some reason. It feels like wasted potential. I mentioned Unova but that region has more foreign influence by comparison.

[@Xanegoh]

Same with Alola. The only thing really is the multiple islands you have to travel between. If you didn't tell me it's supposed to be Hawai'i, I'd struggle to say that's the inspiration. There really isn't a lot to suggest it is. Even the legendaries are a joke in that that regard.

[@haroldnecmann7040]

Thanks for making valid rational excuse for this lazy greedy company​@@komarunaegi7460

[@komarunaegi7460]

@@Xanegoh I don’t fully understand this complaint, because while I understand more research could’ve been put into add more flair to these regions, Pokemon regions have never been anywhere close to a 1:1 representation of the real life places they’re based on. Gens 1-4 take place in regions in Japan. The devs are Japanese, so you’d think they’d be biased and include more aspects of their country or culture into those regions, right? Wrong. The similarities between the Kanto region in Gen 1 and the Kanto region irl are about the same as Paldea’s similarities to Spain. It’s a VERY fictionalized version of it. Johto and Hoenn even more so. Sinnoh has a few similarities to Hokkaido beyond the shape of the region, but like Jubilife actually resembling Sapporo to some degree, but it’s not like Mt. Coronet has some real life equivalent with ancient ruins at its peak, the same way the Whirl Islands had no real life equivalent either. Sootopolis from Hoenn is literally a city based off the Greek island of Sanorini, which is extremely far away from Kyushu, the region Hoenn is based on. They literally add whatever for the sake of what would make for a cool location to visit within the context of the game. I’d like for more inspiration to come from other cultures, but as someone from the U.S., Unova is literally just a jumbled mishmash of aspects taken from New York, California, New Mexico, and Japan. It’s nothing like the actual area of New York that Unova is situated in geographically. I think more of that type of inspiration Unova got would be fun. Clearly very altered and very fictionalized but more of a resemblance is still there while still having plenty of areas that are completely made up or not from the U.S at all. I mean, Kalos took more on-the-nose inspiration from France, but its legendaries are based off Norse mythology. Hardly French-like at all. But it’s not like people complained back then because Xerneas and Yveltal are cool. It’s a video game at the end of the day.

[@witheesoul]

been boycotting the series since 2019 because of the most recent games. it frustrates me with how the pokemon company and nintendo treat the series that i love and care about so much. i really hope gamefreak will take a step in the right direction in gen 10

[@theglasshalffull6958]

It’s hard to say whether or not Gamefreak will try to change for their next release given how these games have sold so well. But I do have some faith we will see some change come legends ZA And the next generation

[@phillnyetheplaylistguy3759]

It really sucks pokemon as a concept has unlimited potential when It comes to delivering gameplay, a good story, visuals, and all that. It's worse that it has potential, if it was going nowhere fast I could probably Find a way to let go.

[@user-10021]

Not gonna happen, just play fanmade heavily modded roms. It’s up to fans now to make the new gens

[@pokechamp3987]

As someone who grew up with the first games I think a complete reboot and reimagination of the series would be cool. Back to keeping things simple but still fresh.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I wouldn’t mind some kind of reboot for the series but I don’t really know how they’d go about it honestly. If they can add some unique features to the Gameplay then I’d be all in

[@Supakoopa537]

I’d love it, but it probably won’t happen. BW was soft reboot and it got so much undeserved hate. Gen V is probably my second favorite gen. It proves a reboot could work, but a reboot probably won’t be received well. Also TPC won’t let it happen because of merchandising

[@princeizo6892]

I rarely agree with almost everything someone says in a video essay critiquing something I enjoy, but i have almost no notes. This video is so well done and really does pinpoint my feelings to a tee.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Wow can’t believe you were able to agree with all my points like that. Guess that’s sort of an accomplishment so thanks lol

[@aenguswright7336]

Personally, I think the last harrah games in the series were Black and White. X and Y were also fairly good, but despite how much we all wanted it, I don't think that moving away from sprites has been a good change for Pokemon. The problem is, that there are just too many pokemon, too many moves, and it's pretty much impossible to have compelling animations and story that match up to what people expect on that scale. With sprites it's much easier to suspend your disbelief and pretend that you can see the attacks happening, but when 3D Dragonite awkwardly flops and an super imposed tail appears 20m away to bop the opponent, it's hard to take it seriously

[@BlaximilianD00d]

Not to start a debate in the comments, but I like the 2D sprites.

[@LuznoLindo]

​@@BlaximilianD00d The 2D sprites were miles more timeless than the 3D models.

[@brigel4984]

I disagree with this. I think USUM is the last good game and is up there with BW and HGSS. SM/USUM is the perfect mix because it makes use of 3D models without the clunky camera and battle scenes of the switch games. Sprites are nice until you start thinking about how your 5ft Salamence looks bigger than a 15ft Giratina. USUM is also the most story-driven main pokemon game. It's honestly pretty close between BW1 and this gen, but you can argue SM has too much story (cutscenes, dialogues) that it kinda takes away from the game. They're really close to perfecting the switch formula. SV is not that bad, it's just so unoptimized and has a corny story

[@JuanLeon-oe6xe]

​@@brigel4984 Less "corny" and more " "accidental" far right propaganda"...

[@pkmntrainerred4247]

​@@JuanLeon-oe6xeWhere the fuck did right wing politics get into this

[@ViviBuchlaw]

I had a friend who was a Pokémon fan, who caught every pokemon in Red without trading, and they said "Being a Pokemon fan is like being in an abusing relationship" and I cannot stop thinking about that

[@Riza20462]

Clown

[@tulpamedia]

Wait don't you need to trade haunter to get gengar?

[@ViviBuchlaw]

@@tulpamedia Whay part of Gen 1 do you not understand 🤣

[@tulpamedia]

@@ViviBuchlaw imma be honest I don't know much about gen 1 lmao. That's why I was asking.

[@BetaNurse68]

@@ViviBuchlawI’m confused? Trade evolutions were in gen 1 so it’s a valid question lol. Gengar was a trade evolution in gen 1 as was Alakazam. Lol

[@akalixevelynn2932]

they took away my fashion for ugly pre uniforms i hate them

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Character customization was one of my favourite past times in Pokemon and even tho scarlet/violet still allows you to change hats or backpacks it still feels SO barebones compared to what we got before

[@bugginonthewall]

“One final sloppy toppy” *immediately subscribes*

[@KOtheRipper]

I feel like it should be well understood that they keep pushing Kanto because it sells the most merch/toys/plush and because it is the very beginning of the series.

[@ResidentTarantino]

Ya know how Pokémon Bank existed FOR the games? Well, I feel like there's been a role reversal where Pokémon games exist FOR Pokémon HOME. The effects of the dex cut has its longstanding impact of making your favorites potential game-exclusive assets. What's worse is how these games have systematically removed post-game adventures and re-sold them back as "DLC." Not to mention how said "DLC" puts a bunch of competitive advantages behind a paywall. Needless to say, I'm still glad I dropped out after gen 7. I had a moment of weakness with Legends Arceus. As interesting as I thought it was, its magic wore off when I realized how I could cheese the game and any semblance of challenge could be overcome by resource grinding. So I will not be purchasing Z-A. This franchise is too scummy and I don't see any return to form in the foreseeable decade.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Alright so this might sound kinda weird of me but I never actually used or purchased Pokémon home before. So I don’t really know how much of a greedy or scummy outlook it has for the series but I should look into it. And as much as I do wanna recommend something like legends Arceus it’s hard because even I know how some of the flaws of it can deter people from playing it, plus even though the DLC feels pretty expansive compared to post game of before… it still seems pretty sad that these things that used to become packaged in are just no longer here

[@Dany-rx7rs]

😮

[@ResidentTarantino]

@@theglasshalffull6958 grim reminder that, let's say you caught a shiny legendary in Pokémon GO and you store it in HOME to send to the mainline games. You won't be allowed to transfer those GO legendaries unless you've already caught those legendaries in-game. Another thing I forgot to mention are evolution paywalls that are starting to stack up. So far, these are applying to regional variants. But not only that, but new evolutions too. Pokémon like Kleavor, Ursaluna, and Wyrdeer existed as assets in Scarlet/Violet when the game launched, but there is no way to obtain any of those Pokémon without paying extra; like if you want Kleavor, you either need to own Legends Arceus or you need to purchase SV's DLC to catch a wild Kleavor in the Indigo Disk. This series is twisting the consumer's arm more than any third version I've ever seen. Third versions and paid DLC in this franchise are scummy, but at least third versions allowed one to wait for a definitive version. Now you're faced with either keeping your full-priced unfinished slop truly unfinished, or you pay the troll toll so you have the somewhat more finished product. They suckered so many people into paying full price for a buggy and deliberately unfinished mess and then sell them back the post-game for $35, which is $5 more than the last time they did it. Clown world, man. So, which evolutions are going to be locked behind owning Legends Z-A?

[@lpfan4491]

I can remember when they marketed Pokemon Bank as "it will keep your Pokemon around for generations"(as in, implied to mean human generations, not Pkm generations). And now we are happy that it is not already shut down. There was nothing stopping them from simply reusing the same structure for the Switch instead of making a seperate service, it was 100% to trick us into not noticing the fact that they intended to take power away from the consumer from the start(We really should have seen the writing on the wall when the transfer from Gen 5 to 6 was centered on the then-paid Bank subscription rather than being handled in a diffrent way).

[@princesspikachu3915]

I didn’t drop out after Gen 7 but I will confess that I didn’t transfer any of my Pokémon from the 3DS. I also made the wise decision to keep my 3DS system rather than sell it like I did previous systems and games. I have a beautiful living Pokédex on Ultra Sun. I can’t even remember all of the Pokémon in Gens 8 and 9. Just the first 807 plus Meltan and Melmetal.

[@Pioxys]

It's crazy to see we're finally in the timeline where *POKEMON AND THEIR FANS* are in the same route as *SONIC FANS.* Both sides has incredibly rushed games that could have been great. While both sides having increasing love-hate for the franchise. Thanks Game Freak lol.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I was comparing Kirby and Pokémon in the video when I should’ve been comparing it to Sonic since there’s a STAGGERING amount of similarities between the 2

[@maxqill1435]

The one difference between the franchises is that Sonic has had more decent games recently.

[@Deadflower019]

So that's why RadicalSoda talks about the two so similarly.

[@minakoarisato1506]

​@@Deadflower019it's like a roller-coaster!

[@villainkaiju]

Forces and SWSH feel like the bad child out of the Sonic and Pokemon fans lol

[@UnstoppableTheStreamSniper]

transferrng everything from omega ruby to sword and shield was the worst mistake i made

[@geo_dragon6008]

This says alot when the fans are SO. HAPPY. That a game is not coming out Like : Every other game franchise : "Awww this game is not coming out t'ill 2025 :(" Pokemon : "YEESSS IT'S NOT COMING OUT THIS YEAR!!" Like, this is so unheard of omg (as far as im aware lol)

[@theglasshalffull6958]

It’s such a funny yet sad outlook on the state of modern Pokémon

[@geo_dragon6008]

​@@theglasshalffull6958Switch era pokemon is certainly an emotional rollercoaster Funny how both PLA and SV are in my Top 10 pokemon games lmao

[@Sparkarnation]

Like a certain Pink Wolf Creature said, "Always expect for the unexpected." Also, that I expect Game Freak would do a Legends game that would take place in Unova, but instead give Kalos instead in Lumiose City. This is since Unova was partly featured as a DLC.

[@samuelpounds1475]

@@geo_dragon6008 Me: Please don't let it be another Sun and Moon situation

[@gemodemplay415]

I am just amazed by the fact that you managed to make no jutsu in the end given how may hand signs you made throughout the entire video.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I tried for literally over an hour and literally got NOTHING.

[@allhailme8457]

I hate the fact that as an OG player and fan, any special Pokémon given in some games or through events get screwed if you bring them to the new games. I always transfered all my pokemon and now if i try to move an older pokemon with a special move into BDSP or S&V, then they lose that special move or any move that was taken away in dexit, or they just cant be in the game for the same reason. catching them all became pointless. so much time invested for nothing.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

The whole transferring Pokémon through Pokémon Home aspect is something I didn’t really discuss but still manages to be a big issue and needlessly complicated for no reason. Gotta hate how Gamefreak keep treating the fans this way

[@excalibur493]

Yeah... I have a Toys R Us Arceus from DPPt to promote HGSS, and I've LOVED it for years. Except I never sent it up to Home because its special moves would be wiped. Oh, guess what? The Arceus in Legends Arceus USES THOSE MOVES in the overworld section of its fight! So I can't send my original Arceus to Legends knowing Roar of Time/Spacial Rend/Shadow Force, but it CAN use those against me as a boss???? Cool attention to detail, but ultimately: FUCK OFF.

[@allhailme8457]

They should have just done what SWSH did. You can have them, they just can’t be used in official competition if that’s all they worried about.

[@princesspikachu3915]

@@excalibur493I have that same exact Arceus chilling in the tropical paradise that is Alola. I also have most of the older event Pokémon. I even have Japanese Emerald with the ticket and it took me over 15 years but I FINALLY caught blue Mew on it during lockdown. It has crap stats (lax nature with 3 IVs) but it’s a real one so I’m not complaining.

[@ClaytonOHara]

“first introduction to Kanto,” wow i’m old Pokémon Blue taught me how to read

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I mean that’s a pretty cool way to learn how to read in my opinion

[@cullbear55]

Pokémon: The series that doesn't have to try anymore because you'll buy the newest game no matter the cut content/graphics, and you're gonna like it

[@Chillin-jg8vg]

Basically live action Disney movies

[@reinweissritter]

​@@Chillin-jg8vgEven Disney can't get away with the kind of stuff Gamefreak pulls. While Disney has been getting less money for that stuff, Pokémon keeps profiting more and more.

[@cs8712]

you'll catch nothing and you'll be happy

[@LuznoLindo]

Most of the fans are mindless slaves at this point, really.

[@lukebytes5366]

The issue with gamefreak's "excuses" is that viewing them as just that completely misses the point. They aren't excuses, they're problems. It's a problem that gamefreak has to redo an ever increasing roster of characters every time they want to shake up the artstyle, (And with dlcs, they mostly still have to) which mostly leads them to reuse content rather than enhance it. It's a problem that gamefreak only has 150 employees working on one of the most profitable franchises of all time, in time crunch that forces them to utilize the bare minimum. It's a problem that gamefreak has to choose between ambition and quality when their competition can beat them in both. These problems aren't manufactured or easily solvable with just a little effort, they're real and need to be solved for the games to be better. These issues can be entirely valid reasons for why the games are in such dissaray, while also not invalidating people's sentiments that they need to be better than they currently are.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Your 100% right. It feels hard for the die hard Pokemon games to endlessly excuse Gamefreak like they are now. YES there's other obligations with being the most profitable media franchise but they brought that upon themselves and now it's up to them to try to fix those issues because if this continues the issues will only continue to pile up. The Switch 2 is rapidly approaching and we REALLY can't have games still looking like Wii Shovelware anymore and a part of me wants to believe that Gamefreak know's this this now BUT I know I shouldn't trust them like this anymore. I'll probably forever love Pokemon but man it's getting so hard to play their games and not keeping thinking in the back of my mind that this could've been something so much greater

[@Soyboythoughts]

You used a key word "profitable" premted by "most" they the most prifitable.... why cant they afford more than 150 people? Why cant they outsource the moddles? Why do some 3DS modddles look better than switch moddles? Because thry simply dont care its only a game for the share holders now. How much money can we give to the shareholders. Its no longer a game for the fans. They dont get paid to make games for us anymore, they get paid to make games that sell big numbers right away to apease investors and then suddenly "sowwy fans we smol and poor, we dont have that kind of wreesworses for poke gwame*

[@gusty7153]

the way the game was designed in of itself was pretty much bound to collapse on itself at some point. it's just the same game remade over and over with only difference being that it's a new region with a new story and a few new mons. after a while and once online play started being a thing, i started wondering why they didn't just make it an mmorpg-ish sort of game that they simply made expansions for indefinitely instead of trying to make entire new games

[@Caquetoose]

They just suck at 3d game development and are too proud to go learn it

[@haroldnecmann7040]

​@@Caquetoosethey should've handed to other company.

[@ChoPrinn]

I'm glad you backed out of the "Pokémon's bad quality ruined my friendships" bit. Not only would have that just been really sad had it actually happened (in more ways than one), but the story would have undermined *all* the points previously made.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

When writing that part I also wanted to poke fun at how seriously people can take these kinds of things yknow. On social media sites like Twitter people will start wars for simply liking/not liking a video game, movie or something and it can become really toxic over some stupid opinions. Deciding relationships over something that’s not too big of a deal is kinda stupid especially something as small as Pokémon I also thought the bit was funny

[@Silulaya]

A big reason we will never see quality pokemon games is because gamefreak's old employee's are past their prime and have no familiarity with new technology, don't play games, don't checkout any modern games or anything. They don't get fired, they don't hire new people because they think they know best and are doing a good job because they're too old to have social media. We will not see this phased out from pokemon for another half decade or decade at least when more and more people get replaced

[@cosmicXtropics]

Exactly, was just thinking this. They are TOO STUBBORN!!

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Surprisingly enough though, there were multiple reports saying that SWSH was developed by the B team/the newer guys at Gamefreak. That fact doesn't really help anything considering how SWSH turned out but getting more people on these games would definitely help improve the quality/help make these games feel less rushed

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Pokemon on the Switch was never going to be a worthwhile thing, because it came right after Pokémon GO made a billion dollars as a mobile game. The main series games are simply not the priority anymore, they are pushed out the door as fast as possible with minimal effort, and it shows.

[@MasterFalkner]

my headcanon is that galar was so bad the anime had to go in a different direction

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Lmao, the anime writers knew they couldn’t salvage what little story the game had for them to work with

[@gregkareem9824]

​@@theglasshalffull6958stop cursing its a sin dude

[@markramos1216]

@@gregkareem9824wtf are you talking about? Where? Are you like 12?

[@Nocturne989]

​@@gregkareem9824 your religion dictates your own actions, not those of unrelated people around you.

[@gregkareem9824]

@@Nocturne989 proof?

[@Autumn-Leafeon]

The second I realized that Stoutland, my favorite Pokemon (but also an incredibly niche noise... even though Stoutland would have fit PERFECTLY) wasn't going to be available in Sword and Shield, much less any future games, I gave up on buying any mainline Pokemon games... my last Pokemon game I bought was Pokemon Snap. It just makes me sad that I won't even be able to have the opportunity to bring my favorite Pokemon along with me at any point.

[@Mr.perfectcell88]

man if i know that azumarill is not available in any future game i will be very sad, i feel you bro

[@Creatures_of_the_Everquarry]

It'll certainly come back at some point. Also you CAN put it in SwSh now.

[@HPFireYT]

One of my favorites is chatot purely for a gimmick moveset. Now half those moves just don’t exist (hidden power, chatter) and the pokemon isn’t even available past USUM. I’m glad I didn’t bother getting a switch for Pokemon. It just makes me sad.

[@strawdeath263]

@@HPFireYT Chatot is available in both BDSP and PLA, Chatter exists in BDSP (and Chatot can have it), and Hidden Power exists in both BDSP and PLA (though only Unown can have it in either).

[@Dilloncastro2]

The way SV had 2 full dlcs and the game still feels incomplete and missing pieces and features is the craziest part to me.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I’ve didn’t play the DLC’s but no matter how good they might be, it feels strange that they went ahead and made DLC rather than fixing the game as time went on

[@blueriot7660]

The thing i hate about "X is made for children" narrative is that we are saying that kids dont deserve good games and only should have easy games, which i find redundant because games like that lose their value after you are able to think for yourself.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I also don’t like the argument, especially when people say that about Nintendo games. Personally I find a better term is that they make games for all ages and something that a kid can find enjoyable can also be enjoyed by adults as well. Most Nintendo series already fit under that margin but people tend to think Pokémon specifically is only designed with a kid audience in mind

[@blueriot7660]

@theglasshalffull6958 I think a good example is the active removal of optional difficulty settings like set mode and not being able to turn off exp share. I feel like we are robbing future players of a full experience that older players have grown up with in the name of simplifying a game that outside of gimmick mechanics would be better off with some optional difficulty settings.

[@TheEverydayGamer1000]

My biggest gripe is EVERYTHING IS TOO “FRIENDLY”. Most of us have grown up with Pokemon for well over 10 years at least, most of us are adults now. Between Rivals not feeling like rivals but supporting characters, Evil Teams not being Evil Villans anymore but misguided or narrow sighted people in positions of power, and nothing really being curated to the older audience. I understand Pokemon is a “Kids” game but I feel like GameFreak is constantly dumbing things down. No more evil teams, no world threatening scenario, no major plot, post game is DLC and everyone’s a Champion now? I also feel like the general downfall started at X and Y overall.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

While there's some points you've made that I can agree with, there's others where I feel like it's Gamefreak trying something new with the series. I honestly really liked that Team Skull was just a bunch of thugs that were misguided and didn't really have any grandiose plans. And the actual evil team and high stakes all had to do with the aether foundation. It felt like a breath of fresh air because it was something we weren't used to getting... and then the exact same thing happened in SWSH and that was pretty lame. But afterwards I found the conflicts within Area Zero and the endgame of Legends Arceus to be quite interesting, and it was able to offer up those high stakes battles that the previous generations offered up and something that can be enjoyed by adults/kids alike. Although I do kinda hope that Gamefreak does introduce an outright evil team in Legends ZA or Gen 10, I personally never had a huge problem with things feeling too "friendly"

[@Xenephos]

@@theglasshalffull6958​​⁠I agree with your thoughts on Team Skull. They had a level of charm that felt realistic. Pure evil is fun, but misguided outcasts are also very fun, and it’s a lot easier for me to stay interested in a villain’s motives if their plans aren’t completely nonsensical. It’s my favorite evil team for a reason!

[@Kahvinporo]

My favourite part of SWSH is Piers and how in his "gym" dynamaxing isn't a thing because Piers just didn't feel like having it basically.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

While I always found his gym kinda lame because of how it’s just a straight line of battles and the very cringey no dialogue performance, I do think it’s pretty cool how he doesn’t have any dynamax Pokémon since his gym is essentially in the back of an alleyway. Making it have a cool aesthetic compared to any other gym we’ve ever got

[@2l84me8]

I blame the producers for rushing the product and I blame the fans who still choose to support this mediocrity.

[@Goremize]

This is the reason Pokemon games are all terrible. People give them money for trash. So they keep producing Trash.

[@Allustar]

You can't really do much about either. People are still going to buy the games regardless of their quality.

[@Goremize]

@@Allustar Yup, just watch it'll be like all these trash games don't exist. They reveal the next pokemon trash game and make millions off people who buy two copies of the same game. They don't have to put any effort in and make the same money. So why make a good game?

[@certainlynotmalo1.0.0]

@@Goremize Yeah. I liked pokemon as a child, but i never played the game(s). It was so obvious that they only care for money with this "buy 2 get 1" strategy. It was just disgusting. But too many people were fine with it, it's no surprise that they don't really care if people buy your shitty game 2 times anyway.

[@BladeDevil]

@@Allustar my idiot aquaintence from work buys both versions for himself every release cause he says wonder trade takes too long to get all the pokemon. hes so stupid.

[@davedavidson8892]

Ive been playing radical red these past 2 weeks and it's everything I would want in a modern Pokemon game. A 2d sprite game with all mons, difficulty options, quality of life features (minimal grinding mode, portable pc box, specific pokemon locator, level caps with exp share, on the fly move relearning, nature changing, etc). I highly recommend people play it and I hope game freaks takes notes.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I had a friend play this game recently and he spoke very highly about it. I haven’t played many rom hacks/fan games but I should get to them soon

[@princesspikachu3915]

Only one I’ve ever played is Ash Gray because I’m old and dirt poor and it was the only thing that ran on Windows XP until my 20 year old laptop died. 😅

[@haroldnecmann7040]

Fangames put more effort than lazy gamefreak. 🖕

[@MegafanX123]

For gameplay enchancent i recomend Pokémon The Last Fire Red and Inclement Emerald. For a full original region and plot i recomend Pokémon Unbound and Pokémon Sovereign of the Skies. For Fakemon i recomend Order and Chaos

[@lemonscentedgames3641]

Blazing emerald is pretty sick new areas adds the special phys split to gen 3 and adds fakemons

[@howdyalmd]

I think one of the reasons why recent games are rushed is due to the Pokémon business model. Fundamentally, Kirby, TLOZ, Mario are nothing without good games. Mario is worth 36 billion, and 30 of that is video games. Pokémon is worth 92 billion, and less than 20 of that are video games. It is actively bad business-wise for Pokémon to take their time on video games, as it is the most efficient method of releasing many marketable Pokémon at one time. Because of that, I think that fundamentally there will not be a "good" Pokémon game.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Pokémon definitely does have a bunch of other branches which lead to how successful the series is now. And if the games end up getting delayed, it actively slows down the different branches from pumping out more money But even then I do wish that Gamefreak would choose to halt the other branches if it were to mean they wouldnt have obligations and can freely make a game in however much time they need

[@howdyalmd]

@@theglasshalffull6958 I definitely agree, they still have to make the games "good enough" to each generations standards. One of the things that legends had me excited for was potentially having a second series of longer games that only focus on being good games rather than just a product.

[@sarahthesnail2271]

my least favorite part is that scarlet and violet are their games that have sold the most. This means that they know how they can put such little effort into the game and still get our money.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I’m pretty sure that scarlet and violet sold a little bit less than SWSH did but overall it doesn’t change the fact that they made a ton of money, and can show Gamefreak that they aren’t doing anything wrong

[@CanaldoZenny]

Pokémon is Nintendo's Sonic the Hedgehog. It is kept alive soly by it's rabid fandom. The games are being in an assembly line style fashion in a string shoe budget by the same studio since tje beginning. Music is the only consistently good part of the games. TV shows and multimedia content is far more profitable than the games, which makes Game Freak doesn't bother with making a good Pokemon game. The difference between Pokemon and Sonic is that at veey least Sonic managed to release some decent to good games a few times, and his games have voice acting.

[@Mike-di3mo]

The difference is sonic really was like pokemon nowadays in the mid 2000s to mid to late 2010s. Now sonic games are getting good like frontier or super stars.

[@OneAndOnlyDanky]

The biggest difference is that Sonic is at least trying new things, sure they’re not all great because sega seems like they barely know how to make a damn game at times, but each game isn’t the same as the last. Pokémon still has that base formula that they put into every game, sure they innovate sometimes, but with how rapid fire they come out it’s hard to do much without it barely functioning. Games are released in that state likely because the Pokémon company knows they can be, scarlet and violet is proof of that. I don’t know maybe it’s bias but something about Pokémon makes it feel more cynical and corporate. I feel bad for anyone working at game freak who has to deal with that strict ass schedule

[@100organicfreshmemes5]

​@@Mike-di3moSuperstars isn't good. It isn't bad, but it gets a bunch of stuff wrong compared to Mania.

[@Mike-di3mo]

@@100organicfreshmemes5 I didnt ask for your opinion stoopid it got a 7.3 critic score and that means it's good

[@100organicfreshmemes5]

@@Mike-di3mo Ah yes, because as we all know critics are always right. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet has a 72 on Metacritic from Critics, must mean that game is good too despite being a bug-ridden mess that looks like garbage and doesn't do any kind of level scaling to prevent you from getting overlevelled early and turning most of the game into an incredibly easy slog.

[@sanderengelen9140]

After YEARS of yearly releases, I can’t put in words how happh I am we’re not getting any game this year 😭🙏🏻

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I 100% agree. When I saw that 2025 release date for Legends AZ I couldn’t be happier

[@edwinoliveros4863]

Wdym, everyone's saying we're getting Gen 5 remakes this year /j

[@Deadflower019]

@@edwinoliveros4863 don't you fcking dare

[@kevinbell5674]

That's only because of the DLC. Remember, they didn't release any new games when SWSH DLC was releasing.

[@sanderengelen9140]

@@kevinbell5674 the Scarlet/Violet DLC released last year, I think they’re actually starting to slow down

[@jolopopo6442]

modern pokemon games hold your hand way too much. the fact that you play as a kid is fine but the game doesn’t have to treat you that way

[@theglasshalffull6958]

SWSH and let’s go 100%. Legends arceus and scarlet and violet tho? I think they severely tone down that aspect (not including the first 40 minutes or so of legends arceus)

[@philtess3126]

That's why they should include a hard mode. It would be so easy to implement: just level up some mons on the enemy team, give them actual items and good moveset. Also let trainers switch out.

[@Worsterest]

give examples at least

[@philtess3126]

@@Worsterest exp share included all game brings down the difficulty quite a bit. Then, there's the fact that each gen now has a fight altering mechanic yet only the boss fights are balanced around that mechanic making every other encounter trivial if you use it.

[@christianschafer2033]

@@philtess3126 exp share tunes down the grind not the difficulty...

[@TrunkJunky]

People are very quick to dunk on GameFreak for the current state of pokemon, but the consumers are just as guilty. Despite their many problems, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sold over TEN MILLION COPIES within the first 3 days of launch. Pokemon Broken Diamond and Shattered Pearl have sold a combined total of 15 million units since launch. Pokemon Sword and Shield have outsold Pokemon Gold and Silver with a staggering 26 million copies sold in its lifetime. Either the pokemon consumers have zero standards, or the people pointing out the game's faults and crying "doom & gloom" for the series are a very small portion of the fanbase.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

That is a very good point, I mention that these games still sell incredibly well despite all the controversy and that's just because people just enjoy their yearly fix of Pokemon. The quality doesn't really matter as long as they can just sit down, pick their starter and just casually run through a game and doesn't care about how good the graphics are or scummy some of the decisions Pokemon has made. And I mean that's fine if people just want to play Pokemon and don't really want to bat an eye to all the controversy. But it does show to Gamefreak that it doesn't matter how rushed these games might be if they're still selling better than ever

[@tipep]

Bro put too many points into the Gesture Tree.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I plan to unlock the more advanced version where I incorporate jumping and spinning to my arsenal

[@somepoliticalgamer6459]

@@theglasshalffull6958that would actually be hilarious dude.

[@TokusZaBlunto]

@@theglasshalffull6958 your 6 gestures definitely feel like they were developed by game freak

[@deletedaccount1990]

I feel so bad to see the franchise's downfall. It used to be one of the best games I bought each and every time a new portable Nintendo console came out.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Pokémon truly used to be loved by all during the 3DS era. It’s a shame that the games are now viewed more controversial than ever 10 years later

[@deletedaccount1990]

​@@theglasshalffull6958 I played Pokémon since Gen I. I was 9 when the franchise was all new. On my old monochrome Gameboy. I played through all generations and now I'm 36. My favourite Pokémon era was the DS era. From dppt to bw2.

[@OrangeToadGamer]

27:45 BDSP discourse in a nutshell: *"It's the same game I played as a kid!"* 😀 vs *"It's the same game I played as a kid."* 😠

[@ClodsireBcuzYes]

theres "im so glad i get to play this game in better graphics with even more pokemon, more gimmicks and less bugs" and "these graphics kinda suck, i preferred the pixel art style, why is there so many bugs? and why is this the exact game i played before but without the casino?"

[@brotbrotsen1100]

This wasn't just a bad remake it was the worst remake i ever saw. I'm not even sure if you could call the graphics an improvement. Maybe the battle graphics yeah.... Maybe

[@thefreshvince879]

its actually the best game on the switch due to the modding side of things. Unity engine is so easy to mod, they already added the entire game of platinum and a lot more

[@theglasshalffull6958]

BDSP is such a big mess in so many ways but I'll never get over how they may be the only game I've ever played to actually ruin nostalgia for me

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Yeah I'd say some of the mods I saw of the game look pretty dope

[@Zivalene]

Despite how Scarlet and Violet released, (yes, I had my own glitchy experiences to talk about), it was the first game that me and my now-husband played together and shared in full. I loved the story, the personality that they gave Miraidon and Koraidon, and 'Celestial' is now considered 'our song'. There are still many moments I can recall that made that game worth it for me in the end. But to this day, I have yet to finish Let's Go: Pikachu and BD. Didn't even catch the legendaries in SWSH because I didn't want to bother going for them after the credits.

[@Smfsableye]

I noticed even since Gen 5 that they were starting to cut corners to accommodate the massive Pokémon roster, so while I understand the “need” for Dexit, I definitely think it has just been used as an excuse to cut more corners. Imo there should be a core Pokémon MMORPG that’s ever expanding while the more focused main series games can release alongside it on their own schedule.

[@LuckyBunz]

Can't imagine how long it took to edit this, such a well done video dude! Soooo many valid points about every game mentioned. I really enjoyed the Scarlet and Violet story, and I'm hoping that Legends Z-A gets the development time it needs to be great and not rushed 🤞

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Thanks dude! Trust me there were times when editing this video where I questioned if this was all worth it. Editing a good 2-3 minutes in 6 hours and seeing I still have 45 minutes to go we’re hard but I am so proud of the end product and all of that tireless hours were worth it. Glad you also liked scarlet and violet despite all the flaws, we can only hope legends ZA can somehow rectify the series!

[@timelordricknmorty8179]

Honestly the most exciting announcement they could make is that they are delaying the release of a game because it needs more time. I have never seen another fandom get so excited over the fact that a game is releasing later than they would have thought

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I swear I've never experienced something similar with any other video game series. Like maybe Marvel fans would feel the same? But I don't know if they would still feel the same relief as we did

[@JMeister18]

To really sell the point on Paldea not having any memorable towns or landmarks, how many of us had to look up all the answers to the bullshit quiz at the start of the elite four?

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I honestly have no clue how but I think I managed to clear that on my first try because I sorta remembered where Larry’s gym was located

[@aussiefi98]

this was throughly entertaining and really felt like a hug. thanks for making this

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Never gotten this type of compliment before but I appreciate it! Glad you found some enjoyment out of it

[@roseevans8143]

For your last segment, where you speak as a long-time pokemon fan, I felt it in my soul. I vividly remember playing leaf green on the gameboy advance, picking charmander because the little guy stole my heart the moment I first saw him and the countless memories I made journeying through Kanto and beyond. For years, my brother and I would always get the new games, arguing over which boxart legendaries was better and just having fun and trading pokemon as we journeyed through a whole new region. Those days eventually stopped as my brother became disappointed in the series after x and y. Its only me who still plays each of the games, a soft spot for pokemon I can't shake because somewhere in me is still the same kid who fell in love with the world of pokemon so many years ago. I can only hope that next year's pokemon game will prove to all of us that our faith in pokemon wasn't for nothing.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Glad to see someone that was able to relate super hard with the ending segment of the video. I saw a lot of other people talk about how they stopped caring after Gen 7, Gen 8, etc which I can't really blame them for but for others it's just harder when you have such a big attachment to the series you know? I still enjoyed the recent games (despite their flaws) and want to remain cautiously optimistic for the time being. But MAN is it hard to when you see the decisions Gamefreak has taken within the past few couple of years

[@rabies6418]

please continue doing video essays, i love this kind of content, peak video

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it that much. And don't worry even though these videos take a VERY long time to make I absolutely love doing it. So definitely expect to see more in the future! (perhaps very soon as well)

[@will88840]

What's truly criminal is how much villain teams have sucked since Sun and Moon, Every single team has been that grey morality shit that we see so much nowadays. Team Star was by far the worst team yet and team Yell was just a bunch of loud chavs. Bring back actual bad guys who want world domination via something to do with legendries.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Personally I think Gamefreak making evil teams less about world domination and more of something else isn’t that much of a bad thing. At least I can say that about team skull. They were more just a ragtag team of misfits while the aether foundation and Lusamine were the real threats Team yell is definitely less of an exception because it felt like they were just retreading previous tracks with team skull. And I would’ve gotten annoyed with team star if it wasn’t for the entire school theme of the games and I thought the idea of bullying mixed pretty well with them there. So personally I think they’ve been integrated well but ngl if if the next games try to pull off something similar THEN I’d think I’d finally grow tired of it

[@Jdoesstuff]

The Dex cuts starting with SwSh really do hamper the experience for me. Growing up, I was always led to believe that it was important to form deep bonds and connections with the Pokemon you caught throughout your playthroughs. My favorite mainstay on my team has always been Porygon. Having to play SwSh prior to the DLC without my signature Pokemon really did drag the experience for me. There were lots of cool new mon for sure, but nothing could replace my ace in the hole. Nowadays, I personally only get the games that at least have Porygon in them AT BARE MINIMUM. It's great how they add more returning mons in the game's DLC. But they never follow through with all of them, capping around 200 or so mons... That's only for ONE Pokemon, by the way. Everybody's favorite mon is different. Given Pokemon's massive install base and roster, every one of the now 1,000+ Pokemon is someone's signature. Also given Pokemon is a community based series, when you put some of people's mons in the latest games, but not others, that makes them feel singled out and not included. What saddens me more is that most people seem to be perfectly fine with these Dex cuts. As if the actual Pokemon characters don't matter in a game called,"Pokemon." Yes, not everybody likes to use the same mons over and over. But others actually do like bringing their past mons up to the latest Gen, seeing how they look and play as well as use them in combination with the newer ones. That's the beauty of what makes Pokemon special. Having all these different options of playing however you want. Unlike those who never cared about having all the mons, I for one never cared about the graphics. Yes, Game Freak did say they promised to improve the graphics and animation in compensation for the Dex cuts. But I find the excuse completely unnecessary. Pokemon was NEVER about graphics. To me, Pokemon is all about having different experiences and play styles while sharing those experiences with others. When you cut out more than half of people's options, you limit people's experiences. If people are okay with others doing stuff like Nuzlockes, shiny hunts or battling competitively, why should other things like having a living Dex in one game or venturing with a beloved favorite be any different? The worst thing is when others silence those who play differently by telling them to play how they play. It feels so controlling and disrespectful for a game all about options and customization. Without it, all you're left with is a lackluster, overly easy RPG game. You'd be better off playing something else for your RPG fix like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Persona or any of the Mario RPGs. I really wish more people would take these Dex cuts seriously. I'm starting to feel bad like I'm in the wrong for the way I enjoy the games...

[@aruce9]

I get it now but I feel sword and shield really shouldn’t be the game that got dex cuts. The gen 4 remakes would’ve been a great place to announce dex cuts and tell their audience they are cutting the dex to focus on a smaller batch of pokemon that are more finely balanced

[@Jdoesstuff]

@@aruce9 Nah, the balancing argument doesn't hold much water since VGC rules have always banned Pokemon outside the regional Dex on the past. Besides, every game has it's own obscenely broken mons and legendaries. Pokemon will never be a balanced game, and I have come to terms with that.

[@magnawaves]

Those people supporting cutting the dex really like to pretend that they care about the devs and their lives, and that cutting the dex is needed because it's too much work. At least that's one of their copes. I have seen many simply say there are too many to catch in their creature catching game, when more than likely they're the type to never have even completed the gen 1 dex in any gen ever. Complaining for the sake of it to be a contrarian because they have nothing else to do. Why would I NOT want more content when they raised the price from $40 to $60 plus $30 for dlc to have a gimped dex? It's asinine

[@giganticmoon]

but is anyone’s favorite pokémon dragalgae?

[@lukebytes5366]

I respect the way you view the franchise. However, all of those other RPG's have changed the core roster you can play as since the beginning. Heck, Pokemon has been doing that long before the actual cut. PMD forces you to play as two characters in a relatively small pool for a very long time. In FrLg, you couldn't even trade with RSE until after you beat the game. Does that make those games less customizable and harder to form connections in? Maybe. Half of infinity is still a very huge number though. Really, the issue was gamefreak and TPC naively standardizing this idea thinking it wouldn't hurt them as much as it did, only to make the dumbest compromise since the ds thumb strap.

[@alathreon8315]

One thing I hate about scarlet and violet, is that in legend arceus, we had new battle animations, they were imo the best battle animation ever, but in scarlet, we got back to the previous battle animations which were trash. Also 52:48 file size has nothing to do with that, because most (like, I would say from 50% for pixel art games to 99% for 4k games) of a game file size is graphics. So it's normal that a game with 4k graphics has 10x more file size than a game with 1k graphics. And even if that was the case, remember that game freak said for ultra sun and moon, that they had twice the amount of lines of code... which ended up with nearly same game.

[@senflyer-]

Great summary of the Switch era of Pokemon! I didn't realize you were a small channel at first (when posting this). I really hope gen 10 can find a balance between past games best elements and make a definitive peak modern pokemon game.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Gamefreak has a lot to learn from the past and if They do take their time with Gen 10 and it comes out in 2026-2027 then we can REALLY have a good game on our hands. Also thanks! This video gave a decent boost in subs which I couldn’t be happier for which hopefully means I can try to get this channel somewhere and can see even more numbers with my next few uploads. But KZbin is unpredictable so we’ll see I guess

[@klaize_]

haven't watched the video yet but just wanted to say this thumbnail is insanely good

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Thanks! I actually commision most of my thumbnails but I usually come up with the general idea of them, but this is definitely by far the best one I've ever commisioned

[@5manafireball]

I have been feeling this since xy, I’ve recently gotten into tcg collecting and the actual, and it’s definitely kind of rekindled my love for Pokémon again. The format right now it’s actually really good too

[@princesspikachu3915]

Yeah. The TCG could single handedly keep Pokémon afloat. Even with inflation being crazy and the lockdown surge over, I’m struggling to find 151 and Paldean Fates. I only managed a single booster bundle, binder, and poster set for 151 and I can’t find Paldean Fates anywhere now even though it was everywhere just a couple of weeks ago.

[@Violyte64]

I think there’s an argument to be made that the downfall really began when Pokemon first went 3D. It wasn’t super noticeable back then, but comparing X/Y and Su/Mn to what we got with gen 5 or HG/SS… I feel like the same cracks begin to show. It just got REALLY noticeable on the Switch.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I can sorta see what you mean, and looking back it does feel like the direction Pokémon was going down was gonna lead to a ton of controversy. But having said that I still really liked XY and SUMO. Not to mention ORAS we’re pretty great remakes

[@Violyte64]

@@theglasshalffull6958 Oh, for sure, I still *liked* them at the end of the day, too. I'm just saying those games are where I can start to see the signs in hindsight.

[@cardcaptortwink]

i wonder if it’s because the developers had awareness that nintendo was going to be doing away with handheld consoles with the advent of the switch, and going 3D was their way of trying to prepare for the transition. it kind of sucks because it effectively invalidated the need for any sort of home console battle simulator game like stadium or colosseum. i really believe pokemon should have stayed a 2D game and saved the 3D interaction for battle simulators.

[@elirantuil5003]

ORAS was decent and Gen7 was super solid though. Gen 5 was a high point but up until Sword and Shield it was an upard trajectory. I think SwSh music saved it for me because it just slaps.

[@Violyte64]

@@elirantuil5003 I still hold the opinion that the cracks began to show with X/Y. ORAS was probably the last game released that I would ever have any interest in replaying. Gen 7 is very good for a first playthrough, but on future visits I find the constant gameplay interruptions to be exhausting.

[@littleandrew2]

I remember playing Breath of The Wild for the first time last year, beating it and saying “that was an incredible game, now I can’t wait to try out Pokémon Arceus”. I then put Pokemon Arceus in and felt the biggest whiplash in quality 15 minutes into Arceus

[@icanhazgoodgame3845]

Positives: Lets go: looked crisp. Fun to play with a young child. SwSh: Gym battles. Character design. BDSP: battle background looked nice. PLA: best pokemon game on switch. SV: .....ummm. Some of the storylines were touching? Penny battle theme was fire. Starter pokemon are solid.

[@symphony_in_152mm2]

>"If you don't have your platinum cartridge still, you will have to buy it for a premium cost off Ebay" Me, casually running DeSmuME DS emulator with a ROM of Pokemon Platinum: "Neat."

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Just don't tell Nintendo how exactly your playing platinum for your own sake

[@JulianimeIsAmazing]

I think the big telling moment of realization for me that Pokemon Legends Arceus became a fast favorite of mine, was how I played over 200 hours in JUST the Oreburgh Fields map alone at the beginning from the moment I unlocked Wyrdeer. I DID specifically make a point to "Skyrim Horse" Wyrdeer and make sure I explored every inch of the map including supposed-to-be inaccessible mountain tops, everything except the Infernape Island. I made it to just shy of 9 stars before even moving onto the next area from catching multiple Pokemon, multiple Alphas and growing and expanding my team and grinding on the Alpha Blissey to super over level. SO much pokedex data hahaha

[@theglasshalffull6958]

WOW I wouldn't ever think that someone would spend all that time in JUST the first area of the game, and I would think as well that most of it is pretty sanctioned off due to needing other rideable pokemon like Sneasler or basculegion. I guess it goes to show how good of a concept Legends Arceus had and going forward hopefully they can expand on open zone/open world Pokemon games more

[@riklucero]

This was a great and well made review, please keep it up, looking forward to more of these types of videos!

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video! The next video may take a while to come out but trust me it’ll be worth it

[@mtoffo2275]

Bro is giving us all the animation and gestures we didn't get from the latest pokemon games, what a hero 😁

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Not all hero’s where capes you know. Some just move their arms constantly

[@a1be31s8x9]

I nearly spit my drink out when you said let’s go was your introduction to Kanto

[@theglasshalffull6958]

14 year old me thought since the Johto games allowed you to go back to Kanto in the post game that means I would've "technically" already played through it so I didn't have to go through red and blue or FRLG. Don't really know why I came to that conclusion but whatever

[@a1be31s8x9]

@@theglasshalffull6958 Johto is the GOAT anyway

[@JRR31]

​@@a1be31s8x9GOATho fr

[@Dany-rx7rs]

😮

[@pkmasterjt4899]

WE did this to pokemon. Remember the "thank you gamefreak" era? When we bent over and THANKED them for reusing assets, removing shit that didn't need to be removed, reusing animations for decades, removing GOT TO CATCH THEM ALL AS THE PREMISE, giving us shotty broken ass games that need day 1 patches and don't get fixed at all if theyre not fixed by the next gen THE YEAR AFTER! We get DLCs instead of completed second games and while BOTH are bad, the DLCs dont give any room to fix the issues of the MAIN games and only ADDS *more* problems through new glitches and bugs exclusive to the DLC. THEN THEY DROP A SECOND DLC AFTER THE FIRST BUGGED ONE AND FIX NEITHER BEFORE DROPPING THE NEXT GEN! We THANKED gamefreak for this treatment. Charging us 80-100 bucks depending on the country plus 40 plus for the DLCs that could've been in launch. It's been on this route since pokemon X and Y

[@haroldnecmann7040]

Gamefreak will get their sorry ass comeuppance soon. They can't get away with these😂

[@GAHAHAHH]

If you see another comment from me ignore it KZbin posted the reply on the wrong comment. And it definitely was KZbins fault and not mine I may have just found a bug but I won't bother reporting it because KZbin never does anything about my reports anyway.

[@EndGameEnt]

From a veteran on this platform, very well done on this vid, dude! New Sub right here. Love the comedy you added. Keep it up! also, this is definitely a video that Game Freak should take note of.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Ayy thanks for the sub man! You wouldn't believe how much time went into making this video and just hoped all the effort would pay off. And I'm glad it did! A new video is still a little ways off but the wait will be worth it! Honestly if Gamefreak were to ever see this video somehow.. I'd just hope they wouldn't demonetize it

[@EndGameEnt]

@@theglasshalffull6958 It's my pleasure, dude! And I could tell you put a lot of time and energy into this. It really shows, you should be really proud of this video! I found it from the KZbin home page in the New to me category. I'm glad I found your channel! Keep up the hard work man. ✌️ Fingers crossed that they can take the constructive criticism 🤞

[@JohnAsuncion666]

this video is really well done and amazingly edited, insane you only have 5.5k subs!

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Thanks man! The video was definitely a big investment on my end and for a long time while making it I wondered if the end product would be worth it. But it really did exceed my expectations!

[@genarftheunfuni5227]

Ironically enough, I feel like Pokémon is going through the Sonic 2010's arc right now, and both franchises already share a lot of similarities. Both are japanese franchises that have had their good share of bad/mediocre/"unappreciated becase of the other's reputation" on an entire decade, have pretty good games on said era (Mania and Legends) that although good, people incorrectly think is the direction to be taken forward, and grew a big hatred to the company that they will glaze fangames and romhacks a lot even if a good chunk of them isn't a big deal. All we need now is just the Sonic Frontiers kind of release that will redeem the rocky start GameFreak had when not adapting well to a home console.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Yea a lot of people pointed out how Pokémon and sonic also have a lot in common and yeah it’s pretty interesting. People argue that scarlet/violet IS the sonic frontiers of Pokémon given how both games have a ton of flaws and could’ve used some more time in the oven. And has a good chunk of the fan base hate the games and the other half like it

[@middyjohn]

@@theglasshalffull6958 I dont think frontiers is as egregiously bad as S/V, tho I only played it on PC but even on switch ver playthrough I don't see graphics literally breaking or performance degrade like in S/V. Like you said its more akin to day one cyberpunk. But frontiers do need more time considering all the new stuff they added. btw in a recent SGF interview, they did confirm sega mass hired new employees so its possible to take on multiple projects (superstars, sonic rumble(with rovio) and sonic x shadow, sonic dream team was a different team). Hopefully pokemon will have similar success/development, its hard to buy a new pokemon that looks outdated on the switch for 60$, same goes for switch frontiers

[@Chillin-jg8vg]

​​@@theglasshalffull6958 At least Frontiers had free updates which fixed the game like the final boss and other improvements instead of making you pay for more content. Morio Kishimoto the director of Frontiers says he takes feedback seriously.

[@ltaus9225]

Solid video. Confident take with good presentation. The hand talking is definitely a style you can lean into. If you want to keep the glasses I would suggest cleaning them with a microfiber cloth, so your lighting doesn't pick up as many smudges. Perhaps try two side lights instead of one straight forward that will catch reflections. Keep it up!

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Thanks for the mini-review. Gotta say that your one of the only comments I saw that sorta liked the excessive hand movements. Going forward I will still use them but definitely toned down a lot more. And yeah I definitely need to clean the shades, I always tell myself to clean them before recording but end up forgetting each and every time. I’ll have to try to make a mental note or something But anyways thanks again! Trust me the next video is still far ways off but it’ll NOT disappoint!

[@luciaseriin]

"It's such a shame" sums up the feelings I had playing Violet perfectly. I thought the story was very good, especially Arven's and then the climax at Area Zero. I didn't expect such a tragic story that made me actually tear up at the end, like damn Arven was dealt a bad hand. If this all was packaged better given time and polish it could've been such an exellent game. I very much enjoyed watching this video. You did a great job summing up this whole debacle and the negative feelings that have built up over the years, like damn I got genuinly sad watching. Ending the video on a lighter, more hopeful note was a very nice touch. Fingers crossed you get all the subscribers you deserve with this high quality content, you certainly earned one in me.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

I still stand by the fact the Pokémon Scarlet/violet could’ve objectively been one of the best Pokémon games if Gamefreak had like 8 months- a year maybe more to work on them. Like fuck I think the game works so well in a lot of places and introduces such cool ideas but Pokémon’s reluctancy to just delay games for the better cost them HARD with Gen 9, and yeah I tried to go for the more emotional tone than an angry tone unlike other videos on this topic. I’m glad you enjoyed the video btw! This was somewhat of a passion project of mine and I sacrificed a lot in order to make it. And I’d definitely say the pay off was worth it after seeing how many people engaged with it, it really keeps me going to making even better stuff in the future

[@AveryAnarchy]

"why are we going back to Kanto?!" me, a daily Pokemon Go player, looking over at my daily dose of Jynx and Zubat spawns: my friend, we never LEFT Kanto in the first place. Hell is real and we live in it. Don't forget: you're here forever

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Oh dear god will Gamefreak ever let us escape this purgatory?

[@AveryAnarchy]

@@theglasshalffull6958 Gamefreak and Niantic* and nope I suspect not, for whatever reason, the Kanto event that happened at the end of April just...never ended

[@F1areon]

@@AveryAnarchy "Other regions"?? WHAT other regions?? There's *only* Kanto, silly! What are you talking about?? /j

[@AveryAnarchy]

@@F1areon seeing them announce dynamax raids and having the first ones shown just be the freaking Kanto starters made me want to use the move skull bash on myself against a desk!!

[@F1areon]

One thing that really bites me is how badly Game Freak treats Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness vs. how they treat basically every other Pokemon spin-off. It seems like they just really fucking HATE the former two spin-offs and are doing anything and everything to sweep them under the rug and pretend they never happened. They don't do that w/ any of the other spin-offs, or at least not NEARLY to the same degree. :S

[@GameBreaker1055]

Pokemon's mainline games have a simple issue: They are cashgrab first and art second. Every idea gets half assed, performanc does not matter, aesthetic is not conceived beyond concept. Why? Because it does not matter! The games make money anyway! Creativity gets explores in spin off, which make a fraction of the money! You want the games to be better? Don't by the half assed crap because if you continue, Game Freak will just reduce efforts to see how little they need to do to make money

[@mauricereticau6292]

Kids can't tell when a game is cash grab, and that's who their target audience is

[@LuznoLindo]

​@mauricereticau6292 Which is why these games aren't going to change and Z-A will be no different despite more time being put into it.

[@HuckleChuckles]

as someone who was there when the national dex controversy and also the day 1 SV launch with the very wacky graphics, this video gave me the 'nam flashbacks

[@theglasshalffull6958]

It was NOT a good time to be a Pokémon fan lmao But It felt a little bit like karma for laughing when sonic boom or forces turned out to be such disappointing games.

[@AutisticTomato26]

The last pokemon games I got were USUM (Ultra Sun specifically), and I haven't touched any of the Switch games. I mainly just stick to the old games and a few romhacks.

[@theglasshalffull6958]

Damn did none of them interest you or do you prefer the older style in which these games were made?

[@AutisticTomato26]

@@theglasshalffull6958 I just prefer the 2d sprite based games over the 3d games and the 3d models of the pokemon, and the whole dexit controversy pretty much turned me off from spending money on any of the Switch games. My sister bought Violet recently, so I might consider borrowing that from her sometime and give it a try despite all the performance issues SV has.

[@MarvinPowell1]

@AutisticTomato26 Same. I thought making half-assed Kanto remakes to appeal to Go fans, was extremely insulting back in 2018. Ironically, the Let's Go games are somehow the "best" Pokemon games on the Switch, despite their issues still being a thing. The franchise has just fallen that far. And the fanboys are largely to blame because they put up with this crap, meaning Game Freak has no incentive to ever do better.

[@Bludobi9001]

Best CoA tbh

[@AutisticTomato26]

@@theglasshalffull6958 okay I can't remember if I replied to this or not, or if youtube deleted my reply for some reason... I don't know, but in case I didn't reply, I just simply prefer the older style of games. The sprites give the pokemon so much character and personality that the 3d models just lack, and I just think they simply look better.