The Existential Dread of Pokémon in the Postgame

#pokemon #gaming #retrogaming
/ ji_mothy
/ ji_mothy
Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow postgame is really strange. After you beat the elite four, the game teleports you back to Pallet Town with nostalgic music and nothing to do. I took a tour through Kanto in the Pokémon Yellow postgame, checking how each of the towns feel to spend time in after beating the game, and I ranked them all based on how bad I felt there.

[@ji_mothy]

Which city do you like best? Discord discord.gg/gs33PKEdkn Watch streams twitch.tv/ji_mothy Patreon www.patreon.com/ji_mothy Thx for being here

[@jeremyhall2727]

The blue one 😁 Misty's hometown

[@griever4519]

It kinda makes sense that Red ends up just standing on a mountain. Nothing else to do.

[@patrickzalatoris3206]

Defeats every trainer, gym leaders, elite 4, and his rival countless times, captures all known pokemon including the legendary birds and mewtwo in the entire region, once you reach the top, it gets pretty boring, yeah there's still johto to explore, but as strong as you get after beating kanto, you yourself might as well start from the beginning to give yourself a challenge

[@lelio422]

@@patrickzalatoris3206 and thus, nuzlockes were born.. I can't play the early games anymore without it lol

[@KingdomHeartsBrawler]

Does he proclaim that God is dead and we have killed Him?

[@RTU130]

Right

[@dominicpedrazzini9755]

Hahahahahaha

[@Panikdemet]

Most games at the time didn't have a postgame. "You can catch a secret legendary pokemon after the elite four" was top school rumour.

[@lelio422]

Behind Bill's house there's a ....

[@tylerd1297]

​@@lelio422 behind the little truck in Vermillion city

[@Meganstaek]

I feel like most games at the time had an actual ENDING, though. You weren't allowed to just wander around forever after the "ending" was over.

[@codenamerondo114]

I agree with this, its just kind of a nonsequitor to what the videos about

[@tylerd1297]

@@codenamerondo114 or it provides a different perspective to the idea of this video. The video goes into the creative/wandering part of the mind, putting yourself in the game. But a kid can also understand the game is over lol. It's interesting actually. We see the same end screen in GSC where there is a post game. I remember the surprise of finding it.

[@ZeeBeeZB]

I got the same feeling from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon as a kid. My teammate went from a dynamic emotional friend to just another NPC

[@dragonusmolamola4140]

especially after they evolve and their portraits become boring

[@riotef2493]

​@@dragonusmolamola4140 It's the reason I've never done any post-game content in rescue team, the partner doesn't even follow you in town anymore and treats them like any other generic recruit

[@Dragonite43]

@@riotef2493 I never did the post-game content, because the main reason I played was for the story.

[@Timmothy_plays]

@@riotef2493 not just that, but the only thing that separates them from other Pokémon is the scarf they're wearing, which they LOSE if you evolve them! so if YOU or your PARTNER ever evolve, you and/or your partner truly become indistinguishable from any other npc Pokémon. You'd think that after all these years they'd put in the effort of giving the evolved forms scarves to wear.

[@UnagioLucio]

YES! The postgame of the first Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game(s) felt jarringly empty to me because of the baffling decision to replace your partner's dialogue with the generic dialogue for its species. I'd understand if the partner had generic lines when your party leader is a random recruit, but the partner doesn't have anything different to say when you talk to them as the main character. It feels as if your best buddy throughout the game died and was replaced by a Ditto. I'm glad later PMD games rectify this by having your partner acknowledge your journey and friendship in the postgame, but I still don't understand how removing partner dialogue ever got greenlit for the first game.

[@nonnacekim89]

I’ve been trying to articulate this since I first beat Blue Version back in 1998. I always just felt… sad, because everything felt kinda lifeless. No one left to battle, no more surprise events. Just your trusty team and the lingering fear that, having conquered the highest (Indigo) plateau of your chosen “profession,” you’ve peaked at age ten and there are no heights left to climb. And then Gold and Silver came out!

[@ji_mothy]

TRUE. Empathetic kids had it rough. But looking to the future is the best cure 😇

[@JBzucc]

That's how I feel with all the games post gen 7, I just feel like once I'm done with the story there isn't anything to do except a boring plain old battle tower and online battles or shiny hunt which is so easy these days its just eh, nothing really that exciting, I know it sounds cliche but nothing really comes close to having something like the battle frontier with all the variant modes of battle and mechanics with each different battle facility, nothing has seemed to come close in my opinion

[@soopakoopa6461]

To be honest, that's exactly how I felt after all the legendary story events dried up in blue rescue team as a kid. There are sinnoh pokemon on the TV every day, I got a Bonsly doll from Makuhita and a Weavile statue from a mission, and Alakazam keeps talking about a legendary Lucario hero, so surely new stuff will start happening, characters will have new things to say again, and new generation pokemon will start appearing if I just keep playing more, right? ...Right?

[@Da1337Man]

_there are no heights left to climb_ Red, 2 years later: Literally climbs a mountain

[@darkknight5541]

There's Cerulean Cave.

[@FlameSoulis]

You know, just dawned to me... The only towns without gyms are Pallet Town and Lavendar Town. A place of beginnings and a place of the end.

[@puppies3330]

WHA-

[@JustLoro]

Holy sh

[@freeflow4]

Nice catch

[@kikor4954]

In kanto specifically yes

[@Damianweibler]

Damn

[@Ramtamtama]

Cerulean City - a Sims starter home, several meth houses, and swimming in a 2x2 square

[@yaziyo]

And a house burglar. It's probably why that other guy's house is empty too come to think of it. Team rocket stole his TV and smoke alarm

[@DanishF]

and Cerulean cave, home of the most OP wild mons in the game.

[@jeremyhall2727]

🤷🏾‍♀️ homelike 😅

[@marcusmclean132]

Cinnabar being made uninhabitable by a volcanic eruption within three years has got to count against it being a place I'd want to stay in after completing the game, personally

[@terinjokes]

Makes you wonder if Nurse Joy gets hazard pay working in that Pokémon Center in Gen II.

[@miky9504]

@@terinjokesDo Nurse Joys get paid in the first place?

[@danielgloyd4529]

​@miky9504 it's qualified as getting experience in the field. So it's not illegal forced labor

[@amberhernandez]

I'm uncertain how much clairvoyance will affect property speculation.

[@yaziyo]

Just leave before the three year mark and you should be sweet

[@jonothanthrace1530]

Pallet Town's color scheme always made me feel really depressed, like it's the archetypal "small town you swear you're gonna get out of someday but you never manage to get it together enough to actually leave".

[@PKNproductions]

Yeah, I mean it basically is supposed to be the small town that you're itching to leave. Makes it kinda depressing when after going on the whole adventure you just end up back home. Like finishing college and then suddenly being back in your parents house again after having a taste of an independent life in an interesting place.

[@Psycho-go5yr]

It was my favorite post game town. To me it represented coming back home to Mom after making something of yourself. It'd have been nice if her dialog had changed to her expressing how proud of you she was in the post game.

[@dyrr836]

Basically the song Nothingtown by the Offspring

[@ianweir3608]

In platinum you actually got a nice villa in a tropical location after you beat the game. It was always my favorite, because I should've had that since I beat the Indigo Plateau. I was the Michael Jordan or pokemon, gatdangit!

[@rc59191]

I was lucky enough to get out of mine in Kansas married a Japanese gal from Samoa and started a family together. Now we all go on adventures together.

[@ViperRaiyu]

In gen 1’s defense, it’s a gameboy game on a completely new IP that nobody was aware would blow up in popularity the way it did. It was an experimental game that became larger than life, but they had no way of knowing that would eventually be the case.

[@tylerd1297]

Yup Gold and Silver was planned to be the last Pokemon game so they went all out

[@codenamerondo114]

I feel like defending gen 1 is missing the point of this. Like I agree with you but this isn’t asking for more content, it’s analyzing what’s there, in a non criticizing way

[@davebob4973]

​@@codenamerondo114yea what they said

[@cpmc1164]

@@tylerd1297Didn’t one dev only say that they thought gold and silver would their personal last game working with the team?

[@belstar1128]

most games on the original game by usually ended with a screen saying yu is winner and then looping back to level 1.

[@keizervanenerc5180]

Fun fact about the jigglypuff in Pewter: if Pikachu is folowing you while you talk to jigglypuff, pikachu falls asleep and stops following you untill you either talk to him or leave the building.

[@PopButOnYouTube]

That's a cool detail

[@kyramaclean5421]

😮

[@arciks11]

that jigglypuff and sleeping pikachu can also glitch the game to hell and back if you just wander inside the pokemon center.

[@Aethelhart]

Gold and Silver did a good job with this with the telephone system where trainers would become your friend, call you with tips on outbreaks, sales going on, and even for rematches. Combine that with daily events all over the two region sized world that reset on a bimonthly basis and you have a lot to do and redo post game.

[@ext93]

I loved the addition of calls when i was a kid. I always got excited when the fisherman would call to tell me there were swarms of Remoraid or Qwilfish on some route. That and the day/night cycle. It was always such a cozy feeling going into the house after playing outside til dark with the neighbors, booting up the game, and all of the buildings in-game had light coming from the windows.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

none of that comes under good post game content

[@sirensoulegaming4158]

​@@theamazingspooderman2697 It was a step up, and to be fair the vast majority of video games for this time had no post-game content. Giving credit where it's due given the time and context which the game is made isn't a lot to ask.

[@Aethelhart]

This game kept me entertained for months post game with the calendar and events system and trying to catch them all. Certainly not great by today's standards, but, then again, Pokemon abandoned the calendar and events systems after Gen 2 and the phone numbers too. Those were great features that should have been built on and not just cut.

[@Aethelhart]

Seasons too in Gen5. Like the calendar system and day night cycle, those should have been kept in later gens, not cut as a one off.

[@bennydave4160]

No wonder red glitched out of boundaries and lived atop mt silver for 3 years

[@jdb2002]

I love that the scientist guy in Cinnabar says "It never hurts to have extra items", when it's the place where you get more than you should be able to carry.

[@draketheduelist]

Ironic, considering how close you are to the MissingNo glitch area and how it can solve your lack of insufficient extra items.

[@deadbeatSad]

As a kid, and even now, i get this sadness after I beat a game; especially a game from before "post-game content" or even "NG+" was a thing and all we had was rumors, starting a new file, or be one of the first speedrunners of a game. It always felt haunted to me. Not as in "a presence where one should not be" but more like "an absence where a presence ought to be". With nothing left to do or achieve, the world felt barren and desolate. Everyone and everything was frozen in time right there and then. I did that. It made me feel like, for the benefit of the world and its occupants, maybe it would've been better if i had never played the game at all.

[@watsonwrote]

I think Majora's Mask is the best game to use this feeling artistically. The way the days reset and the deeds you did to help the people you came across become undone really strikes a chord in that space. You're spot on about the feeling though, what a good way to articulate it

[@Starpotion]

Earthbound always stood out to me for having a post game that's not actually a post game. It's a playable epilogue that takes away all the game mechanics and gives you a world where you can walk around and see the world you've saved, with _every_ NPC having something new to say. Only until you're ready to say goodbye and end the game does the final cutscene play, giving you a feeling of true completion. No secret super boss, no NG+, no completion percentage; just the game letting you say goodbye on your own terms.

[@moonshinershonor202]

Dam b you ok b?

[@danielbellinger]

Haunted yes, when you walk through a memory and feel an "absence where a presence ought to be" I've learned that it is in fact, haunted by you

[@danielbellinger]

Haunted by a memory, a haunted memory, these are the same thing

[@rickygoldchain]

The 4 boys walking along the railroad tracks are a reference to the movie "Stand By Me" (1986) which is actually based on a Stephen King novella.

[@BeatsByKeshi]

Novel

[@KitsuneYojimbo]

Fun fact! In the French version of the game, Dragonball Z is playing on the TV.

[@brettgarandza683]

@@KitsuneYojimbo What seriously?

[@KitsuneYojimbo]

@@brettgarandza683 Yep! Learned about that in an obscure Pokémon facts video. If I find that video again I'll link it here.

[@Legionbass19]

@@BeatsByKeshinovella. The Body (the basis for Stand By Me) is from a 4 novella collection, Different Seasons.

[@deathstinger13]

ngl, based on the title, this one thought this would be more of a video essay on the topic of hypothetically living in a world that never progresses past you clearing the final boss, letting you personally keep all that progress, but the world doesn't recognize or change at all, and the existential dread experiencing something like that in person would cause. Like imagine walking up to someone you hadn't seen in months and they just say the exact same thing they did before you went off and did the plot

[@yaboityler2617]

It's classic wow all over again

[@BlackCover95]

He should make THAT video.

[@LuxBellator92]

Enough to drive a Trainer mad and become a mute... which is exactly what happens to Red when you see him again a few years later in GSC, living alone atop a mountain 😳

[@redtexan7053]

It might just drive someone to give up all conversation and go live in the mountains...

[@TheZeroNeonix]

I always wished more NPCs would acknowledge your accomplishments after becoming champion, especially in Pallet Town. "Hey, [player_character]! I heard you won! Congratulations!" To my memory, the only NPC who does anything different after your victory is the guy blocking Mewtwo's cave.

[@internetamenhotep]

Maybe competitive Pokemon training is more like a niche hobby most people don't really care about.

[@TheZeroNeonix]

@internetamenhotep - That's not the impression I get from the NPCs when I talk to them. If they're not saying something random, like how much they love wearing shorts, they're giving tips for battling Pokemon. If you find a bookshelf in a house you walked into uninvited, it's almost always full of Pokemon books. If there is a school, they're learning about Pokemon status effects or something. It seems like it's the ONLY thing they care about.

[@billycumcamp6104]

People literally center their entire lives around Pokemon, its literally specified that people will cancel construction work on a whim if it happens to disturb Pokemon

[@2401blue]

@@TheZeroNeonix I like the theory that it's really only presented that way because you play as a kid whose *sole* special interest/obsession is Pokémon training and battling, so he doesn't pay much attention to anything else. Boy literally walks up to people going "Hi! Do you like Pokémon?" if Copycat's any indication, it's cute. ~w~ (...and subsequently very depressing, seeing him lifelessly waiting for challengers come Gen II. At least he canonically stops that and starts traveling and doing stuff again in the future, and the Masters version of him seems a lot more cheerful compared to the Gen VI depiction and actually talks occasionally, which is heartening.)

[@jamesfarson8008]

I am totally here for Pokemon psychogeography

[@PKNproductions]

I've been obsessed with this feeling and have tried to use it as a metaphor and no one else seems to get it. Like, it's the same feeling as being on campus right after college finals are over. It's not necessarily empty - the library is still staffed, there are still some cars in the parking lot, etc. It's not literally lifeless, but that's the only word that can describe it

[@ianweir3608]

Liminal. That's the word youre looking for

[@E4439Qv5]

"This space exists still, but it is not 'for you' anymore. You've done what was left for you to do, and now... you are still here. So too is this place." "...What has happened has happened. The past cannot be revisited, changed, rewritten, or begun again without unfortunate information loss and consequence." "...having trained as much as all around you will allow, you are 'free.' ...from the illusion. The checklist. The objectives. From here, you write your own story, invent your own games, find your *real* friends..." "...or, just stay here. No one is asking you to _leave,_ either." "The world is your Cloyster, Pokémon Masuda."

[@730Flare]

This feels similar to the vibe I get when I sometimes stay behind my workplace office after working hours: The lights are all out, nobody is around except the guard, little to no cars parked outside. There's a certain charm to that experience that I cannot describe.

[@zombiesalmon4997]

God the sense of adventure and coziness the areas of the first pokemon games had were incredible. Similar to Earthbound, it gave off that whimsical and fun feeling of when you were like 10 and decided to go on an “adventure” in the summer which, in reality, was just walking to the next town, seeing a bunch of buildings and people you’d never seen before. Cerulean feels like that dingy town your parents told you not to go near, Vermillion feels like that pier you’ve only ever heard about in books but never actually seen, Pewter feels like a big city where a kid shouldn’t be wandering alone and Pallet is your hometown, always ready to return to and cheer you up. The world feels fresh and undiscovered from the view of a kid with a 90s vibe. The newer games don’t really have that feeling anymore and i can’t really explain why. Probably because of graphics and whatnot i guess i dunno. Great video instant subscription.

[@doctorreed_]

its called nostalgia. what you are describing is nostalgia

[@hyperx2003]

@@doctorreed_ i can't escape this word in the Pokémon community💀

[@arthurc4134]

Because of internet i guess, before there were only rumors about the game and you have to figure out all by yourself or by a few informations, now you get spoil because the information goes very fast

[@TheGhostFart]

it really doesnt help that newer pokemon games basically lock you to a set path you can barely deviate from while holding up a giant sign that says "GO HERE"

[@lieutenantlobster6395]

@@doctorreed_no, it's because the new games are soulless crapsacks. People miss when pokemon was good.

[@tpsplatinum3562]

Pokemon Stadium is Kanto's postgame Before anyone asks; -Gym leader rematches -Challenge cups -Minigames -A secret super boss you can unlock

[@ji_mothy]

I have got to play stadium! We were a PlayStation family. I've gotta play stadium soon and check out your theory, I'm very intrigued

[@tpsplatinum3562]

@@ji_mothy It's a good game. I'd suggest playing on original hardware with the transfer pak.

[@caiofiuzaseixas9027]

​@@tpsplatinum3562 Yeah the rent pokemon from the game are awful

[@The_Ninja_Tree]

​@@ji_mothy make sure you only play with the transfer pack, unless you're following Werster's speed run teams for round 2 for sure.

[@Kuchito08]

@@tpsplatinum3562 there's also options for emulation to work with the transfer pack as well for those those who don't have access to the game itself

[@DarkonFullPower]

I had the exact same thing with Crystal. Only mine was way worse due to Gen 2's secret credits song. After beating both the Elite Four, Red, and catching all 3 dogs + Lugia/Ho-oh, I realized there was nothing left to do beyond repeatedly stomping the Elite Four and Red on loop. I would spent probably a thousand hours just walking around this content-less world, literally "checking in" on NPCs to see how their days were doing, or as a bootleg MP3 player to play Pokemon songs. The last time I ever turned on the game was just after I beat Red one last time, and I did the last thing there was to do. *I read the credits, thanking everyone who make this world for me.* That's when I found out *Gen 2's credits has one last secret for me.* When "The End" appears and the music stops, if you don't press anything for about 2 minutes, *A SECRET SONG PLAYS.* And it's the sadist thing ever produced by a sound chip. A musical embodyment of "The game is 100% over. There is nothing left. Thank you for playing." This game I thought I has seen and heard everything it had, gave me one final gift. I bawled my eyes out so hard Mom came in and asked me what's wrong. I had only one response. "I won."

[@mattparke4370]

What was the secret song name?

[@Royaleisred]

seek help.

[@jaykelley103]

Chill tf out

[@mmjahink]

What was so 'sadist' about it exactly?

[@TheStupidKing]

​@@mmjahinkit's so warm that it hurts bro

[@adoramay9410]

This is why I love Black and White 2. It's postgame is massive, and there is so much to do.

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

"The TM girl is permanently thirsty" TM girl: "I'm not thirsty after all!"

[@jeffh757]

This is why I nor any of my friends ever completed the Pokedex. It was standard protocol at my school/day care to just wipe and start over with a different starter and use lesser used mons like Dewgong or Venomoth. I must've beaten RBY a hundred times as a kid, just due to how dead the game feels post-E4 and the thrill of putting new teams together.

[@perhapsmoose]

it's very frustrating. and if you're underleveled but still have battled every trainer encounter the only option is to grind

[@kylespevak6781]

This was me as well. I was poor and didn't have many games, so it was a lot of fun using a different starter, taking a different path, etc

[@JustLoro]

​@@kylespevak6781real

[@navitus3348]

I can't believe someone actually felt the same way I did. Starting up the game after completion, doing circuits around the map and trying to only walk the whole time to take it in and try to find something, anything I'd miss.

[@Damianweibler]

Gotta find all those secret items

[@eman4568]

Cherry flavored medicine was my favorite as a kid. Although I did like the grape flavored Flintstone vitamins. Fuchsia City would also be my choice. Celadon would have been my pick, but the rampant crime and the pervert old man creeping on the ladies of the Gym scared me away.

[@ji_mothy]

Cherry felt SO bad to me. I would beg mom to allow me to just be sick rather than take cherry medicine. I can't believe I didn't even feature the creepy old guy! I was in the mindset that the gyms are all sad things to avoid anyway

[@LimeLoaf]

​​@@ji_mothy Honey flavored medicine is the best

[@amberhernandez]

Honey lemon cough drops are little me's most hated thing. Eucalyptus flavour mixed with the awkward semi-sweet honey and sour lemon just tasted iiiiiiicky 🤢

[@MLPIceberg]

You enjoyed flavored medicine as a kid?! You must have been a very weird kid. lol I hated taking medicine as a kid, but I did it anyway because I figured out (at some point) it's less hassle to grin and bear it than complain about it. Plus it meant more time I could sit and play on the ol' Game Boy (and GBC) back in the day. I miss handling those old systems. Still gotta find mine and get batteries in them so I can fire up some old cartridges to enjoy again. The memories man. Ah~ How I wish I could go back in time to that point again. Adulthood does weird things to a man. lol

[@samuelsexton5065]

🎉 0:36 😮😅 0:37 😮😢😮😅😅😮😮😅😢 0:40

[@ShupperDupper]

love the vibe, this is how i feel every time i play a pokemon but especially one i’ve already completed and know by heart. like trawling through your hometown after graduating, you can’t help but feel it’s done its job and is finished even if you can still revisit it.

[@TheMetastasia]

That's why I liked BW and BW2. After the Main Story, the game just introduce new Cities and Landmarks to you. You feel like your Journey doesn't simply end and thevqorld had a lot more to tell you.

[@DamnUsernameAvailabi]

When I was younger I'd intentionally wipe on the SS Anne after getting cut. Just so it would never leave

[@ji_mothy]

You can do this?!!

[@TheThursty100]

​@@ji_mothythat's how you get to the truck mew is under!

[@DoctorPorkenfries]

​@@ji_mothyYou can also trade with another player for a Pokemon with cut so you don't have to get it from the Captain. Or you could, if your existential crisis didn't come with crippling social anxiety. You can also get a second game boy and a copy of the opposite version of the game and trade to yourself. That way, you're the only person who has to hang out with you.

[@LtCommanderTato]

@@TheThursty100 I didnt had the same luck as the rest, my mew got glitched with 0 hp and game crashed. Probably some jerk run over it with the truck previously.

[@yaziyo]

Fuschia is where its at. Its on the coast where you can surf with your Pikachu, it has a free zoo, the safari zone's there for when your aunt from overseas comes to visit, and you can take the cycling road (albeit uphill) to the big smoke for a weekend of debauchery every now and then.

[@AtomicF0x]

13:18 Don't forget; the hotel does have an invisible, but fully functionable PC. Take that for what you will, I guess.

[@La-playy]

Viridian City's drug problem went unnoticed for years 😂😂😂

[@25usd94]

1:55 "What business does a Pokemon champion have playing video games?" horrifying sentence

[@WhitneyBurton-tt8hr]

I enjoyed this style of video from you! Love how you always allude to songs throughout the script - appreciated the Mitski reference in this one.

[@ji_mothy]

Tysm! I love that song and really like playing it but it feels so personal to her it's awkward

[@mistycomet9760]

When was the mitski reference? :0

[@ge0rgiaeb0nyy]

​​@@mistycomet9760"Lately I've been crying like a tall child"

[@raulguy]

The creep parody at the beginning was unexpected as hell, love it tho

[@jayv9070]

Me the whole video 💃😔🎵

[@sand-attack]

But I'm Mareeeeeeeep

[@dannigro8794]

It’s literally you beat the elite four catch Mewtwo and see how many more times you could just beat the elite four maybe finish the Pokédex but there’s really not much.

[@solidzack]

Link battles were a thing back then so you could always battle it out for the real champ title. Aside from that, the true post-game challenge is accessed through Pokémon Stadium (1 and 2), because while these games are technically beatable with rental Pokémon only, it's very tough, as you're intended to use your own Pokémon from the games (and the opponents Pokémon are all at Lv. 100 in Premium Cup)

[@tlst94]

@@solidzack What would've been like if no one besides Protagonists were able to reach Level 100s?

[@zachmansoor50]

Celadon is S Tier for me, that's where I would live. I would work at the café, kill time shopping at the department store, fuel my gambling addiction at the game corner, and get some exercise on the cycling road. Fuchsia/Safari zone would be a frequent weekend daytrip. By the way, I love the topic of this video. It reminds me of being a kid and only owning 1 or 2 games. After beating it, I WOULD go to random spots in the game just to see if anything had changed, usually to find nothing. It was still fun though -- nothing better to do, nothing else to play, just existing in that world. I miss the simplicity of it.

[@boota2474]

I like it when games take this empty, nostalgic postgame feeling and actually utilise it properly. When you finish the first Dragons Dogma, (not to give spoilers, but tbh its super convoluted and even if i explained it it wouldnt make much sense without the context of the whole game), theres a period between the final-final boss and new game plus where you're confined to freely roam about your hometown, a sleepy little fishing village where you started the game, though you're invisible, immortal, and cannot interact with anyone. The nostalgia hits you, the emptiness hits you, and the game pretty much emotionally manipulates you into committing sepuku and starting the new game plus, thus continuing the cycle of eternal return that the games universe revolves around. Best game Capcom ever made to this day.

[@ji_mothy]

Wait you're gonna make me play DD literally just for that 🥺

[@bbqtime5735]

@@ji_mothy it's probably the best ending sequence for a game in my opinion. Plus it leads wonderfully into the Dark Arisen expansion, which deals with the other side of the coin. I can't recommend it enough, one of the best RPGs I've ever played (and DD2 ain't half-bad either even though it has its issues)

[@bripa3890]

This is a game that came out before the concept of a post game was even a real thing. It was also one of the first games that people wanted to continue playing long after the main game was finished. These games are a large part of the reason games today even have post game content

[@kingpminch]

@@nc5958 Gen 2 had a literal 2nd region as post game It might not be the best but come on it still had some

[@javierdelgado3915]

When i was a kid i would create my own stories from my imagination after i beat the game and completed the pokedex. Like some npc wanted to build a boat to get to cinnibar island but his pieces were stolen by 5 geodude and i would go out and find 5 Geodude and beat them and give them back his parts.

[@DichotomousRex]

I am so loving your channel. I'm replaying Yellow now and I'm in Lavender Town as I listen... the combo is creepy.

[@ji_mothy]

That's the freakiest town for that coincidence to occur 😭 👻

[@jeremyhall2727]

The death curse

[@atonofspiders]

These are my favorite kinds of videos. It's that extension of imagination we used to give to action figures when we were younger.

[@Fat1990]

The depressing reality of the npcs final places in the world not ever moving from them

[@ji_mothy]

Seriously. I thought about speaking to everyone in the footage but it didn't end up interesting, only sad

[@Fat1990]

This isn’t even just about the og games, up until recently most games would have the npcs end up in static places in the world, it’s only with sword and shield and scarlet and violet that they feel a little more alive

[@sublimex1441]

came for the pokémon content, stayed for the seamless musical references

[@C0nnie]

I caught that blink 182 lyric. Good video homie

[@HimuGamer]

OMG and no colors or 3D either? are you telling me that the creators didnt travell to future to create this game? This game sucks!! And btw: complete the pokedex is an AMAZING postgame for that time

[@richard7199]

Standing alone, yes. They’re rather depressing. But Pokemon was never meant to be a standalone game or a standalone experience. It was meant to be played with others (battling/trading) through the link cables and eventually, we could bring them all forward to GSC and the Stadium games. The idea that we could take our Pokemon from their home cartridges and send them off to our friends, or slap them into a N64 controller was mind-boggling at the time. Stadium alone offered tons of “post-game” playability etc.

[@mistycomet9760]

I loved how quiet and speculative this video was. So often "content" nowadays is doing everything it can to keep you engaged at all times. This was a relaxing change of pace and emotionally impactful.

[@16Nire61]

I just want to say that you’re the first person I’ve come across who agrees with me that children’s grape-flavored medicine was the best shit ever. 😂 Nostalgia, man.

[@HeruruMeruru]

Every town having their own color palette was such a unique touch.

[@BelfryClock]

0:38 you thought we wouldn’t get the reference…

[@ender691]

i don't get it :(

[@dilwindersingh-x7b]

nothing about gen 1 is depressing. it's peak pokemon.

[@steves9955]

Gen 3 is peak pokemon, gen 1 is just the OG

[@dilwindersingh-x7b]

@@steves9955 that's how i know you weren't there. after gen 1 pokemania died. most people stopped playing, a lot couldn't be bothered to get a GBC. even fewer could be bothered to get a GBA when ADV came out, and the new designs were awful. you're probably born after 2000 lol.

[@steves9955]

@@dilwindersingh-x7b I’m a 94 kid m0r0n, I was born before pokemon was even around

[@dilwindersingh-x7b]

@@steves9955 so you were 5 when pokemania was at it's peak... you don't know anything lol.

[@NishiOxnard]

First video of this guy's that I'm watching and love the way he talks and his voice and choice of words. Fun style, instantly hooked. At least when it comes to pokemon. Nice work so far!

[@grifftown]

2:33 not beating Lance.. when you beat Lance you get faked out learning for the first time that the "Elite 4" wasn't all of them and you then walked into the next room only to find your Rival (Blue) waiting there. Combine that with the legendary battle theme, forced on battle animations, etc. I think this was one of the best/impactful fake outs I ever played in a game at the time, it blew my mind as a child. This was such a defining moment of the original first play-throughs I had as a child (I think only one that tops this is when I randomly found Red and his sprite turned around in Pokemon Silver that first time). Great video though! I haven't seen someone analyse the sense of existential dread of post-games and that is an awesome topic in of itself. Please try this with some other games too, its like a breathe of fresh air. edit: fixed grammar

[@madaratobi321]

It wasn't much of a fake out to me since we do meet our rival right before the entrance of the elite 4, and he did promise he'd be champ by the time we get there. But It was great none the less, and I think that pokemon can never really get back to how awesome the vibe of the first gen was. Our rival actually became champ and then we went on to beat him to tie it all in. I love the fact that it went full circle in the end. The stakes were high since we weren't fighting a faceless unknown champion. It was actually someone we knew and always had a connection to. Our rival was there to see us grow and we were there to see him grow too. The fact that the final battle was against him and the backdrop was none other than the league, where the pinnacle of pokemon battle is, was awesome. Plus, the gen 1 games allowing the game to continue even if you lost to the rival was great story telling. It felt personal and you felt that your character and you by extension were not yet good enought to fight in the big leagues. The idea of getting back at him fueled my journey and the ending was especially cathartic. I only ever played gen 1 and 3, but I didn't really feel the same with gen 3, despite it being my fav. Also, losing to a rival and the story still continuing wouldn't fly nowadays. Pokemon has been dumbing it down for everyone, and I don't think Gamefreak thinks people can handle a loss.

[@yansolo3701]

I totally can relate to Reds Mom watching "Stand by me" on repeat.

[@Cpt.Deplorable]

Okay Mr. radiohead I see you! Got some decent pipes on ya!

[@stortrut]

Fun fact: The 4 boys walking along the railroad tracks is a reference to the intro in JOJO Stardust Crusaders.

[@cantbehelped]

Saw the title and thought it was an Any Austin video

[@ji_mothy]

I've been binging his content. Huge inspiration for sure.

[@chromasus9983]

Good inspiration. Recognising oddities and strange quirkiness of old things without leaning too heavy on the creepiness. Same here, fun discoveries and jokes. 😊

[@kpny8484]

7:16 Ah man I maxed out my gnome skill on the bench back in the day. That's all he needed to do to make a living for a week, was spend 17 hours in one day making gnomes. Good times.

[@staybizzyentertainment1759]

Keep doing your thing Mothy!! Really love your approach to making videos!

[@penneguini]

Goated “I am a rock” reference

[@E4439Qv5]

"And an island never cries..."

[@Invisfire777]

The say anything lyric just thrown out around cerulean city really brought my attention back

[@knuckalar]

I always loved that small section to the left of cerulean when you come out the cave, no idea why at all

[@dr.latency8679]

OH MY GOD YES, AT A POINT I COULDN'T EVEN LOOK AT FIRE RED BECAUSE IT GAVE HUGE ANXIETY💀💀💀💀

[@aaronspeck1644]

I'll be honest, it was so hard to focus at first with that kickass 8bit Creep in the background lol

[@tatereed1638]

Never seen your channel before, but starting with Bo Burnham lyrics really locked me in in less than 10 seconds. Incredible. Now I have lots more of your videos to discover

[@pentagonyx]

The reason the Fighting Dojo guys are arranged the way they are is because *you* arranged them that way. When you start, they are up against the walls. If you really wanted them to be arranged neatly, you should've thought ahead.

[@Mewtwo976]

Playing this game in the early 2000’s is still the greatest childhood moment haha even my brothers who were not born when this was released love it

[@AtomicF0x]

Yeah I remember hotel-hopping with my family during the summer of 2003 and playing my red version almost every day.

[@VanessaVersus]

mothy go 30 seconds without quoting song lyrics challenge: impossible

[@ji_mothy]

😭 forcing them on y'all is my therapy

[@kevincontento5919]

I Am A Rock is such a good song.

[@Lilly_Belle]

OnlyAustin has a series called "Unremarkable and Odd Places in Games" that has a similar vibe. I enjoy this stuff a lot, what a fun video. I'd love more.

[@AmyraCarter]

I've never really thought about this...

[@ge0rgiaeb0nyy]

All the music lyrics/references are really getting me. Love this!

[@Damianweibler]

Its called 'replay value' not 'persistent post game content value'

[@Sammiwammi69]

I love the amount of imagination and character you've added to each town, gives the early game a pretty chill vibe

[@valentine_178]

6:30 i live for that mitski reference 😭💕 anyway amazing video !

[@forgotaboutbre]

3 commercial breaks in the first 7 minutes of this video. God KZbin sucks now.

[@gilla2092]

I get ones where it'll "goof" and pretend it didn't just show me 2 ads and reshow me the same 2 ads

[@kidgruesome407]

Subbed before govt regulation of Paralyze Heal.

[@UltraAryan10]

I feel this in literally every game, the postgames (for games with postgames, after the postgame) are always too sad, I sometimes dont end up doing everuthing just because I dont want things to end but then they have ended anyway...

[@sera-chan8194]

Constructive Feedback incoming: The background music could be slightly quieter. I find it hard to hear your voice over the music (I have issues filtering noises (like it's a real condition my brain has), so other people might have no issues whatsoever)

[@ArtisChronicles]

Oh I actually agree. The music is a bit loud. I don't mind the music itself, but a notch or two quieter would've made it perfect.

[@tadmoore5681]

This is exactly the kind of stuff i love. And the 8-bit creep was perfect 10/10

[@Aussie_Leftist]

Pokemon: Creep. Good choice for music 🎶

[@Jchillin757]

I love all your music references lol

[@AlbBoy15]

SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA? This disintegrated reëntering the atmosphere in 2003 killing all 7 on board. Anyway.. That one killed me no pun intended💀

[@CoenusOfPolemocrates]

Unsure whether to be disappointed or relieved it did not end up being a 22 minute song.

[@MmeCShadow]

I don't think you can assess the endgame of the original titles without understanding the Era in which they existed. Pokemon's 'endgame' was not its own space-- it was the playground. When you finished the game tou kept training because you were trading and battling with your friends. You were grinding out levels to fight them. I never played a Pokémon game so much as I did the original Blue version not because the game had endless possibilities but because by God I was going to finally beat my friend's Mewtwo during recess. The environment was completely different in 1997. (And the Challenger hadn't exploded.) That ability to interact with others made these tiny games feel nigh endless in a way that seasonal events and wi-fi and even the Battle Frontier can never truly capture. As for mentioning cartridge limitations-- yeah. The game literally has no more space on cart. Mew was famously only added at the absolute last minute, in the space freed up by when removing the debug tools. It simply isn't possible to squeeze anything more onto that cartridge.

[@Ryxbar]

Right on with this format, man. Kinda reminds me of Any Austin's Odd Places series, where he judges the ~vibes~ of spots in old video games. This was fun and well-made, feel free to do more of that ^.^

[@龘纛爨灪麤彠]

Tbh, I never saw that from the perspective of the dude talking in the video. To me and our friends, the postgame was were the game REALLY began - we were ambitious back then, fighting with our pokemons against each other so you had to prepare yourself, and that in return meant to train your pokemon to lv 100. Rare candies doesnt help here, because pokemons stuffed with rare candies are way weaker on lv 100 than the ones you actually grinded.

[@mightymurph3949]

I loved this. Very unique. Do Gen 2 next

[@nickmiller9679]

11:25 sick say anything reference!!!

[@cameronclevenger8215]

More videos like this please! Real Paraspective vibes.

[@justyuriforever]

There's a postgame? 👀I mean, yes, you can catch Mewtu, and that's basically it, but... there's a postgame? 👀

[@arciks11]

First game in a children's franchise on gameboy has a pretty barren postgame: KZbinr: The Existential Dread Of Gen 1 Postgame

[@JTK_XXL]

The guy at Pewter museum's counter also mentions to go to the other (left) side, when you talk to him from the bottom lol. His dialogue changes again, when you enter from the east side to get the fossil and talk to him in there. Also, the fossil pokemon displayed in Fuchsia is always the one that the dude on Mt. Moon picked after your battle with him, so it's very likely that he donated it to them.

[@mimishero5862]

okay your music taste *chef's kiss* appreciated the references all throughout that was great!!

[@AyshKing]

Pewter is slept on. Aerodactyl causes that 🎉😂🎉 that hair didn't fall out line is terrifying 😮

[@katalystkatapatheticalyssa5987]

You put so much thought into this, in a really interesting way.

[@DBZMacky]

15:01 That Junji Ito reference was unexpected!

[@psychofishmitchell]

This is one of the best videos I’ve come across recently! Not only a great Pokémon video, but the lyrics thrown in throughout the video are rad! Here, take my subscription!

[@AxelAlexK]

This video definitely brought back childhood memories of me being sad when I completed red and did everything and realized that there's nothing else to do. Or other JRPGs. I remember being really sad when I 100%ed FF7 back in the 90s too. I definitely didn't get as sad after completing gold because there you basically got a whole 2nd game after completing the first part.