One never becomes a true gamer until it reads Infinite Jest in Another Pokémon Game.

Here I am, reviewing a game made by a person I follow on here once again. I said this multiple times, but making a game, as simple as the final product may end up being, it's a labor of work that I cannot even begin to conceive, and as such, making a review for a game who its creator may read it's always daunting.

What's funny about Another Pokémon Game it's that it talks about the game making process. Or rather, the game making process of a certain franchise of the Triple A industry.

A franchise that has broken my heart a lot of times.

Yet one I absolutely adore.

It's no secret Pokémon is a series of lights and shadows: it has some incredible games, both mainline and spin-off, that a lot of people, including myself, hold very dearly in our hearts. And it's precisely that love that makes us buy some unfinished messes, games that could have been so much more. A lot of people do love these games I call ''messes'', and I respect the hell out of them, but for me, since the release of Sun and Moon, this series has been a string of disappointments in one way or another.

Another Pokémon Game loves Pokémon too, and its because of that it's very critic of it, or to be more exact, of what its subjected too as the gigantic franchise that it is. Crunch, underpay, lay-offs, both a satire of the series and the industry in general, this game laughs non-stop at all that surrounds Pokémon, but with all the best intent possible, 'cause behind the jokes and laughs, the sadness of the matter is that this all happening, yesterday, today and tomorrow, a wheel built on money and nostalgia.

Another Pokémon Game isn't the funniest thing out there, at least for me, and I'm still not sure if some of its dialogue is supposed to be a pun or an attempt at a statement, but it still has some pretty funny gags, and even if I couldn't qualify it as ''subtle'', it does and tells what it aims for. We are bound to repeat this cycle as long as Pikachu poops money, and it'll keep pooping money, 'cause we'll be there to buy yet another Pokémon game.

As a game, this one is only to be enjoyed by fans, as strangers to the series will not get it or will simply not care, which it's totally understandable. In that sense, Another Pokémon Game is a more personal work, something I value a lot, especially when it’s done like this.

It's far from perfect, even as a little satiric experience, but golly gee does it do what it wants to do. I reminded me of how we as consumers should change. How multi-million dollar companies should, but will never change. And it reminded me of the old times.

Times playing a Pokémon game.

Another Pokémon Game é uma paródia com coração, mas que não diz muita coisa. Esse jogo de Bitsy satiriza Pokémon e o seu corporativismo ao longo dos anos. Mesmo que o que tenta dizer seja sensato, é expressado de forma superficial. As piadas são bem qualquer coisa, com um senso de humor sarcástico e metalinguístico bem típico, e mesmo algumas sendo engraçadinhas, não diria que foram lá tão geniais ou que a maioria tenha funcionado. As suas críticas, mesmo senso plausíveis, não vão tão a fundo além de "Olha isso, que loucura né?" e acabam sendo mal desenvolvidas. O que foi dito pode não ter sido bem feito, mas não consigo odiar, porque sinto que há uma paixão pela franquia por trás desse sarcasmo superficial. De uma certa forma, esse jogo bate com as minhas crenças, visto que eu amava Pokémon, mas que hoje em dia tenho um olhar cínico e complicado sobre a franquia, ainda que eu continue tendo um certo apreço por ela. Another Pokémon Game está longe de ser ruim, mas podia ter feito um trabalho melhor com sua crítica.