Another Pokémon Game

released on Feb 15, 2023

Another Pokémon Game is another Pokémon game.


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I dunno, man, this one definitely speaks to me politically but as a work of interactive art? It feels more like it could be a Twitter thread in a lot of respects. Yeah, it is true that people are overworking hours on games and causing issues, but it is not only presented in a pretty passe manner...

But also, is that actually happening for Pokemon? I don't like the annualization of Pokemon because I think it degrades the quality, but Game Freak has never exactly been top notch at that level of polish to begin with and they've implemented a version of a four day work week albeit one that doesn't seem the best. Is it that they're being crunched to death or is it that they were developers who already had issues making now open world games on a home console when from 1996 to 2018 they released a grand total of 3 home console games, and I don't think Click Medic on the Playstation was exactly relevant to their Switch coding ability. Especially when considering that, for example, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (unrelated aside: Anyone else get the subtitles of that confused as Shining Diamond and Brilliant Pearl?) was done by the third party team ILCA. Game Freak actually hadn't released a game since Sword and Shield, three years, before Arceus and Scarlet/Violet. That's pretty similar to most of their dev time (with Let's Go being 2018: They generally release a mainline and something to the side either at the same time or one year apart. See: X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, FireRed/LeafGreen and Emerald, Platinum and HeartGold/Soul Silver), so the way the presents it as a more "modern reality" doesn't necessarily feel fitting to me. That's also not to say crunch doesn't go on either (Arceus and Scarlet/Violet released same time and importantly were bigger than most Pokemon games: It'd make sense, and crunch is common in the industry ofc), but some of the way the game presents it...I dunno, man. (Not to mention the fact I'd argue a lot of other games get more of a "pass" for similar issues but I digress)

Maybe what bugged me was the thesis the game beats over your head: Another Pokemon Game. You know, just Another Pokemon Game. I just don't vibe with that thesis at all, especially when it comes out in 2023 rather than 2019: Sword/Shield was genuinely extremely stale, but right before it was Sun and Moon which I thought brought some fresh vibes and ideas to the table. And in 2023? Arceus is obviously rather different than most Pokemon games in mechanics, and Scarlet/Violet's issues are on the technical side (the aforementioned programming). I'd argue the game actually is not only fresh but is essentially what every Pokemon fan was asking for in the Gen 3 to Gen 5 era: An open world to explore, multiple plotlines including ones unrelated to the gym challenges, a storyline with more "mature" elements (including death), anyone who was around in that era heard way too many Pokemon fans say it would be THE Pokemon game if they just did that. Sure, sure, not every Pokemon game reinvents the wheel, but honestly I feel like the presentation of "Just Another Pokemon Game" just rubs me the wrong way. It feels very reductionist. Obviously it gets mixed in with the Genwunner type complainer on the picket line, but that's just kinda general criticism (and the way it is presented in game ends up broadly applicable in a way that it is overused).

Honestly, maybe I am overthinking this myself and should just stop talking. I feel kinda conflicted about reviewing it: Maybe that shows there is a sense of a Personal nature to it, which is a positive. The bit with Tajiri felt odd to me: Obviously it is meant to be at least metaphorical, but it feels at odds with what I know about the man (and looking up sources to see if I was unaware didn't find much): It, in many ways, feels like sledgehammering in a general thought on the industry without it necessarily fitting. But maybe I just don't know Tajiri enough. The use of Infinite Jest here also felt like it had the "we're in 1984" energy to me. It is cool it exists and all, but in the end, Another Pokemon Game ended up feeling like just Another Message Game.

(Check out letshugbro talking about making Thatcher's Techbase tho, that's some good stuff)

It's talking real shit but the humor is so passé.

no me pego nada el humor pero me gusto mucho el final, y el tema en general, mas que nada comparar el primer juego de pokemon con los ultimos

giocato due volte (quando uscito e oggi) e sinceramente è solamente una presa per il culo più che meritata (guardatevelo su youtube piuttosto che perdere tempo)

You know...
I kinda feel bad being a consumer for this sad industry nowadays...

My initial thoughts on this game were mostly negative and I think it's because I didn't quite get the message but the more I think about it this might be one of the most lonely feeling games I've ever played.

Finding the room with Tajiri was surreal in a way that's hard to describe, but mostly I felt... disappointed? Like returning to the joy that the original pokemon games gave me as a kid was infinitely far away and unreachable. Tajiri doesn't have time for you. Just take another game and get the hell out of here. You're not meant to be a part of this. You're meant to buy our stuff without question for the rest of eternity. Now leave.