FrozenRoy
100th Completion - Super Mario Odyssey
150th Completion - Pokémon Crystal
Badges
GOTY '23
Participated in the 2023 Game of the Year Event
Pinged
Mentioned by another user
Adored
Gained 300+ total review likes
Gone Gold
Received 5+ likes on a review while featured on the front page
Clearin your Calendar
Journaled games at least 15 days a month over a year
GOTY '22
Participated in the 2022 Game of the Year Event
Shreked
Found the secret ogre page
Roadtrip
Voted for at least 3 features on the roadmap
Best Friends
Become mutual friends with at least 3 others
Organized
Created a list folder with 5+ lists
Listed
Created 10+ public lists
3 Years of Service
Being part of the Backloggd community for 3 years
Busy Day
Journaled 5+ games in a single day
Donor
Liked 50+ reviews / lists
Famous
Gained 100+ followers
GOTY '21
Participated in the 2021 Game of the Year Event
Loved
Gained 100+ total review likes
Trend Setter
Gained 50+ followers
Well Written
Gained 10+ likes on a single review
Popular
Gained 15+ followers
Gamer
Played 250+ games
Liked
Gained 10+ total review likes
Full-Time
Journaled games once a day for a month straight
GOTY '20
Participated in the 2020 Game of the Year Event
On Schedule
Journaled games once a day for a week straight
N00b
Played 100+ games
Noticed
Gained 3+ followers
Favorite Games
416
Total Games Played
011
Played in 2024
2617
Games Backloggd
Recently Played See More
Recently Reviewed See More
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)
Seriously though the first ending I had was less an ending and more that it just Stopped. I genuinely thought I was at, like, the first plot point and not an ending, and the result feels bizarre with someone you're supposed to have just met and have had like five conversations with. Given it feels like a very common ending to get (I picked up the first two hitchikers to see what it was like and then essentially just followed where the game sent me) to see it be so ??? is wild. Maybe I'll come back to it because it is very easy to go through more endings (it even lets you start mid-game) but I'm put off of it after one.