How Pokémon Became a (Soulless) Brand 

I really appreciate you mentioning the anime. IMO, if they wanted to briefly bring back old characters like Serena or Iris or old mons like Greninja, it should have been done more akin to Gen 4, where the new region and pokemon were the primary focus, but they also gave fans something special for the 25th anniversary (At this point, there are so many soulless anniversaries, it almost feels like they happen every year). It also be a nice callback to Gen 4 which got remakes in Gen 8. And what's rumored to be happening to the anime team for Journeys is... sad, to say the least. And I stopped caring about the games since XY. The anime was good until XYZ, but then even the SM anime had a massive uplift and genuinely surprised me. But Journeys ruined everything. I am only giving Gen 9 anime a chance because of the SM anime and it's redemption.

@@zomorion9183 I'm curious why so many dislike the around the world concept for the anime, I felt if executed well, we could've had an ultimate season that could cap off Ash's journey. I think the main issue is that the journeys don't really connect with each other. LIke I'd argue Bea and Ash's matchups going from Johto to Galar is a good continuous thread taking advantage of multiple regions IMO. I also think they really hadn't taken advantage of the World Coronation Series with not as many important battles as expected IMO.

@@zjzr08 Because just there's way too much stuff to manage. For example, let's just focus on Ash and assume Chloe doesn't exist. Now who will Ash face? Ideally everyone. Every gym leader, every rival and every E4 member to eventually every Champion. Already we have a problem. There are 64 gym leaders, 12 or so rivals, 32 E4 members and 7 Champions. Let's say we don't show off any Gym leaders at all, excluding Galar. You'd need 56 of 130 episodes just for this. 1 episode per battle, except for the finals and semifinals where there'll be 3 and this is still not good as there wouldn't be proper pacing for most battles, unless they were 3v3s On top of that, you'd need to add development arcs for Ash's Journeys team, which, let's say that takes 20 episodes for the entire team. And let's assume Ash actually uses his old Pokemon and uses them to help train his new team, but that would only be for 2 out of the 20 episodes dedicated to training, to give them proper screen time. 76 out of 130 episodes and we still need episodes dedicated to Ash's development as a character. Like establishing what Ash even wants now that he is a Champion. Let's say that takes 8 episodes. And since we're travelling in old regions we're bound to meet old characters. If every companion had only 1 reintroduction episodes, that'd be 10 episodes minimum. A well-executed villain arc? 10 episodes minimum (inlcuding buildup episodes). Now you have 26 left for filler AND Goh's development (who is a 2nd protagonist) and the Mohn arc. This is especially true if this is Ash's last series. Ash has to beat trainers he lost to. Ash has to use his old Pokemon, and especially his old aces. Ash has to meet his old companions. And still most of the battles aren't 6v6 like they should be. This would be fine if Goh and Chloe didn't exist. But with them, this is just too ambitious.

@@zomorion9183 I guess this is where I say they should've made the anime extend to more than 1 generation, maybe preferably 3. The format doesn't depend on a current game, so extending stories this way seems viable. As new generations come out new Pokemon and regions are introduced gradually. On paper this should help the games have more time to develop, but as we see there isn't as much synergy and they still make games quick, it probably still doesn't help. Anyway, that's ideally 450 episodes or so for a whole story. Show Ash's ups and downs in the WCS and also don't rush Goh's captures. Showcase Galar's Gym Leaders sprinkled in with some past trainers in the 1st third, Gen 9 's in the middle, then Gen 10 at the end. There's actually more than 64 Gym Leaders, but you can distribute them and some rivals throughout those 450 episodes. Add Goh who will try to capture 1000+ Pokemon by the end of this (and he gets multiples in an episode) and you could get an epic series.

@@zjzr08 Exactly. But if they handle it how they handled Journeys, overworking the team and underpaying them, then it's gonna take a long while for that to happen. And honestly, for the world's largest franchise, treating them this bad is unacceptable IMO. I hope more people talk about this and the Pokemon anime becomes a lot better than what it is now.

I'm going to use "Nostalgia Hell" in my vocabulary going forward, it's all too accurate

Why blame GF when they dont have a say to it coz of nintendo?... You even left out the pokemon company.

@@KitsuManko my mistake, I meant the Pokémon company. When did game freak loose their say in Pokémon?

@@KitsuManko Nintendo doesn't own the content, and the mainline games are Game Freak's responsibility.

Imagine comparing GameFreak with Disney

i miss when we tought the franchises compteting with pokemon at the time were souless, damn

Same I can 100% agree with you and feel the exact same way as most. Every time they release a new generation I get excited and wish for some merchandise like Gen 4-5 but all they have are Pikachu shirts or other first child merchandise. This type of branding makes the other generations soulless. Like what's the purpose if you're just going to keep bringing the 151 sauce.

the thing is, if you look at GameFreak's history, Gen 1 was a real risk for Nintendo. No one knew if it could work - so, in order for Gen 1 to have the best possible chance, Nintendo marketed it as much as they could in the late 90s. Gen 2 started to solidify its place in the market, but it still wasn't a certainty, hence why we then had the anime and movies, such as Pokemon 2000. By Gen 3, they knew it was working and it's just exploded from there.

The problem is not that they are expending the market but that there is no longer artistic vision behind the franchise as a whole, that video games are now treating how outsiders see it, simple products with no real value or improvement. As the first comment says, pokemon became its dead concurrence, it became Digimon or Yokai watch, but even wors because despite these franchises were clearly only made to surf on the pokemania, they had the decency to make decent products. I remember when pokemon had possible competition, everyone were talking about how pokemon was different because it had a 'soul'. I wonder where this soul is gone.

@@alwaysangry2232 By this point I think there are people out there willing to step up for Digimon or Yu-Gi-Oh having a better track record. Some people really rooting for YoKai Watch or Tem Tem to have a renewed monster-trainer RPG feeling.

The thing people fail to realize is that one can still enjoy the series and still be critical as they want it to improve.

@@IgnitedQuils I agree, although if significant change has to happen, there has to be action in the side of the players if the developers don't, although it always isn't the case - see how Paper Mario Color Splash bombed but the director insisted to do something similar for Origami King...frankly while it did improve from Color Splash, it wasn't a significant jump, but because of the Switch it earned a lot IMO, and we can't be sure Pokemon mainline games would follow similarly.

It's so frustrating to see so many people gobbling up and defending the slop, they're like flies snidely telling bees that shit is better than honey

Honestly while I like Let's GO Pikachu Eevee as a spin off, there hasn't be a legitimately GOOD pokemon game since ORAS.

GameFaqs is a shitshow anyway, if you dare say anything negative there's a 90% chance that Dickriders will come out and make fun of you.

I'm curious when did you think that shift changed? Around Gen 4 and 5 Pokemon still felt "niche" albeit it still feels part of the Nintendo echelon. Is it really during after GO?

@@zjzr08 the most noticeable change for me was definitely GO in 2016, but I think that's the answer most people would give you due to the ridiculous mainstream media attention it got. Without taking GO into account, I think it was maybe around HGSS era for me, I kind of stopped caring about the opinions of others and actually spoke about the things I liked, doing this attracted others that had similar interests that were also maybe too embarrassed to speak about them. I guess it was more a shift in my own perspective than an actual shift in the view of Pokémon. Very interesting topic though, really thought provoking video!

@@zjzr08 gen 5 was peak pkmn cuz of all the interaction and philosophies NPCs had (not just the main characters- imagine)

Some of my friends played gen 1 and 2 when I was in primary school, and it was fun and everything was right (I didn't even have money for a Game Boy). But when gens 4 and 5 came out and I had a DS, I was literally ashamed of playing childlish Pokemon game on a tiny console publicly, when my friends were grinding World of Warcraft with incomparable graphics and online world. Game Freak or Nintendo would be printing money had they created something similar - of course they didn't, and probably never will.

@@chavonjames8941 Not sure the connection with this convo talking about the mainstream awareness and acceptance of Pokemon...

When games come out faster than you can play them 😅... If it's multiple franchises or series, OK👌... But if it's just Pokémon that outspeeds it's playerbase. I am very worried. Like I play Renegade Platinum (rom hack) for 2 years now with long breaks. And still. Not a champion of sinnoh yet

@@KingOskar4 did you know in pokémon renegade platinum if you go in the breeding farm there is a girl who let you level up your pokemon with blissey who got healing wish end I can advise you with a good team to beat cynthia end the élite 4 Azumariil with waterfall acqua get pley rought end belly drum with leftovers Alakazam with life orf psychic aura sphere dazzling gleam/shodow ball energy ball scizor bullet punch bug bite Aerial ace sword dance Salamance dragon dance earthquake fly dragon claw then a choice band wild carge strenght close Combat flare bliz flereon end a iron first shadow punch ice punch drain punch will ò wisp/fire punch expert belt well i hope this team will be of use to you end if you are not at the end I think swampert is better then Azumariil for normal fight is more bulky i beat cynthia whitout item

@@ferrucciocaracciuolo8139 Oh thank you ☺️👌... I have not reached Cynthia yet. As for my team... I am using Sceptile, Celebi, Giratina, Blaziken, Lucario and finally Quagsire as an HM slav.

@@KingOskar4 i think you should use swampert even if he got a bad nature he can learn all the hm end be of use in battle

Bruh Sword and Shield came out three years ago. That's more than enough time to "get used" to them. Also, a shit-ton of games coming out is not "the current state of Pokemon", it's been that way since almost the very beginning.

And that'll never happen :/

Oh no 😥 it happened to everything I used to love... From Minecraft and... Uh... Well I gave up on mainstream games long time ago. Instead I prefer playing indie games and old games. Terraria still has good developers that DO CARE about their game tho😍. But for Pokémon and Minecraft , there is no such hope anymore. 😥

What did minecraft do?

I wish I got to experience those games back in the day but atleast I still got to play them on emulators all the new games are pretty sucky and overpriced for what they are

My older sister grew up in the pokemania but I didn't... I grew up when it was niche. Started with emulated Emerald, White 2. Then X&Y was announced. Heck even Naruto was nieche at first, and now, there's an asian restaurant next door that has Naruto figurines and posters as a decoration. Boy the times are changing

My thoughts exactly. The fact he glossed over these facts makes me think he's now being nitpicky

I would say even in the 2000s it wasn't really niche. As a kid during the early decade, ppl could still recognize pokemon, gen 3 anime merch was plenty (i had an advanced generation shirt that always caught eyes), our teacher gave us gen3 figures at the end of class as gifts once. Pokemon books were everywhere at book fairs. Pokemon anime at that point was always one nobody considered to be "anime" but just another toon, that's how integrated it was. Even the gen3 games were played and snuck to school/social events by older kids that had the console. Sure, it wasn't late 90's Pokemania levels but it for damn sure was reaching the new generation of young'uns after the kids playing red and blue grew out of it. But that just further adds to the point the brand was always big and pulling what it's pulling, the difference is they managed it better. Once they got a smartphone app to blow up they definitely started moving different. Lots of Japanese game companies are trying to get their feet into that market, but now that Go anchored Pokemon in nice and stable in the turbulent mobile ocean, the company is content coasting off it. All other spin offs? I consider mystery dungeon remake and new snap as blessings. The anime? Give Ash a companion literally named Go who's whole schtick is going around catching as many mons as possible. Let's Go exists just to cash in on the hype, regardless of opinions on those games that fact is undeniable. They've simply adopted that mindset of "getting on our phones is top priority" it seems. Hope they wise up and realize how fickle and easy to move on those casual mobile market is. Go isn't gonna be relevant forever, i think its safe to say its definitely died down. As cool as Masters is, it's something only the hardcore fanbase will appreciate if able to play. Unite is interesting cause i think it's also on Switch, i think designing mobile spin offs that way would be an interesting direction. But at the end of the day, these are no replacements for how spin offs used to be handled and they're clearly not helping GF's main duty with developing the core series

Exactly I feel sad that Pokémon used to be creative back in the past. But then once Sun and Moon came out I kinda started disliking the newer games which is sad because I love Pokémon so much ever since when I was a kid playing my first Pokémon game Pokémon Black. Just bring back all the old features like Mega Evolutions and the National Dex into the newer Pokémon games.

Let’s give a round of an applause to COVID-19 for ruining everything good in the world! Woo hoo! 😒

You just described the community. Not the company.

Yeah, I think ending the game series at 1000 Pokemon could be a good way to end it, I mean we already have the Pokemon god and origins of a lot of things, do we really need to know more about the Pokemon world? Just keep remaking the games or make a "new era" that feels different after. Have the mainline end its first epoch properly.

@@thecod2345 Are Gen 8 Pokemon not popular? Interesting. Does it feel that way during the past year or so?

nah we gonna get gen 100 eventually

As long as Nintendo wants to sell consoles, that'll never happen. They're pretty much the only ones stopping Pokemon from going full corporate in the first place. There are still plenty of people that buy Nintendo consoles exclusively to play the Pokemon games.

@@Wandermidget You seem to be saying a ton of the Nintendo sales are ONLY due to Pokemon, that seems like a big statement.

That's all you're gonna say? That it's pokemon? I can understand Disney. But pokemon?

@@arctic_andy_infinity5708 Quite so. In many ways Pokemon is soon to or perhaps has become the Disney of Japan. Both multimedia companies that became soulless money making husks that cater to the least common denominator. Wasted potential because $$$. Treat their fans like dirt. No balls to take risks or give room for experimentation. Doesn't matter how little effort and quality they put to their products. Because both are big names they're still gonna sell.

@@nothinghappened7599 still can't understand. Give me proof that game freak doesn't give a shit. And I don't mean the games. I mean actual damn proof.

@@nothinghappened7599 also. You say they don't take risks but they still make new ideas like an open world game and paradox pokemon. So, you saying that they don't take risks is a bunch of bull.

@@arctic_andy_infinity5708 Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.Here's your proof.The games are the proof idiot.

Fire emblem and xenoblade is the greener pastures

Pokemon Go spoiled the TPCI.

gen 8 is proof

@xid do not call sword end shield bad you will offensive to bad game at least bad game some times got good point sword end shield do not got good point

@@uwuowo1773 you mean gen 6. Especially oras. It only went down hill from there.

@@tbc1880 no no, you’re clearly thinking of BDSP.

@xid battle frontier.

If Legends Arceus didn't cut it for you, that's probably as good as we're gotta get for the time being.

@@a-s-greig I actually enjoy Legends... just because its Sinnoh, but other than that Im waiting to see the review for the new game

What's the last game you considered to be special?

At least B&W were actual good games that were made with care. Obviously they've always been a brand, but the games used to be the bedrock of the franchise, but now the franchise has identity issues due to greed.

I don't know about that, I've heard numerous similar complains from the anime, manga, TCG, merchandise and spinoffs parts of the fandom too.

true, is made for the drooling consoomer adult children of today, how many actual kids played the lets go pikachu?, the silence is the answer

I feel like such a boomer because the only shit I play is TF2 and Pokémon pre Gen 6 lol.

then the cancerous morons want to kill off all the other monster rpg games with that "pokemon ripoff" bullshit cause you arent allowed to have options besides pokemon

@@froddobaggins literally haven't finished a game past Sword and even that was a slugfest, haven't even gotten to the second gym on Shining Pearl and cleared like 2 of the areas in PLA but that's not even anything considering I've done no side quests, I've played gen 3, 4 and 5 more in the last year than I have anything gen 6 or beyond, I'm at the point where I'm saving up to by a gameboy color with a backlit screen so I can play my Ge 1 and 2 games, you know the series is in a sad state when you've got people like you, OP and I have no interest in the newer games

@@JBzucc hell, even if there's interest, people like me are pessimistic if not nihilistic for the new games. The graphics look like S/V is running on a PSP overcloked to hell and back, it's banking on the open world trend, and I heard that every game after and including X/Y was shit. Haven't played a new game since Or/As but it's sad, and what's worst is that I'm a gen 6 kid. I literally don't remember "the good ol days" because when I played the game at 7years old, the good days were over. It's sad seeing my childhood series start to rot. I'm not even 18 yet but I just want to know what the series will mutate into by the time I'm in my 20s or 30s

Still no uranium and plutonium

@@mr_man-to7bv well, we _have_ one half of the pair, technically...

Dudes really out here acting like we didn’t get Diamond, Pearl, Gold, and Silver smh

Also ORAS is one of the most passionate projects I've seen from Gamefreak in terms of mainline games. Yeah HGSS had pokemon follow you but that was about the only new feature outside of pokemon from gens 3 and 4 and the safari zone editor thing, other than that it's pretty much the same game, but ORAS added a LOT of new content to the game, not just for the story, but post-game as well.

I feel that gen 6 was a bit rushed because of the 3d models, if they stick to 2d would be one of the best pokemon games, the jump to 3d had a cost in the project

@@rcthekinglol7973 he said GBA and DS era but yeah silver black and platinum were masterpiece's!!

Are you implying that Pokemon was not a brand as long as it has been around?

Again. With the whole praising them like Gods thing. Why isn't there and actual person in these comments that doesn't insult people for having a different opinion?

Yeah. SwSh was a disappointment to me, but I still had hope. SV did it for me, I'm not buying a Pokemon game again until I can see some sort of effort.

It didn't express my words.

But I'm glad your worries we're expressed

Honestly I really don't get why people are so hyped about the game so much, given Game Freak's track record on the Switch

New Pokémon? Check New competitive scene? Check 1000hr game time? Check Bad graphics? Check Sounds fun to me.

You're not missing much. Honestly the information we've been getting has been so incredibly mid that the recent 14 minute trailer was 80% of telling us the exact same information we've been told before.

@@UltraBall23 I hope you are sarcastic, because this quick new content over quality with cut corners is the issue Gireum has big issues about...also the stuff you said doesn't even need a new game, like DLCs exist.

@@zjzr08 I’m excited for the new game because of the new stuff. I know the quality isn’t great. Never said it was. I’ve been saying what Gireum is point out in this video for years now. My friends and I are going to have fun with it.

Nah, it would be a snorlax themed mall and a plane that looks like an oversized pidgeot

Who said I'm not a real fan?

Coromon. Nexomon. Workémon (all android up to this point) ... Rom hacks, Drayano, then copiers such as Dinosaur King (ded), Digimon, and all the clones Austin had reviewed in "Bad Pokémon clones" part 1 and 2. People tried. A lot. Workémon is still kind of funny 😂

Houseware with Pokémon?! 🤨🍽️ Well I had like one plate and one bowl with Pokémons on them... From Generation 1's days. That's why I am surprised🤨

While true (even the video wrote the dates), development was already ongoing for SM so whatever business impact GO had probably didn't affect SM's game design - celebrating the 20th anniversary and making a new region for it over a Pokemon Z, on the other hand...

There are only gen 1 Pokémon in it so that's probably a good summary of how much of a fan he really is lol

I also miss them, like Mario has a great mainline game track record, probably helps because there's a Party, Golf, Tennis, Kart and maybe Strikers in between, also the Mario & Luigi, Paper Mario and now Mario + Rabbid series. The spin-offs may be mid, but at least the mainline isn't (for the most part, looking at you NSMBU Deluxe, hehe).

Yeah stuff like the anime bringing back old characters is great since its never really done that kind of get together before and I'm positive this series is the end of Ash's run as protagonist for that reason and many many others

Maybe because you can still play them in the 3DS as DS games, but yeah, Wii games can be bought in the WiiU, why can't DS games for the 3DS?

They probably are making another rushed sequel Let's Go Togepi/Pichu first and will sell HGSS later when there's almost no original copies left to maximize profits

Mario had a dreaded period IMO of seemingly being a "brand" since New Super Mario Bros Wii IMO until maybe Mario Odyssey - there's still remnants of that (like Toads not being as varied, like we are not seeing fat toads like in Mario Party 1) but things like Sparks of Hope and the movie may show they may be open to not latch on to nostalgia as much anymore IMO.

@@zjzr08 Even with Mario spinoffs too it keeps them in a way, shape, or form through staying power. The biggest gripe is mostly adding in stuff later, which artificially lengthens a game's window in the current day. I'm glad Switch still has a Luigi's Mansion and that it didn't just rush out MK9 or an Odyssey sequel. If those happen I feel like it'll get the right amount of attention. In other words, for as much "brand" that Mario has rn, it's one I'm more confident in. (Plz keep building back to a better Paper Mario). TLoZ is sailing free actually, besides tiny crossovers Link has retained pure art, practically nonexistent brand sinking.

@@runningoncylinders3829 I mean Zelda is still made by the same umbrella as Mario hence I see why it seems there's more creativity with Zelda - if Mario falls Zelda may become more "brand- like most likely.

Blah blah blah whatever dude

@@ProtoBrown And people replying like this is why I feel invalidated about my opinions. 🤐

@@bluetimesskyrii I am so sorry for you😭... I call such people "Un-washed masses". Those who don't do research and blindly buy the newest pokémon game. What do YOU think? Is there a proper way to educate the unwashed masses? Because current Pokétubers (pokémon youtubers) just hype the stuff out of S/V. THEY say it will be good, but the game is not out yet

@@KingOskar4 Hard to say. SWSH was a wake-up call (move reference 100% intended) for those who felt like the Pokemon games were going downhill. Maybe SV will be the same, depending on how it turns out. Sadly, some people are just stubborn bastards. They're probably going to be why Pokemon continues to thrive despite its current stays, while similar game series and franchises continue to suffer under the assumption of being a Pokemon knockoff.

@@bluetimesskyrii Ah yes. Pokémon knockoffs, people have truly tried to copy the sucess of Pokémon. Here is what I know, by no specific order: Coromon, Nexomon, Workémon, Robopon, Digimon, Dinosaur King, Monster Rancher, the many many Gacha games, and some kind of animal transformation game. People have TRIED to copy Pokémon's success. Only Digimon and Gacha genre had success for one reason or another.

Oh yes 🤩👍... Ever since I got Renegade Platinum, I never looked back at the original Platinum 🥰. Same with Sacred Gold and HeartGold. Drayano sure knows how to make excellent games into the best ones.

That say the exact same thing over and over.

Agreed. Why get hyped for the new gen's species and gimmicks when they get removed come the next gen anyway?

The worst part about the gen 1 merch is that it’s not just gen 1 mons, it’s the SAME gen 1 mons each time. The starters’ base forms, their final forms, Pikachu, Eevee and it’s evolved forms, Meowth, Psyduck, Snorlax and the occasional Mew. Where are the starters’ middle stages, where’s Raichu, where’s Persian, where’s Golduck? When’s the last time you’ve seen a Lickitung on a piece of official merchandise?

@@inconemay1441 It's like if they made gen 2 baby pokemons and evolutions only avaible on Gold & Silver and never after that.

yes bro i feel so sad abt the direction the pokemon company is going, i legit used to be so passionate abt pokemon, i made like a 151 fakemon dex thing. So to see the company like this is so upsetting

Just stick to the old gens,try playtrough again in diferent ways, is way better than the cash grabs we have today, just stick to the holy trinity HGSS,Platinum and b2 w2

I won't completely sympathize with Game Freak because of their stubbornness and other decisions, but the developers back during the SWSH days and even now are going through their own kind of hell. I just wish GF was given more time and resources to flesh out new game releases. Pokemon has no excuse; they're the largest media franchise, let all that money go somewhere.

Bandai Namco should make the mainline games

@@haroldnecmann7040 That would be hilariously ironic if it ever happened, since Bandai makes the Digimon games. >:D

I think it’s the graphics and how it effects the characters. They look a little too realistic. Gamefreak can’t seem to find the perfect balance between realistic and Sugimori’s art style.

Agreed after watching the newest trailer the textures look like N64 ones. Also the frame rate and pop in is still pretty bad.

@@pinstripecool34 Watching the Sunflora run in the recent trailer made me want to throw up.

The hive mind nonsense is a side effect from society’s educational decline, instead of being taught to think for themselves, the youngest of us waste their braincells mindlessly scrolling on sites such as tictok, and facebook instead of being diciplined, informed ,or parented in any way.I dare not mention twitter.My point being the lack of proper education that legitamatley knows how to educate is part of the overall problem, the less critical thought in play, the less questions being asked, the more they’ll mindlessly believe anything they’re told and consume.It is ashame that the excitement for the next pokemon game has devolved from art to mass produced product that barely changes anything (just adds two cameras amd calls it “new” if you catch my drift.) other than the amount of wealth the wealthy already have.We truely live in troubled times, granted not in the same light as 30 years ago because 30 years ago, we still used our braincells for something other than staring and swiping.(Not that i was born in that era.)I’m just sick of corporate nonsense getting in the way of everything, including making our food perpetually sustainable, and in this case not being able to enjoy a decent video game.

Ah yes. Fanfiction! A lot of them are bad 'cause sturgeon's law BUT there are good ones! I remember fanfictions of pokémon world with new, orange haired OCs! I remember fanfictions with scuba diving! Also the "X character joins Team Rocket" fanfictions are... Questionable😅😂 but still, nice.

I am in a big "eh" in literary fanfiction. But fan content, on the other hand, are amazing imo. Rom Hacks are one of the best thing that came out from the fandom.

@@kevincairo8917 my favorite pokemon thing is the nuzlocke comic, “it’s a hard life”.

You just grew up

The soundtracks of the first and second movie were changed for the West, though. Example? Lugia's song is in the Japanese original an entirely different piece.

Funny you said that, I actually wrote that into the script but I cut it because 2 RedLetterMedia references in one video seemed redundant

@@GireumRed fair enough, the meme is overused to high hell and back too, but damnit if there was ever a time to use it...

Considering Pokémon Z was scrapped around the same time, this theory makes more sense to me than the other ones I've heard

Nah that game was half baked too and braindead easy just like X and Y. That was the last Pkmn game I purchased and felt dead after playing it. Have not gone back since.

@@TophDaGreat ORAS was far from Half baked. Also the idea that pokemon was never braindead easy to begin with is laughable.

Maybe they meant that they want for Pokémon to feel real. Like real animals. I have an autistic (actual autistic) friend that wants to believe real Pokémon live in the wilds of real world. He once said "When I have a walk in the forest (Wald-wanderung) I wanna believe that caterpie is in the rustling grass". Maybe that is what means for him for "Pokémon to be real, and be more than just a video game."

Exactly that. I mean, I get most of what is said in the video, but I think the problem is at the very premisse of the idea that over the years Pokemon stopped being a franchise and became "just" a brand. There are a lot of material out there in the Internet describing Pokemon's early years (and I mean early as in still in development Red and Green early) and there you can absolutely say that there was soul and artistic vision from the creators, but also that there already was present the financial/comercial aspect that the guy in the video constantly emphasizes. And like some other guy already commented here, in the first set of games there was no way to know the longevity the series would have and in the first sequels (Gold and Silver) the folks at GameFreak thought it was going to be the last Pokemon related thing they would make (which is why it is the only set of games with a direct presence of another region in it) and even then Pokemon already had a shit ton of products in other forms of media or even non-media related products. To say that in recent years it became "just a brand" instead of being a game franchise is a real misunderstanding of Pokemon's history. You could say that Mario, Zelda or even Donkey Kong still are a game franchise for the most part, but from the very moment the Pokemania started in the late 90s, Pokemon already had become a brand.

I feel like most people also can't put into words that they are just disappointed with the disconnect of Pokemon being the highest grossing media franchise and the mainline games not improving as one would expect with a higher revenue, so "Pokemon (objectively) got worse". I'd even argue that Pokemon as a brand has been ahead of a lot of others in terms of multimedia and "influencer" marketing, others are dipping into that market now though, which makes it easier to compare or notice similarities between them. Also, with the wish for making Pokemon feel real they created a picture in their fans heads that's almost impossible to reach. The hype for the "perfect" Pokemon game will always eat itself.

@@jari5230 True! I guess it is up to the fans to make a perfect Pokémon game 😟. I did saw a Crystal-GBC style survival game, then an MMO, then Pixelmon (a minecraft version of Pokémon, both as a singleplayer mod and a multiplayer server)... And of course all the rom hacks, from Gotta Catch Them All style in one cartridge (Renegade Platinum, Sacred Gold, Drayano) to more Story-focused (AshGray, Ruby Chronicles, and Clover version). But pokémon might be the only "brand" where Fan games can surprass the Quality of newer titles. Whoa.

true but the games are also really easy and can lowkey get boring

I agree with all of this. I used to be a competitive player around Gens 6 and 7 because I wanted to get more in depth with the games I love, but after years of losing to teams made from nothing by guys who don't wanna play the game, I gave up. Pokemon Home made things worse by deleting old moves from old pokemon. I can't port my old Arceus with Roar of Time and such to Legends Arceus because of this.

How is any of that the fault of the community? How does that cause the games to be more soulless? I think you may be mistaking the cause for the effect. Less people are engaging with the games because the game are less interesting to engage with. People don't decide to tap out of a game unless they feel the game is lacking in some way. The developers are 100% at fault here.

I agree fully. I came back to Pokémon in gen 6 and personally experience an golden era with the community. Back then everything felt so optimistic with Pokémon symphony concerts, journeys anime, Mystery Dungeon, fan made rom hacks, theory, lore, poke dex and region world building videos like Buddymon, and tournaments. Despite the problems that needed to be fixed we all believed Pokémon would only improve. Now almost everything feels soulless and apathetic with the community blindly accepting sub par games and the pokemon company resenting it's veteran fanbase. All the art and passion the community had is gone. Even fan games are disappearing due to the Pokémon company striking them down. What truly broke me was Dexit as many Poketubers I once loved either quit or aggressively defended the decision saying we should be grateful despite the consequences it would have on future games and the community at large. Now the hopeful community I once loved is gone and the remaining Veterans like us are lingering here. Dreaming of what the Pokemon franchise could've had been in an alternate reality with a few gems like Poke toons and Hisui Snow as shining examples.

Right 🙏!! I started as a Playstation/Sony Boy but went full Nintendo when I discovered Emulation. Now I am a PC gamer💻 because that is the best platform. Not perfect but fixable if issues arise.

No. It wasn't. Pokémon was never just for nerds or weebs... Except maybe Generation 3 when it wasn't as popular. The ridicule of people in times of Gen 3 who chose to keep playing. Only for them who used to ridicule such people to play pokémon again when GO came.

True that is why All these gen 5 fans need to realize

@@Shinyprofjareth that's why I kind of find some of these videos a little silly. No other company would release the same game Thrice out of the kindness of their heart even if you felt like you were getting some kind of deal. Even if we enjoy games like platinum or Emerald that's still incredibly scummy and I doubt that most of our fondness for those games would exist would it not be for the nostalgic attachment we had

Your second paragraph seems very dubious that they were simple cash cows after Gen 2, even if it is likely they want to end it after that. If it is they would put popular Pokemon in RS, but no, they dared to put a lot of new Pokemon, and excluded starters and legendaries of the past. Isn't it more likely they did want to stop at Gen 2, but Game Freak also wanted to continue? Remember Masuda didn't began to be forefront until maybe Gen 4 with his Masuda Method featured. It was usually Tajiri at that time and he's more of a sidekick. The implication that Game Freak didn't care even pre-GO is questionable to me, when there are noticeable shifts of their game direction.

@@zjzr08 if it isn't my old friend and yes, indeed it was. GS was created to be the ultimate Pokemon experience, but by that point the franchise have become a phenomenon and Nintendo put pressure on Game Freak to do more with Pokemon. It was because of the difficulty of them keeping up with everything that the TPC was established by Iwata and ishihara to manage the multimedia juggernaut while GF created the games that would be consumed and dispersed by said juggernaut. After generation 2, all of the franchises original sins like dual releases and sister games were created because they were a part of the tradition and obligation that people associated with the series. People may have more Nostalgia for the older titles, but that doesn't mean that the business model wasn't the same

@@desdar100 First of all Game Freak isn't owned by Nintendo. How could they pressure GF to do more with Pokemon, despite TPC not being made at that time yet? Why is Nintendo the seeming "bad guy" here when they are actually hands off in the games for the most part, and even Masuda said Nintendo and TPC won't do a thing they don't like? Also they started the double versions and third version before TPC was created with Yellow and Crystal (you could argue Blue is the real Japanese 3rd version), but I could argue GS feels like full games already at that time, unlike XY, SM and SwSh lacking a lot at it base (many say DP also had that issue). Hey even RS they tried to mix things up as I said, add to it the split evil teams, I don't think that's phoning it in.

@@FlameHricane exactly how i thought about SnS, the concept for them to bring the anime style colisseum with "fans" in the sides chanting you and your opponent on was amazing, and SnS in my opinion should have ditched the chairmans weird storyline and kept with just improving the feel during those big battles with the gym leaders, i loved the parts where it was just pure Pokemon, without any "oh no Eternatus is eating chairmans ass" plot getting in the way of it. i feel like Pokemon fans would be happy if we got a simple "go on an adventure to become the pokemon master" again because that part of SnS was great, every fight had something going for it, soundtrack was great and even if the game was on the easy side it worked. - Ditch the overcrafted doomsday storylines that have gotten crazier and crazier over the years -Ditch the handholding and completely telling where the player needs to go and when -Focus on perfecting the feel of the relevant battles -pick one of the gimmicks like Mega,Z-Moves,Gigantamax, the new mechanic, and focus on bringing the best feeling gimmick and stay with it. i'd say Mega was still the best (not competitively but as a Pokemon gameplay/story) gimmick the games have had

I could not agree more 🙂👍... On android it is possible to patch the roms and get Rom hacks! As long as you can get, say, FireRed version, which is the bases of most patches, you have Pokémon adventures set for life! 🤩

@@KingOskar4 true that, its actually sad that fan made games these days are better then the ones made by the actual company that owns the ip, like that should really tell you how far they have fallen when fans make better stuff now and you can tell gamefreak and Nintendo to an extent are aware of this as they always attack the big fanmade games that draw a lot of attention away from their joke of a game

@@MartinMorning2 Whoa, really? That is just sad 😥. What do you think is the best rom hack? I personally like Renegade Platinum, and Sacred Gold. Catching them all finally became a feasable thing🤩! I would like Clover version but I am afraid of the stupid jokes 😂. Then I was also considering Ruby chronicles, in reverse order (3, 2 and 1)

@@KingOskar4 the ruby destiny games are pretty good, renegade is good too, snakewood is a classic and flora sky is also pretty good, too many great rom hacks to name really lol but those ones are the ones that come to my mind the most

Incidentally, I bought my Eevee plushie in an German toy store in 2020. I know it does not count but it is also the only plushie I have as a young adult. But how exactly does TPC (the pokemon company) know how much plushies they sold? Games I can imagine how they count it.

@@KingOskar4 Eevee is an overrated Pokemon that nearly everyone loves myself included.

@@KingOskar4 same way any toy/merch company does i figure