The Depressing Modern State of Pokémon 

Which Pokémon game was your least favourite of the Switch Era and why is it BDSP?

Moral of the story: ACTUALLY GIVE THE DEVELOPERS ENOUGH TIME AND RESOURCES TO MAKE A FINISHED GAME. No more of this "has to be out by holiday deadline" nonsense.

I genuinely believe Sword and Shield were meant to be 3DS games but when Game Freak realized that it was gonna be on the Switch they threw the Wild Area together as fast as they could!

The worst part is, Nintendo will hunt down any fan games and mods that produce objectively better pokemon content.

As a reminder, BDSP 1.0 version launched without a title screen and with a midi ost ripped directly from Diamond and Pearl

His hands the whole time: ✋🏻🖐🏻👌🏻✋🏻🖐🏻👌🏻✋🏻🖐🏻👌🏻✋🏻🖐🏻👌🏻

I’m honestly surprised you didn’t even mention that Leon dealt with all the random gigantimax pokemon off screen

The way me and my best friend both cheered for legends Z-A MOSTLY because it would take longer to release says it all...

“One final sloppy toppy” *immediately subscribes*

To be fair, while Koraidon and Miraidon have more character to them than any other legendaries, Cosmog DOES come close.

I want to be excited for Z-A but… I just don’t see why I should be, it’s incredibly sad how the state of Pokemon games are. Glad there are more and more people releasing and talking about this, Pokemon fans deserve better.

I'd argue that deadlines are the least of Game Freak's problems. I recommend watching Cydonia's video, "The Worrying Testimonies of Those Who Worked at Game Freak" (He's an Italian RU-vidr, but the video is fully subtitled in English). He does a very good job translating and analyzing employee reviews of Game Freak, and it paints a depressing picture of the studio's psychology and mismanagement. They genuinely lack talent and passion.

I honestly wouldn't have cared that they reused animations if they didn't use the animations as an excuse for cutting content.

My biggest financial regret is buying scarlet AND violet on release day… I’m never doing that again

Crazy that the best looking Pokémon games on the switch were the first ones. The quality has gotten worse as the switch ages.

It's turning into a modern "Oh you want access to all the pokemon? Well here's 30 behind a paywall. We'll add more next quarter when we need more money."

life lesson : every big media brand will eventually have that "sonic 06" moment; the only different is brand recognition.

The dark type gum leader signing on the cutscene is really insane because back in Black and white 2, the 2ND gymleader is also singing, and YOU CAN HEAR LYRICS on the gym theme, THEY ALREADY DID SPEECH. not to mention team plasma Colress' theme with counting

It's crazy to see we're finally in the timeline where *POKEMON AND THEIR FANS* are in the same route as *SONIC FANS.* Both sides has incredibly rushed games that could have been great. While both sides having increasing love-hate for the franchise. Thanks Game Freak lol.

One of the things I find most egregious about scarlet and violet is the obvious lack of research and effort put into the region. Paldea is supposed to be based on Spain but there is next to nothing that actually indicates this minus the use of Spanish. Why is the main food sandwiches and not heckin paella? Where is the culture? The history? Why is one of the gyms set in a Japanese restaurant and not a traditional Spanish one? Spain has such iconic landmarks like the villas and churches of Toledo, or the aqueduct of Segovia but none of that is represented. Instead of fairytale like towns with cute little alleyways, gorgeous stone buildings, and welcoming small shops, paldea is a complete wasteland. Just open fields with scattered towns. In the past with games like Sun and Moon and X and Y, the culture of each region is very apparent. Lumiose City is such a great representation of Paris, Alola had such a strong culture. Paldea is... nothing and it saddens me cause Spain is one of the most beautiful places I've been

my wife left me for the gym challenge

Do yall remember during the final credits of SWSH that the cursor would go across the screen 💀😭

The second I realized that Stoutland, my favorite Pokemon (but also an incredibly niche noise... even though Stoutland would have fit PERFECTLY) wasn't going to be available in Sword and Shield, much less any future games, I gave up on buying any mainline Pokemon games... my last Pokemon game I bought was Pokemon Snap. It just makes me sad that I won't even be able to have the opportunity to bring my favorite Pokemon along with me at any point.

Ya know how Pokémon Bank existed FOR the games? Well, I feel like there's been a role reversal where Pokémon games exist FOR Pokémon HOME. The effects of the dex cut has its longstanding impact of making your favorites potential game-exclusive assets. What's worse is how these games have systematically removed post-game adventures and re-sold them back as "DLC." Not to mention how said "DLC" puts a bunch of competitive advantages behind a paywall. Needless to say, I'm still glad I dropped out after gen 7. I had a moment of weakness with Legends Arceus. As interesting as I thought it was, its magic wore off when I realized how I could cheese the game and any semblance of challenge could be overcome by resource grinding. So I will not be purchasing Z-A. This franchise is too scummy and I don't see any return to form in the foreseeable decade.

It’s worth saying, Kirby star allies also had a LOT of free content updates post launch that fills in its lack of content

my headcanon is that galar was so bad the anime had to go in a different direction

The issue with gamefreak's "excuses" is that viewing them as just that completely misses the point. They aren't excuses, they're problems. It's a problem that gamefreak has to redo an ever increasing roster of characters every time they want to shake up the artstyle, (And with dlcs, they mostly still have to) which mostly leads them to reuse content rather than enhance it. It's a problem that gamefreak only has 150 employees working on one of the most profitable franchises of all time, in time crunch that forces them to utilize the bare minimum. It's a problem that gamefreak has to choose between ambition and quality when their competition can beat them in both. These problems aren't manufactured or easily solvable with just a little effort, they're real and need to be solved for the games to be better. These issues can be entirely valid reasons for why the games are in such dissaray, while also not invalidating people's sentiments that they need to be better than they currently are.

Pokémon: The series that doesn't have to try anymore because you'll buy the newest game no matter the cut content/graphics, and you're gonna like it

27:45 BDSP discourse in a nutshell: *"It's the same game I played as a kid!"* 😀 vs *"It's the same game I played as a kid."* 😠

WE did this to pokemon. Remember the "thank you gamefreak" era? When we bent over and THANKED them for reusing assets, removing shit that didn't need to be removed, reusing animations for decades, removing GOT TO CATCH THEM ALL AS THE PREMISE, giving us shotty broken ass games that need day 1 patches and don't get fixed at all if theyre not fixed by the next gen THE YEAR AFTER! We get DLCs instead of completed second games and while BOTH are bad, the DLCs dont give any room to fix the issues of the MAIN games and only ADDS *more* problems through new glitches and bugs exclusive to the DLC. THEN THEY DROP A SECOND DLC AFTER THE FIRST BUGGED ONE AND FIX NEITHER BEFORE DROPPING THE NEXT GEN! We THANKED gamefreak for this treatment. Charging us 80-100 bucks depending on the country plus 40 plus for the DLCs that could've been in launch. It's been on this route since pokemon X and Y

modern pokemon games hold your hand way too much. the fact that you play as a kid is fine but the game doesn’t have to treat you that way

After YEARS of yearly releases, I can’t put in words how happh I am we’re not getting any game this year 😭🙏🏻

I rarely agree with almost everything someone says in a video essay critiquing something I enjoy, but i have almost no notes. This video is so well done and really does pinpoint my feelings to a tee.

Probably a hot take but gen 6 had the best art style in my opinion.

Pokémon is Nintendo's Sonic the Hedgehog. It is kept alive soly by it's rabid fandom. The games are being in an assembly line style fashion in a string shoe budget by the same studio since tje beginning. Music is the only consistently good part of the games. TV shows and multimedia content is far more profitable than the games, which makes Game Freak doesn't bother with making a good Pokemon game. The difference between Pokemon and Sonic is that at veey least Sonic managed to release some decent to good games a few times, and his games have voice acting.

"I hate the modern Pokemon, I'm not buying another game ever again!" Yeah I'm tired of lying to myself. I'll just wait and see what they offer next time.

I hate the fact that as an OG player and fan, any special Pokémon given in some games or through events get screwed if you bring them to the new games. I always transfered all my pokemon and now if i try to move an older pokemon with a special move into BDSP or S&V, then they lose that special move or any move that was taken away in dexit, or they just cant be in the game for the same reason. catching them all became pointless. so much time invested for nothing.

Trying not to flail your hands around while talking challenge: impossible

Ive been playing radical red these past 2 weeks and it's everything I would want in a modern Pokemon game. A 2d sprite game with all mons, difficulty options, quality of life features (minimal grinding mode, portable pc box, specific pokemon locator, level caps with exp share, on the fly move relearning, nature changing, etc). I highly recommend people play it and I hope game freaks takes notes.

Considering GF's recent streak, I feel like avoiding B/W remakes at all cost just to preserve nostalgia

I feel so bad to see the franchise's downfall. It used to be one of the best games I bought each and every time a new portable Nintendo console came out.

Italians hate him, as he has surpassed their hand expressions o.o

Ironically enough, I feel like Pokémon is going through the Sonic 2010's arc right now, and both franchises already share a lot of similarities. Both are japanese franchises that have had their good share of bad/mediocre/"unappreciated becase of the other's reputation" on an entire decade, have pretty good games on said era (Mania and Legends) that although good, people incorrectly think is the direction to be taken forward, and grew a big hatred to the company that they will glaze fangames and romhacks a lot even if a good chunk of them isn't a big deal. All we need now is just the Sonic Frontiers kind of release that will redeem the rocky start GameFreak had when not adapting well to a home console.

Personally, I think the last harrah games in the series were Black and White. X and Y were also fairly good, but despite how much we all wanted it, I don't think that moving away from sprites has been a good change for Pokemon. The problem is, that there are just too many pokemon, too many moves, and it's pretty much impossible to have compelling animations and story that match up to what people expect on that scale. With sprites it's much easier to suspend your disbelief and pretend that you can see the attacks happening, but when 3D Dragonite awkwardly flops and an super imposed tail appears 20m away to bop the opponent, it's hard to take it seriously

One thing I hate about scarlet and violet, is that in legend arceus, we had new battle animations, they were imo the best battle animation ever, but in scarlet, we got back to the previous battle animations which were trash. Also 52:48 file size has nothing to do with that, because most (like, I would say from 50% for pixel art games to 99% for 4k games) of a game file size is graphics. So it's normal that a game with 4k graphics has 10x more file size than a game with 1k graphics. And even if that was the case, remember that game freak said for ultra sun and moon, that they had twice the amount of lines of code... which ended up with nearly same game.

The Dex cuts starting with SwSh really do hamper the experience for me. Growing up, I was always led to believe that it was important to form deep bonds and connections with the Pokemon you caught throughout your playthroughs. My favorite mainstay on my team has always been Porygon. Having to play SwSh prior to the DLC without my signature Pokemon really did drag the experience for me. There were lots of cool new mon for sure, but nothing could replace my ace in the hole. Nowadays, I personally only get the games that at least have Porygon in them AT BARE MINIMUM. It's great how they add more returning mons in the game's DLC. But they never follow through with all of them, capping around 200 or so mons... That's only for ONE Pokemon, by the way. Everybody's favorite mon is different. Given Pokemon's massive install base and roster, every one of the now 1,000+ Pokemon is someone's signature. Also given Pokemon is a community based series, when you put some of people's mons in the latest games, but not others, that makes them feel singled out and not included. What saddens me more is that most people seem to be perfectly fine with these Dex cuts. As if the actual Pokemon characters don't matter in a game called,"Pokemon." Yes, not everybody likes to use the same mons over and over. But others actually do like bringing their past mons up to the latest Gen, seeing how they look and play as well as use them in combination with the newer ones. That's the beauty of what makes Pokemon special. Having all these different options of playing however you want. Unlike those who never cared about having all the mons, I for one never cared about the graphics. Yes, Game Freak did say they promised to improve the graphics and animation in compensation for the Dex cuts. But I find the excuse completely unnecessary. Pokemon was NEVER about graphics. To me, Pokemon is all about having different experiences and play styles while sharing those experiences with others. When you cut out more than half of people's options, you limit people's experiences. If people are okay with others doing stuff like Nuzlockes, shiny hunts or battling competitively, why should other things like having a living Dex in one game or venturing with a beloved favorite be any different? The worst thing is when others silence those who play differently by telling them to play how they play. It feels so controlling and disrespectful for a game all about options and customization. Without it, all you're left with is a lackluster, overly easy RPG game. You'd be better off playing something else for your RPG fix like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Persona or any of the Mario RPGs. I really wish more people would take these Dex cuts seriously. I'm starting to feel bad like I'm in the wrong for the way I enjoy the games...

Whereas I think "but the game is still fun" is valid, I fear that mentality is how we got to where we are. They know they can spit out the worst-rated pokemon game, still make bank, and then move onto the next project.

Pokemon's mainline games have a simple issue: They are cashgrab first and art second. Every idea gets half assed, performanc does not matter, aesthetic is not conceived beyond concept. Why? Because it does not matter! The games make money anyway! Creativity gets explores in spin off, which make a fraction of the money! You want the games to be better? Don't by the half assed crap because if you continue, Game Freak will just reduce efforts to see how little they need to do to make money

I have been feeling this since xy, I’ve recently gotten into tcg collecting and the actual, and it’s definitely kind of rekindled my love for Pokémon again. The format right now it’s actually really good too

I am just amazed by the fact that you managed to make no jutsu in the end given how may hand signs you made throughout the entire video.

Can't imagine how long it took to edit this, such a well done video dude! Soooo many valid points about every game mentioned. I really enjoyed the Scarlet and Violet story, and I'm hoping that Legends Z-A gets the development time it needs to be great and not rushed 🤞

been boycotting the series since 2019 because of the most recent games. it frustrates me with how the pokemon company and nintendo treat the series that i love and care about so much. i really hope gamefreak will take a step in the right direction in gen 10

The last pokemon games I got were USUM (Ultra Sun specifically), and I haven't touched any of the Switch games. I mainly just stick to the old games and a few romhacks.

I really wish people had a backbone and boycotted swsh. It would have probably led to far better results when bdsp and scarvio came out. Now they know that no matter how trash their product, people will slurp it up and break sales records.

being Visually Impaired, Sword and Shield were the last games i could play and i enjoyed them. unfortunately all games after were unplayable or accessible if you were blind or Visually Impaired.

Nessa has to be one of my favorite designs for pokemon.

I think the most depressing realization is that no matter how much drama we cause, no matter how much we want Nintendo to make better games, this is the state of Pokemon now. And as you get older, you realize more and more that playing Pokemon feels more claustrophobic, because the games are made for kids, and you aren't a kid anymore. I loved pokemon, and and I know it's hard to accept that the series isn't going to grow up with us. But lest we become the video game equivalent of Disney adults, it's time to move on.

I'm glad you backed out of the "Pokémon's bad quality ruined my friendships" bit. Not only would have that just been really sad had it actually happened (in more ways than one), but the story would have undermined *all* the points previously made.

Bro put too many points into the Gesture Tree.

.... I still dont understand what the fuck gamefreak was thinking when they made AN OPEN WORLD GAME that DOESN'T have level scaling for the bosses

Dexit proved pokemon fans are sheep who dont care what bullshit gamefreak pulls as long as they can buy their popular slop games

I nearly spit my drink out when you said let’s go was your introduction to Kanto

Thank you for making this video - recently I dove back into the Pokemon rabbit hole of Gen 3, 4 and 5... and honestly... The amount of detail and love and care they put into the games back then is just overwhelming. They actually really LOVED to make these games and you could tell with each and every entry. But now its all about money and pumping out the next game as soon as possible with as little effort as possible... and the sad part is, that it still sells waaaaay too well for them to stop

Hey man, another content creator here (audio niche). I’ve been doing this for 2 years (7K subs and 1.5M views) and just wanted to say you’re doing an incredible job! Killer thumbnail, great editing and very good camera presence. Keep going and your channel will blow up. Cheers! 👏

Remember. BDSP actually fixed its problems. SV was left as a mess

Great vid! I had the same reaction as you when I saw they weren’t releasing ZA this year! I still hold on to a little hope they’ll give these devs more time to create! Keep it up!

As someone whose very first Pokemon game was Legends Arceus, I feel like I can talk about the franchise without nostalgia goggles. First, Legends Arceus is fun to play which is THE most important thing for any video game because ultimately, the point of video games is to have fun. Secondly, I don't understand how two versions of the same game ever became normal. That is the single biggest scam in the entire franchise. Why does every mainline game have two versions with small differences like version exclusives? It's absolutely demented.

Not to mention how they ransom your pokemon behind a $16AUD per year paywall to store your pokemon online now (previously $6.50AUD a year with bank), don't offer support to send them back into a 3DS game, and only allow them to be used in a game they allow. The national-dex cut is what killed pokemon for me. Screw you Gamefreak.

Honestly, I feel like they need to stop making so many new Pokémon and just keep the ones they have but make the games better. That way, the national dec won’t be that big of a deal to add to each game.

Great summary of the Switch era of Pokemon! I didn't realize you were a small channel at first (when posting this). I really hope gen 10 can find a balance between past games best elements and make a definitive peak modern pokemon game.

No voice acting at the first cutscene in SwSh was so sad. Visually watching a guy talk nd hearing nothing was so jarring

Your hand talking is insane lol

This reminds me of how bad the Pokémon Journeys anime was overall as it was the last series to have Ash appear. I'm not sure if the character will ever return.

Excellent video! With the news about Legends Z-A being delayed, I hope they can take the extra time to refine the gameplay. I can’t help but wonder if the delay is due to Game Freak wanting to do more development, or if they were forced to by Nintendo not being able to release the Switch sequel this year.

all i am going to say is: am i even grateful that the mystery dungeon series is not in a terrible situation as the mainline series, even that there is far less games

the fact that pokémon lets go! is the best looking game freak game on the switch is really sad

Thats the reason, why I just play on a Pixelmon-Server now... I can roam in the wild, the Mons are overworld, I can chat and talk to ppl, I can build smt. Pixelmon had that a long time ago, it has every feature Pokémon introduced and is not limited. :) I dont care for the main-series anymore, they dont care about their players anyway. I am mad with GF tbh. I wont buy the new Switch.

Do any of you remember 2006? That was the year a different franchise reached it's lowest point ever as the result of dev teams being split in half during development, the company refusing to delay for any reason, a dejected, exploited and split fan base reaching their limit, and the Internet was on standby to rip it apart the moment it stumbled. That game was Sonic 06, one of the most infamously awful video games in the history of the medium. A game so bad that it's notoriety was a lethal injection of poison into the reputation of Sonic Team, the Sonic Franchise and SEGA itself that remains to this day. I see Pokemon following a similar path. The Pokemon Company clearly only cares about profit, the games are technologically and creatively bankrupt, overpriced, and ripping the fanbase to pieces. As bad as the Switch games are, we haven't gotten to the point that everyone denounces the franchise as dead yet, but the trend is holding strong so far. How long until we get a game so awful that it forever kills the reputation the way Sonic 06 killed Sonic's? And more terrifyingly, how truly awful will it have to be to turn everyone against it?

This says alot when the fans are SO. HAPPY. That a game is not coming out Like : Every other game franchise : "Awww this game is not coming out t'ill 2025 :(" Pokemon : "YEESSS IT'S NOT COMING OUT THIS YEAR!!" Like, this is so unheard of omg (as far as im aware lol)

Idk, as someone who grew up with Pokemon as their special interest, seeing the state of the series now is heartbreaking. BDSP was the first ever pokemon game i couldn't bring myself to try and beat, quitting around the spear pillar point in the game. I gave Scarlet a shot and while admittedly kinda fun, the bugs just dragged my enjoyment down immensely and this is coming from someone who played Skyrim day 1 on a PS3 (i still haven't bought the dlc tbh). I did love Legends Arceus and im looking forward to ZA, but as of now, i think I'm done with the mainline games unless something major changes behind the scenes with the devs

I remember purchasing Pokémon Sun only for gamefreak to release a better version of the game just a year later in the form of Ultra Sun. I haven't purchased a Pokémon game since then, although I did play Pokémon Legends Arceus and the newer Pokémon Scarlet/Violet for a bit and thought it had potential. The classic Pokémon 2D/SEMI-3d top-down format carried over from the gameboy years was starting to feel repetitive and not innovative relative to other video games.

I just finished watching this... I've played Pokemon since the original Red/Blue came out to the US. I'm a die-hard Pokemon fan, competed in tournaments, participated in panels and events at various conventions.. and that part near the end where you mentioned "Pokemon Slowing Down" really got me thinking and wondering the same, and brought about a WHOLE OTHER Level of depression, that literally a BIG part of my childhood.. of my LIFE could be coming to an end.. and I'm just not here for it. Otherwise, it was a great video. I loved how you mentioned each games strengths and weaknesses, and giving your two cents on each title's rating and how YOU thought about them, without shoving your opinion down our throats.

I love how you censored swear words with the iconic *BUMP* sound effect. I love it.

I've never felt so much hate for a Pokémon game until Scarlett & Violet. It was a rushed production of a mess. My gf and I will never preorder another Pokémon game again. We'll just wait for 1 month reviews around Christmas time to decide if it's worth buying.

Really fun video dude. Reminds me of old-school RU-vid not so fast and in your face like most essays today.

Give the mainline Pokémon games to a different developer, gamefreak can stick to developing new 2d Pokémon games. It’s a win win for everyone

I noticed even since Gen 5 that they were starting to cut corners to accommodate the massive Pokémon roster, so while I understand the “need” for Dexit, I definitely think it has just been used as an excuse to cut more corners. Imo there should be a core Pokémon MMORPG that’s ever expanding while the more focused main series games can release alongside it on their own schedule.

Honestly the last part resonated with me A LOT. I have never actually got to play any of the games in this video due to not being able to afford a switch. But I've watched as many playthroughs as I could. It's disheartening, I remember watching LGPE and thinking it's okay, then slightly enjoying SS, but after that I just didn't have the energy to watch anything else. I didn't watch a single video of BDSP, and I've only seen two videos for SV and they were both about the DLCs. I love the franchise, I discovered it around the SM/USUM era and I fell in love immediately. Seeing it fall from grace so pitifully just hurts.

No hate here, just constructive critisism. Moving your hands as much as you do distracts from what you are trying to say. I like the video, just when you move them so much I feel nausious.

i think the main issue with pokemon these days is all the alternatives. SMT is finally getting the attention it deserves, and palworld was a phenomenon when it released. pokemon just isn't the monster-catching monopoly it used to be

My biggest issue with the Modern Pokemon games isn't game design surprinsgly. Do I want it like a Xenoblade game? OF COURSE, but I want them to do what they did back in Gen 4 and Gen 5, hell even Gen 6: story and atmosphere. I love Gen 8 and Gen 9 because they were fun games, but I don't remember Galar or Paldea nearly as much as what Hisui did in Legends or what Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and the other regions did. It feels so generic, and while Gen 9's story was GREAT, it's not enough. There needs more time and effort to give us the best Pokemon experience since Gen 5.

Kirby actually did have a game between star Allies and Forgotten land. It was just a smaller eshop title called Kirby fighters 2. They also released part time ufo on phones and switch too. Point in HAL is just better at budgeting. Though admittedly that is a bit slower than some points for HAL.

Legends arceus is like the only decent pokemon game on switch

The fanbase is also a BIG problem monster taming cant latch onto the west cause everyone is brainwashed into thinking pokemon "owns it" and every other monster trainer game is unfairly slandered as a "pokemon clone or ripoff" its insane how pokemon fans not only defend their beloved franchise becoming garbage but also have the nerve to not let any other monster franchise gain traction cause "its gonna kill muh pokemon"

When fans of your games are excited the game is releasing LATER, you know you have a rushing issue

The Bandai Namco outburst got me good! Enjoyable deep dive. Look forward to seeing more.

I'm sorry as someone who's relationship with both pokemon and sonic over the last few years has been "plays a session of their favorite one every few months" sonic is in better of a state than pokemon is. I didn't even like frontiers but I could feel more time taken and more heart poured into it than anything pokemon, and SV might just be the sonic 06 of pokemon. Nothing pokemon has made recently is even on the same level of even like sonic colors. I hope things get better.

I've just always found it bitter since the dexit especially since my favourite pokemon that I'm a bit too obsessed with wasnt added in scarlet and violet nor the dlcs. at that point I couldnt cope much more and just decided to wait till it got better and pokemon legends z-a excites me a lot especially since they might add megas back and generation 6 has always been my second favourite one since it came out ( gen 3 especially emerald has always been my favourite). just legends z-a in general gives me a bit of hope for pokemon.

Scarlet and Violet to me are the worst because no only is the issues with bugs, and performance but how disgusting and generic the NPC look, the lack of character customization just look a the player character male and female model are the same you cant really make you character look too manly or female

I'm just gonna say this. My first Pokemon game was yellow, in the 90s. And Let's Go is an adorable experience and allows me to explore Kanto again. Love it.