Ishiftyounot
The Meme Supreme
I posted this on Reddit the other day, but figured I'd ask here as well!
Pokemon is one of, if not the, biggest franchise in the world - a 25 year old money-making machine which we all know and (hopefully) enjoy experiencing. It has created 900 unique and relatively varied creatures at least someone in the world can claim is their favourite, spread out over an incredible wide range of mediums. It's impressive to witness, even if such a lengthy existence has slowly stagnated (debatably) and left many people feeling like there are missed opportunities about. Lots of criticisms and negativity, especially on the internet - not entirely misplaced in my opinion, but dreary to experience long-term.
So! What is it about Pokemon that we do like? I cannot overstate how varied the franchise actually is - we have main series games, spin-off games, Pokemon GO, Pokemon Unite, the TCG, the anime/movies, plush/other forms of merchandise collection and a bunch of other things I have most likely forgotten about! And these branches split off and create new branches - the main series titles for example can incorporate people who just play for the story/credits, shiny hunters, competitive battlers, Pokedex completionists and folks in-between. The TCG has collectors and people who actually play the card game itself (casually or competitively). So on so forth. Then there's the more "basic" interests in the franchise - you like the Pokemon designs, or you enjoy collecting funky critters to beat up children, or the gameplay just appeals to you! There's a huge spectrum to observe and I am genuinely curious as to what it is folks like about the franchise?
For me personally, I like planning in-game teams and playing the main series titles for the sense of progression. I don't tend to do the Pokedex, or competitive battling, or shiny hunt (although I have dabbled in them all) but just raising cool creatures and seeing them grow and evolve is so cool! I also like to draw the Pokemon, collect some merchandise (plushies of my favourites and I have a couple of the funko pop things) and play the odd side game (Unite is my current fixation, albeit I haven't touched it in the last month). But what about you folks?
Pokemon is one of, if not the, biggest franchise in the world - a 25 year old money-making machine which we all know and (hopefully) enjoy experiencing. It has created 900 unique and relatively varied creatures at least someone in the world can claim is their favourite, spread out over an incredible wide range of mediums. It's impressive to witness, even if such a lengthy existence has slowly stagnated (debatably) and left many people feeling like there are missed opportunities about. Lots of criticisms and negativity, especially on the internet - not entirely misplaced in my opinion, but dreary to experience long-term.
So! What is it about Pokemon that we do like? I cannot overstate how varied the franchise actually is - we have main series games, spin-off games, Pokemon GO, Pokemon Unite, the TCG, the anime/movies, plush/other forms of merchandise collection and a bunch of other things I have most likely forgotten about! And these branches split off and create new branches - the main series titles for example can incorporate people who just play for the story/credits, shiny hunters, competitive battlers, Pokedex completionists and folks in-between. The TCG has collectors and people who actually play the card game itself (casually or competitively). So on so forth. Then there's the more "basic" interests in the franchise - you like the Pokemon designs, or you enjoy collecting funky critters to beat up children, or the gameplay just appeals to you! There's a huge spectrum to observe and I am genuinely curious as to what it is folks like about the franchise?
For me personally, I like planning in-game teams and playing the main series titles for the sense of progression. I don't tend to do the Pokedex, or competitive battling, or shiny hunt (although I have dabbled in them all) but just raising cool creatures and seeing them grow and evolve is so cool! I also like to draw the Pokemon, collect some merchandise (plushies of my favourites and I have a couple of the funko pop things) and play the odd side game (Unite is my current fixation, albeit I haven't touched it in the last month). But what about you folks?