What is it about Pokemon...

The Pokemon series has done something few video games series have truly done; stand the test of time. It's been around for 18 years in Japan and almost 16 years in North America now, and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. An entire generation of people have grown up with the Pokemon games now. I remember back when Pokemon first came out back when I was a kid, and hearing the adults talk about how Pokemon was just the newest fad, and heard them claim it would fade away in just a few years like most things that get popular among young kids.

And yet it didn't.

Pokemon has something about it that keeps people coming back while still drawing in new fans, generation after generation. Somehow it manages not only to appeal to young children picking up their first video games but also to adults like myself and many of you. Even after 16 years of playing the same basic formula over and over, we keep coming back to it.

So, I ask, what is it about Pokemon that has kept you interested in it? Or if you're a relative newcomer to the series, what is it about the series that has drawn you into it enough that you've signed up on a competitive fansite for it? What's so special about Pokemon that's kept it so strong for so many years?

________________________________________________________________________________________

Pokemon has always been something special for me. Since the very first episode of the anime, since the very first time I booted up Pokemon Red, it's had an impact on me. It's not unfair to say that Pokemon has played a large part in how my life has played out. It helped ingrain into me many of the values I hold dear today, helped me make many of my friends and helped me to learn many skills. It's given me something to do when I was bored, given me a place to go when I needed some time alone, and provided me with new outlets to making friends when I was lonely.

Why is it that Pokemon has had so much more of an impact than other video game series? Well, one big reason is definitely the emphasis on social interaction. Right from the very first games it was clear that Pokemon was meant as an experience you'd share with others. The trading system is the most obvious example of this, but there were other ways this was shown as well. The Pokemon world was vast, and to us kids full of mysteries. We were constantly discovering new things, hearing new rumors and coming up with new ideas, and we naturally wanted to share this with our friends. Right from the start Pokemon developed into a sort of subculture. You didn't just play Pokemon or watch the anime, you participated in something bigger. Other games and shows could do this to a degree, but I don't think any of them managed to integrate themselves into our daily lives as much as Pokemon did. This is how it really took off in the first place, and how it came to be a cornerstone of so many of our childhoods.

And this impact continues today among the kids today. You'll hear the same types of stories from anyone of any age you talk to who started playing Pokemon as a kid. They and their friends would get together and share their stories, ideas and rumors. The Pokemon world is set up in a way that sets a child's imagination aflame. The large number of Pokemon always makes you wonder if there could be more; the hints of a larger world and deep history hint at mysteries to be solved, adventures to be had. Kids just run wild with that stuff.

And then there's how the series manages to keep itself relevant even after the mystery and novelty fades as we get older. At first, for me at least, it was the onset of new generations that kept me going at first. There were always new Pokemon to train, new places to see, new mysteries to solve. Sure these lost their mystical quality they had when I was very young, but now I KNEW more was coming. I didn't need the formula to change; I just needed more of what I already had. And boy could Pokemon deliver on that.

Then as I got even older and the novelty of new Pokemon and areas started to wear off, Pokemon had another ace up it's sleeve; the sheer variety of ways there are to play the games. I started to discover new challenges that the community had developed thanks to the internet, and whole new worlds opened up to me. I discovered Nuzlockes, then Smogon and competitive battling, and from there the floodgates opened. Pokemon has near infinite lasting appeal, because not only is there tonnes of content, you can mess with that content in so many ways. You can compete against others, complete the Pokedex (and when you're done with that, hunt shinies), or try playing throught in-game with new goals in mind and with new restrictions. Pokemon has so much depth of gameplay that you can dive in and never really find the bottom; the possibilities are nearly infinite. The competitive scene alone is enough to keep people interested indefinitely, especially since it keeps evolving and changing. Then there's the fact that there's a nearly infinite number of ways you can create your own challenges for in-game play. It's far easier to do this than in other games because of the massive selection of Pokemon, moves and items at your disposal.

But perhaps the most important thing about Pokemon that's kept it relevant all these years is it's ability to draw people together. Pokemon played alone does eventually get dull. When you share the experiences it creates with other people though, it just lasts forever. Gamefreak has shown their commitment to growing the community aspect of the games with every generation, and it shows. Pokemon communities are everywhere, with a thousand different focuses. There's a Pokemon community for every fan. Pokemon continues to thrive because we continue that subculture that formed back in those early years. We keep sharing our experiences, keep spreading and debating rumors, keep discussing strategies and tactics, keep comparing our collections, and keep challenging each other. The games are always providing new fodder for this, and so Pokemon keeps going on. Really, I think this is what sets Pokemon apart. No other game series has a sense of community as strong as the Pokemon series does. And that's what keeps us playing, 16 years after we first started.
 
I've been interested since the middle of my 4th grade year, and I've loved it since. Some friends at my elementary school got me into it when I was looking at their Pokemon cards with them. The fourth generation just came out in Japan, but no one acknowledged what I was said, claiming I was gullible, because the English versions of Diamond and Pearl weren't released at the time.

I just love the designs used for those creatures in the Pokemon world; something about their existence simply mesmerizes me.

Then there's the video games, competitive battling, Smogon's forums... the list goes on.
 
Last edited:

Hulavuta

keeps the varmints on the run
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Well in the last thread about this I brought up Pokemon as a form of self-expression. The anthropologist Joseph Tobin said that among children, Pokemon was a way to claim identity. All the kids love Pokemon, and by having your own favorites that are not necessarily the same as anyone else's you are asserting your own individuality while also being part of the group. On that point, there are so many Pokemon at this point that pretty much anyone is bound to find at least one design they like.

There are also just so many elements and aspects to Pokemon that whatever you are interested in, you can probably do it with Pokemon. I've never seen any other game have such a large fanbase of people that were all completely different and into different things. The fact is, whether you are into the deep competitive potential of the game, or into the designs of the Pokemon or into the world it takes place in or whatever, there is pretty much something for everyone to enjoy. It would be impossible for me to tell you the "stereotypical" Pokemon fan. Is it the nerdy fanfic writer, or the hardcore competitive battler, or the fan-artist, or the collector, or the speedrunner, or the anime or manga fan? Is it a child or a twenty something nerd, or just a "regular" guy? Is it a boy or is it a girl?

Personally, aside from competitive battling, my favorite part of Pokemon is the story and characters. The setting is extremely well developed, and the characters are given personalities but aren't really established that much, leaving a lot to the imagination. The fact that trainers are extremely common in this very expansive world means that you can stick in as many OCs as you want, wherever you want. The main character is practically an OC too, having no personality except for what you give to him/her. Pokemon is pretty much the perfect fanfiction/fanart universe.
 
So many interesting things to mention. This would probably be a short narrative/ nostalgic child's life/ review in general of pokemon products I've tested, so without any further ado...

Design:
For one there's the ken sugimori artworks that I've been dying to see each generation. I really love his pokemon concept arts as much as his finished works. I've been involved in TCG at a young age, and I came to appreciate pokemon first as a card game with my friends than as a video game.

My side on the video games aspect:
However, the exposure of video gaming in my life influenced me to venture(dangerous in the short-run as a game costs so much) on the games (I mean, it would have certainly been more cost-effective for me to buy something which in the long run would mean giving just as much entertainment as opposed to the costs; tl;dr ver, I wanted to still maintain my participation in the pokemon community without having an empty wallet every time a new booster pack comes) and so this eventually led me to focus on the replay value of the games is also a notable feature, it goes to show Nintendo really knows how to handle its customers well as pre-wifi days introduced pokemon side-quests (post-game), contests, national dex collecting, different collectible ribbons, gameshark and cloning; while post-wifi had me as it still keeps on updating with post-game content such as event mons, and Wi-Fi tournaments.

Competitive battling has indeed set a huge change on the entry of newer fans to the games. It made pokemon video games require much more precision and skill (as Gen6/XY really introduced several changes that led to people on getting pokemon of top-percentage, no offense to Joey and his rattata) as opposed to random battling to level 100, which little did we know might not even be sufficient to have a specific pokemon attain its maximum EVs given that they can be trained starting at a high level.

On the other hand...
I do love pokemon plush dolls and would like to embark on collecting as much as I can.
 
Last edited:
I, personally, got into Pokémon due to the anime. Since getting a console and the physical game itself is (Still) not economically viable to me, I rely on emulators to play it, and by the time I got into Pokémon Blue, I had already started watching the anime

The videogames themselves have a bunch of advantages that make it suitable for (Almost) everyone:
- The pokémon themselves have a lot of different design styles, from the ridiculously cute (Pikachu, as a generic example. Overall, I'll stick with Gen I for those examples) to the extremely powerful-looking (Mewtwo), so everyone is likely to find something that fits their tastes
- A lot of choices for battles. Ok, fine, in a competitive point of view, everyone ends up using the same things, but even then the amount of options is very high and you have a variety of styles for battling. In casual, those options skyrocket in number
- An open-ended nature. Sure, you have that objective of beating the Elite Four (And post-game stories in the recent games) but, as soon as that finishes, you can do whatever you want, and from Gold/Silver onwards, you have a lot of things to do - collecting shinies, Battle Tower or equivalents, breeding and training, catch 'em all, Contests, etc.
- It's a lot better with friends, more than in any other game, more in older versions due to Link Cable requirement

Then there's the TCG which allows card-collecting game fans play with this franchise, and many other things I don't bother to mention as I'm tired now :P
 
I got started when my brother came home with one copy of red and one copy of blue, and I somehow convinced him to let me play one so he could focus on the other. He gave me Red somewhat grudgingly, and we made it a competition to see who could win first. The problem was that we had very different definitions of winning. His goal was to "catch'em'all" while I wanted to beat the gyms, and that is what I loved most about the original pokemon games; you made it your own. I was only like, 7 at the time, and not that good, but I could still make goals for myself and accomplish them, and when I beat Blue to become Champion, it felt real. When my brother finally evolved that last pokemon to get all 150, he felt like a winner. The games are so deep that there's something everyone can enjoy about them, and that's why I think they're still so popular.

I also touched on the friendly competition part, but I didn't mention that that last pokemon my brother evolved was a Golem that I traded to him. The game calls for player interaction so much, and has only gotten better, that I don't see how it couldn't either be a huge success, or a huge failure.

Finally, my last point is an extension of the first one; these games are deep. They hook you when you're young, but have the substance to keep you engaged when you get older. The only series that really does this to the same level for me is The Legend of Zelda, so that is an incredibly rare trait.
 
Last edited:
I think it's the variety of different things to do and different ways you can enjoy the franchise (not just the game, but the franchise as a whole) as others have mentioned above. I think the main hook that got me was the world building. There's a lot I can say about the game design but I'll try to focus on the story elements that hooked me.

The stories on their own aren't really all that, but there's so much care put into developing the world that the world feels alive. Pokemon is unique in that the world building isn't done by any one medium alone. The game alone does a pretty good job, the show alone does a pretty good job etc... but it's the mix of all of these different elements of the franchise and how they all tie in together that help develop the world of Pokemon into a world that we feel like we're living in and experiencing

The game really makes you feel like a badass. You blow through all of the elite trainers (gym leaders), all of in-world characters tell you how talented you are, you interact with legendaries, single-handedly destroy crime syndicates and become champion. I think the anime feeds into that a lot. When you go on your journey, you're not going alone. You can compare your journey not only with your friends, but with Ash and realize that the world you're adventuring in is the same world that Ash is in. The anime breathes life into the Pokemon universe and you feel like a badass in a real, living world.

This was the way I felt roughly 16 years ago and this was why I got hooked to Pokemon Red. I played all of the games, but I didn't really get super into it again until B/W 2. At the time of B/W 2, a lot was happening. Between my thesis, graduation, and finding work, I had put aside competitive gaming (I was into Starcraft for just about as long as I had been into Pokemon) and when I found time again, I kinda lost the energy for playing SC hardcore. I didn't really want to invest the time and energy to play hardcore for half a year just to get back to where I was a year ago, and all of my SC friends had quit so I didn't really have a community to go back to. Pokemon was a game that was deep enough that competitive Pokemon was a worthy pursuit, yet I didn't have to pursue it super hardcore as the dexterity required for Pokemon is nothing like RTS games. I was able to get to a just-reasonable yet not super-hardcore level and have fun with the game no matter how much energy I was able to invest in the game. I guess this speaks to the original point people were making about different people being able to enjoy Pokemon whichever way they choose.
 
I guess it'd have to be it's uniqueness; almost defining itself as it's own genre. Yes, it's easy to see that it's an RPG, and YES, it is also very easy to call it the easiest RPG - which tbh is probably a reason for it's enduring popularity in itself - but there's no other RPG like it. Generally in RPGs - for example, Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy, they're very... linear. While you can indeed explore towns and do sidequests and such, it's not very open. They always set you on a point A to point B path and the party members you get are set in stone and non-variable for the most part. You get your Mage, your Dancer our Thief, and often it's only one of each of these classes; two or three at the most. They also tend to take place in medieval fantasy settings, you've got a limited amount of money and items, there's a lot of trends I could go on about. Pokémon... either breaks these rules entirely or is very, very good at hiding them. First off, you haven't got one or two or three of each 'class'. You've got a FUCKTON of each class. Let's go over the first generation even. Mages? Gengar, Alakazam, Mr. Mime, Starmie, Exeggutor, just about any psychic type honestly. Tanks? Blastoise, Rhydon, Golem, Machamp... there's a wide variety, and that's just the beginning. Is there a limited amount of money and items? Well... in the first game, yes until you beat the E4, but the series gradually made money and items much more easily available to us and gave us a lot more item choice, especially with hold items. The setting? Gone are the medieval themes, in with the surprisingly very modern settings, industry everywhere, technology's booming, even many of the Pokémon you come across like Magnemite and Voltorb are by-products of this. Every enemy is human; either the local crime group or well-integrated into society, rather than some superpowered evil force. Are your partners set in stone? Like hell they are; you've got just over 700 Pokémon these days to choose from, with the chance of making just about any playthrough unique. As someone said earlier, it lets you set yourself aside from others; find your own individuality - by this point, especially in XY, it'd be very hard to find two players with the exact same team as each other. I went with Chesnaught, Meowstic, Pangoro, Dragalge, Tyrantrum and Sylveon - did anyone else go with this exact same team? And as someone stated, the VARIETY of things you can do - can you name any other RPG that gives you so many options like catch every creature, have them in contests, pet them, do just about ANYTHING with them at this point?
But there's one other thing no other RPG can really boast, and most of what I've said comes into it - Multiplayer. Barely any other RPG gives us multiplayer, and honestly? There's good reason for that. Because your partners are few and set in stone in the traditional RPG there'd be little room for fun and variety and it'd die out pretty quickly. Not so for Pokémon. As I said, you can have a SHITTON of variety just because of the sheer amount of Pokémon there are now. And even on individual Pokémon themselves, each is bound to be different - to set them apart from each other you've got EVs, Moves, Hold Items, Abilities, Nature, Hidden Power type, IVs, a not of things. Even beyond that you can have aesthetic differences like Gender, Nicknames, Shininess... we also got Ball Capsules in Gen 4. Those need to come back and get expanded imo. Everyone not playing competitively will have a completely different team. Gogoat, Seismitoad, Hitmontop, Rapidash, Muk, Magcargo, Wailord, Electivire, the now-infamous Pachirisu... everyone can have their favourites. Everyone can have their own special little team.
There's a ton of things beyond this. The mysteries of the world, the dex entries and biology and such of these creatures, the great, open-ended characters... but in my opinion, what really helps Pokémon establish itself more than anything else is what it has unique from every other RPG. Which, essentially, boils down to it's Variety and it's Multiplayer.
 
It's competition, things like older predecessors like Shin Megami Tensei or the more fad-dy pocket things like Tamagotchi are aimed at a more limited audience, it has multiplayer, its simple enough for anyone to get into but complicated enough for you weirdos more serious players to get into competitively, cute designs that are sure to appeal to anyone, extensive advertising all the damn time everywhere.
 
Once upon a time, my first main line game was Firered. For many years, I played all of the released games, until I discovered the world of Action Replay. Then, it was all about those shiny level 100's that were so cool. They had horrendous IV's and were Rare Candied, but Pokemon had a longevity unlike other games because of my constant desire for more "OP" Pokemon. Then, after a few years of this, I found Smogon around HGSS. I quickly joined up and learned all that I could, and began competitive battling on Pokemon: Online.
Every 6 months or so, I take a massive break. But something about the thrill of victory, the stench of defeat, the limitless strategy and team combinations, and the diligent work required to breed a new friend have kept me coming back. Over, and over, and over.
 
Pokémon has so many elements put together that just make it unique and special as a whole. The basic concept of going around catching these powerful ( and often brilliantly designed) creatures is brilliant. The ever-increasing variety to what your party can be is virtually unparalleled in video games.
There is also a sense of simple adventure to it. In most other RPGs, you are almost immediately thrusted into the task of saving the kingdom/world/galaxy/universe. In Pokémon, your goal is to simply explore, finding new Pokémon. True, you are often tasked with saving the world since Ruby and Sapphire, but that isn't the final goal. In the end, the final goal is to be the very best, like no one ever was. Unless you are playing Black and White.
Another element to Pokémon's lasting popularity is knowing what to change and what to keep the same. While it has been expanded on with items, abilities, etc, the core principles behind Pokémon battles (including 6 Pokémon per team and 4 moves per Pokémon) have been kept intact, allowing the games to be easy to pick up. Old dated mechanics, such as the Special stat and the lack of a Physical and Special split, on the other hand were dropped over time. Plus, great new mechanics, including an in-game clock, were fantastic additions.
The series is generally family friendly without hitting you over the head with it (though it can come close at times), allowing for fans of all ages.
One of the most important elements is the multiplayer (without which none of us would be talking with each other, would we?). In most RPGs, once you beat the game, there's no challenges left for your suped-up party. Not so in Pokémon.
In addition to multiplayer, it is amazing how simple, yet deep the combat system is. Simple in the fact that you can pick up a game and just play it, quickly understanding the basic principles. Yet, it's so deep that it allows for an amazing competitive world to exist.
Finally, one element I feel like no one has commented on, yet I do feel like it is important, is the fact that Pokémon is released on handheld gaming devices. That truly made let your travel with your Pokémon. From long road trips to the playground, you can play Pokémon. Very few among us haven't stayed up late into the evening, secretly playing our Game Boys and DSes. That's the magic of a handheld and it just creates a wonderfully intimate gaming environment. Plus, it made it easier to interact with fellow trainers.

Now, this is just me talking about the games and why they still stand. That's not even going into the rest of the franchise. I mean, the anime that I remember coming on when I was in kindergarten is still on, over 15 years later with over 800 episodes and 17 movies. Then there's the TCG which perfectly translated the mechanics and feel of the video games to a card game (no easy feat). I don't even have a clue how many cards there are now. There's Pokémon Adventures, which is still running strong after several volumes and is one of the most fantastic Pokémon adaptations out there. Then there are the spin-off games, like Pokémon Snap, Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon Puzzle League (the only Pokémon game my sister liked), the Stadium games. I could go on and on.

In the end, I think the most wonderful thing about Pokémon is how it brings people together (unless they start arguing about casual vs competitive which is the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life no matter what side you are on). I was 5 when Red and Blue came to the US. Pokémon was a large part of my childhood. Currently, I'm about to start my senior year of college. Yet, Pokémon remains and there are kids experiencing it and loving it.

Pokémon is just a very special franchise that continues to touch the lives of those who love it.
 
Last edited:
I've been a big gamer all my life, and I like good games.

<sees the Civilization 3 entry in his Steam> Go away, Civ 3!

Anyway, I like good games, and Pokemon has always delivered in that aspect. (Unlike Civ 3, which is a piece of utter garbage.) Another thing that I like about games is customizability, which I had a lot of fun with in City of Heroes (may that game rest in peace) and RIFT, but now I play Pokemon for my customizability fix, as it is infinitely more customizable than either of those two games.

Although Pokemon isn't the game that has had the most impact on my life (that would be EverQuest), I have some really fun memories (such as naming a Mawile after my worst enemy in Ruby) and I will continue to play the series until it dies out or until my own death.

<sees Civ 3 pop back up> Go play with the Garbodor, Civ 3!
 
Well now. I played a tiny bit of Red when I was visiting someone, but I only got into Pokemon with someone's Crystal version in Summer school. Some time after, I bought my own Crystal version and have been hooked ever since. Probably the biggest reason it's kept my interest for this long is I'm a bit easily addicted/obsessed in personality. If I fall for something, I fall hard so long as it can maintain my interest. Transformers and Pokemon games have managed to stick with me to this day, and it's likely I'll still like them up until I die.

As for why the franchise has stuck around for so long, people really like its cooperative nature. And the sheer variety in how to make your experience your own. Nuzlocke challenges are a good example, and can be further customized to make it a little easier such as allowing a fallen Pokemon 1 revive or harder such as only one heal at a PC per town and no non-ball items in battle. You can take your time and explore everything you can at the point you're at in the game, or you can blast through it to get straight to making that killer competitive team. Or you can try to catch 'em all then catch 'em all again but this time shiny. (at least, the ones that are currently legally possible to be shiny)

Another reason I feel for its success is the games' portability. Your typical RPG for a home console requires you to sit on your butt in front of the TV for a few hours to grind much less get anywhere. And is awful hard to share that experience with others. Pokemon is almost exclusively for Nintendo's handheld consoles, making it easy to just pick it up wherever you happen to be for however much or little time you've got to invest in it, and very easy to share the experience with others in natural social hotspots like the schoolyard or the mall.

And the monsters themselves tend to strike a nice balance of being cute and cool at the same time. This certainly doesn't hurt.
 
I've been a big gamer all my life, and I like good games.

<sees the Civilization 3 entry in his Steam> Go away, Civ 3!

Anyway, I like good games, and Pokemon has always delivered in that aspect. (Unlike Civ 3, which is a piece of utter garbage.) Another thing that I like about games is customizability, which I had a lot of fun with in City of Heroes (may that game rest in peace) and RIFT, but now I play Pokemon for my customizability fix, as it is infinitely more customizable than either of those two games.

Although Pokemon isn't the game that has had the most impact on my life (that would be EverQuest), I have some really fun memories (such as naming a Mawile after my worst enemy in Ruby) and I will continue to play the series until it dies out or until my own death.

<sees Civ 3 pop back up> Go play with the Garbodor, Civ 3!
Come on! Don't you just love spending hours upon hours telling each individual worker to build roads and mines? Then 2 turns later, repeating the same process over again? Oh, what? I was planning on conquering the world? I forgot about my usual emperor duties due to being too busy issuing commands to my workers to build more roads. That's OK, my tanks can just teleport across the entire continent via railroads


And the monsters themselves tend to strike a nice balance of being cute and cool at the same time. This certainly doesn't hurt.
Don't forget the ridiculously ugly. Like Seismitoad. I love that thing and I have no friggin clue why
 
Now this is my kind of thread, but I'm a bit late to the party since I've just returned from a two-week holiday in a WiFi-free villa...

Right, these are the things that make Pokemon a special/unique series:

1) It was to my knowledge the series that introduced what TV Tropes calls the "socialisation bonus" - the idea that interaction with other players playing the same game can help you on a single-player quest (specifically, trading species to complete the Pokedex, which was impossible to do on your own). This idea kind of lay dormant for a while but is now everywhere in gaming, having been picked up and heavily exploited by social games such as Farmville and now working its way into hardcore gaming in the form of online co-op in the likes of Assassin's Creed Unity. So Pokemon was kind of fifteen to twenty years ahead of the trend.

2) It sits at a perfect middle ground between the Japanese and Western styles of RPG and hence appeals to both crowds. You are a ten-year-old child setting out on a quest to save the world (Japanese), but the core form of engagement comes through the choices the player makes rather than the narrative the creators have written (Western). Battles are turn-based (Japanese), but combat itself is a significant focus rather than something you do to grind levels or progress through the game (Western). Even the game's lore is cosmopolitan, with various Pokemon modelled on animals both real and mythical from across the globe.

3) Pokemon is as deep as you want it to be. If you're a five-year-old kid you can play it for the cute mons and the fact that it is something that is appropriate for you in terms of both content and difficulty but doesn't insult your intelligence; if you're in your twenties, you can obsessively train for exactly the right EVs and then steamroll other players over WiFi with the team you poured hours of effort into; and there's everything in between. No other game that I can think of works on so many levels of depth.

I'm sure I'll think of others, that'll do for now though.
 

Cresselia~~

Junichi Masuda likes this!!
Back in the 90's I particularly liked how Pokemon brought boys and girls together.
Although there were only 151 at the time, it was still considered a heck lot of different designs back then.
There was certainly one or two Pokemon that would appeal to you.
Whether it's the cute, girly Jigglypuff/ Clefairy/ Togepy, or the tough Charizards, cool Gengar... you can just pick and choose.

You can choose your own battle style and have fun with each other. Unlike other anime/ cartoons, that didn't have much for you to discuss.
But for Pokemon, when you are waiting for the next episode, you can always play in a battle-like manner with your piers.

It was highly customize-able , something that was never heard of in those days.
Apparently, nowadays you almost cannot have a market without customization.
So, to have customization back then was all new and no wonder it became so successful.
 

Codraroll

Cod Mod
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributor
Moderator
I think another factor, however minor, is that Pokémon really has very few scripted characters.

Okay, there are the usual friends and rivals, and a bunch of generic baddies. But they appear only during the story, and ultimately, the game is about more than just the story. Most of the characters you interact with in your game are Pokémon. And those Pokémon aren't stuck to a script, their story is entirely for you to find out, instead of them behaving at the mercy of a script writer.

If you happen to catch a Pidgey, for instance, it's not like you catch "The Pidgey". You've caught a Pidgey, one of many, yet unique in the way you raise and train it. Your Pidgey is a member of a species, but you treat it as an individual - much like a pet - rather than a standard RPG character with set traits and abilities. What your Pidgey ends up like, is entirely up to you. You give it a nickname, you choose its moves, you decide what battles it should fight... when you catch it, all options are open, there is no scripted way your Pokémon will behave throughout the story. Your Pidgey can end up being a crucial saviour of the team on a trek during a forest full of Bug trainers and wild Pokémon that knocked out the rest of your team, winning battle after battle until you find the exit and get to a Pokémon Center. It can provide the turning point in a gym leader battle you were about to lose. Later-game, it can be the "mentor" of your batch of new hatchlings to be added to your team, taking over battles where they can't fight properly - or it can even be the joke of the team, failing to deliver in any important battle, but you keep it around since it's your only team member with Fly.

The best thing is... your friend might also get a Pidgey, with its own story, strengths and weaknesses. And you'd both be "right" in the way you've trained it. There is no one, definite way to play the game with a Pidgey. Heck, you can opt to skip Pidgey entirely if you so desire. The franchise doesn't tell you outright that "This is what Pidgey is like!", Pokédex info only lists typical traits, much like how biology books can tell you a lot about dogs, yet your pet dog stays unique to you. Your Pokémon might be "tools" you use to progress through the game, but the game allows you to choose every Pokémon's life story, and even impose a few personality traits on it. They are pets just as much as they are characters.
 

alexwolf

lurks in the shadows
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Honestly, i think the biggest reason why Pokemon makes a lot of adults such as myself that first played it when i was 7 is because it really won us back then. Many people here talk about how there are so many things to do in the Pokemon world, that Pokemon emphasized social interaction, how each Pokemon can be unique depending on how you train it, how there are so many Pokemon to catch, breed, and evolve, etc. However, i don't think that's the strong point of Pokemon and the reason even adults still devote time to this seemingly childish game. There are way better RPGs with more variety, better storyline, more room for imagination and customization, more ways to train and get better and thus more ways to be unique, better characters that make the game more interesting, etc.

The biggest advantage of Pokemon is that it won us back then, while still appealing to new kids by releasing new games constantly. I am not going to discuss about why Pokemon appeals to young kids because i think a lot of people have already explained it really well. Pokemon is just one of the best games of its kind for kids at the age of 6-10. However, when we started growing up and discovered that there are so much more things to do with Pokemon than just the simple in-game experience it was like discovering a whole new world from the beginning. And after discovering competitive battling, you have a lot of years before you get bored of it, at least imo.

So, the Pokemon franchise has managed over all those years to win us from little kids, and keep us interested as we grow up for multiple reasons, such as new game elements (EVs, IVs, Egg Moves, etc), internet communities, and official contests such as VGC, while constantly refreshing our gaming experience with new games every 1-2 years, which is also a very vital reason of its success. Pokemon gets from simple to complicated in the blink of an eye as we grow up, which is the most vital and basic difference with other RPGs. Most of the best RPGs are too complex to attract a very young audience, and this is where Pokemon succeeds.
 
There are way better RPGs with more variety, better storyline, more room for imagination and customization, more ways to train and get better and thus more ways to be unique, better characters that make the game more interesting, etc.
I'm not sure that's fair, really. While Pokemon and, say, Mass Effect are both categorised under "RPGs", they have so little in common that debating whether or not one is better than the other makes little sense. Think about it, is the reason you play those two series the same reason?

Also, I defy you to think of another RPG with more customisation options than Pokemon. By the time you've factored in movesets, EVs, etc, the number of possible teams of 6 Pokemon far outstrips the number of atoms in the universe. Even after the obviously stupid choices have been removed, it's still a huge number.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top