Here's to hoping my laptop doesn't die mid-post. If the post abruptly ends for whatever reason, you know why.
So, uh, Pokémon... it's a franchise that exists. What can I say about it? It's sold like hotcakes over 25 years all across the world, there's almost 1,000 different Pokémon in existence, and... I feel like I'm forgetting something.
Oh, yeah. Game Freak's slowly turning into a bunch of anti-consumerist degenerates that even E.A. would laugh at.
My interest in Pokémon has dropped off a cliff the size of the Grand Canyon in the United States over the past two or three years, the main series games being the primary reason why. In their defense, Game Freak isn't all bad, and most of the issues I have with recent games are actually to blame the Nintendo Switch for, not the developers. I'd actually say I have more good things to say about Game Freak than bad things, even. That being said, it's been getting harder and harder for me to enjoy the new main series installments, as has been the case for many people. The good news about this, though, is that I've had the chance to go back more frequently than ever before in an effort to "return to my roots", if you will, and hopefully revive my interest in the franchise as a whole.
I started gaining interest in Pokémon in late 2010 going into 2011, at some point during the third grade when my friends introduced me to the games and trading cards. Most of them have all been a blast to play, with some specific picks like B2W2 and ORAS being among my favorite in the entire franchise. But if you guys really get to know me, you'll quickly find that there's one Pokémon product that I treasure above all else, one that I quite frankly shouldn't love as much as I do.
This game.
Oh my gosh, this game. Quite possibly the most specific "favorite video game" pick I've ever seen, I cannot put into words the impact that this game has had on my life. There's a reason the game's antagonist is my profile icon. There's a reason I always compare other games to the influence that this game had on my introduction to Pokémon. Let me cut to the chase: I loved Guardian Signs so much as a kid that I ended up playing the entire trilogy in
backwards order so I could experience the games that led up to it. The entire trilogy is incredibly under-appreciated, but there's just something about the third installment that speaks to me on a personal level. Some people call, say, Diamond & Pearl "their" Pokémon game, if that makes sense, or maybe Ruby & Sapphire, or X & Y, or Mystery Dungeon 2, whatever game it may be. For me... Guardian Signs is my game, and the Oblivia region is my home away from home.
Things don't stop there, however. As the years went by and more and more Pokémon stuff kept coming out, I would always go back to my one true comfort game, but I started noticing things about the game that hit a little
too close to home at first. I knew all along that me and the male protagonist shared a first name, which was always a funny coincidence, but then other things started popping up that constantly reminded me of other parts of my childhood. From the recurring island theme in some of my favorite games like Wii Sports Resort, to the other protagonist being named after the season I was born in, to the appearance of every single one of the Pokémon I had fond memories of growing up, even all the way to more specific things like snowy mountain areas being a pain in the rear, or my rising liking of the color blue... it looked more and more as if there was someone or something out there in the cosmos that knew I existed and was like "You know what, this is
his game."
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs had the honor of celebrating its 10th anniversary in North America (I live in the U.S.) during the exact period when my interest in the rest of Pokémon's I.P. began to drop and my need for comfort only kept rising. This chart I made at one point last week explains it all. The projections and different interest lines speak for themselves.
(Insert file here later when I get the chance, it's not on my laptop for some reason)
I apologize for this post being so long, but I truly appreciate having the chance to drop by and talk about the game that's almost single-handedly kept my interest in the world's highest-grossing media franchise alive for this long. It's gotten to the point where I'm genuinely convinced this dude might not be based off of me (after all, how could a game developer who doesn't know me pull something that off?), per sé, but... I don't know. I just... this feeling I have about this game isn't like anything I've ever felt before. I've been looking for my place in the Pokémon community for so long now, but is it perhaps possible that the answer's been right in front of me all along, as a super-fan of this game? What do you guys think?
(who am i to say all this nobody knows me. well i want to put it somewhere and it might as well be here)
