I know just what you were thinking as soon as you came upon this article. “Oh boy, yet another piece of commentary on how seemingly everyone has become obsessed with Pokémon Go. How extraordinarily original. I’m sure this one will have unique, valuable insights on how to become the best trainer around, or maybe the game’s impact on the mobile gaming industry, or even society in general. Not.”
Well good for you, skeptical Odyssey reader. This craze has been nearly beaten to death in news coverage and water cooler conversations because of its extreme popularity, and you deserve to not have the same crap funneled down your throat 24/7 if it doesn’t tickle your fancy. So if you aren’t already playing this game and have no interest in doing so, feel free to jump ship while we’re still at the dock. To those willing to tolerate my attempts to articulate my feelings about this recent phenomenon, all aboard!
Being only a level 7 trainer at the moment, I couldn’t provide you a comprehensive account of the various aspects of the game even if I wanted to. Therefore, I’ll stay away from providing an overview of the various aspects of how to play the game. What I can do, though, is tell you about my experience with Pokémon before the release of this monumental app, and the insights this has provided me on the minor flaws and enormous successes of Pokémon Go that have captured the interest and affection of millions.
Throughout my later childhood, I developed an attachment to Pokémon only rivaled by Harry Potter in its strength, and even then Harry Potter definitely didn’t hold quite as near and dear a place in my heart. Perhaps my first experience with the franchise was watching my friend play Pokémon Silver on his Game Boy Color on the school bus, but it wasn’t until I got Pokémon Emerald for Christmas when I was seven or eight when I really fell in love. I couldn’t quite tell you the one particular aspect of the game that so enthralled me way back in 2006, but whatever it was, I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Pretty soon, I was one of the most dedicated fans of the franchise that I knew. I played many more of the games, such as Pokémon Pearl and Black, two of the mystery dungeon games, and one of the Pokémon ranger games; collected and traded tons of trading cards; avidly watched the anime TV show; and bought several Pokémon books in order to become a wise Pokémon sage (and artist). It was my favorite conversation topic among my friends, and one of the most exciting things in the world was picking up new trading card packs with my sisters and seeing which ones we got.
Unfortunately, I credit my love of Pokémon with the ultimate destruction of my childhood innocence. My obsession reached such heights that every night, as I would say my prayers just like my parents taught me, I would always add a plea to God to make Pokémon real. I would tell Him how extraordinarily happy and thankful I would be, and how there wasn’t anything in the world I wanted more than to be a Pokémon trainer in real life, not just in my imagination. My visions of pure ecstasy in this possible reality never faded, but eventually I came to terms with the fact that this reality would never exist. I tried denying this truth for as long as I could, but once I gave in, it marked a pivotal point in my transformation away from the carefree bliss I knew in my youth.
One thing that didn’t change about me at that time, though, was my love for Pokémon. I remained loyal to the franchise until high school, when I became unenamored with the newer generations of Pokémon being released and occupied with many other pressing concerns. It wasn’t until July 7th, 2016 that I rediscovered my passion, thanks to America’s newest sensation.
As a former Pokémon fanatic, I can confirm that Pokémon Go embodies some of the greatest aspects of the original console games such as Emerald. Those games depended on the franchise’s lovable animal-like characters and the engaging strategy components of training and battling, and Pokémon Go takes advantage of the successes of its predecessors. More than anything, the app depends on the previous attachment of the fan base to the first generation of Pokémon, which were more popular by far than those of more recent generations. The ability to catch nearly all of the first 151 Pokémon is an opportunity that fans were exposed to in precious few games, so this is a positive divergence from promoting the comparatively unpopular Pokémon that constituted the sixth generation. Fans older than myself are most likely reminded of their days long ago when they could catch the same exact Pokémon while playing the Red and Blue versions of the games, and nostalgia may be the most effective marketing tool known to mankind.
The second primary component of the console games’ success is also incorporated in Pokémon Go via gym battles. It is unfortunate that two players cannot truly battle each other, as battles such as these were the most exciting aspect of the original games, but gym battles with Pokémon left behind by their trainers may be even more exhilarating because of the app’s abandonment of turn-based mechanics. This new combat style slightly resembles that of the Super Smash Bros. games in that it involves quickly launching different types of attacks while dodging your opponent, yet the incorporation of traditional moves and their varying effects on different types of Pokémon is enough to appease fans of the traditional battle style. Of course, I can’t claim to be an expert on the subject because I’ve only ever been in one gym battle, where I was utterly annihilated by a Vaporeon, but the frenetic pace of the battle was very intriguing and inspired me to work to become strong enough to emerge victorious one day.
Despite the app’s unbelievable success in the target demographic of the app’s producers, Niantic and The Pokémon Company, there are undoubtedly flaws that hopefully will be addressed in the near future. I have heard tell that these companies are trying to address the app’s ability to drain one’s phone battery extremely quickly, but the greatest problem that I would like them to fix is the app’s algorithm that generates Pokémon based on the human population density in the area. Unfortunately, the app’s tendency to spawn a greater amount of Pokémon where there are more people has had an adverse effect on me, being that I’m part of the 19.3 percent of Americans that don’ live in urban areas. Of course, this decision makes sense, since it is an effective way to let more people receive more Pokémon and also to discourage adventuring onto vast swaths of private property. Nevertheless, it kills me to know that I’m decidedly disadvantaged compared to those living in cities, unless I commit myself to spending enough money via gas for my car and helpful in-app purchases to make up for this gap. Too bad I detest spending money on video games unless it’s absolutely necessary.
This attitude may doom me to progress through the game much more slowly than others, but I’ll be proud of the work I put in when I capture a gym for Team Mystic and become a Gym Leader. That brings me to the most alluring aspect of Pokémon Go — it’s hard. If you want to become a really stellar trainer, you can’t just lounge around and wait for Pokémon to come to you. You have to go out and get them (tee-hee). Those that have committed themselves to roaming around, phones in hand, trying to find Pokémon may be laughed at by their older peers who don’t understand the mania behind the game, but their supreme effort will make their eventual success all the more rewarding.
Oh, and while I’m on the topic, I had an interesting experience where I heard morning sports show hosts on the radio talking about Pokémon Go and how pointless it is. Now, I’m a very big sports fan, and these hosts were much older than me, but it was amazing that they didn’t understand the subjectivity of activities such as sports or video games. There’s no intrinsic value in any form of entertainment that makes one form better than another. The commitment to victory and reward of reaching it is the greatest aspect of competitive activities such as these. Dismissing a fad as stupid because you don’t understand its appeal and view another pastime as superior is much more revealing of your ignorance than society’s.
After diving deeper and deeper into the world of Pokémon Go, I’ve found many of the same characteristics that I loved so much in older games such as Pokémon Emerald and Pokémon Pearl. These characteristics, combined with an advanced difficulty and increased accessibility due to its smartphone platform, have made Pokémon Go the massive success that it is. Eventually, the craze will die down, as it has for many other hugely popular apps. However, this game’s embrace of augmented reality and the possibility of updates by Nintendo involving later generations give rise to the possibility that despite protests from those who refuse to embrace it, we’ll be hearing much more about this game for a long time to come.
