this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2024
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Pokemon was never meant to be edgelord shit. It was always about having fun learning about creatures. It can be enjoyed by all ages without forgetting that it's also for kids.
Until Diamond and Pearl made everything kind of stupid the games were very much about environmentalism and had a lot of hints about animal liberation, too (somewhat ironically -- I try to keep in mind it is still a video game, after all). The arcs of Mewtwo, Rocket, and Cinnabar are genuinely compelling existential narratives that are only ever hinted at and briefly expanded in the first movie. You do not see stuff like this at all with this franchise, anymore.
For Ruby and Sapphire specifically, this is one of my absolute favorite videos analyzing the historical context around the games' development and what they try to say with their themes. 100% worth a watch if you enjoy the old Pokemon games like me.
https://youtu.be/Ze8uhmeFt7A
Sonic the Hedgehog used to have an environmental component too.
Good vid. I played ruby as a kid and yeah those themes went way over my head
I played Black on an emulator for the first time recently and holy shit it must have been made by the Japanese State Department or something lmao a tour de force of propaganda
It has been a long time since I played it, and I don't think I finished it. What was propaganda to you? I don't think I ever got that impression, but I may just not remember it.
The bad guys want to liberate Pokémon from being captive battle slaves, and you and the coalition of good guys are trying to stop it. And of course they make the bad guys out to be doing it because they actually just want power and to steal everyone’s Pokémon for themselves lol. Some of the lines in there are golden, things like “We’re going to liberate all Pokémon! And I’m gonna start by stealing yours because I want to!!”
Ohh, yeah I do remember that now. Team plasma was it? Really fucking sucked I agree. ever since galactic I feel this way about enemy Pokémon groups…they’re either not grounded at all in any sort of relatable way (galactic, plasma, flare), they're just a worse rocket (aether), or they’re not even a syndicate at all and just hooligans (skull, yell, star). At least that last group can be interesting, but they’re so mired in the ungrounded nonsense now that I just don’t care.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: