Gracias por pasar, version en español
This is a personal topic for me. Back in the day, I grew to love Pokémon in unhealthy ways. I watched the anime, I was always up to date on all the news about the games that came out. In short, I was quite a fan of the series until I slowly grew up and forgot about my friends on my DS. Something happened during those years that left me cold. Many of the games I followed had a bad release.
When I grew up playing Pokémon, what mattered was the excitement of exploring, capturing strange creatures, completing the Pokédex, trading with friends, watching the side sprites move in battle, discovering secrets. It was simple, but almost magical.
Today, although Pokémon remains huge, I feel like something has been lost, that many fans are tired of certain patterns, disappointments, and unfulfilled promises. Pokémon Legends, the most recent release, is a good example of what's been building up. I no longer feel like it's the franchise I grew up with.
The graphical leap... without arriving
It's unacceptable that in 2025, a Pokémon game for Switch and Switch 2 still has to deal with technical issues that would have been outrageous a decade ago. Frame drops, sluggish textures, less polished animations... all of this undermines the excitement. The aesthetics, which were once enough with personality, are now overshadowed if they don't compete visually with other modern RPGs, even indie ones.
I've been outraged by the number of independent games that have a better understanding of "style" than Game Freak, one of the most profitable companies behind one of the biggest franchises in history. I simply don't get it.
There's also a certain "I knew this would happen" quality: seeing how they recycle graphics engines, how many environments feel empty, how the details seem to be there only for show. The hype is generated with pretty cinematics, logos, and music, but the "real" gameplay experience often doesn't satisfy.
The "Business Strategy"
I've always hated DLCs. They're dishonest with consumers and give the developer an excuse to break the game into several pieces and sell them separately. Of course, the base game still has the full price, let's not forget.
For example, with Pokemon A-Z, something similar happened, but this time with locked content, which basically had a paywall behind it.
Some mechanics or aesthetic aspects (or even megabytes) are only achieved after playing specific modes or after paying or participating in online content. It's not always the player's fault, but it does give the impression that the game is being designed with monetization in mind, rather than building something solid from the start. There are people saying they no longer buy Switch 2 because of Z-A because of those decisions.
I'm one of those who has fond memories of Pokémon Red, Blue, Gold, Silver, Ruby, Sapphire... those games had flaws too, but you felt passion, effort, that every corner of the map mattered, that there were real secrets, that you could explore and stumble upon surprises. Today, nostalgia plays a double role: you use it to love the series, but you also use it to compare and see how far the new ones have fallen short.
Each release comes loaded with expectations, viral hype, memes, leaks; when they're not met, the disappointment weighs even more. I don't mind Pokémon changing, evolving, innovating (and sometimes it succeeds), but the current situation feels like it's on autopilot...
"We release this new one, then another version, then expansions, then DLCs, then patches," and all with the hope that the player will tolerate the "misstep" because the brand is strong.
It's something dirty about Nintendo. They think they have the players in the palm of their hand and can relax and release products at half speed. I don't know if it's just a Game Freak and Pokemon thing because other, even lesser-known series have had their share of capital, and we've had good games.
Well, that's all there is to it. I wanted to get it out of my system. system, not because I'm upset with the franchise, but because it hurts me that I don't even want to watch the new Pokemon releases. They've killed my passion.
Español
Este si que es un tema personal para mi, en su tiempo llegue a amar pokemon de formas no muy sanas, me miraba los animes, estaba pendiente de todas las noticias de los juegos que salian, en fin, era bastante fanatico de la saga hasta que lentamente fui creciendo y me fui olvidando de mis amigos en mi DS, algo pasó por esos años que me dejó frio, muchos de los juegos a los que seguia tenian un lanzamiento malo
Cuando crecí jugando Pokémon, lo que importaba era la ilusión de explorar, capturar criaturas extrañas, completar la Pokédex, intercambiar con amigos, ver los sprites laterales moverse en combate, descubrir secretos. Era simple, pero casi mágico.
Hoy, aunque Pokémon sigue siendo gigante, siento que algo se ha perdido, que muchos fans estamos hastiados de ciertos patrones, decepciones y promesas que no se cumplen. Pokémon Legends de cobrar caro, el estreno más reciente, es un buen ejemplo de lo que viene acumulándose. Ya no siento que sea esa franquicia con la que creci
El salto grafico.. sin llegar
No puede ser que en 2025 un juego de Pokémon para Switch y Switch 2 aún tenga que arrastrar problemas técnicos que habrían sido escandalosos hace una década. Caídas de frames, texturas flojas, animaciones menos pulidas… todo eso remece la ilusión. La estética, que antes bastaba con personalidad, ahora se ve opacada si no compite visualmente frente a otros RPGs modernos, incluso independientes.
He quedado indignado con la cantidad de juegos que son independientes y tienen un mejor concepto del "estilo" que Game Freak, una de las compañias mas rentables detras de una de las franquicias mas grandes de toda la historia, sencillamente no lo entiendo
Además hay algo de “ya sabía que esto pasaría”: verlo cómo reciclan motores gráficos, cómo se sienten muchos entornos vacíos, cómo los detalles parecen estar ahí solo de adorno. El hype se genera con cinemáticas bonitas, logos y música, pero la experiencia de juego “real” muchas veces no satisface.
La "estrategia comercial"
Siempre he aborrecido los DLCs, son deshonestos con el consumidor y le dan una excusa a la desarrolladora para partir el videojuego en varios pedazos y vendertelo por separado, eso si, el juego base sigue teniendo el precio completo, no nos olvidemos
Por ejemplo con Pokemon A-Z pasó algo similar pero esta vez con el contenido bloqueado que tenia basicamente un paywall detras
algunas mecánicas o aspectos estéticos (o incluso megas) que sólo se consiguen tras jugar modos específicos o tras pagar o participar en contenido online; no siempre es culpa del jugador, pero sí da la impresión de que se está diseñando pensando en monetizar aparte, más que en construir algo sólido desde el inicio. Hay gente diciendo que ya no compra Switch 2 por Z-A debido a esas decisiones
Yo soy de los que guarda buenos recuerdos de Pokémon Rojo, Azul, Oro, Plata, rubí, zafiro… esos juegos tenían defectos también, pero se sentía pasión, esfuerzo, que cada rincón del mapa importaba, que había secretos reales, que podías explorar y tropezarte con sorpresas. Hoy en día la nostalgia juega un doble papel: uno la usa para amar la saga, pero también la usa para comparar y ver cuánto se ha quedado corto lo nuevo.
Cada lanzamiento llega cargado de expectativas, hype viral, memes, filtraciones; cuando no se cumplen, la decepción pesa más. No me molesta que Pokémon cambie, evolucione, que innove (y a veces lo logra), pero lo de ahora da la sensación de ir con piloto automático...
“sacamos este nuevo, luego otra versión, luego expansiones, luego DLCs, luego parches” y todo con la esperanza de que el jugador tolere el “paso en falso” porque la marca es fuerte
Es algo sucio que tiene Nintendo, cree que tiene a los jugadores en la palma de la mano y puede relajarse y sacar productos a media maquina, no se si sea algo solo de Game Freak y Pokemon porque otras sagas incluso menos conocidas han tenido su dosis de capital y hemos tenido buenos juegos
Bueno eso ha sido todo, queria sacarlo de mi sistema, no porque esté molesto con la franquicia sino porque me duele que no quiera ni ver las nuevas entregas de Pokemon, me han matado la pasion
The first 3 generations of games are the best and what I grew up with. I also loved it so much, watching the show on TV before school as a kid, having the book showing all 150 original Pokemon we knew about at first including their moved and more, then collecting base set Pokemon cards and waiting for Pokemon Blue and red to be released/mum and dad to buy it for us kids.
Now it is just the same stuff and nothing really exciting, only nice to see what you can get now and if you make a good party!
las megas evoluciones de los iniciales de kalos son bastante curiosas