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Has anyone else also grown bored of the Pokemon games?

Blockhead Pippi

North America's only Pippi fan
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I used to be really into Pokemon when I was a lot younger. I would get excited for each new installment, be it a main series game or a favorite spin-off like the Mystery Dungeon series. And even if I didn't get the newest thing, I was still heavily invested in them. But after 20 or so years of playing Pokemon and engaging with the fandom community, I'm...honestly really bored of it now.

I also wanted to share my personal thoughts on why I've come to feel this way. But it's really kind of long so I'll be putting it into a spoiler.

I know that for some people, it was Sword/Shield that "ruined" Pokemon for them. I too am also displeased with Sw/Sh. But for me personally, I feel like that decline really started years ago with the 3DS period or maybe even earlier than that. When I was younger and more impressionable, I eagerly welcomed each new installment of Pokemon we were given purely because it was Pokemon. I wasn't very critical of media then, and since I couldn't really afford very many games at the time, Pokemon was always a reliably fun and quality game with lots of hours to play. But as I got older and began more closely observing the evolution of the Pokemon games -- or rather lack thereof -- I began to grow a bit more critical and concerned about their direction. Now I still enjoyed Pokemon then and had fun playing them, but there were things I felt disappointed with.

I think for me that change really started with the 3DS period. I actually did happen to like X/Y and Gen 6 even though they seem contested within the fandom. The Megas were a great addition that really helped shake up the series and breathe into life into it and the competitive scene in a way that the older games hadn't. And as a 3D generation it was a whole new frontier for the main series games. But that didn't mean the 3DS period was perfect and it became a lot more apparent with the next few entries. Gen 6 had a lot of loose ends and untapped potential. XY's post-end game was woefully abysmal compared to what we got in DPP and BW/2. And while ORAS fared a little bit better with the Delta Episode, it was still largely disappointing with the complete lack of the Battle Frontier. I found Masuda's comment that the Battle Frontier "wouldn't have been appreciated" to be a terrible excuse not to have included some substantial battle facility. I don't see how it would've been less appreciated than a blatant rehash of the Battle Maison.

I had hoped then that maybe these let-downs would be addressed in a "Pokemon Z" or even an X/Y 2 as direct sequels. And with the anime series featuring Zygarde, I honestly thought that was going to be the case. Maybe at one point it was on the table. But as the 20th anniversary came around, TPCi and Game Freak instead chose to rush out the 7th generation with Sun/Moon. And in doing so completely abandon Gen 6 and all of its loose ends and wasted potential.

Sun/Moon were the games that broke me. At first I was cautiously excited for them, because while I wasn't super fond of the abandoning of Gen 6 nor the Trials or Z-Moves, I was still willing to give them a try and bought Sun at launch. I had almost no fun playing Sun whatsoever. I have written literal essays on how much of a disappointment Sun/Moon was to me. But it really boiled down to the tedious tutorials, the forced railroading of the game's progression, and the sheer linearity brought by the constant slew of unskippable cutscenes that exist only to tell you what to do and where to go exasperated by the small islands. I felt like such a child playing Sun when I have played these games for well over 20 years now. I know that I, as a 27 year old, am not the target demographic for these games and that Sun/Moon were clearly developed for children new to the games. But never before had the Pokemon games been this insistent about guiding you literally every step of the way. And it were these forced elements that impeded my enjoyment of Sun and what made me hate playing it.

It was after Sun that I really started to become more critical of the games' quality and consciously realize the gradual dip in previous games. I personally think that the games no longer take risks anymore and stay relatively the same as "safe" sales. And that whatever new feature introduced is there only to "Wow" potential buyers, especially kids, and not really innovate the actual gameplay. Because when a feature is introduced only to be later dropped by the next generation or even game, then that's not innovation at all. Before Gen 6 I saw people who really wanted BW/2's seasons to come back and thought they would be here to stay. But they, along with a handful of other popular features, were either dropped or diminished. Most people assumed that the Megas would be a permanent fixture to the series because A) they were Pokemon, and B) they had been such a major addition to the games' meta. I actually thought differently and knew deep-down, based on how Game Freak handled previous features, that they would not be around forever. And that was what happened beginning with Sun/Moon where the Megas were essentially replaced by the Z-Moves and regulated to the post-end game. And then in Sw/Sh they were dropped completely along with Z-Moves. Know this: Dynamax and Gigantamax won't be here to stay either.

So when Sw/Sh were announced, I was hesitant. Sun/Moon had really burned me in such a way that I didn't really feel excited about the reveal of Sw/Sh. I didn't closely follow them aside from what was posted on Nintendo news sites. I was still willing to give them a chance though. But unlike every other previous game where I had dove into them head first, I would be evaluating Sw/Sh and read player reviews to determine if they'd be something I'd actually enjoy. Then when they announced that many Pokemon would be cut and how poorly the PR for that was handled, I decided then that I would be skipping these.

The loss of the National Dex isn't something that bothers me too much. And if I'm to be honest, I kind of predicted something like this would eventually happen. It was either that or they stop introducing new Pokemon altogether, because at some point you really gotta ask: how much is too much? But what DOES bother me is that these games haven't given much to make up for this loss. The series have frankly gotten stagnant the past 20+ years with nothing new substantial added than a handful of beloved features that were always guaranteed to get cut anyway. At $80 dollars Canadian for the exact same experience with less, I'm not buying. I already have enough Pokemon games with more to satisfy me.

It's not just the main series games either. I don't even feel interested let alone excited in the spin-off games. My friends were all excited about New Pokemon Snap but my reaction to it was just a "Oh okay, that's cool." The game that interested me most was Mystery Dungeon DX, and even then it's a remake of a game I already have. And the anime and numerous manga I'm not interested in anymore either.

Now to be blunt there's also the fandom and how, frankly, toxic it has gotten toward the companies involved and even fans. Yes I do not like Sw/Sh and I hated Sun/Moon, and I would ideally like TPCi and Game Freak to make internal changes, but I don't hate them for the games nor would I belittle fans who did enjoy them. I can be reasonably critical of the games and companies without resorting to pettiness. But some of the sheer venom I've seen being spat, although from a vocal minority, had also added a lot to my burnout with this series. I'm happy that people are only now just becoming critical of the quality that TPCi has given us for years now, but I wish it hadn't degraded to such ugliness.

Between the games growing stagnant with little lasting substance, TPCi's poor PR, and the hate-mongering in this community, I am tired now. I don't feel any excitement for anything Pokemon anymore. Nowadays I am much more drawn to RPGs like Yo-Kai Watch or indies like Monster Crown, games that also let you collect monsters but do things very differently. I like that Pokemon popularized the monster collecting RPG genre (it didn't found it, that recognition goes to Shin Megami Tensei), but I feel at this point I've outgrown it now.

Does anyone else also feel the same way? Cause it feels like I'm the only one in this.
 
This has been talked about over and over, but a lot of the franchise's current problems would be fixed if they lessened the new gen turnover schedule for main series games. Game Freak also needs to experiment with less linearity in story and world exploration and find ways to make handholding for the 5-year-olds playing for the first time seem less obvious. I think more involvement from companies with past Pokemon experience like Creatures Inc. would help this. I do think the unfixable toxic fandom online it making the whole thing worse than it really is, though. There have been long-running franchises with worse slumps than Pokemon's.
 
I think inevitably, every fandom is going to have some toxicity, especially the large ones like Pokemon; it's just a matter of distancing yourself from it and finding a place for yourself to make friends. A fandom as large as this is basically one large community with several smaller communities mixed in.

There's a number of issues with Pokemon, a lot of which have already been mentioned here, including the handholding in the games and the more or less repetitive plot lines (kid gets starter, kid explores world and gets badges, kid becomes champion, post game story here, gg finish the dex). I think Alola came the closest to somewhat switching it up, but overall, the concept is more or less the same. I think Unova was a step in the right direction with a "darker" (compared to other games) storyline and the difficulties (albeit unlocked after an initial play through).

Overall, I enjoy parts of the franchise. I enjoy the communities I've found over the years and the friends I've made. I enjoy the fan content people create. There are parts of the games I even still enjoy. I think for me, it's become less about the games over the years and more about the communities I've joined and finding new ways to enjoy the content Game Freak and TPCi has put out for us. I still play the games, but they get dull after a while and I don't have the same drive to finish them before picking up a different game that catches my interest.

I just wish they'd do more for their older fans. I'm not saying to not pander to the younger generation, but Pokemon has been around for years, and I don't think it'd be terribly wrong for them to do something for the people that have been with them from the beginning.
 
Quite the opposite, I'm about as into pokemon games as I was as a child. I 'grew bored' of the games right after ruby and sapphire came out and didn't get back into the series until Soul Silver, but since then I've been getting every main game day 1. Well besides let's go. Bleh lets go. Though I would get lets go johto since it'd likely have Johto and Kanto in it.
 
Eh. I don't play them as long as I used to, but that just came with having high-speed internet. Back when we had dial-up I needed something to do, so I played video games more. I don't play spin-offs anymore, and haven't since Pokemon Stadium 2.

I still get at least some enjoyment out of each new mainline Pokemon title. Certainly I am hyper aware of the flaws in the games and such, but like not even having Pokemon removed ruined my overall enjoyment of Shield too much. It certainly did some, but not anywhere near enough to regret my purchase.
 
I think inevitably, every fandom is going to have some toxicity, especially the large ones like Pokemon; it's just a matter of distancing yourself from it and finding a place for yourself to make friends. A fandom as large as this is basically one large community with several smaller communities mixed in.

I think for me, it's become less about the games over the years and more about the communities I've joined and finding new ways to enjoy the content Game Freak and TPCi has put out for us. I still play the games, but they get dull after a while and I don't have the same drive to finish them before picking up a different game that catches my interest.

Yeah, that's also how it is for me. I prefer sticking to smaller communities made up with friends as opposed to an overarching fandom. And I was previously in smaller close-knit Pokemon communities when I used to be much more into the franchise. But nowadays, even the smaller communities don't even interest me anymore. I'm just...so flat out disinterested in Pokemon now.
 
I've also been quite bored of the series lately - I haven't picked up anything 'Pokemon' in 6 months - though I still do browse Smogon Forums and spectate Showdown battles every so often.

The way things are going, the franchise is just too heavily conjusted, with so many spinoffs and main series games that of course it'll turn stale with too much exposure all the time. I may come back to playing a pokemon game once my head clears up from it all - That New Pokemon Snap title looks quite tempting. But otherwise, I liked taking a step back to find other games to enjoy. It's not Pokemon or Bust - other franchises exist, too!
 
Yes, and I think the issues with Pokemon boil down to one thing: they don't want to put effort into the games. They don't want to spend more than a few years or expand their development resources to create an ambitious and polished experience, they just want to push out wave after wave of mediocre, low end experiences, so instead of giving us full scale retail games they just give us cheap F2P mobile games and empty main series games that are nowhere near what the system they're releasing on is capable of. I've been waiting years for Pokemon to make the jump to console specifically because I wanted to see a Mario 64/Ocarina of Time type of Pokemon experience, now a BotW/Mario Odyssey type of Pokemon experience, that would push Pokemon far beyond its limits. And I was hoping with Pokemon being folded into the same hardware as AAA masterpieces like those Pokemon would be forced to up its game to compete, but instead they're doubling down and cutting corners left and right. Even worse is that people are actually rewarding TPC for doing the opposite of what they're supposed to be doing by continuing to support this garbage. To be fair, I've seen some encouraging steps forward in them trying to experiment with open world game design and replacing third versions with DLC. But it's all too little too late, it's just a few baby steps forward and several steps back when a giant leap forward was needed. I'm not entirely to the point where I'm ready to leave, but I am very wary of what they're doing and if they continue this trajectory I'm not going to continue supporting them.
 
I mean this with no disrespect to anyone but if you aren’t enjoying the franchise any more it’s best to move on.

As the original post mentioned there are other monster catching games to play instead and there are still older games to enjoy assuming you aren’t too burned out on the whole franchise now.

I’ve had issues in other hobbies where I’d stopped enjoying it so much and often it was because I’d thrown myself in too deep and had they started to feel like a chore instead of a hobby. If you step away from it you can often get a better perspective and might find that you can enjoy it more for being less involved. Also after a bit of breathing space sometimes you can see the positives that were being obscured by the negatives and come back in a way that lets you enjoy things more.

My personal experience is that the longer you take to make the decision to get some space the more likely you are to burn out on something completely and never want to return to it.
 
sometimes feel tired seeing that they fear to implement new challenging abilities or waste potential to do more into a new generation.
Monotype starters... weak movesets or reeated concepts but every generation has up and down sides.
Im a fan and other new monster games arent that much fun when the sports concept of rivaling against each other in a league is missing...
 
Admittedly, doing Nuzlockes greatly re-sparked interest for me game-wise in the past couple years. You really see and appreciate the game and region in a different lens, and the bonds you have with your party members are even closer than if you played a casual play-through (in my opinion). Being forced to play with Pokemon you wouldn't ordinarily consider is also a wholesome experience. I strongly suggest to try a Nuzlocke to anyone who may be bored or in a motivational rut regarding playing.
 
The last 5-6 years have been wild for the franchise. Not only because of the "content" problem, but also because they just keep throwing experiment after experiment at us not only in the games but also in the anime and even in the TCG, and it's okay to feel overwhelmed about that.

However, your enjoyment of Pokemon should never only depend on "what's next". I echo @Shib 's advices, you should try old games, old anime episodes or even fanfiction and Fakemon to discover new sides of Pokémon that you wouldn't have given a second thought. If that's not enough, well, then it may be time to move on onto different franchises or activities where you don't have to worry about difficulty, handholding and all that.
 
Yeah, that's also how it is for me. I prefer sticking to smaller communities made up with friends as opposed to an overarching fandom. And I was previously in smaller close-knit Pokemon communities when I used to be much more into the franchise. But nowadays, even the smaller communities don't even interest me anymore. I'm just...so flat out disinterested in Pokemon now.

I've honestly always preferred smaller communities over larger ones; I've found it's easier to make your mark and find friends. I've realized recently though, especially now that I've been a part of the Elaria community on Discord, it's become less about the game itself and more about the community of friends I've found there; I think it's always been like that for me, but I've just now realized it. I think it's become more of Pokemon's a common interest among all of us in some way, whether we liked it in the past or like it now, but we're also able to bond over other things, like other video games, books, movies, TV shows, whatever. There's the common uniting factor, but it's never just about Pokemon anymore. Overall, I still enjoy the series, but I've found different ways to enjoy it and different communities to enjoy it with. There's other things I enjoy more (Pokemon's certainly not at the top of my list of favorite series right now), but I think Pokemon's one of those things that's so much a part of me that it'll always be with me in one way or another.
 
I'm not only bored but I also no longer keep a close eye on anyhting Pkmn related. I no longer care if Unite is good or bad, what will come out from SwSh's DLC; what comes for 2021. I'm just...full of it, and there are two main reasons: the Pkmn franchise and videogames in general.

Starting with the last which is the one that has had less impact, I simply hate the status of the gaming industry, from the 60+ cost of games, worlds filled only with useless collectibles and tedious missions that offer no gameplay improvement, the ongoing hailing of graphics over gameplay, the recent reveals on crunch practises. I've had enough and I'm just finishing right now MGS V TPP on my PS3 so that I can stop playing anything for a long time.

As for the Pkmn franchise...I simply don't want to keep being a Pkmn trainer. I've finally caught them all in AS and after that my excitement for that same old copy-pasted formula just faded away faster than before. GF's statements and handling of everything related to SwSh were the nails in the coffin. The fact that the main games have been somewhat accessories to everything else Pkmn-related just makes me sad and that it doesn't get postponed for improvement because of everyhting else (anime, toys, etc.) is just ridiculous. I could delve deeper into this but...I don't care and this post is just a sigh of tiredness.
 
All the time especially in the past couple of years I played Sun and Ultra Moon last year and then got bored right after finishing the main parts of those games. I don't even feel like getting the newer games because they look like more of the same. :(
 
Agreed with many sentiments in this thread but I am still very much engaged with the franchise as a whole. Still watch the anime, still spend hours on the main series games with shiny hunting, collecting, etc. And I even play some spin offs like Mystery Dungeon DX. I will admit I have noticed a big uptick in spin offs that I just am not at all interested in.
 
I personally have not - I still love the games as much as I always have. I definitely agree with some of the criticisms brought up in this thread, but I still have a lot of fun playing them regardless.

My tiredness comes from the journey made and seeing where we stand at the moment. I still have fun playing the games...but only the older ones.
Despite having Diamond and Platinum from back when they were released I bought Pearl a couple of years ago just so that I could do other walkthroughs reimagining that my main character isn't just a trainer and/or is a type specialist so that I could also play and enjoy Pkmn that I tend to not use at first due to my like of Grass and Poison and also because I like the game's story, the lore back at that time and 2D art.
I have more than 999,99 hrs in HG exactly because I love that game sooo much due to the improvements made, how they treated GSC into the remakes and most important of all, Pkmn following you. But then we have the new games where there's no certain on what's going to be kept from previous games, expectations building hope only to have more of the same skeleton and no interesting meat.
Just yesterday I found that the new DLC has Pkmn following you with the option to turn it on/off and I just laughed at it because I've been a proponent of exactly that almost since the time they removed it (Gen. V) and it's a wonder that GF didn't think that having options is better than having none at all only until they decided to try it out in Let's Go, then cut it with SwSh and now including in a small area of the game. This isn't building upon what we have, this is making stuff as we go, which I don't think it's a good strategy, namely when it comes to thinking ahead and develop something that has been ladting for so long and so is expected to continue. From the person in charge of Pkmn I see more of Konami that of Nintendo...I may be wearing more than one pair of rose-tinted lens with frames of nostalgia but I sure miss Satoru Iwata and I'd wish he could be responsible for the Pkmn franchise, namely the main games.
 
Sword and Shield kinda reignited it for me.

XY was fine. They didn't have much merit for replay value, but I loved Megas and customization was neat. Yes, there was no story, but other than Gen 5, no other games kinda had a proper story that was "Something happens related to the LEgendary, evil team does something, battle Legendary. Credits roll."

SM hurt me on a spiritual level. Easiest games to date, bad customization for the male character and terrible games all together.

Meanwhile, I really enjoy SwSh. I don't like raids, since they're an absolute drag, but the designs and emphasis on the battle culture is amazing and something I wanted to see for a long time.
 
After Gen 3 the rot was really starting to set in for me, even though I played Diamond/Black 1&2 I didn't really enjoy them at all but I was a stupid kid who wasted my money buying them all anyways. By Gen 7 I was seriously considering abandoning the franchise until I saw the first trailer for S&M and my interest was sparked again.

Come me actually playing both Sun and Sword and my passion for the franchise has been reignited completely, enjoyed them immensely and can't wait for more!
 
Please note: The thread is from 4 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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