Hellomello
Hello marshmallow
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2016
- Messages
- 31
- Reaction score
- 36
- Thread starter
- #41
@Esserise - thank you for clarifying!
I think the reason why "mythology" as a theme is not all that prominent throughout Sinnoh is because it's not it's theme in the first place (despite being very rich in it). IMO, the recurring theme of Sinnoh is more-so along the lines of "larger-than-life", y'know, things that are far beyond the reach of the ego. This is incorporated through Mt. Coronet; where it's said to be the place where it "all" originated from, Arceus (the original one), Dialga, Palkia and Giratina; which all represent elements that are far beyond our control due to the all-encompassing nature of them, as well as Team Galactic's goal. Meanwhile, the lake trio -the other most significant legendaries of the region- represents the self-contained aspects of life/sentience/the ego itself (willpower, knowledge and emotion), which was meant to act as a contrast towards -and hence emphasizing- the larger-than-life theme of the creation trio. It's a really hard -if not impossible- theme to showcase through aesthetic/hands-on activity alone, so I can see why they decided to incorporate it all into the storyline and lore instead rather than into the landscape/features of the region, hence leaving it with just "grass and rocks". (Even though imo Sinnoh still made the best use of those limitations and nailed the atmosphere it was going for most of the time; Eterna forest, the snowy areas, Jubilife, Hearthome, Lost tower, Celestic being some of my favorite most atmospheric places.)
I also wouldn't call Sinnoh's plot an exaggerated/up-scaled version of RSE's, as to me they're incomparable, and it also comes off as devaluing it a little. TA/TM could either be seen as eco-terrorists or wide-eyed idealists who want to change the environment for the greater good of certain Pokemon species (like you said). In Emerald especially, their intertwined goals were symbolic of the balance of the eco-system (again, like you said is the theme of Hoenn). On the other hand, in Platinum, Cyrus using the lake trio (with them representing aspects of humanity) to take control of Dialga and Palkia (with them representing larger-than-life concepts like time and space) is -or can be seen as- a metaphor for people who view the entire world through their own egos; rationalizing and conceptualizing everything around them through it, as if everything moved, or should move, in accordance to their own minds rather than to its' own accord -- much like Cyrus himself with his goal to reshape the whole universe in accordance to how he deemed it should be. Despite rejecting every aspect that had to do with sentience, he was -ironically- at the same time relying on them (emotion, willpower, knowledge) to write any trace of sentience and emotionality out of the picture.
I'm sorry for spamming this wall of text in your face, and I'm not trying to invalidate your opinions here (as I had been the one to ask for your elaborations on them and you were just answering that). It's just that as a huge fan of DPP's plot, I feel the need to defend it a little and point out things like that seeing how other aspects of the plot always gets overlooked in favor of the whole "Cyrus wants to play god" thing, with nobody ever really wanting to look deeper into it like they do for other gens.
EDIT: corrected some mind-boggling grammar.
I think the reason why "mythology" as a theme is not all that prominent throughout Sinnoh is because it's not it's theme in the first place (despite being very rich in it). IMO, the recurring theme of Sinnoh is more-so along the lines of "larger-than-life", y'know, things that are far beyond the reach of the ego. This is incorporated through Mt. Coronet; where it's said to be the place where it "all" originated from, Arceus (the original one), Dialga, Palkia and Giratina; which all represent elements that are far beyond our control due to the all-encompassing nature of them, as well as Team Galactic's goal. Meanwhile, the lake trio -the other most significant legendaries of the region- represents the self-contained aspects of life/sentience/the ego itself (willpower, knowledge and emotion), which was meant to act as a contrast towards -and hence emphasizing- the larger-than-life theme of the creation trio. It's a really hard -if not impossible- theme to showcase through aesthetic/hands-on activity alone, so I can see why they decided to incorporate it all into the storyline and lore instead rather than into the landscape/features of the region, hence leaving it with just "grass and rocks". (Even though imo Sinnoh still made the best use of those limitations and nailed the atmosphere it was going for most of the time; Eterna forest, the snowy areas, Jubilife, Hearthome, Lost tower, Celestic being some of my favorite most atmospheric places.)
I also wouldn't call Sinnoh's plot an exaggerated/up-scaled version of RSE's, as to me they're incomparable, and it also comes off as devaluing it a little. TA/TM could either be seen as eco-terrorists or wide-eyed idealists who want to change the environment for the greater good of certain Pokemon species (like you said). In Emerald especially, their intertwined goals were symbolic of the balance of the eco-system (again, like you said is the theme of Hoenn). On the other hand, in Platinum, Cyrus using the lake trio (with them representing aspects of humanity) to take control of Dialga and Palkia (with them representing larger-than-life concepts like time and space) is -or can be seen as- a metaphor for people who view the entire world through their own egos; rationalizing and conceptualizing everything around them through it, as if everything moved, or should move, in accordance to their own minds rather than to its' own accord -- much like Cyrus himself with his goal to reshape the whole universe in accordance to how he deemed it should be. Despite rejecting every aspect that had to do with sentience, he was -ironically- at the same time relying on them (emotion, willpower, knowledge) to write any trace of sentience and emotionality out of the picture.
I'm sorry for spamming this wall of text in your face, and I'm not trying to invalidate your opinions here (as I had been the one to ask for your elaborations on them and you were just answering that). It's just that as a huge fan of DPP's plot, I feel the need to defend it a little and point out things like that seeing how other aspects of the plot always gets overlooked in favor of the whole "Cyrus wants to play god" thing, with nobody ever really wanting to look deeper into it like they do for other gens.
I am yelling "yass!" to this however, if what you're implying is that they should focus on Cyrus more. I remember way back when I was 9 and playing Diamond for the first time, how that line from Cyrus about emotions causing strife caught my attention back then, and how disappointed I ended up feeling when I found out catching/defeating Dialga was pretty much the end of the plot, as well as Cyrus' character (though Platinum is much better in that regard considering he ends up in the Distortion world, of which the principals behind its' workings pretty much matches his ideals, so that can either be viewed as him achieving his goal in another way or as poetic justice). Nevertheless, the game not focusing more on Cyrus's ideals is one of my major pet peeves when it comes to the handling of DPPt's story, so here's hoping that gets rectified if future remakes were to come!fails to make use of the handful of actually interesting story avenues available to it, like how Cyrus is cold and logical and stoic but by necessity is also a man of faith who believes in these myths wholeheartedly unlike the rest of the region, who merely seem respectful of them if they even mention them at all.
EDIT: corrected some mind-boggling grammar.
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