I thought Bianca's character arc was non-existent, again, unless you played B2W2. However, I firmly believe overarching plot is just awful, and I don't understand the praise any of the characters receive. When I had heard Game Freak wanted to focus more on story in the future, I had hoped they would actually put a decent effort into crafting the narrative. Instead, we got some "chosen one" bullshit that is shoved in your face in every town and detracts from the spirit of the series. Team Plasma is comically dense, to the point where it loses all realism, and N is... well, there's a ton of things that could have been done with his character that are sadly wasted thanks to the BIG TWEEST at the end, which, by the way, invalidates the main villain totally. That a man would spend a good portion of his life raising a child to become the "king of Pokemon" only to throw a hissy-fit right at the end of things is absurd.
I understand that Pokemon is a child's game, which is largely why I have started to move on from the series and focus more on games like SMT, which, while not much more mature, at least attempt to create more interesting settings and narratives, atop being more compelling monster-catching games. But Black and White was the first time I realized that the series was not growing with me, and that Game Freak was content with slapping a narrative atop their 8 gym formula and calling it a day. Likewise, the story commits the same sin that Sun and Moon do in terms of placing false assumptions on the player: I don't want people to praise my values or beliefs in Pokemon, I don't want them to say I have such a strong bond with them, I don't want them to tell me my bond is strong enough to dance stupid dances with my Pokemon, or that watching me gives them the courage to express themselves- I want to wreck every trainer mercilessly and show them how much better I am, while catching and developing a team that's aesthetically appealing to me. The previous Pokemon games were satisfying to me because the adventure was straightforward and the actions the player performed seemed logical.
I really appreciated the commitment to only having a new generation of Pokemon roaming Unova, but almost every other aspect of Black and White did not appeal to me. While X and Y were certainly no better in the story department, there narrative was at least less-intrusive and separated the Elite Four and Champion from the wackiness of the villain's plot. Anyway, I understand I've rambled a bit, but I guess it just boils down to me becoming disenfranchised with the series as a whole. Game Freak has extremely solid fundamental gameplay that they have kept relatively sacred, but almost every other part of the series has become alien and unappealing to me.
Topic: What are you playing? (Read 700256 times)
