Pokémon has long remained as one of the gaming world’s most successful ventures. The creator of the first games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, was none other than Satoshi Tajiri. The games were first released in Japan and quickly gained much acclaim and success, prompting expansion to United States on September 30, 1998. The franchise has just continued to expand and now spans an empire of collective media. Pokémon now consists of an anime, video games, and manga.

     As a fan of the franchise myself, I have found its more recent exploits to be lacking the same magic that made it so successful in the first place. Take for example, its video games. The earlier games offered a way to explore the Pokémon region in which the game took place in and it was enjoyable. This was not because of their uniqueness, but rather their execution. The plot was simple, beat the enemy and catch pokémon to win the game. How this played out was something that was regarded as difficult and enjoyable.

     Recent games within the franchise have just lost this spark. Their execution, character depth, and flavor text seem to have gone stagnant. The flatness of the games have contributed greatly to the loss of satisfaction with many of its fans. Steven Zoeller, from The Oklahoma Daily agrees, “No, it’s not because I’ve outgrown them — I’ve just grown weary of the brand’s refusal to innovate.”