Pokémon: My First RPG or an Adult Playing Field?

Pokémon.  Just saying the name alone causes some people to shudder in fear, most of them parents. It is one of the most popular franchises and the second biggest selling franchise of all time, behind Mario. However, people tend to say “Why is it so popular? I mean, it’s just two furry creatures punching each other over and over again. It’s just so childish!” That is a good point and so, today, I will be comparing the two types of Pokémon players and which one of them is the target audience for the series.

The Kids: At first glance, Pokémon definitely seems to favour the kiddies over the adults. People just seem turned off the series by all the cute and cuddly furballs the series is quite well known for, like Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Squirtle, Charmander, Bulbasaur and Meowth just to name a few. Also the series uses colourful sprites and music in the games, which gives people more of a reason to label the series as a “Kids Game” and label it off as shovelware.

Finally, the cartoon does it no favours either. Many people on the internet say that, despite its Japanese origins, it has little in the way of stereotypical themes that are normally in Japanese cartoons, at least in their original language. You see, most cartoons aimed at people 10-16 in Japan contain blood, swearing and other such things. However, Pokémon does not. This leads many people to say that this is a problem and therefore makes the series “Childish”.  However, the cartoon is owned and created by Nintendo. Nintendo don’t want to associate their series with any of the common stereotypes usually found in Japanese cartoons, as a way to preserve their reputation.

The Adults: However, there are a couple of things of things that can make people see the series from a different light. For starters, there are hundreds of Pokémon; as of the latest games in the series, Pokémon Black and Pokémon White, there are 649 Pokémon. Because of this, it can become almost addictive to find and catch them all.

Also, there’s the competitive battle scene. You see, the main thing with Pokémon is that you, provided you have the necessary requirements, you can fight anyone you like, with any six Pokémon you want. There are people in the world who take Pokémon fighting very seriously. They have multiple movesets for one type of Pokémon and a bucketload of knowledge for all the little things in battling, such as combining moves or only fighting certain wild Pokémon to boost certain stats you want.

What do I think? Well, I think it’s a careful balance. As mentioned before, the series has a mix of cute and cuddly creatures battling it out with a combat system that’s easy to learn, yet hard to master. Also, whilst most of the creatures start as something that looks like a beanie baby that’s alive, they eventually evolve into something that looks badass. So, yeah the series definitely meets both types of fans; the casual gamers, and the hardcore gamers.

This is what I think. If you have an opinion on the series, please, write what you think.

Good night and Good luck.