In 2016, Pokemon celebrated its 20th anniversary, a testament to its cultural stamina that spans across generations. Though my analysis focuses on Pokemon Black, a game created for the Nintendo 3DS, I mention the enduring influence of Pokemon as a testament to its timeless design that continues creating meaning for its players with each subsequent release. Pokemon Black improves upon past Pokemon game design and creates meaningful play through the story it tells, the attention to detail, and the potential for free movement.
the Unova region
Within the boundaries of the handheld device, the player becomes a teenage Pokemon trainer who leaves their small town to explore the Unova region and become a Pokemon master. Through the course of the game, the player catches Pokemon and trains them through turn-based battles with other characters or players to eventually defeat the Elite Four and become Unova’s reigning Champion. On their way, they encounter Team Plasma, the story’s antagonist force who introduce the concept of Pokemon liberation from trainers. Their leader, the antihero N, opposes the status quo of trainers owning and using Pokemon, thus opposing the world’s ideals. N fights for his truth and, through the course of the story and his interactions with the player, he learns instead that many Pokemon and trainers deeply care for each other and accepts a new truth: he must learn from others more.
the antihero N
In this sense, Pokemon Black is a reminder of the importance of tolerance and remembering that the world isn’t so black and white. In this world within the game, the player starts with one level 1 Pokemon and through hard work, trains to become the best trainer in the region: the Champion of Unova. The player’s best friend, an NPC named Bianca, also starts off with a similar goal, but finds that she is more suited towards research. In this regard, Pokemon Black is a powerful message about defining your own niche through hard work and that it is okay to be independent of society’s ideals. Through having a powerful underlying story, Pokemon Black makes players emotionally invested in the game, motivating them to continue on in the story, save the world from the clutches of Team Plasma, and become the Champion.
The story is further emphasized through the attention to detail in the game design. The general aesthetics of the game foster a sense of journey. Pokemon Black was created for the Nintendo 3DS; thus, the graphics depart from the 2D sprites of the Game Boy games I grew up playing and result in richer, more life-like landscapes that can be differentiated from each other, emphasizing the motif of leaving home for the first time and exploring the world. Each city has its own distinct features and culture, from the sprawling metropolis of Castelia City to the mining port of Driftveil. As you travel, the camera angles change to create a dynamism that prevents losing interest in running on the same path for an extended period of time. Just when I felt like I was losing interest in walking, an NPC gave me running shoes. Just when I was losing interest in running around, I received a bike, and later, the ability to fly to cities. These little details prevented me from losing interest in the game. Additionally, the game aesthetics play close attention to detail, heightening how realistic the game is and making the game more absorbing. For instance, moving a bookshelf also makes the books knock over.
Nuvema town
Castelia City
The game also provides feedback for every action—bumping into an object will eject a ‘beep’ while winning a gym badge will reward the player with a burst of music and an overlay placing the badge into a case. Every item or Pokemon you collect can be used for the rest of the game. Losing a Pokemon battle forces you to flee to the last visited Pokemon center and pay out cash. Winning a gym badge allows you to progress in the game. Having actions imbued with consequences make the play more meaningful as the player becomes invested in each action. The game also encourages players to interact with their friends within the Pokemon world. For instance, some Pokemon can only evolve through trade, incentivizing the player to connect with another. There is also player vs player functionality in which one can battle their friends using a wifi connection, an instance of game design leveraging the technological platform.
Pokemon battle–What will you do?
What sets Pokemon apart from other RPG games is the element of choice within its constraints—each player can have six Pokemon to battle, and each Pokemon knows four moves, thus instilling a necessity for strategy within those limitations on resources. Additionally, the player has the choice of whether to catch a Pokemon or not or to buy an item or not, thus giving them the freedom over which objects they collect. Additionally, the game is designed so that the player advances city to city and earns eight gym badges and becomes a better trainer. If the player tries to travel outside the route, he/she will be stopped by an NPC or a natural obstacle and be unable to advance geographically until they earn a gym badge from the city. Then, players travel to the next city and in the process, battle other trainers and encounter wild Pokemon to gain the skill to defeat another gym leader. As the players advance through the game, the levels of the Pokemon they encounter also increase, so players gain more Experience Points to level up their Pokemon. In defeating gym leaders, players feel a sense of accomplishment that makes the overall goal of becoming the Champion more achievable.
With its powerful story, attention to detail, and large freedom of movement, Pokemon Black is a highly absorbing game that I found myself playing for much more than four hours. I do not care to admit how much time I’ve played Pokemon in the past two weeks, but these elements made me have a strong desire to finish the story and achieve the objective of becoming Unova’s Champion.