Well, the main reason I got into Pokemon was because it was the first video game I ever played, and I don't know if that's the reason I really like a lot of games with the same concept today, or if Pokemon just happened to fall into a genre of games I'd just naturally enjoy, but I've just always liked the game, so I'm happy it was what introduced me to the whole gaming experience. The first Pokemon game I ever played, was my brother Blue version which he got on his 6th birthday I believe, and while I don't remember anything from my first few playthroughs, because I was like 3 years old at the time, I just remember it was something I really liked, despite not understanding anything in regards of story, and even though I was horrible at it :p But yeah, it grew on me, and I became a big fan of both the games and the anime, and later on I got my very own Silver version when I was about 5 or so, which was what really turned me into a fan, since I wasn't restricted by my brother anymore, and I just enjoyed being able to progress at whichever pace I wanted, being able to catch whatever I wanted, and so on. That's also a big reason to why the second generation are my favourite games today :)
Fun thing is, I'm not one that's much for RPG's honestly. I'm really bad at all the micro-managing that most of them require, and a lot of them also require tons of grinding. I don't really have that problem with the Pokemon series, because, contrary to most RPG's, you aren't given characters at a certain point in the story, and have to adapt to those, whether they're strong or weal, and you just generally don't have much control over how you're gonna adapt to the challenges ahead. With Pokemon it's entirely up to you. You choose which characters (aka Pokemon in this case) you want to use, how many you're gonna use at a time, which is often a help when it comes to evening out the levels and such, and whether you're gonna make the games more challenging by using certain Pokemon, that are either weak to certain upcoming trainers, weak in general, or are just strong and reliable companions that are gonna be a huge help on the journey. And yeah, while there's a set difficulty, it's really your choice that decides whether it's gonna be easy or hard, and that's also what gives Pokemon the incredible amount of replay value it has, and why it's become as popular as it is. When you're limited to certain characters and classes, that all always learn the same skills and stuff, it's just not always as fun to replay, because it's essentially the same thing you go through. And while the entire journey of Pokemon is always the same (it could be really awesome if they someday provided different paths you could take, ie. going for the league challenge, contests, becoming a bad guy, stuff like that omg), it's always gonna be different, because you have the ability to choose between so many different Pokemon, and give them so many different move, train them in specific stats, etc., and with the whole luck factor quite a few of the battles also rely on, battles are also gonna unfold differently, and that's what other RPG's lack. Sure, they're fun to play through with gaps inbetween, but the reason I haven't grown as tired of Pokemon as I have with, say, Zelda, is because I can play Pokemon games again and again, and still have a different experience each time. And that's what really got me into Pokemon, and the reason I've stayed in the community for as long as I have.
And I have so much more I could say, but It's 6:30 in the morning, I haven't slept all night, and I gotta be on a bus in about half an hour, so best not drag this out any longer ;D
~toodles
