My Top 5 Pokémon Games: Foreward

I think very critically of Pokémon games. That is to say, I enjoy each one very much; even the ones I think of as "the worst," I still find to be leagues above most other games in terms of quality. But two things cause me to play Pokémon with a critical eye: one is, as an aspiring game designer--while I did graduate from a certain college with a background in this field, I'm not claiming to be a genius by any means--I generally view games critically in order to formulate what would work best for my own projects; two is, as a life-long Pokémon fan, I want the series to grow and improve as much as possible.

Constructive criticism is one of the best ways to get your work evaluated and make improvements in your future endeavors. GAME FREAK certainly has, at the very least, a general idea of the fans' opinions regarding their games, so making your voice heard in a professional, constructive manner may not necessarily fall on deaf ears. At the very least, although I do not write these "articles" with the intention of swaying anyone's opinion, you may get others thinking a bit differently about the games they play, and many voices together are a lot easier to hear.

Before I begin my list, I feel there are a few things that must be clarified. They are as follows:

1. Who cares, Rivvon? Well, no one, I assume. I'm not an Internet celebrity or anything of the sorts; it's just that it's Winter Break in my school district, so I have some free time now that I'm not teaching. Might as well have some fun working out some analysis on some games that I really like! And who knows? Maybe someone would like something a little lengthy to read, and would appreciate these blog entries!
2. Spoilers: There are a few "ties" in this list. When they occur, I will explain my reasoning for the tie and the kind of tie it is.
3. The games will be listed in groups. For instance, if my #3 game is Pearl Version, I will still list it as Diamond & Pearl Version. Within the reasoning, I may refer to the singular version I played.
4. I am most certainly open to discussion on this topic. But be aware, I may get a bit lengthy in my replies!

Aside from these points, I feel the upcoming blog entries will be smooth sailing. I certainly look forward to sharing my opinion with whoever reads these, and I hope it can spark some good, intelligent discussion!

Yeah, GameFreak really could use some changes, but Pokemon is a great series overall. All the characters and items in it give it a high replay value. That in itself is something impressive. If there's anything I want Pokemon to improve upon more than anything else, it's their storyline. Aside from the kanto games (and possibly the johto ones as well. I don't remember much about those), the plot in every main series pokemon game is very repetitive. It's always "Team *insert noun*" trying to steal and manipulate the power of legendary pokemon, with the player storming their base(s) and taking them down practically single-handed. After that, the player catches or faints the legendary pokemon and tops off the league challenge, all these events being started by a teen with no dad (except in the hoenn games) that was given a pokemon of either three set types by a professor who is named after a tree. I know that a lot of this is tradition, but they really overreact when they decide to keep ALL these details. If you don't mind the repetitiveness of the game, good for you. This is all just my opinion, after all. Again, I don't mean to say that I dislike the series, but I hope the creators will find room for improvement to make the plot more interesting.