Article: The Overuse of Kanto

[bobandbill]

This took a bit of time, haha. Let me know of anything to add, or anything you disagree with!

 

[the Alolan naturalist]

I would definitely agree in previous generations that Kanto is way overdone, but

Spoiler:

in gen 8 they have clearly given love to many other generations, including regional forms and new evos for gens 2, 3, and 5 at least. There are quite a few things to be disappointed in for gen 8 but this isnt one of them, but since we had to wait for the leaks to learn that it wasn't all gen 1 pokemon getting love, I understand the backlash.

It's just that they keep spamming pikachu, charizard, eevee and meowth on us ALL.THE.TIME. That said I do like most of the kanto gigantamax so far (even though I feel like Gigantamax should have been megaevolution retconned to make pokemon bigger because special Galar stones or something and also to allow unevolved pokemon to mega evolve). The only one I dislike is eevee's which is very underwhelming.

BTW, I have to say I did always love farfetch'd and while I actually still like it better than sirfetchd, I'm not mad it got some love. Qwilfish seems like a hard pokemon to design an evolution for tbh although it can probably be done. I'm surprised about dunsparce too. That said, I don't mind some pokemon never evolving because I feel it adds some realism to the world of pokemon: some creatures are naturally weaker/have less potential than others and that's ok! I love using farfetchd and will probably use a dunsparce soon

 

[thedarkdragon11]

I think it's safe to say that Gen. 9 is our only "messianic" hope for this to, at least, be lowered down... I personally won't complain if Gen. 2 gets huge attention, like the one Gen. 1 got in Gen. 7, in the DPPt remake and Gen. 9 but it should not be prolonged up to the next generations...

 

[Soaring Sid]

It's shocking(at least for me) to know that LGPE sold more than ORAS in their first year D: This might have been because these games were a way of bringing GO fans to the main series, in a 'slow and steady' way. The leaks have something in store, but the article is very informative, for example, I did not know that including Kanto in G/S was Satoru Iwata's idea, and that the amount of Kanto in Alola is parallel to Hawaii's japanese population!

 

[bobandbill]

I would definitely agree in previous generations that Kanto is way overdone, but *spoilered stuff*

Spoiler:

in gen 8 they have clearly given love to many other generations, including regional forms and new evos for gens 2, 3, and 5 at least. There are quite a few things to be disappointed in for gen 8 but this isnt one of them, but since we had to wait for the leaks to learn that it wasn't all gen 1 pokemon getting love, I understand the backlash.

It's just that they keep spamming pikachu, charizard, eevee and meowth on us ALL.THE.TIME. That said I do like most of the kanto gigantamax so far (even though I feel like Gigantamax should have been megaevolution retconned to make pokemon bigger because special Galar stones or something and also to allow unevolved pokemon to mega evolve). The only one I dislike is eevee's which is very underwhelming.

(gen 8 spoilers)

Spoiler:

They have, but not to the same extent as Kanto. Unova certainly benefits a lot, but the Galarian forms for Unova Pokemon are on par with Kanto mons. Kanto Pokemon meanwhile have more Gigantamax forms. Corsola is the sole gen 2 line to get a special form, and Zigzagood for gen 3. Nothing for gens 4, 6 and 7.

At any rate, I will be updating the article post-release.

It's shocking(at least for me) to know that LGPE sold more than ORAS in their first year D: This might have been because these games were a way of bringing GO fans to the main series, in a 'slow and steady' way. The leaks have something in store, but the article is very informative, for example, I did not know that including Kanto in G/S was Satoru Iwata's idea, and that the amount of Kanto in Alola is parallel to Hawaii's japanese population!

Ah, I added in a link I forgot to do giving a source for the Iwata thing. It was less his idea, I think, and more just that they had a lot of trouble fitting everything in, so Iwata came in and made a useful compression tool that allowed them to squeeze in Kanto. He also helped out with Pokemon Stadium in a major way!

 

[Sheep]

I honestly hadn't noticed how much attention Kanto was getting up until very recently thanks to fan complaints re: SwSh. This was an eye-opening article. Some of that love could've gone to poor Johto. :'<

 

[LusoTrainer]

As an original fan, I don't have a problem with Kanto being featured. I don't have a problem with Kanto Pokémon being included and made available. But I do have a problem when Kanto is being exploited in the form of redesigns, (mega)evolutions and regional variants. It's gimmicky and it cheapens not just the Pokémon but the region itself.

Basically, Game Freak should let Kanto be Kanto, make it and its Pokémon available if necessary, but focus their creative decisions on new stuff. Not use it as a test subject for crappy features and designs.

 

[Raicheot]

As fan since gen 1, I have no problem with kanto and its pokemon appearing everywhere, I love gen 1 and the more the merrier

 

[Arjay]

I have a huge problem with Gen 1 Pokemon and Kanto in general being shoved down out throats like this. The less Kanto the merrier.

 

[colours]

i'm of the opinion that there's a time and place for kanto to be featured. i have no issues with small homages here and there, because of course gen 1 is where it all started. where my gripes (and presumably most others) lie is that, because gen 1 is this huge cash cow, that TPC/Game Freak feel justified in shoving it down the throats of long-time fans, as if that's the only generation that they care about.

like honestly it's getting to the point where im just severely bored of kanto. what about johto 'mons? i think there's a lot of space for johto pokemon to shine, but why haven't they gotten the spotlight, lately? i suppose one could argue mega evolutions, but as of this current generation, that doesn't really even matter, anymore. so what about giving some regional representation and evolutions to johto pokemon? i guess that's what bums me out more than anything.

i guess here's to hoping this may change in the future, although i'm not particularly optimistic.

 

[Raicheot]

Even tho i love gen 1 and I'm happy for them to keep getting reused , gen 2 is actually my favourite gen and I would like to see more gen 2 pokemon as well

 

[PageEmp]

It may be annoying but it isn't too bad if you try to overlook it.

 

[bobandbill]

The article has been updated with SwSh specific information. In short - it's more than just Charizard with the Kanto loving in gen 8. :<

 

[Venia Silente]

SwoSh is basically Kanto IN SPACE IN BRITAIN.

In general a good read. I do feel there are a few angles that could have been explored further, and perhaps maybe commenting more on how the games replicate the Kanto layouts (like how the starting forest in XY was a calco copy of Viridian Forest). The chicken-and-egg nature of the popularity problem could also be explored further to provide extra criticism of the situation, since it otherwise just comes out as a "oh well" which, honestly, was one of the few parts of the article that actually sits ill with me.

 

[bobandbill]

SwoSh is basically Kanto IN SPACE IN BRITAIN.

In general a good read. I do feel there are a few angles that could have been explored further, and perhaps maybe commenting more on how the games replicate the Kanto layouts (like how the starting forest in XY was a calco copy of Viridian Forest). The chicken-and-egg nature of the popularity problem could also be explored further to provide extra criticism of the situation, since it otherwise just comes out as a "oh well" which, honestly, was one of the few parts of the article that actually sits ill with me.

Thanks!

Not really sure what I could say on them copying the forest layout, and not aware of any others in that game. Picture speaks for itself there, and I felt that was ample/

I also didn't want to colour the article too much, as some people do like Kanto, and evidentally it works given it sells. I don't mind Kanto references myself - but I mind it happening more than for any other generation.

 

[budube]

Gonna leave a bump in this thread here bc I'm bored and bc fuck Kanto too. Obviously contains stuff about the last direct, so I'll leave it in a spoiler

Spoiler:

Although the pandering was rather obvious after the "Most Popular in the Galar Region" poster and G-Charizard, Pikachu, Eevee, Meowth, Butterfree, Kingler, Lapras, Gengar, Machamp (and idk if I can continue the list, however it's still a lot), I was still reluctant to call it Kanto Pandering because they did not give the whole attention to Kanto, it seemed (like, Galarian Darmanitan, Corsola, etc. Plus G-Garbodor).

Now that I've seen the direct, I can say that it's not only obvious but also bound to remain that way. First we get Gigantamax for the other Kanto starters which is understandable, since Charizard had one (although I think they should've put Blastoise and Venusaur in the game if they were gonna do that, but that doesn't matter). Then we get Galarian Drowzee Slowpoke which was unnecessary, not only it's a Kanto Pokémon it's just normal Slowpoke with a yellow forehead, and as much as I liked what was shown of Slowking, I still don't seem to understand why put that thing in aside from appealing to nostalgia. Now on the last place, and other stuff I liked but was still unnecessary in my opinion, the legendary bird trio; I liked them, especially Articuno, but why give second forms to those Pokémon instead of adding new creatures for the new DLC locations?

One would think that after bashing on Gigantamaxed Charizard, they would likely stop with this, but I seriously see no end to the Kanto overuse in any way. But whatever, nostalgia sells and I think it's something we have to cope with.