henrymidfields
Prime Minister of Shoyo 昇陽国内閣総理大臣
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2013
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So we have the first glimpse of Sun and Moon the Alole region, and I have noticed that with both XY and SM, there is a bigger focus on the real-life Hawaiian culture that the Pokémon region is based on. Are we going back to a situation similar to Gen 1-2 where Pokémon had bigger emphasis with the real-life setting?
Shadao (who has been following my History of Shoyo/Poke-Japan creation project) wrote a blog earlier this morning (at least in Australian-time) about how the Japanese trailer focuses more on the young humble boy and his adventures, more seen in rather than the epic story of recent games, also seen in Gen 1-2:
For non-members that don't have access to the Blogs:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r0_F-_ClcQ
If the Japanese trailer indicates anything SM seems to return to its roots in both aspects. But is it really so? And if so, yay or nay?
Anyway, my response:
(*1) I don't always need an epic story like Zelda/Fire Emblem, just as long as it's not stupid like the recent Mario games. (Excluding Galaxy 1 and maybe 2)
Shadao (who has been following my History of Shoyo/Poke-Japan creation project) wrote a blog earlier this morning (at least in Australian-time) about how the Japanese trailer focuses more on the young humble boy and his adventures, more seen in rather than the epic story of recent games, also seen in Gen 1-2:
For non-members that don't have access to the Blogs:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r0_F-_ClcQ
by Shadao:
There is something I do enjoy about this trailer of Sun/Moon. And I think I know why. ...it's about a young boy looking friends after he moved and connecting with through Pokémon. There's something about it that makes me feel like I'm watching the opening title of the original Pokémon show (the Aim to Be A Pokémon Master Japanese one). And I think I know why. Pokémon started with a Japanese boy from Pallet/Masura Town leaving his humble home to go on Pokémon adventure. And this trailer seems to hark back that type of archetype by framing Sun/Moon in the story of a young Japanese kid moving to a new place to call home.
If the Japanese trailer indicates anything SM seems to return to its roots in both aspects. But is it really so? And if so, yay or nay?
Anyway, my response:
While I don't really care much about the story (*1) what I definitely approve of is the setting returning to its roots. Pokémon back in the 90s was quite a unique RPG in that it relied heavily on our real-life setting, which I don't remember seeing in many other games. Yokai Watch obviously came years later, and Earthbound was a borderline case. The only other case that I knew was Shin Megami Tensei.
I loved both GSC, RBY, because all of those featured regions and cultures that more closely aligned to our realistic world - this was one of what was special in my Pokémon playthroughs. They even had actual real-life geography back then, and I could easily imagine myself as a Pokémon trainer, adventuring in my hometown of Tokyo.
Then RSE came out, and frankly, I hated that this was the start of a direction away from the real-life based premise that I thought Pokémon stood for. I did not want a mix-up of out-of-place tropical features in Kyushu, and I did not want an isolated region when the real thing is far from isolated. Even more infuriatingly, there was no justification for it: they should have gone overseas like Yokai Watch 3 did, and actually model the region from Hawaii (which SM did), coastal Queensland, or Guam-Saipan - all explicitly tropical places, all familiar as holiday destinations for the primary Japanese audience.
XY renewed my interest, because of the games coming back to a more real-life-based setting, with the Kalos region being more explicitly based on France. I was excited to see a Pokeverse-version of France, and I thoroughly loved the heavier emphasis on geographic realism. And SM has finally done what RSE should have done, by actually modelling the region from Hawaii. While it does give me unpleasant reminders of how Gen 3 started screwed up the real-life based world-building, I am very much excited that GF seemed to have come back to its roots in this regard.
I loved both GSC, RBY, because all of those featured regions and cultures that more closely aligned to our realistic world - this was one of what was special in my Pokémon playthroughs. They even had actual real-life geography back then, and I could easily imagine myself as a Pokémon trainer, adventuring in my hometown of Tokyo.
Then RSE came out, and frankly, I hated that this was the start of a direction away from the real-life based premise that I thought Pokémon stood for. I did not want a mix-up of out-of-place tropical features in Kyushu, and I did not want an isolated region when the real thing is far from isolated. Even more infuriatingly, there was no justification for it: they should have gone overseas like Yokai Watch 3 did, and actually model the region from Hawaii (which SM did), coastal Queensland, or Guam-Saipan - all explicitly tropical places, all familiar as holiday destinations for the primary Japanese audience.
XY renewed my interest, because of the games coming back to a more real-life-based setting, with the Kalos region being more explicitly based on France. I was excited to see a Pokeverse-version of France, and I thoroughly loved the heavier emphasis on geographic realism. And SM has finally done what RSE should have done, by actually modelling the region from Hawaii. While it does give me unpleasant reminders of how Gen 3 started screwed up the real-life based world-building, I am very much excited that GF seemed to have come back to its roots in this regard.
(*1) I don't always need an epic story like Zelda/Fire Emblem, just as long as it's not stupid like the recent Mario games. (Excluding Galaxy 1 and maybe 2)
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