I just submitted my final research project for the course, and though I feel as though a large worry has subsided I also feel a bit…empty? While writing the research paper I felt very passionate for what I was writing, as Pokemon has always influenced my thoughts and emotions since I was a young child. It always hurts to admit something we love is flawed, but I’m thankful the day I realized many of the great problems the franchise had it was not through my own critical view, but rather Game Freak putting their faults on display front and center. Upon finishing this paper I wished I could continue on, and have considered it for a brief moment or two (had I not written more than forty pages in the last week or so I would consider it a bit more strongly). I feel as though the Pokemon Universe is ginormous, and as such has a lot of faults. Like all good games, its positive attributes outnumber its faults, and though we could certainly question whether it is deserving of praise in the first place I would rather focus on the few faults within the franchise so few look at.

In my last post I spoke of the customization system in X & Y and Sword and Shield, and I fleshed out this idea in my paper more so. However, I wanted to add onto what I said in a less formal environment. What’s truly interesting about customization systems being introduces is that it should by all means take away the player character’s existence as a protagonist. Meaning, by all means Serena should not exist in the anime, nor Calem, or whoever the h*ck the  protagonists are from Sun and Moon. And yet they do. Pokemon continues keeping these characters, and giving them personality through its anime, manga and other media while giving players the option to customize their player character to suit their own tastes and looks. With the initial addition of the customization system to Pokemon X & Y there was also certainly some backlash, in that males received substantially less options than females did when it came to clothing, styles and accessories. With time of course would come a far better customization system in Pokemon Sword and Shield, and yet the three games that came in between that time had no customization system at all. Its strange to me that Game Freak and the Pokemon Company as a whole would abandon such a feature as they added nothing to replace it, and as a result likely led many players to feel less immersed and less interested in their character as a whole.

But, ultimately Pokemon Sword and Shield came along with a fully customizable character. Customization options in game feel endless, and it is one of the best “new” features ever added to a Pokemon game, in my opinion. There are plenty of clothing options, and female characters only receive ten percent more options in comparison to their male counterparts. Though there are certainly many other issues with the games their customization system is pretty up to par with current games and I can only hope that they continue to offer it in future games, while offering more and more changes to player characters to better suit the players who use them.