Earthbound and Dune 17.05.16

Over the past few weeks I've been falling rapidly down a rabbit hole of capturing/killing (or knocking out according to my translation of the lore of the world) hundreds of Pocket Monsters in Pokemon Yellow (3DS). It's my understanding that playing the game on a 3DS will allow me to transfer my team of comically named creatures into future games via a Pokemon bank (whatever that is) and if its smooth that's a big selling point, I couldn't bare the thought of wading through tall grass to fight Pidgeys to level up my Squirtle even if the graphics are improved. 

I'm surprised about how much I'm enjoying the game, I think this has a lot to do with my tastes and habits both inside and outside of video games. It feels a bit like the elements of Fallout games I really enjoy, the hoarding, the grinding out fights to earn XP and the tantalising concept that something really valuable or powerful could be right around the corner. It also seems to have taken influence from Earthbound (and other JRPGs I've not played I'm sure) and while it's not got the sharp whit constantly it can be genuinely funny at times, normally before fighting another trainer on my travels. I wouldn't say it's particularly subtitle but the characters I've met so far from the seasick captain of a boat and the two gamblers close by who announce in quick succession "I never loose" and "I never win" have a charm to them. Speaking of charm some of the Pokemons designs haven't aged well but the majority are lovely to look at, it helps with the most addictive part of the game I've found so far, the bond made with my party of 6, for the record I've gone with Nidoking, Spearow, Pikachu, Squirtle, Graveler and Weepinbell. All the forums I've embarrassingly visited seem to suggest this isn't the best combination but I've grown attached to Spearow through training him up from level 3 and most of the others I'd longingly looked at whilst I turned my nose up at actually playing the game. I've got my eye on a couple of additions, I'd be very happy if a wild Poliwhirl or Krabby popped up. With my little team though I've worked out viable tactic of combining my plant with my rock with my electric and in these early steps it seems to work, I say early I'm pushing 15 hours of gameplay. In the narrative of the game I've encountered team rocket a number of times, collected 4 badges and can chop down trees.

Basically it's all nonsense, but the right kind of nonsense for a commute or a half hour here or there, at times scratching that animal crossing itch while at the same time giving you a little more reward for your endless grinding. The game is over 20years old and I've been aware of it for all that time both in gaming and popular culture but I don't feel like I've come to it late, I wouldn't have had the patience for it when it came out or more importantly the access to the Internet which has both helped and amused me so far exploring this world.

The rest of my video gaming related actions this week were, reading FAQs and message boards about Pokemon, playing Smash Bros 4 exclusively on Pokemon stages with Pokemon characters and finally watching the Pokemon Sun Moon trailer a couple of times. I'm one step away from producing Pokemon fan art and that's not as frightening as it was a month ago.