Give Me the Meat and Give it to Me Raw

i should have never left my room

i’m starving for substance.

Pokémon Silver is not just delivering on the style points, it demands that i purchase real estate and forever dwell in this content driven game — day specific npc encounters, day/night fluctuating Pokémon spawns, a bug catching contest, a sick cow, berry harvests, and two barbers comprise just the tip of the iceberg of what the game offers to me. but under this big pile of meaty treats, there are no bones. i see no through line. i’m trying to close read the sh*t out this game, but hand on my heart i could not for a moment tell you what this story is about or where i’m going (literally and figuratively) as the main character.

is it about growth? i’m given an egg and i encounter a fledging Team Rocket and i’m met with several contrasting trainers in various stages of expertise but those moments come and go. or rather, come and go nowhere. or is the game about relationships? we see our Rival completely lacking in these, we see trainers on the reg tell us that friendship is the most important thing, we see connectivity interweaved within each town of Johto. but again, rather than an interconnected tale we see islands of stories blissfully unaware of one another.

i don’t think i’d be having fun with Pokémon Silver if not for the book club. i don’t think i’d FINISH Pokémon Silver if not for the book club. i don’t think this game is good. i think its trying to hard to be a follow up to the best selling Pokémon games and never really escapes their shadow. i think its sad that Johto does not have an identity outside of Kanto. i think its sadder that it seems satisfied with that.