#stands on my soapbox preaching about a game meant for kids (?) except that it's also a gacha game so is it really 🤔

[anonprotagging]

no, you know what it is?? it's that thing where everything feels hollow if an ending is too easy.

that the characters who have been upset and fighting and struggling and you relate to -- just don't have to deal with any aftermath and everything's just suddenly okay now! :)

the reason I liked the ending of sun and moon so much is because it's not easy. lusamine is still hurt from nihilego and she needs treatment. guzma has finally felt fear once and makes the (bad) decision to disband his team, but he's struggling to do good. plumeria's back in the trailer park, but she still loves the team.

lillie had spent the whole game fighting to be her own person, and now she is -- but it certainly wasn't easy and she's still dealing with the effects of her mom's abuse on her family. looker and nanu are traumatized and the UB mission doesn't fix that -- it just helps them take the first step to healing.

unova did this equally well. things are bad after the end of the game. the sages are still loose, ghetsis got away, N has left. you have to do what you can to help a region that has been changed forever -- and then in B2W2 you have to do it again, because there was aftermath!

it bothered me in swsh when leon was injured but did the championship battle like everything is just fine now don't worry!! and don't worry about rose, he just got ~arrested.~ the region didn't even really have a scar on it.

it bothered me in SV when arven's parent was revealed to be dead!! literally dead!!! kaput!!! gone!!! RIP in pieces!!! and they just. glossed over it. he's okay now let's just have fun :)

and I'm still pissed off about the alola villain arc, yeah, but I could have put that aside if the end of the villain arc as a whole weren't so "don't worry so much :) the region is safe we're just having a fun battle now :) heehee :)"

they show giovanni planning his next scheme, but they literally always do that. he will always do that. they don't show ANY of the aftermath for anyone else. is red okay??? is blue okay???? leaf???? looker's croagunk???? professor oak????? how are archie and maxie doing??? have the other villain teams' alliances dissolved now that the threat is gone??????? are team skull and team yell going to hang out now?????? what is happening????????? why does everything have to be focused on paulo, paulo, paulo, oh and tina and the PC are there too???????? wasn't the whole point of this to show everyone working together?????????