#to bw fair i hated the previous one and its been there for a year so im not exactly great at updating these

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Andy!!

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Pokemon Character Analysis V2: Iris

I wrote an analysis of Iris’ character a while ago. However, a user challenged me to go more in-depth with my analysis and I did have more points to write about Iris as well. I was able to watch episode 65 as well so I’ll be combining my opinions on the episode with this analysis.

As with all my reviews/analyses, I’ll keep them under the cut. So, if you want to keep reading, that’s great!

Introduction:

As many people that have read my previous reviews and know me, may know I am a huge fan of the Diamond and Pearl games and anime series. I will be the first to say, I know Diamond and Pearl wasn’t a perfect series, honestly, there is no such thing as a perfect series. But as a follow-up to DP, Black and White was definitely a let-down for a lot of fans, either because of completely resetting Ash’s knowledge which was honestly an insult to his DP incarnation, his travelling companions or the fact that he lost to Cameron of all people in the Vertress Conference. BW in some aspects left a lot to be desired.

Nevertheless, this post is focusing on Iris, a companion similar to Goh, a lot of fans love to hate particularly because of her infamous catchphrase “You’re such a kid.” Looking back, this was one of the things that did make me drop the series, keep in mind I was 11 when BW started airing. So, hearing a character that is meant to be the same age or younger than you say "You’re such a kid!” Over and over again, got annoying quite quickly.

However, looking back the usage of that infamous catchphrase was probably exaggerated. Whilst, working past that I still didn’t come to love Iris. Considering, Iris is meant to be one of the main characters and similar to Goh, they are meant to be written in a way that makes us want to see them grow, cheer them on and be happy when they succeed. Nonetheless, when you look at the way they are written and their development it just makes it abundantly clear that Iris and Goh are the victims of poor writing.

Iris’ Initial Characterisation:

The aspect that made me drop the series was Iris’ initial characterisation particularly the infamous phrase “You’re such a kid” which as I mentioned in the introduction, with the benefit of hindsight I can see the usage of it has been exaggerated. Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the fact that it was annoying. Especially, given when Ash meets Iris, he had defeated legendries by this point, acquired 36 badges (that’s including the Orange Archipelago badges) and defeated the Battle Frontier. Whereas Iris may have had good battling prowess and at one point had a 99-battle winning streak, but, her Axew was a newborn with hardly any battling experience and her Excadrill was refusing to listen to her.

Many people use the defence that Misty called Ash a kid yet she doesn’t nearly receive as much hate. To be fair, when Misty met Ash, he was a rookie trainer and Misty was a gym leader, so Misty at least had the position and knowledge to back her up. However, this was only an issue at the beginning of the series and the insults tend to die down, but, that initial characterisation is what stopped me from watching the series since my 11-year-old self did not have the patience for that.

Iris’ Character:

Just like every person has their flaws, every fictional character has them as well – it's what makes us human. Every single one of our favourite characters has their share of flaws that they acknowledge and eventually overcome for Dawn it was overconfidence, for May her naiveté, Serena her lack of direction, Clemont his lack of self-confidence. The list could honestly go on and on. 

For Iris, it was her immaturity. One could look at the fact, her calling Ash out on his own immaturity, her being hypocritical. However, Iris could have easily been using this as a coping/defence mechanism for dealing with that aspect of her personality.  During her time at Opelucid Academy when she was younger, Iris’ immaturity caused her to struggle with forming relationships with the other students and feel isolated. 

However, just like Dawn and to some extent Goh, Iris struggled with overconfidence in the past as well. After Iris caught Excadrill as a Drilbur, the two battled other trainers and Pokémon frequently culminating in a 99-battle winning streak that triggered Drilbur’s evolution. Iris then battled Drayden without considering the possibility that she was outmatched against Drayden and his Haxorus. Iris and Excadrill subsequently lost the battle and Excadrill closed himself off from his trainer.

In this scenario, it was a combination of Iris’ immaturity and overconfidence that resulted in Excadrill’s loss of faith in her as a trainer. As she never considered, his feelings throughout the battle. Nevertheless, overconfidence, when we meet her in the present wasn’t necessarily an issue as the battle, she had with Drayden was probably a humbling experience similar to Dawn’s losses in the Performance stages of Contests. 

The stepping stones towards Iris maturing begin in Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! Which was honestly one of my favourite episodes of BW. Not only as Iris, opened up to Ash and Cilan, but forced her to confront her own issues with communicating and forming relationships with others. Which was honestly a refreshing twist on the rebellious Pokémon story. 

This is what makes Dragonite’s arc and disobedience all the more frustrating as I feel as though, it diminishes Excadrill’s arc and Iris’ development. As Iris, initially, didn’t understand Dragonite’s disobedient behaviour, which, to be fair, I don’t blame her as Dragonite willingly joined her party only to turn around, completely ignore her commands in battle and not even fully acknowledge her as his trainer. 

As I mentioned in the previous section, as the series went on, the insults on Ash’s maturity did die down. This could have been for several reasons, Ash and Iris understandably grew closer as they travelled, Iris began to feel more comfortable with herself and her flaws particularly after her battle with Drayden. I speculate because BW doesn’t really flesh out the characters as much as other series have in the past. 

Although, one final aspect, I find rather strange about her character is her Cryophobia (fear of the cold/ice). Iris’ logic for this fear being that Dragon-types are weak to Ice-types however as Trip pointed out Dragon-types are also weak to other Dragon-types. Yet Iris just shrugs this comment off, and, later we see her battling against other Ice-types and apparently got over this phobia in Crisis at Ferroseed Research! When she was trapped in a room with her rival’s Vanilluxe and commanded it to help them and others escape. I’m aware phobias are meant to be irrational but I have to agree with Trip that even Iris’ logic towards her phobia was a tad irrational. There is a difference between disliking something and being scared of it, as Iris, at one point had stated she disliked the cold. I understand this was probably played out for comedic aspects but it was just strange and stupid. Especially, given the fact in the games and manga adaptation, she owns a Lapras.

Moving on, to the more positive aspects of Iris’ personality. Whilst, Iris may have suffered socially with human characters, she is shown to have found it easier to form connections with Pokémon in general, not just Dragon-types. Iris’ ability to befriend Pokémon, could easily stem from the fact she grew up in a rural area of a, particularly urban region. This aspect of Iris’ character has aided her on several occasions such as Baffling the Bouffalant! Whilst lost in Bouffalant territory, Iris performed first aid on an injured Bouffalant, Iris’ kindness was later rewarded when the Bouffalant helped guide the group outside of its territory. 

Another example of Iris’ ability to empathize with Pokémon, is shown in A Village Homecoming! In which, Iris was able to calm a distressed Hydreigon with the help of her Pokémon. This was honestly, one of Iris’ best moments in the series as it reflected Iris’ growth from her ability to understand a Pokémon’s emotions to her abilities as a Dragon Master. 

In addition to her ability to befriend Pokémon with ease, Iris is shown to be free-spirited (which is probably a result of the environment she was raised in), confident in her abilities and able to speak her mind. Whilst apprehensive of Ash at the beginning, she is shown to care for him as the series continues, this can be reflected in Ash’s battle with Roxie, where Iris opted to act as a cheering squad for Ash similar to what Dawn did for him. 

Iris is shown to be an adept battler, this can be reflected in the fact she once had a 99-battle winning streak and won the Club Battle.  

Iris’ Goal:

Iris’ goal is to become a Dragon Master, however, by the end of Black and White, Iris opts to travel to Johto to battle Clair and following the conclusion of that battle she opts to follow the direction she saw Rayquaza flying. When I look at this conclusion, I’m honestly confused, I have no sense of whether or not Iris is any closer to achieving her goal. Or even throughout the series, we get no sense of how anyone who wants to master any Pokémon typing reaches their goal, a majority of type specialists typically end up in the position of Gym Leader or Elite Four. But Iris never once expressed a desire to be a Gym Leader or any higher-ranking position. Which, makes Drayden decision to choose Iris as his successor, all the more unusual to me. I suppose in one way it gives Iris a position/goal to work towards but given Iris’ free-spirited personality, having someone choose her path rather than choosing it herself feels unnatural.

Additionally, an obvious method to becoming a type specialist is catching Pokémon of the same type you want to specialize in and little more than half of Iris’ team actually consist of Dragon-types. I understand Gym Leaders having at least one alternative type to give their team diversity and cover their weaknesses. As shown by Candice owning a Medicham and Piers having a Toxtricity in his party later in the SW/SH games. But, Excadrill fits the bill more than Emolga as Excadrill is part of Steel-type which covers Iris’ team’s weaknesses to Ice and the newly introduced Fairy-types. That is not to say that I dislike Emolga or anything but it felt like she was an unusual catch.

I think if the writers did a better job as well at establishing Iris’ goals – we understand she wants to be a Dragon Master, but does she want to become a gym leader? A caretaker of Dragon-types (similar to Liza of Charicific Valley)? If they had established this from the beginning, we would have had a better understanding of the direction they wanted to take with Iris’ development.

Iris and her Pokemon:

Now, this is one aspect of Iris’ story that I felt could have definitely been written better, as I mentioned, Iris wants to be a Dragon Master, however, only 3/5 of her team are actually Dragon-types. In addition to this, throughout the series, Iris has attempted to catch Pokémon outside of her type specialities such as Ash’s Oshawott, Tepig and even Team Rocket’s Meowth. Moreover, Iris is meant to be a highly skilled trainer, yet she’s had more disobedient Pokémon than any other main character aside from Axew and Gible the rest of Iris’ Pokémon have been disobedient at some point. Which, kind of reflects poorly on her skills and character. 

Axew:

I like to think of the characters’ first Pokémon or their partner Pokémon as a mirror reflecting their growth. Take May and Blaziken, they mirror one another’s development perfectly as when Blaziken was a Torchic much like May, he was inexperienced and unsure of himself. When Torchic evolved to Combusken, at this point May had won two Contest Ribbons and began to feel confident in her Coordinating skills. Once, Torchic evolved into Combusken he developed that same level of confidence, he didn’t feel the need to compete for May’s attention and wasn’t bullied or intimidated by other Pokémon like Ash’s Corphish. Then Combusken evolves to Blaziken in the penultimate episode, once May had decided to leave the group, travel through Johto on her own and find her own battling style. At this point, May has chosen to become independent and this reflects in Combusken, her first Pokémon evolving into his final stage. My point being I like to think every travelling companions’ ace reflects their character growth and I don’t get that same feeling with Iris and Axew.

The whole point of Iris’ journey was to raise Axew into a Haxorus. For a majority of the series, Axew was Iris’ only Dragon-type and in the sixth episode, he has a dream of evolving into his final stage. After that, the idea of Axew evolving is hardly addressed. As I’ve mentioned, evolving or choosing not to evolve are one method of allowing Pokémon to develop, considering, Axew has expressed a desire to evolve, I think he should have at least evolved into Fraxure before the BW series concluded. As aside from him learning Dragon-type moves and developing as a battler, once, Dragonite’s introduced he’s kind of pushed to the sidelines and doesn’t develop any further. 

Even in Iris’ battle against Clair she opts to use Dragonite instead and develops a telepathic connection with him? (I honestly don’t know). Surely, if Iris is going to develop a telepathic bond with any of her Pokémon it should be Axew, her starter. They could have utilised the battle with Clair as a way for Axew to evolve, they could have still lost but Iris and Axew (or Fraxure) would have developed and deepened their bond. 

In Episode 65 of Journeys, just as many fans predicted Axew had evolved all the way to his final evolution, Haxorus. My only issue with this is why couldn’t he have at least evolved once during his time in BW. I think many fans would have loved to have seen the moment Axew had evolved into Fraxure and later Haxorus. 

Excadrill:

Out of all of Iris’ Pokémon, Excadrill is probably my favourite despite the fact he’s not even a Dragon-type. What I love about Excadrill, is the twist in the rebellious Pokémon story, don’t get me wrong I loved the arcs with Ash’s Charizard and Dawn’s Mamoswine but I love it when they spice up or change the formula. In this scenario, it was Iris’ immaturity and inability to understand her Pokémon’s feelings that caused Excadrill to close himself off. Excadrill’s arc was honestly one of my favourite arcs of BW, as Excadrill acted as the trigger to Iris’ character development. 

Not to mention for a while, Excadrill was Iris’ ace, understandably as in the beginning, Axew was still developing as a battler and Emolga had her little Volt Switch tactic. There’s also the fact, Excadrill helps cover Iris’ team weaknesses to Ice and later the newly introduced Fairy type also being part Steel-type, Excadrill resists Dragon-type moves. Not to mention, Excadrill helped Iris win the Club Battle, battled against Tornadus and Thundrus and drew against Drayden’s Haxorus after losing to the Axe Jaw Pokémon many years ago. Is just a testament, to Excadrill’s strength.

However, I use the phrase “for a while”, since like the rest of the Iris’ Pokémon, once, Dragonite’s introduced they are kind of pushed to the side and don’t develop any further. However, despite the lack of character development following his arc, I still love Excadrill and his story.

Emolga:

Now, Emolga is a Pokémon, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I loved her personality, but my issue is why did Iris need to catch Emolga? Emolga is an Electric/Flying-type, so she doesn’t really aid in Iris reaching her goal nor does her typing contribute strategically to Iris’ team as she doesn’t help cover any weaknesses. Also, aside from her initial disobedience when she’s first caught, Emolga doesn’t really experience any character development, she doesn’t have a character arc like Excadrill or has a rival (aside from Snivy) that she has to overcome. 

I honestly don’t have much to say about Emolga, as they never really gave her story, she just felt like an unusual catch.

Dragonite:

I will be honest; I am not a huge fan of Iris’ Dragonite. Firstly, it felt as though, the writers forgot to give her an additional Dragon-type and just rewarded her with this random Dragonite. Secondly, there is the fact, that Dragonite was disobedient towards Iris despite the fact he joined her team willingly. Thirdly, he single handedly ruins all of the character development Iris had built up to that point. During the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, Iris has tantrums during her battles when Dragonite doesn’t listen to her. His continuous victories, caused Iris to be overconfident, kept using him despite the risks and was surprised when she lost. After the match, Cynthia explains Dragonite doesn’t have complete confidence in Iris as a trainer. My question ends up being, why join someone you don’t have complete and utter confidence in? Did Dragonite see some sort of potential in Iris? I honestly don’t know. I just found Dragonite’s whole arc frustrating as he completely diminished Iris’ development up to that point and undermines Excadrill’s arc.  

Iris has had some of her best moments throughout the series with the other Unovan Dragon-types such as Druddigon and Deino both of which would have been great captures for her particularly Deino as she has a Hydreigon in the games.

Also, HE. SHOULD. HAVE. LOST. TO. DAWN’S. MAMOSWINE!!!! (and I’m not just saying that because I love Dawn and her Mamoswine)

Additionally, for every trainer we’ve had so far, their ace tends to be their starter. However, with Iris at one stage it was Excadrill and later it became Dragonite. During, Iris’ battle with Clair, she develops a telepathic connection with him (I honestly didn’t understand), we’ve seen trainers communicate with their Pokémon, non-verbally but they’ve all tended to be Psychic-types, which is what makes this scenario stranger. Dragonite ends up overshadowing the rest of Iris’ Pokémon and they don’t develop any further after he joins the party. 

If the writers absolutely felt that they had to give Iris a Dragonite, they could have at least done it whilst she was in Johto since Dragonite’s pre-evolutions can be found in Dragon’s Den and Route 45. It honestly would have made more sense than giving her a Gible which isn’t even native to Johto and we haven’t even been given a hint on whether or not Gible is appearing in the next episode.

Pokémon Conclusion:

I know Iris caught a Gible and Episode 65 mentioned she caught a Goodra (which I honestly don’t why they keep giving her the same Pokémon as Ash) but I don’t know enough about either of them to write anything analytically. Generally, I tend to love certain Pokémon because of the way they are portrayed in the anime or whether they belonged to a certain character I liked. Nevertheless, a character’s Pokémon team is meant to help contribute towards their development. However, with Iris’ team it is difficult to say, Excadrill for a short period definitely contributed towards Iris’ growth, but I felt that was ruined by Dragonite’s appearance. It doesn’t help that Haxorus evolved off-screen so we don’t even get to see the build-up towards his evolution. That’s why I feel like Iris’ Pokémon could have been one aspect of her character that could have been written better.

Iris’ Rivals:

We’ve had some amazing rivals throughout the series, some of my favourite rivals include Drew, Paul, Ursula, the list could go on and on. For me a good rival is someone I’m cheering on the main character to beat, I feel disappointed when they don’t and ecstatic and proud when they do. The BW series introduced a plethora of rivals not only for Ash, even Iris and Cilan had their own rivals. 

For Iris, it was a girl called Georgia, who aims to defeat every Dragon-type trainer after suffering a defeat from a trainer at the Village of Dragons. When Georgia, is first introduced alongside Excadrill, I felt as though she was a trigger for Iris’ character development as she unintendedly triggered the events that allowed Iris to repair her relationship with Excadrill. However, it goes downhill, a rival is meant to encourage the main characters to better themselves and work hard to eventually defeat them. Yet, I feel like Iris does this more for Georgia rather than the other way around. Georgia actually captures Pokémon that have an advantage over or resist Dragon-types, rightly complains about Iris’ lack of Dragon-types despite aiming to be a Dragon Master and Georgia actually lives up to her goal by defeating several Dragon-types during tournaments.

If Georgia appeared more frequently and actually battled Iris (because in 2 out of the 3 tournament arcs, she’s knocked before even gets to battle Iris) we would engage with her more as a rival especially if she was someone difficult to defeat. I liked the fact that each of the main characters receiving a rival, however, in story-telling wise they fall flat as after her introductory episode Georgia doesn’t help progress Iris’ character development. Moreover, the characters’ main rivals tend to gain the most development, yet, Georgia hardly develops, she doesn’t accept her losses unless it is a Dragon-type or she blames her losses on circumstances such as the battlefield. Georgia’s pettiness and immaturity, honestly, reminds me of Harley and Ursula.

However, aside from Georgia, characters such as Drayden, Cynthia or Clair I don’t really see as rivals. Firstly, I don’t see Drayden as a rival, I’m not even sure what he’s meant to be, as Iris appears intimidated by him following their battle at the Village of Dragons and her experience at Opelucid Academy. He was the one that recommended Iris go on a journey rather than attend school. Considering, Iris is a child, being treated like this she would get the impression that Drayden doesn’t like her, which, is no wonder she is shocked when he announces his decision to choose her as his successor. In the games, they are shown to be close, as Iris affectionately refers to Drayden as “Grandpa”, I think if they transferred that relationship into the anime, it would have made Drayden’s choice of selecting Iris as his successor feel a lot more natural. 

Cynthia is definitely someone I didn’t see as a rival for Iris, however, given that Iris is a champion now that might change. However, I’ll write with the material I have, it was clear Iris looked up to Cynthia due to her ace being part Dragon-type (which may be why the writers felt the need to give her a Gible). Aside, from their battle and giving Iris advice on her relationship with Dragonite. The two hardly interact, to me Cynthia was more of an inspiration or role model for Iris to look up to.

Finally, we have Clair, who I feel is more of a mentor and role model for Iris rather than a rival. I understand the two had a battle in the BW special, however, that battle felt more like a learning experience for Iris and deepened her bond with Dragonite. To be fair, Clair is an ideal role model for Iris in comparison to Cynthia (despite being a champion) Clair actually specialises in Dragon-types and she is respected amongst other Dragon-users. Although Clair isn’t a rival (at least not in my eyes) as a mentor she helped Iris grow during their brief encounters, the fact that Clair had a cameo in Journeys, shows her contribution towards Iris’ development.

Despite, the fact, BW definitely had a plethora of rivals for the main characters a majority of them fell short, they were either annoying, hardly contributed towards the story or any development or just appeared once. It was refreshing to see, rivals introduced for goals such as a Dragon Master and a Pokémon Connoisseur, as I wasn’t sure how rivals could be implemented for such goals aside from aiming for the same goal as previous rivals. Nevertheless, Georgia was meant to be Iris’ primary rival and aside from her first appearance, she hardly contributed to Iris’ overall development. They hardly battled, Georgia hardly appeared and Georgia didn’t develop much either. All in all, the writers fell short writing a good rival for Iris.

Journeys:

I understand I’m a bit late since Episode 65 aired a few weeks ago. Like many fans, I was impressed by Iris’ growth during her absence, culminating in her becoming the Unova Champion. Although this leaves me a bit confused as to when Iris left the series, she was set to be Drayden’s successor as the Opelucid Gym Leader, now that she’s a Champion does this mean Drayden has to find an alternative successor? It kind of renders the whole homecoming arc in BW, kind of pointless. 

Drayden explains how Iris during her absence from the series continued to meet and battle with other Dragon-type trainers and alludes to the fact she’s caught a Gible (which we knew) and a Goodra, I don’t understand why they keep giving Iris these random Dragon-types that Ash has also caught. Did Iris catch Goodra in Kalos? Did she meet Drasna of the Kalos Elite Four? Anyway, what I like about this whole scene, is despite being Champion, Iris still doesn’t feel as though she has accomplished her goal of becoming a Dragon Master. Whilst, I respect the fact Iris still wants to grow as a trainer, it raises the question of what does it take to become a Dragon Master? Does it differ from person to person? 

Additionally, they’ve explained the ability Iris developed in the BW special, as an ability to read a Dragon Pokémon’s emotions. Which to be honest, I still find it a bit baffling, it's understandable for Psychic-type specialists and to some extent, Ghost-type specialists as Phoebe of the Hoenn Elite Four can apparently communicate with ghosts, but, for the sake of the story, I’ll accept it. 

I was impressed with the battle and comedy aspects of this episode with my favourite moments being the looks Emolga and Pikachu gave their trainers when they were bickering and when Iris and Ash quite literally blew the roof of the gym. I mean to be fair; it should be a requirement at this point that Gyms need an open roof in the Pokémon world just to avoid this kind of incident. 

The battle I was impressed with, subverted some of my expectations and worries, as I thought it would follow the pattern of Ash’s battle with Korrina where Gengar was swiftly defeated and Dragonite took down both of Korrina’s Pokémon. I felt bad for poor Dragonite being intimidated by Iris’ Dragonite (his glare reminds me of Harley’s Wigglytuff) and Ash being the good trainer that he is recalls Dragonite. This bit, I loved as it shows Ash’s compassion as a trainer. We had the bit we were waiting for! Ash actually using Dracovish, I feel as though Dracovish is definitely one of the weaker aspects of Ash’s character in this series as in Episode 63, aside from Water Gun, he didn’t know Dracovish’s moves or the fact he runs faster underwater (although to be fair Dracovish is a new species of Pokémon that people hardly know anything about so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt). I feel if we’d seen Ash training with Dracovish, the build-up to this battle would have been so much better and we could have seen a stronger bond between Ash and Dracovish form.

Part of me is relieved was that Dracovish didn’t go on to defeat Dragonite and Haxorus as the lack of screen-time with Dracovish could not justify that outcome. However, I’m still not satisfied with the outcome of this battle. In my previous analysis, I mentioned that I didn’t want them to pull the same stunt they did with Korrina, and what did they go and do? I understand Ash is also a Champion, however, they built up the fact Dragonite fully accepts Iris as his trainer, her Axew is now fully evolved and is her ace (as he should have been from the start!) and then they go and make her lose! 

Like Korrina, this completely undermines all of Iris’ efforts in her absence and continues my biggest gripe with Journeys being pacing. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ash and I love seeing him succeed but when they build up a character returning like this people were kind of hoping Iris would win or draw with Ash (which would at least minimize the pacing issue slightly). In my opinion, a draw would have been a more satisfying conclusion, as it would reflect on both Iris and Ash’s growth during their time apart in a more positive light. 

Conclusion:

This extended analysis has been long overdue and I think it has allowed me to elevate my opinion of Iris but due to some weird writing choices. I don’t feel that same level of attachment that I’ve felt towards other travelling companions. But writing this analysis helped me see that a lot of the hate towards her is exaggerated. As she has had some great moments and development throughout BW. One of my favourite arcs in BW, was Iris restoring her relationship with Excadrill which was one of the most poignant moments of the series.

Overall, this analysis has not only helped improve my opinion on Iris but when a character we’re meant to like is written poorly, we’re less likely to like them or engage with them as well as you would with another character. This is why I’m having such an issue with Journeys at the moment and why I needed to take a little break from it. Although, I may watch the Gary episode, just to see Infernape in action again! Along with the rest of Ash’s Pokémon! 

[lunchador]

so when do we get the long post about your feelings about dragon age inquisition!!! i dunno if u wanna wait until dlc or not! i am i n t e r e s t e d (also its ok if u dont feel up to it im just!!!! again, interested in ur opinions/feelings)

kajsldkjf PLEASE I HAVE SO MANY DA FEELINGS ALL THE TIME and Inquisition was twice as long as the others so might as well do a word vomit now and I can always do another after the dlc (which several people have assured me are worth playing )

SO

Yeah so inquisition is long. I dislike open world games so a lot of the (super repetitive!!) side quests did grate on my nerves and that docks this game a few points but over all the LORE IS SO GOOD, and it tying in so many choices in from 1+2 is the greatest butterfly effect I ever experienced in video games. I thought telltale + Until dawn were fun for that but good LORD bioware has showed up all of those games and I am really stoked to try mass effect when its out later and play more bw games. I only played Anthem before this and that game seemed...idk, gutted against BW’s wishes.

ANYWAY

Yeah, I managed to go into the whole DA series knowing very, very little, despite how many artists I followed did fanart for it. Once I started playing, I added all the words I could think of to my blacklist but a lot of untagged stuff came through (fair, series is 10+ years old and inq is like what 4-5?). I allowed my friends to pressure me into playing an elf mage for the lore and to romance solas cuz they said he was as important to the story as alistair was. A lot of online followers said I should play how I wanted, which I def would recommend to anyone else, but honestly I can see where they came from and while he never would have been my first choice, I think he actually paired REALLY well with my Inq and how I was playing her. I put her as sensitive but trying to put her responsibility above herself, she was definitely the least funny of my 3 characters, but not incredibly serious. A bit reserved? Just more mature. She’s got faith but she didn’t think she was the chosen one but she’ll do her role the best of her ability. She makes hard decisions and then sobs her chest empty over them because how is one to ever feel like its the right one? I really like how the game lets you choose how you wanna approach the responsibility. Like i said, I wasn’t a reluctant chosen one, but she will do what she can. Versus my friend playing at the same time as me said he played as the second coming of jesus essentially lmfao Having so many characters come back for different roles was so GOOD!!! Like everyone told me Varric was in this one but were like ‘teehee you still cant romance him though’ but you how you play drastically changes your relationships with each person. Tons of characters I met I knew would be personal favorites but I ended up interacting way less because others were more fitting to my inquisitor. So i.e while I love Varric and would’ve smooched him a heartbeat with Hawke, I didn’t get that vibe with Clover. They were really good friends, he was a grounded friend with a sense of humor that was a good escape from everyone else and the ~inquisition~. At least, until the Beyond the Abyss quest. That obviously heavily fractured their friendship and hurt them both :( And i felt that for a long time, until the end. He looked tired. Poor guy is gonna be borderline dead in 4 at this point. But so many side characters you talk to coming back like Dagna and Samson??? Speaking of that quest, I got Stroud because, yeah...Alistair was dead for me and APPARENTLY IT COULD ALSO BE LOGHAIN??? If he stays a grey warden??  wish I did that so def would’ve preferred to save Hawke even if I think the wardens are more important as a concept but like.......i wanted to behead him, so....But yes even tiny details like..Varric wrote home to kirkwall to Carver for me because the rest of my family was dead and I never completed a full romance in 2 lkajslkdjf but the fact that changes based on your play through. BUT YEAH THE way this game weaves all your decisions in and how yeah, overall the story is the same but it makes it so personal to YOU and so different from everyone else ;w;

But I could see my Inq genuinely falling for Solas, and I see her best friends as Cassandra and Blackwall/Thom. Really close to Leliana and the Iron Bull as well. I just loved all their interactions. All the characters were so cool to get to know?? Like I thought I would’ve hated Cullen (hes a dick in O) and tbh I just got into the series as the VA was being a complete shit. But I liked him a lot!! I love the work buddies vibes between the Inq and the advisors. I thought I was going to love Sera!! And like, I did, but she hated my Inquisitor and their personalities clashed a lot. Shes the only one i didn’t get a cut scene for in the end :’) I loved coming back from story quests and having to take like 20 minutes to go around skyhold and make sure I talked to /everyone/ for their new dialogue. You genuinely feel connected to all these wonderful npcs ljkasljdf

I wanted to make Cassandra the new divine but I made leliana on accident and kinda dug it so I stuck with it. VARRIC IS THE NEW VISCOUNT??? h i l a r i o u s.

One of the things I loved the most in this game in particular, and while this is something in all of them it just really struck me in this one, was....everyone gave up so so much to devote themselves to the cause, y’know?? Like, it’s almost heartbreaking how much everyone loses and they’re still looking towards you with their belief and willingness to follow you to the end ;-;

The final fight almost felt, Idk, underwhelming? Dude dragons are way tougher than him asdkjhfkhjd. I even went up a difficulty in this game after feeling like I got the hang of the series. But at the same time, we just spend how many hours knocking down each and one of his advantages so fuck him lol.

But yeah there are so many things I wanted to do but I felt so worn out by mindless sidequests and story being level locked in comparison to the previous games. askdjhflkd

One of the things that blows my mind is so so many people were stoked i was playing DA and they couldn’t wait til I got to Inq, and so I find out most people I know only ever played Inquisition? TBH if I didn’t play O+2 I think I would’ve dropped inquisition and never finished it *shrug* all of the build up just means SO MUCH!!! Everyones argument seems to be the older games are ugly and yeah O has rough battle system but its easy to get over imo. Like, you need the chaos of 2 to get the real weight of the mage/templar stuff?? Theres so many characters and story and dialogue that go over your head without Origins?? Like yes inq can stand alone pretty well but, idk, I’m in love with this entire series and the world building and THE!! WAY!!! IT!!! ALL!!! CONNECTS!!!!!!!!!!!

I love how a quest can go differently by whos in your party, I love you can have more dialogue based on lore you’ve managed to pick up around, I love HOW COMPANIONS BICKERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! The lore of these games are so good. It’s like playing an epic line of novels. It’s so immersive and I don’t think I’ve played too many games to this level.

I didn’t like the skill trees to being a mage in this one, Idk why. It wasn’t nearly as fun for me as 2, but then  again I really fucking liked being a force mage haha. I wanted to be a rogue to complete a diff class per game but everyone said mage brings a lot more interesting story/lore stuff so

but yeah I love having the full context now and seeing other peoples Wardens/Hawkes/Inquisitors and asking people how they played and how their options differed from mine and THERES JUST SO MANY POSSIBLE DECISION TREES!!!!! No wonder the fans play over and over.

but yeah ultimately so much fucking happened?? I’m probably missing a lot of key points.

[thicceon]

My Final Views on Pokémon Sword & Shield

There’s my Trainer! Isn’t she lovely? Anyways, this is a game I had so many strong feelings about, so I feel like jotting this down so I can give it a lil’ bit of closure.

The National Dex

This was perhaps the game’s greatest controversy leading up to release, so I want to give my thoughts on this first. I don’t mind the absence of the National Dex as long as it improves the game all around. I think it’s an okay decision moving forward. However, in these games you can tell half the existing Pokémon were cut just to save time in order to meet a holiday release, not to actually improve the game.

Presentation

The game makes a powerful first impression. The campaign’s strongest moments are probably the first couple hours. The narrative really caught my attention in the beginning and I felt SUPER hyped for my first few gym battles. The story’s climax is also pretty exciting. Game Freak did step up to the plate where it counted most, fortunately. 

Gameplay

The game is bare, short, and vapid. Halfway through it’s REALLY apparent how rushed the game is. You end up zooming through tiny routes that feel more like hallways than anything, and only have a couple Trainers in them. Most “cities” are smaller than the ones in Red & Blue. There is a town that’s literally just a corridor with a Pokémon Center and outdoor gym. This is also one of the coolest cities in the game, so seeing that wasted potential is very frustrating. 

The NPCs feel lifeless and have nothing interesting to say. I don’t see anyone else talking about this! The NPCs in BW, XY, and SM actually had some very entertaining dialogue once the tutorial stuff was out of the way, whether it was hilarious, straight-up weird, or genuinely thought-provoking and insightful. Everyone feels so...boring.

The Wild Area is...rough. It looks horrid. However, it’s still where I had the most fun in the game. It’s a great concept and I think Game Freak had a decent first go at creating an open world Pokémon experience. It wasn’t a particularly fun place to explore per se, but it was enthralling just to be able to control the camera and go where I please. Being able to see glimpses of other players here is also a wonderful addition, and something I’ve wanted from the series for a while. All in all, this area has a delightful MMO feel to it. Raids are also very fun! It’s great to have a co-op feature to play with friends, and the rewards and rarity of Gigantamax forms gives you a good reason to do them!

There are many wonderful QoL features in this game. Pokémon’s UI experience has never been smoother. There's one rather large caveat though, which is the online experience. It’s nonsensical not to include a friends list for easy trading and battling with your pals, and most of the time the stamp system just doesn’t work. It’s extremely frustrating, but sigh it’s workable.

I also must say that I hate the Exp. All being baked into the game. The feature itself is not the problem, it’s the fact that I have literally no way of turning it off, despite previous games allowing you to. This was borderline game ruining for me, as it killed any sense of satisfaction I felt leveling my Pokémon. It genuinely felt like the game was raising my Pokémon for me. Yeah, not for me.

The post-game is practically non-existent. There’s a lifeless husk that qualifies as a Battle Tower of sorts, but that’s all you’ll find, Champ. But of course, this has become standard for modern Pokémon games.

Graphics 

The Wild Area looks very shoddy, however, the rest of the game looks genuinely beautiful! The overworld textures are poor, and this is not a high-fidelity game by any means, but the general art direction and colors are gorgeous. The new Pokémon have nice models, and the older ones have greatly improved textures. The cities all look distinct and lovely. However, the pop-in of NPCs is very apparent and feels jarring. I can tolerate a little pop-in, but this draw distance is short enough where I will just about hit NPCs that appear before my eyes while biking.

Pokémon still lack battle animations that are even comparable to the Stadium games. _That’s _the type of stuff that should be improved by cutting Pokémon.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is decent and has its own flare. There are a few standout tracks, my favorite being the Slumbering Weald at the beginning. Gym battles have a great chanting effect that really adds to the atmosphere. My biggest complaints are that a few of the city themes are weak, and theres a real lack of route themes. 

Story

It feels rushed and empty, like everything else in the game. Conceptually I think it’s pretty strong, and as I said before, the climax is great. However, the story beats leading up to the climax are hilariously rushed and character’s actions begin to make zero sense. You also visit areas that were so obviously meant to be dungeons, but were condensed into single rooms. One significant scene didn’t even get a proper cutscene and was instead told via a slideshow that looked like screenshots of the models painted over. 

As for the characters, I’m extremely disappointed with how underdeveloped the main villain was, despite him having an intriguing, and surprisingly contemporary motive. I was also bummed out that Marnie, a rival advertised as being significant, had practically no story relevance whatsoever. Team Yell also was very underutilized. 

Hop was okay; decently developed. Bede is probably my favorite rival in the series since Cheren. I’m one of those people that’s been complaining for a decade about how we haven’t had a jerkass rival since Johto, and I’m very pleased to finally have one again. His arc is also solid, though a bit under-explored.

Leon was good. It’s rare for the series to tell us who the Champion we’re fighting is before it’s time to tango with them. It was nice to see him have a presence throughout the entire game, and it was interesting to see the types of responsibilities a Champion has, such as protecting the region and...signing endorsement deals.

Closing

Yeah, the game is okay. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not a train wreck. Just okay. It’s very apparent that it was meant to be so much more though, and that’s frustrating. It feels like even 6 more months could’ve made a world of a difference. I don’t believe Game Freak is lazy. I don’t believe they’re incompetent. However, I do think the yearly release schedule of Pokémon games really hampers the potential of not only the games, but the developers.

But perhaps that’s just what we have to accept from such a juggernaut IP. Sword & Shield is about the quality you’d expect from most MCU movies, or those live-action Disney remakes. It’s solid, and it’s the standard fun you’d expect from the property, but it lacks any depth. 

But I can’t really bring myself to call it a step back for the series. It does its fair share of things better than XY and SM, even if if those two games are much fuller experiences. Right, this is a decent first real entry for the main series into the home console market. However, it’s still nothing compared to the sheer breadth of content available in the GBA or DS games.

But this game signified to me that the “golden age” of Pokémon is really gone for good. Sword & Shield was never concerned about living up to those titles though. Gaming has changed. Gamers have changed. And thus, Pokémon has changed. Most games aren’t intended to last you the better part of a year now, unless they’re a live multiplayer service with consistent updates.

As a veteran superfan that's been absolutely enamored by the franchise since before I could even read, I’ll admit that I find it a bit of a challenge to judge Pokémon games on their own individual merit, rather than against the now substantial catalogue that makes up the legacy of the series. Sword & Shield isn’t worried about living up to the past, it’s a step towards the future, clumsy as it may be. However, that future is still going to need some more substance to it before I can consider it a bright one.