Crafting a Dekonstruer 1

Welcome internet goers, friends, TAs, blog readers (which I'm still actually surprised that people really read this thing voluntarily cause I'm not, this is my school work, I'm snarky and sarcastic at best when I'm not lazy, and other than my emotional blog about Assassin's Creed 2 my blogs are very entertaining [A few of my friends seem to disagree with my belief that I'm not funny but I don't believe then] so I really don't understand why people who don't have to read this thing actually do but you know whatever) to my latest blog which will be dedicated to deconstructing an analyzing the game design atoms of a game of my choosing. Now there are numerous games I could choose but I think I'm going to have to go with one of my most recent games that I bought (which 1 I've almost beaten, 1 I played a bit with friends in our school's gamer lab where we have our gaming systems, 1 I just got an haven't started yet cause I'm super busy and probably won't start it until I've finished school and my first game), which will be the newest generation of Pokemon (yeah guys I'm gonna analyze Pokemon, clearly I am the coolest of the cool), Pokemon X.

So in the Pokemon series, you play as a young Pokemon trainer (seriously guys I'm pretty sure these kids are like 12 and they are sent out into the world with a single weak Pokemon and a good luck. What is wrong with the parents and adults of the Pokemon universe like seriously! Irresponsible much?) who travels the region collecting gym badges, catching Pokemon and making friends along the way, Oh and you know single-handedly defeat an evil organization who are trying to like take over the world or some other evil reason.

For this blog I'm going to be focusing on the game design atoms (Players, Objectives, Rules, Resources, etc) found in Pokemon and how they interact with the game. Now I am warning all readers right now that there will be major spoilers for this game so read at your own discretion. SPOILERS BELOW BEWARE!!

Players

So the Pokemon games are generally made for kids around the ages 10 and up but the amount of 21 years who nearly wet themselves in excitement for this Gen's games was ridiculous (myself and my friends included in this). In fact there are over 4 million people who bought this game and are playing the game which is saying some because if you have played one game you kinda have played them all especially since the basic plat never really changes the details, but for dedicated players that doesn't really matter to much for them. New games means new rivals to beat, new pokemon to catch, new areas to explore, and a new evil team with evil intentions to defeat.

 

 Without the players Pokemon wouldn't be what it is today and with some of the new changes Game Freak has made to the game the fan base is even stronger than ever. Without players accepting the games as they are, Pokemon wouldn't be as successful as it is, the players and fans are literally the most important game atom of the Pokemon franchise. Now a normal generic adventure in Pokemon is generally the player against the game system, however players can face and interact with each other through the battling and trading mechanic.

Objectives/Goals

 

So Pokemon always starts out as a basic quest of explore the world, catch all the Pokemon (There are over 600 pokemon and your pokeboxs can only hold less than half that number, good luck), and become the best there ever was. Eventually you get new goal which is to constantly beat your rival at every turn cause it's fun and if you are playing the first Gen games, Gary is kinda of jerk so its all about getting even. Collecting all the gym badges and beating the Elite Four to become the Pokemon champion is another goal of the game and kinda ties into a lot of the other goals in the game. Not only does knowing you are stronger than the gym leaders who are like the strongest of the strong, you also get cool stuff and unlock cool moves like cut and surf, which if taught to the right pokemon can get you into new, unexplored areas. The following are the numerous objectives/goals found in Pokemon X:

• Defeating Rivals

• Now in Pokemon X, unlike any other pokemon game, the player has 4 rivals (Technically you have 4 but really you only need to take 1 seriously) who are constantly interacting, competing and battling with you. They are the ones who give you your first pokemon, Pokedex and constantly show up throughout your adventure and are either helpful or just useless sometimes. Each rival has something different about them and you have to fight them multiple times in order to progress in the game.

• Catching Them All/ Filling the Pokedex

• So in every game the player is given a job of going out into whatever region the game takes place in to find, catch and train all the pokemon, (which is a ridiculous goal cause there are over 600 Pokemon and it's extremely hard to do especially with version exclusive pokemon) and fill up the pokedex. Despite the difficulty many players strive to catch them all and by trading, evolving, and breeding catching all isn't as daunting as a task.

• Gym Badges/ Pokemon League/Become Champion

• So like every game before it in Pokemon X you need to go and battle through a series of gyms (which in this game are really over the top and made me question the sanity of the gym leaders like seriously) in order to unlock certain moves outside of battle, move onto different areas, heck even unlock new clothing in the boutique. With the defeat of each gym and trainer standing in your way, you are constantly working to the ultimate goal, the defeat of the elite 4 (basically they are 4 trainers who are really strong and have nothing better to do than chill around waiting for a trainer to come challenge them) and the Pokemon champion (the greatest trainer of them all, this trainer is the one you are training and plotting to replace the whole game).

• Team Flare

•  So while becoming the best there ever was you run across a bunch stylish weirdos in red suits claiming to be from Team Flare, the main antagonists of the game who at first seem a little silly because of the whole you got pay a million dollars just to be part of Team Flare. Now at first Team Flare's main goal seems to be a Get Money Get Paid sort of deal which isn't really all that evil aside from you know stealing a bunch of Pokeballs and electricity, until the game drops a huge plot bomb when you discover Team Flare's main goal isn't Get Money Get Paid but actually MASS GENOCIDE (Well Played Game Freak I didn't see that one coming), so as any responsible adult, Professor Sycamore gets a bunch of kids (This becomes a major goal after revealing their evil plan, rather than just a small secondary objective) to stop Team Flare, save the legendary pokemon and all of the Pokeworld.

•  Although you have to admit for being a bunch of crazies who want total annihilation, they look fantastic! I mean look at those outfits they are seriously styling. 

Rules/Mechanics

So like every game there are a few rules in place in Pokemon X, mostly they pertain to specific areas where you access when at a certain level or number of badges, like Victory Road or the Poke Village, certain moves that cannot be taught to certain pokemon (I mean you wouldn't want a Pikachu knowing Aerial Ace that just doesn't make sense and is totally not fair). There are certain rules like you cannot run from a trainer battle or catch another trainer's pokemon which are reasonable. There are also rules pertaining to how many pokemon you can have in your party, when certain pokemon become available to find and capture and what moves can be used during battle. 

Resources

There are numerous resources available to players in Pokemon X, in fact I'm pretty sure this generation has the greatest number of resources especially since the introduction of customized clothing and Pokemon Amie. Some of the resources available are as followed:

• Your captured Pokemon
• TMs & HMs
• Pokeballs
• Potions, Revives, Status Heals, Etc
• Berrys
• Rollarblades, Bicycles, Fishing Rods, Town Map, etc.
• Clothing
• Pokepuffs & Vitamins

Sequencing

Sequencing is a large aspect of Pokemon X, especially with how the battle system works and game progression. The battle system is entirely turn base in which trainers must make strategic moves either attacking switching pokemon or using items. Every action uses up one turn and players cannot make any actions until all turns for both the player, an ally and enemies have been completed and the cycle starts again. In addition, to the battle system the game's story as well as the gyms are sequenced in a specific order which cannot be skipped if the player wishes to continue through the game world, for example players cannot reach the Poke Village (which is seen above) until the have reached the 8th gym city.

Player Interaction

Normally Pokemon is a single player game with limited player interaction outside of battling and trading pokemon with your friends and family, however player interaction have increased tremendously in Pokemon X and is greatly encouraged. With version exclusive pokemon it's always good to have a friend with a different version but in Pokemon X players can easily connect with other players around the world by simply activating their devices wifi capabilities.

With the introduction of Wonder Trade, a random trading mechanic that randomly matches up 2 trainers to trade mystery pokemon, the friend safari, which utilizes player's registered friends to give players access to areas that have special and generally unavailable pokemon, and the Battle spot, an online battle area that allows players from all over the world to battle and find out who the true champion really is. In additions, players have the ability to request certain pokemon from the pokemon community for a trade as well as give other trainers power boosts called O-Power to help them out during their adventure.

Conclusion

Pokemon X and Y are by far the best pokemon games ever released, not only did they introduce a new type which is super awesome, but the story is great, the main villains are actually really evil, its so much easier to interact with other players whenever you want, and they introduced character customization, which is what everyone has been wanting since the introduction of customizable secret bases (which I really want back). If you haven't played or picked up this game do it! It is seriously epic!!