r/videogames • u/ririaliali • 2h ago

Discussion / Question Games/franchises that I theoretically like everything about... except actually playing them

  1. Pokémon

I love the world, characters, and creature designs of Pokemon. It's such a fun series to imagine fan works for; I would come up with a fake region with its own lore and characters and Pokémon in a heartbeat, because this franchise leaves so much up to the imagination and has infinite potential for stories based on the behaviors of Pokémon and how society and people's lives would be structured around them. It's a shame, then, that nearly every Pokemon game I've tried has bored me to death, be it SoulSilver, Platinum, X, etc. (I haven't tried any of the games past USUM, so take this with a grain of salt).

It's not even necessarily a turn-based combat problem, as I love games like OMORI, Yakuza: Like a Dragon/Infinite Wealth, Expedition 33, and the Persona series; it just feels like there is so much potential that these games aren't living up to, and the creative drive I have about it is a desire to make something more in-depth and engrossing out of it. Being a game for children doesn't mean the writing has to be boring, and I think it would benefit greatly from some modernizations in its UI and combat. The games I listed above manage to make turn-based combat feel really good, and putting aside the real-time elements of E33, it mostly comes down to snappy menus, few pace-breaking text boxes, and some amount of visual flair.

From what I've heard, aside from the technical flaws, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet actually do a pretty good job making the Paldea region and its residents into something rather interesting and engaging, so I might want to check those out at some point.

  1. Minecraft

This one is entirely a me problem, I think. In theory Minecraft should be my forever game, with endless creative freedom to build whatever you desire, not to mention the theoretically endless enjoyment of playing with friends. I love knowing about Minecraft, I love seeing others play it, but I have never really enjoyed playing it myself. I don't have an essay for this one.

Do y'all have any games like that?

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u/nyssaR 1h ago

Knights of The Old Republic 1&2. Revan and the Jedi Exile and the Mandalorian Wars and the whole shebang are gold mines of in-depth writing and worldbuilding. I'm still so attached to saga even though I'm not a Star Wars person generally except for early seasons of The Mandalorian and Rogue One-Andor. but I just cannot be arsed to replay the games, they become tedious as I get older.