‘Pokémon’ games are overrated.

» Just because it’s nostalgic, doesn’t mean it’s good

Jessica Berget
Opinions Editor

 

s lam writing this, my room has more
okémon plushies than an eight-

year-old’s birthday party. I absolutely love
Pokémon and all of its adorable nostalgia,
but I can admit it’s overrated.

Since its debut in 1996, Pokémon
has become the highest-grossing media
franchise of all time and the second
highest-grossing video game franchise,
losing first to Mario. Its video games,
television shows, and card game have
been adored by children and adults alike.
However, the popularity of the Pokémon
games has been declining over the last few
years according to sales numbers, and I
don't think it’s too hard to understand why.

Pokémon fully deserved its hype when
it first came out, but it’s gotten old, tired,
and there hasn't been anything new or
exciting about the games for a long time. I
think the Pokémon themselves evolve more
than the game franchise has.

If you ask me, all the games are
the exact same. Once you've played one
Pokémon game, you've played them all.
Save for some of the new games updates
and new generations of monsters, the
storyline, the characters, the style, and
the challenges are all the same. It gets
extremely boring and frustrating after a
couple games, which is why I’ve only been
able to play about three. It was great when
it first came out, but I think the new games
lack engaging plot lines, new challenges,
and imagination.

 

Have an idea for a story?
M opinions@theotherpress.ca

The gameplay is also redundant.
Those who have played the games are
familiar with how much “grinding” or
leveling up is needed to go forward in the
story. It takes so much unnecessary time,
energy, and patience to level up all your
Pokémon that it almost feels like a chore,
rather than a game. | play video games to
fight things, unlock puzzles, and complete
challenges. Grinding may be considered a
challenge, but I wouldn't call fighting about
100 Wurmple and Rattata to go up a couple
of levels a challenge.

Furthermore, it takes all the fun out of
the game because it takes so much work to
level up compared to actual gameplay. Also,
there is nothing more frustrating then
when all your Pokémon are low on HP and
youre trying to get to a Pokémon Center,
but you keep running into wild Pokémon
or other trainers.

Dont put makeup on your child

» Let kids experiment with cosmetics when they're older

Jessica Berget
Opinions Editor

 

any of us experimented with makeup

when we were younger. It was fun
putting on some lip gloss and eyeshadow
before going to school ora birthday party.
Dabbling with makeup at a young age
and wearing it for Halloween is perfectly
normal. It’s when a young child wears lots
of makeup or wears it often that I think we
should start to be concerned.

I follow a couple of makeup blogs on
social media and as a result | have seen
my fair share of makeover videos—some
involving young children and lots of
makeup. While I do think it is fun for kids
to dress up once ina while, heavy makeup
is not something we should be integrating
into their lives at such a young age.

For one thing, there are a lot of
chemicals in makeup that can be harmful
for children’s skin. Children have a
higher metabolism rate than adults, so
their bodies can easily absorb the toxins,
according to environmental health
physician and toxicologist Dr. Mohd Hasni
Jaafar from the National University of
Malaysia Medical Centre.

“Children have a 10 to 20 percent
higher absorption rate compared with
adults due to their high metabolism.
Unfortunately, their bodies cannot
differentiate between good and bad
chemicals. All they can do is to absorb
whatever is being applied on their bodies
[...] and more worryingly, the effects will
become evident in the future,” he said in an
article by the New Straits Times.

Furthermore, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) does not require
cosmetic companies to have their products
or ingredients (except for colour additives)
approved before they sell them, meaning
there could be questionable ingredients
in cosmetics that the public is not aware
of. The popular cosmetics and retail chain
Claire’s recently had their makeup products
taken off the shelves because a law firm
tested their makeup and reportedly found
that it contained asbestos. If we don’t know
if the ingredients in makeup are safe for us,
and asbestos has allegedly been found in
a popular child’s makeup chain, is it really
safe to be using these products on kids?

Talso think it’s important to consider
the societal implications of putting
makeup on young children. I see cosmetics
as a mature, adult thing to wear. Although I

don’t think there’s any harm in letting kids
dabble, letting them wear it too often,
or wear too much of it, can have
consequences on their self-
esteem when they're older.
Makeup gets rid of your
imperfections—and as
kids I don't think it’s
healthy for them to
become accustomed
to the idea of
flawless beauty
via cosmetics. |
think it can have
repercussions
in the way they
perceive their own
beauty or their
self-esteem when
they grow up.

Kids have such
a short time to be
kids. Letting them
wear makeup makes
them feel and look older
when they should be having
fun being young. Their youth is
not a good time to be worrying about
their physical beauty, so save the makeup
for when they're older.

Pokémon games are overrated
¢ Don't put makeup on your child
Please stop saying ‘please’

¢ ..and more!

Image via u/MarineKingPrime_ on Reddit

All the storylines are the same; there’s
no creativity or imagination in the games’
plots anymore. There’s a rival or two, an evil
syndicate, and a quest that results in you
becoming the Champion. It may have been
fun and cute when we were all kids, but I
wish the game could have evolved or had
quests other than just fighting bad guys,
getting badges, and catching Pokémon.
Even some of the side quests in the game
are more fun and engaging then the main
game itself.

Tam aware how silly it sounds to be
complaining about a child’s video game,
but I don’t care. If Nintendo had decided
to be more creative and imaginative with
the game franchise, I think it would still
be as popular as it was when it first came
out. Pokémon still has a lot of charm, and
I will probably pick up a game again fora
nostalgic feel, but it is highly overrated.

  
 
    

Illustration by Cara Seccafien