Pokemon
Pokemon
Pokemon fans love Hisuian Voltorb in Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Olivia Richman
Pokemon fans are loving Voltorb’s new look in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Voltorb is one of the original 151 Pokemon, a “sphere Pokemon” that resembles a Pokeball but packs an electrical punch. Voltorb is getting a new design in Pokemon Legends: Arceus thanks to the new region, Hisui. The Hisuian Voltorb features a wooden body with more rustic colors, matching the older world featured in the open world Pokemon game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6-SDCGZglI …
Pokemon
Dragonite coming to Pokemon Unite in Christmas update
Steven Rondina
Tis the season for Christmas-themed events in and around the gaming world, and Pokemon Unite is set to get a big one for the holiday season with Dragonite’s release being just the tip of the iceberg. The official Pokemon Unite social media channels uploaded a trailer outlining what’s to come in the second half of December, and there’s a lot to unpack. Alongside a load of Santa-themed skins, Dragonite is …
Pokemon
How to find and catch Heatran in Pokemon BDSP
Steven Rondina
Heatran is one of the hardest hitters in all of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and it’s a Pokemon worth building a team around. But how do you catch it? The fire-steel type is one of the many legendaries that players can get in Pokemon BDSP, but catching it isn’t as simple as catching other Pokemon. There are a number of different hoops players need to jump through in …
Pokemon
Everything you need to know about Ramanas Park in Pokemon BDSP
Steven Rondina
The centerpiece of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl’s post-game is Ramanas Park. The newly-created area gives players access to a number of Pokemon that wouldn’t normally be available, including a wide variety of legendaries from past generations. There are a lot of different Pokemon to get excited about, but not everyone has access to each such Pokemon. Here’s how to reach Ramanas Park, how to unlock the new legendaries …
Pokemon
Here’s how to get and hatch eggs in Pokemon BDSP
Steven Rondina
Hatching eggs is an important part of every Pokemon game, with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl being no different. For anyone that’s serious about post-game Pokemon and online battling, breeding and optimizing a party is an absolute must. Teams that aren’t EV trained and IV bred will inevitably struggle to keep up with opponents that are, and might not even be up to scratch in the Battle Tower or post-game …
Pokemon
How to beat the Elite Four and Cynthia in Pokemon BDSP
Steven Rondina
How do you beat the Elite Four and Cynthia in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl? It’s a question that fans haven’t had to ask in years, with games getting progressively easier since Pokemon X and Y dropped all the way back in 2013. But in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Aaron, Bertha, Flint, Lucian, and Cynthia actually represent a legitimate challenge for anyone but the most overleveled player. …
Pokemon
Are Hisuian Pokemon coming to Pokemon GO in Season of Heritage?
Steven Rondina
The Pokemon GO Season of Heritage is here, and it’s likely to bring Hisuian Pokemon to the game in celebration of the release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Niantic has revealed the Season of Heritage, which follows this fall’s Season of Mischief. The Season of Mischief revolved around the mythical Pokemon Hoopa, introduced Galarian Pokemon to Pokemon GO, and culminated with players catching Shadow Lugia. While the rewards and goals of …
Pokemon
Here’s how to find and catch Mesprit in Pokémon BDSP
Steven Rondina
Legendary Pokémon that flee from battle are back, so how do you catch Mesprit in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl? At a quick glance, the only possible way to reliably catch Mesprit would be to either hit it with a Master Ball on turn one, or to get lucky with a Quick Ball. But that’s not actually the case. There is one key trick to catching Mesprit. It does …
Pokemon Unite wins Best Game of 2021 at Best of Play
Olivia Richman
Pokemon
Pokemon Unite has been crowned Best Game of 2021 in Google Play’s Best of Play 2021 awards. Best of Play 2021 is a game awards ceremony focused on mobile gaming and beyond. Google has called it a celebration of the games that “made positive contributions to culture” in 2021. Pokemon Unite took home the highest honor of the ceremony as the Best Game of 2021. “We tried to distill the …
Here are the weaknesses of Pokemon BDSP’s toughest enemies
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is technically a remake of an old game, but new moves and new mechanics are making things fit together differently from the Nintendo DS original. That leaves many players scratching their heads over the weaknesses and best ways to defeat some old Pokemon in BDSP. Because of that, it’s worth going over some of the different Pokemon that are causing problems for players and …
Here is the best Eevee evolution for current Pokemon games
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Pretty much everyone that’s ever played a Pokemon game loves Eevee and at least a few of the Eeveelutions. But objectively, what is the best Eevee evolution? We have the answer. The ability to evolve it into one of several different Pokemon makes Eevee a strong addition to many potential teams for a casual playthrough of a game. Once players make it to the post-game, there have always been a …
How to catch Eevee and Porygon in the Pokemon Mansion in BDSP
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
The Pokemon Mansion in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl contains some of the rarest and most sought-after Pokemon in the game, including Eevee and Porygon. The area is predominantly filled with cute Pokemon, but that doesn’t mean it’s full of weaklings. Here are the Pokemon that can be caught in the Pokemon Mansion’s Trophy Garden: ClefairyJigglypuffMeowthChanseyEeveePorygonCleffaIgglybuffMarillAzurillPlusleMinunCastformBonslyMime Jr.Happiny In addition to containing some of the rare baby Pokemon that can’t be …
How to get Defog, Fly, and every other HM in Pokemon BDSP
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
HMs are back in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but it’s not especially easy to find moves like Defog, Fly, and more. Fans who have been playing recent installments in the Pokemon franchise have gotten used to easily receiving the tools needed to navigate the world. Ride Pokemon and bike upgrades have been handed to players frequently as normal parts of the story, rarely requiring players to actually go …
Everything you need to know about Shadow Lugia in Pokemon GO
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Shadow Pokémon are the most potent offensive options in all of Pokémon GO, and legendaries like Shadow Lugia are particularly fearsome. The cover monster for Pokémon Silver has arrived in Pokémon GO in Shadow form in the Misunderstood Mischief event. This gives players the chance to add another overpowered psychic-type Pokémon to their lineup. Of course, that’s much easier said than done. It’s an ordeal getting through the Misunderstood Mischief …
How to get Ed Sheeran code, sunglasses Squirtle in Pokémon GO
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Pokémon GO is in the middle of a large collaboration with British musical artist Ed Sheeran. Niantic is taking a page out of Fortnite’s playbook and is working with musicians to create attention-grabbing musical events in Pokémon GO. But while Pokémon GO doesn’t really lend itself to grandiose events in the way that Fortnite does, the AR collect-a-thon is still putting together something special for those who aren’t scooping up …
This is how to get Leafeon in Pokemon GO
William Davis
Pokemon
Some of the most popular Pokemon to get in Pokemon GO are the Eevee evolutions, but not all of them are easy to acquire. One of the newest Eevee evolutions is Leafeon. The grass evolution of Eevee will work as a great offensive Pokemon and can also just act as a fun showoff piece for players who are lucky enough to have the shiny version. Getting it won’t just happen …
How to get mystery gift function and Manaphy in Pokemon BDSP
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have one of the best early purchase mystery gifts in the franchise’s history, but how do you actually get the mystery gift function? It’s very easy to miss how to get access to the mystery gift menu option in Pokemon BDSP, but the good news is that players can rectify this at any time. They ought to do it fairly soon however, as mythical …
This is the best Decidueye build for Pokemon Unite
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Decidueye has arrived in Pokemon Unite and now the question is, “What’s the best way to build it?” Decidueye is possibly the most traditional MOBA character in all of Pokemon Unite. While many have similarities to heroes and champions from Dota 2 and League of Legends, Decidueye is a pure carry character without any especially flashy abilities. Instead, the Pokemon’s basic attack is its greatest weapon, with the ability to …
These are all of the version exclusive Pokemon in BDSP
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
A staple of the Pokemon video game series is releasing two games with each featuring version-exclusive Pokemon, and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is no exception. Different Pokemon generations have had a variety of features to differentiate either title within each generation, and this has changed over time. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to tell apart Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl besides the different Pokemon split between the two games. …
Dataminer claims Tsareena coming to Pokemon Unite soon
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Decidueye’s arrival in Pokemon Unite is right around the corner, but another gen-seven grass-type Pokemon is set to arrive not long after. According to a datamine posted to Reddit, Tsareena is set to arrive in Pokemon Unite later this year. The dataminer also suggests that Tsareena will be made available for free as part of an event. While previous Pokemon data mines have discovered fully workable builds of upcoming Pokemon, …
Pokemon stands as the largest cross-media IP in the world by a comfortable margin, but how did it make such explosive gains?
For a long while, pivoting a video game franchise into a larger brand seemed impossible. Iconic titles like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Resident Evil received TV and film adaptations, with the most common result being catastrophic failure. That was the norm from the 1990s all the way into the 2020s; and it probably shouldn’t have been.
While Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and Silent Hill: Revelation were irredeemably bad, Pokemon showed that a video game series can be adapted into many different mediums. Here’s a quick history of the franchise and its future outlook.
Pokemon explodes with Game Boy games, quickly expands
Pokemon first arrived in Japan in 1996 with the release of Pokemon Red and Green; a pair of titles for the Nintendo Game Boy. The two games were largely identical, but each one had a handful of Pokemon that were exclusive to those titles. This encouraged players to collect and trade these monsters with others who purchased the games.
Later on in 1996, the game was reimagined as a trading card game. Then in 1997, an anime adaptation launched in Japan.
Both of those rapid-fire expansions earned strong success domestically. More importantly, it primed Pokemon for an overwhelming global push.
In 1998, the franchise officially crossed over into North America, Europe, and Australia. The games were killer apps for the Game Boy but it wasn’t just a video game. An accompanying anime aired new episodes daily, and the trading card game exploded out of the gate. This made it difficult to ignore Pokemon to the point where characters like Ash Ketchum and Pikachu were universally recognizable. Just like that, the franchise was unstoppable.
Pokemon expands beyond Nintendo consoles, grows even further
For decades, Pokemon video games were among the top-selling games each year they came out. The Pokemon TCG was one of the biggest in the industry. The anime was a constant, without even mentioning its many spin-off movies. Licensing characters for toys and apparel was a golden goose for all involved.
But the franchise was still positioned to grow further.
Almost all of the games were exclusive to Nintendo’s gaming hardware, but mobile gaming was on a sharp rise of its own. The franchise also released a long list of spin-offs, successfully turning the series into everything from a pinball game to a beat ‘em up. The Pokemon Company had dabbled with PC and mobile games previously, but started actively partnering with other studios in the 2010s.
The biggest example of this was Pokemon GO. The Pokemon Company partnered with AR game studio Niantic was an instant hit, being downloaded hundreds of millions of times. It was far from alone, however. Battling-focused gacha game Pokemon Masters, MOBA adaptation Pokemon Unite, and puzzle game Pokemon Cafe launched in the following years.
It wasn’t just licensed mobile games, though. Games like Detective Pikachu and New Pokemon Snap gave players fresh and varied ways to enjoy the familiar franchise.
Modern Pokémon games see mixed response, but sales remain strong
Though Pokémon has many lifelong fans, the mainline releases have long attracted controversy within the fandom. Though the first few generations were generally beloved, opinions on new and modern games releases vary wildly. Starting with the Nintendo Switch, critical response to the games wavered.
Reviews for Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee were lower than previous entries in the series. That pattern held with Pokémon Sword and Shield, which were also met with extreme backlash on social media.
Though each mainline game made every monster from previous generations available up until Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, this ended with Sword and Shield. Several fan favorites, including Beedrill and the Unovan starters, were made unobtainable in the game. The mega evolution and Z-move battle mechanics were also removed from the games. It’s unclear why or what methodology was used to determine which of the little monsters were left out.
Reviews sank further from there, with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, then Pokémon Scarlet and Violet garnering the lowest review averages for mainline games.
Despite this, the games were still an enormous commercial success. Pokémon Sword, Shield, Scarlet, and Violet ranked among the best-selling games in franchise history. Its publisher may have heeded some of the fan criticism however, as the company opted against releasing a new mainline game or expansion in 2024. This was the first year without a major game release since 2015.
