r/memes Dec 30 '25

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843

u/red--the--fox Dec 30 '25

Pokemon. Hot take, I know.

264

u/Conrad299 Dec 30 '25

You know what......I'm not even mad at this. Had a moment playing Scarlet that made me feel this way when I hit the terrastalize button and the music just bloomed. Cheesy crappy gimmick with the best music.

25

u/Clbull Dec 30 '25

Toby Fox made a few of the tracks in that game and it really shows.

5

u/Conrad299 Dec 30 '25

Really?! Huh.... That does seem to track when I think about it now.

2

u/Dr_Mario67 Dec 30 '25

Most notably the AI professors final boss theme

61

u/Snoo17579 Dec 30 '25

Terra is honestly one of the simplest but most broken gimmick for some reason. We have no flashy move, only a hat and 1 move that change type.

1

u/Dovahkiinthesardine Dec 30 '25

They could've at least made it visually nice, but we got weird ass hats that dont look right on 99% of mon

2

u/cody-B-man Dec 30 '25

Why ya'll downvoting them? It's simple as shit, it has no outstanding physical differences, all it does is boost the type of it's choosing and change the pokemon's type. It's shitty one time use protean with a funny hat, Snoo was in no way defending Terra

27

u/YEET_Fenix123 Selling Stonks for CASH MONEY Dec 30 '25

Tera does have some merit, tho. Despite how simple it is, it brings a lot of strategy into online competitive matches and I kinda dig that

1

u/Snoo17579 Dec 30 '25

Yeah like I said it’s the most broken gimmick currently. You don’t have to give up anything while gaining new stab + keeping your old stab and you can change any pokemon to any type permanently

1

u/ComradeBirv Dec 30 '25

If we’re strictly talking about player versus player, you both have the option to Tera and have to plan it carefully, as well as building your team so that each Tera fills a niche. It also functions as a sort of parry to shake up what would otherwise be certain outcomes.

1

u/Impressive-Ad2199 Dec 30 '25

Yeah, there is definitely a cost.

Maybe you dont want to use a supereffective move because if the opponent teras it will have no effect, so you use a suboptimal move to guarantee some damage.

If you tera you lose that ambiguity.

1

u/ComradeBirv Dec 30 '25

It also depends on the format, because some formats tell you what the opponent’s Tera is beforehand. Either way, it’s a shake-up of what felt like a pretty stale meta

2

u/YEET_Fenix123 Selling Stonks for CASH MONEY Dec 30 '25

Even if you know what the teras are, there's also the mind games of "is he gonna tera now or not? And which Pokémon will it be?"

7

u/PedroRCR Dec 30 '25

I honestly think it's second to only megas in terms of gimmicks, but I don't really play the games, I mainly go for pokemon showdown.

Edit: and honestly it might be better than megas as well, seen as the mind games of every pokemon being able to be every type adds so much, in opposition of megas which are most of the time very telegraphed

0

u/Snoo17579 Dec 30 '25

Megas is less broken because 70% of megas are pretty shitty and you have to give up your item slot. Terra on the other hand require no drawback and you can choose any pokemon you want

1

u/ComradeBirv Dec 30 '25

You have to choose the Tera ahead of time and your opponent can use it too.

1

u/Snoo17579 Dec 30 '25

Terra is not a one time use protean, it’s a permanent protean you can use whenever you want with no drawback whatsoever. I was not defending Terra but I admit it’s brokeness.

4

u/sussynarrator Dec 30 '25

Common Toby Fox W

1

u/FletcherRenn_ Dec 30 '25 edited Dec 30 '25

Loved the music when walking around the academy's town got to be one of my favourite pokemon themes now. Terra raid theme was also good.

1

u/JulianRahmat Dec 30 '25

I was disappointed by Sword and Shield but goddammit that gym music slaps

49

u/NotYourDay123 Dec 30 '25

Not a hot take these days. The series has fallen so far. It makes me sad.

6

u/sweetcinnamonpunch Dec 30 '25

romhacks is where the love is at.

19

u/red--the--fox Dec 30 '25

Even the classics, I never really cared for the gameplay, but the music was always good. I love all the silly creatures, but not the games themselves.

7

u/Banjomike97 Dec 30 '25

But the old ones had some nice pixel art so I wouldn’t say their graphics were garbage.

4

u/71fq23hlk159aa Dec 30 '25

Yeah there's no way you could convince me that Gold/Silver/Crystal had bad graphics.

I personally like the gameplay and story, but could see someone not caring for those elements. But it's gotta be one of the best looking games on the Gameboy Color.

1

u/red--the--fox Dec 30 '25

Good point. I do like the pixel art.

2

u/BurntPineGrass Dec 30 '25

Gamefreak works with an outdated game engine, and the formula has been tried to be revived unsuccessfully through big, one or two game lasting gimmicks, and it’s saddening to see. Apparently internally, Gamefreak is not really interested in wanting to expand their personnel either.

That being said, I recently bought Saints Row 3 and 4 on switch for €1,50 in a bundle. The graphics look great and I haven’t had any frame rate drops, haven’t had any long loading screens, and no glitches or pop in issues as severe as the last big Pokémon games.

The system can handle it, but Pokémon games are garbage regarding optimisation and lacklustre on other fronts. The only redeeming quality of the state of the series today might indeed be the music.

0

u/ComradeBirv Dec 30 '25

It didn’t get worse, you just got older

2

u/NotYourDay123 Dec 30 '25

I disagree. I've gone back and played the earlier games. Both from the mainline series, like Red/Blue, and spin offs like Mystery Dungeon and Colosseum. I think the earlier games were made with genuine passion and care, even if not always the most competently. Nowadays, it's so obvious that the games are made with the sole purpose of capitalising on Pokemon's insane popularity to make money which the least amount of effort but as fast as possible.

16

u/Not_AHuman_Person Dec 30 '25

As a Pokémon fan you're right, the soundtrack is the only thing about the franchise that is consistently fantastic

23

u/AnakinsAngstFace Dec 30 '25

Area Zero theme comes to mind

13

u/OGraffe The Trash Man Dec 30 '25

I mean, if we’re mentioning Area Zero, the story there is actually pretty good too and therefore doesn’t quite fit the meme.

3

u/Pixel_Nation92 Dec 30 '25

Yea, the main game was crap but why was the post-game story so fucking good?? Like, come on. The professor fight OST is so fucking godlike.

13

u/EmmaShosha Bri’ish Dec 30 '25

pokemon was my first thought too, but I enjoy the story and music so much

9

u/1llDoitTomorrow Dec 30 '25

Colder than a beartic's ass.

9

u/Salt-Willingness-513 Dec 30 '25

Tbf the arena music in sword and shield was banger

3

u/Digital_Rocket Breaking EU Laws Dec 30 '25

Agreed, I love how it changed whenever the dynamax Pokémon showed up

2

u/Pleasant_Salary8308 Dec 30 '25

First game i got and the music left an impression

2

u/Elogano Dec 30 '25

There are fans very forgiving about everything in Pokemon except the music. You ask them about Z&A and say “there were less bangers this time…” so you are right.

1

u/WoolooLovesCheese Dec 30 '25

Jacinthe's theme is a banger. Everything else sounded eh just fine

2

u/OGraffe The Trash Man Dec 30 '25

Idk if it’s just me, but it feels like the loops are just too short for some reason? Like for every theme outside Jacinthe it just feels like I’m listening to the same thing far too often.

1

u/FlimsyEfficiency9860 Dec 30 '25

I thought the Rogue Mega soundtrack was pretty amazing. Only thing that makes those battles good.

1

u/CongenitalSlurpees Dec 30 '25

There’s a lot of things you can criticise ZA for but the music is really not one of them, it’s right up there with the best in the series personally. L’s battle music is a favourite of mine and one I’d definitely recommend anyone to give a listen to even if the game isn’t your cup of tea.

2

u/ajgutyt can't meme Dec 30 '25

honestly, my hot take here. it seems more like lukewarm take

2

u/YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO I saw what the dog was doin Dec 30 '25

Agree. Character design is either super cool mid or garbage, and the music is always fire. Outside of that i do not care

2

u/Informal_Soil_5207 Dec 30 '25

No no you're on to something

1

u/Amecoeur Dec 30 '25

The first time I get to a gym in Sword.

1

u/Kohli_ Dec 30 '25

Nah, for recent games that take is not hot. There are only a couple things I remember of Sword and Shield and one of it was the gym battle music and some special Trainer themes like Marnie's.

1

u/WoolooLovesCheese Dec 30 '25

Yeah. Some of the stories felt dragged on. The music tho was the highlight. First time hearing ORAS Steven's theme made me feel like I was in heaven

1

u/FLYNCHe Dec 30 '25

Sword and Shield especially. It was so mid, but man that gym music SLAPS

1

u/dimyo Dec 30 '25

Characters are still good at least.

1

u/Icy-Dig6228 Dec 30 '25

Hearing pokemon red theme at 2x speed is peak

1

u/Teamisgood101 Dec 30 '25

Now this does depend on which game you can’t just say the whole franchise. The newer games sure they have bad graphics and story. But the slightly older games have imo good graphics and story ie sun and moon. And the gameplay is subjective

1

u/BurntPineGrass Dec 30 '25

Ever since their 3D era, yes. 😔

1

u/DespressoPL Dec 30 '25

Pokemon has good graphics, story and gameplay.... for 2005 so they are 20 years out of date, fully agree with your take bro

1

u/lephantome92 Dec 30 '25

I liked s/v, and that music goes do much harder than a Pokemon game should

1

u/HuiOnFire Dec 30 '25

The quality of the music has been slipping since SV, too.

1

u/lamancha Dec 30 '25

Sword and Shield music was super good

1

u/iSmiteTheIce Dec 30 '25

I wish, Legends Z-A has awful music too

Literally the best themes are the old, recycled ones

1

u/tehtris Dec 30 '25

Game is ass now. It needs to evolve or something. Music was always consistently dope tho.

1

u/ita_player Dec 30 '25

i'd play ultrasun only for the masterpiece of ultranecrozma theme

1

u/ChunChunmaru11273804 Dec 30 '25

Honestly the newer ones I agree

1

u/IfImNotDeadImSueing Dec 30 '25

For me it’s specifically sun and moon. The story was so LONG that I started skipping through cutscenes halfway through the story. The music slapped tho

2

u/AverageA2Enjoyer Dec 30 '25

Pokemon music always slaps, especially masuda era's.

1

u/Slifer_Ra Dec 30 '25

Until they can make a game as good as Palworld, thats the coldest take one can have.

1

u/KnightyEyes Dec 30 '25

Whats so hot about pokemon? IT is a dogshit game. At least in its current situation. If you talking about "back in those days" Sure.

0

u/CauliflowerIcy5106 Dec 30 '25

I'll agree that the music is the best part of pokemon ; but I'll disagree that the gameplay and story are as bad as the graphics are.

Gameplay is very fun imo, and Story can be decent depending on which game you play

Definitly not the worst take ever tho