Pokeholics Anonymous

Roughly 3 weeks ago, faced with the prospect a new and boring shift at work, I decided to pick up Pokemon Diamond for the DS in order to keep myself amused. Other than complaining about Pichu and Pikachu on Super Smash Bros, the only experience I've had with the franchise came about 8 years ago where I played Pokemon Red and Pokemon Snap. Since then, I've been one to laugh at others my age that play the Pokemon games and denounced the series as repetitive and childish.

Karma is a fickle bitch, indeed.

The game starts off like any other Pokemon game: you and a rival pick up some Pokemon and begin a quest for an older Poke-phile obsessed with learning all he can about the creatures. Despite the by now unoriginal storyline, I soon found myself enthralled by the prospect of catching new species and raising them in to veritable engines of doom. Every patch tall grass presented a new oppurtunity to expand my collection while every battle allowed me to try out new skills and tactics, all the while hoping to gain enough experience for a new evolution of one of my valued team members. I cannot even begin to describe how excited I was when my TURTWIG evolved into a GROTLE, leaving behind the cuteness of its first tier form and gaining a countenance that appeared to say "I will cut you to death...with leaves."

As someone who left the Pokemon franchise and came back to it, I am forced to wonder what is it about this game that has made me its willing slave? Certainly not the storyline, it's the same as any other Pokemon game and even gets in the way of the fun at times. No, it's the subtle complexity and promise of competition that has drawn me in, along with the pleasure that comes with knowing that I can one day "catch them all."

The main concept of the game is simple: capture wild pokemon and use them to battle other trainers and human opponents. Tactics were dependent upon which pokemon you used, their respective types, their attacks, and what level they were on. With each game came a new level of complexity: pokemon breeding, equippable items, pokemon dispositions, and secretive "effort values" that rewarded you for how time you actually spent with a pokemon. Combine this with the idea that correct utilization of the is knowledge will allow you to prove yourself better than any other trainer, either digital or human, and you have a game that truly gives you a sense of accomplishment when you figure it out, which may be the most addictive type of game of all.
Pokemon Diamond also uses the Nintendo DS's wi-fi ability to its full potential in this game, giving you the oppurtunity to battle and trade with other people from around the world or in the same room through the game's built-in trade stations. This greatly enhances the multi-player aspect of the game by allowing you to find a trade or battle partner nearly any time of the day, the lack of which being a hindrance to earlier Pokemon iterations. In a game where you a urged to become the best trainer you can be, the ability to almost instantly test this fact allows the player to obtain the afore mentioned sense of accomplishment that will keep them playing.

So despite being slightly chlidish with a dull storyline, Pokemon Diamond presents the greatest asset of the franchise, a simple battle system with highly complex nuances, in a way that has left me completely addicted to it. Even while typing this, I have been thinking about the best combinations of pokemon for my team, what moves to give them, and how best to train them. It is amazing how this game has infected me and I cannot see myself giving it up anytime soon. I haven't even begun battling online or with friends yet, and I doubt that will do anything but strengthen my resolve to be the best. Now if you'll excuse me, I have tiny creatures to subjugate to my will and force to do my violent bidding.