>>44208314No, Pokemon died the moment Satoshi Tajiri left the project. Masuda had no idea how to capture that Pokemagic. Pokemon is animal collecting, exploring through nature, and video games - three autistic special interests - in a single package. Pokemon resonated so strongly with people because it came from an actual vision from a man who loved what he did. Notice how the original Pokemon designs had a lot of soul behind them because they were made by kaiju movie enthusiasts. And clearly the developers had a lot of fun with the names and designs of their Pokemon. They didn't take the project too seriously, but they still wanted to get it done.
Hoenn was the start of when Masuda started to screw up the formula, and he made it less about exploring and more about merchandise and mascots. That was also the point when Pokemania died down, but that was a coincidence if any. Pokemon tries to recapture the old formula of Gens 1-2 instead of trying for new stuff, which is why it has a lot of nostalgia tropes. Gen 2 only worked because it is a continuation of the Gen 1 story, rather than nostalgia of Gen 1. The appeal of Gen 2 is that you play as a separate character in a different region that is fixed with the original characters and region, and your reward for clearing the game is to see just how much the original region has changed. Team Rocket in Gen 2 is far more disorganized, and their actual goal of stealing Pokemon died down because most of their good people left or were arrested after Giovanni abandoned them. Their goals become far less ambitious in scope (stealing Slowpoke tails to make money, trying to evolve wild Pokemon with radio signals, holding a radio tower hostage specifically to contact Giovanni again because the group is so desperate for his leadership and evil ambition after numerous setbacks). Each Gym Leader was assigned a different type than any of the original Gym Leaders. The Elite Four and Kanto Gym Leaders have changed slightly.
