>>47082318Masuda's alright. gens 3-5 were consistent enough quality with gen 2 gameplaywise, the peak of the series. a little less soul than in the early days, but not anywhere near the level we're at today. pokemon was meant to end when pokemania did, so if the series continued then whoever is in charge of that was bound to be vilified.
I don't think there was a real chance of the design philosophy or tone staying the same for much longer barring a miracle, so in hindsight masuda did a good job for a long time, and I would blame corporate for most shit then and now. Though he definitely has his weird interview moments where he just says some baffling out of touch shit, like shigeru miyamoto, but half of this I dont take too seriously as an assessment of his competence in his real job, just his ability to think of a white lie or deflection on the fly in an interview.
I do think Masuda is subject to burn out especially these days, but I think a lot of issues are corporate stupidity, social media's stronger influence, and the fumbling of 3 gens from moving to 3d then deciding to ape yokai watch then moving to home console, all with rushed development & trying to keep pokemon GO on a pedestal. I like to think he saw the chaos internally and stepped back probably not wanting to be pinned for the results.
Also his music is excellent.
