One of the best things I did when I first picked up Pokemon Red was to buy the complete guide. I’m not going to pretend I was one of these kids with Zelda on the SNES. Pokemon was the first RPG I ever played and it was so different to anything I had played before that the guide was a lifesaver. More than the walkthrough, the guide of which Pokemon were in the area and at what level they learned moves and evolved was vital in planning a successful 100+ hour game. Some see it as cheating, I seen it as surviving.
I’m onto my third playthrough of Pokemon Black because I don’t have a 3DS and I’ve done it all without a guide, which makes me incredibly proud. I think my parents should be proud too but they just don’t get it. I also showed them Pokemon Red being played on Twitch collaboratively by thousands of players and they still weren’t impressed. I just don’t understand them sometimes.
At the time of writing the game has been running for just over 66 hours and has won three badges. When I tuned in, a battle was raging against a wild Rattata and the players were stuck in the items menu, repeatedly trying to use a TM in battle. The players combined forces and got a bodyslam on the wild Pokemon to end the battle and have been walking rather aimlessly in the same area for roughly half an hour now.
It’s an interesting experiment which will no doubt get more and more chaotic as its popularity rises and if you are a sadist, you can watch it below. Oh, and a few of the Pokemon all have really crazy names. Clearly the result of thousands of people trying to name and not name a Pokemon at the same time. The official guide cannot save this game from being completely bizarre.
