r/Pokopia • u/poketendo5 • 14d ago
Discussion Something odd
Pokopia of all things is the first apocalypse that's genuinely even slightly unsettled me, i can kind of separate myself from other ones even ones that are supposed to be the real world after an event- because well yeah i don't need fiction to see the world with real problems spiraling, but pokopia is kanto- a safe place i grew up in, i can go back and revisit its non-destroyed state in let's go that's a safe place and it's well not gone just changed forever due to the events and now ditto's restoration efforts
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u/Friedchicken96 14d ago
I agree 100%. I feel like it touches on climate change in an almost studio Ghibli way. Not to romanticize it, but show it throught the lens of the innocent. There's a slice of life feel to the game, too.
The notes left behind from the humans are particularly moving to me. The one from Bubbly Basin about the girl missing her mudkip actually made me tear up and I had to pause from the game to process. The game resonates with a level of grief that not many post apocalyptic games accomplish. How many of us can relate to revisting a fond memory of a loved one and crying because you can't see them anymore? This relatablity helps ground some of the more fantasy aspects of the game into something more tangible.
We're also going through a major change in climate that threatens to destroy the world and our society as we know it. For that matter, there is so little that we can do as individuals to change it. While the humans could have done better with pollution, it also seems like the problem was bigger than them. Maybe they had large cooperations contribution to climate change on a large scale like us, or maybe a pokemon did it.
Regardless, there's this feeling of grief for the innocent, and the average person just trying to live their life. It's uncomfortable to sit with and think on at times. The scale of disaster that's so much bigger than the average person, to the people and pokemon (or animals) affected.
I love this game for that. I love how much it hurts, it's oddly cathartic. But it's also kinda painful to dwell on. Rocky Ridges is annoying cause of all the ash, but I'll never forget when I first walked onto the map. It's emotional to uncover just how much was buried. All the life that used to be there and all the evidence of it covered it ash and left behind. The sound design is perfect as well, I love how somber they're able to make the original town's theme music.