Pokemon Platinum Version review on GameFAQs by discoinferno84 - Excerpt
Full review: http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/review/R135247.html
You've got to wonder about the parents. Who in their right mind lets their ten-year old kid travel unaccompanied around the world? Maybe they think nothing bad will ever happen to them. The worst criminals in the Pokemon realm can't be Team < insert random theme name here >. What about kidnappers? Murderers? *****? Not to mention that nearly every square inch of undeveloped land might be hiding some kind of monster. Yet they let their kids skip merrily away into the tall grass, possibly to their deaths. What about their futures? Their educations? You never hear about the trainers that fail, after all. It's always about the ones that succeed. The ones that build an unstoppable army of Pokemon, take down all challengers, and eventually become the champions. All before puberty.
That's one Hell of a coming of age ritual.
It starts off so innocently. The first Pokemon you get is a freebie; to the untrained eye, it's nothing more than a cute little pet for you to raise. But lurking beneath the adorable facade is the strength and will of a beast. Its existence is solely to fight other Pokemon for you; by forcing it to endure battle after grueling, brutal battle, you'll level up its powers and unlock new abilities. Depending on how badly you've damaged your enemy, you can capture it (mercilessly cramming it into a tiny ball in the process) and add it to your ever-growing empire. Get enough under your control, and you'll have a full party of animals to do your bidding. Do it again thousands of times, and you'll amass a force beyond reckoning. With this kind of power at your disposal, you can wander the land of Sinnoh, annihilate any rival trainers, and claw your way up the ranks until you become the greatest champion the world has ever known. It's not a new story by any means (Platinum's is slightly deeper, but still idiotic), but it gets the job done.
You've got to wonder about the parents. Who in their right mind lets their ten-year old kid travel unaccompanied around the world? Maybe they think nothing bad will ever happen to them. The worst criminals in the Pokemon realm can't be Team < insert random theme name here >. What about kidnappers? Murderers? *****? Not to mention that nearly every square inch of undeveloped land might be hiding some kind of monster. Yet they let their kids skip merrily away into the tall grass, possibly to their deaths. What about their futures? Their educations? You never hear about the trainers that fail, after all. It's always about the ones that succeed. The ones that build an unstoppable army of Pokemon, take down all challengers, and eventually become the champions. All before puberty.
That's one Hell of a coming of age ritual.
It starts off so innocently. The first Pokemon you get is a freebie; to the untrained eye, it's nothing more than a cute little pet for you to raise. But lurking beneath the adorable facade is the strength and will of a beast. Its existence is solely to fight other Pokemon for you; by forcing it to endure battle after grueling, brutal battle, you'll level up its powers and unlock new abilities. Depending on how badly you've damaged your enemy, you can capture it (mercilessly cramming it into a tiny ball in the process) and add it to your ever-growing empire. Get enough under your control, and you'll have a full party of animals to do your bidding. Do it again thousands of times, and you'll amass a force beyond reckoning. With this kind of power at your disposal, you can wander the land of Sinnoh, annihilate any rival trainers, and claw your way up the ranks until you become the greatest champion the world has ever known. It's not a new story by any means (Platinum's is slightly deeper, but still idiotic), but it gets the job done.
I don't know about you but I've always wondered what was going on in the parents mind as they let their ten-year-olds adventure off into the wild starting out with nothing more than a single Pokémon and, as shown on the show, camping equipment.
