The Pokémon games of today are ideally played for their enjoyment, whether leisurely or competitively. However, something that may impede that enjoyment are the issues that the games have. They're not technical problems so much as they are "overheads" that may not sit well with those who play. And presently, they run pretty much across the board of current Pokémon games, making the issues rather "contemporary" and rather deserving of a discussion.
As I've mentioned a few years ago, the main series games are (or have gotten) complicated, and that's not likely to change - at least in the simpler direction and in development. The only conceivable way to make it simpler is to get familiar with it, whether by searching for information by oneself or by becoming trained in it, just like what a certain "man of magnets" is doing for those who would like get involved in it for VGC purposes. This may be considered a "barrier of entry" for the games and their competitive play in general.
Also as mentioned, this time a couple of months ago, Pokémon Go is having its spate of issues, which are mostly caused by the actions of its developer (Niantic) and may be taken to constitute a "blunder". Now it seems that they are trying to fight for the lost revenue while dodging the underlying causes of them all. Taken together, this is definitely an "overhead" in the truest sense to the point that "the sky has fallen" on some community support institutions for the game. Without resolution, things are just definitely going to drag on.
In a different area, Pokémon Unite is starting to rear an ugly head, the one that belongs to the "pay to win" devil. It's clear that some things that don't rely on payment of real money for Aeos Gems are being left to languish, and those Gems continue be the main way of obtaining things with real value, like new Pokémon and new Holowear. Even a certain new feature that I've yet to discuss - and may not, given how it ties into this - is almost totally dependent on Aeos Gems, and only becomes further affirmation of the situation.
If Unite is becoming pay-intensive, Café Remix meanwhile is becoming effort-intensive. The "standardization" of One-Minute Cooking continues to make itself evident through yet another play aspect that utilizes the format, and the format continues to be used in a spate of events for certain special Pokémon. And these events evidently require a lot of repetitive actions (therefore "grinding") to obtain as many things as possible from them, even everything. It's a literal "daily grind" that is seemingly the only thing one can do.
There is, to be sure, still some enjoyment in playing any or all of the games mentioned above, whether or not they have their issues. But in light of the above, the issues are becoming hard to avoid in their evident quality, if they hadn't already started to show that even way before. And they all pertain to the present, the time when Pokémon and its games are so widespread among fans. As "contemporary" as the issues are, perhaps it's also necessary to alleviate them somehow.
One year ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 7/17/2022
Two years ago: Pokémon Go Fest 2021, Day 1
Three years ago: Catch Me If...
Four years ago: The First Johto Saga Japanese Opening Theme
Five years ago: Rearranged Pokémon Music
Six years ago: How Far Do People Know Pokémon?
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