I'm sure that you've all heard it before: "Pokemon? That's a child's game. Call of Duty/Battlefield are adult games!" While I do believe that Pokemon games have started out to be just a game for only a child audience, I can't help but feel that the games have taken a complete shift in audience growth. You will notice many older audiences playing Pokemon and not just playing it but knowing the more complexities of the mechanics within the games that children have no idea nor any concept of. For example, IV's and EV's were something that pretty much were non-existent in the minds of players when Pokemon Red, Blue, and Green Versions were released (as well as Yellow). These new mechanics in the games revolutionized the way players interacted with each other to a whole new level of complexity. Before it used to be "Trade me your level 100 Mewtwo for my level 50 Mew." But nowadays we have players talking like this: "I'll trade you my Shiny Bulbasaur with it's hidden ability for your Ditto with maxed IV's and EV's!" Not only that but with the addition of new battle methods such as double, triple, rotation and even inverse battles the inclusion of these stats affecting IV's and Ev's have driven players to catch multiple of the same Pokemon just to get even one that has at the very least one or two IV/EV's maxed out. Those are the Pokemon that have the best chances of becoming either a wall or sweeper in online battles. So, are these games more children friendly still? Or is Nintendo secretly turning their consumers into full blown tacticians and strategists?
I feel that pokemon can appeal to different audiences, which is why it's a popular franchise. You can either enjoy it casually or seriously, so there's no right or wrong way to play it. I know Fire Emblem is also a strategy game, but compared to Pokemon, there is no pressure to EV train if you don't want to. It really depends how seriously the player wants improve their team. – YsabelGo9 years ago