spiritual vs. mechanical

[purple_drake]

I love how people complain that Lance (or Falkner, or anyone) in the games has under-leveled pokemon and pokemon with attacks they can't 'officially' learn. Talk about getting hung up on technicalities; gameplay mechanics are only there in order to actually make the game playable, as a representation of a supposedly 'real' world. In a 'real'

Comments

[negrek]

After all, a story judged purely on the basis of its mechanics loses the spirit of its inner consistency.

Ah, but that's just the thing--Lance having underleveled pokémon with illegal moves violates the internal consistency of the game world! It's a bit dodgy to compare stories and games in this way; remember that the story is just one element of a game, and the game mechanics are about on a level with story (or greater than it, some might argue) in most games. Mechanics of a game aren't really the same as mechanics in writing; mechanics in writing are rules regarding how you convey ideas so that others are able to understand them. The mechanics of a game are more like the physical laws that govern its world. So, Lance having "unobtainable" dragonite (lower-leveled than can be obtained by evolution) and a rock-slide aerodactyl, while not a huge issue, is really violating the laws that govern normal pokémon gameplay

should have replied to this weeks ago, wtf self.

[purple_drake]

See, this is why it's not a good idea to post things right before you go to bed and hope they still make sense. I knew that line was iffy