About: Playing With Aesthetics
For our second analysis, let’s dive into the Pokémon series. The game means a lot of different things to different people (as Dust’s WIHILA that is coming tomorrow addresses) so let’s hear what you guys have to say!
What do you think! Are we crazy, or spot on? Join the conversation and cast your vote!
~Destina and Dylan
Turn Based Living 
I cast my vote. Fantasy seems irrelevant to me, but then I have a specific notion of the fantasy aesthetic. It’s not just that the game is fantasy, but that it fulfills an existing fantasy in the player. Typically, that’s a power fantasy, but it could be other deeply human fantasies, like the fantasy of being special or magical etc. I don’t think anyone comes to Pokemon with the fantasy of being a monster trainer.
To me, the two core aesthetics are discovery (which pokemon will you get? What happens when you feed them or breed them?) And expression (choosing a strategy), with a minor in abnegation. I could see switching expression to non-core, and abnegation to core though.
I just noticed your cool logo. It’s cool.
Thanks! I have no artistic ability so I just winged it with the tools I had. Found a font I liked, threw the three letters and Paint and saw what I could get with it. I like how it turned out.
~Dylan