The following blog was originally written as a (rather lengthy) response to a question someone asked me via DM, but due to the length and the fact that I highly suspect others will find my answer here interesting, I decided to turn it into a blog instead.

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Regarding modern games, I don't necessarily think that they are altogether that different than older games, and I think that the critiques of modern gaming that act as though every modern game save for a select few titles are “woke garbage” is complete and utter nonsense, although admittedly as a lifelong Nintendo (and Sega) fan, I tend to look at modern gaming from a decidedly different perspective than most of the SIW (social injustice warrior) game critics on YouTube and Rumble.

Using Pokémon as an example—since it is by far the game series I've spent the most time playing over the years— I can honestly say that my favorite Pokémon games out of all of those that I've played over the past 25 years (since the original Gen 1 games for the Game Boy) are the newest ones. Specifically, I'd rank my top 5 Pokémon games as being:

1. Ω Ruby/α Sapphire (Gen 6, 2014)
2. Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon (Gen 7, 2017)
3. HeartGold/SoulSilver (Gen 4, 2009)
4. White 2/Black 2 (Gen 5, 2012)
5. Sun/Moon (Gen 7, 2016)

Now, Pokémon is a bit of a weird case due to the fact that there are other factors (such as which regions the games happen to take place in) that affect my rankings of them here, and even the newest of these games is over 8 years old now, but there is a point to all of this, so please bear with me here.

Now, right around where I got cut off from being able to play the newest Pokémon games (when they moved to the Switch), there was this thing called "Dexit", where they literally removed hundreds of Pokémon from the games for seemingly no reason (I personally chalk it up to laziness), and a lot of longtime Pokémon fans—myself included—weren't too thrilled about this.

Now, most (but not all) of the “Dexited” Pokémon have since been re-added to the games via "expansion passes", but there are still plenty of Pokemon missing from the games. All that being said, having seen a lot of footage of the Gen 8 (and 9) games, having read a lot about them, and having actually battled with a lot of the newer Pokémon, moves, battle mechanics, etc. on Pokémon Showdown, I can say with no doubt in my mind whatsoever that they are very good games, and that I would quite enjoy playing them if given the opportunity to do so.

Now, would I go as far as to say that any of the Gen 8 or 9 games would dethrone my beloved Ω Ruby/α Sapphire? No, but that is primarily because of my beloved Zinnia Hoenn is my favorite region, and those games had a lot of cool unique things about them that set them apart from any other Pokémon games before or since (which is why I spent over 10,000 hours playing Ω Ruby), and although I obviously can't say for certain since I haven't actually played them yet, it is entirely possible that either the Gen 8 or (more likely) Gen 9 games could take the 2nd place spot away from Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.

So, what is the point of all of this, and what does it have to do with my view of modern gaming?

Well, I've seen a lot of cool-looking games for the Nintendo Switch, including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pokémon Legends: Z-A (which isn't even out yet), and countless others. All of the latest iterations of the series that I have loved playing for (in most cases) over 2 decades now look like they'd be quite fun to play, and given how every time I've seen a trailer for a new game in a series I've played before and it impressed me I wound up enjoying the game when I actually got the chance to play them, I have no reason whatsoever to believe that wouldn't still be the case now.

I'm obviously not saying that every modern game is good, or even that every new game in a series will be better than the game that came before it (see Pokémon Ω Ruby/α Sapphire Version), but generally speaking, game series get better over time. It was that way 27 years ago when I played Freddi Fish for the very first time, and it is just as true today.

Ultimately, it isn't about whether or not a game is “modern” or not, as there are plenty of older games (such as the aforementioned Freddi Fish games, and Amazing Island) that I miss playing a great deal, and would very much like to play again. That said, I'd be lying through my teeth if I were to say that the original Gen 1 Pokémon games are more fun than their Gen 3 remakes for the Game Boy Advance, or that either of them were more fun than the DS or 3DS Pokémon games that dominate my top 5 Pokémon games.

Of course, one real problem with modern games is the prices. Particularly, games that require you to pay a yearly or monthly fee just to play them and/or make the games far less enjoyable without spending RL money on either “DLC” or (worse yet) in-game items. I might enjoy Pokémon Scarlet/Violet just as much as Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, but the latter (when it first came out) was $40 whereas the former is $60 plus the cost of those “expansion passes” that I'll inevitably want. Modern games may be good, and by and large better than older games within the same series (I don't wanna compare apples to oranges here), but they can certainly be pretty expensive…
(Which for somebody like me who's dead broke is a bit of a problem, lol!)