NOCLIP Pocket E38 - Grape Popsicles and Hugs - Pokémon Puzzle League

Aw, poor baby! Welcome back to NOCLIP Pocket (monsters)! Today, due to some scheduling conflicts, we are not going to be talking about Phasmophobia, but instead the 2000 match 3 puzzle game Pokémon Puzzle League. Puzzle League is a game that both of us played a good bit in our younger years, but wasn’t quite notable enough to really maintain any level of popularity long after its release, coming out as part of the never ending deluge of Pokémon branded content that has existed since the series became popular. And do we think that should be different? Well, at the risk of spoiling parts of the episode, no not really, but it is still a fun game, holding up largely by its nostalgic value and simple mechanics. The game largely follows the same design as Tetris Attack, which is definitely a good game, and by extension this is similarly satisfying to play and get better, which is amplified by the one big twist in the form of 3D mode. We’re going to be talking about the Pokémon coat of paint and what it does for the game, how we think the game could have differentiated itself, and we hypothesize about what a show called “Rocket Mode Today” would be like. Thank you for joining us this week, and sorry we didn’t have the specifically scheduled game ready this time. Did you play this game as a kid, and was it closer to 90 or 100 percent because it had the word Pokémon in the title? And we’d like to know if you enjoyed this episode, because we were able to turn this one out quickly because of our vast experience with the game and there are definitely some other nostalgic hits we could turn out with more of a focus on the emotional experience of a childhood favorite than breaking down why matching colored blocks is fun. Let us know in the comments, or over on Discord! Next time we will almost certainly be talking about Phasmophobia.