What if someone did a takedown of Pokemon that fully explores the implications, but the thing is that a takedown of Pokemon cannot be fun. If its fun then its just grimdark Pokemon. Its "do not do this cool thing" ludonarrative dissonance. Youre not getting anything truly cool out of that.
We it would need to be a pain to play. Like Spec Ops: The Line, but Pokemon. Or maybe Undertale: Genocide Run but Pokemon specifically instead of JRPGs generally?
Palworld is definitly not that lol. It revels in the fucked upness as far as i can tell. It doesnt even shame you so you dont even get the "do not do this cool thing" aspect. And it endevors to be fun (ymmv on success).
But Im wondering if a game that says to Pokemon what Spec Ops: The Line said to military FPSes is possible?
I guess I should clarify I'm not saying Pokemon made us do it, I'm sure kids have always tortured innocent creatures for funsies
I think there's a large element where kids haven't fully developed theory of mind and empathy, and don't really grasp that the animals have goals and sensations beyond what the kid imagines them having. Most kids stop hurting animals by, like, what, 8? 9? Idk, it's been a while since I was a kids.