Pokémon Lysandre next to IGN logo with text '7.8/10 Too Much Water'

Too Much Water

2014catchphraseclassic

Published October 3, 2026

Too Much Water is a catchphrase pulled from IGN's November 2014 review of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, where the reviewer listed the game's abundance of ocean routes as a drawback and docked the score to 7.8 out of 101. Fans rushed to mock the critique, which turned a three-word complaint into a years-running punchline about reviewer nitpicking.

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Overview

Too Much Water is the shorthand fans use to needle IGN after the outlet cited the ocean-heavy map of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire as a knock against the 3DS remake1. The review's reviewer flagged the excess of water Pokemon and the dull navigation of their habitats as flaws glaring enough to lower the score, and the three-word complaint got singled out as emblematic of overthinking a Pokemon game that is literally set in a tropical archipelago1.

As a meme, the phrase gets wielded two ways. Fans quote it straight as a jab at IGN whenever the site publishes a middling score, and they also use it as a template, slapping Too Much Water onto screenshots of unrelated games, movies, and real-world photos of oceans or puddles to parody nitpicky review bullet points3. The joke works because the Hoenn region's whole identity is built around sailing routes, diving sequences, and water-type gym leaders, which makes the critique read as a reviewer complaining that a desert game has too much sand1.

Origin & Background

Platform
IGN (review publication) / Reddit, 4chan, YouTube (viral spread)
Creator
IGN; meme format originated with Pokemon fans online
Date
2014

On November 18, 2014, IGN published its review of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire for the Nintendo 3DS and gave the game a 7.8 out of 101. The review praised the 3D remake of Hoenn for its small environmental details and nostalgic plot, but called out the excess water Pokemon and the dull navigation of their habitats as cons, listing Too Much Water among the drawbacks on the scored summary1.

Because Hoenn is a fictional region built out of islands and sea routes, readers treated the critique as absurd on its face3. The IGN article drew more than 5,800 comments within 24 hours of publication, most of them pushing back on the water complaint, which gave the phrase enough early visibility to escape the review page3.

How It Spread

The review got reposted almost immediately to Pokemon-focused communities, with threads landing on Reddit's /r/3DS and /r/Pokemon, GameFAQs, the Bungie forums, and 4chan's /vp/ board within days of publication3. Comment counts on IGN's own page topped 5,800 inside the first day, and the Too Much Water line got pulled out as the quotable centerpiece of the backlash3.

YouTube creators turned the phrase into video jokes, including a short Pokemon parody uploaded in late November 2014 that racked up views by miming the IGN reviewer's complaint against footage from the game2. Follow-up uploads kept recycling the gag through 2014 and 2015, with Pokemon YouTubers using the clip as a punchline whenever Hoenn's water routes came up4. Tumblr users ran their own version of the joke in image and text post form, keeping the phrase in circulation long after the news cycle on the review had cooled3.

The catchphrase stuck around as a go-to IGN joke in gaming circles, resurfacing every time the outlet published a Pokemon review or a score ending in .8. Urban Dictionary entries for the phrase document its unrelated older uses, which the Pokemon meme now overshadows in search results5.

Timeline

2014-11-18

IGN publishes its 7.8 review of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, listing Too Much Water as a con[1].

2014-11-19

The review passes 5,800 comments within 24 hours, with the Too Much Water line singled out as the lightning rod[3].

2014-11

Reposts of the review hit /r/Pokemon, /r/3DS, GameFAQs, Bungie forums, and 4chan's /vp/ board[3].

2014-11-25

A Pokemon YouTube parody built around the Too Much Water complaint is uploaded[2].

2015

Follow-up YouTube videos keep recycling the phrase as a running joke about IGN reviews[4].

Frequently Asked Questions