By: Robert Murphy
Hey everybody, I’ve got to tell you all since my departure
from the handheld world and the Pokémon
games of my youth, I have missed battling against trainers, leveling my
favorite Pokémon and being able to
travel around at age 14 to fight evil corporations. So I joined a few friends,
went out and bought a Nintendo 3DS and bought the latest foray into the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon X and boy I have to tell you I just about let out a tear at
how much I loved the game from the moment I turned it on. The game comes to
life right from the get go, whether you are using the 3D function or not, you
can’t help but get lost in the amazing new frontier of the Kalos Region. The
new region comes with all new gym leaders, new Pokémon to catch and train, new
challenges and so much to see and do you won’t want to put it down, I know I
didn’t.
The core concept of the game is obviously the same but we receive it in a whole new way, you still
have to go through the opening sequence that you have been doing for the past
fifteen years but luckily it is sped up and much more enjoyable. This is also
good to keep though because of new players coming into the world of Pokémon as
well as the fact that the game is supposed to appeal to a young audience but
hey we were here first kids. Players now though go through choosing their
character in a new way that includes character customization, you can now
choose from various types of boy and girl models but it doesn’t end there, you
can also cut and change your hair style and clothing in various spots in the
game too. And so almost immediately the game breaks the mold from older Pokémon titles and brings out something
new.
Pokémon X and Y are
the first fully 3D Pokémon game to
come out to the market and has pulled no punches in that regard whether we are
talking about the amazing battles or the breathe taking scenery, you feel that
the full use of the 3D mechanic is used to great detail. Your Pokémon truly
come to life right on the screen as flying Pokémon will slightly hover on the
screen, Pokémon that use tail attacks will actually turn and use their tails
and there are even special moves that act out a brief but highly enjoyable cut
scene (Brave Bird one of my favorites.) There are also vast and amazing
structures spread throughout Kalos Region, giant castles with grass mazes in
the back, unique and puzzle driven gyms that are designed based off of what
kind of gym leader you are facing up against and many more structures to see
and explore. Also little details impressed me quite a bit such as Pokémon
centers having a screen above them showing your Pokémon that you’re healing and
also the doing away of having a separate Poke-Mart to travel to for supplies,
it’s now all in one building for greater convenience.
Moving on to the new features in the game though we are
introduced to new forms of evolution in the game that allows you to take your Pokémon
to an even higher level than before. That’s right, let’s take for instance Charizard
who is a Pokémon that is fully evolved and can go through no further
evolutions, well now he can. Through the use of in game items that you will
gain during your play through you can evolve Charizard and various other
specific Pokémon to a new form, altering his appearance, stats and abilities.
Although this can only be done on select Pokémon as I said, it is still an
incredible new function to Pokémon battles and how they’re played out. Your
Pokemon will turn back though once a battle has ended and it returns to its
former look and stats and can be activated again once you enter another battle,
luckily this doesn’t take up a battle phase or it wouldn’t be as enjoyable to
use.
The games also take advantage of the 3DS’s online
capabilities where you can play, share, and communicate with your friends or
meet new people who are playing and training hard just like you. Naturally you
can enter into quick battles with people as well as trade Pokémon through the
Player Search System that once connected to the internet shows a vast amount of
other players from around the world. Some new features include sharing your own
personal videos that show of the Pokémon you have gained along the way and
traits about yourself. Another feature is the ability to share O-powers with
other players which are items that can be used to boost stats of a Pokémon much
like X-Accuracy and other items from the game.
As I said before I took a step away from hand held games and
hadn’t picked up a Pokémon for some time and I was glad to come back when I did
for Pokémon X and Y. The game is
absolutely fantastic in every regard for me, not only are the environments
visual stunning but the Pokémon and all their traits are as well. We are not
only introduced to a whole new generation of Pokémon but the game also includes
many of the other Pokémon that we have come to know throughout the years and it’s
amazing to see the transition from all those years ago when I first started on Pokémon Blue.
Good:
-New character customization
-New Mega Evolutions that add a twist on some of the Pokémon
we knew
-Enjoyable online interaction
-Visual stunning world that carries over to the Pokémon
Bad:
- What will come from the next Pokémon?
Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10
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