(Ed – This post is not by Gareth Newnham but a good friend of Laser Lemming – Evan Cook. Enjoy!)
A new family in a small town…
From the outset familiarity sets in for any who’ve played a Pokémon game before now. X and Y begin in a small town, with a small population, and before leaving your front garden you hear the rumour that a local professor is looking for you.
Sound familiar? Well that might be because it is. Whilst Game Freak have done a good job of changing things around within the games’ battle systems in the past, historically each new Pokémon game has run on much the same track to completion – a new town, a new professor and some new ‘mons. Story wise, even, things here are the usual fare. Professor Sycamore needs a rag tag group of twelve year olds to help him research mega evolution. To Game Freak’s credit we are introduced to the story far faster than any previous game, but that can only go so far to improve what is otherwise still the same basic story.
So… what do we have? Well, for one, we have a whole new look for the series. Whilst the games have incorporated polygons for certain aspects since Diamond and Pearl, this is the first time they have been used so extensively. We also have the addition of dynamic points of view for the game’s camera. This has granted Game Freak the ability to create some excellent three-dimensional gym experiences, such as the rock climbing gym, and to throw the camera around for dramatic effect when deemed necessary.
We have also been granted some excellent new features for the series well established combat. Along with adding a new type- Fairy, X and Y feature the fabled Mega Evolution! This allows a fully evolved Pokémon to transform into a much more powerful variant, often with different typing, on a per battle basis. The nature of the game’s rock, paper, scissors combat stops the new mega evolutions from dominating totally in multi player, and they are a welcome shake up to an otherwise already excellent versus battle system.
Two new mini games feature on the second screen, and can be accessed at any time from the game’s overworld.
The first, called Super Training, has vastly simplified the honestly overly complex, at least for the games intended age range, EV system. This allows you to play a short round of a balloon shooting game to improve your ‘mon’s base stats as you desire, to a limit of two max stats per ‘mon. The original method is still present for those that understand it of course, but I would urge players to try Super Training out as it proved pretty addictive for such a simple mini-game.
The second is Pokémon Amie, which turns any Pokémon in your party into a virtual pet. You feed, pet and play with your selected Pokémon to improve its affection towards you. This can have superb results in battle including letting a Pokémon survive a hit that would otherwise have proved fatal.
Things are no less improved on the online side of things. Also accessed from the second screen is the P.P.S. or player search system. This shows your online friends, anyone you have recently traded with, and a selection of passersby from online and spot pass. Starting a battle or trade is as simple as touching a player’s icon and selecting the activity you wish. No more lengthy treks to the nearest Pokémon Centre. The GTS can similarly be accessed from anywhere now. As can the excellent new Wonder Trades – essentially a randomised trade that quickly becomes quite addictive even if you do mostly end up with… Bidoof
Now, I know this may seem like a list of features pretending to be a review. It is. Truth be told the game is enormous. At 60 hours played I have achieved three gym badges due to an extended time breeding for trade and profit. The content included in this new set of versions verges on MMO levels, and I could write for days about minor beneficial changes to large parts of the game that would go unnoticed by most. I won’t. But I could.
So all I will say is this: Game Freak have dragged the formula of Pokémon kicking and screaming into the online generation. They’ve made it pretty, they’ve made it work and best of all, they have lost nothing in the journey. This game is well worth the purchase if you have a 3DS.
