If you’ve somehow managed to avoid hearing anything about the series for the past 15 years, Pokemon games consist of catching creatures called Pokemon and fighting with them. As you galavant around a region, you go from town to town collecting badges by defeating gym leaders and find your way through a story where an evil criminal team tries to enact some nefarious scheme which usually involves misusing the power of Pokemon. The real fun, however, is in playing against your friends. In addition, the mechanics that make the game tick are unfathomably deep yet easy-to-understand. This tried-and-true formula hasn’t really changed too much in the past decade. Surprisingly deep kids’ games they may be, but they’ve always been fun.
One thing that always had room for improvement is the graphics. X is the first time in the series that everything has been in full 3D (other than spin-off games that we don’t want to talk about). The transition from 2D sprites and a 3D environment in Black and White 2 to full 3D at all times is one that could not have been made more successfully. Everything looks smooth and great, and the best part is that no features seem to have been left out to get it. Not everything is perfect, however; I ran into numerous instances where the frame rate dropped and the battle or area became choppy for a few seconds.
The presentation has also improved, since the presence of an actual world instead of a sophisticated clump of pictures allows for different angles and sweeping shots to be used. This new presentation further engrosses players in the new France-based region and the new story within. It’s fun to watch things unfold and the camera never acts up or makes it hard to see what you’re doing at any point in the game when you’re in the middle of play. The look of the turn-based battles has also been improved with better sound, animation, and all-around quality.
The new world is a great place as well. The variety of Pokemon has been built upon even further from previous games in the series, with only a little more than one hundred of the now more than 700 total Pokemon not present somewhere in either X or Y. The different places are at least as varied, with a good set of locales that you’ll go through – snowy tundra, swamp, forest, desert, gigantic city, beach, and so forth – throughout your journey. Everything looks great and the background music won’t get annoying no matter how much time you listen to it while playing.
The previous games in the series have restricted your movement to four directions (up, down, left, and … right) when walking around. X and Y allow you to move diagonally as well, which makes getting around much more fluid and enjoyable. Finding your own way is a huge theme of X and Y, and many of the new features and improvements to old ones tie into this.
Your appearance is customizable now – you can change your hairstyle and hair color, skin tone, and clothes. It’s pretty nice to not be Generic Guy/Girl 42 for the billionth time. There’s no shortage of different possible pieces of clothing and appearances, but it somehow feels like more could have been done, at least with regards to male characters.
It’s just a shame that the story itself is so empty. You go on a journey, you learn about the new Mega Evolutions, and that’s it. It’s still a fun experience, but it’s barely memorable and could have been even better.
The new appearances you can personalize your game with can be shown online, where new features have been added and old features have been streamlined. Trading and battling with other players can now be done anywhere, which makes it much easier to play with your friends. In addition to this, other features, such as Wonder Trade – a trading system in which you and another random online player trade without knowing what you will receive – have been added. They’re much more fun than they sound, but require an internet connection, limiting the game for offline players.
The new mega evolutions are a great metaphor for the new Pokemon games themselves – they make a good thing better, and although some parts aren’t as perfect as they could be, it’s hard to complain about a new thing.
Older players aren’t likely to enjoy X and Y as much as young children are, but they’re still great purchases if you can take the games online. If not, hope you have friends that also play.
