For more than a decade, Pokémon has been apart of the lives of seemingly every child that owned a Nintendo handheld system. I have been a fan of the series since the days of Red and Blue and I have stood by the original 151 Pokémon since the inception.
I have played every iteration in the series except the Black and White installments and I am one of those “this will never be as good as the original” people. I was skeptical about X and Y. But I decided to give it a chance and then as more trailers were released and more information was given, I started to get pretty excited.
After going to Walmart to find out that they lost the box of “Pokémon things” (What the old man meant was copies of Pokémon Y. I’ve never seen so many angry nerds.) I downloaded Y off of the eShop and played for a couple hours and I can say that I love this new installment.
Pokémon X and Y has completely changed my meaning of Pokémon. The new 3D view, the movable Pokémon, everything new about these games is very refreshing.
Visuals & Sound
 |
| This is Lumiose City. X and Y added major 3D visual enhancements and the world no longer seems flat. |
Pokémon, for the longest time, has been a top down, text based, stationary-battle RPG. Pokémon X and Y throw that out of the window. The view has now changed to an over the shoulder perspective allowing players to see a stunning horizon of the Kalos region in front of them.
The battles are probably some of my favorite upgrades to X and Y. The Pokémon actually move and perform the moves you select them to do! It is something that every Pokémon fan has wanted for years and it looks stellar. However, there can be a few hiccups here and there, but nothing that ruins the game.
X and Y bring a new sound pallet to the game filled with upbeat and enjoyable tunes while traversing the region to intense and dramatic ballads when facing bosses. It really does enhance the experience while playing.
 |
| The battles still have the same layout however, the new Pokémon are a vast improvement over previous ones. |
Gameplay
Even with all the new changes this is a Pokémon game at heart and it comes with it’s cookie cutter system. Trainers can select their starter, build their team, fight trainers and gym leaders, and defeat the local crime syndicate.
Battles still play the same. Both players throw out a Pokémon and can select from four moves to attack their opponent with.
But this is not a terrible thing. Why mess with a good formula? However, would I have liked to see changes in gameplay? Of course, this new Poké-overhaul would have been a great opportunity to add new elements to the series.
The real concern in a new iteration of this series is the Pokémon of course! I can say that the balance of old and new Pokémon is perfect. I run into just as many new faces as familiar ones. Also, the new Pokémon look great! They are so much better than a lot of the ones that were introduced in Black and White. (Really? Vanillish, the ice cream cone Pokémon?) I am actually excited to see the new Pokémon every time the battle music starts up.
The Verdict
Pokémon X and Y are fantastic installments to the Pokémon series. Playing this game is giving me the same excitement I have been missing since the days of Ruby and Sapphire. Game Freak did a wonderful job with re-energizing a formulaic series and X and Y will be remembered for generations to come.
– Malik