Let's have a bit of a friendly discussion here. As we are all aware, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y are both scheduled to land worldwide in October 2013. The games themselves were announced on January 8, 2013, and since then it has been a wild ride filled with anticipation and excitement, that I honestly have not seen since the third generation of Pokémon games. A vast amount of exciting features have been revealed, and the general vibe being felt is one that Game Freak is putting in an effort in this generation. The information revealed thus far brings Pokémon fans around the globe closer together in an effort to let players communicate with ease, using the feature called the Player Search System. Time to dig a little bit deeper and talk about some of the most hyped features that could possibly make this generation something different for all of us, shall we?
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I do not know about you guys, but I am one to think that the first three generations of Pokémon were the best of the series, from Generation 3, Generation 1, to Generation 2, in that order of favorites. Generation 1 was the start of the series, and the second generation followed with new Pokémon critters, and new features. Generation 3 expanded on that with a vaster region to explore, and of course new critters. From that point on, the series kind of fizzed out. Sure, I could play the fifth generation games, but I felt jaded by some of the content; it was too linear to my liking, and the story, which is already a bit lacking, felt weaker than in previous generations. The newly announced games seem to take that formula and mix it up with several very nice features.
One of the obvious things to note is that this generation is played out in a three dimensional environment, suited to the Nintendo 3DS. Taking advantage of the 3DS's processing power, it lets us view the environment in a setting that isn't sprite based, for the first time ever. Pokémon are now given fluid combat motions and the visuals during battle appear to be crisp, and in 3D. The last generation, which introduced moving sprites, felt a bit unnatural and tacked on, whereas this generation seemed to nail down the animations and gave each Pokémon a natural movement. From the first day that the game got announced, I was already won over by the visuals.
Second of all, the games are moving in a more online communicative direction, which I find to be a welcome change. Gone are the days of having to link cable with a friend to trade. Now, especially with the Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter, cloud storage and online interaction have never been easier. I realize that a lot of the critics of Nintendo's systems are going to say, their online is already bad enough, they still use Friend Codes. For the Pokémon franchise, though, I find this to be huge. Let's look at the last generation, which was rife with hacked critters on the Global Trade Network and insanely hacked teams online, whom disconnected when the match is lost. This time, Nintendo seems to have measures in place to ensure that, for the moment, hacked Pokemon will not appear on the network, although, it's only a matter of time.
Next, one of the major players in this game that has been announced is Mega Evolutions. Now, admittedly, I am a bit torn by this. I like the idea of this system, which gave some of our favorite Pokémon beefier powers that are said to rival Legendary Pokémon. What I did not like was that it created a smokescreen of sorts for the newer Generation 6 Pokémon. Behind all of the Mega Evolution news, the newer creatures only get mere mentions. As a competitive Pokémon player, I cannot even imagine what Mega Evolutions are even going to do to the scope of the competitive scene. I will look forward to seeing what Smogon University has to offer in terms of the new tiering system for this generation.
Part of me is mortified to see Garchomp get a Mega Evolution...
Some of the more interesting features that the game has bundled include player customization, the ability to move in eight directions, a new Fairy typing (the first new type since Generation 2), and the ability to bond with your own critters using the new Pokémon Amie. This barely even begins to scratch the surface of what the game has to offer. The game is doing an excellent job to cater to both newer and older fans. Older fans will get the chance to pick a starter from the original 151 Pokémon from the first games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, while newer fans can play with the newer starters. Giving older Pokémon Mega Evolutions was also a nice touch; based on discussions that I have seen on other Pokémon related forums, the older generation of Pokémon that received Mega Evolutions were very well received.
As Generation 5 begins its transition out of the Pokémon stage and Generation 6 is slowly ushered in, the excitement grows with each passing day. I for one see this as a launch day purchase. It is hard to believe that this game was revealed nine months ago. The game looks incredibly polished with a lot of thought put into it. I look forward to seeing you guys online sometime.
Feel free to discuss your opinions about these games. Do you agree with my thoughts, or are you staunchly against them? If you are against what I have laid out on the table, why? And keep in mind, I am but one voice on the internet. There will always be voices that disagree with what you may think. And remember, keep it civil!
Off topic note: I am totally curious. Would you guys be interested in discussion related material such as this? What kind of things would you like to see appear on the front page?