We're a few days into the release of X and Y now, and things are going very smooth. Over four million copies were moved during the weekend, and people were both enjoying the game and speed smashing through the story content. The better part of the Pokémon franchise for some people involves the content of the post game, where you rush and collect the legendaries, participate in the Battle Frontier style facilities, complete the Pokédex, and do the tasks that the Pokémon franchise is famous for doing to extend gameplay to hundreds of hours. Be warned, this article may contain spoilers, so if you are not at the post game content yet, stop reading from here on out. With the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo reluctantly introduced the concept of downloadable content (DLC) and microtransactions, as seen in games such as Fire Emblem: Awakening. Will Pokémon follow this trend and start pushing out DLC for its player base? Let's explore that topic a bit more.
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For those of you who have beaten the Elite Four already, you will quickly come to realize that the end game content of this game is a bit sparse in comparison to earlier generations. The end game consists of catching a handful of legendaries, completing menial side quests, a small treasure hunt for Mega Stones, and making teams to dominate the online world. In terms of "true" content, such as miscellaneous regions, extended stories, new Pokémon, or a Battle Frontier, longtime veterans of the series will be a bit disappointed to find that Pokémon X and Y took a step backwards and introduced a sparse end game. There are no Black City and White Forests to grind out your Pokémon this time around.
Some of you may have read my Pokémon X and Y Review from a few days ago, and saw that I gave a score of 9.4 overall. I received some criticisms as to that score, and I would like to take a moment to address some of those criticisms. I gave the score that I did after accounting for all the factors of things that I experienced during the gameplay and as a whole based on what I experienced on the Nintendo 3DS system. The reason why I gave it a score of 9.4 was because not many 3DS games have really close to the level of "polish" that Pokémon X and Y deliver. A lot of people complained that the game was unplayable with the 3D on. To be completely honest, I never had a real problem with the slowdowns. I noticed it, but it was by no means unplayable. Personally, this was the major reason why I avoided posting the review in the GBAtemp Review Center. I knew right away that users would take these assigned "values" and throw them completely out of context. I present my scores to a wide audience; I do not cater to one specific audience alone and I know that I am not going to satisfy every single user. One of the criticisms that I mentioned was the lack of "real" end game content, which to some people is not important; on the other hand, it could be crucial in the decision to purchase the game. Going back to the original subject, I would like to see the exploration of downloadable content.
According to an interview conducted by GamerSyndrome, Junichi Masuda discussed the DLC and the Pokémon franchise, citing that DLC was currently not being developed for the franchise, but could be a possibility in a rather vague hint. He did assure viewers that DLC would be free due to children playing the game. One of the beliefs Game Freak has is delivering a full experience right out the box. In this particular case, I find that Junichi Masuda's claim of a full experience right out the box is slightly inaccurate. This does not mean that I find the game completely unworthy of $40. This game is classic Pokémon, and operates like almost every other Pokémon game. The visuals are fantastic and deserve to be praised, and the online is something that has been desperately needed for the franchise. In terms of content, however, Game Freak could have added a lot more. With a lot of media outlets and users disparaging the lack of end game content, could this be the straw that breaks Game Freak? Could this be used as an indicator to Nintendo and Game Freak that more needs to be done to satisfy the audience?
In terms of DLC, I am a huge fan for content related downloads. I do not want to see microtransactions for cosmetic items. Thankfully, no microtransactions will be in the game but if it comes down to DLC, I would like to see some of the older legendaries and content that was in previous editions. I do not understand why Game Freak took such a far step back, as they definitely had the space to add the content into the game. I recall playing the Nintendo 3DS game Samurai Warriors: Chronicles, which featured downloadable missions at no additional cost. Given that idea would it be plausible for Game Freak to consider adding extra content like this to please its audience? Some people might argue that the downloadable content is considered Mystery Gift event distribution, however. Another important tidbit to mention is that a patch of sorts might actually be necessary as the game is currently "bugged" as saves tend to freeze in the Lumiose City area and no concrete fix has been presented. Like the case of Mario Kart 7, it could be very easy to release a small patch and patch over this problem, which could in turn lead to extended content.
Having said that, I now turn to you guys. Those of you that have completed the post game content, do you agree with my sentiments? Or do you find that Pokémon X and Y have plenty of content as presented? Do you believe that the game could benefit with the addition of content via DLC or are you completely against DLC? Chime off below!
Always touching 
] brb
