[XJ] [GAME REVIEW] Pokémon X and Y - 8/10

Today, I’m going to review a game that I’m sure you’re all already aware of, and I of course mean Pokémon: X and Y. This duo of games was released a few months ago through Nintendo, on October 12, 2013.

Cover art for each version

I first got X exactly a week after it came out, and proceeded to play it for a good 10 hours after getting my 3DS set up. Keep in mind that I am not exaggerating; this was just over 10 hours of solid gameplay, interrupted only by bathroom breaks.

Based on what I've just said, you should probably already be able to extrapolate how good of a game this is, but if you can’t, let me spell it out for you: it’s good. It’s damned good, and I must say that it quickly became one of my top favorites in terms of gameplay. 

But, what about the gameplay made it so special? Honestly, just about everything. They really revolutionized how the game felt in almost every aspect, from the graphics to the actual in-game culture.

The most immediate difference one would notice after first trying the game would almost certainly be the incredibly improved graphics. They had already introduced 3D rendering in Black and White, but did a TERRIBLE job with it then in my opinion. In X and Y, however, they actually made it look realistic, and it really helps one get immersed in the game. There's not much to say about the 3D feature itself, but they seem to make pretty good use of it, although, admittedly, I can't really use the 3D function properly due to amblyopia, so this statement is somewhat speculative.

Male player-character standing outside of home

They really nailed the battle animations for this generation. They actually look realistic, and incredibly cool. It almost feels as if you are right there in person commanding your pokémon. Basically, what I've been getting at these last couple paragraphs is that they successfully pulled off what they attempted (and failed) graphics-wise in Black and White.

Screenshot of an incredible battle animation

The highest point of the graphics, however, is the interiors of all the region's gyms. They are literally AMAZING. Not only are just the graphics stunningly intense and beautiful, but the method for actually reaching each gym leader is very unique and creative. They've always had little puzzles to solve for gyms ever since the first generation of games, but they used to always be boring. In fact, they were kind of annoying; you just wanted to battle with the gym leader, but all these tedious obstacles were always in the way.

The gyms each had a very unique challenge, and a very unique atmosphere. There were new types of challenges and puzzles that you'd never expect to find in a Pokémon game, and doing them was almost -- if not -- just as fun as the actual gym leader battle itself. They successfully took something that I don't think anybody really enjoyed, and turned it into one of the best aspects of the game. I was very impressed!

Male player-character in interior of first gym

Okay, so the graphics are fantastic. But what about the music? Although it was rather good, there are a couple of caveats I must mention. First of all, it did not sound like a Pokémon game at all. I've always felt like these games had a distinctive style of composition, but it was lost in X and Y. Plus, the actual tone of the sound was not very game-like, either, which was a personal disappointment. However, despite these things, it did actually turn out to fit quite well with the atmosphere of the game, so all was not lost. 

[Side note: I plan on doing a much more detailed OST review for this game in the near future] 

...

Ugh. Just look at these morons

Like every other game in the main series, there are eight gym badges that you must collect in order to challenge the Elite Four. But, also similar to other games, is that somewhere along your journey of challenging gym leaders you encounter the region's local criminal organization. In the case of Pokémon: X and Y's Kalos region, you are forced to deal with what I think everyone could agree is the WORST criminal organization the series has ever introduced. When I say 'worst', I'm not saying in terms of the degree of heinousness, I really mean that they're just a stupid group.

The group I am referring to is the highly arrogant, and self-describedly 'fashionable' Team Flare (though, shouldn't it be Team Flair?): an entire organization of rich, young adults in hideous bright-orange suits. Like most game's plots, they are somehow involved with the game's mascot pokémon, which will be either Xerneas or Yveltal depending on the version chosen. I won't disclose exactly how they are involved, however, in order to protect you from spoilers.

I won't go into detail about the overall plot, either, but I will say that it is kind of strange, and doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I get the gist of what's going on, but the way things are presented can really be quite weird. For example, there is literally a fifty-foot tall, 3,000 year-old homeless man who once built a death-ray out of a giant crystal... Or something. Yeah.

In other words, the overall plot of the game wasn't all that good. This didn't really make the game any less fun, however, and the histrionic silliness of Team Flare was even good for a few laughs along the journey, so don't let all this dissuade you from trying the game out for yourself.

Also involved, not just in the plot, but just in the life of the player, are four friends that you intermittently come in contact with throughout your journey. One of these friends is the base version of the opposite gender of the character you pick; i.e., if you're a boy, the girl character takes on this role, and vice-versa. This particular person becomes your rival, and you battle them every so often. They don't take on the antagonistic rivalry role like the infamous Gary (or as I'm sure all of us have named him, 'Assfuck', 'Cuntwad', etc...), but more of a 'friendly competitor' type schtick. 

The other three friends are set no matter what gender you pick (I did a playthrough as both genders, so I know this for sure). Since I found these characters to be slightly interesting for some reason or another (usually they are somewhat silly reasons), I'll take a moment to brief you on them:

• Serena/Calem - Your friendly neighborhood rival. Apparently raised by 'master trainers', (s)he has this determination to be the best trainer in the group. As such, (s)he challenges you throughout the game. Also gets caught up somewhat in the plot. Regardless of what gender they are, (s)he will have the same dialogue and personality (far as I could tell, anyways). Personally, I just found it more fitting when they were female, but not for any super-particular reason.
• Shauna - Packaged as the group's 'cute one', she maintains her role as resident sweetheart, but will get annoying really quickly. A better description of her is that she is a needy, immature little girl who you have to babysit throughout your quest. It should also be noted that if you play as a boy, her dialogue is slightly different. It would be erroneous to say that she flirts with you, but, she does some sort of weird, elementary-school-aged version of that. I'm sure it must've been exciting for Pokémon's target demographic to experience that, but I would be old enough to face criminal charges if I were into kids her age. 
• Tierno - An unhealthily obese, happy-go-lucky kid who has a dream to lead the World's greatest pokémon dance troupe (I couldn't make this shit up). You get to fight him a couple times, but he's pretty weak. He'll admit this, though, and just remind everyone else that he'd rather be a dancer than a trainer. He'll even sometimes do a little pirouette when you talk to him (like I said, I just couldn't make this up). If you play as a girl, you will find that Shauna no longer flirts with you, but instead, THIS GUY DOES (It didn't help that my name was 'Jenny Taylia'). Since I don't have a fragile sense of masculinity, I didn't really have a problem playing as a girl, aside from that this weirdo was after me. Yikes. I would highly recommend that you play as a boy, regardless of what your actual gender is. The things I've seen, man...



Yup. The guy on the left is Tierno.
Imagine that thing hitting on you!

• Trevor - Of course, every group of friends has to have the quiet, ginger nerd who's half everyone else's height and has hair that looks like a pumpkin. He doesn't really say much (aside from these couple instances where he says something really deeply emotional, accompanied by The Incredible Hulk-caliber sad piano music), and is more interested in filling his Pokédex than battling. But he will issue his own sort of battle of 'who has more pokémon registered on their Pokédex?' He is not very good. I beat him with seven once. 

Be as effeminate as you want, boys!

On top of having all these other characters, they add one more character than normal... You! Well, sort of. In past games, the player character feels like little more than a clump of pixels that you move around and what not. In X and Y, they actually let you be slightly more than that. What I'm taking about, is moderate aesthetic customization. It's not a whole lot, but you get to at least choose skin, hair, and eye color, plus you can change your hairstyle during the game and change your clothes. 

There's about ten million different
options for girls

The Kalos region, being as based off of France as it is, adds a new type of store called a 'boutique' into a handful of towns. You go there to buy clothes, and there's actually quite a bit of styles and options that you can mix and match to your pleasing. Of course, girls have about ten times as many options as boys, though. 

As for hairstyles, there only seems to be one place where you can get these altered. There's also about ten times as many options for girls than there are for boys, though, but would you really expect otherwise? 

...

A couple of other new features are Pokémon Amie, and Super Training. Both are very useful.

Even Gengar is cute in
Pokémon Amie!

Pokémon Amie is basically bonding with your pokémon. It adds a very personal aspect to the game, and it makes cute pokémon about a thousand times cuter. Basically, you get to pet your pokémon, feed it 'poképuffs', and play minigames with it (a couple which are crack-tier addicting). Basically, you do this to raise a pokémon's affection levels (COMPLETELY separate from friendship levels; will not affect the strength of Return, etc...). When their levels are maxed out, they perform better in battle by landing more critical hits and evading more often. Fairly useful, and takes roughly an hour per pokémon to max out their affection. It would be wise to utilize this tool, even if petting more badass pokémon just doesn't feel... right. 

Super Training is the most useful tool for lazy trainers such as myself who still want strong pokémon. Basically, it's another series of minigames, but completing them raises your pokémon's EVs! It's SOOOOOO much less time consuming than searching for pokémon that yield desired EVs and avoiding ones that don't. Seriously. This is a lifesaver. Give whoever decided to put this in a freakin' medal.

...

Now, let's talk about a couple things that you may have already heard about the game. First, is the addition of the new Fairy typing. It... wasn't really necessary, not to mention that it hardly makes any sense. Plus, it utterly disrupted the metagame for quite some time. Here's a table of its strengths and weaknesses, from Bulbapedia.

Via Bulbapedia

The most notable thing about this type is that it not only is super-effective against Dragon type offensively, but defensively it is IMMUNE. If you go into the game not knowing this, you can be in for some surprises.

Another new feature added in this generation is the almighty mega-evolution; a feature that allows certain pokémon to temporarily evolve an extra time during an individual battle. They don't evolve into a completely new species, however, but they do change into a FAR more badass version of themselves (except for Gyarados...), and get a nice stat-boost as long as the mega-evolution is in effect.

Mega-Gyarados: a friggin' jumbo shrimp

Also, one should keep in mind that in order for a mega-evolution to be able to work, the pokémon intended to evolve must be holding its respective mega-stone. Each pokémon that can evolve this way needs to be holding it in battle. You will encounter a couple of these stones automatically throughout the game, but some you will need to find out in the open. Most of them are available to be found only from 8:00-9:00 p.m., as well, for some odd reason.

...

Like every other generation, there was also a handful of new moves added. There were naturally a few Fairy type moves added, but none with particularly interesting effects. Most of the other types were rather boring and not even worth discussing, but there are a few that I will go into detail about:

Hawlucha: a luchadore hawk

• Flying Press - This is the signature move of the new Flying/Fighting type pokémon Hawlucha. The interesting thing about this attack is that it counts as both a Flying and Fighting type move, to compliment Hawlucha's interesting typing.
• Spiky Shield - Signature move of Kalos Grass type starter's final form Chestnaught. Works like Protect or Detect, but also causes damage to any pokémon making direct contact. 
• King's Shield - This move is similar to Spiky Shield, but instead of dealing damage, it lowers the aggressor's attack stat. Signature move of Steel/Ghost type Aegislash.
• Freeze Dry - An Ice type move that counts as super-effective against Water types.
• Forest's Curse - This is the signature move of Trevanent, a new Grass/Ghost type pokémon. It adds Grass typing to the target.
• Trick or Treat - This move is essentially the same as Forest's Curse, except instead of Grass type, the target becomes ghost type. It is the signature move of Gourgeist, another Grass/Ghost type.

Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist

Trick or Treat is not the only unique feature of Gourgeist, however. This particular pokémon, along with it's pre-evolution Pumpkaboo, have the interesting feature of coming in four different size varieties (small, average, large, and super-size). Each type has slightly different base-stats, where larger sizes sacrifice speed for strength and bulk. 

On top of new moves, there are also a few new abilities, a few of which have rather interesting effects:

• Aerilate, Pixilate, Refrigerate - Changes all Normal type moves used by the user to Flying, Fairy, and Ice types, respectively. 
• Protean - The user changes type based on the move it uses. For example, if it uses, say, Flamethrower, it becomes Fire-type. This ability can be used to strategically avoid type weaknesses, and gives every single move STAB. 
• Stance Change - Defining feature of Aegislash (remember this one? Quite an interesting new species). This changes Aegislash's form (from a sword form, to a shield one), and also stats, depending on whether the move it uses is offensive or defensive. 

Aegislash's two forms

...

The last specific thing I'm going to discuss is the Online features. There's not a whole lot of things worth mentioning save a couple of exceptions, namely 'Wonder Trade' and the 'Friend Safari'.

First off, the Wonder Trade is some of the most fun you'll have in the game. What you do, is you offer a pokémon - any pokémon that you own - up for trade. The Internet finds you a match, and a trade happens. The interesting thing about all this, though, is that you are matched up completely at random. You can get ANYTHING that is available in the game. It's all up to chance... For example, you can send out a Bidoof and get a Beldum or Larvesta! But conversely, somebody's sending out a Beldum and Larvesta and getting a Bidoof in return. So it really is a gamble. But in my personal experience, I got decent finds often enough to more than make up for the disappointing Bidoofs and Zigzagoons. But, no matter what you get, ALWAYS look at them carefully. I almost sent away a Cascoon I received until I noticed that it was infected blessed with pokérus. BE VERY CAREFUL.

Remember the Safari Zone? Pepperidge Farms remembers, and so do I. And, while, Pokémon X and Y don't have a Safari Zone in the traditional sense, they DO have the Friend Safari. Basically, you collect friend codes by becoming friends with people over your 3DS, and then if they have Pokémon X and/or Y, they will 'give' you a section of a Safari (that made it sound more interesting that it really is; it's just a square of grass). In that section, you will find exactly 3 pokémon of a specific type. Usually, they suck (mine happens to be Fighting, with Machoke, Meinshao, and Hariyama, I think...), but other times, there can be some great finds (a friend of mine has a Fire one, containing Larvesta!) That's really all there is to it. There are a lot of online communities that trade friend codes, and you can probably find some interesting species there.

...

All in all, this is a great game. It might come as a bit of a disappointment to some, however, just because it's such a departure from the style of previous games. But, I think it's really just an evolution of style. We'd be getting pretty bored of the series if it was the same old thing every single generation. So, I urge you, just give it a try. It may be a little off-putting to some, but I think it's easy to grow into once you give it a chance. 

So, to wrap it up...

Pros:

• Brand new type of gameplay is well done
• There are finally options for character-customization
• Graphics are PHENOMENAL
• Wonder Trade is awesome
• Mega Evolution is also awesome

Cons:

• Brand new type of gameplay might be off-putting at first
• Team Flare is stupid
• There's a very small amount of new pokémon species
• Fairy type doesn't make any sense
• And, the most severe con of all, Tierno flirts with you if you're a girl

/XenoJesus

Unless stated otherwise, all images taken via Google Images, since this IS the Internet. If you own the rights to any of the images in this post, please contact me at xenogzus@gmail.com and request their removal. I'll happily comply to any reasonable demands regarding this.