I've got to say, I've been a Pokémon player since before they even released in America. That being said, all of the new features that kept getting revealed to us made me more and more excited for this 6th generation. After finally acquiring the game, I was thoroughly impressed at first, but those feelings quickly shifted.
Right from the beginning, you know they definitely put a lot of work into the aesthetic value of the game. It is by far the prettiest Pokémon games and definitely one of the best looking 3DS games out there. It is quite unfortunate that you notice a significant frame rate drop in the game when 3D is used though. This is especially unfortunate because the few places 3D IS used, it looks very nice. I just wish they had taken the time to make the whole game 3D. They did a perfectly fine job with HarmoKnight, so I couldn't understand why they decided to be lazy with Pokémon.
To top it off, I feel like they did an absolutely fantastic job with the Pokémon cries this time around. I feel like they did a fantastic job of taking those synthetic cries and trying to turn them into some more realistic sounds. The Pokémon sound much more believable this time around (aside from the silly fan service with Pikachu calling out its name). To add icing to the cake and round out the package, the music is absolutely amazing. They managed to compose tunes that sounded like they belonged in an RPG. They were appropriately epic when needed and conveyed all the feelings and emotions necessary for each scene. While I do like some themes and songs from throughout the series quite a bit, there is no denying that the music in this game is the most well thought out and well done set of music that's ever come out of Game Freak. It was so good that for the first time in a LONG time, I decided to purchase the soundtrack.
So if all I'm doing is singing praise about the game, why did I give the game a 7.0? The answer lies in the title of the review. The prettiest graphics and the most amazing sounds can't save a mediocre game from being mediocre. Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of fantastic changes and additions that make this a good game. The addition of Fairy really helps balance out Dragon types especially after the huge overpowering of them in 5th generation. It also helps better balance the Fighting and Dark types, which makes me really happy. The addition of Mega Pokémon certainly did a FANTASTIC job of revitalizing many Pokémon that people liked, but could not use in competitive play due to them being underpowered compared to the newer Pokémon (like Mawile for example). The much improved online features, which allows me to access most of the features straight from the bottom screen with little trouble, while also allowing me to communicate with random people around the world is absolutely amazing. The addition of Super Training in order to make EV training a much more viable option for those that found it very daunting is extremely appreciated. The ability to acquire 450 Pokémon in the base game (rather than the 150 new Pokémon ONLY in Black/White) allows for us to have a large variety of choices as we play through the game. The friend safari system is an absolutely brilliant progression over the Safari Zone, and is very much welcome (each friend is assigned a type, and you get 3 random Pokémon from that type in their safari...to top it off if they are online, you can have a chance of acquiring hidden abilities as well). Minor game play changes here and there also help round out the experience quite a bit.
The core problem lies in the things they decided to omit though. To begin with, there are only 69 new Pokémon and even counting the Mega Pokémon, there are less than 100 new Pokémon to enjoy capturing (that's lower than the lowest addition of any generation...namely Gold/Silver @ 100). The new type combinations are very plain and boring, which is a major loss considering the very fun and unique combinations presented in 5th generation. There aren't any outstanding new Fairy Pokémon, which undermines the whole point of the new type. For example, I've seen a well-trained Garchomp destroy almost any Fairy encounter it runs across. The battle subway, and almost everything that was added to Black/White 1 and 2 is oddly missing from here as well. A minor (but significant to me) gripe is that there is no clock displayed on the lower screen anymore. This is something we've had for a while...and I have no idea why they would take this out. There also is not a new trio of Pokémon to hunt down as in ALL the previous games (there is a cameo trio in this game, but they aren't relevant to the game at all). After the amazing amount of 'post-game' content that was available in B/W 1 and especially B/W 2, the post-game content in this game is oddly lacking. I managed to finish the post-game content in this game in less than an hour, and was immensely disappointed. The story of the game is quite lacking as well. I understand that they were trying to go for that adventurous feel of the original all over again, where you are on a personal journey...but it falls flat with the way the game decided to present it. To top it off, there is a HUGE villain story that is going on during the game, but you don't know ANYTHING about it for most of the game. You hear bits and pieces about this plot and Team Flare but then all of a sudden before you hit a certain gym you get ALL of the story thrown at you at once, then all of a sudden it's over. It was very rushed and boring as a result, and all of the impact was gone due to the way all of that story was packed into a small sequence of events. That being said, there is a minor story about a certain character that was very touching and ended very beautifully by the end of the game, but this is one positive point amongst a sea of poor pacing decisions.
The worst thing about the game though, is how easy it is. I purchased both X and Y. I played Y first, and I normally like to battle every trainer and capture as many Pokémon as I can. One really cool thing is that you still walk away with experience points after you capture a Pokémon. That being said, I was ALWAYS over-leveled (this has never happened to me in a previous Pokémon game), and it was so bad that by the time I got to the Elite Four...I was TWENTY levels over the highest level Pokémon the Champion had. That is absolutely preposterous. I thought nothing of it at first though, figuring that this was my fault because I unintentionally would grind quite a bit while trying to capture the Pokémon I wanted to capture. So when I did my play through on Pokémon X, I didn't capture ANYBODY aside from the Pokémon for my team and I avoided as many battles as I could. Even playing in this way, I was still about 5 levels over the highest level Pokémon on the Champion's team, and was able to get through the Elite Four and Champion in one try. The fact that they decided to REMOVE the easy and hard mode settings that were present in B/W 2 was extremely disappointing. I would have loved to play through parts of the game again in Hard Mode so I could actually have a challenge. The sense of accomplishment (which is one of the most important things in this series) is completely ruined with the loss of any sort of challenge. Even the gyms were painfully easy. While there were a couple of creative designs, overall the gyms, in themes and design were absolutely terrible compared to other games (the original and 5th generation stands out as the best to me).
As a result of all this, the campaign will seem very pleasing and fun at first, but will quickly fall flat as you progress further and further into the game. This is unfortunate, because there is a LOT of potential for amazing things presented in the game, but they just hint at the ideas and never really follow through on anything. For those who buy the game strictly for the campaign, you WILL be slightly disappointed. For those of you who like to play competitively, there are a lot of positive changes and updates that are made that make raising the best team you can a lot more manageable. The competitive scene will certainly receive a rise in popularity due to the advances made in this game, but everything else is merely mediocre.
As it stands, this game will be a blast to play no matter what you think of the overall experience, but it's one of those games that will leave a bad taste in your mouth upon completion, even if most of the journey there was a pleasant experience. The game overall feels very empty and incomplete for a full retail release, and I hope that they don't charge us for (the most likely inevitable) DLC that expands the game a lot more. If you are a Pokémon fan, definitely pick this one up, but don't expect it to WOW you like any of the other games did. If you are a new player to the series, this is actually a good place to start, even with it's shortcomings.
As a side note, I'd like to mention that while I normally round up if my actual given score is not a choice in the review score options, this time I had to round down though. There are too many shortcomings that are present, and I can't justify boosting the game up to an 8.0 as a result.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the review, and I hope everybody manages to find their own enjoyment out of this game.