Pokemon is a long running franchise which has kept the same basic formula for years. With each new iteration comes new creatures to collect, a new region to explore and tweaks to enhance the game experience. The sixth iteration is no exception to this rule. It appears Gamefreak have really listened to some of the nitpicks of previous generations and Pokemon Y is a great game which should appeal to all Pokemon fans
The story is nothing new. You are a Pokemon trainer sent by the professor of the region to go out and complete the Pokedex. During this quest you; collect monsters, battle trainers, take up the gym challenge and deal with bad guys. You are given a choice of 3 starter Pokemon. The Grass type chipmunk, Chespin. The fire type fox Fennekin. And the water type frog Froakie. Later on in the game you are also allowed to pick one of the Kanto starter Pokemon (Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle) In your journey you will run into the mysterious Team Flare. There is some slight story elements present to the game, but nothing like the Black and White games where th eplot was very prominant. Here it's just back to fill the Pokedex and beat the gym leaders.
As usual you explore grass, caves, lakes etc to find wild Pokemon. Pokemon from all previous games are presant and there isn't really much of an emphasis on the new Pokemon (of which there are only 69) they're not really showed off at all. Grassy patches have a lot of Pokemon presant spanning all of the games. Apparently every single Pokemon from the past is obtainable somewhere (except starters and legendaries of course) So if you want a Kanto Pokemon only team, you can do that. But the new Pokemon are cool!
The battle system remains unchanged. You take part in turn based battles exploiting type differences and see if you have the strength and strategy to come out on top. Pokemon will learn new moves through levelling up or by using TMs which you can use as many times as you want. HMs are presant in the game, but you don't need to use them that often - you only ever need to use cut if you want to get extra items lying around. The level grinding time has been practically abloished here. Early on you are given an EXP Share which now works differently. When switched on, any Pokemon used in a battle will gain 100% of the experience and the rest of your party will gain 50% experience too. This removes the need to level grind and I was actually overleveled and the game was a breeze. If you want it to be harder, you can always just turn the EXP share off.
The 8 gym leaders are still present each specialising in a different type. There's a bug type gym, an electric gym, grass gym etc. There is a new type of Pokemon introduced here - Fairy Type! It's actually quite a useful type! Also some of the type match ups have been altered - steel no longer resists Dark type attacks for example.
There are some new features added to the game - we'll cover the battle additions first - Sky Battles and Mega Evolution. Sky battles are aerial battles where only Pokemon who can fly or levitate can take place - but other than that it's no different from any other battle. Mega Evolution is a temporary form of evolution some Pokemon can undertake when the correct item is possessed. Pokemon with Mega Evolutions include the Kanto starters, Gengar, Absol and Garchomp - although interestingly non of the new Pokemon have Mega Evolutions which I think is a bit bizzare. Mega Evolutions can only be induced during battle and will boost your Pokemon's stats and may change their ability or type. It's a pretty cool feature and it results in your Pokemon becoming rediculously over powered. Mega Charizard Y has drought ability and a boost to it's special attack stat = deadly!
Two other new features are Super Training and Pokemon-Amie. Super Training is a mini game which will enable you to gain Effort Values - What are they you may ask. Effort Values were always hidden in past games, but essentially the affected your stats. The higher your effort values for a particular stat, the higher that stat will be. EVs are always awarded when you defeat a Pokemon and which stats will benefit depend on the Pokemon you fight. But this new system lets you choose which stats to raise your EVs for - so you can choose to max out stats your Pokemon is good at, or cover their weaknesses.
But anyway, it's a mini game where your Pokemon flies around a flying thing and you have to shoot balls at a balloon and evade attacks. The shooting requires the touch screen. So if you understand all that nature advantage/hindrence, Individual Values and Effort Values you can create a killer team for competetive play. (Pokemon stats are surprisingly complex :O )
Pokemon-Amie is like a virtual pet where you can feed, pet and play mini games with your Pokemon. At first it may seem like a useless distraction, but actually the more you raise your Pokemon's affection with this the better they will perform in battle - they will gain more EXP, make critical hits land more easily, sometimes even be able to shake off status conditions. And it's adorable!!
Whats the difference between X and Y? Probably not a lot (as usual) some Pokemon you get are different.
The graphics, obviously being on the 3DS graphically this is a HUGE step up for Pokemon. Battles are fully animated, the world is vast and detailed. It's a nice game to look at. The music is cool! Ranging from the upbeat and carefree to the rather intense.
On a technical note DO NOT SAVE IN LUMIOSE CITY! There is a glitch which will cause you to need to reset your game (at least at the time this review was written.
Pokemon Y has something that all Pokemon fans will enjoy! There are new Pokemon and old Pokemon and the diversity to pick from is great which will please everyone. Mega Evolution gives us a chance to look back on some of our old favourites. Super Training enables a faster way to get an overpowered team and Pokemon-Amie is adorable! No matter what kind of Pokemon fan you are - this game will have something to please you. And if you're looking to get into Pokemon, this is a perfect place to start. At first I was dissappoineted with the lack of emphasis on the new Pokemon Characters, but when every thing else is so great I can't complain. No level grinding and nice new features. There is something for everyone here!
milesprower2k9