Pokemon X Is Actually Good So Far

At this point, I don't even need to point out that I have been vocal about my dislike for many aspects of Pokemon games past and present, and those definitely lowered the bar for Pokemon X going in.  However, while it's a bit of a stretch to say I have been suitably impressed by X, I -have- been pleasantly surprised at the very least.  Granted, I haven't really bitten into any of the actual meat of the game - I haven't met the Professor yet, even - but I've spent some time in the first areas, got my first badge and have generally started up a preliminary team with the few pokemon I've come across that I like.  It is by no means something permanent, but merely something that exists until I can switch out the stragglers.

My starter was Fennekin the fire fox, whom I scummed for an hour for to get a Female that I could name Cierra.  Because she's a fire-starter.  (Read the Riviera: The Promised Land LP for the reference and to realize that it's quite brilliant and I'm proud of it)  The fire starters are more or less always the best with some exceptions - if you didn't take a Piplup in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, it's because you're awful since Piplup is a penguin and thus wins.  And Snivy Smugleaf was clearly the correct choice for Black/White.  I've supplemented Cierra with mostly first-gen pokemon out of happenstance I swear, I'm not being a snob or anything.  I caught a Pidgey since they're just a solid Pokemon to have around, and I got a Weedle for a Beedrill since having a fully evolved Pokemon at Level 10 is a pretty neat feeling.  Finally, I've already gotten my standard Pikachu that will eventually be a Raichu, as I have to have a Raichu in every game.  However, this Pikachu is merely a prototype for my eventual Boss Raichu, and I really wish I would've named it Mercer.  Even though it's a girl.

I can't speak much for story so far, but the set-up is refreshing in that it feels a little more...organic, more believable than most games in the past.  The 'traditional Pokemon journey' has previously been set up as something of a 'rite of passage' which makes less and less sense as you go on in the series.  While you can't deny that aspect of it in X, it's not as prevalent, and with the addition of four other characters that form a little group with you (no, you guys don't stick together) to make it feel like something of an adventure it just works -far- better than ever before.  Sure, you still have a mother who is perfectly fine with her tween child heading off out into the world all on their lonesome for some reason, and you still find yourself responsible for completing a Pokedex, but it all just -feels- better somehow.

Presentation is better than it's ever been as well.  This is probably the first Pokemon game with camera angles which shouldn't be exciting, but it is.  Not only that, but the graphics definitely take advantage of the 3DS hardware, and everything just seems far less stiff than previous games.  Animations are nice and smooth and enhance the combat greatly (though they take enough time that I've honestly considered turning them off unfortunately), while everything just seems much better defined.  Character designs are rather nice and fit in well with the rather lovely locales that I've seen so far.  It's at least the most visually pleasant and interesting Pokemon world to date, though I'm not quite sure how much of an honor that is to have held aloft.

Even if I end up disliking Pokemon X because of the story, because of Team Flair and such, I can say without a doubt that X/Y is a -definite- step forward for the franchise.  Mechanics haven't seen many tweaks that I've found just yet which is a big problem, but they've broken out of their comfort zone greatly.  At the very least, we have beautifully detailed Pokemon models and animations that they can lift directly into the next iteration, which means they can focus more on...well, other aspects of the game.  Like the gameplay.  Like the things that they've needed to fix for entire generations of the series in general.  For once, I can say that without laughing like a madman since it....well, it -could- happen!

she's a twisted fire-starter

Pokemon....I Don't Even Know Anymore

Pokemon X and Y keeps throwing out the secrets and tidbits of information, and the newest one is the brand new "Mega" form of pokemon which is something so weird that I'm not sure if I can legitimately conjure up words to describe it.  Or perhaps, as I've been instructed elsewhere, "Weird" isn't exactly the correct word, but it's...it's different.  It's something different in pokemon which is something at least.  Various outlets have been running with the term "Mega Evolutions" and I'm not really sure that's the correct title - it shouldn't be - because of just how it works, which is why I'm just going to refer to them as Mega Forms.  I may also call them Super Saiyan because come on that is what they are.  You know it, I know it, everybody knows it, so let's not kid ourselves.

Anyway, basically what these new Mega forms are are a thing you can do with certain pokemon during a battle if they're holding a certain item, which we will call a Mega Stone for now.  Every pokemon that has a Mega Form needs a unique Mega Stone which you will be able to get in-game except for the one for Mega Blaziken because it's a unique DLC event-item (that comes on a Torchic) that will only be available for a limited time because Nintendo still doesn't understand DLC.  Going Super Saiyan Entering Mega Form requires a conscious choice on the part of the player (I think) and takes a full turn to do, wherein your pokemon is vulnerable of course.  However the benefits are fairly obvious - Mega Forms have different innate abilities (Things like Insomniac, Adaptability, not actual moves), likely have buffed stats and just have a different, imposing visage.  So it's a near-immediate return and for as far as I know the effect lasts until the battle is over or the pokemon faints, with no other sort of timer attached.

Of course, that little bit at the end is the reason why it shouldn't be considered an evolution in traditional Pokemon senses.  It's not permanent like Evolution in Pokemon is (and is...y'know, implied by the very term) and the change is not as 'drastic' as evolutions are.  Ampharos grows some 70s metal hair, Blaziken cosplays Heihachi Mishima, and Mewtwo's tail moves to the back of his head because shut up.  It is, of course, mostly about the stats, the boosts, which is why we can affectionately refer to it as "going Super Saiyan", especially when you consider the hair changes are quite prominent in the examples.  They don't get bigger, they don't 'mutate', they don't suddenly grow two more of themselves, it's not evolution in the Pokemon sense in any way.  Which isn't a bad thing, it just bears mentioning.  Since...there really isn't much else -to- mention about it, really.

Mid-battle evolution has raised more than a few allusions to Digimon which basically relied solely -on- mid-battle evolution.  Or at least, that's what the anime taught me, but the anime for Pokemon taught me a lot of stuff that is wrong too, so I don't even know.  At the very least, evolution in Digimon isn't permanent either, and ties more closely to what Mega Evolution Forms represents in a boost of stats in battle when you need it, where the boost goes away when it's over with.  Of course, Digimon's evolutions were also the big bad 'traditional' form of evolutions where things got big and mean for the most part, but still.  I am trying to make a point and it's hard to make and I can't really concentrate because of Animal Crossing which I will cover in a separate post after this.  The point is that it's similar, which is strange since back in the day they were....basically competing and at least outside of Japan, Pokemon seemed to pretty much stomp Digimon flat.  Unfortunate or fortunate as it may be.

Only six pokemon have Mega Evolutions Forms so far, but I would imagine with, what, 500-600 Pokemon, they can have more than that.  Of course it is Pokemon after all, so one can never be sure.  Regardless it's at least a new mechanic in the game that is wholly new and comes from left field so I have to respect it based on that alone.  Sure, it's not a change that I wanted, nor one that I feel was at all necessary, but that's just how it goes sometimes.  It's a sign of progress no matter what, so that's a positive.  I just can't help but wonder if some of the Mega Forms are going to get -really- weird; I don't trust enough that they won't toss one at Pikachu or Eevee, neither of which actually need a Mega Form, where the Blaziken Mega Form sort of leaves one wondering if -all- starters are going to get a Mega Form.  Which....makes sense, but, you know, effort.  Sometimes you have to just wonder about things like that when it comes to the game.

even if Pikachu gets a Mega Form, I'mma roll with Raichu because Raichu is boss status

Pokemon X/Y and Insanity

Citing various sources, including a fantastic video game, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and over again and expecting things to turn out different.  This is basically me with Pokemon.  We all know of the Sonic Cycle which is a true thing that happened in times of yore, and essentially, I have my own Pokemon cycle.  Basically I hear of a new Pokemon game and I hope against all hope that this one, this is going to be the different one.  The one that really innovates the series rather than giving us a new area, new pokemon, a few mechanics tweaks and maybe a new type or two which are, by and large, generally more trouble than they're worth.  The one that breaks the conventions of old and ushers in a -new- style of Pokemon game, one that is approachable to both new and old players while also catering to them both, retaining familiarity to draw in and keep new fans, while changing things up to excite veteran ones.  I keep this hope alive while I await new bits of news to come out.

And then they announce what the new "Team" is.

And I sigh and resign myself to buying what is essentially Pokemon Ruby for the nth time.  A band of adults running around in some megalomaniacal scheme that inevitably involves some form of Pokemon God that still hasn't been discovered on the grand scale despite it literally being a God and thus something other regions would know of, only to be thwarted by you, a precocious tweenager that's always given their first Pokemon by some Professor that is inevitably Grass, Fire or Water type.  Cut it, print it, gold.

I have made many, many posts about Pokemon and the bulk of them are not celebrating what it is, but rather lamenting that it could be better.  This seems like it is something that is never going to stop happening unless I stop caring about Pokemon entirely, which I don't think is something I'm capable of doing while there is not a proper replacement abound.  I just can't -not- envision a game that is like Pokemon but is also so much -more- than what Nintendo and/or Game Freak restrain the titles to be.  I've said it before that I understand that every Pokemon game is designed with the idea in mind that it's going to be -somebody's- first Pokemon game, but that doesn't excuse anything.  Pokemon Gold/Silver was somebody's first Pokemon game as well, and that has, in many ways, still managed to blow even the newer games away with its scope if nothing else.

Pokemon games can have natural conflict, natural progression without a cartoonishly inept and evil group of malefactors running around and shouting about how bad they're being or being so deluded that it boggles the mind as to how they've avoided the sanitorium.  Indeed, the "Teams" are truly my biggest pet peeve with the entire series since they don't even make sense anymore - they simply exist to exist because they've always existed.  They are basically causality loops of the Pokemon Meta-verse, except nowhere near as complex, yet exactly as illogical.  I imagine it's crazy to think they will ever -not- be there because they have, in fact, -always- been there, apparently.  Perhaps it's some sort of meta-commentary on society when every single area of a given world has the exact same scenario occurring in it at what could or could not be the exact same time.  Or...no, probably not.

All I want, which is appropriate enough for the series, is some form of proper evolution.  I've come up with all sorts of ideas for this which have been the subject of many, many posts before today, which I won't even look for since you have the Pokemon tag link above, but I understand that some of them may just beyond the scope for a short-term change.  Not everything can be out of that scope and an idea comes to mind that takes advantage of mechanics that have already existed and been used in the games that can also mirror....well, every single piece of media surrounding the Pokemon series as a whole.  I understand it's not the easiest thing to implement in the fashion that I imagine it in, but it would be easier than other ideas that would also enrich the game.

Double and even Triple team battles have been a thing in the games so far, and there are even portions of some of the games where you have a partner that follows you around specifically for Double-Battles.  So...why not extend that to the whole game?  In addition to your team of Pokemon, just make it so that some of the characters in the game are 'recruitable' in that you can buddy up with them and travel the region alongside them, with the option of bringing them in on Double-Battles if you so choose.  Have it be so that you can influence their own team, whether or not they evolve their mons, stuff like that.  Just add another layer of depth to the game that can also be completely neglected if you wish, since you wouldn't -have- to recruit any of these characters.  I just think it would be interesting to have a 'friend' mechanic in the game so that your character would have, by extension, a bit more of a personality, or even just a bit of more 'ownership' from you, the player.  "My character is always friends with (Character) and is a dick because he keeps telling them not to evolve their (Mon)." or "My character goes around and makes friends with everyone, making sure they're on the road to having the best mons they can before parting ways."  Just something.

Just like every other time, I can only say that this is -not- the Pokemon game that I want.  I want something that expands beyond the boundaries that have been in place for damn near two decades.  Or, more appropriately, the ones that have been in place since Ruby and Sapphire, some 11 years ago.  The game can be so much more, but Game Freak has to try it.  Much like every other time, I will hold out hope that the next game, the next Pokemon iteration, will be the one that I want.  And, to complete the cycle, it just won't be, yet I'll buy it anyway, because it's the only Pokemon fix that I -have-.  Which I can only imagine is the only reason for why Game Freak and Nintendo aren't pushing anything - if you want your Pokemon fix, you have only one place to go.  Maybe when someone finally makes a capable clone, we'll see a shift, but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon.  I can damn well hope for something like that on the Vita, however.  I can hope very hard.

Of course if a Pokemon-like series showed up on the Vita, it wouldn't be 'competition' it would just be called a 'rip-off' and I will just get so angry about that

Okay, I Really Can't Stop Thinking About Pokemon

I admit it - ever since it was announced last week, I've had Pokemon on the brain and I just can't help but wonder at just what X & Y are going to offer, even if I might suspect the answer is "Not much".  I made it very clear that I am not expecting much from the newest iteration of the series, but I am not the type who cannot hope and yet remain skeptical at the same time.  I would want nothing more than to learn that X & Y are doing big things for the franchise as a whole, and learning that it does would make me incredibly enthused for the games - I'm just simply not putting any money on that.  I can be happily surprised again, but I'll try to not let myself be bitterly disappointed any longer.  Because that just makes me angry in the end and it still bugs me that I loathe Black/White with the vehemence that I do.  (To the point where I wrote off White/Black 2 completely on announcement and have only now, with a pokemon itch to scratch, considered picking it up)

After thinking about it for literally the last hour, I discovered that it's quite hard to quantify just -what- I expect, what I -desire- out of a Pokemon game, which is a bit confusing to me.  I suppose it's just a judgment call on my part, something that I just know when I'm playing it, but there are a few elements that are kind of given.  Unfortunately, the bulk of them have sort of come up on the "What I wish this had" list rather than "what makes it good" list for the last few versions.  These features are...honestly, more or less what Gold and Silver offered that every version since has managed to neglect which astounds me in ways that similarly astound me.  Just astounded all around here.  You would think, after getting it right (and then remaking those games, consequently still getting it right) that it would be obvious, but no, Game Freak is just concerned with being absolutely confusing.

The biggest thing that Gold/Silver did, without question, was allowing you to go back to Kanto and explore the entire region that the first game was in, as well as offering additional story about not only Gold/Silver but the aftermath of Red/Blue.  Even that's not -perfect- by any means since you can just blow through towns/gyms in mere minutes without having much of a reason to -not- do that, but goddamn if that wasn't brilliant back then, and not being part of every game going forward is insanity, pure and simple.  There are ways that you can do this, shut up, I don't care okay.  It was 'easy' in Gold/Silver because Kanto is literally right next to Johto and they're connected at the Indigo Plateau or something, but there was also a train.  Trains go long distances.  I'm sure Pokemon worlds are far enough technology-wise that airplanes are also a thing that exist since we literally have machines that do long-distance teleportation of organic creatures.  Or, you know, they could just do human teleporters too, but I suppose that would just be silly.

The other stuff Gold/Silver did, Day-specific events, special pokeballs from resources you could gather, Day/Night Cycle is all stuff that has been in some of the games since (though not all of them which is also confusing) and it helps tug you into the 'world' which is a nice thing.  Really, it would be nice if they amped those up a little, giving you a little more to do in post-game.  Because let's be honest, Post-Game has not been as good since Gold/Silver and that's something that needs to be rectified.  Even when you were done with Gold/Silver's post-game (hitting all the gyms, some events, challenging Red), there wasn't really anything else major or even close to do and that's kind of a common issue.  Get over that Animal Crossing hump of only giving about half an hours worth of content after you've climbed to the top of the mountain - keep the game engaging even beyond the end of it.  I would -kill- for that in a pokemon game.

I mean, I, like a lot of people I'm sure, spend the post-game getting together an finalizing a 'team' that I like and trying to fill up the rest of the Poke'dex.  What this equates to is playing a meta game with yourself for how long you can stomach getting into pokemon battles over and over and over and over and over and over and over again until you're just done.  For no other purpose than meta-goals.  The game has, for all intents and purposes, simply left you to your own machinations with the equivalent of a Jack-in-the-Box.  In all actuality, most games do this, it's just that most games are also a little more clever with their use of the afore mentioned Jack-in-the-Box, so I would like to see Pokemon make this leap.  Hide the obvious behind a different wall or something.  Mini-Quests or trainers that actually move around the map zones and re-challenge your or -something- that gives you something in the short-term that helps you get toward your long-term so your long-term isn't just doing the same thing for twenty hours.

I think my point was that I kind of hope X & Y addresses this type of thing if not the other things I've mentioned in the past about Pokemon that has left it to sort of stagnate.  I really doubt it'll address any of them, of course, which is why I'm going in with expectations so low, but it would be nice, if nothing else.  We can all hope for these kinds of things, at least, since nobody else is going to step up to the plate and produce a competent Pokemon-like game for reasons that are completely beyond my understanding.  Regardless, I imagine I'll enjoy my time with X & Y as I really doubt it can get much worse than Black/White's offerings.  Being the lowest point in the series since Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald (which is only redeemed by the stat split which was a damn good idea) makes the bar pretty low, I'd say.

Pokemon X & Y - Because Colors Are Last Gen

So, there was a -thing- this morning that I personally had no idea about, but it was like a Nintendo Direct thing, but specifically for Pokemon.  Everyone had anticipated some kind of big Pokemon announcement and would you believe it?  They got one.  The oddly named Pokemon X and Y were announced for the 3DS, slated for release this October worldwide.  Worldwide meaning everyone gets it in the same month, if not the same date which is honestly a little wild, especially for Nintendo and especially especially for a big release like this.  Still, it's a nice change of pace that I'm sure we won't be getting used to, simply a nicety for Pokemon fans all around.

The thing to state right off the bat is that X/Y is the next iteration of the Pokemon franchise, if that much wasn't clear enough.  So in the stable of Red and Blue, Gold and Silver, Ruby and Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl and finally Black and White, we have X and Y as the next step, showing that there just really isn't too much of a pattern and I think Game Freak just points at something whenever they need a new name.  Featured in the video through this Joystiq link is the announcement trailer which includes some footage of the game itself as well as the first looks at the threw new Starter Pokemon for this go at it.  They are Chespin, the leaf starter which is supposed to be....some kind of furry little animal I'm sure, Fennekin the fire starter which is also a Fox and I am not going to make a firefox joke and finally Froakie, the water starter that is a frog.  So, tick one box for the Pokemon Formula.

Also shown off in the trailer were two obvious Legendary pokemon of which I honestly don't give a shit.  Tick off another box.  Our protagonists come in boy and girl variations as per normal and appear, well, young, so tick off another box.  Also, it generally looks like you're confined to 'Routes' and cities as per any other game, despite the new-found third dimension as it were, so one more box. What I'm getting at here, if it wasn't obvious, is that I'm less and less impressed with the trailer as I watch it because it really does just adhere to the Pokemon Formula as it were, just with a shiny new coat of 3D paint.  The world paint, not the 'ooo it's like it's jumping out of the screen' paint, despite it ultimately having that as well because 3DS.  That new coat of paint and a plethora of even newer than new pokemon isn't going to make this any better than previous incarnations if they're still going to adhere to staunchly to the Formula.

There are a few things about the trailer that -do- instill hope, however.  Hope that perhaps they're going to shake things up a little more than usual, which is to say really shake things up at -all-.  The first is something admittedly a little small, but it's fairly obvious at one point that the MC is skating around on roller blades.  In fact, it's not really visible in the above image, but it's that scene.  Another form of transport is a small thing, I mentioned and it will probably be something that sidesteps things (probably simply take place of the Running Shoes item and get out-classed by the bicycle) but it's -something-.  The other thing which is arguably bigger is also something visible in the picture above, in the background.  That's very clearly a Pokemon version of the Eiffel Tower and indeed, the rest of the visages seem to have a very European flavor to them which suggests something of a slightly different setting.  Obviously every pokemon game has areas that are just kind of....I don't want to say Generic, but simply not attached to any particular areas, so being a little more ambitious in locales is a good sign if nothing else.

I've made it obvious many times in the past that I really, really think what Pokemon needs, as a franchise, is a growth that is hasn't seen since Gold/Silver (being that R/S/E actually took a step -back- and everything has run off that since).  I go into every game expecting that growth and walking away a little more disappointed when it's simply not present.  I get the why, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating since Pokemon is honestly a unique experience that nobody has managed to replicate properly despite it being a very obvious thing to replicate.  When you see something like that stagnate the way Pokemon has, you can't do much else besides just give it up or cling on to the small hope that somebody is going to get the damn picture eventually, and even though Black/White and Black/White 2 were things that happened, I'm clinging on to that.  I mean, I'm getting a 3DS eventually anyway for Harvest Moon games and Animal Crossing, might as well get my Pokemon fix as well, right?