Pokemon Y, It's Finished!

In advance, I would like to say that I wanted to post a continuous chain of my work in progress of my SD Zaku II, however, I had recently just finished playing Pokemon Y, and although there may be slight differences in the 2 versions X and Y, I just had to say how awesome the game was and a few things you might want to know if you are still thinking of buying it as a Pokemon fan or just starting to want to get into the franchise as a whole.

First of all, the game is as awesome as the trailers and the hype surrounding the game before release was, if not maybe even better. This would be the first Pokemon game to transition into a full 3-dimensional world and the change was well accepted and I didn't really find the look too completely different. If you had played all the previous games before this the change should come naturally.

(Above) The simply marvelous looking 3D battles take you will have the joy of experiencing throughout the game!!

For a game, I feel the biggest points that should be focused on would be the gameplay. However, for a Pokemon game, you can't change the gameplay around too much or you'll risk losing the hardcore fans, those who have played all games of the franchise. But for this game, instead of changing the main core style of gameplay, instead they added more depth to it, refined it. They made bonding with your Pokemon, and also the Pokemon's affection for you make a change in the way you battle, how long your Pokemon last in battle and so on. This is one of the best changes they have made to the game, and I think most fans would love this added feature. If you don't really understand what I'm saying, I not going to explain too much more because that would spoil the game, but it has to do with the new feature Pokemon-Amie!

Other than that the added directions in which you can move might be a little weird at first, but it will become natural. A few other changes to the gameplay would be horde encounters, sky battles and the way experience is shared among your Pokemon.

For horde encounters, the game just puts your lead Pokemon against a horde of 5 wild Pokemon. You encounter these in basically anywhere you can meet Pokemon in the wild. The levels of these Pokemon are significantly lower than the level of meeting a single wild Pokemon, and the battle tend to last a lot longer than usual. You also get to see your Pokemon get ganged up on and beaten. You don't always get all the same Pokemon in a horde, like when I faced a horde of 3 male Nidoran and 2 female Nidoran. These battle can get annoying so just be sure to have an attack which can damage multiple targets.

Sky battles are basically the same as normal battles, the only difference being that you only battle with flying Pokemon or Pokemon with the ability levitate. And these are the only types of battles you can decline from a trainer.

The way experience is shared in battle are one of the changes I don't really hate but also, well, it fine I guess. When you switch out a Pokemon to another, those 2 gain the same full amount of experience instead of the half in previous games and the EXP share now spread a percentage of the total experience to all your Pokemon in your party. And also, catching a wild Pokemon will grant you experience points (about time they make Poke Balls to catch fainted Pokemon though).

Also, another change is the method at which you move your character around. You now have 4 choices, walking, running, roller skating and riding a bicycle. These don't really affect the game much. Using the circle pad will have your character using roller skates and the D-pad will have your character walk or run if you are holding down the B button. The bicycle, you still have to select, basic stuff...

(Above) Some of the new Pokemon are just adorable, plus the fact you can personally feed them! (spoiler)

Other than that, it's a Pokemon game, so don't expect much from the story, but I did find this one a lot more interesting, a deeper story other than the fact that there is a wacky team, with a wacky outfit, set out for world domination/destruction or whatever and you have to stop them, and of course the legendary Pokemon is involved.

This is not really a review but more of a personal description of what I faced in the game. The 3D visuals are extremely appealing if I had not made that very clear, and all the nice cell-shaded models to make it look anime-ish. Another selling point would be that you can finally customise your character, though it is quite limited compared to the vast amount of customisation options available in the games today. Long story short, this is the best Pokemon game so far, as it should be with each passing generations. A lot of new mini games and features have been added to train your Pokemon to be the best there ever was, and also refinement to other features like planting berries. It highly recommended to Pokemon fans, those who have stayed with the franchise throughout the years and also to those who want to try out Pokemon for the first time!!

And for those still wondering about the work in progress of the SD Zaku II, there it is! And have a nice day~

Farid