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Pokemon X and Y, 7 months later

I'd lie if I said that these are the perfect games. They aren't, not even close. Only a few new Pokemon, I was not really impressed by Kalos and of course the post game is really bad.

Despite that, after Gen 3, this XY are the best pokemon games that I actually managed to play for more than 150 hours. Actually, I still play XY. The reason is simple. These are truly the best games for a competitive player. The breeding is far easier with the Destiny Knot, the ev training has also got better with hordes and super training and the online interface is really perfect. You can battle your friends or a random person really easy. No stupid facilities or anything but battles on the spot.
 
I got back into the series with these games. I haven't played since Gold and Silver. They definitely toned down the difficulty. But with all the Pokemon to catch I don't really mind.
 
To me it was a great game with a solid mix of old and new. It made me enjoy the main line Pokémon games again after I started to lose some interest in them.


*Having the all the internet features like Wonder Trade early on was a great change of pace and WTrade added an interesting and sometimes addicting twist to trading.
*Exp. Share made the game very manageable (probably to help with the fact that there are tons of Pokémon you may want to try out).
*Character customization was finally added and it was not bad at all. :] And about damn time.
*I loved the diverse Pokémon Trainers designs.
*Gifting us one of the Gen1 starters was a nice touch of nostalgia among other things
*The battle sprites/animations looked great
*I wasn't big on EV training but they made it easier through Super Training and Horde Battles.


Overall it I enjoyed it more so then the last 2 gens and I'm can't wait for the Ruby/Sapphire remakes that will build on the X/Y games.
 
I liked it a decent amount but as people have mentioned its way too easy. I also found it disappointing that they couldn't pull off 3D outside of 1on1 battles, especially considering all the camera angles seem like they were designed with 3D in mind.

Also fuck those terrible Rhyhorn riding sequences.
 
Loved it. Character customization was fun and I liked the setting.

EXP Share allowed me to use a full party without it being a disadvantage and less focus on HMs made party building a lot more fun. Game's pretty easy, but nothing really different than previous entries in the series. Only difference is I can choose one of six Pokemon to sweep through my opponent instead of just having one.

The small teams of the Gym Leaders and Elite 4 were a disappointment though.
 
I never finished it, I got to the last gym I think and just stopped playing because the new consoles were coming out. I should get back to it some time, definitely a step in the right direction hopefully the R/S remakes will take it a bit further.
 
When I eventually play these games, I know that I will fall in love with them. I'm not too much of a cynic when it comes to Pokémon. I'm already getting a bit nostalgic for BW and that wasn't even half a decade ago.
 
I feel they were truly the definitive versions of Pokémon.

Sure, there was a lack of post-game, but that is always true of games that are the first in the generation. I was disappointed, but not surprised.

Yeah, just 72 Pokémon is a bit of a disappointment, but really when you add Mega Evolutions, that takes it up to 102 which is an acceptable amount. Mega Evolutions count in my head. They're not just "new forms", they're something new. I also don't get the complaints about Mega Evolutions being made on popular Pokémon, and not ones that "need" it. That has never been how they worked.

The game's story was a bit disappointing compared to Black & White's, but it was fun none-the-less. The new battle mode, Inverse Battles, is intriguing, albeit a bit underused, but so was Triple & Rotation in Black & White. While the game is "easy", that's because EXP. Share is automatically turned on and will help over level you. Turn it off, and it's the same as past games.

The game had a few technical issues, but in my view, it's the greatest Pokémon game in a long, long while.
 
I liked Pokemon X, but:

- it was too easy. Higher difficulty option would've been nice.
- too similar to earlier games. The storyline follows the same exact formula.
- multiplayer is too hardcore (that's what it looks like to me, I'd love to play it online, but sounds too complicated).

I really don't care about the lack of post game content personally, even though I have to admit that gen 2 did it really well. I play the games for their single player "campaign" and that's why I'm worried about the future of the series. It's slowly getting stale.

cZarKastic said:
No one really play Pokemon for the story. I feel like the consensus is that everybody rushes through the story so they can get to the after game. Which is the best part of pokemon.
Click to expand...

I guess the games are not for me then? I'd love to play Pokemon casually online, I'm not competitive at all. I couldn't care less about IVs, EVs or breeding. And if you really think about the millions and millions of people who buy these games, I think most (well, atleast many) feel the same way. Still enjoying the story (not the storyline, though), but there's potential for so, so much more.
 
Best gen after 2 and 4.

+Great and lengthy campaign. No real boring areas and there's some good diversity.
+Many interesting areas with worthwhile places to explore. The routes were quite expansive and hid many secrets.
+Incredible online functionality. Playing XY at launch was basically like playing a Pokemon MMO. People were constantly challenging and trading. Wonder Trade is also addictive and brilliant.
+A huge variety of Pokemon, you never knew what would pop out next. It was very easy to build many different teams.
+EXP All keeps the game from devolving into grinding your starter (though it does make the game too easy, they should have built around it).
+Trainer customization
+The game makes it incredibly accessible to have a viable competitive team due to features like Super Training and the new and improved Destiny Knot
+The Pokemon models looked fantastic. The graphics also looked pretty good and there were some creative camera angles at times.
+A lot of fun side stuff like Friend Safari, trainer videos, battle maison etc.

BUT...

-69 Pokemon is a let down, especially with no legendary trio.
-It feels like they purposefully neglected features to put into Z (enhanced versions of gym trainers and E4 after beating the game, move tutor etc.)
-Lack of interesting post game. There was the Looker thing that took about 30 minutes, Friend Safari, and that was it.
-Story perhaps was even more insane than Pokemon BW and that's saying something.

I'm surprised to see so many people outright hate it. Yeah it was easy, but what Pokemon game isn't easy?
 
The game is too short,has very few new pokemon, Mega evolutions suck, and no post game content.
I would say this is the worst pokemon version so far by miles.
gen 2 > gen 5 > gen 3 > gen 4 > gen 1 >>>>>>> gen 6
 
I haven't played X/Y yet, but can the lower amount of Pokemon be attributed to a quality over quantity focus?

Or is it just they had to model the entire Pokemon series in 3D and just ran out of time.
 
Grief.exe said:
I haven't played X/Y yet, but can the lower amount of Pokemon be attributed to a quality over quantity focus?

Or is it just they had to model the entire Pokemon series in 3D and just ran out of time.
Click to expand...

There's not a lower amount of Pokémon. X & Y has the largest regional dex of any region (over 450 in it, so they split it into three of ~150 each) and Mega Evolutions take as much planning, design and balance work as new Pokémon. People are just acting like Mega Evolutions don't count. It's a new feature and truly does.

Even numbered generations also always do a lower amount, too

Gen 1: 151
Gen 2: 100
Gen 3: 135
Gen 4: 107 (Just to note, if you remove all Pokémon related to past Pokémon, only 77 are completely new)
Gen 5: 156
Gen 6: 102 (72 normal + 30 Mega Evolutions)
 
I think the move to 3D was a huge struggle for Game Freak and as a result the base game is a bit crude coming after Black/White2.

Hopefully now they can focus on improving the amount and quality of content in the coming games.
 
A mixed bag, but a solid base to improve on.

+ The series is in 3D at last
+ The artstyle is clean and crisp and well-suited to the game
+ Ability to select your language (I didn't take advantage of this, but I might if I ever got a second copy)
+ Character customization is great
+ Changes to breeding, EV training etc. are great for easier training for competitive play
+ Online features are much improved
+ Great variety of Pokemon that feels like you can assemble a Greatest Hits of Pokemon throughout the generations
+ Mega Evolutions turned out to be better than I was expecting
+ EXP Share is a nice tool, but...

- ... It makes the game far too easy. The campaign would be too easy even without it.
- Stereoscopic 3D and the framerate
- Lumiose City still is a headache to get around. Nice showpiece, but a nightmare to navigate.
- The story was dull. Team Flare are dull. Lysandre is no Ghetsis.
- Very little post-game content. Game suffers from the same first version syndrome that plagues all first releases of a generation, with features clearly removed/held back for an updated version.
- Number of new Pokemon was very poor
- You couldn't get Mismagius before Pokemon Bank
- They didn't make Mismagius Ghost/Fairy :(
 
I recently played it and I enjoyed it a lot. Hopefully they up the difficulty and improve the story with the next generation but it was still a lot of fun.

Lumiose City definitely the worst part of the game no doubt, I don't know how it got past testing.
 
JoeM86 said:
I feel they were truly the definitive versions of Pokémon.

Sure, there was a lack of post-game, but that is always true of games that are the first in the generation. I was disappointed, but not surprised.

Yeah, just 72 Pokémon is a bit of a disappointment, but really when you add Mega Evolutions, that takes it up to 102 which is an acceptable amount. Mega Evolutions count in my head. They're not just "new forms", they're something new. I also don't get the complaints about Mega Evolutions being made on popular Pokémon, and not ones that "need" it. That has never been how they worked.

The game's story was a bit disappointing compared to Black & White's, but it was fun none-the-less. The new battle mode, Inverse Battles, is intriguing, albeit a bit underused, but so was Triple & Rotation in Black & White. While the game is "easy", that's because EXP. Share is automatically turned on and will help over level you. Turn it off, and it's the same as past games.

The game had a few technical issues, but in my view, it's the greatest Pokémon game in a long, long while.
Click to expand...

The 'definitive' version shouldn't be this flawed. HGSS are probably still the best games in the series; good difficulty, the best post game, following Pokemon, Pokewalker, best Safari Zone...
 
jesus fucking christ has it really been 7 months? wow.

well, i still enjoy it. there's a lot wrong with it, yes, (fps drops, lack of hair/clothing options for male characters, that whole battlecheck fiasco), but i still feel it's a solid entry in the series. and it introduced my favorite pokemon (pangoro).
 
Partition said:
The 'definitive' version shouldn't be this flawed. HGSS are probably still the best games in the series; good difficulty, the best post game, following Pokemon, Pokewalker, best Safari Zone...
Click to expand...

Hell no, I completely disagree. HGSS had huge flaws with balance and pacing.

Kanto was still empty, despite them filling the region with trainers finally. There was no narrative. The regions were comparatively small compared to Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos. You still were overlevelled for the entire post-game. You had severe grind to level up etc.

I really don't get the love for GS/HGSS. They were deeply flawed games

Labrys said:
jesus fucking christ has it really been 7 months? wow.

well, i still enjoy it. there's a lot wrong with it, yes, (fps drops, lack of hair/clothing options for male characters, that whole battlecheck fiasco), but i still feel it's a solid entry in the series. and it introduced my favorite pokemon (pangoro).
Click to expand...

To be fair, they fixed Battle Check quickly.
 
Probably my second favourite games so far, behind HGSS.

However, the technical hiccups were distracting, the difficulty was poorly balanced with the new XP share and there was a serious lack of post-game content.

Very excited to see how ORAS shape up.
 
JoeM86 said:
Hell no. HGSS had huge flaws with balance and pacing.

Kanto was still empty, despite them filling the region with trainers finally. There was no narrative. The regions were comparatively small compared to Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos. You still were overlevelled for the entire post-game. You had severe grind to level up etc.

I really don't get the love for GS/HGSS. They were deeply flawed games
Click to expand...

I'll take an "empty" region with 8 badges to collect, routes to explore, more Pokemon to catch, and trainers to fight, over just the one extra post game town they added to X&Y.

I don't really see what you describe as a "huge" flaw, because in the end it still gives you something to do and goals to achieve. I'd rather grind than breeze through the game easily anyday. I'd argue that the "balance" in XY is even more off with things like EXP Share and the overly shallow difficulty curve.
 
I can summarize it in: very disappointing single player, great new features for breeding/competitive side.

And since I buy these games for the multyplayer mostly, I can't really complain.
 
You don't play a Pokemon game just to reach the E4. I really can't think how it being easy is a flaw. And the EXP could be turned down. It's like being able to change the difficulty during the game. People complain about a feature like that, that made exp training a lot easier. I've trained plenty of Pokemon and it's really fortunate that EXP All exists. It saved me a lot of time.
 
I really like to play the games and beat the league, but this imho the most flawed Pokemon game. Bad and empty end game, overworld hugely failed in terms of artistic direction and models, region with no real identity, huge gameplay flaws from the beginning, story interesting but not as good as gen3/4/5...
And nope, Mega-Evolutions are not true new Pokemons.
 
Protome said:
I skipped B/W because I thought Diamond and Pearl were pants. Are they worth going back to?
Click to expand...

IMO, Gen 4 and 6 are the worst of the series. Gen 5 is a big step up from both of them, adding a ton of great pokemon (amidst a few throwaways), the best stories in the series, a really cool region, and lots of quality of life changes (though those are mostly in BW2).

Personally, I think BW1 is okay, and definitely better than DP, but BW2 is the real gem of Gen 5, and one of the best pokemon games ever.

Grief.exe said:
I haven't played X/Y yet, but can the lower amount of Pokemon be attributed to a quality over quantity focus?

Or is it just they had to model the entire Pokemon series in 3D and just ran out of time.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'd say they went for quality over quantity. The new Gen 6 pokemon designs are some of the best in the series, and I have trouble pointing to any obviously bad designs, moreso than in any other generation.

Grief.exe said:
I am tempted to skip X/Y right into Ruby/Sapphire/
Click to expand...

That's probably a good decision, especially if you can hold out on visiting Kalos until Z comes out.

Qurupeke said:
You don't play a Pokemon game just to reach the E4.
Click to expand...

A lot of people do.

Qurupeke said:
I really can't think how it being easy is a flaw. And the EXP could be turned down. It's like being able to change the difficulty during the game. People complain about a feature like that, that made exp training a lot easier. I've trained plenty of Pokemon and it's really fortunate that EXP All exists. It saved me a lot of time.
Click to expand...

The exp share has always been a nice addition to help grinding that I use regularly throughout the game. Based on the past 5 generations, I was led to believe that it would be the same this generation. What the game doesn't tell you is that the exp all is actually a completely game breaking item in gen 6 and that using it will squeeze out any remaining difficulty the game might have had to begin with it. By the time I realized how broken the exp all was it was too late, I was stuck with my pokemon 20 levels above my opponents for the rest of game.
 
Qurupeke said:
You don't play a Pokemon game just to reach the E4. I really can't think how it being easy is a flaw. And the EXP could be turned down. It's like being able to change the difficulty during the game. People complain about a feature like that, that made exp training a lot easier. I've trained plenty of Pokemon and it's really fortunate that EXP All exists. It saved me a lot of time.
Click to expand...

Some people like the single player aspect. Your argument that they should dumb the game down so you can get to the end faster is silly, because the game up to the E4 is the game; why wish for 95% of the game to suck so you can spend all your time quickly getting to the 5%.

I mean, you are forced to finish the E4 if you want to fully take advantage of the metagame. Don't you want to enjoy the game during the time you are playing? XY felt like a chore to me in that aspect.
 
JoeM86 said:
Hell no. HGSS had huge flaws with balance and pacing.

Kanto was still empty, despite them filling the region with trainers finally. There was no narrative. The regions were comparatively small compared to Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos. You still were overlevelled for the entire post-game. You had severe grind to level up etc.

I really don't get the love for GS/HGSS. They were deeply flawed games
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you there. I can't say I enjoyed those remakes as much as I thought I would.
 
My opinion still stands the same from the first week I got it.

A very very dull experience.
Pokemon Aime and Super Training were fun, but everything else is just bland.

To me it felt like Gen 1 all over again which I did not really enjoy at all. X/Y are the second weakest mainline games in the franchise for me the first being the Gen 1 games.

I hope Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby don't turn out dull like HG/SS did. :V
 
Partition said:
Some people like the single player aspect. Your argument that they should dumb the game down so you can get to the end faster is silly, because the game up to the E4 is the game; why wish for 95% of the game to suck so you can spend all your time quickly getting to the 5%.

I mean, you are forced to finish the E4 if you want to fully take advantage of the metagame. Don't you want to enjoy the game during the time you are playing? XY felt like a chore to me in that aspect.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that. I'm not that interested in things like the story or the difficulty of the single player but I enjoy them and I don't want them to be diminished. I'm just saying that EXP All helped the post-training to be faster. About every month, there are official Online Competitions and I usually prepare a team, a week or so before the start of the registrations. After finding the Pokemon I want, with the moves, IVs etc I want, I need to make them Lvl 50. This takes half the time, it used to, despite XY not having many training spots. Things like O-powers and EXP All made it easier.

And I disagree that 95% of the game is the road to E4. XY are probably not the best games to see that, but people need to understand the importance of Pokemon after the league. Take Emerald, Platinum or B2W2 as an example. These games started when the story finished. So much content and things like the Battle Frontier were a real challenge. You needed to master strategies in order to win. The single player just needs over leveled Pokemon.
 
One of the best in the series.

There's a great variety of Pokémon right from the beginning of the game. I think I met 10 different ones before meeting the same. I really liked how you weren't just stuck with a rodent and a bird.

Pacing was great too. It didn't take long before you were off on your own. Also, I'm one of those who liked the EXP. Share because it took away grinding, which was a refreshing change.
 
Zalman said:
One of the best in the series.

There's a great variety of Pokémon right from the beginning of the game. I think I met 10 different ones before meeting the same. I really liked how you weren't just stuck with a rodent and a bird.

Pacing was great too. It didn't take long before you were off on your own. Also, I'm one of those who liked the EXP. Share because it took away grinding, which was a refreshing change.
Click to expand...

It seems like these two things are polarizing.

On the one hand, does this game have the most pokemon in it by default, therefor giving you the most game if you like to just go out and collect the pokemon? That may be the intended endgame, to collect rather than battle. (I don't know if B&W/2 also had a lot of pokemon that you didn't have to jump through hoops to get, but I liked be able to get old pokemon and new ones, felt very alive.)

Likewise the exp share takes a lot out of having to grind up a team, but then it makes the trainer battles too easy and rewarding.

IMO exp share should be mandatory, and exp needs to be nerfed. I didn't black out the entire game, not once. It was a perfect run through on my first go.
 
Loved them so much

If only it was harder and had more post game stuff.

I had a rotating them of about 15 Pokemon so every town I would switch out so I wasn't crazy over levelled.
 
It's solid all around, the thing that makes gen 6 stand out for me is the fact that they nailed the transition to polygons in every aspect. That's what I'll remember X/Y for.
 
LAUGHTREY said:
It seems like these two things are polarizing.

On the one hand, does this game have the most pokemon in it by default, therefor giving you the most game if you like to just go out and collect the pokemon? That may be the intended endgame, to collect rather than battle. (I don't know if B&W/2 also had a lot of pokemon that you didn't have to jump through hoops to get, but I liked be able to get old pokemon and new ones, felt very alive.)

Likewise the exp share takes a lot out of having to grind up a team, but then it makes the trainer battles too easy and rewarding.

IMO exp share should be mandatory, and exp needs to be nerfed. I didn't black out the entire game, not once. It was a perfect run through on my first go.
Click to expand...

A lot of Pokemon games limit what Pokemon you see on your journey. In RS, even though there were 386 Pokemon, you could only get 200 between the two games. BW ONLY had new Pokemon (though it had 156, a bit more than the original titles). In XY, there are Pokemon from all generations, and you never know which one will pop up next. Everyone has a diverse team, no more "catch this specific Pokemon here to beat the gym." There were so many options. I hope ORAS rebalances what Pokemon you encounter to match this.
 
I thought it was mess. Hopefully they fix the big issues in Sapphire/Ruby. I was lucky to resell it for full price at Target a few months later.
 
Big letdown for me. Here is why:

- Story was bad
- Game was too easy
- New Pokémon designs were bad. A key and a sword as Pokémons? Really?
- Mega Evolutions didn't feel like Pokémon
- No real post-game content
- You get lost in Lumiose City pretty easy
- Terrible City designs
- You spent more time walking, talking and watching at animations in the Pokémon League, than you are fighting
- No trainers or Gym Leaders, that want to re-fight you, except those in the Battle Chateau
- You still can't rename Pokémon, if they have a nickname
- Too busy touch screen
- Touch screen isn't fully controlable with buttons

Everything above, is my opinion.
 
Solid and had nice online integration.

Sadly there wasn't much post-game and the main story was on the easy side, even for Pokemon. Many of the trainers had only a few Pokemon and no real challenging teams besides maybe the E4. I think they could've upped the difficulty a bit with the intro of the new exp share.
 
Akai__ said:
- New Pokémon designs were bad. A key and a sword as Pokémons? Really?
Click to expand...

Pet peeve, sorry but urgh.

Gen 1: A magnet and a pile of slude as Pokémon? Really?


Also, Klefki isn't a key Pokémon. Klefki is a fairy that becomes attached to keys and grabs them and holds them for their entire life. The keys aren't part of the Pokémon.
 
Second worst Pokemon games, above DP.

Framerate issues, poor overworld graphics, terrible story and characters, lack of new pokemon, no worthwhile postgame content.

Battles looked nice and the breeding/IV changes were fantastic, but the games were a big let down overall.
 
Partition said:
I'll take an "empty" region with 8 badges to collect, routes to explore, more Pokemon to catch, and trainers to fight, over just the one extra post game town they added to X&Y.

I don't really see what you describe as a "huge" flaw, because in the end it still gives you something to do and goals to achieve. I'd rather grind than breeze through the game easily anyday. I'd argue that the "balance" in XY is even more off with things like EXP Share and the overly shallow difficulty curve.
Click to expand...

I never really considered Kanto "post-game" when Johto's so small and short. Lack of a VS Seeker or higher leveled Pokemon in Kanto was also a disappointment. At least I ended up cheesing Red with Dragon Dance + Waterfall/Ice Fang Red Gyarados even if I was underleveled as hell.

HG/SS did have the Pokeathlon + Platinum's Battle Frontier so that was the real post-game to me, though I expect Z and OR/AS to have similar things.

X/Y's Battle Maison is decent, at least better than the Battle Towers but I definitely could use a full Battle Frontier.
 
People who complain about post game tend to compare the post game of third versions or remakes... so it's unfair to XY in a sense.

Mechanically it's the best of the series so far, and the best HUD to date. Also I really, REALLY love many of the mons introduced this gen.
 
So not having touched a Pokemon Game since err Pokemon Red(I think?) would you suggest X/Y above Black or Black 2?

I'm trying to get back into the series :<
 
JoeM86 said:
Pet peeve, sorry but urgh.

Gen 1: A magnet and a pile of slude as Pokémon? Really?
Click to expand...
Nobody said that other generations didn't have their weaker designs, but Gen I also had 151 new Pokemon to balance out the good:bad ratio when somebody called into question a certain creature's design, while Gen VI has 70. Not that Gen I's bad 'mons has anything to do with this anyways; coming off of Gen V, I was incredibly disappointed in terms of both the quantity and quality of Pokemon this gen.

Twinduct said:
So not having touched a Pokemon Game since err Pokemon Red(I think?) would you suggest X/Y above Black or Black 2?

I'm trying to get back into the series :<
Click to expand...
Just pick up XY, the improvements mechanically makes them the superior experience alone.
 
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