Side Post!

Here's just a simple Side Post to talk about how much I enjoy the new Pokemon games.
I bought both Pokemon X and Y, but I've been focusing more on Y. This is partially filler content as I burn myself on Pokemon Y. I'll start working on Final Fantasy Mystic Quest more soon...
ON TO THE SIDE POST!

Recurring Fantasy Side Post Theater Proudly Presents
Pokemon X / Y - Same Old Thing? Or Something Greater?

Now, I realize that the Pokemon crowd is generally split between two kinds of people... People who say they'll never play a Pokemon game again, and people who have almost always loved Pokemon. The secret to that message is that everybody hits both categories at some point. (There is a mythical third category of people who have never played Pokemon, but most of those people are liars.)

First off, let's go over my back history with Pokemon. Like many adults, I got into it when I was a kid. I started way back with Pokemon Red and Blue. I enjoyed it then, and then I got Yellow when it came around. Gold and Silver came and went, but that's where things kinda died down for me. I dunno if it was just me or everybody around me that affected it, but I stopped. I skipped over Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. In comes the summer of 2007, for some reason, Pokemon Pearl and Diamond seemed tempting, so I jumped aboard!

It was new, great, and so many improvements! I spent over 200 hours that summer just playing up Pokemon Pearl. It was just fantastic. Over the next several years, I got back on the Pokemon fad. I skipped Platinum but got Black and White, Black and White 2, and now I've got Pokemon X and Y!

Pokemon X and Y released worldwide on October 12th, and I'd like to say... They did not fail to deliver here. As with almost every Pokemon since the beginning, they've vastly improved on their already winning formula. The biggest jump for Pokemon X and Y is that the game has added a true third dimension to the game! Previous titles gave a 2.5 dimension look, but in the end, it was still a flat world.

With X and Y, the flatness is a thing of the past. It looks great, plays great, and there's just so much to do. I've heard that some people are finishing it quite fast, but if you ask me, they're just playing it wrong. Speed isn't really a good thing for Pokemon titles because they're all fairly short to speedrun them. (If you want a true challenge, look into the "Nuzlocke Challenge".) I could go on and on about all the greatness and expanded features of X/Y, but that's not what this post is supposed to be... This post asks the question. "Has Pokemon truly evolved? Or is this just another lazy new game?"

Now, overall, this question could be asked of almost every game series that we have. Pokemon has been going this way for FIFTEEN YEARS! That isn't much compared to most Nintendo franchises, but that's a long dang time to keep on running. If you break it down to the core basics, the game has never really changed. In my opinion though, that's a good thing. There have been new Pokemon types added, new gameplay features, moves have slightly changed, and we've got a lot more Pokemon. (Over 700 at this point...) Overall though, it's still the same fun game to pick up and play.

Yes, you can get into the crazy challenging bits like specialized breeding, natures, hidden abilities, effort values and EV training, and so much more. However, a lot of these are more for serious tournament players OR just serious guys/gals who want to have THE ULTIMATE POKEMON! I'm not going to link to every single thing that I listed above, but you can find out more, if you want to, over at Serebii.net.

The only gripes I can truly say I have with Pokemon is the numbers, obtaining some of those numbers, and lack of a console title and/or MMO.

Now to fully imagine it, there are 718 different Pokemon! That includes everything from the original Red and Blue up until the newest in X and Y. OVER SEVEN HUNDRED TO COLLECT! That's just ridiculous. On top of this, there are some that can only be gotten once in the game, at special events in the real world, special distributions online/real world, trading from different versions, super special trades, and so much more.

I could be okay with the single shot legendaries because that's been around since the beginning, but the further in the series you go, the harder it becomes to collect old favorites like the original legendary birds (Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos) or the legendary dogs (Entei, Suicune, Raikou). That's just two sets of triplet legendaries. Not even getting into the legendary Pokemon you could NEVER get in the games, like Celebi or Jirachi. It's just... screw you Pokemon creators. Collecting everybody (without hacking) is a daunting task at best. I can't say it's impossible, but it's certainly not fun.

That covers two of my gripes, and that only leaves the final one. This is less of a gripe though and more of a "What everybody wants since forever". Let's be fair. After Pokemon Stadium came out, who DIDN'T want a fully 3D Pokemon console game? It showed the awesomeness of Pokemon but fully 3D with attacks and everything all cool and animated. What we really wanted was a full adventure game you could play and explore the world of Pokemon. There was Pokemon Colosseum (with its RPG mode) and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (continued where the previous left off), but it wasn't quite the same as the original games. It was always a step off.

At this point, what we TRULY would want is a full online world of Pokemon. Go anywhere throughout the multiple regions created in the game. Battle through the gyms in EVERY REGION. Become the true Pokemon Champion over the entire world. Battle and trade at a whim. What we want isn't another sequel... We want the whole damn planet in what would most likely be called POKEMON WORLD!

The only negative I can see of that is that the entire world would collapse because everybody stops everything and starts playing. I do mean everybody. There are a few who would resist, but as everything slowly came to a stop, you wouldn't have a choice. You'd have to get into it or be left alone in the wasteland left from humanity's sudden halt. (I'm being overly dramatic of course.)

But again comes the question... Is Pokemon the same old thing or something greater? As far as I'm concerned, it's both. Pokemon is the same old thing it has always been, but it's almost always done its best to improve, grow, evolve into greater forms. You could pick up the old games and be just as happy, but I think you're better off joining the latest and greatest where you can.

If not.... have fun finding a cheap, working copy of any of the old ones. Seriously, have fun with that.

That's all I've got to say on it. As for now, I'm going to keep playing Pokemon Y, but I will do my best to pull myself away every now and then to finish up Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Then Dragon Warrior is coming... IT IS COMING SOON! (Before the end of the year at least.) Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more... MYSTIC QUEST!

~May the Crystals Guide Me~