Monthly Archives: October 2013

Pokemon Y Review

Hey guys! I disappeared for a while because I was playing Pokemon Y. In the last 5 days I clocked 59 hours, and caught 247 Pokemons. I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that much before.

I stopped after beating the game, but I’ll probably keep going back to it every once in a while, since it seems like there’s still a lot left to do.

Instead of writing a structured review, I’m just going to make a list of everything good and bad about the game.

(WARNING: KINDA SPOILERS)
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THE GOOD:

It’s a Pokemon game.
The 3D graphics make the game feel very fresh, even though the gameplay isn’t all that different from previous games.
I actually liked most of the new Pokemon, especially the cute first stage evolutions.
I can dress up my character! Makes shopping so much more fun, and personalization is very important in a massive game like this.
You can use TMs as many times as you want!
Mega-evolutions are kind of cool!
You still get experience for catching a Pokemon!
You can encounter a lot of Pokemon (400+ I think?) before even finishing the game. Some previous games limited you to a lot less.
Lots of stuff for old fans; including 1st gen starters, Viridian Forest, and Pikachus early on.
Dungeon designs were interesting and reasonably varied.
I can make random character videos! Not useful but still cute.
The major story cutscenes were actually quite good.
I can give my dog a haircut!
Quick Balls are overpowered. Kinda cheap, but speeds things up nicely.
I can give myself a haircut! But the hairdresser usually butchers it.
Lots of new player animations! You can sit on chairs and beds, and kneel down when talking to kids.
Gym and Elite 4 interior designs are awesome.
Mirrors actually work!
Roller skates!
You can ride Rhydon, Skiddos and other things!
You get ambushed by a ghost for no reason!
Competitive training/breeding is apparently a lot more accessible now.

THE BAD

The game’s too easy! My Pokemon were always at much higher levels than the opponents. I’ve heard that EXP share is to blame for this.
Lumiose City is too easy to get lost in, mostly due to the camera spinning around and every area looking the same.
The developers didn’t try very hard when creating road-blocks. There’s a power cut? The lights are on behind you!
Pokemon still don’t have their actual voices, except for Pikachu. Really ruins immersion when you’re still listening to Gameboy-quality sound effects.
You still can’t skip battle animations by pressing a button. It’s either all animations on or all off.
You can’t disable boring text in battle. Yeah, I know Charmander just used Ember, I told him to!
You don’t have to explain to me that I can use Strength to move a boulder every time I talk to a boulder. I learned that the first time.
Status effects are still incredibly annoying, especially due to their random nature.
Status effects should be healed after battle. Healing them is just time consuming, not challenging.
Hordes of Jr Mimes take like 5 minutes to finish their turn. Double Slap’s animation is so annoyingly slow.
Quick Balls are overpowered. I caught the box cover Pokemon without even weakening it! What!
The paintings in the art museum are too small! Some of them looked really interesting and it would have been nice to see them all in higher detail.
Everyone on the GTS tries to trade crap Pokemon for legendary ones. If you do this: Fuck you! Stop cluttering the system!
Wonder Trade also has a lot of totally worthless Pokemon floating about.
Too many buildings have the exact same interior layout, and it makes exploring them kind of routine and boring.
It’s too hard to get 5-stars in that jigsaw puzzle minigame.
The game gives you tips long after you probably already figured things out. Most notably, you need to use Rocksmash to get to a tip about how to use Rocksmash.
The word-filter wouldn’t let me call my Bidoof “Beaver”.
But calling a Pokemon “DiIdo”, “Herpes”, or “8=====D” is still considered acceptable.
The “Items” category in your bag contains too many items. Needs more categories.
I couldn’t find a wild Pikachu! I had to trade for one.
All of the trashcans in the game are empty!
You can’t take off your hat.
The Pokemon Champion isn’t as cool as the ones in the first two generations.