Pokemon X & Y (October 2013 on 3DS) - [Now out! Go out and play it already]

[Salamander]

Designing the new Mega Evolutions and then just throwing them away doesn't strike me as something Game Freak would do.  They've never abandoned any other Pokemon in the past - and Mega Evolutions are, effectively, new Pokemon.  They're the ones that bring the number of Pokemon introduced in X/Y up to the same numbers as in previous games (Gen VI including Mega Evolutions adds something like two more new Pokemon than Gen IV did).  I'd be surprised if they didn't keep on adding more Mega Evolutions in future games - and disappointed if they didn't introduce some new ones just for Z.

[Johnny Boy]

I really want them to add some Mega Evolutions for Z, specifically the gen 5 pokemon since they were the only generation not to get megas. Mega Golurk anybody?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Wait there actually is going v to be a Z game! ? Also I think it sucks that Mega Shootings ere so hyped up and yet the majority can only be used post-game regularly. Pity.

[buba]

Wait there actually is going v to be a Z game! ?

 

Naturally.

Be it a Platinum-like remake or a BW2-like sequel.

[-Mark-]

Well, nothing's been announced yet, but there's obviously going to be some kind of Z or XY2 'third version/ sequel', anyway. 

 

You know, because there always is.

[Thrippa]

Designing the new Mega Evolutions and then just throwing them away doesn't strike me as something Game Freak would do.  They've never abandoned any other Pokemon in the past - and Mega Evolutions are, effectively, new Pokemon.  They're the ones that bring the number of Pokemon introduced in X/Y up to the same numbers as in previous games (Gen VI including Mega Evolutions adds something like two more new Pokemon than Gen IV did).  I'd be surprised if they didn't keep on adding more Mega Evolutions in future games - and disappointed if they didn't introduce some new ones just for Z.

 

 

Spiky-Ear /Notched-Ear Pichu got left behind, being both unevolvable and nontransferable even to other HG/SS games.  But that does seem to the be exception that proves the rule.  Even the Shadow Pokemon were used in two games, and while they can't be transferred out as Shadow Pokemon, they retain a ribbon ever after to show that they were.  (Even though the blurb says 'overcame all challenges'.)

 

I agree that at a minimum there will be more Megas in the sequel(s), and probably more in subsequent games.  And while I don't expect it, it would be nice if they'd patch X/Y to allow the Z Megas to be usable if you have the correct stones, when the time comes.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Seriously Gamefreak, I love you and your work, but I think it was quite dickish to make the majority of Mega Evolutions post-game exclusive despite how heavily you advertised them. =P

[Rusty Spy]

Seriously Gamefreak, I love you and your work, but I think it was quite dickish to make the majority of Mega Evolutions post-game exclusive despite how heavily you advertised them. =P

That seems to be a trend with GameFreak's new gimmicks each gen.

 

They introduced triple and rotation battles in Black and White, but very few npcs actually battled in those styles, and they were all optional.

 

Remember how in Emerald you could engage in a double battle with two random npcs if they both caught your line of sight? Or how they made an actual gym leader that fought you in a double battle? That was awesome, and it's honestly surprising how they've yet to continue doing that in later games, especially since it's no secret how much they love double battles.

[Kuzu]

Maybe they wanna avoid being too gimmicky.

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[Salamander]

I think I agree with the majority that it's a waste of their new material.  It always baffles me how much content they're willing to hand off to the postgame for no clear reason.

[Gabz Girl]

I don't want Gamefreak to ever stop creating new Mega stones for future Pokemon games. Not only because there are some Pokemon out there that still need a Mega evo (most of Gen V, every single starter except Kalos ones, Sableye, Togekiss...) but it would be such a waste of a decent gimmick to just introduce it in one gen and then never use it again.

Also, I really want to see MegaYanmega and MegaMeganium!

[Semi-colon e]

That seems to be a trend with GameFreak's new gimmicks each gen.

 

They introduced triple and rotation battles in Black and White, but very few npcs actually battled in those styles, and they were all optional.

 

Remember how in Emerald you could engage in a double battle with two random npcs if they both caught your line of sight? Or how they made an actual gym leader that fought you in a double battle? That was awesome, and it's honestly surprising how they've yet to continue doing that in later games, especially since it's no secret how much they love double battles.

 

And then in BW2 Triple Battles often came out of NOWHERE and acted as a walking middle finger to Nuzlockers (just like all battles that aren't normal single ones, especially when there's no indication that it'll even be different until the fight starts). Kalos should have had more of the different battle types though, Inverse only appears once while Sky battles suck but are everywhere, double battles are relatively rare, and Triple/Rotation basically only appear in the restaurants. I'm guessing they have these battle styles but considering most of them are harder than singles, they're downplayed to make the games more accessible.

 

It is lame that Gen 5 got no Megas, but I guess they considered Gen 5 too recent. If there's none in the next game(s), I'm expecting them in Gen 7 when Gen 5 is considered less recent. I'm also guessing Megas will be more prominent in the next games, especially used by NPCs.

[buba]

You know what pisses me off? When you are with one ally or more and various grunts appear and you and the said ally have to fight them but instead of it being a double/triple battle you and the other dude fight the bad guys separately.

I mean, why? It's not like they never did it before with Steven in Emerald and Barry in the 4th gen games.

[Salamander]

I don't know whose responsibility stuff like this is - director, writer? - but the staging and pacing of Pokemon stories has been pretty lacklustre for the last two main games (that is, B2/W2 and X/Y).  The stories are full of really incredible elements like airships with superweapons powered by legendary Pokemon and Cain figures who've been alive for three thousand years and Lysandre bursting in wearing a weird robot insect suit, but you play through these stories in the most boring way possible, the villains' plot is shoehorned into one extended sequence after seven or eight gyms of nothing much happening, you never have multi-participant battles with your allies against the villains, you grind through the same Pokemon on every grunt team over and over, and then the Pokemon League is just tacked on.  It's like they have someone to come up with the plot who's really enthusiastic about their job, but then everyone else on the staff just wants to hurry the plot out of the way and get the players to the postgame and competitive battling all the quicker.

[Semi-colon e]

I don't think BW2 was that bad about it, aside from the 8th gym. Even in the long stretch up to Gym 7, the intention is you're going to go meet Drayden to find out what's going on, and Team Plasma had some presence in several major areas in the game.

 

XY's pacing is pretty weird though. I feel like they made it massive early on, then realised they had to cram the gyms in, then ended Team Flare's plot early because once a doomsday device is revealed, it's going to go off and the writers were probably backed into a corner. This made gym 8 a fair while after gym 7 as well.

 

I wish there were more times when you teamed with with your allies, the Trevor part in Frost Cavern would have been perfect, but there was the section where you and the rival descend into the depths of the base where the cover legendary is, fighting off all the admins and grunts, that was one of my favourite parts of the game.

 

I actually feel like it's the gym thing holding the plots back. It's like they have the plot, but they have to fit it around the gyms as well, and often don't do it so well. It's like they want to do better plots but the gyms get in the way. They'll never get rid of the gyms, but it'd be nice if they were more integrated. Marlon in BW2 is the worst example.

 

When they get the intensity right, it's really awesome, but sometimes it just falls flat. I kind of hope there's a Z that makes it a bit more... I hesitate to say streamlined, but more interesting, as the plot is the only major disappointment I have with the game.

[Toby]

Personally, I think the stories are pretty stupid, and wish they'd go for something more simple akin to Red and Blue for a change. Reading through Black and White 2's story, and playing through Y, I have to wonder why the series took such a weird turn in the story department.

[Kuzu]

Personally, I think the stories are pretty stupid, and wish they'd go for something more simple akin to Red and Blue for a change. Reading through Black and White 2's story, and playing through Y, I have to wonder why the series took such a weird turn in the story department.

 

I honestly liked that change; Excuse plots were fine back in the day, but I like being given more of a reason to go through a given game, even something as mundane as Pokemon. Yea, its not exactly needed but I vastly prefer a game to attempt characterization than ones that don't.

[Salamander]

I like having more of a plot to the games, but the trouble is that most of the time it's just the same plot over and over again, really: You beat a bunch of gyms, then you beat what's effectively a longer gym, then you have to fight or catch a legendary Pokemon, then it's back to the gyms.  For all the fluff, B2/W2 and X/Y were fundamentally the same as Ruby/Sapphire and Diamond/Pearl.  They need to shake it up a bit.

 

I don't mind the gyms, but for some reason the developers just seem to have no idea how to fit the rest of the plot around them sometimes.  Their characterisation's been getting worse again, too - in the better games in the series you saw quite a bit of the gym leaders, out and about and actually doing something useful, but then in X/Y once again you'll never see most of them outside of their gym, and of those, half of them just show up to chat with you and then go back into their hole.  I honestly don't think it should be hard to do a better job.  Just have plot events in-between each gym, and mix that gym leader up in it.  At a bare minimum, that's all you need to do.

[Kuzu]

I don't really think its necessary to change the plot, but rather improve the characterization; even the most predictable of plots can be good if the characters entertaining enough.

[DarkLight]

Considering I just recently replayed the Y version and still don't care for this game's sidekicks, yeah, I have to agree.

[Mega]

Honestly, I think Gen II had the right idea. Its story was still fairly simple, but I felt like there was a lot more life to it than, say, Gen I. You had great moments like Lance teaming up with you to infiltrate the Rocket base, the whole Radio Tower takeover felt like a big deal. Yeah, the story kinda fizzled out afterwards, but I really think they should try and shoot for more story integration into the setting and gameplay. Let the Gym Leaders do more than just hang by their gyms-- that's one thing I appreciated about BW, in fact. Some of them, like Iris and Cilan, actually left their gyms and participated in the plot itself.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

So, I'm on the hunt for Mega Stones, trying to get them before post-game. Anyone have a Mawlite, Kangaskanite, Garchompite, Tyrantirite up for trading please?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

I've always wanted to see what a Steel or Ghost-type would look like...

So what did you think of Honedge, Doublade, and Aegislash then?

[Indigo Rush]

So I've been playing X lately, and I think I understand why people are bored with the postgame.

 

I've had more fun raising random Pokemon for no special reason whatsoever than getting involved in that detective sidequest. I haven't done anything with it. Since I'm not a competitive battler, breeder or anything, this game is not lasting as well as I thought it would. And I don't think I'll be attempting to "catch 'em all" either.

 

Since this is the first Pokemon game I've played since Sapphire, can anybody here tell me what some of the stronger postgames were like? Now, Gold, Silver and Crystal go without saying, but what were the DS games like?

[Gabz Girl]

I think Black and White 2 have the best post game content, though I haven't actually played either of those so I could be wrong.

 

What I find weird is that almost everybody says Black and White have a weak post game. Whaaat. What about finding the sages? Finding all those Legendaries? Beating the real Champion? Seriously I had a lot of fun with the post game content of B/W.