Pokémon X and Y came to the world of turn-based monster fighting in late 2013 via Pokémon Legends: Gamefreak, and Nintendo. This version of Pokémon set the pace for what future games will look like in the series. Released as a Nintendo exclusive on the 3DS handhold system, Pokémon X and Y made massive changes to their online system, the list of Pokémon available to catch and train, and it was their very first 3D game with stunning graphics for the time.
For any current 3DS users out there, or simply fans of the older generations of Pokémon games, here are 5 reasons you should buy Pokémon X and Y.
New Generation of Gameplay
A common issue cited with older Pokémon games was the pacing. The games simply started too slow for most people. You’d be investing at least a few hours of time before you got anywhere close to starting your first real battles. Pokémon X and Y changes things up a little bit. By rapidly speeding up the training and catching process you can easily get a few Pokémon, a gym badge, and a battle or two under your belt. The best part about it is that you can do this in under an hour.
Gamefreak also made heavy use of the 3DS’s more powerful system to add more options to your training and battles. One of the most notable abilities added to X and Y was the Mega-Evolution. Once per battle, select Pokémon can briefly have a Mega-Evolution and become the most evolved version of themselves.
The last gameplay addition that completely changes the way you can strategize with your gameplay is super training. Super training is simple, your Pokémon can train one specific base stat repeatedly greatly increasing its abilities. However, this may cause issues within multiplayer. It might be a bit hard if you have to battle a Staryu with +7 to their defense off the bat.
Social Features
Speaking of multiplayer, Pokémon X and Y used the 3DS tech to open up a very tricky way of multiplayer options. X and Y was the first game to use a system called the Player Search System (PSS). This system would eventually become what we call Pokémon: Go today. The PSS is able to find any player over WIFI in real-time. Whether or not they were in the same coffee shop as you or half away across the world. This option lets you trade, train, and battle with anyone.
3D Look
Pokémon X and Y were the first games to feature a fully 3D world rendering. It’s fair to say that a lot of games published around the early 2010s had full 3D rendering, even on handheld platforms. Even today a lot of these games hold up. What set X and Y apart was that there was a total overhaul of the graphics and the stereoscopic camera. Basically, it’s a fancy word for the camera can follow the player around on all 3 X, Y, and Z directions. Note that battles will not have this fancy camera trick.
The other amazing advance in graphics comes from the addition of not only multiple genders but choice of skin tone. In past games, players were stuck with either male or female and only an eggshell white skin tone. With X and Y, players can better experience a true RPG and customize their character to better reflect them. The new clothing items help too.
New Pokémon
Every edition of Pokémon games gets a handful of new Pokémon to catch. Pokémon X and Y are no different. Below is a quick list of possible entries depending on which game you get. Never forget that the game’s main legendary Pokémon will change two. One important thing to note about X and Y is that any Pokémon you trained in Pokémon Black and White can be directly imported into X and Y.
In X you can find:
- Poochyena
- Mightyena
- Sawk
- Swirlix
- Slurpuff
- Pinsir
- Lileep
- Cradily
- Anorith
- Armaldo
- Staryu
- Starmie
- Houndour
- Houndoom
- Aron
- Lairon
- Aggron
- Clauncher
- Clawitzer
- Xerneas
In Y you can find:
- Shellder
- Cloyster
- Heracross
- Larvitar
- Pupitar
- Tyranitar
- Purrloin
- Liepard
- Throh
- Spritzee
- Aromatisse
- Omanyte
- Omastar
- Kabuto
- Kabutops
- Electrike
- Manectric
- Skrelp
- Dragalge
- Yveltal
New Storyline and Friends
The last thing and possibly most important aspect of Pokémon X and Y is that Gamefreak actually updated their story. Well, sort of. The general gist of the story is the same. Random kid finds out about Pokémon and then ventures off into the woods to find a legendary one. Unfortunately, they run into a professor studying the various animals and needs help. The player helps them and they get rewarded with a Pokémon to choose from. Next the player travels from gym to gym earning badges etc, etc.
However with X and Y the player now get a small group of friends to join them on their missions. These friends are fairly one-dimensional but it shows a great step in the storytelling aspect of Pokémon games as a whole.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Pokemon.com.