Pokemon Y: Review

I finally beat the elite four and their champion, finishing the main quest of Pokemon Y. Now, I know there is a ton of post game content, but I feel comfortable that I have seen enough of Pokemon Y to give it a knowledgeable review. I captured 185 pokemon and clocked in 44 hours of gameplay. 

There are a lot of things that I didn't like about Y, but I think it's important to focus on the new direction the brand is moving in. Yes, the game is still disgustingly g-rated even though most Pokemaniacs are now in their mid-twenties, there still isn't a true 3D adventure and Nintendo seems to think that all problems can be solved with friendship, but think about where we were just a couple years ago. We were angrily slogging through Pokemon White/Black, depressed in the realization that this was just how Pokemon games were going to be forever, just like Zelda, nothing new, nothing exciting, just the same game repeated forever. What we got X/Y was at the very least a couple steps in the right direction, a direction the fans have been screaming to go in for 15 years.

I bumped into Nurse Joy off the clock.

I can't ignore the especially shitty story this time around though. A Team Rocket clone called Team Flare want to eliminate all Pokemon because they are suffering, and would be better off dead. In the middle of the game, you have a single confrontation with these guys and thats it, you shut down their doomsday machine and the world is grateful. There is a 9 foot man who has been alive for 3,000 years, (which doesn't seem to spark the interest of any of the Professors), who becomes reunited with his long lost pokemon friend and then walks off into the sunset.

That's it. But with this new title we got a lot of good things. I like the Mega Ring, it was done well. You get one mega evolution per battle, and it gives you a last resort if things aren't going well. This is the first game where Pikachu isn't shoved down your throat for forty hours. The gyms are better, beautiful and challenging. The gym leaders themselves are wacky and fun, and can actually kick a little ass if you aren't properly staffed. I love the new cities, I love the French vibe, and I the bike has been completely fixed. Mewtwo is also the game's big catch which is a nice nostalgic nod to the rest of us. Yeah, I caught Yvetal, but all of us first gens know that Mewtwo has always been the greatest pokemon there is, and it's nice to include him in the newest gen.

Pokemon is finally doing something new, and while Pokemon Y had a lot of the old things that irritate me, I appreciate the new things too. Pokemon Y was fun, different, but because of this, it leaves a lot of pressure and hype lingering in the air for the next one.