October was made for Pokémon, the hype train for X and Y was on its high, and man was it a blast. I got sucked into the world of Pokémon (with a bit of Ace Attorney <3), and I'm glad to be back. Here I have 3 Pokémon Reviews: Pokémon X & Y, Pokémon Special and Pokémon Origins. BTW before you spout bias, keep in mind that I'm not a pro reviewer. I love pokemon so of course there will be some bias, and I have the perspective of a pokemon fan.
Pokémon X & Y - ポケットモンスター X & Y [3DS] Review
Plot - If you've played a Pokémon game, you've seen this before. You move into town, and then leave off on an adventure through a new region, this time in a Foreigner's view of France, known as Kalos. They tangent off into this red herring about mega evolutions, but other than that, it's pretty much the same old story. Get 8 gym badges, beat the baddies known as Team Flare, and become the champion. Nothing too bad, but it's the same old story. Pokémon’s the one RPG where story doesn't really matter, and that hasn't changed here.
7/10
Gameplay - This gen fixed so many things game play wise, it's now fast and engaging, I love it! The EXP Share was changed to an EXP All, and it's broken as all hell but awesome. With the EXP Share the game was a blast! They gave people an incentive to catch Pokémon, which is when you catch them, you get EXP, which is awesome! The Design of the world reminded me of Kanto, I felt like they were trying to return to the roots with this one, and it succeeded. So, they added a bunch of new features, so much so that I can't really mention them all because I haven't used them all. They added fairy types, a new counter to dragon types, a sky battle where you battle in the skies, mega evolutions, which are like super saiyans for Pokémon, poke Amie, which is something you can do to play with Pokémon, and Super training, which is AMAZING. It's the most fun I've had in Pokémon gameplay in a long time, and I loved it.
10/10
Graphics/Art - This is Pokémon how it should be. The game looks like a lower res version of XD Gale of Darkness & Coliseum, but its art style makes up for it. The UI looks great, the art style looks fantastic, the Pokémon designs look great, and the new dynamic camera is great... I can go on for days about how good this game looks. I feel like the 3DS is holding it back though, with its low resolution and lack of AA, but there's a nice black outline that makes the lack of AA look not too bad.
9.5/10
Sound - I love the new soundtrack. This soundtrack is on par with D/P/PT to me, and every track is superb (with the exception of Team flare's theme.) It's really just fantastic. I don't really know how to describe it, but every piece just pumps you up, and everything sounds great.
9.5/10
Enjoyment - I haven't had this much fun with a Pokémon game since I started playing Pokémon. This game is just fun. Competitive is really fun now, and everybody is playing it. It’s a great game.
10/10
Conclusion - Pokémon X and Y is the closest to perfection this series has ever had. The Gameplay is great, the music is superb, the Graphics are mind blowing, and they ironed out what made Pokémon tedious.
9.75/10
Pokémon Special - ポケットモンスター SPECIAL [Manga] Review
Pokémon Special is the Pokémon Manga. It’s been running since the start of Pokémon and to me is the cannon story of Pokémon.
Plot & Characters - THIS MANGA HAS CHARECTER
DEVELLLOOPMMMEEEENNNTTTTTTTTTT! It's pretty much the story from the game with some character development, new arcs, comedy and even a romance (GASP!). It's fantastic, and gives the basic plots of Pokémon a bit of personality. I like how they actually use strategy, and the plot was superb. It’s a very shonen-esque plot, but that’s what Pokémon is and it’s one of my favorites.
10/10
Pacing - It's really nice. It blazes through the stuff you already have seen while taking a long time with its own arcs. I felt that that was bad sometimes, that they were skipping a bunch of stuff. In the Johto arc, they don't battle a single gym for the point of rushing, which irked me. Since they adapt everything, it can be kind of long. So far, it's 457 chapters, and that's up to HGSS.
8.5/10
Art - The Art is pretty good, but not as nice as the anime or the games. It can be awesome at some points but mediocre at others.
8/10
Enjoyment - I loved the hell out of Pokémon special. Its plot is great, and that's what really matters. It's Pokémon, but with a real story, and I’ve never been more glad to see Pokémon in a way like this.
9.5/10
Conclusion - Pokémon Special lives up to its name. It’s really something totally different for the Pokémon Company with a really decent plot and it’s very entertaining, with a real story and all.
9/10
Pokémon Origins - ポケットモンスター THE ORIGIN [Anime OVA] Review
Pokémon Origins is a 4 part OVA series made by Production IG based on the original games. How does IG deal with such a large franchise? Let’s find out!
Plot & Characters - Its Pokémon RGBY. I love it because of how close it is to the source material, but it's no different than the games. What makes it amazing is the characters are portrayed in the anime. The plot, even though it’s very vanilla, even taking direct quotes from the games is leaps and bounds better than the anime. All the characters, even the mute red are just fantastic, which cannot be said for the full anime. WHY COULDN’T THIS BE THE FULL ANIME INSTEAD ;(
8/10
Pacing - DO YOU SEE HOW THIS IS ONLY 4 EPISODES???? They get through all of RGBY in about 2 hours, and they rush it like hell. I WANT MORE OF THIS. MOAR. Pacing is really just meh, I wish this was a full series over a set of OVA's. Even though pacing is meh, it’s by far much much much better than the regular Pokémon anime with a bunch of filler arcs.
6/10
Art – Beautiful. Its production IG and they nailed it. I have nothing bad to say, it’s BEAUTIFUL.
10/10
Sound - Obviously I haven't heard the English dub because it's not out yet, but the Japanese dub was great and the soundtrack playing was GLORIOUS. The remixes are some of the best Pokémon Remixes I’ve heard. Production IG did a stellar job on the soundtrack.
9/10
Enjoyment - I loved it. This is what Pokémon animes should be.
10/10
Conclusion - A wonderful OVA series, ruined by the fact that it’s an OVA series. NINTENDO IF YOU ARE LISTENING MAKE THIS A FULL SERIES!
8.75/10
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