2015 Year in Review: Video Games

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

My rating: 8.5

Bayonetta

My rating: 7.5

NES Remix

My rating: 5

Pokemon Shuffle

My rating: 7

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

My rating: 9

Forza Horizon 2: Fast and Furious

My rating: 6

(Mario Kart 8)

DLC review – Animal Crossing x Mario Kart 8

My rating: 7.5

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

My rating: 8.5

Splatoon

My rating: 8.75

Shadows of the Damned

My rating: 7.25

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

My rating: 7.75

Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater

My rating: 8.75

Fast Racing Neo

My rating: 9

3DS eShop review: Pokémon Shuffle

Pokémon Shuffle follows in the line of Pokémon Trozei and a number of other Nintendo properties that have spawned puzzle game spinoffs over the years. The gameplay is simple enough – line up three of the same Pokémon in order to clear space and allow more blocks to trickle down. Each time a set of three or more Poké-blocks are cleared, it will inflict damage upon the opposing Pokémon accordingly. And yes, Pokémon Shuffle does take typing advantages into account. Optimizing a team’s format to deal greater damage to a Pokémon can lead to faster victories, and any remaining turns that went unused during a match can be factored into a bonus at the end, improving your chances of catching a Pokémon.

What makes Pokémon Shuffle such a distinct release for Nintendo is its role as the company’s first major ‘free-to-play’ release. Players are allowed to tackle five matches at the outset, with each attempt using a single heart, one of Pokémon Shuffle’s in-game currencies. The early stretch of Pokémon Shuffle is quite generous, as NPCs reward you with jewels, another of Pokémon Shuffle’s in-game currencies, which can be exchanged for either more hearts and thus subsequent attempts at puzzles, or for coins, the third and final of Pokémon Shuffle’s in-game currencies.

As the game progresses, overcoming certain hurdles will reward you with more jewels, which is a welcome substitute for the otherwise thirty-minute wait time it takes for a single heart to replenish. It also lessens the pressure from Pokémon Shuffle’s intended ‘pay-to-win’ formula. Coins, meanwhile, are rewarded in small amounts at each successful conclusion of a match, and can be exchanged to earn a few more rounds in a single given match, a slight boost in the experience points earned by your party members, the chance to start out with a mega-evolution bonus, and more. These coin-based rewards are among the game’s most expensive rewards, and gauging just how much your in-game currency is worth can play a major role in strategizing for matches.

Similar to the jewels, coins are sometimes earned at mile markers, or simply by ‘checking in’ with the network servers on a daily basis. Another of Pokémon Shuffle’s online components comes in the form of special matches, which are only available for short periods of time, but pit you against rarer Pokémon that can make strong additions to your team. Finally, the 'EX' missions pit you against higher-level and even legendary Pokémon, but remove the limited number of turns in favor of a timer countdown that can last anywhere from thirty seconds to a few minutes. Often, these higher-level Pokémon will dish out attacks of their own in an attempt to hinder your progress or throw off your combo chains.

Of course, given the ‘pay-to-play’ formula Pokémon Shuffle is designed to experiment with, there is the option to exchange real world money for in-game currency, and while I am no less opposed to this formula on the 3DS than I am on tablets and phones, it may be worth noting that the exchange prices in Pokémon Shuffle are somewhat less costly than their iOS and Android contemporaries. That said, Pokémon Shuffle is a refreshing addition to the microtransaction school of design, in that the application is not so much that you are paying to win, rather that should you choose to pay, you will be extending your playtime with the game immediately as opposed to waiting a half-hour or more before your next possible match. If you are taking to this game as a casual title to play a few bouts at a time in between sessions of other, more meaty 3DS titles, it’s a solid product that provides intuitive entertainment for free. For those willing to pay for more jewels and coins, your mileage with Pokémon Shuffle may vary.

My rating: 7 (out of 10)

2014 Year in Review: Anime

As this year comes to a close, I am wrapping up my ‘year in review’ lists, including my top anime and video game picks for 2014. Below is a list of every anime in the order that I viewed them this year, complete with a brief summary of my full review and the final score I provided each. Keep an eye out for my picks of the top five anime of the year within the next day or so.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (season one): While this first season is largely setting the stage for everything that is to come in the Stardust Crusaders arc of the second season, these first two portions of the long-running manga translate well to an anime format, despite how long overdue such an adaptation might be. The first arc, Phantom Blood, establishes Jonathon Joestar and his family’s legacy that will be shaped by the utilization of mystic arts like the ripple, as well as the feud that stems between himself and his nefarious rival since childhood, Dio Brando. Phantom Blood offers a more classic medieval fantasy aesthetic, while the second arc, Battle Tendency, explores the history of the stone mask that grants Dio his inhuman powers, as well as sets aside more time to properly explore the mighty Pillar Men and the goofball hero of the day that is Joseph Joestar. My rating: 8.25

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Some consider this series to the magical girl genre what Neon Genesis Evangelion was to the mecha genre. That correlation is not far off, as Madoka Magica’s twelve episode run puts a dark spin on one of anime’s most popular genres. Five young girls are granted special powers after making a contract with a feline creature named Kyubey, but gradually discover that the pact requires so much more than they could have ever conceived. It’s a dreary and depressing tale, but one that does exceptionally well at getting from point A to point B and rounding out the main cast within its limited episode count. My rating: 8.75

MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity of the Battlefront: Following up the incredibly brief yet surprisingly well-done first duo of MS IGLOO miniseries, MS IGLOO 2 focuses its narrative on the Federation forces, highlighting three separate military officers on different combat fronts. MS IGLOO 2 opts to incorporate a silly subplot of ghosts and curses to tether these otherwise unrelated tales together, which in turn makes for a set of the most ridiculous and cringe-worthy presentations in the larger Gundam franchise. My rating: 4.75

From the New World: In a future where esper humans have rebuilt society into a nearly technological-absent return to the feudal era, young classmates are grouped together in order to hone their unique skills. The threat of fiends is mentioned to these children at a young age, but as they grow up and witness some of their peers simply vanish, they begin to dig deeper into the mysteries of what happened centuries before they reverted to this lifestyle. What begins as a fantasy-oriented take on a post-apocalyptic future past gradually reveals a complicated pattern of advancing mankind through militant and social struggles, and what dark secrets lie in the past may be the key to facing the dangers that hide in plain sight among these hyper-capable human beings. My rating: 8.75

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion: Rebellion’s purpose is less of an expanded or reimagined ending for its series, and more of a quick cash-in on a still-popular name. The story suffers from awkward pacing and generally unlikable presentation of some previously well-established cast members. A new magical girl is also added to the story, but she is used for little more than a brief plot device, making her addition rather meaningless. The endgame is fits well with the tone of the series, but the process of reaching that finale is highly-predictable, less-than-inspired, and ultimately nothing-achieving. My rating: 5

Space Dandy: Following in the footsteps of Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy sees the ragtag crew of Dandy, feline alien Meow, and robot QT journey the stars in search of strange new alien life forms to cash in with intergalactic registration. Along the way, they make frequent stops at Dandy’s favorite ‘breastaurant’, a parody of Hooters, aptly named Boobies. The series takes on some narrative inspirations from western works, as some episodes that end in dire situations or complete catastrophe are written off as being of no consequence by the time the next episode kicks in. Space Dandy is funky, psychedelic, wacky fun, and keeps the jokes popping from start to finish. My rating: 8

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (season two): Stardust Crusaders has long been the most popular part of Hirohiko Araki’s epic manga run, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and has finally received a proper full-length anime adaptation. Jotaro, old man Joseph, Avdol, Kakyoin, and Polnareff make for a lovable band of misfits as they encounter foes that are both devious and wacky during their quest to stop the vampire Dio. The spiritual counterparts known as Stands do battle on behalf of their users, and the improved budget allows for some thoroughly exciting fights with shifts to psychedelic color palettes and frequent two-part episodes that grant better development cycles for the broad cast of characters. My rating: 9.5

Persona 4: The Animation: An adaptation of the Persona 4 video game, this twenty-six episode series has quite a bit of fat to trim in order to focus on the core of the story in the allotted time frame. It emphasizes the main party of characters, which is a smart move, considering how integral they are to the overarching plot of mystery surrounding the Midnight Channel and the Inaba murders and disappearances. The anime has fun with some of the game’s optional sidequests, and even decides to expand upon the character of young Nanako by throwing a couple of brand new subplots into the mix. A few key story points suffer from clunky pacing, however, and feel as though they could have been handled better were they spread across two episodes. My rating: 7

Bayonetta: Bloody Fate: Packing all the flash and flair of the first Bayonetta game into one hour-and-a-half film, Bloody Fate is an adaptation done right. All the major plot points are hit on, granting the film sufficient time to mold Bayonetta, Jeanne, Rodin, Luka, and little Cereza, as well as pinpoint some of their individual quirks and curious traits. The English cast returns to reprise their roles, which is a real treat, considering how masterful a job they did in the game. The soundtrack is jazzy and kickin’, the action over-the-top and borderline-nonsensical, and the whole experience one wild and stylish ride. My rating: 9.25

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn: Returning to many of the core themes that made Mobile Suit Gundam a standout anime more than thirty years ago, Unicorn Gundam pushes the saga on to new heights with contemporary storytelling methods, a wide variety of characters who see even time in the spotlight, and production values that blow the competition out of the water. Delivered in seven parts, Unicorn Gundam feels very much the part a collection of mini-movies that follow the story of Banagher Links as he further explores the mysteries of newtypes and the legacy left by legendary pilots who preceded him, while the Char Aznable look-alike Full Frontal has a grand vision in mind for the future of spacenoids and the remaining Zeon remnants. With so many factions involved in the search for an object known as Laplace’s Box and the wonderment of what lies inside, the conflict escalates and becomes an intense race to reach it and discover just what its contents mean for the future on humanity. My rating: 10

Sword Art Online: Combining classic fantasy motifs with a modern science fiction setting, Sword Art Online pays homage to contemporaries of the MMORPG video gaming genre through its art style and questlines. The first half of the series requires greater care and precision on the part of protagonists Kirito and Asuna, as death in the game world results in real-life fatality. These high stakes are a large part of what makes the story so intense and also is responsible for shaping the characters, while the progression for both plot and cast unfortunately takes a nosedive to boring territory during the second act. This latter half sees major characters reduced to mere plot devices, opting to push for a significantly less compelling story direction and some admittedly unsettling themes that feel very much out-of-place for a series aimed at such a broad and mainstream audience. My rating: 5.75

Knights of Sidonia: Hundreds of years after mankind left Earth to escape the parasitic and shape-shifting Gauna, a young ace pilot named Nagate Tanikaze quickly climbs the ranks from undercity-dweller to hero of the drifting world-ship Sidonia. The science and technology of this futuristic setting is sometimes strange, but more often than not it is practical given the immense populous and limited supplies within Sidonia. The gender androgynous Izana Shinatose, who befriends Nagate early on, receives ample time to develop as a character, as do many of the other pilots who fly out into battle in their Garde Unit mechs. The dire situation the humans face is constantly brought up through mentions of how long it has been since Sidonia last had contact with another human vessel, as well as the number of Garde Units that are destroyed in battle against the Gauna, showing just how short the life expectancies of these young men and women are. My rating: 8.25

Pokémon the Movie: White – Victini and Zekrom: As Ash and friends continue their journey across the Unova region, they stop in a mountain town where rumors of the legendary Victini have long been perpetuated thanks to the tale of a king who moved his people there with the psychic Pokémon’s aid. Upon discovering that Victini has in fact been hiding in plain sight, a young man named Damon decides to recreate the fabled king’s journey in an attempt to return to his desert homeland, unwittingly releasing the destructive stream known as the Dragon Force. While the film does make references to the lore of the Pokémon video games, the plot points of Victini and Zekrom are loosely connected at best, while the antagonist’s motives are never made clear and his strategy following quite close to that of the villain in the second theatrical Pokémon release. My rating: 5

Captain Harlock: A visual spectacle, this retelling of the original Harlock anime provides an updated and streamlined story that balances a gritty presentation with fun and fantastical action. It’s a film that does well to offer something to viewers both young and old, as the pacing is spot-on and keeps the story chugging along at a nice pace, without forgetting to stop and highlight interstellar landscapes. Each character receives sufficient development early in the film so as to make them feel the part of worthwhile investments later on, while one of the film’s minor faults stems from it trying to push for silly and over-the-top fights that would feel more at home in more fantasy-heavy works like the Dragon Ball franchise. My rating: 8.5

3DS review: Pokémon: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

Built upon the same engine used for last year’s revolutionary X and Y, the Pokémon series returns to the Hoenn region for a set of remakes, titled Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. As a young trainer, you start off in Littleroot Town, meet your neighbor/childhood friend/rival, and are given one of three starter Pokémon by the local professor – the grass-type Treecko, water-type Mudkip, or fire-type Torchic. It’s typical fanfare for the series, though not unlike their original GBA releases, these remakes of Ruby and Sapphire do well to get the adventure going faster than other entries in the series – tutorials are covered quickly, and there is a decent variety of Pokémon available to catch in the wild early in the game that will still prove practical team members hours down the road.

Mega Evolutions were among the big new additions in X and Y, and plenty more have been added in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire to better round out the different Pokémon types represented by this new tier of temporary evolution. It’s a decent compromise, given the fact that there are no new Pokémon represented in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and that the vast majority of the Pokémon encountered throughout the Hoenn region are those that are native to it. The Player Search System, Super Training, and Pokémon-Amie all return, providing smooth online components for battle and trade, as well as the ability to easily boost your Pokémon’s skills and affection levels. The Pokenav, meanwhile, provides a new addition for seeking out wild Pokémon that will detail all the types of Pokémon in the area, what level the nearest one is at, and – in some cases – special moves they might not otherwise know. It’s a welcome addition that makes catching them all, or even just a few key Pokémon that you wish to use to round out your team’s typing representation, a much faster and less random process.

The story remains largely unchanged – depending on which version you are playing, the organizations of Team Aqua and Team Magma will seek to revive the legendary Kyogre to expand the seas, or the legendary Groudon to expand the land respectively. It was not the most compelling of plots during its original GBA release, and though some new expanded bits of dialogue have been added to more consistently integrate both these villainous teams and the player into the core story, it stands as one of the weakest narratives in the main Pokémon series. The same can be said for the Hoenn region as a whole – while some of the major cities have been given more of an aesthetic appeal with full-fledged 3D models of notable landmarks, the continent as a whole feels visually underwhelming, and its physical layout archaic. Far too often does the game require you have two or three HM moves to advance down a long stretch of path, which seems counter-intuitive, given that the experience share system from X and Y returns, intended to (more or less) evenly spread experience points between all party members. Unless you intend for your party to retain an HM-specialist Pokémon, this can lead to party member’s levels being skewed quite a bit as you swap them from your party to the PC.

Perhaps uneven party member levels is little more than a minor annoyance to some players, but the experience share will undoubtedly lead to an overly-powerful team past the halfway point of the game, even if you should choose to avoid a large number of trainers on the routes along the way. Late-game gym battles become laughably easy, and the Elite Four – while offering a marginally greater challenge than their counterparts in X and Y, are still easy to sweep with the use of only three or four of your party members. On the other hand, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire do cut out some of the fetch-quest distraction points from the original GBA versions, which streamlines the experience, keeping the story on track better than in its original incarnation.

Another new feature present in these 3DS remakes is the post-game Delta Episode, which sees Steven Stone call upon you, the player character, to help collect meteorite shards in order to construct a device that will be used to deviate the path of a meteorite on a collision course with the Hoenn region. While this premise alone is dire enough, things become murky and complicated when a young woman named Zinnia intervenes, claiming that you must find another solution, as Steven’s scientific plan may result in dark repercussions for humans and Pokémon alike. The Delta Episode lasts a little over an hour, but during that brief window, it manages to deliver a story that is significantly more compelling that the approximately fifteen-hour run of the main story, introducing a character who is a fresh, if not incredibly quirky addition to the series. The Delta Episode also provides a rounding out of some of Hoenn’s regional lore, and expansions of the mysteries tying together some of the other Pokémon games.

As for the rest of the post-game content, it is typically of a hit-or-miss nature. As players near the Elite Four in the main story, they will be granted use of the Eon Flute, which can summon the legendary Latias or Latios to fly them above the continent and plop them down in any city, route, or major landmark they desire. It’s a visual treat that offers fast-travel in the same vein as using the Fly HM move, and even grants players access to otherwise-inaccessible locations off the beaten path to catch legendary Pokémon not native to Hoenn. The process of encountering and catching these legendaries ranges from a simple matter of walking up to a mystical portal and prompting a battle, to traveling to a certain location with certain other legendaries in your party, to hoping there is a randomly-appearing island on the map when you boot up your copy of the game. Personal hideouts dubbed 'secret bases' can be decorated with Pokémon dolls and furniture, or even set up as your own personal gym, though the novelty of this becomes quickly forgettable.

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were seemingly promoted largely with two crowds in mind – those who played the GBA versions of Ruby and Sapphire during their initial release, and those who appreciated the streamlined gameplay and inclusion of many new features presented by X and Y. Yet, for all the great elements of the original GBA titles that these remakes retain, they also seem compelled to hold on just as tightly to the outdated design elements and lackluster plot. It is similarly unfortunate that these titles incorporate even less in the way of updated features than last year’s 3DS debut of the series. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are not exceptionally lazy efforts, but they are confoundingly rooted in outdated ideas, and fail to embrace more of what has pushed Pokémon toward smoother gameplay and more intelligent scripting with the last few major releases.

My rating: 7 (out of 10)

Pokémon: Omega Ruby journal - entry five

Well, I did manage to more or less steamroll my way through the Elite Four – Trevenant and Infernape both swept a good chunk of the competition aside, while I really only had to swap out to Emolga in order to counter Glacia’s Wailrein. The Elite Four battles were not quite the cakewalk that their Kalos counterparts provided, but they weren’t much more of a challenge, truth be told. I even deliberately avoided many of the trainers along Victory Road in the hopes that it might balance the fights out a bit, but it seems this game was designed with players being significantly more powerful than necessary in mind.

It’s a bit of a shame, really, as I found the Pokémon typings spotlighted by each member of the Elite Four to be a fun and interesting combo. The champion battle against Steven Stone would have served as the highlight of the whole experience, were it not for the fact that beating him was similarly all too easy. For the sake of the narrative, however, I did appreciate Steven Stone’s constant involvement in major events, and the fact that he is something of a rival character who also acts as a source of inspiration to the protagonist – someone that most people seem to look up to. Thank goodness he wasn’t just dropped in for a brief cameo and then ignored entirely until his climactic battle (I am, of course, making a not-so-subtle reference to Diantha’s minimal role in X and Y). Regardless, above is my team that triumphed over the Elite Four, my ‘dream team’ for Omega Ruby.

I’ve only spent about fifteen minutes or so with the postgame Delta Episode, and have found its narrative to be considerably more compelling than the main game’s story and conflict with Team Magma. It’s comforting to know that at least some part of this remake might leave me somewhat impressed. The ability to soar around Hoenn on the back of Latios is certainly a visual treat, and is seemingly the only way to reach areas where warp holes containing legendary Pokémon await. I suppose it only makes sense to restrict access to these more powerful Pokémon until the main game is nearly over, though the premise of these mysterious holes simply spitting out Pokémon in front of you makes things, yet again, seem a bit easier than necessary. It shouldn’t be too much longer before I post my final review for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, though, depending on how long the Delta Episode content runs, I may yet post another journal entry beforehand.

25 Days of Pokémon - Top 5 Steel Pokémon

In keeping with the previous list, I thought it appropriate that I cover my five favorite Pokémon from my second-favorite typing, Steel. As with nearly every Pokémon detailed as part of this twenty-five days of Christmas special, these Pokémon are simply ones that I enjoyed using during my previous playthroughs, and ones that have served me well in both main storyline and postgame content. Their ordering is not necessarily a reflection of how well I think they would serve me in the competitive scene, as that’s not really my forte. Honorable mentions go to Lucario and Metagross, two Pokémon that - while both awesome in their own right - I prefer for their Fighting and Psychic moves, respectively.

#5) Scizor – Scyther seemed to be a fan-favorite when I was growing up and the Pokémon franchise was brand-spankin’-new. Imagine, then, just how excited young players became when they learned of Scizor, the Bug/Steel evolution of Scyther. Scizor’s dual-typing offers what is a decently useful buff, though it has a glaring weakness to Fire-type Pokémon, and doesn’t fare too well against Fighting-types either. However, the real appeal for my using Scizor during one of my Soul Silver replays lay in his widely varied moveset, which was key in taking down Grass, Psychic, Ghost, and fellow Bug Pokémon. He even fared quite well in the post-game tournaments of Black 2 once I transferred him over to the fifth generation games, and still proves quite useful for friendly competitive bouts in the sixth generation scene.

#4) Steelix – Another generation II evolution of a gen I Pokémon, Steelix is the bigger, badder, and generally cooler-looking evolution of Onix. It does what all good Steel Pokémon do in playing a defensive role, and then ups the ante with its secondary Ground typing. I relied quite heavily on Steelix during one of my replays of Soul Silver, and while Steelix performed wonderfully against the likes of Blaine and Lt. Surge, his crowning achievement was laying the smack-down on Red’s prized Pikachu while a snowstorm swelled atop Mt. Silver.

#3) Mawile – One of the more bizarre humanoid Pokémon designs, Mawile has two mouths - one on its proper, smaller face, and another gaping venus-flytrap mandible attached to the back of its skull. Depending on who you ask, people may describe Mawile as a cute and cuddly Pokémon, or one of the most lethal-looking things to come from the generation III titles. Either way, Mawile is a beast, both offensively and defensively. It can takes hits like a champ, and can learn Flamethrower, Brick Break, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Flash Cannon, Solar Beam, and more versatile moves to make it a wonderful jack-of-all-trades.

#2) Genesect – Once upon a time, Team Plasma decided to resurrect an ancient Bug Pokémon. They then decided that, in all his splendor, his physical form was not good enough, and so they decided to strap a giant cannon to his back. Genesect’s origin is probably the most perfect example of a terrible idea birthing something so awesomely dangerous since Team Rocket concocted Mewtwo in their own laboratories. The ability to give Genesect different drives that allow him to attack with Fire, Electric, Ice, and Water blasts respectively only adds to his diverse moveset, and his Bug/Steel dual-typing is certainly a welcome addition to the generally Psychic-heavy representation in the pantheon of legendary Pokémon.

#1) Aegislash – Perhaps some of you were curious as to how Aegislash, one of my all-time favorite Pokémon, was omitted from the top five Ghost-type Pokémon listing – after all, I only made mention of it and its pre-evolved forms in nearly every journal entry that accompanied my playthrough of Pokémon Y. The simple fact is that I was reserving it for this list, as trying to choose between Aegislash and Chandelure as my all-time favorite Ghost Pokémon would have been too close to call. From the moment I learned of Honedge’s dual Steel and Ghost typing, I knew I had to try my best to make it an integral part of my team, and boy did that decision pay off in spades. Aegislash’s moveset is incredibly versatile, his stats thoroughly impressive for both offensive and defensive, and his typing grants him unique additional defensive properties. Plus, his design – and those of his pre-evolutions – are so ridiculous, yet somehow intimidating, that it is awesomely perfect.

25 Days of Pokémon - Top 5 Ghost Pokémon

I’ve made mention in many of my previous Pokémon-related postings (especially my playthrough journals) that Ghost is my favorite Pokémon typing. It only makes sense, then, in my writing about some of my favorite elements of the franchise, that my five favorite Ghost Pokémon should be a topic of one of this month’s lists. While I do love a great number of Ghost Pokémon, I will adhere to my rule of five and five only, but will accordingly give honorable mention to the company of Golurk and Rotom.

#5) Sableye – While technically Ghost is its secondary typing and Dark its primary, I consider any Pokémon with a Ghost typing eligible for this list (and hey, it’s my list, so I can make the rules). Sableye was, surprisingly enough, one of my favorite Pokémon from my Sapphire playthrough. Its dual-typing gives it extra defense against both Dark and Ghost-type attacks, giving it no natural weaknesses save for the generation VI addition of Fairy-type attacks. Sableye can takes hits like a champ and dish out some decent attacks in return, despite what its tiny frame might let on.

#4) Drifblim – I didn’t think much of Drifblim prior to my catching one during my post-game adventures in the generation V titles, but what ultimately piqued my curiosity in this balloon Pokémon were the sinister implications described in the Pokedex entries for both it and its pre-evolved form, Drifloon. Drifloon’s Pokedex entry states that children who grab hold of them sometimes go missing, with other interpretations going so far as to say Drifloon takes children away to a land of the dead. Drifblim’s Ghost/Flying dual-typing and its ability to learn Thunderbolt led it to be a solid competitor in Unova’s Pokémon World Tournament matchups.

#3) Mismagius – Generation II introduced but one new Ghost Pokémon in the form of Misdreavus. While it was nice to see Game Freak add to the company of Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar, Misdreavus was not the most practical team member in those days, and did not receive a proper evolution until generation IV came around. Mismagius’s design is simple, yet effective, with its magician’s hat-shaped head and flowing robe-like body distinguishing it from other phantom Pokémon. Mismagius has a wide variety of typing pools it can draw its moves from, including the new Fairy moves in generation VI, making it a wonderfully useful Pokémon for taking down many a foe.

#2) Gourgeist – An unsung hero of the Ghost Pokémon, Gourgeist was my oddball pick in my playthrough of Y. I came across its pre-evolved form of Pumpkaboo late in the story, but when I learned of this Ghost/Grass Pokémon’s ability to learn Flame Charge, that secured its spot in my party. My Gourgeist was a Large size, and thus was able to both deal and take greater amounts of damage than his smaller kin, but was not nearly as slow as the Super Size variant. Taking to Super Training, I boosted Gourgeist’s speed, attack, and special attack, which – coupled with the speed increase earned from successive uses of Flame Charge – meant it could easily sweep many opposing Pokémon in a blitzkrieg offense.

#1) Chandelure – One of the first generation V designs I came across when I was getting back into the Pokémon franchise, Chandelure stood out to me as a wonderfully bizarre design – so much so, that I made it my mission to incorporate this Pokémon into my team as soon as I came across its pre-evolved form of Litwick. Chandelure is a perfect representation of what the Ghost Pokémon aesthetic is all about, as far as I’m concerned – the Victorian-style chandelier body combined with the purple flames and empty yellow eyes offers a creepy, yet somehow refined creature that fits right in with the limited company of its Ghost Pokémon kin. This lone Fire/Ghost dual typing offers many strong offensive options, and the abilities of Flame Body and Flash Fire can provide a unique edge over the competition in battle.

Pokémon: Omega Ruby journal - entry four

The showdown with Primal Groudon was certainly a visually impressive moment for the game, though the fact that each of my party member’s levels was in the mid-fifties made the battle and capture process more frustrating than need be. Some of my Pokémon were all too likely to one-hit-K.O. Groudon, while the legendary Pokémon’s moveset was still powerful enough to knock out anyone in my party within two or three moves. And the fact that Groudon kept using rest only drew the process out further, resulting in about seven attempts before I actually had a decent shot at catching the beast.

Wallace’s gym battle offered a much appreciated variety in Pokémon that was absent in nearly every gym that preceded it, but my Trevenant was still able to sweep his entire team while taking hardly any damage. The sea routes that are so frequent late in the game do not bother me much, but the game’s archaic design for the overworld and excessive reliance on HMs is borderline-infuriating. I had hoped that with this reimagining of Ruby and Sapphire, Game Freak would incorporate as much from the generation VI titles as possible into streamlining the experience and making the whole package more user-friendly, but as I’ve seen time and time again during my playthrough, Omega Ruby is a classic case of ‘one step forward, two steps back’.

The brief glimpse of Zinnia did not go unnoticed by my eyes, and I’m very much hoping that the bonus content in the post-game Delta Episode makes up for some of Omega Ruby’s fumbles. I clocked in a couple more hours today, and I intend to try my best to burn through the remainder of Omega Ruby’s main story within the next week. Hopefully the Elite Four at least offer something of a challenge – right now, I fear they may be as much a cakewalk as their Kalos counterparts. Going into Victory Road, I’m already having flashbacks to Platinum's nauseating reliance on HM moves to mindlessly zigzag through a labyrinth of tunnels, bridges, and waterways.

Anime review: Pokémon the Movie: White – Victini and Zekrom

Continuing their adventures through the Unova region, Ash, Iris, and Cilan find themselves headed to a small secluded town, nestled in a mountainous area of the country. They plan to participate in a small, one-on-one and single-elimination tournament, but Ash decides to take a quick detour along the way in order to help a couple of Deerling that are dangerously close to the edge of a narrow cliff. Unfortunately this noble deed similarly puts him in danger, though he is able to jump to safety thanks to the psychic powers of the legendary Pokémon Victini. While Ash is wholly unaware of Victini’s influence over his finding his route back to his friends, word of Victini residing in the area is common folklore among the local people.

In actuality, Victini is restricted to that town and the immediately surrounding area due to powerful pillars of energy that were put in place long ago by a king who led his people away from a desert land. The king put the pillars and a giant tower fortress at the top of the mountain so as to seal the Dragon Force, a powerful energy stream that saps the life of plants and Pokémon in turn, as it winds its way across the countryside. While Victini shared a special bond with the king, utilizing the legendary Pokémon’s psychic powers in moving his people to a better homeland and stopping the destructive flow of the Dragon Force took all the energy the king had, and thus he passed away before he could set Victini free from this unintentional prison.

As Ash trumps his competition, one girl finds his winning streak suspicious, and inquires if his Pokémon had some help from Victini. Wholly unaware of the fact that this was true, Ash denies even seeing Victini, but Cilan’s home-baked treats are just the ticket for luring the psychic Pokémon out from hiding. As Ash and friends talk to the girl and her mother, they reveal that they are the same people that the king once led to safety, and that a young man named Damon wants to attempt a return to their home country.

The story then cuts to the tale that served as the origin for N’s ideals and the introduction for Reshiram and Zekrom in the video games – that being the tale of the two sons of yet another king of the Unova region. One son was known as the hero of ideals, and the other known as the hero of truth. Each partnered with one of the legendary dragon Pokémon, and were well-loved by their subjects, but eventually their rivalry turned to animosity, and in their attempts to overpower one another, Reshiram and Zekrom’s power whittled away so greatly that they were forced to slumber as white and black orbs respectively. In the present day, it is revealed that Damon has discovered Reshiram’s white orb and reawakened the legendary Pokémon to aid in his plans to return to the old homeland.

Pokémon: White – Victini and Zekrom does well in handling some of its smaller details. There are deliberate ties to the video game lore, in order to make the story of the film feel less alienated. The Pokémon typings also seem to play somewhat more of an important role this time around, as Pokémon display weaknesses to Pokémon they would logically have a disadvantage against in combat. However, in terms of the stand-alone story, the film does not make many solid connections. The backstory of the king details how Victini was used as a conduit to power the floating fortress, and so Damon’s desire to recreate this scenario makes sense given the legendary Pokémon’s immense power. However, there is no real justification given for why Damon feels it is necessary to make a return pilgrimage to the desert from which they arrived. Life in the mountain town seems quite pleasant, and Damon never explains why he feels a return is necessary – not even such a shallow explanation as ‘it’s where we started, and it’s where we belong’.

The floating fortress evokes distinct memories of the airship designed to capture the legendary birds and lure out Lugia in the second theatrical Pokémon movie. Except, in this film, Damon already has Reshiram at his side. There is no real reason for any of Damon’s grand scheme, nor is there much explored about his character. He appears to be something of a history buff, and is apparently quite well-liked by the locals, but it is unclear if he is following some delusional interpretation of the texts he is so engrossed in, or if he is simply attempting this journey home just for the heck of it.

The Pokémon battles are spaced out quite a bit, as there is some extra time needed to explain the multiple (though loosely connected) historical tales. While Ash and Pikachu playing with Victini is cute and fun for a brief while, each bout of downtime this film settles into is obnoxiously longer than need be. The last twenty-five minutes or so of the film certainly display more exciting sessions of Pokémon battles and the eventual appearance of Zekrom clashing with Reshiram, but it’s a matter of the film playing its best hand after a consistently mundane presentation. Young viewers may ignore the significant plot holes, but anyone who appreciated the extra storytelling depth presented in the generation V video game counterparts will find no such complexity here.

My rating: 5 (out of 10)

Pokémon: Omega Ruby journal - entry three

Adding Emolga to my team has paid off wonderfully, as its Electric and Flying dual-typing and moveset have given me a consistent counter to the company of other Flying-type Pokémon, as well as the Grass/Fighting combo presented by Breloom. My reliance on Phantump is a bit more sporadic, but I still appreciate the Grass, Ghost, and Dark-type moves he’s learned, especially considering how offensively powerful they are. Coupled with his immunity to Normal and Fighting-type moves, I still consider Phantump to be a valuable asset to my team, if not something of a wild card in the grand scheme of this playthrough.

Metagross has become more frequently useful as of late, as has Toxicroak, something that I thoroughly appreciate, as I was never particularly keen on swapping either of those two out. Infernape has also proven a solid pick, while Crawdaunt keeps on trucking along, being the team member I have arguably gotten the consistent and reliable results from. Omega Ruby is, however, considerably lesser in its degree of challenge than most other Pokémon titles, as it utilizes the same experience share system from X and Y, rendering many of the trainer encounters and gym leader battles during the game’s second half laughably easy.

Another oddity that provides players with a distinct advantage over in-game opponents is the fact that Steven Stone takes you on a brief sidequest which ends with Latias or Latios in your company, depending on which version you are playing (in the case of Omega Ruby, Latios was added to my party for a short while). For anyone who might pick up Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire after the shiny Beldum event has ended, these legendaries might be a tad more appealing. Given how much lower a level than the rest of my part members were, as well as the fact that I’d have been double-dipping into the pool of Psychic-type Pokémon, I did not feel that I needed to make use of Latios. It would only have made the game that much more of a cakewalk, though I don’t deny that from the standpoint of trying to collect all the Mega Stones for completion’s sake, it’s an appreciated gift.

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire sprinkle in little bits of extra dialogue and cutscenes every so often to try and better flesh out the stories of Team Magma and Team Aqua. While the team admins are wacky, even mildly amusing, the ultimate ends for these two villainous element-obsessed factions still stand among the least compelling plotlines in the Pokémon franchise. This, tied with the fact that the Hoenn region offers very little in the way of distinctly memorable locales or events compared to nigh on every other entry in the series, leaves me somewhat disappointed over the fact that these games could have been so much better with all their new menu inclusions and user-friendly design points, were it not for the simple fact that they are remakes of the generation III titles.

25 Days of Pokémon - Top 5 Pokémon Games

For this year’s twenty-five days of Christmas special, I’ll be focusing on the Pokémon series, albeit in a different manner than in years past. Instead of making one giant list of my favorite Pokémon or what have you, I’ve opted to make five separate ‘top five’ lists, each highlighting a different aspect of the series. Each will be posted roughly a week apart from one another, between now and December 24th. Today marks the second list, which details my five very favorite titles in the Pokémon series.

#5) Platinum – Generation IV is heralded as many as one of the weaker offerings of the main series of Pokémon games, due to its lack of new Pokémon, few of which are generally considered worthwhile team members, while others are obtainable only through a convoluted process. Still, I certainly found Team Galactic’s intent to tamper with time and space to serve their own needs entertaining, trumped only by Cyrus’ detached and selfish vision for the world. Platinum offers a completed package, with a bit of extra content not included in the original release of Diamond and Pearl, and between its Distortion World puzzle segment and expansive gyms, is still a fun Pokémon title, even if its reliance on event-distributed items and battery-sapping online components means it does not live up to the quality of some of its brethren.

#4) X and Y – The sixth generation games offered up plenty of new and different features that made the connection between player and Pokémon more immersive. These titles also fell victim to considerably easier playthroughs, thanks to the new experience share system that distributed exp. to all team members, even when wild Pokémon were caught. Even if large portions of routes were bypassed here and there, it was not uncommon to find the endgame Elite Four and Champion battles to be a cakewalk. Mega Evolutions proved a tad underwhelming, save for their use in the competitive scene, though the new Pokémon native to the Kalos region offered wonderful typings and movesets, by and large. X and Y did a great deal to advance the Pokémon formula players had become so familiar with, while being perhaps lighter on post-game content than what series veterans were accustomed to.

#3) Black 2 and White 2 – Two years after Ghetsis’ defeat, Team Plasma is back at it in the Unova region, and the influx of Pokémon from other regions during wild encounters makes for a vastly different play experience, despite running on the same setup as its Black and White predecessors. While it would have been easy for Black 2 and White 2 to simply ride on the coattails of the previous monochromatic titles, the team behind these two sequels decided to up the ante, offering brand new areas to explore, even greater ease of access to newcomers and veterans alike with regards to acquiring TMs and training Pokémon for specialized roles, and did away with the need for HMs in the main storyline almost entirely. There’s a lot to do and see in B2 and W2, from NPC trades, to post-game quests, to the test-your-might tournament that allowed trainers to challenge gym leaders and champions from all five major regions of the Pokémon world.

#2) Heart Gold and Soul Silver – The games that properly reintroduced me to Pokémon, these remakes of the generation II titles carry all the sense of fun and adventure in the Johto region over to a significantly easier-to-navigate menu and faster-paced battles. What Red and Blue laid out in ground work, Gold and Silver nigh on perfected for their heyday, and HG and SS do a masterful job of paying tribute to the Gameboy classics, making routes more distinctly identifiable, updating the soundtrack and splashing plenty of color on the screen, and implementing the generation IV online and wireless trade and battle components in a manner even more so seamless than Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum did beforehand. Few regions will ever stand up to the intelligent layout of Johto, or the solid offering of Pokémon encountered therein, and there’s no more enjoyable way to embark on this journey again than through these DS remakes.

#1) Black and White – One of the few Pokémon games to actually present a decently compelling set of ideals for its villainous team to rally behind, the ‘free-Pokémon-from-their-masters’ cries of Team Plasma put you, the player, in a role that will be continuously questioned over the course of this bold new set of Pokémon titles. Generation V effectively barred players from using any non-Unova Pokémon until the postgame content, forcing creative team building strategies not unlike the days of Red and Blue on the Gameboy, but with overall better-balanced Pokémon to choose from, and highly creative and practical typing and moveset combinations to boot. What I found in Black and White was the most engrossing plot of the series, coupled with the most intelligent, creative, and strategic gameplay of any of the generations, bar none. Black 2 and White 2 did exceptionally well at building off of Black and White’s duality of getting back to the basics while simultaneously breaking into bold new territory, but at the end of the day, Black and White did it first, and did it best.

25 Days of Pokémon - Top 5 Starter Pokémon

For this year’s twenty-five days of Christmas special, I’ll be focusing on the Pokémon series, albeit in a different manner than in years past. Instead of making one giant list of my favorite Pokémon or what have you, I’ve opted to make five separate ‘top five’ lists, each highlighting a different aspect of the series. I will be posting these roughly a week apart from one another, between now and the end of December. So today marks the first list, which details my top five starter Pokémon!

Picking your starter in each Pokémon game is the first major decision toward the long journey ahead. The five listed below are my personal favorites for a variety of reasons, partially because I like their typings and movesets, partially because they simply look cool. But the biggest factor that played into their inclusion on this list was how well they worked for me as team members during my various playthroughs of Pokémon games – and not just for the main storyline, but the post-game content as well.

#4) Typhlosion – The fully-evolved form of Cyndaquil, Typhlosion was the first starter I ever picked in a Pokémon game, back in the days of Gold on the Gameboy Color. It was the first Pokémon I identified as one of my favorites, because despite being into the anime and trading cards during the generation I craze, I didn’t play any of the core video game entries until generation II. When I dove back into Pokémon a few years ago with Soul Silver, Cyndaquil was my obvious choice, and though I’ve since gone back and replayed that DS remake with Totodile and Chikorita, Typhlosion will always hold a special place for me.

#5, #3, and #2) Blaziken, Sceptile, and Swampert (respectively) – While my journal entries on the generation III games and their remakes have indicated my being overall less favorable toward them than practically every other release in the series, I will admit that if there is one thing I felt Ruby and Sapphire excelled at, it was the Pokémon they added to the mix. These three starters are considered by many to be some of the best out there, and for good reason – they changed up battle tactics considerably with Swampert’s dual-typing of Water/Ground, and Blaziken being the first in a line of Fire/Fighting combos. And while Sceptile remained a pure Grass type, its stats and moveset proved that it could certainly hold its own in the company of the other two. The generation III starter Pokémon are among the rare few starters that have seen consistent use between the main single player game and the competitive multiplayer scene.

#1) Greninja – The ninja frog that debuted in generation VI, Greninja is, surprisingly enough, my all-time favorite starter Pokémon. His Water/Dark dual-typing is oddball enough that it offers up moveset options that are both varied and practical, while his stats make him ideal for landing hits fast and hard. He’s become something of a fan-favorite since the release of X and Y, as well as the recent Super Smash Bros. Really though, when compared to his fellow Kalos starters, the only other one that stands up as somewhat practical beyond the main game is Chestnaught. Plus, Greninja's aesthetic is absolutely radical, tongue scarf, water shurikens and all.

Pokémon: Omega Ruby journal - entry two

This 3DS remake is proving, in some ways, a notable improvement over its GBA precursor, and in others, a game that is made frustrating by outdated design elements. First, the good – the Pokénav is a major step forward in scouring tall grass along routes, looking for a certain Pokémon or even specific movesets. It makes wild encounters less of a gamble, and random wild encounters are far less frequent than any Pokémon game beforehand, which is all fine and dandy, considering that the experience share from X and Y makes its triumphant return and seriously boosts the rate at which all party members level up. Also, it appears that one of the sidequests/subplots surrounding a machine piece needed to aid electric gym leader Wattson has been removed entirely – a welcome removal, in my opinion, as it was clunky and was one of the first major moments of the pacing being thrown off in the original Ruby and Sapphire.

Now for the not-so-great – the 3DS retelling of these Pokémon adventures in the Hoenn region suffers from the same lack of direction that I encountered around the halfway point of my playthrough of the GBA Sapphire. This is especially disappointing as Omega Ruby had been going out of its way a bit to give players more clear indication of what their next step was supposed to be. Now that has apparently dropped off, right as I’m reaching the areas of Hoenn where paths begin to split and the environments become winding, lengthy, and generally confusing. IGN received some flack for their dislike of the large water regions in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but I personally have no problem with the Hoenn seaways – at the very least, those are navigable, and rarely are any of the ocean segments of any Pokémon game too large to frequently lose your way. But man, maybe Team Aqua was on to something when they said they wanted to drown the continent, because Hoenn’s continental layout is not the best.

On the topic of my current team, I have put Squirtle away in the PC, favoring Corpish for the time being. Chimchar has since evolved into Monferno, Beldum into Metang, and I’ve added an Emolga to my team to better round it out. This new lineup has worked out pretty well so far, and I’ve only had to box any of them temporarily to progress north with the use of HMs (another aspect of Omega Ruby that feels archaic and saps from the fun factor a bit).

Pokémon: Omega Ruby journal - entry one

My playthrough of Pokémon: Omega Ruby has been off to a slow start for a number of reasons, none of which really stem from the actual game itself. Part of my not jumping on this game immediately after I bought it was the result of my giving priority to the Wii U iteration of the new Super Smash Bros., part of it was due to my being rather busy with real-world going-ons last weekend, and part of it stemmed from the simple fact that the original GBA versions of Ruby and Sapphire were actually my personal least favorite entries in Game Freak’s long-running golden goose for Nintendo’s handhelds.

Before anyone starts berating me for the above statement, let me be clear that the fact that I am not so keen on the GBA Pokémon titles does not stem from their storylines, rather it's from the physical layout of the Hoenn region and associated technological restrictions of the era of their original release. I was a huge fan of the fact that Ruby and Sapphire offered up a nice variety of Pokémon players would actually want to use in early wild encounters, and there were some interesting dual-type combinations and naturally-learned movesets among them. Despite all this, my favorites in the series still prove the generation V entries Black and White, as well as the DS remakes Heart Gold and Soul Silver. I even found myself more fond of Platinum, restrictive hiccups, less interesting new Pokémon, and all that, than I did of Ruby and Sapphire.

With these reimaginings running on the same engine as X and Y, I have a great degree of faith that I will enjoy these 3DS counterparts significantly more, as last year’s introduction to the sixth generation of Pokémon came with an abundance of features that made the entire experience not only more accessible, but more enjoyable on the whole. As with my playthrough of Platinum, I’ve ported over a number of low-level Pokémon (courtesy of the Pokémon Bank) to help shape my party. The six Pokémon currently in my possession are by no means the core six I will ultimately use for my Elite Four encounter, though I’d like to think that at least half of them will stay by my side from start to finish.

As I’ve used each of the Hoenn starters in previous Pokémon playthroughs, I will not be utilizing any of them, despite how great each one is. I do, however, currently have two starters in my party that I have never actually used in a proper playthrough of a Pokémon game. Yes, believe it or not, I’ve actually never used Squirtle in a core Pokémon game, save for grinding in post-game content to raise one to a level fifty Blastoise as part of my desire to fill up the National Pokédex. My experience with Chimchar is similar, though at the moment, the fire monkey stands a better chance of remaining in my company longer, as it seems redundant to have two water types in the form of Squirtle and Corpish. Considering I like Corpish’s moveset at present and the typing of his evolved form more than the generation I water starter, that role may have already filled itself, though I won’t write Squirtle out just yet, as I’d like to see how Corpish fairs in the upcoming gyms and routes.

I’ve mentioned in the past how I am a huge fan of both ghost and steel type Pokémon, and while I’ve used nearly every ghost Pokémon in some capacity, Phantump and its evolved form Trevenant have done little more than sit in my PC Box since I first caught them last Fall. I’m rather curious to see how the grass/ghost combination works in the Hoenn region, though, as Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist proved a force to be reckoned with late in my Kalos region adventures. Beldum was one Pokémon I knew I wanted to use from the moment they announced Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire’s existence, and the fact that a shiny Beldum was made available for download from the moment the game hit store shelves was simply a bonus for me. Croagunk was an odball pick, as I'm not usually too hot on poison type Pokémon, but considering its usefulness against grass and fairy types as well as its secondary fighting type being useful against normal, dark, and steel, it offers up quite a lot of potential.

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire reveal trailer

What Pokemon fans have been asking for these past few years has finally come to fruition - remakes of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, titled Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire respectively, will be launching worldwide this November. I'll be honest, I'm a bit surprised Nintendo and Game Freak went ahead and actually remade these titles. Obviously a great number of people wanted this to happen, but the main reason the first two generations of Pokemon games received the remake treatment was because Pokemon from Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal could not be transferred over to the GBA titles, so the developers opted to simply remake these games in the forms of Leaf Green, Fire Red, Heart Gold, and Soul Silver to work around this hindrance.

Still, it is kind of cool that players who may have missed out on the generation III titles will finally get to experience them on the 3DS - to my understanding, Ruby and Sapphire were surprisingly among the weakest-selling Pokemon games, and are thus some of the hardest to come by today. Plenty of bootleg copies can be found online, but a legit copy of either game or the successor Emerald will run you more than a few bucks due to their semi-rare status. One of the biggest surprises with this announcement for me personally was the fact that these games will be releasing by the end of this year, a little more than twelve months after X and Y debuted on the 3DS. If both X and Y and these Hoenn remakes were being developed simultaneously, it might help explain why X and Y were so short and considerably easier to burn through than previous installments. As a result, I do expect Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire to be rather direct remakes of their GBA counterparts - obviously they will account for the now 700+ Pokemon available, but I don't expect a plethora of new areas or content outside of what already existed in the original versions.

That said, I do have a small wishlist of content that I would like to see worked into these remakes. First off, Heart Gold and Soul Silver introduced a handful of new areas not present in the original GBC versions, like the Pokeathalon and the Sinjoh Ruins. As Emerald is frequently considered to be the most 'full and complete' generation III experience, I'd like to see some of the extra areas/content from that added to the pre-existing Ruby and Sapphire content. I'd also like to see Nintendo add a few more Mega Evolutions, whether they are just for Hoenn-local Pokemon or for Pokemon from other regions. While X and Y introduced some interesting Mega Evolutions, they were very limited to a handful of Pokemon and their respective typings, and though I personally rarely use Mega Evolutions myself, I recognize that even fewer of these Mega Evolutions see frequent use. With Mega Blaziken being the only other starter Pokemon outside of the generation I trio to receive a Mega Evolution, I can't help but wonder what Nintendo and Game Freak would do with a Mega Swampert and Mega Sceptile.

Am I planning to purchase either of these titles? Honestly, I can't say for sure at the moment. All this trailer provided us with was a release date and tentative box art, and I'd like to see some actual gameplay before I make a call on that. Considering that I haven't been as blown away by my playthrough of Sapphire as I was with my playthroughs of Soul Silver or the generation V titles, it's most likely that I would purchase Omega Ruby, if I were to get one game or the other. Still, I do find it a bit odd that this reveal came prior to E3. Perhaps Nintendo has plenty of other big reveals in store for the big show. I mean, I know plenty of people (myself included) are still holding out on a Majora's Mask 3D confirmation.

Diancie officially confirmed for Pokémon X and Y

A few months back, three hidden (and presumably legendary) Pokémon were discovered by individuals who broke down the coding of Pokémon X and Y. While none of these three Pokémon were obtainable through traditional means within the games themselves, Diancie, Hoopa, and Volcanion were discovered to all be recognized by the games, and were even accepted as trade requests via the GTS. Diancie has now been officially confirmed as a new Pokémon on the Kalos Pokédex, and though no details have yet been revealed as to how or when it will be available, Nintendo and Game Freak have released a trailer in order to assure fans that specific details will be released soon.

Pokémon Sapphire journal - entry four

It is highly unusual for me to get past this far into a Pokémon game without having a full team that I intend to try my best to carry on through the Elite Four and League Champion battles. Even though I swapped out Chimecho for Azelf during the late hours of my Platinum playthrough, I still knew that I wanted a psychic-type Pokémon to complement the other members of my party. While I intend to keep Sableye, Torkoal, Breloom, and Loudred, I’m having second thoughts about keeping Pelipper at my side – he’s decent enough, but his jack-of-all-trades role has been similarly filled by Loudred, the latter of whom does not have a four times weakness to electric-type moves. Finally, my current sixth party member, Castform, is something of a one-trick pony – not entirely useless, but a slow horse out the gates at the start of any battle, unless the weather is already in his favor. It’s a shame, really, because I like the way Castform looks, and his distinct forms are a clever idea, but the time it takes to utilize any of these takes far too long.

I’m also coming to realize that these routes being so single-minded in their focus on trainer battles and wild encounters may not be as great as I initially believed. Nearly every area I’ve come across thus far had to be explored for some angle of the main game, leaving little in the way of optional sidequests or bonus content. When I played through Platinum, one of the things I found a bit annoying was how there was a plethora of half-baked ideas from the sidequests and minigame content, but in Sapphire, those elements have been practically nonexistent thus far.

It was around the time that Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald left their mark on the world of handheld gaming that the Pokémon community began drawing their dividing lines between the games and claim one generation or another as the ‘very best’ (pardon the play on words). This process of fans aligning with one generation or another as their personal favorite became even more prominent after the DS titles came onto the scene. Long before playing Sapphire, I had heard exceptionally good things across the board, from personal friends of mine as well as the anonymous Pokéfan masses of the internet. Honestly though, I think that Sapphire is currently a little below Platinum with regards to my own personal enjoyment with the game. While I appreciate the Pokémon native to Hoenn, the game itself feels too cut-and-dry an experience. Yes, gen IV was far from perfect, with its insistence on pushing old and boring Pokémon during wild encounters and its over-reliance on event-distribution legendaries, but at least the overworld was colorful and the gym leaders a decently interesting spin on the familiar. The majority of Sapphire’s main game has been rather predictable, and the fact that Team Aqua and Magma are so thoroughly uninteresting only hinders the game's aspirations. I realize that it’s difficult to live up to the wonderfully-plotted ideals of Team Plasma, or the classic villainy of Team Rocket, but the expansion of the sea/land depending on which version of the generation III experience you are playing is simply yawn-worthy. Does Pokémon Sapphire look good for its day? Certainly. Does it play well enough? Sure. But does it feel anywhere near as inspired a title as any of the other five generations of Pokémon? Not even close.