6th Gen Pokémon X/Y Critique?

[Thoriére]

First up, I'd like to say that there's a fine line between evaluating the game's facets and hating on them. It's fine if you hated the game, but this is a thread for weighing the positives and negatives; kindly refrain from supplying opinions that don't truly evaluate the game.

Of course, X/Y wasn't all bad. Personally, I thought the game was of decent quality, and it's undoubtedly groundbreaking for future Pokémon games, but I had a lot of problems with it, namely the plot's loose ends and choppy pacing. The story was rather bland overall, with nothing early in the game to entice the player into progressing; Pokémon B/W gave us Team Plasma rather early on, and they certainly intrigued me. These new games, however, did nothing to dangle the carrot, and that was a bit of a letdown.

Something else I disliked about the plot was how unmemorable it was. I can recall virtually nothing about the story itself, and I can't chalk that up to a lack of memory. The only thing that sticks out in my mind is Lysandre's genocidal complex and the destruction he wrought on a town that I can't even recall the name of.

On top of that, there was no impending sense of threat for me as I played. The Team Flare grunts were mindless; at least in Teams Plasma, Aqua, Magma, etc., they seemed to all share a sense of unity and, dare I say, passion for their causes. There lies strength in unity and numbers both, and passion can be quite dangerous. I never got that from Team Flare, which was disappointing to say the least.

Finally, almost all of the rivals were terrible. Aside from Serena, they seemed to have no character development at all, simply there to be labeled as rivals. Empty or lackluster characters always bother me, and there were just too many in this game.

I don't want to discount the customizations available or PokéMonAmie; both of those were great. But I don't think they're enough to redeem the game of all its flaws.

What about you? What do you think?

 

[Mr.Eeveelutions]

I liked pokemon X and Y. It was a lot easier than all the other pokemon games with the way the exp share now works which I thought was a nice change. As story goes I enjoyed it. There was not too much to overwhelm the player but not too little either.
One of my favourite additions to the game was the option to choose what your character would wear. It was only after the game I also found out you could change your hair, which I thought was a nice touch as well...
With regards to Team Flare, they were simple and mindless but isn't every video game grunt ever the same? I liked how after defeating them and going to do the elite four a member of Team Flare was also one of the elite four (the fire type member). It felt like Team Flare was actually doing a good job of being evil and having influence over other people.
Adding Pokemon-Amie was nice. I enjoy playing with my pokemon and, as an Eevee breeder for many games now, it was nice to see how Sylveon's evolution works.
Overall I thought it is an incredible game, I haven't spent this much time on a game in years. The addition of wonder-trade and Pokemon-Amie are a great thing and I would like to see them in future versions of the game. So... yeah.
Well done Game Freak ^^

 

[Hiatus]

If it were me, I wouldn't say that the rivals were terrible; personally, I feel that they've all got something in-design that sets them apart and gives these guys some originality. In terms of that, I'd say that they're one of the best rivals I've seen in a while. Now, when it comes story-line and whatnot, I suppose they weren't as involved as they could have been. If they were, their presence would have been felt more, and in general, they would've had much more of an impact.

Speaking of storyline, it seems as if they didn't put much thought and effort into it this time around, sadly; to me, it seemed rather short and generic. I know that they were busy working on new features, such as mega-evolution, but the plot does play a huge role, and if you ask me, they probably shouldn't have let it slide like this.

 

[tnfsf11]

I'll rate the game aspects at no given order...


A) GREAT:
- Trainer Customization (8/10)
For once I become unique in a Pokémon game. Still needs more choices though.
- Super Training (9/10)
I don't play competitively but it helped strengthen my in-game team & earn me extra evolution stones. Would have been better if it offered trade-evolution items as well.
- Graphics (10/10)
Not too realistic, not too cartoony. The mons look better than ever.
- Player Control (9/10)
Diagonal movement & Rollers are super comfy, the different skating styles are interesting but need an area where they can be put to good use (much like the Acro/Mach bike in R/S/E). In Lumiose City, sometimes I find myself forcefully entering a building when I just wanted to check its sign, it's a bit irritating.
- Gym Leaders (9/10)
Fun mazes & puzzles, great eye-candy, diverse selection of people. Totally enjoyable, but you can't re-battle anyone.
- Starters (10/10)
Secondary types, good chemistry, amazing designs that are NOT "it just gets bigger" & a general theme (knight/wizard/ninja as I was told).
- O-Powers (9/10)
Specifically the Hatching, Bargain & Exp. Points ones. Super useful but recharge slowly, all the others are pretty useless.
- Pokémon Amie (8/10)
Perfect for getting more personal with your mons & doing stuff with them other than battling. But horrible because you can abuse your mons by hitting them, accidentally more than intentionally. Cannot be used to evolve Eevee to Sylveon/Umbreon, which is really sad because hoarding Kelpsy Berries is such a goddamn chore.


B) MEH:
- Megas (5/10)
Very useful for buffing a weak mon temporarily without changing its design too much, but mostly went for already powerful & overused mons. Should have been given to weak, underused mons so they can become more viable & par more with OP ones.
- Wonder Trading (6/10)
The mystery in not knowing what you'll receive is nice but it gets boring after a while & becomes a tool for getting rid of breeding rejects & hoarding trainer IDs. Not very useful for giveaways since your mons can reach the wrong people, & you have no control over anything & cannot block trolls.
- Looker Quest (6/10)
Good story & a nice thing to do after the E4. But ends too soon, people you battle aren't challenging even though it's post-E4, & not rewarding in the slightest. Also you can't become a full-time detective, such a missed opportunity.
- Gen6 Mons (6/10)
Even though I planned a full gen6 team before playing I ended up only using Sylveon, Greninja & Delphox, the rest were replaced by better alternatives that either didn't suck or didn't require evolution items/methods not available early in-game.
- Pokémon Bank (7/10)
Very useful & hopefully solves the annoying dilemma that is trading to future games, only I never got to use it. Being a paid facility that can only be purchased through the eShop makes it instantly unavailable to people like me who live in the Middle East, I contacted Nintendo & turns out I can't use Middle Eastern credit cards in the eShop (God knows they did this on purpose).


C) HORRIBLE:
- Gift Mons (1/10)
Are very few in the game & none of them is from gen6, the not chosen starter that Shauna gives you post-E4 doesn't count because you cannot use it in-game & sure as hell cannot use it competitively. Only one was in the right place which was Lucario to introduce the player to Mega Evolution, but it was a bit too late for me to actually use it considering I already had Mega Blaziken.
- Kanto (0/10)
Kanto Starters, legendaries & areas (e.g. Santalune Forest)... I loved the originals but I hate the feeling that I'm playing the wrong game. I should be venturing in Kalos, not Kanto 2.0. Also the fact that most megas went to Kanto mons & that Mewtwo & Charizard got 2 each is disgusting. Apparently GF thinks that literally no one likes gen5 & gen1 was the only good gen, hence why the obvious genwunner pandering & the lack of gen5 megas.
- Post-game (2/10)
Besides the Looker Quest & completing the Dex there's pretty much nothing to do after the E4, Kiloude City is basically competitive players' paradise & I find it boring for those who play the story only (like me). It can never par with the post-game from gen2, 3 or 4.
- Map & Region (2/10)
Basically a world where cities are bigger than the routes that connect them, not much diversity in wild mons/habitats & dungeons are pretty straight-forward with little collectibles.
- Wasted potential (0/10)
The unused Ryhorn race track atop the route east of Santalune City, the Creepy Lumiose Girl & the "locked" Kalos Powerplants show that either GF couldn't come up with stories/events for them or simply didn't have the time.
- Events (2/10)
So far the event mons are being handed to players on silver plates & a handful of them is Japan-exclusive.
- Battle Engine (3/10)
The battle animations have greatly improved from past games but there's a clear lag in certain horde battles & triple/rotation battles. 3D battles in general have even more lag. Physical attacks still don't make contact between mons (also Mega Blastoise doesn't use his pipes).
- 3D (0/10)
Continuing from the previous point, the games don't use the 3DS' full capabilities. 3D is only present in certain battles & even then it causes a lag. I bought my 3DS with X/Y after launch & got Zelda OoT 3D as an extra game, I can play through the latter from the very first second to the last in 3D without lagging, the difference between the 2 games is humongous.
- Rivals (1/10)
Unpicked protagonist is depressed & not trying hard enough but gets the privilege of taking off his/her hat, you don't. Shauna is a dumb blonde type of girl, Trevor sucks at completing his Dex & never helps you completing yours by giving you rare mons, Tierno looks like a retarded fanboy that wants to focus on ballet rather than Pokémon.
- Challenge (2/10)
Everyone you battle in-game either has a quota of 3 on his number of mons or is ridiculously under-leveled, even if you never used the Exp. Share or grinded, I did neither. The only person I remember who had a team of 6 was Diantha, maybe Lysandre too in his final battle.
- Story (1/10)
All I remember is narcissist redhead Mr. Lasagna, leader of Team Fab, being mad at everyone & wanting to destroy the world. Something along the lines of people abusing Pokémon so none of the 2 shall live IIRC. Meanwhile, a 3000 year old man spends his life searching for his lost, super rare, Flower-Fairy with a team of level 60 mons.

Spoiler:

Overall 6/10
Replay Value 1/10
Would recommend for new & competitive players, regular ones not so much.
Might as well just wait for OR/AS & hope they meet my expectations.

 

[Bounsweet]

I'm just going to talk about one thing in length as far as doing a formal critique on XY, and that's about the rivals.

The only real rival is Calem/Serena. I admit that I do like their stoic attitude and how they rarely let the other three push them around into their shenanigans. They want to battle, get better, battle, get better, battle, etc. They even get their own Mega Ring at the end of the game, so kudos to them.

The other three rivals, who I feel popped up more than they should have, became a pain in the butt. I felt like the three of them were just holding your hand throughout the entire game and they had no real purpose at all. Shauna felt like a clone of Bianca, she had the same personality and she was the "wandering" rival who didn't know what else to do other than follow her friends (a trope that needs to stop, seriously.) and Tierno and Trevor had such hollow characterizations that I felt a good handful of the NPCs were more engaging than them. The old man in Anistar who wanted you to lend him a Pokémon had more personality and interest than your rivals.

The rivals have been getting softer and softer as the generations progress, so I was happy to see that Calem/Serena had more of a quiet, down-to-business attitude similar to Cheren without the pompousness. They were good rivals, as they contributed to the story without holding your hand, evident when they compete with you to see who gets the Mega Ring.

Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor could have been completely left out of the game and there wouldn't have been a change in gameplay quality at all, maybe even a better experience as they don't jump at you in every other route.

 

[Ultan]

What I liked:

Customization:

I liked how I could change the cloths of my character. One thing I'd have loved to see is to be able to dress up in a team Flare suit and other NPC's cloths just for fun.

O-Powers

Level 3 Hatching 0-Power with Flame Body Talonflame speeds the process up so much. The Price Money and there has been another one I have used enough to get to Level 3, very useful feature added to the game.

Breeding Mechanics Changes

The female egg moves can be brought down is huge IMO, the IV passing down mechanic has improved this no end. Male HA can be brought down with Ditto too is a plus.

The online battling/trading

This is the new standard for online in Pokemon, it really just does what you would expect it to with no problems I have experienced, is easily accessible through PSS (another great feature of bottom screen which was woeful in Black/White+B/W2) trading and battling on a DS(3DS/2DS) has never been easier IMO.

Graphics

The graphics changes are different class vs. BW/BW2. Makes me never want to look at BW/BW2 ever again.Some of the new pokemon designs have put me off them though, dislike Jolteon (its head looks weird now) and Typholsion no longer having flames out of his neck constantly is strange to me...

Things I am 50/50 on or Things I feel can be improved significantly

Min 2/3 Max IVs on safari/legends

The friend safari is a great feature, min 2 max IVs is helpful for breeding and I like that it is only accessible post game. The min 3 max IVs on legends is something I think they should change to having 6 max IVs because we can't change the IVs or get new IVs for these Pokemon they might as well make everything max IVs IMO. (only downside to doing this is Hidden Powers and Foul Play but this is something I would like to see and know not everyone would agree with this).

The changes in Battle Mechanics

I don't have a problem with the decrease in base power of numerous special moves such as T-Bolt/Hydro Pump/Draco Meteor. The nerf in weather is positive, would have liked if Kyogre and Groudon got "new" abilities that let their weather be permanent unless a new weather was started. I also think Mega evolution was a complete change in how to battle that has made battling much more interesting. I dislike a couple of megas though (Charizard Y and Mewtwo X are the only ones I feel actually shouldn't have been made, I dislike the idea of 2 megas for a pokemon, Sceptile is the only pokemon I'd like to see get 2 megas (as I don't like the one that has been revealed, always wanted a physical Mega Sceptile, but I don't really mind)). Knock Off has been made too good, wouldn't mind it as much if it was never a move tutor personally so at least then I'd have better idea of what pokemon know the move, but it does need to change to a 40 base power move with 1.5 boost IMO. Another way to remove hazards in the form of defog is good. Also the fairy typing is a nice addition too.

The new Pokemon

Don't really hate any of the new Pokemon, just didn't REALLY like any of them.Delphox,Gogoat, Xerneas, Goodra,Talonflame were probably my favourites. The starters were all good, personally I wish 5th gen never happened and most of the Pokemon from Unova were added to this game instead and in particular wish Serperior was the grass starter for my "ideal 5th"/6th gen.

Post Game

Other than attempt complete the pokedex which would take many many hours, doing the looker missions (around 2 hours), getting the mega stones(I think I spoiled the fun of it by looking up where they are, can imagine it being fun trying to find them all/some an hour a day) and battling the Battle Maison(which is boring I might add) there is next to nothing else to do except online stuff. The Looker Missions aren't bad or anything I just feel there should be more (interesting and enjoyable) "distractions" added to the game for post game fun. For example someone mentioned the unused Ryhorn race track, when I first noticed it I spent about 20 minutes trying to find a way in there :(. That would have been a very cool addition to the games IMO.

Things That were bad IMO

Challenge/Difficulty

Pokemon games are never really going to be "hard" the worst they can be is probably frustrating by forcing you to grind your pokemon to higher levels, however X/Y had only 2 battles I can think of that used strategies that actually cause you to lose. 1 was a double battle vs. 2 Forfrou that were faster than my pokemon and kept using headbutt (which at the early stage of the game was a little too strong) and flinching me to death, the other was the Rock gym leader (picked fire starter which made it difficult more difficult to me probably) using T-Wave and wearing down (or fainting) 2-3 pokemon as it was too bulky to 1 or even 2 HKO, I'll admit my teams were never prepared to battle this gym leader but still, I found it very challenging. Other than those 2 every one is just a walkover (and this is without the Exp Share) there was just no challenge vs. anyone (which I don't mind free EXP vs random NPCs but Elite 4/leaders like Ramos shouldn't be as bad as they were). Rivals(or friends) were all a joke, make 1 or 2 of your rivals aggressive when it comes to battling and have good pokemon at or just above your level. Pokemon games should all have an option for difficulty from now on (really should since BW2 started it) that makes trainers have better moves/fully evolved pokemon (in a lot of cases later on in the games)/in some trainer's case more pokemon/maybe higher level too/have trainers like Champion/Elite 4/Rival have max IVed stats/smarter AIs.

Story/Evil Team

This evil team was just boring, only cool thing about them was their battle theme IMO. They are only slightly better than the evil team in BW2 which I thought sucked.

 

[diamondeyes]

I liked the game a lot overall but felt it could have been better. I hope that if there is a pokemon Z, it improves on some things.
good:
-the new pokemon: they were all great (except aromatisse :P) and I loved all the mega evolutions too.
-pokemon amie! though I wish there was a 'hug' option ;n;
-the story, mainly. while many characters, like the rivals, were really flat and unchallenging, team flare was pretty good and ALSO the standard 'lol why isn't the e4/champion doing anything about the evil team running everywhere' is solved by malva being in the e4 and probably preventing them. that yveltal/xerneas cutscene was so cool... but then the battle lasted all of five seconds as I threw a quick ball and caught it instantly. suspense gone. lol.

-pokemon variety c:

okay
-the graphics were mainly good but some parts stood out to me as looking off. many of the female clothes and hair just look... well, really bad on the full-body 3D model after you change into them. (not the small normal one, the full body one.)
don't get me started on the male customization options though those are hilarious. there is like no good hair.

I'm guessing that a similar tile system as the 2d games was used here but in 3d or something... because there's no other explanation for *square ponds*. parts like that which look really cartoon-y kind of disappoint me because I was hoping for more realistic graphics in some places. the entire desert area and parfum palace were amazing!

bad:
-difficulty. I don't know why no trainers until diantha get 6 pokemon. everyone in victory road has no more than three and some just have one.
I figured that the explanation may be that the developers thought that because of the exp share, if everyone had full teams then you'd get really overlevelled, with how strong the pokemon are as well... but that's kind of their problem because they made the exp share cheap. :P
the exp share as well is counterintuitive to super training. why introduce something that lets you neatly ev train your pokemon and then another thing that will mess up their evs? because the exp share gives the same evs to all your pokemon.
I'm very happy for super training though :3

-...weird moments. like, when an npc will be talking to you and all like 'oh let's go here'... only to stop talking and just stand there blankly. why can't they follow you? shauna is guilty of this a lot. it just seems really wooden.

-still no dark type gym leader >>

-the event legendaries. so far, that diancie event was no better than the manaphy event. nothing related to carbink or anything.
I think it would have been great if they could be found ingame like the regis or fairy trio.

-wasted potential with online content. they could have let us download more clothes or updated content :c that would personally keep me playing.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

The good:
-Trainer customizations. Yes, there could have been a bigger selection, but I was able to find a combination of clothes that I'm perfectly happy with.
-PSS makes trading/battling so much less of a hassle
-By far the best looking Pokemon game to date.
-Much improved egg mechanics. It's a small thing, but I appreciate how the mother can now pass down the Pokeball type it was caught in. Saves my main battling team from being in boring 'ol Pokeballs.
-Battle Chateau - my preferred place to earn loads of cash and experience.
-No world tournament. God, I am happy that cesspool of a battle facility didn't show up again.
-Super Training is most helpful.
-I like the leaders of the Battle Maison.
-Looker sidequest was interesting.

The Okay:
-Friend Safari was a good concept, but the area and selection of Pokemon was too small and too many of the available Pokemon were also found in-game. i would have much preferred more Pokemon in there that weren't in the main game.
-Exp Share: I personally like being 15+ levels higher than opponents and completely annihilating them, but understandably it's too overpowered for those who don't wish to play that way.
-Team Flare: All was well until Lysandre revealed exactly how off-the-wall insane his plot was. Cool suits but STOP CONSTANTLY BRAGGING ABOUT THEM!The scientists were cool though.
-Selection of Pokemon - I was able to get a team of mostly Pokemon I like but MEOWTH/PERSIAN ARE WHERE?
-Fairy type: None of the fairy-type Pokemon (new or retyped old ones) appealed to me, but they do serve an important purpose - my Crobat loved killing them off with Cross Poison :P
-Mega Evolutions: Mawile needed one. Absol needed one. Garchomp did not. And freaking Mewtwo certainly didn't need one. Seems like the Pokemon selected to receive a mega evo were randomly picked out of a hat.
-Horde Battles: Good for Exp if you have a Pokemon that can hit everyone, not so good if you don't or if you're trying to catch someone in the horde.
-Gym leaders and the Elite Four generally weren't that developed as characters and didn't do much outside of their battles (Korrina and Malva are exceptions, but even their roles weren't that significant.)

The Bad:
-The rivals. Not going to go into detail, but just horrible personalities, annoyingly frequent appearances (many of which don't involve a battle at all), and I'm sick of rivals who are friends that are forced upon you. Several encounters with the terrible foursome made me wish my character could throw a Molotov cocktail at them.
-More trainers with 4-6 Pokemon, please. Especially boss characters like Gym leaders and Team Flare's Scientists.
-Elite Four that get stronger during rematches, please.
-Vs. Seeker, please.
-The ending, with the terrible foursome stealing your glory and the sappy poetry during the end credits.

The Ugly:
-Not sure what gutter they pulled that tall Arizona guy from, but they need to send him back there. His part in the game was totally bizarre, felt tacked on, and I think the guy's delusional.
-PIKA! PIKA! Worst. Sound. Ever.
-The dancing dude. My GAWD the way they drew his face is just... I have no words for it.

Overall, X and Y, while they needed some more polishing and work, were much better than I expected, and ultimately proved to be Game Freak's best effort since Platinum. The "rivals" were the worst part of the game, easily. Still, I enjoyed them more than any Pokemon game in years, so that's saying something.