I've been waiting a long time for another game to grip me the way some of my favourites did. I thought maybe I've just played too many games now and the magic has worn off.
It turns out making a pokemon game where the objective is actually catching all the pokemon, per the slogan, is all it really took. Unlike all other pokemon entries, this game rewards you with a true ending for completing the pokedex, and also unlike the other games, you are able to do so with just a copy of this game. I loved working towards completion, none of the pokemon felt like too much on their own, other than maybe the reward for getting all of the wisps. I put in a 13 hour day to finish the game.
I definitely wasn't hooked from the start, the game starts incredibly slowly, and working through the first 5 areas does get a bit repetitive. The remainder of the main story, however, is fantastic. I particularly enjoyed the very sombre part, learning a lesson from twilight princess perhaps in that keeping the sad music playing despite what's happening around the player is actually important.
The story quests in the post-game are phenomenal, the final "rival" battle is probably the best single battle in the series. I felt like a legend having finished it.
The music, like many parts of the game, was very reminiscent of Breath of the Wild. I loved it. I look forward to sitting through the whole soundtrack sometime soon.
Onto the downsides.
I've never been one to really care about the story or characters in games, especially where that isn't the main focus. The lacklustre story here didn't detract from my enjoyment of the game at all. The graphics are noticeably lacking in many places, with the game clearly being quite rushed. Many things are lacking an animation, you end up with fade to black... noise.. fade in again. This is used notably often in the only 100 odd side quests in the game.
The sheer enjoyment I got out of this game despite these negatives has only served to make me very excited for Legends Z-A, on what will hopefully be a much more powerful console.
I'm sad to be leaving this one behind.
It turns out making a pokemon game where the objective is actually catching all the pokemon, per the slogan, is all it really took. Unlike all other pokemon entries, this game rewards you with a true ending for completing the pokedex, and also unlike the other games, you are able to do so with just a copy of this game. I loved working towards completion, none of the pokemon felt like too much on their own, other than maybe the reward for getting all of the wisps. I put in a 13 hour day to finish the game.
I definitely wasn't hooked from the start, the game starts incredibly slowly, and working through the first 5 areas does get a bit repetitive. The remainder of the main story, however, is fantastic. I particularly enjoyed the very sombre part, learning a lesson from twilight princess perhaps in that keeping the sad music playing despite what's happening around the player is actually important.
The story quests in the post-game are phenomenal, the final "rival" battle is probably the best single battle in the series. I felt like a legend having finished it.
The music, like many parts of the game, was very reminiscent of Breath of the Wild. I loved it. I look forward to sitting through the whole soundtrack sometime soon.
Onto the downsides.
I've never been one to really care about the story or characters in games, especially where that isn't the main focus. The lacklustre story here didn't detract from my enjoyment of the game at all. The graphics are noticeably lacking in many places, with the game clearly being quite rushed. Many things are lacking an animation, you end up with fade to black... noise.. fade in again. This is used notably often in the only 100 odd side quests in the game.
The sheer enjoyment I got out of this game despite these negatives has only served to make me very excited for Legends Z-A, on what will hopefully be a much more powerful console.
I'm sad to be leaving this one behind.