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United States15536 Posts
Regular readers of the N3rd Dimension may have noticed that I am a Pokemaniac. The Pokemon universe and the games therein are a pretty big deal to me. I mean, why else would I spend hours writing for my Pokemon tabletop RPG or attempting Nuzlocke challenges on older Pokemon games (accompanied, of course, by a dramatic narrative)? So you can imagine that I was pretty excited a year ago when Nintendo announced the sixth generation of the Pokemon franchise, Pokemon X/Y. I was so stoked that I wrote a rather excited blog post about it and how it was going to “make 2013 the best year ever.”* Over the past year we went from knowing nothing about the upcoming games to learning tons of exciting information about the Kalos region, the three (six?) starters, the first new type since Gen 2, and a controversial innovation in evolution.
* In my defense, if I knew how 2013 was going to play out I may have amended this statement.
Well, now it’s out. I’ll be the first to admit that damn am I glad I was right. This game is awesome.
The Pokemon franchise’s transition to 3D and Nintendo’s latest handheld is incredible. You still spend a good deal of the game hovering over your avatar, controlling their movement from town to town on Trainer-filled routes or through perilous long grass. However, when you arrive in caves, forests, or large cities, the perspective switches and for the first time in a Pokemon game you can see the heights of buildings or trees or the tall grass in which you battle wild Pokemon. You might round a corner and find yourself in an unexpected Trainer battle, one you couldn’t predict (for once) due to the actual angles and depth on the map. For the Pokemon world, that’s insane. Even better than the World Map is the genuinely jaw-dropping battle UI. It may not be Crysis-level gorgeousness (or even Gamecube era graphical fidelity), but that doesn’t matter. In Pokemon X/Y, the bland battlefield of the earlier games is replaced by an actual arena where two “realistic” Pokemon face off in a duel to the… KO (or death, if Nuzlocke-ing). While attack animations improve in each generation, only X/Y’s animations are fluid motions that look like an actual strike. Pokemon has literally never looked better and even if these innovations are WAY overdue, it’s still worth seeing Pokemon’s new look. As far as the 3DS itself goes, I love switching between running with the analog and roller blading with the joystick, but that might just be me.
As with any Pokemon game, the world is only as good as the Pokemon themselves. Don’t worry, the Pokemon are fucking great. Pokemon X/Y, like every generation of Pokemon, added a wealth of new species to the franchise, including total badasses like Aegislash, Tyrantrum, and Clawitzer. Yet, at first glance, the new Pokemon is the first area in which Gen 6 is lacking. Pokemon Black/White and their sequels added 150 new Pokemon, but Gen 6 only brings 69 new monsters to the roster. While this momentarily diminished my excitement for the game, I was quickly relieved when I encountered 6 or 7 Pokemon on the first Route and over 20 in areas adjacent to the first town. For those of you unfamiliar with Pokemon, that’s stonking incredible. Usually you’re lucky if you find more than a Pidgey or a Bidoof or a Metapod in those areas. In X/Y you find all those and Pikachus, Panpours, Riolus, and Psyducks. You get to enjoy a plethora of Pokemon from every generation at the very beginning of the game. This more than makes up for a “lack of new Pokemon” to me. Plus, with the new Mega Evolutions, there are essentially two dozen+ more Pokemon in excess of the official 69… it’s just the the evolutions are temporary. Even though I haven’t encountered the Mega Evolutions yet, I’m sure they’ll be just as interesting, compelling, and novel as any standard evolution.
The best of part of Pokemon X/Y thus far is the continued evolution of the franchise’s strategic depth and competitive gameplay. Of course, most of the internet will tell you how easy X/Y is, especially due to the new EXP Share, which gives every Pokemon in your party 50% of the battling Pokemon’s experience in addition to what the battling one receives. As such, Pokemon level up far more quickly, making the single player game extremely easy. The internet will continue by saying that this casual shit is the cancer that’s killing Pokemon. They’re wrong. Pokemon’s single player was never where the challenge truly lay anyways. It comes from the multiplayer, and X/Y continues that tradition with aplomb. Most of the changes in X/Y are geared towards getting more people involved in competitive Pokemon battles. The EXP Share is a prime example of this; faster leveling means many different strategies can be easily explored. Another awesome development for the competitive scene is the new “Super Training,” a series of minigames that increases your Pokemon’s EVs. In prior generations, EV Training was both confusing to understand and monotonous and exasperating to complete. In X/Y, EV Training becomes simple and fun because of Super Training’s stylus-driven minigames. Between this new gameplay feature and the ability to reset a Pokemon’s EVs with special items, you can not only enjoyably max out your Pokemon’s stats, you can even vary the strategies whenever you choose! Plus, the Super Training minigames are really fun. I’m still not tired of them, and I’ve spent a stupid amount of time earning the gold medals on each one.
I take it back: the best part is that these features are just the tip of the Bergmite in Pokemon X/Y. I’ve only beaten a single Gym so far, but already I can feel how much X/Y has changed the Pokemon universe. The game is incredible, even though I’ve only seen a fraction of what Kalos has to offer (hell, I haven’t even encountered the ubiquitous evil “Team” just yet). There’s so much more to witness, including the upcoming Pokemon Bank, the vast multiplayer options, and the oft-discussed Mega Evolutions (I really can’t wait to see them in-game). Once again, Game Freak has achieved the incredible: they’ve taken their massively repetitive series and made it compelling and fun again. The only difference is that this time they’ve done so better than ever before.
You can read this fan wank and many, many more (plus a few other things) at the N3rd Dimension.
 
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They nerfed weather effects so hard and completely turned the meta on its head.
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5/5 Because Pokemon.
I plan on getting XY this weekend, glad to hear I have something good to look forward to. 
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United States15536 Posts
On October 17 2013 12:08 silencefc wrote:
They nerfed weather effects so hard and completely turned the meta on its head.
As long as the meta isn't unbalanced, isn't it good that it changes?
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United States219 Posts
I absolutely love the EXP share in X/Y. While leveling is a big important part of the game, it really isn't my favorite- it's just repeated grinding, especially in early levels. EXP sharing with the whole party makes that so much less painful.
The pikachu Nintendo 3DS XL was the first gaming console I've ever purchased/owned in my life, and so far that's been the best investment I've ever made. I was actually at the NYC Nintendo World Store for midnight launch, it was madness! I knew pokemon is still popular, but I didn't think it was still THAT big. It's actually amazing and wonderful to see lines wrapped around for blocks and blocks and blocks
Now I just need to find someone with Y.
Go catch'em all!
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United States47024 Posts
I think they could have done a better job scaling the XP gains on EXP Share.
I agree that a tool that makes grinding less tedious is a good idea, but the current values on it are over the top. You become over-leveled just playing the game normally.
Obviously the idea level is such that with Exp Share on, your level ends up about where it should be for each challenge to be winnable so you don't *have* to grind, but this is not the case. The consensus seems to be that without any extra grinding or extra effort, it's not unexpected for the Exp Share to put you 10+ levels over the enemies you're facing.
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In fact, if you only do mandatory battles you are horribly underleveled at the second and third gyms (once you get Lucario nothing is much of a problem). If you don't believe me, try saving at the beginning of each route and make sure that you don't accidentally do a fight you don't have to, then try to beat the second gym.
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United States47024 Posts
On October 17 2013 13:58 Hamster1800 wrote:
In fact, if you only do mandatory battles you are horribly underleveled at the second and third gyms (once you get Lucario nothing is much of a problem). If you don't believe me, try saving at the beginning of each route and make sure that you don't accidentally do a fight you don't have to, then try to beat the second gym.
I don't see why that's relevant. Nobody plays the game skipping all non-mandatory battles.
I think the normal play pattern for most people is to fight all the trainers they can find, and to fight most of the wild encounters they run into, but not to go back and run through an area for extra random encounters (which is what probably would be considered grinding).
A reasonably scaled XP distribution would make the game challenging but beatable with this normal play pattern. Currently, if you turn on Exp Share, this normal play pattern puts you ridiculously overleveled.
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United States15536 Posts
On October 17 2013 13:50 TheYango wrote:
I think they could have done a better job scaling the XP gains on EXP Share.
I agree that a tool that makes grinding less tedious is a good idea, but the current values on it are over the top. You become over-leveled just playing the game normally.
Obviously the idea level is such that with Exp Share on, your level ends up about where it should be for each challenge to be winnable so you don't *have* to grind, but this is not the case. The consensus seems to be that without any extra grinding or extra effort, it's not unexpected for the Exp Share to put you 10+ levels over the enemies you're facing.
Yeah, i've heard the same about it, and I think I might be more bothered by it if I get further into the game and feel like I'm god-tier, but right now I'm only seeing the practical side.
I might even go so far as to say "EXP Share only worth post-E4" considering what the purpose seems to be, but a values change seems even more reasonable for true fans of the mechanic.
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On October 17 2013 14:01 TheYango wrote:Show nested quote +On October 17 2013 13:58 Hamster1800 wrote:
In fact, if you only do mandatory battles you are horribly underleveled at the second and third gyms (once you get Lucario nothing is much of a problem). If you don't believe me, try saving at the beginning of each route and make sure that you don't accidentally do a fight you don't have to, then try to beat the second gym. I don't see why that's relevant. Nobody plays the game skipping all non-mandatory battles. I think the normal play pattern for most people is to fight all the trainers they can find, and to fight most of the wild encounters they run into, but not to go back and run through an area for extra random encounters (which is what probably would be considered grinding). A reasonably scaled XP distribution would make the game challenging but beatable with this normal play pattern. Currently, if you turn on Exp Share, this normal play pattern puts you ridiculously overleveled.
I would say that "fighting all the trainers they can find" is "extra effort," but people have different ideas of how to play the game. I can say that in my first playthrough I was a couple levels below the second gym (I think it was 23 vs 25 on my starter, and worse on the others) and died there the first time.
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United States47024 Posts
Yeah that doesn't match my experience at all.
My starter was approaching level 30 when I turned off Exp Share halfway to the second gym. If I kept it on the whole way I very likely would have entered the 2nd gym with a 10 level advantage, which at that point in the game basically means OHKOing the Gym Leader's Pokemon through type disadvantage.
The thing is, I entered the first Gym without this kind of level advantage, so it's not really something about how I play. Playing as I normally did got me the expected 2-3 level disadvantage between my starter and the Gym Leader's Pokemon in the first gym. It's just that turning on Exp Share caused my XP gains to virtually explode.
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On October 17 2013 13:50 TheYango wrote:
I think they could have done a better job scaling the XP gains on EXP Share.
I agree that a tool that makes grinding less tedious is a good idea, but the current values on it are over the top. You become over-leveled just playing the game normally.
Obviously the idea level is such that with Exp Share on, your level ends up about where it should be for each challenge to be winnable so you don't *have* to grind, but this is not the case. The consensus seems to be that without any extra grinding or extra effort, it's not unexpected for the Exp Share to put you 10+ levels over the enemies you're facing.
I agree that it is too good. but when you have over 500 pokemon to train...it makes perfect sense.
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On October 17 2013 14:22 TheYango wrote:
Yeah that doesn't match my experience at all.
My starter was approaching level 30 when I turned off Exp Share halfway to the second gym. If I kept it on the whole way I very likely would have entered the 2nd gym with a 10 level advantage, which at that point in the game basically means OHKOing the Gym Leader's Pokemon through type disadvantage.
The thing is, I entered the first Gym without this kind of level advantage, so it's not really something about how I play. Playing as I normally did got me the expected 2-3 level disadvantage between my starter and the Gym Leader's Pokemon in the first gym. It's just that turning on Exp Share caused my XP gains to virtually explode.
do what I did have have multiple teams training at the same time. i got 3 different teams all training up so gym battles are still fair AND i get cool pokemon.
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United States7639 Posts
On October 17 2013 15:33 Golgotha wrote:Show nested quote +On October 17 2013 13:50 TheYango wrote:
I think they could have done a better job scaling the XP gains on EXP Share.
I agree that a tool that makes grinding less tedious is a good idea, but the current values on it are over the top. You become over-leveled just playing the game normally.
Obviously the idea level is such that with Exp Share on, your level ends up about where it should be for each challenge to be winnable so you don't *have* to grind, but this is not the case. The consensus seems to be that without any extra grinding or extra effort, it's not unexpected for the Exp Share to put you 10+ levels over the enemies you're facing. I agree that it is too good. but when you have over 500 pokemon to train...it makes perfect sense.
yeah i basically have 1 pokemon training at a time, and 5 other randoms sapping exp for evolutions so i can simultaneously go through the game and fill up my pokedex. the end result? my actual team is not overleveled at all, since the main pokemon still just gets 1x exp, and i've evolved countless pokemon in the process. right now im doing the team flare stuff and my main pokemon is level 48 vs their level 46.
anyway, i'm loving this game so much. + Show Spoiler [story stuff] +the storyline is really surprisingly intense and dark though o_o just got past the story about the man and his pokemon that died and he made the ultimate weapon. kinda interesting this is one of our only references to pokemon actually dying since lavender town in gen 1. the man locked in the cage freaked me out a little.
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On October 17 2013 12:08 Chewbacca. wrote:5/5 Because Pokemon. I plan on getting XY this weekend, glad to hear I have something good to look forward to.
Just got it 2 days ago and you will NOT be disappointed. This is such a big step for Pokemon games...wow
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On October 17 2013 17:08 Pandemona wrote:Gogo Nintendo trying to make Pokemon an E-SPORT? :3 Wish that could be the case, would be an excellent way for Nintendo to push into other markets. Also they need to hurry up and get into the 21st century and give one of the major platforms this game ;_; Hell at this moment in time id even take Pokemon on the Wii or Wii U thing than just keeping it Nintendo DS locked. I long to see the day of being able to log into Pokemon MMO on my PC or even just log into a Pokemon game on the PC and join the match making system and play a few dozen battles every day  Ahh well, one day maybe! I too will be getting X/Y towards Christmas time when some more deals are out. I want the new 3DSXL and Pokemon in a bundle together and that was going for £200 odd back a couple of weeks ago so i think i'll wait until it drops down a bit. Also i need the Pokemon bank so i can make the pokemon group i want. I have Pokemon Black so i need to get around to farming a Pikachu so i can have one from the start  (Nostalgia!!!) Oh how rude of me Thanks for the blog! This has confirmed to me that i definitely need this game
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com
not an MMO, but definitely a match making system-esque game.
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51490 Posts
Nice! Thats kind of what i mean but im more wishing a fully licensed game would be made ;_;
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United States15536 Posts
Don't we all... don't we all.
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5/5 nice read
good to find a super fan of the series. i stop following pokemon in gen2 iirc but every now and then o saw the new ones and couldnt stand them, they were more and more like digimon and i stop playing and watching. Did you find something OMG! cant believe this in the pokeverse?
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EPT
