This review contains spoilers
Quite possibly one of the worst Pokemon games I've ever played. I feel like the story fell flat on its face, literally cannot remember what the plot even was. The characters had no substance, you have 4 different rivals which is just way too much for any development to go on at all. Shauna was the one you saw the most so she's the one I remember the most as well- I feel like if it was just her and maybe the other player character rival, I think it could've been fine, but adding the other two just made it far too complicated.
I don't remember any of the gym leaders personalities, I played this game after SW/SH and S/M, so those were my experiences with Pokemon characters, so I had expected that, at least, the Gym Leaders would have a personality. Didn't! They got maybe two lines of dialogue and you never saw them again. I don't even remember any of their names aside from Wulfric, who did actually have a personality. The story was so scattered that I didn't even remember the importance of the Floette until the end. The bad guy (forgot his name) was unimportant and I don't think I saw him for the latter half of the game.
It was very easy to get lost. The city was so complicated and I would spend 10 minutes just rollerskating around trying to find the place I needed to go. They don't tell you anything. Near the final route, I got extremely lost and ended up finding a cave system that I had assumed was the path to the end-- it wasn't. It was an optional grinding spot and I spent over 30 minutes inside of it. If that wasn't bad enough, when I finally got out (had to use an escape rope) I had to find a guide just to move on, because the entrance to the next route was completely hidden. For a kid's game, I found myself turning to online guides and videos way too often just to get through certain sections.
The new Pokemon designs were fine, I guess, despite it having the least amount of new Pokemon introduced. The introduction of the fairy typing was pretty nice, of course, I love Slyveon. The Flabébé line and the Froakie line are my favorites, I can't particularly remember any Pokemon aside from those that really stood out to me. The gameplay is mostly fine, I didn't have that many problems with it. Mega Evos was a fun little thing! In a better game, I think I would've appreciated it more.
The playtime system was interesting, but generally on a 3DS, it has its problems. The "mimicking" face game could have been cool, but it just doesn't account for that many face types and situations. I read that lighting would make it better, but most of the time, it wouldn't recognize a smile because of my face type.
Personally, haven't played B/W yet, but I assumed going from that (which is famously a good game) to this must've been disappointing to Pokemon fans. They focused a lot on the 3d aspects of it and I think completely shoved everything else to the side.
0.5 out of 5. Play Sun and Moon instead.
I don't remember any of the gym leaders personalities, I played this game after SW/SH and S/M, so those were my experiences with Pokemon characters, so I had expected that, at least, the Gym Leaders would have a personality. Didn't! They got maybe two lines of dialogue and you never saw them again. I don't even remember any of their names aside from Wulfric, who did actually have a personality. The story was so scattered that I didn't even remember the importance of the Floette until the end. The bad guy (forgot his name) was unimportant and I don't think I saw him for the latter half of the game.
It was very easy to get lost. The city was so complicated and I would spend 10 minutes just rollerskating around trying to find the place I needed to go. They don't tell you anything. Near the final route, I got extremely lost and ended up finding a cave system that I had assumed was the path to the end-- it wasn't. It was an optional grinding spot and I spent over 30 minutes inside of it. If that wasn't bad enough, when I finally got out (had to use an escape rope) I had to find a guide just to move on, because the entrance to the next route was completely hidden. For a kid's game, I found myself turning to online guides and videos way too often just to get through certain sections.
The new Pokemon designs were fine, I guess, despite it having the least amount of new Pokemon introduced. The introduction of the fairy typing was pretty nice, of course, I love Slyveon. The Flabébé line and the Froakie line are my favorites, I can't particularly remember any Pokemon aside from those that really stood out to me. The gameplay is mostly fine, I didn't have that many problems with it. Mega Evos was a fun little thing! In a better game, I think I would've appreciated it more.
The playtime system was interesting, but generally on a 3DS, it has its problems. The "mimicking" face game could have been cool, but it just doesn't account for that many face types and situations. I read that lighting would make it better, but most of the time, it wouldn't recognize a smile because of my face type.
Personally, haven't played B/W yet, but I assumed going from that (which is famously a good game) to this must've been disappointing to Pokemon fans. They focused a lot on the 3d aspects of it and I think completely shoved everything else to the side.
0.5 out of 5. Play Sun and Moon instead.