I don't have much to say about this game that hasn't already been said, I don't think. It's a Pokemon game and I'm 13 years late to it... but I do have a few things to say that aren't really connected, so I'll just say 'em.
N has what is probably the most uniquely compelling character arc in the entire series thus far, with a really unexpected payoff. I've not played anything past Gen 5, but I'm kind of scared to... because I know for sure they're gonna try and fail to capture this kind of vibe again.
My playthrough can be entirely summed up with "Gigalith is fucked up". Something's strong against the Pokemon I'm trying to train? Gigalith. Encounter rate getting me down? Gigalith. Underlevelled, stuck in a Trainer battle with better Pokemon and plenty of Hyper Potions? Good one- but unfortunately for them, Gigalith. My trump card was a literal fucking mountain, so it's not a huge surprise that no one could do anything about it. It was pretty great, so this is a great gen! That's the fun of Pokemon! Finding one guy that's your favorite of all the guys, then stomping all the guys that think they can beat your guy. I'm understanding that 100% correctly; if you disagree because spamming Rock Slide is "too easy" and I would be punished for it in a "good" RPG, you just don't get what Pokemon is about, man.
I kind of love how quaint the presentation of this game is. It's not particularly impressive graphics for 2010, but plenty of areas in the game take the time to zoom out and change camera angles, as if Game Freak themselves are going like "Look! We figured out how to do 3D! Look at this bridge! Look at these buildings! Isn't it great??" And y'know what, dude, it is pretty great. I'm proud of y'all.
Gen 3 was still better tho
N has what is probably the most uniquely compelling character arc in the entire series thus far, with a really unexpected payoff. I've not played anything past Gen 5, but I'm kind of scared to... because I know for sure they're gonna try and fail to capture this kind of vibe again.
My playthrough can be entirely summed up with "Gigalith is fucked up". Something's strong against the Pokemon I'm trying to train? Gigalith. Encounter rate getting me down? Gigalith. Underlevelled, stuck in a Trainer battle with better Pokemon and plenty of Hyper Potions? Good one- but unfortunately for them, Gigalith. My trump card was a literal fucking mountain, so it's not a huge surprise that no one could do anything about it. It was pretty great, so this is a great gen! That's the fun of Pokemon! Finding one guy that's your favorite of all the guys, then stomping all the guys that think they can beat your guy. I'm understanding that 100% correctly; if you disagree because spamming Rock Slide is "too easy" and I would be punished for it in a "good" RPG, you just don't get what Pokemon is about, man.
I kind of love how quaint the presentation of this game is. It's not particularly impressive graphics for 2010, but plenty of areas in the game take the time to zoom out and change camera angles, as if Game Freak themselves are going like "Look! We figured out how to do 3D! Look at this bridge! Look at these buildings! Isn't it great??" And y'know what, dude, it is pretty great. I'm proud of y'all.