Pokemon X&Y, or how Nintendo ran out of names

[Opa Opa]

It has been revealed that players will be able to select classic first generation Pokémon Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle in the forthcoming 3DS title Pokémon X & Y. In a twist on the usual Pokémon formula, you are not given Chespin, Fennekin, or Froakie from Professor Sycamore — you choose one of these from a friend — but are instead offered one of the classic monsters as a partner Pokémon. Ultimately, that means you'll have two starters.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/0 ... on_x_and_y

[CavZee]

I first I kinda rolled my eyes at the subscription thing but then I saw it was only going to be 500yen, which is roughly $5. So that's okay I guess. I'm not really a Pokemaniac though so I'm not sure I'd get much use out of it though. Guess it depends on how much I get into the new games.

Yeah, and it's an option. It's not like they're making anybody use the online storage. This seems to only be for people that have far too many Pokemon to store in-game, people that want to easily transfer Pokemon, or people that simply want a backup.

Yeah of course. I also read there's a free 3 month trial as well.

Also, having the original starters again is pretty cool. =D

[Opa Opa]

I really don't have a problem with cloud storage for Pokemon because only the die-hard fanatics have enough of those creatures to even use the service- but for the sake of those using it, I hope Nintendo gets those account systems going!

[jinx]

So freaking excited now. I read the first article as "They will be available", but I didn't know you get to start with them! This game looks like it's going to be kickass. The Pokemon game we've all been asking for (finally).

*drools*

[alienjesus]

I'm still not sure where people got the information that you get the Kanto starters early. Sure, it said you get them from Professor Sycamore, but I didn't really see much to indicate that that was early on.

In Heartgold and SoulSilver you got THREE starters - one each from the first 3 generations. To get the Kanto starters though, you needed to beat all 16 gyms, and to get the Hoenn starters you needed to complete the Kanto& Johto Pokédex of 251 pokemon.



Either way, I probably won't be using the Knato starters for my first run through. When I play a new Pokémon game I like to try and use mostly new pokémon for a first run through.

[jinx]

In the video it says "It would be fantastic if you took another Pokemon with you", then show the ability to those three from the Pokeballs shown.

Edit:
Can't watch the video but I believe in the Nintendo Direct they stated exactly when/how you get the Kanto starters.

[alienjesus]

Fair enough.

As for the Mega Evolutions, I have mixed feelings on those. I think calling them Mega Evolutions is kinda dumb when they're temporary, and I don't like a lot of the designs - they're too complex and just seem to have superflous spikes and lines and tassels everywhere. Mega Lucario in particular. And why does Mega Absol have wings but doesnt get the flying type or levitate ability. What a completely superflous design decision.

There's a few that are OK though - I like the Mega form of Mawile (in fact, I wish it had just been a straight evolution, because Mawile sucked anyhow), I don't think Mega Charizard and Venusaur look too bad, and Mega Kangaskhan amuses me. Mega Ampharos looks so amazingly silly that it's actually hilarious. It can't just be me who plans to name him after 80's hair metal bands or performers right?

As for the Mega Evolution mechanic, I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I'll have to wait and see how it does balance wise - theres a risk of mega forms either being completely useless or completely broken. At first, with the great abilities and the big stat buffs, they seem like shoe-ins for being really powerful, or even broken, but thats not necessarily true. Mega Venusaur for example would need some crazy bulk to be more useful than a normal Venusaur with Chlorophyll, Mega Charizard still loses half its hit points from stealth rock when playing competitively, so its still very hard to use, and Mega Lucario may get crazy powerful Close Combat and Bullet Punch with adaptability, but it loses the power holding a Life Orb or Choice Band would give it, so it'd need a really hefty stat boost to counter that.

Mega Blaziken seems the weirdest, as it's ability is Speed Boost, which normal Blaziken gets anyhow. It'd need a massive attack boost to be worth using, seeing as it can't use its normal life orb instead.

[ZeroAX]

So Digimon fans can finally start making fun of Pokemon copying Digimon? I mean seriously if they are temporary, and not all pokemon have mega evolutions, aren't you forcing people to take to battle the pokemon with mega evolutions? I want to beat the elite 4 with my rattata.

[jinx]

So Digimon fans can finally start making fun of Pokemon copying Digimon? I mean seriously if they are temporary, and not all pokemon have mega evolutions, aren't you forcing people to take to battle the pokemon with mega evolutions? I want to beat the elite 4 with my rattata.

Not necessarily. We'll have to wait to hear more details on what exactly Mega Evolutions are before we can make any proper assessments. I believe it was hinted that there are also down-sides to Mega Evolutions. One example was that although your Pokemon gets a huge boost in stats while it's in it's Mega form, it can only do so by holding a Mega Stone which means it can't hold any other items. I'm sure there will be others to help balance it out.

Pokemon has been around for years, and this is one of their biggest games to date. I doubt they want to throw off the entire balance of the game due to some features. We'll just have to wait and see.

[ZeroAX]

Not necessarily. We'll have to wait to hear more details on what exactly Mega Evolutions are before we can make any proper assessments. I believe it was hinted that there are also down-sides to Mega Evolutions. One example was that although your Pokemon gets a huge boost in stats while it's in it's Mega form, it can only do so by holding a Mega Stone which means it can't hold any other items. I'm sure there will be others to help balance it out.

Pokemon has been around for years, and this is one of their biggest games to date. I doubt they want to throw off the entire balance of the game due to some features. We'll just have to wait and see.

I don't play multiplayer pokemon, so I never bother with berries . I didn't know they were considered such a game changer in multiplayer. I just have my pokemon hold items that give them permanent stat boosts