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Building (Critical) Consensus: Pokemon X & Y

pokemon-x-y-box-artI have no scientific proof of this but I’m pretty sure that everyone from my age and younger (from, say, 25 down to old enough to play games) has been exposed to Pokemon at some point. Whether it’s the games or the anime or even the trading card game (which Wizards of the Coasts brought to America to try to get kids into TCG and move them onto Magic: The Gathering), everyone knows Pokemon. So, naturally, it’s massive news and a massive event when Game Freak releases a new Pokemon game that is the first major update to the formula that everyone loves.

While the basic underlying formula of the Pokemon franchise hasn’t changed, that doesn’t mean that reviewers don’t love the latest entry into the franchise. The worst review right now is 70% because of the current lack of an import feature from previous games and some framerate issues. The rest of the critics still love the classic formula and adore the new 3D art-style that Game Freak adopted for their first game on the 3DS. If you already have an opinion of Pokemon games from previous generations, it’s not likely that your opinion of this game will be any different.

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Get Ready for Pokemon X & Y

As expected, this morning’s big Pokemon-related announcement by Nintendo was a new Pokemon game for the 3DS. What was surprising was that Nintendo has created a full 3D world for the new game as opposed to the classic styling of the quasi-top down perspective for moving through the world and the mostly static combat screen. That’s fitting considering that it’s the first Pokemon game in 3D (the Black and White series were released on the DS).

In addition to the new graphics style and fully-animated battles, you’re playing in a new area of post-nuclear war Japan the world that looks very much based on Europe. Whether this new region of the Pokemon world is cutoff from the other regions remains to be seen. However, we do know that there will be new Pokemon added to the 649 already in your Pokedex. (That makes me feel old. It was only 251 when I last played a Pokemon game.) Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie have been confirmed as the grass, fire and water type starter Pokemon for the games.

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y are due out in October and will be released simultaneously worldwide, a first for Pokemon games.

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