Now that the dust has settled...what do you think of X/Y?

[Turner]

(Sorry, I know some of you have gotten it for Christmas)

But for those of us who've had it for a while and probably completed it, what are your thoughts now the initial sheen has worn off and it's comfortably in your collection?

For me, I'd say there's good and bad.

The good is that it's a massive improvement over B/W, which I really didn't enjoy all that much. X/Y does feel very 'Pokemon' as it used to. I think the biggest changes of the game (3D, Fairy Type etc) were handled very well and could have easily made the game too different to enjoy, thankfully they work beautifully.

There are so many small features that I really can't begin to list them all here, but they all make the game fantastic. X/Y will definitely be remembered as the games responsible for a lot of features that improved Pokemon.

On the bad side, my main criticism would be that X/Y feels like it's heavily targetted towards people who gave up after the GBC. It's great in the sense that it makes it super accessible for people who didn't play past Gen 2, easing them into new Pokemon rather than throwing 600 new 'mons at them and expecting them to like it. But I feel that at times it was almost too stripped down. As much as I love Team Rocket, I really didn't think it was possible to have an even more generic evil team. In fact, the whole storyline in contrast to B/Ws character-heavy plot was virtually non existent. It would have been nice to have seen a balance between the two. I never got the impression that Team Flare were real villains, even if their goals were no more or less nefarious than Aqua/Magma/Galactic/Plasma...I just couldn't really believe that they were real villains.

The lesser number of new Pokemon is disappointing too, though I feel this was probably done to encourage younger players to explore existing Pokemon and use them online via the PSS rather than continually being distracted by new Pokemon. It's fine and all, but as someone who already has explored the existing Pokemon is doesn't really leave a lot of new Pokemon to learn about.

All in all I would say that X/Y is a great game though, and gen VI probably sits somewhere in front of III and V but behind I, II and IV for me. I feel that things were slightly rushed or kept very basic in order to soften the blow of the big changes in order to not make players feel like they were playing a completely different game, but for someone who wanted to invest lots of time into the game I feel that the story/region is somewhat lacking.

[RocketMember002]

No more nefarious than Aqua and Magma? Flare wanted to KILL EVERYONE with the super weapon in Y and only the select few they approved of would be allowed to live. Magma and Aqua wanted to....increase/decrease land mass. Lamest goals ever.
Their real problem was you only saw them a few times and they mostly talked about their bloody suits (which you CAN'T EVEN BUY? WHY NOT NINTENDO?) if they focused more on the evil stuff they could've been far more intimidating.

The 3D is gorgeous and well overdue, megas are something I think were badly done tbh, many were given to pokemon that were already overpowered and there are far too few for something you seem to be expected to have 1 per team. It also puts a stop to many pokemon getting real evolutions that could've been far more interesting (absol, mawile, banette). Gen 4 remains the king for me, but 6 is a close second.

[Turner]

No more nefarious than Aqua and Magma? Flare wanted to KILL EVERYONE with the super weapon in Y and only the select few they approved of would be allowed to live. Magma and Aqua wanted to....increase/decrease land mass. Lamest goals ever.
Their real problem was you only saw them a few times and they mostly talked about their bloody suits (which you CAN'T EVEN BUY? WHY NOT NINTENDO?) if they focused more on the evil stuff they could've been far more intimidating.

The 3D is gorgeous and well overdue, megas are something I think were badly done tbh, many were given to pokemon that were already overpowered and there are far too few for something you seem to be expected to have 1 per team. It also puts a stop to many pokemon getting real evolutions that could've been far more interesting (absol, mawile, banette). Gen 4 remains the king for me, but 6 is a close second.

On paper Flare are a lot more dangerous than some previous groups, but the execution feels heartless. I never really got that impression that they were anything more than NPCs, I barely got the impression they believed in their goals. Everything about them felt hollow to me.

[Mew King]

On paper Flare are a lot more dangerous than some previous groups, but the execution feels heartless. I never really got that impression that they were anything more than NPCs, I barely got the impression they believed in their goals. Everything about them felt hollow to me.

Actually to me, it felt that that was the plan.  Only the people directly involved truly knew what Lysandre's plan was going to entail and everyone else just knew that the plan was to turn the world stylish (which really means killing off all the "non-stylish" people, or those that Lysandre didn't approve of).  So, to them they were focused on their style because that was what set them apart.  It's like a cult really, and to me that's what made the whole thing somewhat interesting on the second playthrough when I realized what the plan was and how they had hoped to accomplish it.  It's an incredibly subtle experience though and you really need to pay attention to what they say to really get the thought that these people were part of a murder cult without knowing it.  I wouldn't have recommended having that level of subtlety, especially in a children's game where the people that would get it would have thought that nothing interesting comes from the banter like that.  If you accept my reasonings as canon, you realize just how self-aware Lysandre actually is, and that he's probably the second greatest deceiver of the team leaders outside of Ghetsis.

I do admit though that the plot was really lacking...ESPECIALLY in terms of Black and White.  It was like we were spoiled there though, but especially the legendary felt tacked on at the end.  I feel though that that's what would have happened in real life though (especially considering the secret cult part of it).  I mean the one legendary has been captured and is used to kill off everyone.  If you had that as a plan, you wouldn't let anyone know, but I figured that the legendary could have at least had more showtime in the lore.  It literally has about as much background as Ho-oh and Lugia (or maybe even less).  What did they do before they were used as weapons?  How the hell did AZ get them in the first place?  It felt as though we WERE playing as some punk kid that never paid attention to history, and while that works out thematically because you are some punk kid, they could have at least made the history of the legends a little more profound.  Actually, going back to AZ, how about some history on him?  I mean how the hell did he and Floette live so damn long?  And what happened to his kingdom?  And everything about him?  He just was like some homeless guy that showed up, spouted a few things you probably didn't care about, leave, and then gets captured by Team Flare not to show up until the finale.  Hopefully they'll explain more in the third game.

I don't like how there's only 69+3 new Pokemon.  I would have preferred a bit more, but the deed is done.  I liked that there's a lot more variety in the small number compared to Gen V which pretty much remade the entire game with a complete replacement cast (even though a lot of them are nearly identical).

Now, what I do like is the 3D.  And I do think Fairy types added a bit more to the strategy of the game so I approve of them (though even then, Poison still won't be use as an offensive type except for those that get STAB from it).  The PSS really added a much better social element compared to what the previous games added and it made it feel less like a complete single player experience.

I was actually fine with the Megas after I got the concept out of my head that it was a bad idea.  I don't like how some single stage Pokemon that could have thematically had a decent evolution will no longer get one, but that's just the price to pay to see things like Mega Ampharos.  I don't know how they're going to explain Mega Stones in the next game, because they made it sound so rare that it will just seem odd to see them in the next game.  I don't like how some stones were exclusive to one version, but having been able to play through X to get all the stones (and Xerneas) and trade them over to Y, it was only a mild inconvenience.  Oh yes, one bad thing about them: they seem like such a lazy way to fix Pokemon that don't evolve...

All in all, let me put it this way, Gen VI would have been better if they just didn't rush writing the damn plot.  That's MY major gripe with it (especially after the somewhat lovely plot of Gen V and the lore heavy Gen IV)

[Awkward Squirtle]

Actually, going back to AZ, how about some history on him?  I mean how the hell did he and Floette live so damn long?  And what happened to his kingdom?  And everything about him?  He just was like some homeless guy that showed up, spouted a few things you probably didn't care about, leave, and then gets captured by Team Flare not to show up until the finale.  Hopefully they'll explain more in the third game.

Iirc something was mentioned about the power of his death machine from the legendary pokémon having the effect of making him live forever. Floette is more interesting, since hadn't he abandoned AZ by that point?

I really like your points about the plot, that's actually quite interesting, but during play, Flare did seem to lack some of the real threat of the other teams. While you always felt like you could beat them in previous games, it felt like it mattered, and that these guys are a threat. Until really the fight against Pyroar Lysandre, they seemed to be more in your way than you were in theirs.

Overall, I actually really enjoyed these games. I also had initial problems with both megas and fairies seeming a bit rubbish as additions, but I've sort of become used to them, and I like the new dynamic of a new type in battles, despite the repeated instances of "oh yeah, that's a fairy now." I really like the accessibility to competitive battling, with miles easier EV training and breeding. Mostly breeding since I could never be bothered learning to RNG. Wonder trade as a way to get rid of spares is also great.

Also when do we get the rest of the new pokémon as DLC, 70 isn't a full generation

[Mew King]

Iirc something was mentioned about the power of his death machine from the legendary pokémon having the effect of making him live forever. Floette is more interesting, since hadn't he abandoned AZ by that point?

Actually, now that I think of it, maybe Floette was granted eternal life after she was brought back to life?  I mean it's the same power, just not weaponized.

I really like your points about the plot, that's actually quite interesting, but during play, Flare did seem to lack some of the real threat of the other teams. While you always felt like you could beat them in previous games, it felt like it mattered, and that these guys are a threat. Until really the fight against Pyroar Lysandre, they seemed to be more in your way than you were in theirs.

And well, that's the idea of the cult part.  Only those Lysandre thought was necessary to know knew it was going to involve destroying humanity.  The real lowly grunt joined because they thought he would make the world more beautiful (not knowing he's talking about destroying humanity), and so there's no threat, because for all you know based off the ramblings of the other members, Team Flare is really just doing really strange things to do something that's actually pretty damn nice when you really think about it (don't you want a beautiful world?).  So you're really like giving them a childish slap on the wrist because they're doing something stupid.  It's actually brilliant of Lysandre NOT to tell everyone what the real plan is and just send them off to do his bidding, BECAUSE who the hell would join an organization that's going to kill off practically all your friends and family?

[Shaymin]

/yells
10/10 best game would play again

but in all seriousness when it was announced i thought haha dumb name then when all the hints and previews started coming out i actually got excited?
i haven't been excited about a pokemon game since ruby/sapphire ha
it's really managed to revitalise my love for the franchise. the move to 3d was bloody brilliant (even if the 3d feature is useless for me because of my not pointing the same way eyes [anguish]) and i loved the fact you could move in any direction it was about dang time
the trainer customisation was something everybody had been hankering for and even though we sort of got it in pbr we wanted more in the sense we could change hair colour, eye colour, etc. pity we can't change height and weight to have a small stocky trainer or a tall gangly one but i digress
whilst people were all "wth is klefki/quilladin/insert-new-pokemon" i was pretty pleased with all the designs and thought most were p cute (except quilladin he looks like he's seem some things) and the gameplay was nice and everythin
wonder trade is fabbo for building up your dex i have five boxes of wonder traded pokemon and i plan to evolve them all
friend safari i was unsure of and a bit annoyed with at first (along the lines of "AUGH WHY DO I NEED FRIENDS") but seeing as it's given me eight shinies i love it now haha
also team flare didn't exactly want to kill everyone lysandre just wanted a perfect world of beautiful stylish people because he was tired of people with awful fashion sense. i see how he could have done it in y i mean it's the bird of death but in x it would have just been even more life lol
i just love this game hhhhhhhh

[Richard and Blaziken]

I've never dumped over 500 hours into a game and still gone back to it daily without eventually feeling like it was a chore (Animal Crossing). Not even going to touch on all of the amazing stuff like 3D models and whatever (Shaymin did an excellent job of that!); the new breeding mechanics alone are the selling point for X/Y, for me. I have nearly 40 perfect competitive Pokemon, with more on the way. They've definitely given people a reason to want to battle competitively in-game and experience the 3D models that make your Pokemon feel alive. My competitive army grows daily! >8D

...I just wish the Elite Four got better teams or just 6 Pokemon each would be okay with me, because level grinding there sucks. .-.;

[Mew King]

snip

Ah yes, I was so focused on understanding the plot that I literally forgot about the things that I just love about the games.  Pretty much all the reasons you gave keep me loving the actual design of the game so much.  (As I said though I'm disappointed that there weren't that many Pokemon, but a higher percentage of them were memorable than in previous generations)

[Shaymin]

(Shaymin did an excellent job of that!);

u sure about that

Ah yes, I was so focused on understanding the plot that I literally forgot about the things that I just love about the games.  Pretty much all the reasons you gave keep me loving the actual design of the game so much.  (As I said though I'm disappointed that there weren't that many Pokemon, but a higher percentage of them were memorable than in previous generations)

tbh i wasn't all bothered by the lack of new mons - b/w was confusing to me because wow look at all these new things wth
sometimes an extra 150+ is too many and your brain dies and the more memorable pokemon don't stand out as much because you're drowning in all these extra pokemon and choking and all that

also with ivs/evs whatever i never knew how to calculate them so the judge saying "ye x/y/z is good but a/b/c is kinda meh" changed a lot for me (even tho i still don't know how they work haha!) and the almost perf mons from the friend safari are awesome

[Mew King]

u sure about thattbh i wasn't all bothered by the lack of new mons - b/w was confusing to me because wow look at all these new things wth
sometimes an extra 150+ is too many and your brain dies and the more memorable pokemon don't stand out as much because you're drowning in all these extra pokemon and choking and all that

also with ivs/evs whatever i never knew how to calculate them so the judge saying "ye x/y/z is good but a/b/c is kinda meh" changed a lot for me (even tho i still don't know how they work haha!) and the almost perf mons from the friend safari are awesome

Well, I was expecting at least a hundred.  I mean I suppose the Megas are supposed to supplement it, but they really don't feel like it.  Then again, I guess you can complain that Gen IV felt like it was mostly filled with evolutions/pre-evolutions.  Gen III had a nice mix of new guys.  But I dislike the lack of good electric types (but I love the dragon and psychic types in it).  I guess it just didn't feel like a new generation...more of a Gen 5.5 without the prominent display of new guys.

[MonsterMon64]

Pokemon-amie, Super Training, and Fairy-types were probably my favorite things introduced this generation. I also thought Mega Evolutions were super cool from the get-go, though I'm disappointed in their distribution to mostly popular Pokemon, and the fact that Charizard and Mewtwo got two Mega Evos each but none of the other two Kanto starters did. Unevolved Pokemon not getting evolutions instead didn't bother me as much; at least in the case of something like Kangaskhan, I couldn't picture it evolving regularly, anyway.

As for the downside, I'll start by saying this: after BW/2's respective plots were amazing and all the gym leaders not only had a lot of personality, but jobs/relevance outside of being gym leaders, just about half the gym leaders in X & Y felt like (I hate using this word in a negative sense) filler. I mean, previous gens did this too, so I shouldn't complain, but it was a bit of a let-down (as was the gym leader theme; not really a fan) There wasn't a single member of the Elite Four I didn't like, though (their battle theme is probably my favorite in the entire game) I agree with Richard that they should have gotten bigger/better teams each, it really surprised me they each had only four the first time around and since.

In regards to Team Flare, I was a bit skeptical at first, but when things got real I gained some respect for them, so I give them an Okay/10. Better than Team Galactic imo.

There's probably more I could say, but... I liked Y. Just not as much as White and its sequel. Taking the other games into account, this is how I, personally, rank them:
Gen 5 > Gen 3 > Gen 6 > Gen 1 ≥ Gen 2 > Gen 4

[Awkward Squirtle]

Actually, now that I think of it, maybe Floette was granted eternal life after she was brought back to life?  I mean it's the same power, just not weaponized.

Oh yeah, ofc, forgot it wasn't a weapon at first.

And well, that's the idea of the cult part.  Only those Lysandre thought was necessary to know knew it was going to involve destroying humanity.  The real lowly grunt joined because they thought he would make the world more beautiful (not knowing he's talking about destroying humanity), and so there's no threat, because for all you know based off the ramblings of the other members, Team Flare is really just doing really strange things to do something that's actually pretty damn nice when you really think about it (don't you want a beautiful world?).  So you're really like giving them a childish slap on the wrist because they're doing something stupid.  It's actually brilliant of Lysandre NOT to tell everyone what the real plan is and just send them off to do his bidding, BECAUSE who the hell would join an organization that's going to kill off practically all your friends and family?

I totally get that looking back, and as a concept it's clever from that point of view, but as an experience it just lacked something, idk

[Utack and Swampy]

The Good:

Overall, the game was excellent. A good transition into 3D, being able to customize your character, and a region with a wide variety of pokemon. I suppose there could have been more newer ones, but I felt that each new Pokemon was unique, and no one was really there for filler like in BW. Additionally, each area was unique, with places like the fossil tunnel, reflecting cave, Lumiose City, and the Pokemon Leauge really standing out. No two routes seemed exactly the same, each place had something unique to it to make it memorable.

PSS has worked out rather well, with the improvements of the GTS allowing you to type in the name of a pokemon you haven't seen to search for, and a semi-filtering device to allow me to bypass the endless 'Want Xerneas/Yveltal, offering Level 2 Caterpie' traders. Wonder trade is superb, especially for giving away cast-offs from breeding; pokemon that aren't the best they could be, but still semi-decent nonetheless. O-Powers work much better than BW's Pass powers, and the pedometer recording your steps to recharge it has me taking my 3DS with me any time I'm leaving the house.

Pokemon-amie was a wonderful edition, despite the difficulty of facial recognition, and super training was a fun new way to EV, and also a great introduction to the EV system for newer players, without making it overly complicated. You want your pokemon to be the very best? You could do your normal grinding training.. OR you could put it through some specialized SUPER training!

New CB breeding mechanics? Super easy, love it, everyone should do it!

The Bad:

The largest complain I have is Post-game... There's nothing to do. I mean, yeah, you can go to their Battle Maison, but after two games of just one battle frontier facility (BW&BW2), I find myself sighing and wishing I had something a little more unique than just 'Battle Trainer, earn BP, buy TM/CB item.' I already did that in Unova, where's the cool facilities where I wander around in the dark avoiding trainers, or test my luck by picking curtains? Perhaps they might be saving the full Battle Frontier for Z, but it still leaves me wanting.

Post game battles; You either go to the Chateau, raise your rank, and eventually you get to kill Earls with level 25 pokemon, and occasionally run into a gym leader/elite 4 member/champion, or you grind on the pokemon league, who still have the same teams as your first time beating them, meaning you really have to cycle through it to get some decent leveling at the higher levels. The 4 restaurants in Lumiose city could count for post-game battles... But if you don't try and win in the number of turns specified, your dessert reward goes down... And since I have to pay an obscene amount just to get into the higher level restaurants, I usually find that even using amulet coin and max O power, I'm only around breaking even whenever I try my luck.

Otherwise, baring the random 'One Pokemon at level 35ish' trainers you encounter in Lumiose city, I haven't found anyone else to battle... Which is a major pain because unlike previous games, there is actually something to spend your money on post-game... Clothing! Just like pokemon, I feel the need to 'collect them all', but clothing is super-expensive, and can clean out your wallet faster than a Linoone with Covet. So, while grinding wasn't really required during initial playthrough, it becomes a real drag post-game, with there simply being a lack of higher level trainers to grind against.

The other problem I had was the region was full of empty spots. There were tons of watery areas where you couldn't fish or surf, train stations that don't go anywhere, power plants you can't enter, and a huge number of 'cafes' that simply had nothing in them, especially in Lumiose city. Sure, you might find a TM in one or two, and maybe even a roller skate trick.. But a large number of the npcs were just filler; people who have flavorful text but are otherwise useless. Not to mention the 4 empty alleys.. A woman standing in front of one wonders out loud what sort of evil hides down there, but they're just large empty areas. Additionally, the cafes that dot the other towns, which you pay to get in and can then view a pokemon for your pokedex; those cafes have a limited number of pokemon you can see.. After you've seen all they have to offer, the attendant will warn you before you pay that there's nothing else they can offer you. At least he was kind enough to stop me from wasting my money...

Final Thoughts:

So, overall, excellent game, but really lacking in the post-game. Unless you're interested in getting a long win-streak at the stationary-subway, erm, I mean Battle Maison, or want to try the new-and-easy competitive breeding, X&Y doesn't offer much else to do... And if you plan to level up those 5 IV competitive mons, I hope you like 4 Pokemon-in-a-party Pokemon League battles, because that's mostly what you're going to be doing.

[Specstile]

The 3D and camera angles (luminose city omg) were poorly done however i love the look of pokemon this generation compared to 5th generation. Greninja deserves a mention here.