Pokemon Day, a day when the Pokemon company likes to show off their newest news and upcoming events related to the franchise, was one month ago. The Pokemon Day for 2024 was exciting, displaying the announcement for the newest Legends series game: Pokemon Legends Z-A. So far, the initial trailer has been the only news we fans have gotten regarding the project, but there has been an explosion of speculation in the month that has passed.
Caption: This video shows all the new content Nintendo plans on implementing. The actual trailer for Legends Z-A starts at 10:50.
As Legends Z-A is supposed to take place in the Kalos region (like X and Y), it begs the question, how do the original X and Y games measure up compared to what we know from the trailer? What worked at the time and what didn’t? What will Game Freak (The parent company for all Pokemon games in Nintendo) bring back?
The X and Y games have always had a sense of being unfinished. Chunks of the story were taken out for seemingly little reason, the characters were underdeveloped, and many new features were juggled haphazardly into the game. However revolutionary the games were for their time, the flaws remain ever-present and clear.
Caption: This photo was a screenshot of the announcement trailer the Pokemon Company released towards the end of the development stages. The particular section of the game Santalune Forest includes both the player character and Shauna (a member of the main cast) traveling through the route. It was published on YouTube by IGN.
Caption: This photo was a screenshot of the announcement trailer the Pokemon Company released towards the end of the development stages. The particular section of the game was Route 7, a space filled with flowers the player can walk through as well as the Battle Chateau (a place to have Pokemon battles with NPCs). It was published on YouTube by IGN.
In the game’s story, the player moves to the Kalos region and goes on their amazing journey to catch, and battle with their Pokemon until they become the champion. They take this journey with their designated friends/rivals who honestly don’t matter too much to the plot except toward the end of their journey where they take on the evil Team Flare and its leader Lysandre. Lysandre intends to reshape the world with the power of legendary Pokemon representing life or death depending on the game. The player becomes strong, stops Team Flare, and achieves their goal of becoming the champion. Sounds simple? That’s because it is.
The game is incredibly simple, to the point where many call it the easiest Pokemon game ever made. This simplicity is a problem with the game because it lacks depth in all of its aspects. Lysandre has no clear motivation to want to destroy the world. It would be fine if he were evil just to be evil, but Lysandre also isn’t evil. He isn’t good either. He activates a super weapon for crying out loud. However, he isn’t intimidating, maniacal, or even sympathetic. He lacks a personality which makes all of his dialogue tiresome to sit through. By the end of the game, his story and those connected to him leave the player having more questions than answers and leaves the player unsatisfied.
As well as Lysandre, the supporting characters consisting of Serena/Calem (depending on the gender of the player), Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor are forgettable. While Serena/Calem and Shauna have their moments with the player where they have some character, there is little to no arc in that character. There is no direction to any of the supporting cast; overall, there is not much for the audience to get attached to them.
Part of what makes the game so bland (though not at all lacking) was the priority game freak had for the side content rather than the main story. While these side-content experiences were mostly very fleshed out and were enjoyable enough, there was clear favoritism toward gimmicks like Pokemon Amie (a space for the player to play with their Pokemon and bring up its affection) in the X and Y games. Along with Pokemon Amie, Mega Evolution (a battle mechanic for certain Pokemon that allowed them a temporary power boost and new form) was introduced in this generation of Pokemon and was the start of a new chapter of Pokemon gimmicks that became a staple of the Pokemon brand.
“I think the addition of Mega Evolution was a pretty good choice to spice up the somewhat 17-year-old formula of Pokémon battles. Just wish the story aspect of the game would have the same quality.” Enrique Torrico, SRA Student, and Pokemon Fan.
Though the original X and Y games were messy and had many flaws, Gamefreak has done a lot to improve those flaws in the games that came after X and Y’s release. The stories have improved dramatically, the characters became more compelling and lovable to many fans in the community, and the side fatally had a place to stay in future games (though thankfully less prevalent). Hopefully, Gamefreak decides to be more mindful of the newer forms of content they have been making and decides to keep those improvements.
It is important to note that Pokemon X and Y weren’t all bad during the time of their release. The Postgame story was incredible.
Caption: This video goes in-depth to all post-game content in the full game release and shows how well it was made.
In the post-game of X and Y, the player is introduced to Looker, a member of the international police who is in Kalos to investigate the sudden crime spikes in Lumiose city. Looker and the player meet a young girl Emma and her partner pokemon Spurr (named Mimi) in a mysterious alleyway and Looker takes Emma in as his assistant/roommate. Emma grateful for Looker’s kindness decides to get a job to help pay for Looker’s bills. Meanwhile, Looker and the player investigate different crime scenes and discover that these crimes are being committed by a single mysterious person who has the power to change shape. Through a series of Pokemon battles with this mysterious stranger, it is discovered that the culprit was Emma being mind-controlled through a technological suit (that shape-shifted through holograms) made by a scientist of Team Flare. The same one who reactivated the super-destructive weapon in the main story. Looker and the player find the scientist and arrest him for committing so much crime.
What did you think of the games post-game?
“It was pretty interesting after the credits roll and when you start the game up again, you find yourself back in Vaniville Town [the town where the player starts their journey].” – Benny Camou, SRA Student and Pokemon Fan.
The beginning of the post-game starts with this waking-up sequence and the simple act of the player’s mother telling the player to meet with the professor at Lumiose Station starts off the entire post-game.
The post-game of X and Y was designed well, with conflict that felt personal to both the player and to the supporting cast. The player had time to connect to the characters and their motivations rather than the drivel concocted in the main story. The villain was memorable, showing how scary science can be when used to extremes as well as how unhinged he could be. As well as the characters the story was incredibly well written and the twist was executed so effortlessly that it felt natural.
The post-game wasn’t the only saving grace for Pokemon X and Y though. That title would also go to the shift in how Pokemon worked as a whole that was expressed in this game. The generation that X and Y were introduced in (Generation 6) was one full of new and exciting possibilities that led to both excitement and disappointment.
The addition of the Fairy type revamped the entire meta-game of how Pokemon was played. It made Poison and Steel types more powerful, something that was very needed for these types. And they knocked off (pun intended) the Dark, Dragon, and Fighting types a peg. Fairy was also a type that made previously weaker Pokemon much stronger as many old Pokemon were given the type in the generation. It was a revolutionary way to balance the game for players more focused on battling and revamped the competitive scene for years.
Caption: This video goes into depth into the poison type in Pokemon and its history, including that with the fairy type. Skip to 15:04 to better understand the relationship between Fairy and Poison types and how the addition of the fairy type made Poison types more useful.
The addition of Mega Evolution was also welcome as it made previously weak Pokemon stronger. In X and Y specifically, it wasn’t as prevalent in the main game because the player lly the only one able to use it which created a massive power imbalance for those who just wanted to play through the main story. However, it did make the competitive scene much more interesting and was an overall success in branding as many people loved it.
Caption: These are the designs for all mega evolutions added in generation 6. This list is not limited to just Pokemon X and Y but also includes all Mega Evolutions added in Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
How do you think that the game mechanics added in this generation affected the games they were added to?
“I don’t think anything changed the story. It’s cool to freely roam around instead of just going up down- left- and right. And the battles give me more of a visual idea how they [the Pokemon] are fighting.” – Benny Camou
It is also important to note that this is the first generation of Pokemon where 3-D animation was implemented. Before, the games were created using sprites on a 2-D screen. This quality of life feature added in X and Y led to many new opportunities for the way the games were framed and was a welcome change. Along with the fact that with the addition of 3-D, the movement also was revolutionized giving a feeling of being able to roam the region the player was in.
With Pokemon Z-A coming out, there will be many callbacks to X and Y, I only hope that they keep what they have been doing in mind while creating it this time. Overall, X and Y were like a cake with raw dough. There were just so many ingredients that simply weren’t baked all the way through for people to enjoy in the best possible way. Although, it was still despite juggling everything, a cake. And one that I fondly remember eating.
