[Nintendo 3DS] Pokémon X & Y ROM Download

Pokémon X & Y ROM Screenshots

Pokémon X & Y ROM Description

It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since Pokémon first hit North American shores, but it’s time to usher in the sixth generation of the series with the arrival of X&Y for the 3DS. The first entries for Nintendo’s current handheld marked some real changes for the series and refinements to nearly every aspect of the established formula. There are some new additions in an attempt to break the mold and while it’s nice to see some initiative to shake things up, X&Y are not without some growing pains.

Story and Presentation

Strangely enough Pokémon’s story might be a real draw this time and even with the somewhat fractured narrative there are some surprisingly serious elements and a surprisingly effective emotional payoff at the end. It’s a definite improvement and while Pokémon games have been slow to evolve when it comes to the visuals, X&Y mark a significant upgrade to the presentation. Everything from characters and Pokémon to the environments are rendered with full 3D models. Environments and towns look nice enough but the visuals really shine in the battles with the new animations and effects.

Customization

Speaking of characters, there’s a surprisingly large amount of customization possible that goes far beyond previous Pokémon games. At first you’ll simply select your gender and basic appearance but the game introduces several ways to further alter your look. Whether it’s going to a stylist to change your hairstyle, length, and color or going into one of the various boutiques to purchase a wide variety of new clothing and accessories, there are plenty of ways to customize your appearance.

New Features

It’s also become easier to train your Pokémon in order to increase individual stats. Previously you’d have to scurry around the internet to learn about the mysterious ways of EV and IV training. Now a new feature called Super Training allows you to build up a Pokémon’s individual stats like speed or attack by succeeding at mini-games. It’s a straightforward and relatively fun method of addressing specific strengths and weaknesses of your Pokémon.

One other similar new feature is Pokémon-Amie, a sort of Nintendogs esque mode where you can interact and play with your Pokémon. By engaging with your pets you can increase their mood and strengthen your bond. There are also several minigames with escalating difficulty levels to play with your Pokémon too. It can be enjoyable to bond with your mon and these activities also give your Pokémon certain benefits to increase your chances of success in battle.

Exploration

Additionally, you can now ride Pokémon to cross previous impassable terrain. You would think being able to mount a Pokémon and burrow through snow or crash through boulders would have been one of the highlights of the experience but it’s another victim of the archaic grid-based structure and unintuitive tank-like controls don’t help either.

Getting around in exploring the Kalos region is part of the core experience of X&Y and while the trek through the single-player mode is largely enjoyable and not too terribly grindy it has a painfully slow start. After hitting up our first gym it took several hours just to reach the second gym and it felt like the pacing was bogged down by meaningless chatter and dull objectives.

Upon reaching the third gym the game drastically picks up the pace and doesn’t let up. While some of the gems are still pushovers that you can steamroll through with one high level Pokémon, many of them require a more sound strategy to get through. Not to mention a few of them had decent puzzles that made them more engaging than just moving through a set of corridors. The crucial battles feel well-balanced, providing fair challenges that require well-rounded teams to overcome.

New Battle Mechanics

Of course that’s not even factoring in the all new Mega Evolutions which become available a few hours into the game. Certain Pokémon can be equipped with a unique Mega Stone and during battle you can activate their Mega Evolution to unleash their full potential. It’s an exciting event that gives you a huge advantage but it’s only a temporary boost. You can only trigger one Mega Evolution per battle so don’t even think about having a team of all Mega-Evolved Pokémon ready to rumble.

Battling your way through the eight gems and the Elite Four is still the primary objective of the single player mode but X&Y do a good job of providing side attractions if you feel like you need a break. Whether it’s dining in battle restaurants, putting together a PR video, or planting trees there’s almost always some side quests to tackle. There are plenty of hidden items scattered about as well providing plenty of incentive to explore every now and then. There’s plenty of extra content for those willing to invest the time and effort.

Post Game

The postgame content does come up a bit thin once you defeat the Elite Four and the champion. You gain access to a new city with a battle mansion where you can battle an endless array of trainers. You also gain access to a secret cavern in the Pokémon village where you have a showdown with a certain infamous Pokémon. Other side objectives become available like tracking down more mega evolutions and a suspenseful quest in Lumiose City but there’s not quite as much to do here as there was in previous games, at least until you get into the beefed up multiplayer component.

A player search system on the bottom screen will indicate when you’re near other players using local Wi-Fi or who happens to be online when you’re connected to the internet. It’s a very transparent and intuitive system with a simple interface that allows you to initiate trades, battles, and engage in other activities with fellow trainers. You can also add people you’ve met to your 3DS friends list with a simple touch of a button for streamlining an already simple process.

Conclusion

Whether you’re battling online or plowing through the single-player mode, a huge range of things to do and places to go along with numerous revisions and additions more than compensate for the game’s few flaws and relatively low number of new Pokémon. This is one of the best installments in the series and the new mechanics introduced in X&Y could turn into something even more significant and refined in the future, paving the way for truly spectacular evolution.