Pokémon X

For the record, I hated the Black & White generation. It had enough pitfalls that really made the game unenjoyable for me and after playing every generation of Pokemon it looked like it would end there. A strong lack of variety in the Pokemon, combined with a very uninspired generation of Pokemon and a somewhat rehashed story from Diamond and Pearl made those games a big letdown from HeartGold and SoulSilver before it. You can easily see a stark contrast in quality and enthusiasm between the two games.Then this game came out and fixed a lot of that. What made this game fun again?- A stronger mix of Pokemon.The game has a much larger mix of Pokemon across all previous generations and while you won't find everything here, it at least gives you a ton of options and doesn't pigeonhole you into using this or that Pokemon because it's the only one available. This was a common issue when I played Black and I'm glad they fixed this right up. Also this game gives you essentially two starter Pokemon with a choice of the Kanto starters a little ways into the game, which opens up even more options for you.- Quality of life improvementsFor years it was either your Running Shoes or your bike, with the bike being too fast, crashing into everything so it was almost faster just to run there instead. This game adds Roller Skates which is a nice medium ground to that; faster than running but not so fast you crash into everything all the time. Exp Share changed from a held item to a general Key Item and affects every Pokemon in your party. This was a gamebreaker for me since in the past you didn't get this thing until much later in the game and only one Pokemon benefited at a time. Makes leveling faster and less monotonous than before. Wonder Trade and GTS off the bat gives you even more Pokemon options than you already have within the game.- Non-worthless side gamesFinally they added ways to interact with your Pokemon that actually has tangible rewards in the game. Pokemon-Amie lets you feed and play with them and gain actual benefits in the game, such as avoiding random attacks, EXP boosts and more. Super Training allows you to do special training with your Pokemon via mini-games that improve their stats.- Fairy, the anti-Dragon.A new type of Pokemon, Fairy, was added and a lot of older Pokemon like Clefairy and Togepi were changed to be included into this type. Someone at Game Freak or Pokemon International finally had enough of Dragons crushing everything so they made a group that was just meant to stop them cold.With all this said the game isn't perfect. 3D battling aside the graphics are only marginally better. The story is pretty much yet another redressed rehash of the previous games. I also found the end-game a bit lacking...no roaming Legendaries or much of any Legendaries at all to catch outside the ones from the current generation. The current generation of Pokemon is only about half as big as the previous generations, which may be way they included so many Pokemon from the past. The game also desperately needs to draw from previous DS games if you want to have any hope of completing the Pokedex.Still, despite these things they are trending up again. They made the game fun again and this is a fine addition to the franchise.

I would consider Pokemon X (and even Pokemon Y to similar extents when I get it in the mail) one of the best Pokemon games to play.A departure from the series is the pixel sprites that made the world. Now games are in 3D and have not disappointed me. I enjoy drawing fan art of Pokemon and prior to the advent of this game and its companion, I'd usually have to rely on pictures from the anime and manga, which I am no longer fond of. Now that the Pokedex shows a 3D model when a Pokemon is caught, I can actually draw fanart of Pokemon at different angles beyond front and back.You can actually change your avatar to suit you as your are ask for your gender, your looks and your name. However, the skin color for the darkest skin type for looks is still a dark taupe color. It's still a start and quite a departure from playing what is a essential a white-skinned protagonist.Some items have changed, particularly the plates that are to be attached to Arceus, which include the Pixie Plate which corresponds with the new Fairy element type. The biggest change of all is the Exp. Share, which first started out as Exp. All in the very first games, giving all Pokemon in the party Experience Points, and later Exp. Share, giving a selected Pokemon in that party a share of the points. For this set of games, the Exp. Share has reverted back to the properties of Exp. All.I have very few complaints involving the Lumiose City. Before I bought the game, I was well aware of a glitch that prevents moving around if saved in the North and South Boulevards and the two Avenues from The South Boulevard leading to the Central Plaza. Pokémon's official X & Y Site recommend you save your games in a shop or better yet, in the Pokemon Centers. The Evolutionary stone shop in Lumiose City, to my knowledge, only sells Fire, Water and Leaf Stones, so evolving Eevee and Pikachu would require a debate on your self if you're trying to complete the Pokedex as I only received one Thunderstone. You will encounter Pokemon from all 6 generations, some from the previous 5.Overall, the story did not disappoint. I won't tell you the ending, but the game does leave many characters involved open for debate and fan theories of their beings and pasts.The ending, however, simply doesn't just go to the credits right after beating the Champion, it involves a Pokemon battle with an enigmatic character who is involved with the story's backstory. After that, the cut scene that ties up the loose ends enough to satisfy those who held on long enough and then the credits, which has a song involved from the second part of the credits, subtitled in English and French. The music in the credit reminded me of the song "Hana wa Saku" (Flowers Will Bloom), created by the NHK, Japan's public broadcasting station for the recovery of the Tohoku region.I have been told that Pokemon Y has a darker, more sinister story to its programming. However, I can say that Pokemon X is not that much different from the description for Pokemon Y from my experiences.As for educational aspect: Mathematics are part of figuring out how much damage you deal to your opponent. Logic involving Rock-Paper-Scissors like deduction is involved when in a battle. Life lessons are involved with the story, such as the lengths one would go through to take back what was lost and the cost of the war from a non-monetary aspect.It is a fun game to play. You might even beat my record of entering the Hall of Fame in 3 days after starting a game.