Video Game Review: Pokemon Y

Because I've got over two hundred views on this blog, nothing to praise and yet nothing to put-down, I'm writing my review of Pokemon Y early. Even though it is a Sunday. There will still be a review on Tuesday. A review of either Far Cry 3, Animal Crossing: New Leaf or a review of the growing mould above my bed.

Gripping stuff.

I'd like to take the time to thank you for reading my reviews. The few of you who've purposely clicked on the links I've shared and take the time to read these things have my utmost respect.
The rest of you I'll just assume visit this blog due to spilling hot beverages on your keyboard and mashing keys whilst wiping it down with a towel, you found this by sheer accident, you're some sort of automated blog-counter bot or you found this in some sort of hunt for niche porn involving insomniacs from Great Britain. In which case, click off this right now and keep on trucking, you crazy diamond in the rough.

So Pokemon should really need no explanation. You hunt Pokemon, over 700 now and can battle and trade them with your friends.
One of the main things I like about this game is that it feels very Pokemon-y.
There's no other way to say it. It just, I don't know man, it just FEELS like Pokemon. Earlier games like Pearl and Diamond had features that turned it into altogether different beasts. I spent hours playing the underground mining game but when someone tapped me on the shoulder to ask what I was playing, it honestly took me a second to remember.

There are a few things you should know about Pokemon X and Y right out of the gate.

The sprites are 3d now. All of them. Meaning that Pokemon battles look and feel responsive, as does catching new Pokemon.
I found myself putting my 3DS down and arching my hand through the air as my character threw a ball and it felt good. 
I had my misgivings about it, feeling that it might cheapen the experience a bit, given the graphical processing power of the DS to make ANYTHING in 3 dimensions that doesn't look like a complete mess such as Sims: Pets, Over The Hedge and Final Fantasy 3. (FF3 was still pretty good though.)

You can also move the 3d sprite of the Pokemon around on the Pokedex and examine it. This seems like a small feature to add, but I am both petty and easily amused.

The 3D is confusing. There wil be times when you're using the stereoscopic slider, convinced that the 3d isn't working, but then you'll find points where it really is working.

In addition, the game is much bigger in terms of endgame and you'll find that your Pokemon are working their way towards the more serious end of Level 40 after the third gym. The elite four, the people you face at the end, will most likely have high level Pokemon, especially considering the elite four in Pokemon Pearl only started at a piddling Level 40 and went up to 55. This'll probably be good ol' fashioned 55 to 70.

I do not know yet, for I have not completed the game. Getting close though.

You can also take pictures with Phil the Photo Guy and move the camera around some designated spots to take pictures of your character, which you can fully customise from hair colour to bag, to hat button, to hat colour, to jacket, to trousers and probably some more options I haven't found yet.

Here's me riding a Lapras

You can also zoom the camera in and out and change the brightness of it. I could have made the subject focus that island in the background instead of me, if I had wished to.

Have a few more for reading this far.

It's an addictive game, with plenty of Pokemon available and the option to transfer your Pokemon from Black or White if you have the cartridges. the whole GTS (Global Trade Station) has been revamped and is no longer and in-game building, but an option from the menu. You can use Wonder Trade and trade a Pokemon for a Pokemon from a random trainer. You have no control over what you receive, so it really is a lucky dip. You may find loads of terrible Level 1 Zigzagoons or awful Bidoofs or you may get Haunters and Machokes, which will pleasingly evolve as soon as you receive them.

You can also trade and battle with friends on your friend lists or strangers over the internet. Periodically, Nintendo will give out free Pokemon through Mystery Gift and seem more readied to give out lots of Pokemon in comparison to Pokemon Black/White.

In the lower touchscreen, you can play minigames. You can use Pokemon Amie to groom and feed your Pokemon, making it like you more, then press the touchscreen to see who's currently online, then press it again to train your Pokemon using punching bags, which you will receive at random intervals and raise Pokemon stats.

I'd recommend this game to any Pokemon fans. It's a touch to the past games, and yet a nod to the future of them.