Pokemon X and Y Review

   Since I was a kid, I wanted a full-3D Pokemon game. Me and everyone I knew. We wanted to battle our hard-earned Pokemon in realistic environments, not see static images that represents our monsters. And while we kinda got that wish with Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD, it still wasn't exactly what we wanted, since neither game was a full Pokemon experience. But lo and behold, almost 10 years after the fact, and almost 20 years since the series began, we finally got the 3D Pokemon experience.
   
   In the beginning, you move to the region of Kalos, a country heavily based on France. You and your friends pick a Pokemon, and aid Professor Sycamore in not only completing the Pokedex, but also researching Mega Evolution. But along the way, Team Flare plans to rid the entire planet of those that don't belong to their group to prevent future warfare. Of course, it's up to you to stop Team Flare and their passionate but well-meaning leader, Lysandre.

   Pokemon XY are what fans of the series have wanted for years, and it's executed perfectly. Only teased at in Generations 4 and 5, we finally have full-3D environments, the ability to move in eight directions instead of on a grid, and best of all, Pokemon that look as if they're alive! On top of that, there's even customization, that while not fully flushed out, allows trainers to play as a more accurate representation of themselves in the beautiful new region of Kalos. This truly is the most personal Pokemon experience to date.

   That being said, the game does have a few minor problems. Perhaps its biggest is that it's not a terribly long game. Like Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Ruby, and Sapphire, there aren't many post-game quests, which for a game this good, is quite disappointing. On top of that, while the Mega Evolutions are really cool and fun to execute, I feel like many of these should have just been proper evolutions, especially those for Pokemon that only belong to a single evolutionary line. That being said, most Mega Evolutionary Stones can only be found after defeating the Elite Four, so this does add to the length of the game.

   From a personal standpoint, this is one of the funnest Pokemon games in a long time, probably since HeartGold and SoulSilver, which I still consider to be the best in the series. In all honesty, I never really liked battling Pokemon; I was always more of a collector. But in this game, I had fun with every single battle. Every time I saw a trainer, I wanted to battle them, so I could see their Pokemon come to life and face mine. I wanted to try every single Mega Stone I found to see how the new monsters looked. I wanted to catch all the new and familiar Pokemon I've seen, because now, it's a living game. And while it's not the longest game, it executes everything it does flawlessly. Highly, highly recommended.