I'm not gonna bullshit you, it's cuz it was the first gen of Pokemon I actually played lol. Even though I'm a pretty big Pokemon fan, my first game was actually Y, which still seems super recent in my mind, although now I realise that was 11 years ago...💀 I was more of a Yugioh kid growing up cuz for some reason Yugioh was on TV all the time, while it felt like Pokemon wasn't at all so I've probably seen about 3 episodes in total during my childhood. Back in 2013, I finally caved in and bought (begged my parents to buy) my first console ever specifically to play the upcoming Pokemon X and Y. Ahh the good old Nintendo 3DS was a fantastic console despite how everyone turned on the 3D for 10 seconds, thought "huh that's neat" and proceeded to turn it off forever. Pokemon Y was not only my first Pokemon game, but also the first game I bought on day 1 of release and paid full price for, which was unthinkable considering I was (and still am) a cheapskate who relies on Steam sales for buying most games.
Check out how beat up my copy is. It's got all kinds of random holes in it from when my mom kept putting the 3DS on it despite me telling her not to 1000 times.
All in all, I somehow ended up with 364 hours on Y and 102 hours on Omega Ruby, which is a true testament of the fact that we all had endless amounts of time as kids. Another thing worth mentioning is I was severely disappointed with Sun, where I beat the game and did a bunch of the post-game in less than 30 hours. The whole game felt like a long tutorial, which sucked cuz although I'm a huge sucker for tropical locations, I never felt truly free to explore Alola. There was always a 5 minute long cutscene around the corner where a bunch of annoying characters don't stop yappin. I completely skipped Gen 8 cuz of the whole incomplete Pokedex controversy and I refuse to buy Sword and Shield to this day, until I finally returned to Pokemon with Gen 9's Scarlet. In all honesty, it was a ton of fun and I enjoyed my time with it, but still played it considerably less than any of the Gen 6 games. Now that you know my history, let's jump into some other reasons why I love Gen 6.
Starting off with the regions themselves, Kalos really sold
the French locale with all the cafes, boutiques and chateaus scattered throughout
the land. Parfum Palace in particular is obviously based on Versailles, which
I've gained a new appreciation for ever since I visited in person. Definitely
one of the biggest highlights of my Paris trip last year and one of the coolest
places to visit in game. Despite what that IGN reviewer infamously said, I
don't think there was too much water in Hoenn lmao. I thought the region was super
enjoyable, especially flying around on my Mega Latios which is always a blast.
The thing I appreciate the most about Hoenn however, are easily the secret
bases. I'm a huge sucker for having my own home in games so this was right up
my alley. Lemme show you my crib 😎
Now I can't give Gen 6 complete credit here considering these bases were also in Gen 3, which I can't speak on since I haven't played the OG Ruby and Sapphire, but I think they were done justice when being brought to 3D.
On the other hand, character customization is an aspect I can give XY complete credit for as those games started it all (which unfortunately ORAS didn't continue but other future games did). I was wearing an orange beanie for the longest time and then switched to an all red suit, which probably looked better in my mind than it actually was. The point is, you have the options to dress as cool or as goofy as you want and more choice is always better in my book.
MEGA EVOLUTION is undoubtedly the best mechanic in any Pokemon game. There are other good ones like Terastallization and regional variants, but there also a good amount of strinkers. I think VMax was dumb af and Z Moves ended up looking dorky instead of badass. Mega Evolution easily takes the cake when it comes to gimmicks done right. As a Dragon Ball fan, I gotta say I adore its lore too. A limit breaking, additional evolution, so powerful it can only be attained temporarily! This is literally Pokemon going Super Saiyan and I LOVE IT! Super excited for its long awaited comeback in Pokemon Z-A.
My main obsession in the post-game and the reason why I have so many hours racked up on Y is competitive breeding. To say I was OBSESSED with getting the perfect nature, move set and IVs would be an understatement. Check out these boxes:
Wonder Trading is another feature I enjoyed thoroughly. I never really had any friends I could trade with so to click one button and trade a random Pokemon with someone from the other side of the world within the span of a minute was absolutely mind blowing. The sad thing is, as of the time when I'm writing this, we only have a month's time until the 3DS servers shut down in April, which means Wonder Trading will be gone forever... that's a huuuuuuuge bummer... so I decided to continue wonder trading every day for next month until the servers shut down. Next month's blog will be a "What will I be watching" on the Spring 2024 anime season, but I might dedicate April's blog to the results of my 1 month long Wonder Trading project. I'm super bummed out we won't be able to do that anymore, so I'll make sure to enjoy it as much as I can before it's over.
Next up we got the thing I'm always excited for most whenever a new game is announced... the gym leaders and elite four. That's right, I don't care about hunting the new Pokemon as much as I care about hunting the milfs. In terms of waifus, Olympia and Malva were good in XY, but the real ones know it's all about Drasna. Her MILF ENERGY is THROUGH THE ROOF and she's easily one of the most underrated waifus of all time.
Similar story in ORAS where Flannery is a very respectable waifu choice, but Glacia from the elite four easily takes the cake. Looking back at her original Gen 3 design, I'm not a huge fan, but her Gen 6 redesign is phenomenal.
Finally, we got the more miscellaneous things I enjoy like the movement system overhauls. Roller blading and riding on Pokemon will always be fun. Interacting and petting your Pokemon in Amie was super impressive considering they all had their own unique animations. Friend Safari was also a lot of fun.
I ended up getting this shiny Dedenne from there.
Can't forget about the Beauty Contests lol. I wasn't super into those, but I one time I entered with Rayquaza and won the Coolness Master Ribbon. I just find it hilarious everyone else showed up with some small critter and I bust out this massive legendary dragon. You see the judges start sweating and some poor intern walks over trembling and hands me the award. I always knew Rayquaza was cool af, but now I even got the proof.
Overall, Gen 6 holds a special place in my heart not only
because it was such a fantastic entry into the Pokemon franchise (which may be
the same reason long time Pokemon fans have a somewhat negative view on it, but
I guess I was in the right place at the right time so it worked for me), but
also because I genuinely believe XY and ORAS have a lot of great mechanics that
haven't been surpassed by any other games in the series. It just comes down to
the fact that I had way more fun playing XY and ORAS than I did any other
Pokemon game.
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Oh wow, I really didn't know you could do so much in a Pokemon game! I was one of the biggest Pokemon (first gen ofc) fans and back then, we had this very pixellish game (Yellow?) and I used to love playing it so much -- until I hit an unbreakable boulder and could never progress ahead from there. So yeah, reading about these next gen games makes me wish I'd stayed invested!
ReplyDeleteOnly generation I know anything about is Gen 1 but ive been trying to learn more about pokemon. I'm currently grinding on the games and reading pokemon adventures manga
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