Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Lots of Pokémon goodness - my review of Pokémon Pearl




Hey! I know I haven't blogged in like two weeks or so but I've been busy doing schoolwork. But, I'm taking time now to do a review of Pokémon Pearl. It probably won't be much of one, but eh, I'm going to try.

I've been playing it since April 22nd (the day it came out), and logged roughly 30 hours on it and I have to say it's definitely a workout on the brain. Special Attacks vs. Normal Attacks, Type Attacks, etc etc is like a brain twister! But a good one, I suppose. Not all games can be a cakewalk, right?

The 8 Gym Leaders from various towns around the map are a lot tougher this time around, which isn't really a surprise because hey, gamers have to be kept on their toes. They're practically brutalizing the poor players. Overall they're a real treat because it's a lot more strategic than just taking the right types with you to a Pokémon Gym.

The visual styling is an absolute treat. Partial 3D environments really add depth to the world you're exploring. Sure, most things such as the characters themselves and the general people around the maps are in 2D, but that doesn't really detract from the overall beauty of the handheld game.

The storyline is pretty much the same as the others. You pick a character, they pick a starting pokémon (from left: you pick from Turtwig, a grass type, Chimchar, a fire type, and Piplup, a water type), then you go on a journey to gain 8 badges from the 8 Gym Leaders around the map while going against some evil organization, in this case Team Galactica who are trying to create a new world by using an exploiting powerful pokémon. Of course you have the usual little side-quests and lots of exploring while catching the little critters, and you have the mini-games like the Safari Zone and other areas. Then at the end of the game you battle what are known as the Elite Four, a group of über powerful trainers who you have to defeat in order to become the Pokémon Champion.

Nintendo/GameFreak really blew the lid off of these games. They expanded it and then just made it explode. You really get your money's worth.

Until next time, later folks.

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