POKEMON OMEGA RUBY SERIES

Last year's Pokémon X and Y absolutely floored me with how emotive and biting its characters and plot were. Of all the improvements Nintendo could have made, it's the writing that stood out the most for me, and I don't think that's accidental. Where that extra care shows up is a little unexpected, however. The foundation is the same as it was 12 years ago when the original Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were released, but from the outset it's clear that these remakes are more than just a graphical overhaul. Hoenn's perhaps a better beneficiary of the makeover than X and Y's Kalos. Many of Ruby and Sapphire's characters are more expressive and emotive than I remember, and while that's often played up for laughs, it also gave the entire cast a personality and style that they had lacked before. Its art seems brighter and more lively, its locales strangely more fresh than I would have expected given the age of Ruby and Sapphire.

The graphical bump to 3D that we saw in Pokemon X and Y is here, too, but I've been far more impressed with the world of Hoenn than I was with last year's Kalos.

POKEMON OMEGA RUBY SERIES

That's a lot more intimate than my interactions with most games, and it's a small piece of why the series still holds weight - even after all these years. As soon as the match was over, I rushed him to a centre to have him looked after. Awesome as it may have been to see my Swampert, whom I had affectionately named 'Lumpy', sweep entire teams of opponents, when he was poisoned because of an error that I made I felt it. The personal connection, especially if you take the time to give them specific names and endeavour to care after them as best as possible, becomes poignant and tangible. It reinforces the 'virtual pet' analogy, and encourages you to take some time to spend enjoying some time with your friends. These games have been updated with some of Pokémon X and Y's best features including Pokémon Amie, a mode that lets you pet, feed and play with your pocket monsters. Now, moreso than ever, that connection has some mechanical reinforcement. Your family's just moved, but instead of trying to settle into your new home, you gear up to travel the world, growing closer to and with your Pokémon along the way. In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire your tale begins, as it so often does, in a quiet town. It's not ironically good, and its strengths aren't fuelled by nostalgia. The turn-based, JRPG-inspired combat at the heart of it all is just as suited to forming the backbone of these increasingly mature adventures as it was for genre greats like Chrono Cross.

The writing gets stronger, the moments more personal and enriching. Yet the more I play the series, the more I keep coming back to it, and the more I begin to notice its subtle evolution. It's easy to conclude that every few years Game Freak releases a slightly updated version of what they already have, before dashing off to collect their money. There's always a young hero, there's always a team bent on world domination, and there's always turn-based combat. As tired as the series can often seem, these games still shine.Īs the remakes pile up, it's easy to become cynical about Pokémon.

Pokemon omega ruby