Pokémon X and Y will arrive on shelves in less than a month, so as a fan you’re probably wondering if it will be worth a buy. The Pokémon Team is truly spicing it up by adding dozens of features that the players have been asking for, as well as features we would have never imagined.
Mega Evolutions
There is a whole new evolution style, titled Mega Evolutions. These Digimon-esque evolutions are only given to a specific set of Pokémon and are not permanent. An item must be used in battle to give your teammate a boost until the battle is over.
Pokémon-Amie
Since we were little, we’ve waited for an in depth way to play directly with our Pokémon. There has been interaction in previous games but in Pokémon X and Y we are able to play directly with our little friends — whether through petting or feeding them berries.
Character Customization
The Pokémon Gods have finally answered our prayers and granted us the ability to dress and style our own trainer. Different clothing is available for purchase in shops and these change the appearance of your trainer sprite as well. Different skin and hair color combinations can be picked at the beginning of the game as well. It’s certainly not at the level of customization in Skyrim, but it’s getting there.
Sky Battles
Sky battles put a new spin on the fight by adding beautiful scenery and restricting the moves you can use. (Obviously you can’t use ground types.)
Hordes
Lucky you! Wild Pokémon can appear in groups of five now, called a horde. This puts a new level of difficulty in the game for caves and general outdoor exploring. (Imagine a horde of Zubats. The horror!)
Global Release
The game will be released around the world on the same day. Yes! This means that you won’t see story spoilers while scouring the internet, since we won’t have to wait months for the game to be translated.
New Generation
If none of that was enticing, just remember it’s a new generation! That means a new land to explore, new Pokémon to catch and new gyms to beat. Included in this flurry of new features is a new Pokémon type: fairy. Sylveon, a new Eevee evolution, (shown above) is fairy-type. The new type trumps fighting, dragon and dark types and is weak to poison and steel types. Old Pokémon have been moved to the fairy group to balance the game, including Jigglypuff, Gardevoir, Mawile and more.
If you’re still not sold, despite all of these incredible features fans have been yearning for, I don’t know what to tell you. (Other than the fact that Nintendo answered your pained cries about how unoriginal the ice-cream Pokémon was by making a cotton candy Pokémon.)
The game drops on Oct. 12 and will be available worldwide. You can pre-order on Amazon or GameStop, though it won’t be available for release day delivery. The game is available for digital download as well but if you like having the physical copy, a short walk to the College Park GameStop would work as well.
Do you hate the new starters? Think the fairy type is stupid? Or maybe you want to exchange friend codes to battle me when the game comes out? Comment below or send an email to dahrae@terpmail.umd.edu!
All images are from serebii.net (your best source if you want to dig up more information about the game).
