Click here to read the first part of this Pokémon retrospective, which focuses on Pokémon Black and White.
Though Pokémon X and Y attempted to modernize the monster-catching franchise, they were actually the first sign of its eventual downfall.
After the controversial yet revolutionary release of Pokémon Black and White, Game Freak started developing the next generation of Pokémon. The sixth generation was meant to thrust the franchise into the modern age; it would abandon the 2D sprite art that had become synonymous with the franchise’s mainline games in favour of a 3D art style. The games would do this by taking advantage of Nintendo 3DS hardware, which was a significant graphical upgrade from its predecessor, the Nintendo DS.
Visual aesthetics were a major priority throughout Game Freak’s development of these titles, with director Junichi Masuda revealing “beauty” to be a core theme throughout the development process. This would inspire the look and feel of the game’s setting, the Kalos region, which is based on France.
As such, many of the game’s settings and locales are based on locations in France, with a museum based on the Louvre and the game’s “Prism Tower,” which is strikingly similar to the Eiffel Tower.
The core theme of beauty extends into the game’s plot, with the villainous organization Team Flare seeking to destroy the world using a doomsday device in hopes of creating a more beautiful one, while vanquishing anyone who refuses to accept their ambitions for a prettier existence.
It’s an interesting concept in which the villains seek something that, when isolated as an independent vision, is quite understandable. Still, this does not justify the sacrifices they are willing to make in order to achieve their goals; namely, destroying the current world and murdering countless individuals in the process.
Team Flare may not be quite as interesting as Pokémon Black and White’s Team Plasma, who questioned the entire ethicality of the franchise’s core monster-capturing formula, but they still serve as adequate antagonists for a game centred around the core concept of beauty.
As with any other generation, Pokémon X and Y introduced a roster of new Pokémon to discover, with 72 species joining the monster lineup. At the time of release, this was by far the lowest number of new monsters added in a new generation, an obvious contrast to the preceding generation, which introduced a whopping 156 Pokémon species. However, unlike Pokémon Black and White, these games allow players to find pre-existing species throughout their entire adventure, so gamers aren’t limited to the small roster of new species. It’s also worth noting that many of the Pokémon designs introduced in X and Y are of higher quality than those from Black and White, making it feel like Game Freak focused on quality over quantity in their additions this time around.
The game also introduces Mega Evolution, which allows certain pre-existing Pokémon to take on new forms through temporary evolutions designed specifically for X and Y. This mechanic was a fun way to breathe new life into old Pokémon designs, and it would be the first generational battle gimmick within the series – something that would eventually become an issue in later generations, but at the time was something fresh and exciting.
Of course, one can’t discuss the sixth generation’s focus on visual aesthetics without acknowledging the new 3D art style, a first for the mainline series that left it looking more modern than any previous entry. The jump from Generation Five to Generation Six was the largest graphical leap the series had ever seen, and it was clear the franchise would never be the same.
Unfortunately, that’s around where the positives end. When analysing the game on a deeper level, several cracks begin to show.
A focus on beauty and graphical evolution is great, but it’s unreasonable to expect a franchise devoted to pumping out sprite-based games to create a 3D title of the same quality in a similar amount of development time. It’s quite clear when playing the game that Game Freak struggled to adapt to 3D development.
For one, much of the Kalos region feels unfinished. Several points throughout the game seemingly allude to greater plot points down the road, but they’re never followed up. For example, there are several doors in the desert leading to a huge power plant, but only one of them is accessible, leaving the other ones completely useless. It’s commonly speculated that the other doors were originally meant to lead to side content, but a rushed development schedule meant this plan could never be finished. There’s a “ghost girl” who visits the player during a short interaction in Lumiose City with a cryptic message, but this is never followed up or mentioned again. Or perhaps consider the game’s abysmal excuse for a postgame, which has jarringly little for players to do compared to previous generations.
Perhaps the most damning example is the way the player catches Zygarde, the “third legendary” Pokémon of the generation. Typically, any third member of a Legendary Trio has a large buildup of plot importance – such as Platinum’s Giratina being discovered in the Distortion World, a spooky parallel universe; or Black 2 and White 2’s Kyurem fusing with each game’s respective Legendary – but Zygarde is just found in a random cave after beating the game. It feels like Zygarde was shoved in at the last minute just to fulfil the quota of having a third Legendary, and that its existence was originally supposed to be something more impactful.
Some players believed that these plot holes would eventually be filled by a definitive “Pokémon Z” version, but regardless of Game Freak’s original plans, this never happened – leaving the sixth generation’s flagship titles feeling like a prototype of something that was initially meant to be much greater.
It’s similarly easy to surmise that the low number of new Pokémon species in the generation also had something to do with the quick development time. While many of the new Pokémon had great designs, there’s still a jarringly low number of new species, meaning there’s much less excitement in discovering all the new creatures. To be fair, Game Freak had to create 3D models for all 649 pre-existing Pokémon, but I’d argue the largest media franchise in the world should have taken the time and budget to craft a fully-fledged new lineup anyway, especially as they leapt into a generation that promised so much in terms of evolving the franchise.
The games are also remembered as the first to make Pokémon games exceedingly easy, with them seemingly prioritising ease of play for new gamers over the experiences of seasoned series veterans. Now, there’s nothing wrong with including easier difficulty options – in fact, I think this practice should be encouraged in games as an accessibility feature – but the problem is that X and Y force this easy difficulty onto all players regardless of their preferences or skill level.
It’s not hard to get through the entire game with little to no “grinding” – the act of repeatedly battling wild creatures to level up your Pokémon – and the game gives players all the tools they need to make the experience a breeze. This might be fun for those who are new to the franchise, but many people who purchased the game had already played several entries and were hoping for something a bit more difficult. It’s technically possible to make the game harder by creating self-imposed challenges and limitations, but none of these are actual options within the game, and I’d argue it shouldn’t be necessary for players to create arbitrary rules for themselves to experience even a slight challenge.
Pokémon X and Y are interesting because their developmental emphasis on beauty might be the same thing that held them back from achieving true greatness. By prioritising 3D graphics and a more ambitious scale, Game Freak left the games feeling rushed and unfinished. The games clearly show the potential of a complete Pokémon experience in line with the previous five generations, but so many corners were cut throughout development that one can’t help but wonder what these games were originally supposed to be like.
While many players were probably hopeful that this would be a one-time occurrence and Game Freak would better adjust to 3D development with subsequent entries, these games were just the beginning of the franchise’s problems. Unfortunately for Pokémon fans, the problems posed by X and Y wouldn’t end up learning experiences for Game Freak – they were simply signs of worse things to come.
This article is part of an ongoing retrospective on the downfall of the Pokémon mainline games. The next article in this series will cover the franchise’s seventh generation’s flagship titles, Pokémon Sun and Moon. To remain updated on this series, stay tuned to The Brock Press.
