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This thread is much shorter than the negative one, but I'm part of the problem. Here are the positive points from my review:
- Many have praised the overworld Pokemon (wild and followers) and I can only agree. They add a lot to the sense of immersion and the suspension of belief that Pokemon are more than just digital battlers. I don't accept the criticism that the wild Pokemon are robotic; they don't stay put for very long and will go after you if you avoid them. They don't mingle with each other or act as if they aren't being watched, but that isn't a reasonable complaint.
- I am not much of a gamer, but I feel that I've only stuck with handhelds for Pokemon (and a few adventure games in 2013 that used the touchscreen a lot better than Pokemon ever did). It feels good to look at a big screen and hold a small controller, and it just so happens that LGPE are the first mainline games to offer that (or rather were designed for that, as you could even play Red/Green on the SNES). I didn't bother with portable mode at all, and while the graphics weren't impressive, they were pleasant and vibrant. Non-contact move animations were pretty nice to watch, along with the battle backgrounds, most cutscenes, gyms and partner interaction.
- The remixes, unlike FRLG and HGSS', are really good. I wouldn't say that I like them more than the originals, since some of those are magical given their limitations, but they capture their essence nicely. My favorite remix is Lavender Town; it is obviously less spooky than the original, but it is sorrowful.
- The partner Pokemon (AJ the Eevee in my case) is truly adorable in play mode and it always seems to do something new. While most of the time its contribution outside battles is an aesthetic one, you can actually play as it at one point in the Rocket Hideout. How cool is that? I only wish you could do it to befriend Pokemon, but I'll take what I can get. I also love that the HMs (or rather secret techniques) have been assigned to it as opposed to random Ride Pokemon that don't even get paid. It will not be easy to go back to regular starters after this. Finally, I find it silly that some people boxed their partner because it was allegedly overpowered, when there is an alternative solution: Don't teach it more than one special move. In my case, Freezy Frost was useful at times, but its Haze effect never kicked in.
- I like how the relative freshness (especially for a non-Go player) of the new catching system encouraged me to complete two thirds of the Pokedex while clearing the main story. Even if the animations were simple, it was nice to see wild Pokemon do something other than battle. That said, I'll admit that I did not pay attention to the tutorial when it said that I should point the controller at the screen during calibration, so when a Pokemon moved sideways, throwing a ball in the right direction would be hell. Usually I would just wait for that Pokemon to return to the center, which generally worked. This mistake was made by many players, so no doubt the tutorial could have been more explicit. Anyway, I hope this system evolves to include more ways to befriend Pokemon, be it in the 2019 games (unlikely if Masuda is to be believed) or Let's Go sequels.
- The few improvements to the story don't go unappreciated. By that I mean incorporating Cubone rather like how Origins did it, but with two twists. I also like how Archer finally interacts with Giovanni and shows more personality, and how we see a humbler Blue become a gym leader (although the timing is a bit premature - why do it right after Giovanni leaves?). In fact, a lot of the characters express themselves better now through movements and some new dialogue. The weakest link would have to be Jessie and James, as they never made me laugh and poor Meowth was mute (but he had his moments).
- This isn't new, but the Amie/Refresh in-battle effects are pretty much mandatory now (unless you turn off following because you're a bad person). At first I was apprehensive that it would reduce difficulty too much, but in practice all I cared about is how it made me (falsely) believe that my Pokemon cared about me, making my level disadvantage fairer and sometimes compensating for something annoying (status, flinch, critical hit or a miss - luck is inherent in battles). Not only that, but Pokemon would react to my (uninitiated) praise by looking back at me approvingly, which was adorable. I know that this was introduced in XY using the touchscreen, but I prefer to be surprised.
- The portable Pokemon Box and Exp. Share allowed me to use two extra members. Rotating whenever I wanted, including in between Elite Four battles, was a nice experience. I probably wouldn't have trained a Dratini (for the first time) without these features.
- Gym leader rematches and the debut of Green as an NPC. These battles don't take all that long, but they're still more satisfying than the zany post-game episodes of the 3DS games. I'd rather speculate about what Green's backstory is, and what Blaine knows about her, than witness more shenanigans for Looker's sake. I should also note that even the first set of gym battles feature some neat additions: Misty's Psyduck, Sabrina's Jynx and Slowbro (Lorelei overlap, but still), Koga's Golbat, Blaine's Magmar, Bruno's Poliwrath and Lance's Seadra (arguably not better than Dragonair, but it packs a bigger punch if you don't nail it first) and Charizard. I didn't include Agatha's Weezing because it absolutely should have been a Ninetales instead.
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