Type advantages, leveling, catching new creatures, and evolution are all there to hook you in.
ALL POKEMON IN OMEGA RUBY SERIES
In a series that has paid great attention to detail since its first iterations, it’s exciting to see how far Game Freak is willing to expand on the most minute aspects.Įvery mechanic you’d expect from a Pokémon game is present in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Interesting animations aren’t just limited to battles, with the player character changing the way he or she moves based upon how far the Circle Pad is moved and crouching down to talk to young children and small Pokémon. These hiccups aren’t necessarily game-breaking, but those looking for the best experience possible should consider avoiding the 3D effect entirely. The framerate drops to a lower level when the 3D-slider is turned on, and the diagonal split-screen view of in-battle Pokémon consistently chugs. However, it’s worth noting that these new animations don’t always run perfectly. Every Pokémon and each individual move has its own action, highlighted by those for high-level fire attacks (which provide some of the best visuals found on the 3DS). New battle animations serve to both enhance immersion and modernize the static fights prevalent in Ruby and Sapphire. The classic JRPG-style battles that make the Pokémon series so engaging have returned, as has the aforementioned in-battle Mega Evolution system. It’s a difficult task to advance an almost twenty-year old franchise by using two decade-plus old titles, but Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire feel like a step forward rather than a step back. In fact, if these were your first Pokémon games, you’d be hard pressed to figure out which bits of content were new or old. Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire always feels like a unified tale, never devolving into an old game with random bits of new dialogue strewn about. Game Freak should be commended for managing to organically squeeze new information and cutscenes into an existing story without making the entire tale feel awkward. Of course, with all of the new mechanics present, namely Mega Evolution and the essentially identical Primal Reversion, it would be fair to expect a few minor narrative tweaks. Add these clueless, yet relatable villains to the main character’s adorable friendship with his or her neighbor and the evolving confidence of his sickly rival Wally, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire boast the best version of one of the more engaging collection of small stories in the entire series. Rather than focusing on stealing and exploiting Pokémon, a la Team Rocket, Aqua and Magma aim to revert the world to a state in which Pokémon can roam free. Team Aqua and Team Magma (the main, color-coded group of villains present in whichever version one chooses to play), while obviously evil, manage to feel more justified in their actions than villains past.
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are no exception to this rule, and while the story is almost identical to that of Ruby and Sapphire, it remains one of the stronger tales in series history. Anyone who’s blown his or her nose within five feet of a Pokémon game knows that each game’s narrative places emphasis on acquiring eight gym badges, defeating the Elite Four and the reigning Pokémon League Champion, and fighting off an organization of self-righteous baddies. Combining the quasi-3D visuals and new mechanics introduced in last year’s Pokémon X and Ywith a heavy dose of nostalgia creates an experience that frequently feels special. If you’re hoping to purchase a polished RPG with addictive gameplay, solid mechanics and surprisingly expansive lore, look no further.Īrguably the most intriguing remakes of this remastering-heavy year, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire manage to make the twelve-year old Ruby and Sapphire versions feel like entirely new games. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the gorgeous remakes of perhaps the two most underrated titles in the heralded series, are no exception to history. The Pokémon games are quite similar to the NFL’s New England Patriots in that they never seem to wind up being the best in class, yet we seem to be singing their praises every year. It might seem weird to praise a video game for simply working, but after slogging through Driveclub and Assassin’s Creed Unity, among others, the ability to function cannot be taken for granted. After seeing a number of titles suffer massive technical issues, playing Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire feels refreshing.