Oh well overall a pretty good game. Not the best in the series, but still fun. Probably gonna play the DLC in the new year.

Not sure how I feel about some part of the story trying to whitewash Team Flare though. I know you wanted to do some good things, but your boss LITERALLY TRIED TO BLOW UP THE ENTIRE FUCKING REGION FOR STUPID REASONS THAT MADE NO ARCEUSFORSAKEN SENSE!

On a final note I really appreciate how Lysandre was given some more narrative to him. He was always one of the worst written villains in the franchise, but this game really adds a lot to his character and makes him pretty interesting.

Idunno, maybe they had bigger plans but had to cut it down due to budget and pacing issues.

Oh well, at the end of the day I did like the game. While there were flaws, nothing was really a dealbreaker. Pokemon is basically my comfort zone game and the type I like to play it after a day of work.

The megas are just kind of reduced to "Hey, new Mega's, let's fight 'em" which is a bit of a shame. I feel like having an entire chapter of the story centered around some of these evolutions and what they can do would be interesting. Would be easy to fill up the 26 ranks with that kind of stuff.

I also feel like the story is a bit rushed in some parts. At first it sets up an almost episodic rhythm, which is fine. But then you jump ahead 15 ranks. I get they want to get to the Megas quickly, but can we build it up a bit first?

A lot of Lumiose just looks and feels so samey. There isn't that much of a difference between say, the red disctrict and the magenta district. It means it's easy to get lost, and not in a good way. I feel like the city should be more varied and weird.

But, to air another complaint, I wish this was visible in the city's design...

It's kind of a shame because Z-A has some great characters, but they're stuck in a pretty lame battle system. They're all from different walks of life and very likable. Combined with a lot of the minor NPC's being fairly unhinged it makes Lumiose feel like a fun and lively place.

Battle Zones make things a bit interesting with cards that provide rewards based on conditions, but trainer fights in the story don't have that. You can try to apply some strategy and positioning but in the end it just devolves into trading blows with type advantages ruling who wins and who loses.

Basically what I'm saying is that the true game awards are the commercials we watched along the way.

And I think that's it.
I haven't watched everything yet, but I don't feel like I need to.

Like I said, the game awards are more about advertising than awards. So it doesn't really matter how many awards a game has or doesn't have. What truly matters is that you were advertised to.

What else was there?
Oh right, Sonic didn't win anything.

I'm not the biggest Sonic fan or hater, but I do find Sonic not winning any awards to be pretty funny in a mean-spirited sort of way.

Oh well, there's always next year.

Anyway, one of the coolest aspects of the older classic games to me is that a lot of the designs were made by contest winners. I hope we get to see more of this in the future if they make a Mega Man 13. It's such a cool thing to do.

Also respect on Capcom for not allowing AI in the contest. Although I guess it is weirdly ironic that a franchise where the main character is a robot doesn't allow designs made with AI.

...I wonder if this is a problem for the characters in-universe.

Oh, and they're doing a new robot master contest!

That's amazing, they haven't done that for years. I'm looking forward to seeing all the designs people come up with.

youtu.be/X2Cebvertbg?...

What I'm curious about are those orange-y modifications on his body. First thing that comes to mind is the gear system from 11, but it could also be something completely new.