Sadly, I haven't even had that much time to play it. Me and my team have just landed on Dewford. Nevertheless, am super happy about getting to replay my favourite game again with pretty 3DS graphics. Please excuse my awful photos; my home WiFi won't allow my DS in and I haven't been bothered to change it yet. I PROMISE I WILL so I can show you everything nice and shiny.
SO, what are my first impressions?
It's hard writing on this game as I'm unsure what to compare it to - Pokemon Sapphire or Pokemon X. Naturally, there are staggering differences from Alpha to standard Sapphire. I'll focus mostly on X as it's what's freshest in my head and probably the best comparison considering the massive development differences since Sapphire - which came out in 2002, if you can believe it!!!
The game looks impressive and slick as ever. I found the change from Black to X (that's the way I did it..) quite dramatic, as, for the first time, a Pokemon game felt less like a Pokemon game and more like Animal Crossing. It's hard to pinpoint why Alpha Sapphire feels more like Pokemon again; maybe it's the familiarity with the Hoenn region, maybe it's because I've played X as a way to ease myself in. Despite that, the point of view is more comfortably third person and more 'Pokemon' - although they still play around with angles and point of view, it doesn't feel as extreme or different as X.
My arrival at Dewford
The game still follows on a lot from the new developments from X. EXP share is given to you early and it gives EXP to all your Pokemon. It also doesn't split the EXP gained as much, making it a lot easier to level up your whole team, making it more akin to a generic RPG. Likewise, your Pokemon also gains EXP (full) even if you catch a Pokemon. Whilst this helps in encouraging people to try and catch them all (after all, you don't lose out on some potentially good EXP,) it again, makes it a lot easier - so far, my Pokemon are already at a higher level than they previously have been when I've played this game on my good old DS Lite.
The battle system is similar, yet again, to X. Haven't experienced any mega evolutions - in fact, they haven't even been mentioned in game yet - but the animation is still an incredible step up from the older DS lite games.
In fact, the biggest new feature - excluding the nav/dex updates which change with every game - that I've found so far in my small playtime of just over 2 hours (pitiful I know... I had a busy weekend, okay?) is the new 'sneak' feature. Again, much like an RPG, you can now sneak up on Pokemon. Whilst previous games had the rustling grass hinting at a rare Pokemon, you now get a notification on your DexNav screen (a magnifying glass pops up) and you get a sound and the silhouette of a Pokemon will pop it. It'll either be an uncommon Pokemon, or a Pokemon with a rare move. They do seem to be quite frequent however - I ran into an endless amount of Slakoths in Petalburg Woods.
SO, moving onto what is often, asides from the graphics, the biggest change between each Pokemon game. The navigator system. From memory, (because there have really been a lot of Pokemon games,) this came into play in the original Ruby and Sapphires under PokeNav (developed from the PokeGear, which was a communication device.) Now, we have the PokeNav Plus, the new, updated version which makes full use of the DS's dual screens.
The DS is used SO much better in these later games than it was previously. The first Pokemon DS games, Diamond and Pearl, used the bottom screen well in battles (basically as they do now,) but failed to make the bottom screen that useful outside of battle. They've now finally done what I've always wanted them to do, and included the map down there. No longer do you have to rummage through your bag in 'key items' for your 'town map' (okay, they stopped that a while ago, I know.) Instead, you have the option, under AreaNav, to have your map there all the time!
Another pretty useful feature is the DexNav. Here, it shows the kinds of Pokemon that can be found in an area. From what I've worked out (I didn't pay attention when the guy telling me what it did was talking all too much,) most of them only show up after you've encountered them. Still pretty useful to quickly remember what turns up where (and it does show silhouettes of Pokemon you can encounter so unless you completed missed 'who's that Pokemon' as a child, you should be able to figure it out.) I'm not sure if it shows you ALL the Pokemon you can catch (including rare ones,) but I'm hoping it doesn't as it'd take away some of the fun in entering a new area and having something surprising jump out at you. This is also the thing that has the magnifying glass pop up on.
PlayNav combines the few in game 'apps' that were the main players in X's bottom screen - Pokemon Amie and Super Training are both there, as is the Play With Others app (which name I can't remember and that I won't check.) I tried these out a bit in the last game but am never that into mini-games, (only exception is the captivating 'Mesal Gear Solid' which was in Ape Escape 3, and which I played entirely in Japanese.) I also don't really play games to interact with people (I am the online gaming nightmare,) plus I don't have any friends with Pokemon and/or a 3DS, so haven't tried out any online features.
Lastly installed on there (for now...) is BuzzNav, which is basically their version of the radio app in the PokeNav. Instead, it's a news app that gives you little stories and updates - mine's currently showing the kidnapping of Peeko. There's a capability to do stuff with others with a DS on it, but since, like I mentioned, I don't know anyone with one so haven't tried that yet.
Basic features aside, let's get started on my lifeblog journey: so, who's my team? I've gone for my usual starter of Torchic - because BLAZIKEN is the only starter Pokemon given the prestigious rank of UBER on Pokemon showdown. Because it is literally that badass. Chiklet (YES of COURSE I name all my Pokemon silly cutesy things) has just evolved into a Combusken.
I've also picked up PEEBO (my alternative to PEEKO, who I fell in love with in the anime)
Peebo was the main player in my battle against first Gym Leader Roxanne, which was pretty easy. Despite a Rock Throw almost taking him out in one hit, Peebo managed to obliterate with water gun. Rock gym as the first gym is always pretty simple.
After some evening wandering, caught a Shroomish (Blum,) who I will evolve into my poison heal powerhouse that is Breloom. I LOVE Breloom. Thoroughly underrated Pokemon. Although I'm pretty well equipped to handle Brawly (Chiket still has peck,) and of course Peeko's Wing Attack should have no problems, I'm sure Blum will be able to throw some moves.
Anyway, that sums up my little bit of gameplay and some fairly long-winded first impressions. Stay tuned for Brawly's imminent beat down and I'M ON DEWFORD I CAN CATCH AN ARON NOW!
