Pokemon: Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire
Game Freak
Nintendo/The Pokemon Company
Nintendo 3DS
In the 1990’s, there were a multitude of fads that created a brief flash in the pan, and then petered away into nothingness. One unexpectedly long-running phenomena from that era is Pokemon, and the new additions to the series, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire keep the dream alive of catching collectible creatures centered in a universe of creativity and combat.
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, known all over as simply ORAS, are a re-imagining of the third generation of Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire. Taking place in the lush, tropical Hoenn Region, your task is to aid Professor Birch in his task of collecting, documenting, and observing the titular creatures alongside his daughter/son, who ends up being the opposite gender of the player character. Along the course of your very own journey, players will come across the villain teams, Magma in Omega Ruby and Aqua in Alpha Sapphire, both of which are in the business of region-wide eco-terrorism. The plot is the same fare as all other main-series games in the franchise: Save the world, beat the gym leaders, conquer the Elite 4, and become the Champion of Hoenn.
On the gameplay side, ORAS handles very close to how Pokemon X/Y played. Players can still 8-way run using the D-pad on the 3DS as well as move 360 degrees on the field. New to the movement department is sneaking, where lightly tapping the control stick allows the player to creep along at a slow pace. This proves useful because wild encounters occur less often during this method of movement. Both the Mach and Acro bikes return, and as in Ruby and Sapphire, you can only have one. The Pokenav gets a boost into the Dexnav: A handy set of apps on the 3DS’ lower screen. The Buzznav gives short clips of information in the form of a webshow. These clips provide both flavor text for various areas and people in Hoenn, and show records from people you pass using the 3DS Streetpass function and online connectivity. Dexnav lets players look at which pokemon inhabit the different routes of Hoenn. Areanav provides the Town Map as a bottom screen guide and allows players to check what pokemon live on each route, trainers to rematch much akin to the previous Match Call, where other people have made their Secret Bases, and the locations of berry trees. Playnav contains the apps from X and Y: Player Search System, Pokemon-Amie, and Super Training. One Pokenav app can be open at a time, with the others elegantly set off to the side for ease of access. This is creative for a 3DS game as it allows for true dual-screen functionality.
While the battle mechanics and overall graphical quality has not changed from X and Y, they both still keep fresh. Each route visually pops in the top-down view with 3D models. Pokemon appear in the tall grass, signified by their call and a small graphic, so catching certain creatures becomes easier to do. In battle, several move animations have been updated to remain fresh. Powerful moves like Fire Blast pack more visual impact, creating battles closer to how they are seen in the anime. The newer mega-evolutions breathe life into Pokemon that have niche competitive use, like Camerupt and Steelix. This makes the meta-game much more dynamic, bringing in old favorites using a new twist.
The sound design is noticeably more diverse than the 16-bit sound-font of Ruby and Sapphire. Junichi Masuda once again brings his A-game with the music in this game. The Trainer Battle theme is still as energetic as ever, the rival theme sounds even more pop-inspired, and the Trick Master’s house is still silly and energetic-sounding. These pieces are fleshed out songs, and each of them stands out wonderfully.
The replay value in this game, as with all other Pokemon titles, is extremely high. Players have the option of choosing one of three starters for Hoenn and have a Regional Pokedex of 192 other Pokemon, excluding Legendary-status creatures like the Regi Trio, the Weather Trio, the Eon Duo, and Deoxys. Of course, clearing the Elite 4 and Champion unlocks the National Dex, meaning that people can use the full roster of 719 Pokemon. With all of these creatures, that creates, without repeating Pokemon, 135297498228132240 combinations of 6 member teams! Once special, player-induced challenges are put into place, like a mono-type run or a Nuzlocke, the ways to clear this game are practically endless.
Online play has also been improved. Players can now use voice chat in-game to communicate and meet with people from all over the world. This adds a level of connectivity that generally only console and PC games have had access to, creating a more tightly woven community because of it. With the addition of the new Pokemon that have access to Mega-Evolution, much more diverse teams are being built by the minute, as well as a shake up in the competitive battling community. Smogon has done some re-tiering and created an Anything Goes tier to accommodate only the fiercest, most powerful creatures that would otherwise break competitive play.
This game, however, isn’t all perfection. Up front is the reliance on Hidden Machines, HM’s, that are required to move forward with the plot. While it isn’t as bad as Generation 4’s whopping 8 Hidden Moves, ORAS still contains Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength, Waterfall, Rock Smash, and Dive as required. While it’s understandable that players should not be able to skip massive chunks of the game, there is nothing more frustrating than being told you cannot fly on the back of your Skarmory without the necessary badge from Fortree City. The EXP share makes Hoenn one of the easiest regions to date, with its Experience Point sharing properties from X/Y still strong. Its way too easy to be overpowered compared to the gym leaders, as the only large gap between levels is Winona’s Level 35 Altaria compared to Tate and Liza’s duo of Level 45 Solrock and Lunatone. The scripted events are also a pain. Who cares that some maniac wants to sketch his own footprints, we just want to move forward.
Personally, these games are an awesome update to Ruby and Sapphire. Pokemon have changed in their usefulness since Generation 3, and its welcome for it. Even though HM’s are a pain, its not hard to find members to spread all seven moves across the party. While its laden with too much water, Hoenn is still a wonderful tropical destination for the handheld gamer.