Let's Talk Pokemon #2

Why Pokemon X & Y 'Failed'

Now, Pokemon X & Y is a hot topic in the Pokemon Community for the sake that the fanbase is nearly at an agreement that this pair of games is the 'worst' out of the Main Series Pokemon games. While I can agree with that statement, cause the pair of games suffer from a gigantic slew of developmental issues, I can also say the games get much more hate than they deserve.

Today, I'm going over the many reasons Pokemon X & Y had 'failed' and why the fanbase doesn't recieve them too well. Now this is a respectful conversation. I'm not bashing on the games, merely trying to be the mediator and find the logistical reasons why the games didn't perform well.

1. Poor Advertisement

Easily the most poorly advertised Pokemon game in existence, when X & Y came out, nobody knew they even existed. Pokemon was advertising their Ruby & Sapphire Remakes more than X & Y, so much so, X & Y got record low sales which led to the abandonment of a future Pokemon game thatll be addressed later in this update and the fanbase was saving their money to buy Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire instead. The only reason I knew these games existed was because I was casually browsing on Amazon and came across a pre-order listing of X & Y. Even then, I've heard nothing of the games prior AND the cover art of the games didn't look official/fanmade. I was scared that I was being scammed! So I took my chances, bought the game and thankfully it was the real deal. But it's the fact that these games didn't sell well due to poor Advertisement should tell you just how badly Pokemon dropped the ball.

2. Lackluster Pokedex

This is 2nd Main Series Game to introduce the least amount of new Pokemon with a grand total of new 72 Pokemon, which seems like a lot but really isn't in comparison to the other regions averaging out to 120 new Pokemon. 1st place belongs to Legends Arceus as this game only introduced 23 New Pokemon. Part of why X & Y introduced so few new Pokemon is because the developers introduced a great amount of Mega Evolutions & Primal Forms in which half of the Mega Evolutions & Primal Forms were exclusive to One game or the other. Same is said about the new Pokemon, quarter of the new Pokemon were version exclusives. Therefore, unless you owned both versions of the games, you couldn't even access half of the new Pokemon & forms. This resulted in majority of the trainers & available Pokemon to belong to other regions such as Kanto & Hoenn. It was a rarity for trainers to own Kalos Pokemon and it didn't even feel like you were playing a new Pokemon game due to how you never encountered new Pokemon. Even in my own playthrough of X & Y, the only Kalos Pokemon I used was my Starter.

3. It's 'Too Easy'

The biggest complaint in regards to X & Y is that the game is too easy, and it strangely is. The same thing can be said about Sword & Shield, the games were easier than the norm. Pokemon coded the games as so trainers were a lower level than games prior, as to catter more towards new and child players therefore, the entire game felt as if you were playing on Easy or Beginner difficulty which was a major sting in the butt as the previous game, Black & White 2, featured the ability to adjust game difficulty. If this feature had been carried over, X & Y could've easily been saved as the difficulty IS the biggest complaint. Heck, I've done entire Nuzlocks in this game due to how the game is easier in difficulty.

4. The Games Were Incomplete

As mentioned above in entry 1, the Poor Advertisement of X & Y and the low sales of them resulted in the company Dropping one of their games in development and I'm sure you can guess what it was: Pokemon Z. Pokemon Z was supposed to be a sequel to X & Y. Due to the success of Pokemon Black & White 2, Pokemon planned on doing the same thing with their next Generation Games and clearly that plan never came to fruition cause we never got that sequel. The canceled Sequel left many areas in game and plotlines incomplete as the Pokemon Company banked on having a sequel to finish them out. It's hard to enjoy a game when the game isn't even complete in the first place.

5. Evolving Pokemon was Too Difficult

Despite game difficulty being lower than average, completing the Pokedex was another story. X & Y is remembered as the game with ridiculous and sometimes impossible evolution requirements when it came to their new Pokemon. Inkay evolved when the player flipped their DS upside down. My question is, who figured that out and why were you holding the DS upside down in the first place? Sylveon, at the time, was only available to own if you maxed out friendship AND gave your Eevee a Chocolate Heart, a RARE item. To get Aromatisse and Slurpuff, you have to give them a Sachet and trade them for the other aka the same exact deal with evolving Karrablast & Shelmet. We also got the issue that many of the Pokemon only evolved over trade, yes I'm looking at you Pumpkaboo & Phantump. Lastly, some Pokemon only evolved if it had moves of specific types in their moveset such as Pancham evolving once you teach it a Dark type move. If you choose not to teach it that move, you're shit out of luck cause Pancham doesn't learn another move and it'd be a waste to use a heartscale at the move tutor. Yes, evolutions in newer Pokemon games can get tedious at times, but X & Y took the cake on this one.

Now that was the top 5 reasons why X & Y aren't well enjoyed games in the fanbase. I tried to remain as reserved at possible when it came to opinions. I genuinely don't mind the games, but I won't deny that I have absolutely no motivation or desire to ever play them again. There's just so many other better Pokemon games to play.

Do you agree with this update? Why do you enjoy X & Y? Do you dislike the games?