Pokemon X: Beat this a while back and did aftergame.
Final Team:
Delphox: Starter.
Blastoise: 2nd Starter, also token Mega and Surf/Waterfall user.
Aurorus: Liked the design and special ability (even if I didn't use it much)
Noivern: Gotten late but whatever. Also my Fly user.
Xerneas: Because I felt like be a jerk, that's why
Pangoro: Kung Fu Gangster Panda!
Others used:
Hawlucha: Used for Fly before getting Noivern; can't be used in Sky Battles sadly.
Sylveon: Fairy used before Xerneas
Vivillion: Basically a Butterfree variant
Honedge: Used it briefly, considered it entire game but didn't have room. Might use on replay
There are a number of Pokemon actually I want to use like Talonflame, Pyroar or Florges, and possibly some earlier Gen Pokemon I never used much, but can only use so much in one playthrough and there's too many good options!
The only notable flaw for XY, ignoring EXP Share because you can turn it off, to me compared to other Pokemon games is the lack of aftergame. 2 aftergame legendaries with barely a dungeon attached to them (well, Zygarde has a dungeon just one you complete most of before the aftergame) and a sole runner do kind of suck. Also, I question why they removed the ability to check Pokemon availability based on Habitat that BW2 had; it was a nice way to check "do I have everything in this area?" before moving on, rather than having to check everything individually.
The Pokemon options in this game are nothing short of amazing. By the time you end the first forest, you have access to 2 Birds, token 2 early game Normal types, 3 Caterpillar Pokemon, Pikachu, and the 3 Elemental Monkeys. The game never lets up either. Every area has a good draw of Pokemon and generally a unique build as well, so you don't get a sense of "Oh great, more of these" like you do in other games. It's a game that really emphasizes just how many Pokemon there are by Gen 6 and tries to use its diversity to its advantage, rather than try to limit your access to it. It blows BW2 out of the water in this regard, and BW2 did a damn good job of its Pokemon draw as is.
ON A RANDOM PET PEEVE NOTE!
Xerneas' moveset doesn't make much sense thematically. They talk about it being the Pokemon of Life, it has a strong association with forest and trees, and is a Fairy, thus association with the Moon...
...yet it does not learn any of Recover, Synthesis or Moonlight? You'd think Pokemon of Life would learn a legitimate Healing move but Xerneas doesn't. Heck, the fact that its offensively based at all is still kind of weird (dunno about you, but "Life" to me suggests it'd be more geared around "not dying" as opposed to killing.)
It also has a limited moveset for Grass moves. Like why doesn't it get Energy Ball or Solar Beam? It does get Grass Knot and Horn Leech, but still feels weird.
Speaking of Grass type, it has all this talk about being a tree, yet why is it not Grass/Fairy? Honestly, I think that'd make more sense than being pure Fairy simply because it makes it an even playing field, type-wise, between it and Yveltal. As it stands, Yveltal flat out loses to Xerneas (Fairy > Dark, Flying is neutral), type wise. If Xerneas was Grass/Fairy, that'd make Xerneas' Fairy type beating Yveltal's Dark type offset by the Flying > Grass advantage. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I do feel it would have fit rather well (and Grass/Fairy is not a common typing, while we already have a number of Pure Fairies. I think the only confirmed Grass/Fairy at the moment is Whimiscott?)
Ok, that's off my chest. Dunno what I rate it; 8/10 at least. I suspect Z-Version will improve upon everything because, well, when has the 3rd version in the series NOT done this (shut up Yellow version)? This game already has a pretty damn strong argument for being the best game in the series, which makes me even more excited for the inevitable 3rd version as a result.
NOW ONTO ANOTHER GAME!
Last Story: If you're expecting a major rant on this like you got with Xenoblade because Operation Rainfall game...WELL TOUGH! These two games have nothing to do with one another and just happened to suffer a similar fate because Nintendo of America are a bunch of jerks, and in the end all this means is a lot of Brittish Voice Acting and terminology/spelling in the dialog! Ok, that last part isn't a bad thing, at least in the Voice Acting part (the spelling part just leads to a number of "wait did they spell that wrong? ...oh, right, English Spelling =/= American Spelling" moments)
Anyway, game's decent enough, but wouldn't say its spectacular. It's definitely a story and character work game above all else. I wouldn't say the story is SUPER ORIGINAL, but it definitely felt fresh enough and not completely cliched either (even Arganan's being evil wasn't played entirely cliched. Yes, you could see it coming a mile away, but the game doesn't really turn him into an antagonistic character outside of a brief stretch that gets interrupted by RANDOM GURAK ATTACK, and comes off more as an example for what Zael doesn't want to be. .) Character work is really good just due to all the moments the game gives them to interact, between talking to party members during down-time, their mid-mission arguing/discussions/whatever, and all that. Syrenne and Lowell easily have the most character of anyone in the game, between Syrenne being "A man in a woman's body" and Lowell being the narcissistic, self-centered lady's man with a heart of silver.
Some funny gag moments with every character happens here and there; one that sticks out to me is when Mirania shouted "Let's blow them all up!" or something along those lines, and the party reacted more or less how the player would to that statement.
Also give props to Therius for not being quite what I expected. He's introduced more or less as the SHONEN RIVAL, and ends up...not really being that. Superiority complex over Zael, but gains respect for him over time, and for once its not because of strength but because of character. The whole duel thing came off as a friendly competition and nothing more. IOWs, they made a Bishie Rival character who subverts the tropes in general. No real hatred for Zael, gains respect through means other than "This guy is strong!", and never actually stands in his way; at most he's more un-supportive and that's only early on.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT PLOT! Gameplay is...eh. A little too gimmicky I guess. Straight up fights are too easy, gimmick fights can get annoying because it's got the Zelda issue of "figure out what to do once, you know how to win and it's just a case of doing it 3 to 4 more times and win!" Final Boss fight pissed me off because he had OHKO damage in a game where you have limited Resurrection, even when guarding. Worse yet, my first fight with him I got him down to like a pixel and one more volley of spells by everyone (and Syrenne had a Shadow Stitch ready) would have killed him, but he got the hit in RIGHT BEFORE everyone shot it, and I had to redo all 3 forms (lost the 2nd time due to screwing up a lot in the first 2 forms, mostly Syrenne losing a lot of lives.)
Game is about 6-7/10 for me. It's decent enough, but nothing amazing. It's also short so it doesn't overstay its welcome, which is good seeing as it's a plot/character game more than anything else. Oh and it is TOTALLY a rip off of Final Fantasy in every sense of the word! Except no it isn't...at all...
