The Numbing Gleam of Pokémon X and Y

[@nathanf7072]

If I remember rightly, when the games were released, there was a preorder/early adoption mystery gift that gave you a Torchic (with mega stone). So you could basically start the game with three starters. Just adding to the nostalgia and easiness of the game.

[@johnroberts524]

I used the torchic on my team when XY first came out and I still have an extra that will hopefully eventually be used in a play through of ZA

[@cryguy0000]

I had that thing for my first run. It was an absolute beast. It had speed boost so it just sweeped

[@gabbywills98]

Loving the longer form video essays! Recently started replaying X and Y for Shiny hunting and genuinely enjoying it a lot!

[@vianabdullah2837]

Pokemon X and Y for me is like how a lot of millenials view Sonic Adventure. We recognise that it has a lot of flaws and there are areas that lack polish, there's still an undeniable charm and freshness brought about for being the first 3D games in the series. I'll always appreciate innovations introduced here like fairy types, wonder trade and character customisation. Also, Lumiose City is still my favourite location in the entire series, it really nails the feeling of getting lost in an urban environment.

[@Venemofthe888]

I really dont think there is any charm there tbh it just feels dull

[@theitscolleen]

Leaving another comment to say that I LOVEEE the pokemon designs in this region: sylveon, phantump, pumpkaboo, swirlix, spritzee, amura, and soooo many more. I'm glad these pokemon are getting love in other games!

[@InsertFunnyThingHere]

Yeah the newcomers are cool, unfortunate that most of them were sorta overshadowed between megas and the in-game encounter pools having multiple non-kalos pokemon Also why did they bring back trade evos again that's just rude man

[@lasercraft32]

That's the thing about Team Flare though... The Grunts DON'T have a clash of motivation, and that's intentional. One of the Grunts even has dialogue saying they had to pay a lot of money just to join Team Flare. The Grunts aren't in this because of their strong beliefs or ideals like Lysandre is, the majority of the Grunts only joined because they wanted to be in the group of survivors after Lysandre unleashes the Ultimate Weapon.

[@jakisrandom1]

so why couldn't they just turn against Lysandre and the people that actually wanted to help him? the plot still makes no sense

[@charnalk5572]

​@@jakisrandom1Why would they? That's like asking why didn't people just turn on facist leaders, well because they want to be a part of the group that gets all the benefits.

[@lasercraft32]

I've commented this in a different video before, but I'll say it again here... The theme of Pokemon XY is not beauty, but the theme of Kalos _itself_ is. The region is full of so much beautiful architecture and grand locations. Almost every town has some kind of centerpiece that draws in tourists. The _story_ isn't about beauty, but the region is designed to be as fancy and stylish as possible, since its based on France (which is well-known for its stunning architecture).

[@mysteryx267]

This is wrong on two levels. For one Masuda specifically said the main theme of XY is beauty, not Kalos. Second, Lysandre's entire goal is based around making the world more beautiful. It's literally related to the main villains goal, ofc it's a theme of the game. However, you are right about Kalos being designed as a region filled with beauty, which is clearly intentional.

[@charnalk5572]

​@@mysteryx267He never said that it was the main theme of the game, but one of the early stage concept they had in mind when brainstorming for it. "The idea was one of the original concepts of X and Y when we began developing the games about three years ago. We had the concept of beauty, the concept of bonds, to deepen the relationships between people and Pokémon, as well as the concept of evolution." The main theme of the game is community and coexistence, not really beauty (or at least, beauty is only tangentially related). Lysandre wanted to make the world more beautiful, but that's not really reflective of a theme, his definition of a beautiful world is a world inherited by a select few that are deemed worthy and conforming to an homogeneous group. Team Flare is obviously a stand in for facism, and their goal is to preserve the beauty of Kalos more than really making it more beautiful. This is in contrast to other parts of the game where characters are willing to give up said "beauty" to benefit the community, which is mainly ressources, like Shabboneau Castle. Like I'm gonna be honest, I'd say beauty is more of a flavor that differenciates XY from other pokemon games. The core themes of XY are basically the same as BW, BW2 and pretty much any Pokemon game since 3.

[@mysteryx267]

@@charnalk5572 This is true, but as you mentioned, bonds/coexistence are a theme that’s core to Pokemon as a whole, not just XY. I was specifically talking about XY’s main theme that differentiates it from the others games. And I was originally replying to a comment saying beauty is not even a theme in XY which is clearly not the case.

[@charnalk5572]

@@mysteryx267 Yeah fair

[@Luv_Sammy]

Im sorry did you ever play the games or watch a single interview or promotion leading up to the game? The game creator himself the theme is beauty. You should stop commenting this

[@winstonjountti9331]

Love that these videos give explanations of/and an actual opinion on the games especially since I haven’t played gen 5-7. It’s nice to hear something other than “these games are bad”

[@KoigYT]

I feel like if we get Eternal Flower Floette in Z-A it’ll be by an event in the same way we got Shaymin and Darkrai in PLA

[@Dotaitos92]

Enjoying watching your channel grow! keep up the good work craig!

[@kirbynom-alt]

Lumiose is my favourite location in the whole series :) I can totally get being lost but I spent so much time there as a kid, it feels like home ^^ Can't wait to see it expanded upon next year!

[@blissfulstatic2563]

i hope kalos fans will get to experience a good game for the first time when ZA releases

[@nathanf7072]

My favourite part of playing Y was acquiring roller skates and doing back flips over ledges 😅

[@FaisLittleWhiteRaven]

Carbink is based on the Carbuncle, a mythological species of animal with a gem/mirror in this forehead originating from the mining folklore of northern Chile, that can lead those who follow it to riches (aka in the Pokemon world Diancie - who is also the 'diamond' to Carbink's 'coal').

[@lightdragoon88]

I'm suprise you didn't talk about the roller blades. I miss them so much. Way better than the bikes in my opinion

[@kingkmtso5107]

The ultimate weapon was the thing that gave AZ his immortality im pretty sure it explains it in the game😂

[@bigcoomabrian7998]

You da man Craig

[@joeljoke]

Nice vid!

[@painpokebeys]

My first pokemon game was Y and even if it's not my favorite game, I hold it close to my heart

[@thewarrior8497]

Same! They were also my first games. Got them in 2014

[@jonglejuice]

Technically, your original pronunciation of Lysandre is closer to the actual French pronunciation of the name of that same spelling.

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

XY has the best custom clothes in the series. I do agree there should be more, as well as more custom colors.

[@Gabriel-y2o]

The generation debut my favorite Pokemon - Tyrantrum. I love me some dinosaurs!!!!

[@Moonsong227]

I'm pretty sure in hindsight that the theme of the Kalos games was supposed to be comparing the ephemeralness of being alive and the ephemeralness of beauty. Nerdy comment for the algorithm, I really like how your videos are actually informative and thoughtful and unique, bit rare in the fandom these days.

[@Blastosie_Offical]

I'm at the start of the vid here, i really hope this makes history and is the first X/Y vid to acknowledge Team Flare had different goals in X

[@blastoiseddr]

@@Blastosie_Offical woah woah woah 1. My dopplegänger! 2. They had different goals??

[@Br0oham]

@@Blastosie_Offical what?

[@aokcraig]

📢💬 | Join our *BRAND NEW* Discord Server here and let's chat!: discord.gg/bDnncDFUd4

[@amziedragon6619]

I remember being super excited and having a blast with x and y as a kid, the megas felt so awesome (love the designs still, disappointed that newer gimmicks didn't have more designs past the gigantamax forms) and since I'd started at gen 4 I loved being able to play with a gen 1 starter that I hadn't used before! And I got the promotional torchic at the time and id loved the gen 3 anime but never played gen 3 yet. Gen 6 felt easy for sure, but I thought it might have been a bit of me being older than when I'd played gen 4/5, but now know they are just easier. I'm super excited for AZ and what that game turns out to be, and I am not going to lie I literally jumped around with excitement when I found out Mega evolution was returning.

[@InsertFunnyThingHere]

Honestly i unironically kinda respect how comically easy they made this game. Like there's so many layers of things designed to make the game easier or smoother it's legitimately kinda charming to me. XY in general is just sorta charming despite how comically flawed it is. In my experience it's also a game with a good amount of replayability because of the huge amount of available pokemon and because the extremely low difficulty (while really lame a lot of the time) can at least allow you to use abysmally weak pokemon like Dunsparce and get away with it which i love, and if I'm being honest disregarding level differences they aren't even that much easier than most pokemon games. Also most of the things XY do straight up awfully are done barely worse than how most pokemon games do it, and at least they have the decency to be really entertaining to make fun of, so that's a plus in my book too.

[@evanparker9282]

I’m still upset that the one facility was locked behind a door with no explanation and no way in. I spent hours trying to figure out a way in only to find out that it’s literally impossible

[@lookatmyzombies9377]

Lol bet ya had fun trying tho

[@lookatmyzombies9377]

I'm sure someone else spent hours trying to get into Bill's backyard or grass outside of Pallet Town Gen 1

[@projectmilzock]

❇

[@Ometecuhtli13thGate]

Diantha's design was based on a real person. Audrey Hepburn.

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

Even though I doubt that the Rune City Gym Leader is based on Don Juan. Adan just looks like a ladies man, and he would speak English in the Japanese original.

[@Ometecuhtli13thGate]

I always thought he was similar. But, I couldn't place where. In the English version of the games, he is named Juan. I enjoyed Emerald version.

[@jaevee9878]

i remember watching the trailer for it with the pikachu on top of the Eiffel tower and then ending with worldwide release like gagged younger me

[@tylerdenny5428]

AOKCraig what Pokémon game do you think is the hardest??

[@aokcraig]

tough one but i'd say the gen 7 titles were pretty challenging for me. even with the EXP Share I rode my luck at a few points!

[@tylerdenny5428]

@@aokcraig I kinda had a hard time with Gen Black/White because I did use the gifted legendary.

[@InsertFunnyThingHere]

USUM is relatively difficult sometimes but the EXP share and friendship mechanics often make you not have as many issues as in other games All of gen five is mostly easy but has one of the hardest elite four and a relatively hard champion, which aren't that hard but still worth mentioning. Platinum is similar to gen 5 but you're often underleveled and the champion is harder, being probably the hardest champion overall. BDSP funnily enough has an absolutely insane elite four and champion with actually good movesets and half decent items, and the game in general is basically just a notably harder version of Diamond and Pearl. The EXP share makes it a bit more manageable since you're not underleveled at almost any point, but you're likely still going to be a bit underleveled for Cynthia which is definitely going to be an issue. There's also friendship mechanics, which definitely make the game lot easier but I'm not sure they're consistent enough to be that much of a difficulty decrease

[@Jawbreaker8k]

I enjoyed shiny hunting in the friend safari in Pokémon x and y. To me, gen 6 is the most replayable.

[@johannesl.4553]

😋

[@DiaArtCreativity]

As someone whose first Pokemon game was Red, I loved x & y! Sure, it has it's flaws and it's not my favorite (ORAS) but it had great innovations: Mega Evolution, Customizing the character in hairstyles and fashion, ROLLERBLADES! (Why can't we get the rollerblades again? ), fairy typing and nice graphics. It is a bit easy, but always nice to come back to as a casual playthrough.

[@Tristan_Shuler]

Coming back here with retrospect on the design of these games after the GF leak. It’s interesting that the reason Kanto was shoved down our throats in XY was because of the poor reception at the time of BW not having any OG pokemon throughout the playthrough. Really goes to show that GF do listen to their fans, but they’re also petty about them. Oh, you want to throw a fit about not having any original pokemon in BW? Well we only added 89 new species to XY. Oh you think SM had too much revealed in trailers? Now you get next to no hype cycle in all future games.

[@niklaskuhn6799]

I was disapionted because i was in the pokeliga only after 7 to 8 day and that was way to easy, there was no meaning to grind because the oponenes where no challege

[@theitscolleen]

There is so many things introduced in this game, it's seems like Pokemon missed the part on execution. I can't wait for Pokemon Legends ZA and to have this gen in the same style of gameplay as PLA! Hopefully you don't get too lost in the new lumiose city :)

[@jakisrandom1]

5:13 *loud incorrect buzzer*

[@AJ-ey5eh]

I feel like if Masuda didn’t do the ‘casual pace’ philosophy and gave it more time or a 3rd version, then XY would be the best pokemon games

[@Sobble_99]

you typed masuda wrong

[@AJ-ey5eh]

@@Sobble_99 thanks. Fixed now.

[@InsertFunnyThingHere]

Honestly every single mainline pokemon game after gen 5 (and especially gen 8 onwards) feels like it was just not given nearly enough dev time. Probably wouldn't have been that amazing even with it but they're all pretty rushed. I think the original Sun and Moon are like the only non-remakes that didn't feel rushed, and even then there's quite a few issues I have with the game that I feel would have likely been fixed with extra time.

[@centura1275]

🔬

[@PlasmaStar-me1hq]

🗿

[@randomedgygamer2191]

This gen brought be back to the franchise and made me a hyped for ever fan

[@thepokemonqueen]

a small thing that sticks out to me is that the ending theme for these games had official lyrics, not just in the language you choose but the chorus has translated lyrics from other languages too. until ed sheeran came along for gen 9 I guess 😂 actually, does celestial play in every language of scarlet & violet or just the english versions?

[@DarkAuraLord]

🦍🎮🎰

[@kaniscreamnow]

🖖🧌🦹‍♂🧶🛀🏾

[@LiamRockefeller-o5q]

Fairy type would’ve been better for delfox mostly just because psychic is so bad also fire fairy has amazing compatibility

[@samueljeffries1802]

🚫✨️🪱✨️

[@QTwentyTwo]

🚿

[@Venemofthe888]

I really dislike X and Y and after getting the mega ring it feels so empty for so long until the team flare part after the 7th badge. Like barely anything happens and while team flare is about here and there like any evil team theres nothing else. There is very little small touches that feel they add to the world and areas are a little basic The Exp Share being changed from Gen 5 to 6 really rubs me the wrong way and shouldnt be given so early in the game. Yes i know you can turn it off but id rather have it be set to certain pokemon so they can catch up rather than everything getting exp all at once. Its good for training in like nuzlockes or for competitive but it rips apart the main game where you are probably 5-10 levels ahead of the game trainers. I will always prefer the held item exp share. The Gym Leaders are rarely challenging and their movesets can be so awful at times. Some pokemon only have 3 moves which i find quite stupid tbh. They are gym leaders and should be a step up from normal trainers but most are easier compared to random black belts who have more coverage. Only Viola should not have more than 4 moves since shes the first gym leader but all the others should have full movesets. Korrina is the only gym leader who does anything outside her gym and feels like a character rather than a checkbox and even then her Hawlucha cannot hit a ghost type which is certainly a choice. They also never have more than 3 pokemon which is such a weird choice to do especially for the later leaders. Mega Evolution is given way to early in the game and is not handled well. I think giving mega evolution after the 3rd badge doesnt help the game at all cause you can steamroll a lot of the game with a good mega evolution pokemon. If you use Lucario or a Kanto Starter they can run through anything. They also dont give any of the gym leaders a mega evolution either which i find really strange and perhaps if it was just the last gym leader who had it to prepare you for the elite four. The Elite 4 only have 4 pokemon and none of them mega evolve. This is so weird to me like they are the elite 4 they should be hard trainers yet their pokemon have no challenge to them apart from maybe Aegislash. While they do have full movesets which is good none of them hold items at all and like why? THEY ARE THE ELITE 4 HOW CAN THEY NOT HAVE ITEMS. Not even the champion has items aside from the mega stone. I really do think the elite 4 needed a extra pokemon. The hardest trainers in these games are the black belts since they have coverage for their weaknesses. Theres so much wrong with X and Y it feels like Diamond and Pearl that needed its Platinum to fix things but it never came

[@InsertFunnyThingHere]

I think megas and the EXP share would be perfectly fine if the game actually had counterplay for them. I think giving the player megas relatively early would be fine if this wasn't like the easiest game ever made. The gyms are so comically pathetic. They would be really easy if they were in gen 1 where the best Pokemon you had was your starter and at most a Snorlax, but this is the gen that gifts you a Mega Lucario and created the affection mechanic (and also super training but that's a bit different) I gotta mention tho, the second gym (while still easily doable by practically anyone) is pretty alright, the double fossil guimmick is one the franchise doesn't use enough imo and it's actually relatively threatening that early into the game. I'm kinda fine with the elite four too because despite having only 4 pokemon each (which is ABSOLUTELY an issue don't get me wrong) they have pretty solid selections of pokemon with decent moves. Lack of items is stupid, but almost every elite 4 in the franchise does that so even though it sucks I can't in good faith single out X and Y for it. What I can single them out for though is how none of them have megas, how there are almost no megas in general, and how the champion is the worst in the franchise (unironically I believe the guy from Let's Go was harder, if not tied). Like Diantha's team has basically no sauce, and it has the issue of being countered by practically the same things that countered the Dragon Type elite four which is lame, and despite most of the elite four having relatively decent movesets Diantha has almost nothing. Also there's not even any real type of rematch to fight actually somewhat threatening versions of these gyms and elite 4 members unlike most of the franchise, which is really lame. Also while practically every pokemon game has forgettable characters and a poorly written story that takes itself too seriously and wastes too much time, it's worth mentioning that this gotta be pokemon at it's absolute worst in that regard. They're entertaining to make fun of at least. One thing I will give credit for is that the comically easy difficulty combined with the large variety of pokemon makes this game pretty replayable and pretty fun to make challenge runs on, since you can use even the worst pokemon possible and still win, which is something I legitimately appreciate.

[@Sudafedz]

77 views in .33958383 seconds UNC you might be cooked

[@markramos1216]

@@Sudafedz unoriginal and unfunny comment. Try again.

[@Sudafedz]

@@markramos1216 I got bros pussy dry

[@dylanream5151]

[@alexkc1091]

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[@xXPoisonedxThornXx]

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[@imperfectsinger8]

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[@louismalamos8632]

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