Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)[Note: This is coming from a 21-year-old reviewer]
I don't see why people are having a problem with this game. Personally, I was a big fan of the 3d-cartoony style of RPGs from when they first made big splashes on the Dreamcast. Games like Grandia, Skies of Arcadia... I just love how these games are done, and Pokemon XD is no exception.

So what the XD for? An "extra dimension" of play. Apparently, all this really means is that you get a new character, a new storyline, and get to set out on the usual Pokemon adventures. Which isn't bad- I haven't played a Pokemon game yet I didn't like (excluding the smaller spinoff games, of course). This game supports the full cast of characters from Sapphire / Ruby / Emerald, and that's a whole lotta Pokemon.

You start as (since you name yourself, I'll call the character Hero), a kid who finds out, as usual, that you're responsible for saving the world by battling cute little monsters with monsters of your own. This time, you're given a sort of cybernetic arm attachment and headset that allows you to analyze and capture Shadow Pokemon- who must be converted back to the "light side" through love and affection in order to regain their former power.

What's new? If you played Colliseum, basically nothing. There's a new story, and the new Shadow Lugia Pokemon wandering the continent. Other than that, however, you'll only want this game if you just enjoy "catching them all" that much.

For fans like me who missed Colliseum, but have played the original games, you get to experience Pokemon in a well-thought-out 3d setting that's just gorgeous. Shadow Pokemon come equipped with Shadow type moves when you get them, so Pokemon you never would have thought about bringing out before suddenly become extremely useful as you'll always have Shadow moves to fall back on. Very nice. Speaking of which- yes, you have to steal Shadow Pokemon from the villians who use them for battling. What you'll really do is defeat all of the opponent's other Pokemon and from there, it's no different from capturing rare Pokemon in earlier games- only this time, the enemy can't run away, and if you accidentally defeat it instead of capturing, you can re-battle almost any time you want!

Never played Pokemon? It's an extremely easy to learn game, complete with insanely cute and cool Pokemon to battle, and it's family-friendly, as not even the wildest situations would rate above PG.

A lot of reviewers have said you can't catch wild Pokemon- and that's not exactly true. There are many "spots" where you can leave out treats and try to capture wild Pokemon- leaving more treats means Pokemon stay longer, so they're easier to capture. It's not quite like crawling through the grass in the old games, but it gets the job done. I saw a few other reviewers comment that converting the Shadow Pokemon takes too long- just through battling in the early game, I was able to cleanse more than one Pokemon per hour of play, and that included time it took to unlock an area to complete the process. Doesn't seem so bad to me! Plus, I haven't even opened up the secondary cleansing method available in the game.

Overall- It's another Pokemon game, and a pretty good one. It's colorful, it's cute, and it's been extremely fun to play. If you're plopping down money for a Pokemon game, isn't that exactly what you expect? Sure, stealing Shadow Pokemon and cleansing their hearts is a little different- but it's fun. The only people I wouldn't reccomend this game to are Colliseum fanatics who don't feel like starting the experience over- the two games are basically very similar. My girlfriend played Colliseum tons, and I could barely pull her away from the Gamecube on this one, but apparently other Colliseum fans feel otherwise.

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Product Description:
Return to Orre for an all-new RPG in an expansive setting with a sinister plot and characters the likes of which you have never met before. With Eevee as your companion, you'll seek to unravel the mystery of Shadow Lugia. Darkness has fallen over this strange land, and the fate and welfare of Pokemon lies in your ability to Snag and Purify them before it's to late.

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