Quick Look: Pokémon X

@debigulator: I remember Red, but

Pikachu is based on the Pika, which is not a rodent but rather a lagomorph, putting it in the same family as rabbits.

Pokemon XY is dope as fuck. A lot of great refinements in this version though it definitely does a poor job of conveying information to the player. It assumes you know vital info like the type matchups and the stone/evolution combos. For a lot of people like myself that assumption is correct- but the criticism that it is too cryptic with that stuff is absolutely valid. The misinformation from the guys during the QL is expected, not everyone has been playing these since Red/Blue.

The response here to this game reminds me of the how people respond to sports games. On the surface it seems like the same game being repackaged, but there really are significant changes every year. It's just that you don't care enough to notice. Can't blame you for that. If you don't like Pokemon then you won't like this. But so much has been revamped and improved that if you're interested in this stuff at all, it is most definitely worth your time.

This is the 3rd time I clicked on this Quick Look just to stare at the thumbnail. Hi Pikachu, you adorable yellow thing you.

You just said yourself you learned about elemental advantages from Final Fantasy, right? Well guess what element is strong against Electric/Thunder in FF? It's water, dude. So don't pick on Brad for taking that assumption into a game about which he has already said he knows nothing!

I mean seriously, all the pokemon fans in here having these indignant fits that the Giant Bomb guys don't know the ins and outs of the game, that's so silly. I've played 3 pokemon games and I was big into them back in the GBC/GBA days, so I know the mechanics, but I only learned them so well from putting over 1000 hours into the series. Here we have Jeff, Brad, and Vinnie, who between them all have probably 100 hours of experience at most, and that experience is like a decade old, probably. It makes sense that they wouldn't know the things that the game doesn't explicitly surface.

The other point to be made is that this is a Quick Look. It's not a game guide or a video walkthrough. These guys aren't experts and they don't claim to know what they're doing, so people need to stop getting their panties in a bunch about "misinformation." If you haven't played a Pokemon game, then you won't know that they are getting things wrong, and if you have, then you don't need Jeff to tell you how it works, so why get upset? People aren't watching this to learn how to play the game, they are watching this to see footage of the game with commentary, from the perspective of someone who is playing through the game not as a pro. And this is a great QL, in my opinion. It's funny, shows a good segment of what the basic flow of the game is, and it's interesting. This is what these guys are paid to do.

And the issues that they bring up are legitimate. In a world where every game has in-game tutorials or manuals, Pokemon games are incredibly quiet about the numbers behind the game. Things like EVs, STAB, stat buffs/debuffs, and natures are all left unexplained except in the vaguest sense. For series players it's not hard to take in because each game builds upon these principles, but jumping into the series it can be tough to figure it all out. Seriously, the guys did fine with what they had.

Anyone that plays pokemon has to have nerves of steel to get through this, think I'll go pop some pills and throw back something to make me forget...

He was born in '79, in 1996 when the first Pokémon was released, he was way past the target demographic. The first few years of Pokémon it was very explicitly aimed at kids, I'd say the demographic didn't really start to expand until the first batch of Pokémon fans started growing older, but kept buying the games - but for those that were already in the upper teens or 20's by the point the craze started, Pokémon was never a thing.

If World War II actually took place in the Pokémon universe, somebody should fire the marketing team who thought "Holo Caster" was a good name for a product.

Uh, maybe I'm just a more optimistic guy, but I thought that was a pretty positive quick look. Jeff was so gleeful when he found out you can choose one of the original starters. And his love for Bidoof. I can't wait until he sees a Hawlucha.

Pokemon xy Endurance run

I will truly never understand how this series is so successful, at least among adults. Kids, sure, but grown men having fun capturing cutesie creatures in balls and turn-based battling them... I just don't get it. -_-

The pika looks like a rabbit cross bred with a squirrel. Or perhaps a guinea pig.

@menkhor: Im not even a pokemon fan, but it's not hard at all to wrap your head around it. It involves turn-based strategy and collecting various creatures. But ewwww it's for babies. Or at least that's apparently your stupid logic.

Honestly @nekuctr I'm with you.

Everything they complained about was either "it needs to show me more stats" or "why can't I just swap out Pokemon from the PC box on the fly" ... but nobody was there to say "well it would ruin part of the game's charm - discovering shit on your own" or "when you're in caves or away from towns your feeling of isolation with your core team is part of the appeal". It's like complaining about regenerating health in Call of Duty.

I get what you mean @spedstyle but think of a game you really like. Any game at all ... now imagine a Quick Look where they pull it apart, don't bother to learn the BASIC controls (seriously, use the D-pad to WALK!!) and make a video saying how lame it is. I don't care if they don't like it, I'm loving this game, but there's so much misinformation in this video. I think it has the potential to turn people off trying the game who may have been curious, and that would be a real shame... I don't expect everyone to love it... but this was just so negative.

Quick Looks in general are becoming less and less useful. These are a bunch of guys who all have very similar tastes who occasionally play a game outside of their comfort zone for an hour or so, provide an often unfair snap judgement in an hour-long video and then move on to the next game they got for free in the Steam media account, sent from a publisher or borrowed off one of their 10+ game playing colleagues.

Brad can spend hundreds of hours playing DOTA but can't spare 10 on something a little different? I'm feeling less and less in tune with the guys as time goes by... at least Drew has been providing a new perspective lately.

"Think I'll just pop by the comments on the Pokemon quick look..."

Can you tell me where in the game it tells me to walk with the D-Pad?

Can you also tell me where in the game it makes me feel ''isolation with my core team'' is that before or after they throw an escape rope in my face?

I do agree with you that pokemon is about discovering shit on your own, that's why I flagged your post as a spoiler, because walking with the d-pad is a spoiler

They definitely tell you about walking when you get the roller-skates. She talks about how convenient it is that they just snap on, etc.

I finally got the game today and played far enough into it to feel comfortable watching this. All missunderstandings aside I still quite enjoy these Pokemon quicklooks, I could watch them play a lot more even.

I don't think the NPC tells you to use the D-pad to walk, but she does specifically tell you to use the Circle Pad to use the skates, and since I already knew that you could use both to move I figured that thing out pretty much immediately.

@dagbiker You put "D-pad" hidden behind a spoiler? Seriously? Wow, you must be the most popular kid at your school... I sincerely hope you are a child. Knowing the basic controls is not what I meant by discovery.

And yes, I love getting to the middle of a cave using an escape rope, going all the way back, escape roping when it gets hard again, going back... nobody does this.

@jasoncourt: This video really shouldn't persuade u one way or the other. Haven't played a pokemon game since silver and i'm having a blast. I've got each type for the starter when I got the torchic gift so I have a well rounded team. Training a trochic and fenniken really doesn't make sense.

This whole Brad mad science is gold, you can hear the enthusiasm in his voice when he opens the flood gates, "nutriants..." gotta love it. Breaking Brad is more about how much crazy shit gives him nightmares, hehe. He should do expect commentary over spook'n with scoops.

Same here. Even as a kid I could never get into this. Never saw the big deal.

It's actually a lot of fun, I haven't played since red and I'm really digging it.

Pikachu just muggin'.

There's something about this game that seems really crummy.

Fun little tid bit. Water without impurities is actually a fantastic insulator being very resistant against electricity. Its when all the other junk gets in there it becomes conductive. Heck pure water doesn't even bubble when its boiling.

I agree with what you are saying, though. A lot of the complaints coming from the bombcrew lately sound almost like "why do I have to wait my turn in Fire Emblem while the enemy kills me?". They aren't interesting in status effects or deciding moves. They may as well just have a big red button that say DO I guess and when you push DO, you win.

A few podcasts ago Brad said he didn't like the "monster hunter" aspect of modern MMO's (though that is a generous term for MMOs); the part where you have to play as a team in your team game to win.

Is that why story heavy games are so popular today, because people don't want to think about the game in their hands, they just want to watch it?

3DS games now have a giant button on the bottom before you launch them that says manual. Its not made of paper, but you don't even need to close the game to read it.

Maybe they should stick to single player third person shooters with a generic emotional story that lasts 6-9 hours.

I'm sorry I'm so harsh. I miss the days of shoot first; What's a story later.

Yep, if it involves eating crap, the internet is your place. If the internet ever needed an advertisement, that is it.

"Cast Bufu"

I like raichu more than pikachu.

Do you know what Ekans is backwards?

got this game. Haven't played since blue/red. Fucking loving it. Even bought a 3dsxl for it. Game is awesome

@nictel said:

CORRECT. Raichu is one of the best Pokemon designs ever.

Jeff's "What the fuck?!" when Fennekin evolved was my exact reaction when it happened to me.

The original Pokemon... ah the memories.

How come all the new Pokemon's they've added look like crap.

In Magicka, if someone's throwing lightning all over the place and you get him wet, his lightning charges will backfire on him. Are electric Pokémon completely immune to others' electric attacks? If no, then getting them wet should result in them harming themselves when they try to attack. Electric could very well be weak to water. Which is effective against which is just as much a stylistic choice as the whole fire vs water thing.

It sounds even more like fledgling. Just saying.

@rox360: Yeah, but mine was actually funny.

Watching people who don't really play Pokémon is a great way for me to start to consider things that are kind of a pain in the ass about the series- like the way it doesn't show your stats being lowered or you can't swap out a Pokémon you've just catched without going to town. It makes items like the Heal Ball pretty useless- why use it if they HAVE to go to the box anyways?

Skipped this Quick Look originally, but I just bought a 3DS XL and Pokemon X, and 9 other games... what am I doing with my life?

Only Brad could start a discussion about Pikachu's eating their own poo.

That Fennekin evolve was so disappointing.

My favorite pokemon is Throh. He's a judo pokemon and he likes to throw other pokemon. That's it..