Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Surprisingly good"

In the past, I could easily mow down every gym and the Elite Four with little effort, even if a tad underleveled. The Fifth Gen brought with it an actual difficulty that I have been looking for in Pokemon for quite some time.

Its also fun to deal with the new pokemon while having none of the previous generations to rely on. Having to start over with the level of familiarity equivalent of playing Blue for the first time helps with keeping the challenge alive and finding out what is around the corner is always a surprise. And with tons of new Pokes comes tons of new moves, with some very powerful and useful skills now in the mix.

I also appreciate the actual introduction of a story. The other teams in previous games were more side storylines to keep you playing, while in this game there is the feel of an epic quest with an actual antagonist. I would say it actually does a good job of making you out to be a terrible person when you stop and think about it.

Overall a good game, not groundbreaking in any sense, but good.