Individual Values: A Pokémon Feature - Week 89: The Wait Is Over

Welcome to the eighty-ninth week of my Pokémon feature here on Game Podunk! In case you missed last week's, check it out. Stay tuned for future entries coming every Friday.

Genesect is being distributed at GameStop until November 24th. Every single Mythical Pokémon will be distributed during a specific month for the remainder of this year. Now may be your only chance for a really long time, to actually catch them all!

As you“re reading my final thoughts before sitting down to play Pokémon Sun...I“m probably curled up somewhere, making my way through it. The

Over the next few weeks, my brain will shift from speculative to critical...since I“ll be reviewing the game. It“s been over 85 weeks since I started this Individual Values feature, on the cusp of Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. Time and time again, Game Freak has made me think critically about this goofy series with psychic surfing, purple ghosts and Popplio...and where my life [and future wife] are now because of it. I“ve chronicled all my thoughts over tens of thousands of words, making sure to leave no stone unturned.

We“ve been fed tiny trailer bits for almost nine months that all seem to indicate, “Things are different this time! Better than ever before! There“s so much to do, and so much to see.” They“ve had an unprecedented bolster in sales expectations, likely due to the success of Pokémon GO—another thing I would have never seen coming, at the start of all this. All of Shigeru Ohmori“s proverbial [Psy]ducks are in a row. There“s never been a better opportunity to release a brand new Pokémon game, especially one that mixes up long-established series conventions.

And that“s why...I“m going to be among its harshest critics. I“ve been around and in love with the series for most of its major marketing shifts. The last time Game Freak tried to do something “different” was Black 2 & White 2—my least favorite games in the entire franchise. I know these are fundamentally different times and approaches. But rest assured, even if I never get around to properly elaborating on what exactly I dislike about B2&W2, I will not gush about Sun & Moon just because they're different.

One thing I“ll note in particular, speaking of Unova. The Festival Plaza seems like a refresh of Join Avenue, from those games. Now that they“ve taken an entire generation to improve upon Pokémon“s online communications, I“ll be interested to see just how much the basic concept has evolved since 2012. There are multiple parallels to be drawn from the franchise“s entire history...and I suppose that“s fitting, for the “major anniversary games”. I wonder how hard I“ll be fighting with myself to write a review that doesn“t sound like a glorified list of “same vs. different”.

I suppose there“s not much left to say, other than that. Let“s all see and judge for ourselves, starting today! I“m not sure what the next few Individual Values pieces will focus on, but you can at least expect a full review, another “The Year in Pokémon”, and...one heck of a send-off to Pokémon“s 20th anniversary from me, at least.