Pokémon’s Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: The Gaming Gems of 2014

By: Karim 

2014 is generally considered to be one of the worst years in gaming history, filled to the brim with AAA titles that did not live up to expectations and glitch-filled launches that are “rectified” with huge patches, as well as the corporate greed of most major developers and their utter negligence towards consumers. In fact, many of last year's best games are updated versions of existing titles ported to current generation consoles. While most of these tend to add nothing more than a slightly increased resolution and packaged downloadable content (DLC) that most owners of the last generation version probably already bought, a couple of titles stand out as going above and beyond standard remakes. They not only give the look of the games a complete overhaul and introduce movement in eight directions as opposed to the top down perspective of the old, but they also make various refinements to the gameplay making it equally enjoyable by beginners and series veterans alike.

            The basic story of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire follows that of their original versions, which in turn follow the same standard plot as every Pokemon title. Once players decide on the name and gender of their character, they will find themselves in a small town where after a twist of events, the players will receive a starter Pokémon of either the Fire, Water, or Grass elemental types from the town's resident professor. Once the player chooses his or her starter, he or she must go on a journey to catch more of the titular creatures until a team of six Pokémon is formed. The gamer must then collect a total of eight badges by battling Gym Leaders before challenging the Elite Four, all the while stopping a villainous team from taking over the world with the help of a legendary Pokémon.

            In terms of graphics, the fully 3D Pokémon models are very life-like, showing off the capabilities of the Nintendo 3DS. This is in stark contrast to the downright ancient, static 2D sprites of old. Even the character models for the human trainers are a vast improvement in comparison to the classics, with every character having clear, varying facial expressions. One thing I enjoyed in particular is the amount of characterization that was given to the two opposing antagonistic factions, Team Aqua and Team Magma. The former's obsessive desire is to turn the world into one big ocean, while the latter's is to dry up all water on earth leaving only land. While Team Aqua and Team Magma were mere pallet swaps in the originals, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire gave them wildly different designs and personalities; Team Magma is a highly disciplined and scientific group led by their strict yet highly intelligent leader Maxie, while Team Aqua is a group of rebellious and rowdy pirates led by their muscular and rough leader Archie. It’s the attention to detail that was put into these remakes that differentiate them from the originals.

            The gameplay has been equally improved, with there being various tweaks to the battle system including introducing numerous new ways to catch Pokémon. Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire have new “mega evolutions” that make them far more viable than before. For instance, Beedrill, typically considered to be one of the weakest creatures in the game, becomes an offensive powerhouse with nearly unmatched speed and attack once it mega evolves. Also, there are special tutors for Pokémon that the player can access once he or she reaches the Battle Resort area. These special Non-Player Characters (NPCs) teach Pokémon distinctive moves that they cannot learn on their own. With a combination of brand-new “mega evolutions” and move tutors, the amount of strategic combinations of monsters that gamers can come up with have drastically changed. The other major addition to gameplay involves sneaking up on wild Pokémon with the “DexNav,” a device that lures them out of hiding. The advantage to this method over encountering Pokémon normally is that first of all, you are guaranteed to find a particular species instead of depending on luck and secondly, the player has the chance to find a creature with special moves and hidden passive abilities. For example, Ralts, normally found at level three, can be found using this method at level 13 with the hidden ability of “telepathy” as well as the special move “shadow sneak”.

            These are just a few reasons why Pokémon’s Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are my favorite games of last year. These titles deliver the same unique and addicting monster-collecting gameplay the series is known for while also proving that a remade version of a game can be far more than a simple graphical update with some previously purchasable add-ons. Anyone with Nintendo's latest portable system owes it to him or herself to enjoy these gaming masterpieces regardless of whether they played the original Ruby and Sapphire or not.