- Letter from the editor -

Pokémon has always been important in my life. From my little black Nintendo 3DS with all my cartridges that have been reset so many times I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s affected the cartridges software, to my Nintendo Switch and two Pokémon Sword cartridges, to my probably unhealthy amount of Pokémon merch. Point is, I really like Pokémon.

I have countless drawings of various Pokémon, I’m currently reading the X and Y manga, and I watch Pokémon YouTubers all the time. Pokémon has really wormed its way into my many hobbies.

I played Pokémon X and Y; those were my first Pokémon games. I also played Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, both of them, because for some reason I got both??? (Hey, I never complained about it I’ll always take more Pokémon games) I got Sun and Moon but not the Ultra games because I believe I thought they were just the same games (which honestly, they are but with a few more features). I played Let’s Go Eevee but got stuck and never finished it, and then I got Pokémon Sword.

I played Pokémon Sword a. Lot. I have over 100 hours in the game, and it was all time I enjoyed. I loved Pokémon Sword, not sure why, but I loved it. Looking back, Pokémon Sword was really easy (probably one of the reasons I like it so much) and the plot was iffy. I loved (and still do love) the DLC and all the features they introduced, like the new Galarian Birds as well as the mechanic of training Kubfu in the towers and how the forms are different depending on the tower you choose, and the Max Lair is super fun (and has some nice shiny rates). All and all, I haven’t opened my Pokémon Sword save in a bit, but I have loads of good memories from it and I would definitely play them again if I could have two save files.

I played (still am playing) Legends Arceus, and I loved it as well. I love the way catching works in Legends, I like skipping the battle in the catching sequence, as battling has never been my favorite part of Pokémon. I like the plot of Legends, and the new forms too. I also like what they did with the starters, having one from all different generations, being gen 2, gen 5 and gen 7. Currently as I write this, I haven’t finished the game, but I plan to finish it in the future.

Before Pokémon Scarlet and Violet came out, I got my hands on an old Pokémon Black cartridge, which I also haven’t finished but I have loved it as well. The music is one of my favorite things about the game, with the sprites and animations being a close second.

Then, most recently, I got Pokémon Scarlet. There’s a lot to write about this game, but I’ll write the shorter version here. I, personally, love Pokémon scarlet. Yes, I agree the game should not have been released as early as it was, but I have a feeling that if they did delay the game, even if only by a few months, people would have gone wild. Maybe not everyone, but I can guess it would be enough to make Nintendo release the game early. When I was playing Pokémon Scarlet, I only encountered a couple little visual glitches that were only there for a second and did not affect my gameplay at all.

In my article, you will find a detailed summary of the plot, new features, new pokemon, gameplay and some more detailed personal opinions on the game.