By Nick Dostilio
"Pokken Tournament" is a fairly new game released by the Nintendo cooperation. Its official release date was March 18, 2016, for the WiiU. This game is very unlike the usual pokemon games Nintendo releases. Instead of an overworld game where the player would travel a region, catching Pokemon, the game seems to be a mix of Namco’s Tekken franchise, with some aspects of Street Fighter, and displaying Pokemon. The game is shown to be 3D, the “most 3D” game the Pokemon franchise has released yet. The art style of Pokken Tournament is fairly realistic and has a small felt look to it. It is a very colorful, spectacular, and visually pleasing game nonetheless.
"Pokken Tournament" is a fairly new game released by the Nintendo cooperation. Its official release date was March 18, 2016, for the WiiU. This game is very unlike the usual pokemon games Nintendo releases. Instead of an overworld game where the player would travel a region, catching Pokemon, the game seems to be a mix of Namco’s Tekken franchise, with some aspects of Street Fighter, and displaying Pokemon. The game is shown to be 3D, the “most 3D” game the Pokemon franchise has released yet. The art style of Pokken Tournament is fairly realistic and has a small felt look to it. It is a very colorful, spectacular, and visually pleasing game nonetheless.
The player of the game has 16 very well known pokemon to choose from. Before starting a battle, the player must choose one of them to directly control. Next the pick a “support team”. A support team are 2 pokemon that the player could use and they would attack the enemy or buff or debuff the player or enemy, but they only appear for a short amount of time and then disappear. Then there is Nia, a veteran Battle Trainer, acts as your guide and who, in between battles, “cheers” you on and boosts an aspect to the player, only for the next battle.
There are multiple rounds in a battle, unlike the original games. They apply to the “best two out of three” rule, so if the player does not win the first round, they have two more rounds to possibly win the battle. Also there are two “phases’ in the battle. There is a “Field Phase” where the game starts on a 3D plane where most ranged attacks or rushing to use melee attacks. Then there is a “Dual Phase” where the battle is in a 2D plane where serious damage could be done. These planes could be switched during the rounds by using extremely strong moves.
During the battles, there are two meters that are being filled, the “support gauge” and the “synergy gauge”. The support gauge lets you use one of the support pokemon from your support team. The synergy gauge is a gauge that fills up with a special energy in the game, called synergy, and when it is filled, the player can cause a “synergy burst” that causes the pokemon to release the energy and become extremely powerful, and if the pokemon has a mega evolution, that pokemon will mega evolve (introduced in Pokemon X and Y). During this synergy burst, the player can cause a “burst attack”. This is like a final attack that is extremely powerful and causes a cutscene.
There are a few places (cities or towns) that let you do different things. There is your “hometown” where it is like a system settings place where you can chance your “partner pokemon” character customization, character settings, support team settings, guide settings, and just the normal system settings. There is also a gym looking place where the player can go through the tutorials and other types of training. The player can play in single battle games where he or she can change the settings of the battle and play against the computer and it has no significance over anything, it’s all just for fun. Then there is online battle where players can fight others from all over the world. If you have someone who wants to play with you, there is a local battle where two people can fight each other in the same place, grated if you have an extra controller. Lastly there is the Ferrum League (Ferrum is the region the game takes place). The Ferrum League is a big tournament where the player can rise through the ranks and advance to the next class. This is also where the main story takes place.
Some additional facts about this game is that it can use amiibos. There is an amiibo card of the Shadow Mewtwo (exclusive to Pokken Tournament) that lets you use him as a playable character. The only downside to this is that he cannot be your partner pokemon (because it would counteract the story in the Ferrum League) and that he will not be a playable character next time you turn on Pokken Tournament, but he will still be available, if you have the amiibo card. Another small fact about Pokken Tournament is that there are no DLCs (Downloadable Content). To most who have played the game, it is something that is a let down because there are not that many battle pokemon to choose from. Nintendo says that there is no need for any DLCs for now because it is still selling very well, and that it is still fairly new. After some time has passed, Nintendo might feel the need for DLCs, and hopefully these DLCs add new pokemon to the roster for a more wide range of pokemon to choose from, new battle stages, and new support teams.
Overall, Pokken Tournament is a very unique and enjoyable game. For pokemon veterans (like myself), this is a great game to finally experience pokemon battles in a way we have always imagined them as being. It is also a great way to challenge these pokemon veterans in a new way of fighting with pokemon and getting to use some of their favorite pokemon for this experience. This game is also great for newer players to pokemon to get them closer to pokemon and what they are like. It is a very beautiful game with all the colors, cutscenes, and the realism in the art. There are some flaws with this game too. Like previously stated, there aren’t that many battle pokemon on the roster, giving the players a limited range of pokemon to use. There are also some glitches included in the game to. The Shadow Mewtwo, if using a certain move, can become nearly unbeatable. Another thing that isn’t so great about this game is some of the moves used in the game. Some of them are just too confusing to use and make no sense on how you actually use them. The pokemon Sceptile is one of them. I’m not even going to try to explain this, just look it up yourselves. Lastly, sometimes the game just gets to hard. For younger players who aren’t so experienced with the WiiU, the controls of the game will be really confusing for them and when you get really far into the game, the pokemon become nearly impossible to beat, which will be bad for younger, inexperienced players. Pokken Tournament, overall, is an extremely fun, beautiful, and unique pokemon game.
There are multiple rounds in a battle, unlike the original games. They apply to the “best two out of three” rule, so if the player does not win the first round, they have two more rounds to possibly win the battle. Also there are two “phases’ in the battle. There is a “Field Phase” where the game starts on a 3D plane where most ranged attacks or rushing to use melee attacks. Then there is a “Dual Phase” where the battle is in a 2D plane where serious damage could be done. These planes could be switched during the rounds by using extremely strong moves.
During the battles, there are two meters that are being filled, the “support gauge” and the “synergy gauge”. The support gauge lets you use one of the support pokemon from your support team. The synergy gauge is a gauge that fills up with a special energy in the game, called synergy, and when it is filled, the player can cause a “synergy burst” that causes the pokemon to release the energy and become extremely powerful, and if the pokemon has a mega evolution, that pokemon will mega evolve (introduced in Pokemon X and Y). During this synergy burst, the player can cause a “burst attack”. This is like a final attack that is extremely powerful and causes a cutscene.
There are a few places (cities or towns) that let you do different things. There is your “hometown” where it is like a system settings place where you can chance your “partner pokemon” character customization, character settings, support team settings, guide settings, and just the normal system settings. There is also a gym looking place where the player can go through the tutorials and other types of training. The player can play in single battle games where he or she can change the settings of the battle and play against the computer and it has no significance over anything, it’s all just for fun. Then there is online battle where players can fight others from all over the world. If you have someone who wants to play with you, there is a local battle where two people can fight each other in the same place, grated if you have an extra controller. Lastly there is the Ferrum League (Ferrum is the region the game takes place). The Ferrum League is a big tournament where the player can rise through the ranks and advance to the next class. This is also where the main story takes place.
Some additional facts about this game is that it can use amiibos. There is an amiibo card of the Shadow Mewtwo (exclusive to Pokken Tournament) that lets you use him as a playable character. The only downside to this is that he cannot be your partner pokemon (because it would counteract the story in the Ferrum League) and that he will not be a playable character next time you turn on Pokken Tournament, but he will still be available, if you have the amiibo card. Another small fact about Pokken Tournament is that there are no DLCs (Downloadable Content). To most who have played the game, it is something that is a let down because there are not that many battle pokemon to choose from. Nintendo says that there is no need for any DLCs for now because it is still selling very well, and that it is still fairly new. After some time has passed, Nintendo might feel the need for DLCs, and hopefully these DLCs add new pokemon to the roster for a more wide range of pokemon to choose from, new battle stages, and new support teams.
Overall, Pokken Tournament is a very unique and enjoyable game. For pokemon veterans (like myself), this is a great game to finally experience pokemon battles in a way we have always imagined them as being. It is also a great way to challenge these pokemon veterans in a new way of fighting with pokemon and getting to use some of their favorite pokemon for this experience. This game is also great for newer players to pokemon to get them closer to pokemon and what they are like. It is a very beautiful game with all the colors, cutscenes, and the realism in the art. There are some flaws with this game too. Like previously stated, there aren’t that many battle pokemon on the roster, giving the players a limited range of pokemon to use. There are also some glitches included in the game to. The Shadow Mewtwo, if using a certain move, can become nearly unbeatable. Another thing that isn’t so great about this game is some of the moves used in the game. Some of them are just too confusing to use and make no sense on how you actually use them. The pokemon Sceptile is one of them. I’m not even going to try to explain this, just look it up yourselves. Lastly, sometimes the game just gets to hard. For younger players who aren’t so experienced with the WiiU, the controls of the game will be really confusing for them and when you get really far into the game, the pokemon become nearly impossible to beat, which will be bad for younger, inexperienced players. Pokken Tournament, overall, is an extremely fun, beautiful, and unique pokemon game.