Finally got around to starting this game. So far so good. The gameplay is nearly identical to X/Y with a few minor differences. I’ve noticed that there’s a heavy emphasis on berries which doesn’t appeal to me at all. My friend mentioned in passing during a late night conversation how he’s been berry obsessed and I didn’t quite understand what he meant. But now that I’m a couple of hours into OR I can totally see what he means. And as much as I like collecting things, the berries are nothing but a nuisance. Other than berries, the sheer number of trainer battles you’re forced to partake in seems to have grown exponentially between X/Y and OR/AS. Kind of annoying.
I imported all my Pokémon I collected from X/Y and all of the downloadable ones since the beginning of the year. I have about 3-4 boxes worth, about 100 or so give or take, but I only have the Hoenn region Pokédex and it says I only have 41. I guess I get the Kalos and/or National Pokédex once I complete the game or something. So for now, I’ll have to use the Hoenn Pokédex numbers to track my progress:
Pokémon count: 41/210
Shiny count: 1/210
My only shiny so far is a shiny Rayquazza from a giveaway sometime last year. Nothing in game yet, but I’m not quite ready to go shiny hunting. Not yet.
Something I miss from X/Y that didn’t make it into OR/AS is the ability to dress your character. It sounds rather silly, especially for a 40-year old man since it’s essentially playing dress-up with an electronic version of a doll, but I think the appeal for me was being able to collect the different outfits. I am a collector by nature: Transformers, sneakers, LEGO, and whatever piqued my interested; I always end up amassing a small hoard of stuff. I’m trying to change my ways though and getting rid of stuff slowly. I think this is why the Pokémon games appeal to me so much: it allows me to satisfy that part of the brain that hungers for collecting things without it taking up too much time or money or space. And as if collecting little pocket monsters wasn’t enough, I really got into collecting pieces of clothing for my character in Pokémon X. Berries: nothing. Hats and skirts: sign me up!
In Omega Ruby there is a different aspect of collecting and customizing for your character though and it’s your “Secret Base”, a sort of headquarters or bachelor/bachelorette pad. I just ran into the guy that introduces my character to the feature. I’m not completely sold on it yet, but I doubt it’ll be as fun as playing dress-up, even for this 40-year old man.