« Pet Peeve - Fractions of a Penny | Main | We still have live TV in 2005? »
January 01, 2005
Pokemon Sapphire
Just finished Pokemon Sapphire for Gameboy Advance. Really good game. Very Zelda-esque, only turn-based fighting and no need for hand-eye coordination (except if you want to make Poke-blocks, which aren't really necessary to complete the game). Very immersive world, with plenty of stuff completely superfluous to the plot - museums, TV interviews, various contests. Took me slightly over 4 months to play, although total playing time was just over 30 hours. Never needed to consult any online FAQs or walkthroughs. Only got stuck once, which was frustrating, but after a few days I figured out what to do. One thing which would have been nice is some reminder of what your current "mini" mission was. It's hard to remember that you're supposed to go to Lilyport or Mount Pyre a week after you've put the game down. Also, I ended up with a resource management problem as my bag was never big enough to hold everything I found. My advice for the game, map the "Hidden Item Finder" to the "Select" button and use it often, since there's hidden treasure everywhere. Also, use one Pokemon all the time and bring the others up in levels using the "Experience Share" hold item. In the end you're going to need one really powerful Pokemon. I actually completed the entire 5 battles at the Pokemon League with one level 62 Pokemon (although he fainted once or twice and needed to be revived). I give this game my highest recommendation.
Posted by russellneufeld at January 1, 2005 07:26 PM