It’s time to revisit Pokémon X and Y before its too late

04.03.2024 - 11:27 / digitaltrends.com / Tomas Franzese / Nintendo

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to revisit Pokémon X and Y, the announcement of Pokémon Legends: Z-A just gifted you a perfect excuse to do so.

Released for Nintendo 3DS in 2013, Pokémon X and Y are important but quiet entries in the RPG series. They were forward-looking games that brought the series into full 3D and took significant steps in making Pokémon even more approachable and easy to play online. A lot of problems more hardcore fans have, like the games being too casual-focused or having a bevy of technical issues, also got their start here. That makes Pokémon X and Y fascinating games to revisit — and I recommend you do so soon.

Nintendo plans to shut off the online services for the 3DS in April. When it does that, some core features of Pokémon X andY will be gone forever. As such, you’ll need to play one of these games very soon if you want to experience them in their full glory before Pokémon Legends: Z-A releases and takes us back to Kalos in 2025.

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A new era

Pokémon X and Y are the first 3D games in the series, and they look the part. Replaying the RPGs now, the chunky visuals and constantly dipping frame rate certainly show their age. They feel like a warning shot for the technical problems that would eventually come to plague the series on Nintendo Switch, too. Although their exterior can be rough, there’s a lot to appreciate when digging deeper.

The games are set in the region of Kalos, which is based on France. Its centerpiece is the Paris-inspired Lumiose City, which remains one of the biggest and most entertaining places to explore in a Pokémon game. I’m not surprised Game Freak is fully setting Pokémon Legends: Z-A there. When X and Y launched, it still felt like the series was punching above its weight class, considering the hardware it was on, and not falling behind the times like it is on Nintendo Switch.

Visual design is a highlight, with detailed towns and many charming monsters. X andY also emphasize their narrative and wide cast of characters, many of whom are on a journey alongside the player. While the writing isn’t exceptional, this is one of the few Pokémon games where it feels like you’re going on an adventure with friends and coming of age as you take on a very adult threat. Its villains, Lysandre and Team Flare, are such hammy capitalist critiques that come back around to being hilarious.

On the gameplay front, Pokémon X and Y may not be as refined as their Unovan predecessors, but they introduced some ideas that would go on to define the series. This