So yesterday, Alpha Sapphire finally came out. I don't know how but I was thankfully not spoiled by any additional information beyond something I wasn't already aware of. As mentioned previously, I am a college student in a rural area, so today my copy was shipped to me in the afternoon. I waited a little bit longer to play it so I could actually get some school work done. That's one of the cool things your favorite game coming out, you can force yourself to not play it until you get some homework done.
Yet I finally popped in the cartridge and started the game. The same trailer at the end of the demo played again, but finally I was taken to the title screen where I finally started to feel all the months of hype and nostalgia culminate.
I have to say, as soon as I pressed start, it was the perfect re-introduction. I was taken to the original sapphire opening screen with a sprite Professor Birch and a blacked out touch screen. He gives the speech about the world of pokemon and slowly your Pokenav lowers to reveal the 3D world. Outside cuts to pokemon playing out in the wild and it was such an amazing shot. I don't know why, but I love the idea that you're just fiddling on your Nav putting your information into the screen while you wait to exit the moving van.
Everything else plays out how you would expect, your go see your Mom, she's really excited about a clock that Dad got you and tells you to see your room. I really loved the Lapras doll in my room, and I hope I can somehow stuff that into my secret base. That aside, I did the quick check around and saw I myself don't have a PC, which is weird in context, but I get it. Did anyone really use their personal PC?
So I go back downstairs, and we go through Mom missing the T.V program, and telling you to meet your neighbors. Littleroot finally opens up, and while its a cool place, it still is the small starting area you're confined to for the first duration of the game. You meet your neighbor, in this case: Brenden who as far as rival / friends go is pretty much the same. It is always super cinematic whenever you talk to Brenden and he's honestly...still a kind of a boring character. That's okay though, he serves more as a guide than anything else. He runs off, I start talking to the NPC's in town and finally: I head into the tall grass.
In an instant I see Professor Birch, being chased in 3D and it is just really funny, but finally comes the moment of truth: you choose your starter. I see mudkip and pick him with little hesitation. I did think for a moment about starting with Treecko, and while I like his design and line, I prefer a tank-y starter. Plus mudkip is fricken adorable, memes aside, have you seen his 3D modal? Occasionally he'll just be standing around and then he'll open his mouth into a smile and tilt his head. Also if you get a mudkip and are not half way through the game at this point: Play in pokemon amie with your mudkip. You will not regret it.
So I defeat the first battle with no problem, and Birch sends me off to meet up with his son. Now we're in the weird limbo where its the game, but it is still very much a tutorial. You can't catch anything so you beat on wurmples until your face turns blue and make it to Oldale town. A shop keeper runs up to you to give you your tour of the town and this honestly is the most frustrating part in the game for any pokemon fan. I understand that every pokemon game is someone's first, but it does make you feel so boxed in until you finally climb up to 103 and there's Brenden. I went through the first rival battle, and honestly I think it is the first time I've had to use growl in a pokemon game, but I digress. I whoop Brenden a new one, and we go back to Birch where finally we get the pokedex and the Dex nav app (I'll get to the app in a second).
Finally you're off, almost, before your Mom comes to say goodbye. Now, I don't know about scale, or how far away from Petalburg we are, but your Mom comes and she sees you're about to go on your journey...and the two of you stand there. Gamefreak, you missed a perfect hug oppertunity. This is a 3D modal, you can convey that the Mom is going to genuinely miss and be worried about the child who's going out into the world. Even if she is completely cool and assured that her pokemon will keep her safe, she will still miss her child. And she pauses as she walks away to wave to you. Second missed hug oppertunity.
But I'm going to stop right here because finally, FINALLY, you are out in the world. You've been given pokeballs, and as promised, I've been catching every possible pokemon in an area that I can. While I'm disappointed by lack of hugs in gamefreak, I do love the dexnav app. It is perfect! Well, not really but it is implemented really well. If you've seen a pokemon but have not caught it, its silhouette appears. And the new search/ radar function is so amazing. It makes it clear what pokemon you'll come across. I'm only past the first gym and I have nearly all the pokemon in those starting areas thanks to that map...but I disgress. I start catching all the pokemon, and giving all the pokemon I catch ridiculous nicknames. Finn is my mudkip, and Erebus is my poochyena, and at this point in my story are the pokemon sticking with me. I go down route 102, and start fighting my first few trainers, and catching all the pokemon in these starting areas. I walk around and finally make it to Petalburg.
While walking around, you'll see an NPC who mentions wally, and I'm suddenly curious. I head up to the gym, and there's my Dad. He's giving a lecture/pep talk to a kid, and finally he sees you and invites you into the gym. We're catching up, when finally Wally comes in. You really get quickly that Wally is a frail kid, and your Dad, being the cool person he is, is instantly willing to help him out. I really wish Wally catching his first pokemon was just a cinematic, and not a tutorial for catching pokemon still, but you go with Wally and I assume stand there to be encouraging. Yet he has his ralts, and he's excited and I'm genuinely excited for him.
Dad thanks you for helping out, but gives you your first "quest", to head to Rustboro city and to become "stronger". And that's where I'm going to stop for now. I was originally going to write until my first gym badge, but I had a lot more to say than I thought I did about the introduction and I would like these pieces to be somewhat manageable to read. But tell me, how did you feel about the introduction the game?
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