Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
File:PokemonXDbox.jpg
Developer(s)	Genius Sonority
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Pokémon series
Engine	Pokémon Colosseum engine
Platform(s)	GameCube
Release	JPN: August 4, 2005 NA: October 5, 2005 AUS: November 15, 2005 EUR: November 18, 2005
Genre(s)	RPG, Fantasy, Action
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, released in Japan as Pokémon XD Yami no Kaze Dark Lugia (ポケモンXD 闇の旋風ダーク・ルギア, Pokemon Ekkusudī Yami no Kaze Dāku Rugia, lit. "Pokémon XD: Whirlwind of Darkness Dark Lugia"), is the second console role-playing game from Nintendo’s Pokémon franchise for the Nintendo GameCube. It is the successor of the GameCube game Pokémon Colosseum. The game takes place in Orre, the setting of Pokémon Colosseum’s adventure mode. All of the Game Boy Advance Pokémon games can connect to this game through trading and Battle Mode.

Story

The story begins 5 years after the events of Pokémon Colosseum with the introduction of Michael (player may change the name), the main protagonist. Michael first meets Professor Krane, his mother's boss. He introduces the concept of Shadow Pokémon, which are Pokémon whose hearts have been artificially closed. The criminal syndicate Cipher is creating and distributing them for their evil purposes. Krane also introduces the Snag Machine, which is used to capture Shadow Pokémon to purify. Krane charges Michael with the Snag Machine to capture these Shadow Pokémon and is given the Aura Reader (the eye piece) to identify them from normal pokémon. Shortly after this, Krane is kidnapped by Cipher agents. Michael goes out to save Krane and to uncover and defeat the Cipher syndicate. Michael travels to one of Cipher's bases in the desert. There he battles a lot of Cipher supporters, most of whom have Shadow Pokémon. Michael saves Krane, but fights one of the Cipher administrators in the process. After defeating her, a Cipher researcher drops a Data ROM, which Krane and Michael take back to the Pokémon HQ Lab to investigate. At the lab, the Purify Chamber is completed, just as Michael and Krane get home. Michael tests it out as Jovi takes the Data ROM to Datan, the scientist on the computer. Datan is no where to be found. After talking to different people on the same floor, he finds out that he is outside. Michael goes to meet him and finds him near the east exit. Michael figures out that Datan could not figure out the data but doesn't want the professor to find out. The professor overhears the conversation and says that Michael has to go to Pyrite Town to give the data to Nett, a man who works at ONBS, the news network. Michael travels up to Pyrite Town, and meet Trudley and Folley, who are supposedly the "bad boys" in town. Trudley and Folley work for a man whose name is unknown (Miror B.). Michael enters the ONBS main building and meets Megg, the receptionist at the desk. After performing various tasks, Michael finally gives the Data ROM to Nett, and leaves in search of a Pokespot, meeting Duking. The ONBS is invaded by Cipher and the Data-ROM's contents are deleted.

New features and changes

Pokémon XD contains many new features from its predecessor, Pokémon Colosseum.

Poké Spot

Poké Spot is a new feature in Pokémon XD. It allows players to battle and capture wild Pokémon. There are three different PokéSpot areas: Cave, Rock, and Oasis, each with different Pokémon appear. The rarest of these Pokémon can be traded in-game. To lure Pokémon at Poké Spots, trainers use food called Poké Snacks.

Shadow Pokémon

Shadow Pokémon, introduced in Pokémon Colosseum, are Pokémon whose hearts have been "closed," making them more vicious and powerful in battle. The closed hearts of Shadow Pokémon enable them to use Shadow attacks in battle; while in Colosseum there was only one Shadow move, in XD there are 18. While these attacks are of limited use against other Shadow Pokémon, they are still highly dangerous, being super effective against any non-Shadow Pokémon. However, Shadow Pokémon are unable to grow in power from battle experience until they undergo purification, a process that eliminates their Shadow status.

While Colosseum only featured 48 Shadow Pokémon, XD features 83 Shadow Pokémon, with many trainers using more than one Shadow Pokémon against the protagonist simultaneously. The game also features a Shadow Lugia, and is the one of the few legitimate methods of obtaining a Lugia in the third and fourth generations of Pokémon games. Lugia, along with Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are the same obtainable Legendary Pokémon previously featured in Pokémon: The Movie 2000.

Purification Chamber

In Pokémon Colosseum, Shadow Pokémon were purified one at a time at the Agate Village Relic Stone. This game features the Purification Chamber. In it, a Shadow Pokémon is placed in the center of a circle and up to four non-Shadow Pokémon are placed on the circle. The regular Pokémon lead and open up the Shadow Pokémon's heart. The process can be sped up. The Purification Chamber can purify up to nine Shadow Pokémon at once. It is accessed much sooner than in Coliseum and the only battles in the cave can be postponed.

Other Changes

Unlike in Pokémon Colosseum, where the player had to visit a PC to save the game, Pokémon XD allows the player to save from the pause menu at any time, bringing the game more closely in line with the series' Game Boy entries. While in Coliseum the player's starter Pokémon began at level 20, in XD they begin at level 10. Hidden items are more easily indicated with something of a shine rather than being traditionally hidden. The motorbike has been replaced with a scooter. With the exception of the occasions where you must escort Jovi to various places, the player typically has no partner unlike Coliseum where the partner is necessary for recognizing shadow Pokémon. This is due to a new headgear that allows the user to do this himself. The prologue is done much like that of the traditional games, where it is assumed the player is new to the games, rather than in Coliseum where the trainer is a veteran. The newscasts also more clearly indicate when there is new info, being blue when there is no news and green with the station logo when there is news. In Coliseum, the picture never changed. The starter Pokémon has also changed. Whereas in Coliseum it was chosen it by battling a specific cipher, in XD it is chosen by choosing a stone to evolve your Eevee.

Development and marketing

In March 2005, Nintendo of America executive Reggie Fils-Aime said that Pokémon XD would be a new GameCube game, but not a sequel to Colosseum. He said that the gameplay would be more similar to the Game Boy Advance RPGs Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.

Japanese gaming magazines Famitsu and CoroCoro Comic later gave screenshots and information that revealed that the game would have 3D graphics similar to those of its predecessor, Pokémon Colosseum. It was also revealed that the game would continue the inclusion of Shadow Pokémon and snagging from Colosseum. Nothing of the plot was revealed, other than the fact that a black Shadow Lugia was said to play a large part in the story.

It was also revealed that the player starts with an Eevee, and that the levels progress more closely to the main handheld series.

Nintendo released two demos to promote the game. In the demo released to retail stores, the player goes through two battles where the player can snag three Shadow Pokémon. The second demo was playable on the "Pokémon Rocks America" tour

This game features two Sinnoh related Pokémon species from the Diamond and Pearl generation introduced in Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys, both of which evolve into previous species. They are Munchlax, which evolves into Snorlax, and Bonsly, which evolves into Sudowoodo. However, they cannot be obtained in the Advanced series titles, because they lack the Sinnoh Pokédex, although the player can temporarily use Bonsly during one minigame. This marks the first (and thus far, the only) time that Pokémon from a later generation have appeared in a game during the previous generation.

Reception

Pokémon XD received mixed reviews, usually scoring 6-7 out of 10 (8.6/10 was its highest score). [1][2]

The game was commonly criticized for having a large amount of recycled material from Pokémon Colosseum, which included a number of reused areas, almost recycled graphics, and a modified engine from Colosseum. GameSpot commented that "not much has changed since the original." Another common complaint were the PokéSpot areas, regarded as very limited and small compared to Ruby and Sapphire.

GameSpy had said in their review:

...much of the fun from the portable RPGs is wandering around the world, exploring patches of tall grass and seeing what creatures you randomly encounter. Since you're force-fed the Shadow Pokémon during your encounters with other trainers, it feels more like you're being given a roster of fighters as opposed to building one of your own."

External links

• Official North American website
• Official Japanese website
• Template:Nintendo.com
• Official trailer
• Proof of Australian release