The bad is that…well, aside from some nice new backgrounds for the different areas, battle graphics are the same for the most part. All in all, Hoenn’s visual transformation from GBA to 3DS was pure joy. When entering a particularly beautiful or significant area, the camera angle automatically panned in, out, or around to give me the best view of the scene. As I traveled, grass would rustle with wild Pokemon (more on that later), and sometimes while running along the beach I would scare a flock of Wingull into flight. More than that, the environment felt alive. From little touches like unique trees along the sides of the road (instead of the same tree copied again and again), to huge effects like giant craters left by meteors from crystal clear waterfalls, to detailed carvings on cave walls, to my personal favorite, a glassy lake that reflects enormous glowing stars above it at night, Hoenn is drop-dead gorgeous. This game is beautiful! You know by now that the graphics are technically the same as they were in X and Y, but my awe was in the amount of detail they put into making Hoenn really look like a region blessed with natural beauty. Let’s start with what you notice first–graphics. But what ORAS does best is take the system already established in Pokemon X and Y and nearly perfect it, bringing a fresh take to the old games and letting players relive them as a brand new adventure.

In many ways, this is the same story we all knew from the GBA–an evil team trying to cover the world in land/water, a scared kid catching a Ralts and gaining confidence, an ancient power sleeping deep beneath the ocean, and the overarching theme of harmony between humans, Pokemon, and nature. They seek to tell the same story of a fledgling trainer collecting eight gym badges that we have come to love, but with tons of added color. Where do I even begin? From the moment the game begins–in the back of a moving van, if you recall–you can tell that the developers had a lot of love for the original games. Pay attention! This Pokemon ORAS review’s a three pager. I wanted to scream everything about these games to the hilltops–all the good, and there’s so much good, as well as grumble about the few flaws that speckled the game here and there. Never has it been so hard for me to keep a secret as it was reviewing Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the upcoming remakes of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire to be released on Friday. If you want to avoid all spoilers, skip the “Land and Sea” section on. There are some new elements and twists to the plot, but I will keep this review spoiler-free of any new storyline. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire are 11 years old, so I feel safe talking about the plot a little here.

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