The Future of Pokemon: A Look at the Demo For Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

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Last month, Nintendo released a short demo version for their upcoming release of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Nintendo’s push to provide demos is certainly new and I was apprehensive about this. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire will forever be one of my favorite Pokemon generations for a number of reasons, so I am ecstatic that Nintendo has chosen this particular game to revamp and upgrade. The demo itself doesn’t give much away, other than a look at the 3D graphics of the Hoenn region, the battle system, and an opportunity to observe short flying sequences. Once you complete each mini mission in the demo a respective number of times, you may earn rewards, such as heart scales, potions, and nuggets. These rewards can then be transported over to the full game once it is released.

What I enjoyed about the demo:

1. You get a significant look at the mega evolutions of the starter Pokemon you have chosen. You also get to see mega Metagross in action, who is very intimidating, and either mega Glalie or mega Steelix respectively, depending on your location.
2. You are introduced to Steven Stone, the Elite-4 champion, whom you team up with to beat grunts from Team Magma and Team Aqua in the demo. Steven also gives you the opportunity to use your starter pokemon’s final move. I definitely feel like the demo has helped me decide which starter Pokemon to choose.

What I did not enjoy about the demo: 

1. The length: Overall, the demo was painfully short. Yes, there are options to play the demo over and over again with slightly different mini missions, but you cannot level your Pokemon up or even capture other Pokemon in the wild. The primary end game seems to be obtaining items that can then be transported over to the full game.

There has been quite a lot of recent announcements and rumors concerning details of the upcoming games. It is my hope that I am able to address most of the important details concerning the game before the release.

1. Secret bases are back and better than ever!
2. It has been confirmed that ALL legendary Pokemon will be able to be captured. However, there are rumors that the legendaries will be broken up and split as exclusive between both Omega and Sapphire. Hopefully this will mean ORAS will have some great post-game content, as post-game content has gotten more dismal in the past few generations.
3. Latios and Latias must be obtained via the Eon ticket and you will be able to fly with them and access areas you are not able to reach by foot.
4. Many Pokemon have been given new mega evolutions.
5. Cosplay Pikachu is a new addition and pokemon contests are back!
6. The PokeNav has gotten a significant upgrade – it is now capable of finding and identifying particular Pokemon in the wild. Now this actually sounds extremely useful.
7. With the recent creation of the Pokemon Bank App, you will be able to very easily transport Pokemon from previous games to this game.
8. Apparently there will be no trainer customization in ORAS as there was in the past 3D games. This is very disappointing, as the ability to customize your character was one of my favorite aspects of the X and Y games.

If you are a fan of Pokemon, be sure to pick up either Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire this coming Friday, November 21st and stay tuned for our review of the entire game. If you have never dabbled in Pokemon before, this is a perfect opportunity to jump into the fray and give it a spin. I  promise you, it’s extremely addicting.