Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Genius Sonority
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Composer(s)	Tsukasa Tawada
Series	Pokémon
Engine	Modified Pokémon Colosseum engine
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube
Release date(s)	JP August 4, 2005 NA October 3, 2005 AUS November 10, 2005 EU November 18, 2005
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ACB: G CERO: A ESRB: E PEGI: 3+
Media/distribution	1 GameCube Optical Disc

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.

Gameplay

In the new "Purify Chamber" mode, the player arranges purified Pokémon around a Shadow Pokémon to purify the latter. Ideally, four purified Pokémon would be arranged in a clockwise fashion so that each would have a typological advantage over the next. This would fill the "tempo" gauge and allow for most efficient purification.

The basic gameplay is the same as the first game, players travel various areas and talk to NPCs. However, unlike most Pokémon games the player's primary method of acquiring new Pokémon is by using the "Snag Machine" to capture evil "Shadow Pokémon". Shadow Pokémon appear in most battles. When a Shadow Pokémon appears, the player is alerted and a dark purple aura will resonate from the Pokémon. A new element in this game are the "Poké Spots", which are special locations where players can place Pokémon food in an attempt to lure out wild Pokémon. In the previous game, Pokémon Colosseum, wild Pokémon had not been available due to the barren nature of the Orre region.

Other notable changes from Colosseum are:

• Saving is now on-demand, like most Pokémon games, rather than at a PC, as in Colosseum
• The protagonist is no longer a veteran, and must go through the usual tutorials of most Pokémon games
• Pokémon start on level 5 rather than level 20. They are also purified much more quickly
• The "gifted partner" in Colosseum has been replaced with the Aura Reader, which activates automatically
• The difference between breaking news and a repeat broadcast is made more apparent
• The purification shrine is accessed much earlier in the game than in Colosseum
• Calling a Pokémon that's not in "reverse mode" (changed from "hyper mode") will increase accuracy (it had no effect in Colosseum)
• Shadow Pokémon now have "Shadow Moves" instead of just the single attack Shadow Rush
• The protagonist uses a scooter instead of a motorcycle
• The starter Pokémon is now Eevee instead of Espeon and Umbreon (although it can evolve into either later in the game)
• Most of the recycled locations have been redesigned
• The P*DA announces when a Pokémon is ready to be purified

Story

The story begins five years after the events of Pokémon Colosseum with the introduction of The Hero, (default named Michael) the main protagonist. Michael first meets Professor Krane, his mother's boss, who 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.^[1] Krane entrusts 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 after the Cipher Agents to rescue Krane, and soon is lead on many adventures throughout Orre. He must defeat the Cipher Peons and Admins and rescue the shadow Pokémon to save Orre from the evil Cipher. At the end of the game, he must get to Citadark Isle and battle the main villain: Master Greevil, who, in the beginning of the game, was thinly disguised as an old rich man named Mr. Verich. After Michael defeats Greevil and snags his shadow Pokémon, he must purify all of them, including the (seemingly) impossible to purify Shadow Lugia. After all of the Pokémon are purified, Michael returns home and puts down his snag machine, but he stores it safely in his room to be used if it is ever needed again.

Development and marketing

In March 2005, Nintendo of America executive Reggie Fils-Aimé 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.^[2]

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. The Eevee that you are given by default can evolve into any of five Pokémon, Vaporeon, Flareon, Jolteon, Umbreon, or Espeon. Towards the start of the game when the player must enter the parts shop, there is a man who will give you any of the five evolution-inducers: Sun Shard, Moon Shard, Water Stone, Fire Stone, or Thunder Stone.

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.

Reception

Pokémon XD received mixed reviews, usually scoring 6—7 out of 10 (8.6 out of 10 was its highest score), mostly positive.^[3][4]

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.^[5] GameSpot commented that "not much has changed since the original".^[6] Another common complaint were the Poké Spot areas, regarded as very limited and small compared to Ruby and Sapphire.^[6][7][8] While discussing the mixed quality of the Pokémon console games, Retronauts podcaster Kat Bailey mentioned it as an example.^[9]

References

1. ^ "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Gamecube Video Game Review". Kidzworld. http://www.kidzworld.com/article/6078-pokemon-xd-gale-of-darkness-gamecube-video-game-review. Retrieved 2009-04-01. 
2. ^ Casamassina, Matt (March 9, 2005). "GDC 2005: Reggie Talks Revolution". IGN. http://cube.ign.com/articles/594/594834p2.html. 
3. ^ "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Reviews". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/925945.asp. Retrieved 2008-10-13. 
4. ^ "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (cube: 2005): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/cube/pokemonxdgaleofdarkness. Retrieved 2008-10-13. 
5. ^ Harris, Craig (October 6, 2005). "IGN: Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Review". IGN. http://cube.ign.com/articles/656/656659p2.html. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Mueller, Greg (October 10, 2005). "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for GameCube Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/rpg/pokemongc/review.html. 
7. ^ Theobald, Phil (October 11, 2005). "GameSpy: Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Review". GameSpy. http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/pokemon-gamecube/657754p2.html. 
8. ^ Coxall, Martin (May 12, 2005). "Review - Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness // GC /// Eurogamer". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62011. 
9. ^ http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/podcast.the1upnetwork.com/flat/Retronauts/R030611.mp3

External links

• Official North American website
• Official Japanese website
• Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness at Nintendo.com (archives of the original at the Internet Archive)