“Haha, remember Machamp – no victory means no dinner *winky face*!” It meant that whether I was pounding my opponent into a fine paste or watching my fighter’s bones get systematically snapped, Harlequin was perpetually ecstatic. Since even voiced characters emote with all the charisma of a wet rock, your own character is relegated to whatever emotion is plastered on their face during creation. I would have liked for her to have something of a personality and more than just a Deus Ex sit-in for whatever the game’s story needed at the time but here we are.
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I went with my usual in-game name of Harlequin and made her a black, teenage schoolgirl. The main character is also a generic, voiceless so-n-so of the players’ creation, and doesn’t bring a whole lot to the story or gameplay. I get the feeling that Pokkén Tournament’s story is just an elaborate setup for a new mechanic that’ll be fully explained in the new Sun and Moon versions. At least on some level, these stones appear to let trainers embody and control their Pokemon though, again, this isn’t explained a whole bunch. Also, I’m not completely clear on this, but I think the synergy stones and headsets allow trainers and Pokemon to fuse spirits. For starters, I wasn’t aware that there was more than one Mewtwo and, for various canonical reasons, I’m convinced that this isn’t the same Mewtwo seen in previous movies/shows/etc. In that sense, I guess it works fairly well since fighting games aren’t frequently known for their expansive or detailed narratives, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t questions I want to be answered. Pokkén Tournament’s story is… Unusual, to say the least, and never really explains itself all that well.
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You’ve had it coming for years you weird little rat ba–OOO, HE’S WEARING A LITTLE LUCHADOR SUIT NOW! SQUEEEEEE!. Besides, who could pass up the chance to finally beat the crap out of Pikachu so thoroughly? The game at its core is still enjoyable, making for some excellent couch gaming when you’ve got some friends around, and the online matching isn’t the worst thing ever. The story is a bit hokey, and I would have liked for some more narrative focus, and a bit more effort put into the single player experience, but these aren’t deal breakers. A fighting game where you take the role of the Pokemon instead of the trainers? It just seems so painfully obvious, and I’m happy to say that it mostly lives up to expectations. Like many others I’m sure, I’ve wanted a game like Pokkén Tournament for a long time, and I’m surprised it’s taken this long for it to happen.