Lacey Alexander
Contributor
With the holiday season quickly approaching, video game companies will soon be stocking the shelves with highly anticipated releases just in time to rake in Christmas cash from gamers nationwide.
The games sitting on top of every Nintendo fan’s list will of course be the new Pokemon titles, “Omega Ruby” and “Alpha Sapphire,” that are set to be released on Nov. 21 in the U.S.
Abbreviated by fans of the series as simply “ORAS,” these two 3DS titles serve as remakes of “Pokemon Ruby” and “Pokemon Sapphire,” which were also released on Nov. 21, albeit in 2002, and are also the two best selling GameBoy Advance games of all time.
The games are set in the fictional “Hoenn” region, the region that is considered by a large part of the fandom to be one of the most well designed worlds in the Pokemon franchise.
This old favorite is about to transform into a 3D adventure with all of the new features that the Pokemon games have introduced in the twelve titles released since Hoenn’s debut.
Among those new features, the one that gamers seem to be most excited about are the introductions to new “mega evolutions.” These temporary evolutions will allow Pokemon that once were unable to evolve further to evolve once more during battle and have their stats elevated to more powerful levels.
Another fun improvement will be the soundtrack. The soundtrack on the GBA game was a favorite among gamers for its diversity and cheery melodies, and now it will be remade with better quality for the 3DS, leaving the 32-bit restrictions behind.
Another beloved series that will get a new release will be the “Kingdom Hearts” series. Adored by fans all over the world, the series serves as a love child between two companies that no one would have ever guessed would come together — Disney and Square Enix.
After the release of the very first game for the Sony PlayStation 2 in March 2002, the title was met with unparalleled praise from both critics and players alike. After some more well received releases, Square Enix released a remastering of the first game and it’s sequel: A high definition remake of “Kingdom Hearts” and “Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories” together in one game with new weapons and features.
This game, titled “Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix,” was met with praise from its fanbase as it combined nostalgic memories with gorgeous graphics. Seeing the welcome reception of the title, Square Enix announced another “HD remix” to be released in Dec. 2014 for the Sony PlayStation 3, “Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix.” This set will include “Kingdom Hearts 2” and its sequels.
Sony fans will be no doubt be clamoring for the title this holiday season, as this game will allow them to play two titles on one platform, and new “keyblades,” the main weapon used in the series, are said to be introduced as well.
Titles that were on fans’ Christmas lists 12 years ago are now appearing on their current ones, and they couldn’t be more excited to welcome back the titles that helped them develop into the button-mashing fanatics they are today.
