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3DS

North America

Looking at the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Demo

by Bryan Rose - October 24, 2014, 5:40 pm EDT
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Here's a full rundown of what goes on in the Special Demo Version of the upcoming titles!

Playing the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire demo earlier this week was a bit of a treat. After all the clamor for a remake of the 2003 Game Boy Advance titles, the fantasy is becoming a reality in a little under a month's time, at least in North America. Until then, a demo such as this will have to suffice. There wasn’t a lot to explore during the short time that I played the demo, as most of the experience finishes up after an hour or so of gameplay, but the game promises to be the faithful re-imagining of the Hoenn region that many have been looking forward to.

Once I started the demo, I was whisked to Mossdeep City via a Latias, with Steven Stone, Hoenn Pokémon League Champion, guiding the way. As soon as we landed, we discovered there was an issue at the Space Center regarding Team Magma. It was here that we had our first battle against two grunts who were looking for a fight. I chose Marshtomp, since I had always chosen the water starter hearkening back to the days of Squirtle in the original Red/Blue games. After trouncing the team, we learned that there was an island nearby that Team Magma was interested in due to reports of a Mega Evolving Pokémon inhabiting it. Wanting to make sure that Pokémon doesn’t get into anyone else’s hands, Steven asks me, Orlando (you don’t get to choose a name or a gender in the demo) to follow him to an undisclosed island to stop them.

We get to the island, and after battling some grunts from both Team Aqua and Team Magma, which were a cinch to beat, and meeting the female protagonist in the game (previously named May, could possibly have a new name here) we came across two executives within Team Aqua and Magma. They’re fighting against each other at first, but eventually see me, Orlando, and they want to fight. This is where Steven steps in and gives me the Mega Bracelet that allows my Pokémon to Mega Evolve. Since my Marshtomp had just evolved to Swampert, I was able to Mega Evolve him during battle and trounced the two executives rather easily. After they vanished, it was time to find this mysterious Mega Evolving Pokémon that they’ve been after. For spoiler’s sake, I won’t mention which Pokemon it is (you can check the video added here for the answer if need be), but you’ll have the ability to catch it. Once this is done, the main portion of the demo ends, with Steven mentioning something about another evolutionary form called Primal Reversion. Just what could that entail?

You’ll have other opportunities to play once you capture the Mega Evolving Pokémon. Steven will set you out to do various tasks, such as finding a Poochyena for him or battling an expert who already knows your skills. These are pretty easy battles and tasks and it doesn’t take long to complete them. For my efforts, though, I recieved Heal Balls and Pokéballs to transfer over to the full Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire game. You can also talk to the various people around Mossdeep City, but it’s kind of bare as most have nothing interesting to say and most of the doors are locked.

The demo isn’t a sprawling experience, but it gave me an idea of how the game will be when it comes out on November 21 in North America. It’s not going to completely revolutionize the Hoenn region, but rather be a good reminder of the environment and settings, with the added Mega Evolution and Primal Reversion ideas implemented into the storyline to give a fresh take. As long as I’ll be able to change my name (nothing wrong with Orlando, but that’s not my name!) the upcoming titles look to be another Pokémon game worth investing hours on.

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3DS

Game Profile

Pocket Monsters Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Box Art

Genre RPG
Developer Game Freak
Players1 - 4

Worldwide Releases

na: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Release Nov 21, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Pocket Monsters Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Release Nov 21, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Release Nov 28, 2014
PublisherNintendo
Rating7+
aus: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Release Nov 21, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingGeneral
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