Thursday, November 24, 2011

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia Review

Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia Box Art.jpg


Story

The game follows the protagonist, a young Pokemon Ranger as they or they graduates from Ranger School & takes on the duties of a fully fledged Ranger. The male is called Kellyn (Hajime, in the Japanese version) & the female is called Kate (Hitomi in the Japanese version). Only Kellyn appears in the Pokemon anime.

Missions advance the story, which is centred around the antagonists Team Dim Sun (Team Yami Yami in the Japanese version) & their unknown intentions involving Pokemon mind-control machines called Gigaremos powered by dark crystals. Quests usually consist of the player travelling around the Almia region, performing varying tasks requested by citizens in exchange for rewards.

The game starts at the Ranger School, with the player enrolling as a student after expertly capturing a Pikachu. The player quickly makes friends with of classmates, Rhythmi who dreams of being an Operator, & Keith, a rival, who dreams of becoming a Top Ranger. After the player & Keith very discover what Mr. Kincaid, a teacher, is doing in the basement, Mr. Kincaid seals it off from all students. Both the player & Keith show strong potential as Rangers, & graduate with full honors after defeating Tangrowth at their graduation ceremony. The player stays in Almia, while Keith & Rhythmi go to Fiore as part of their training. The player's relatives moves in to a nearby town known as Chicole Village, & the player goes to live with them.

The next day, the player becomes an Area Ranger in the local village of Vientown. After recovering a Partner Pokemon at the beach, the player begins his/her first major mission by patrolling a nearby cave. The Pokemon inside the cave are unusually aggressive & resistant to capture by the ranger's styler. At the back of the cave, the player finds a unusual machine (later called a Gigaremo) that appears to be controlling the Pokemon. The rangers promptly damage the gizmo, freeing the Pokemon, & start researching its abilities. Subsequently, the rangers discover that the Gigaremos are being set up by Team Dim Sun, proposing wider criminal activities. The player travels to the Ranger Union, the headquarters of all ranger operations in Almia, to warn the rangers about the Gigaremo. On the way, the player sees Altru Inc., a powerful oil company that is building a immense tower in the midst of the Almia region


Gameplay

The game takes place in the Almia region. The player begins as a Pokemon ranger-in-training at the Ranger School and quickly graduates to a rookie Ranger and must advance from there. The player may pick their characters gender, but unlike in the original Pokemon Ranger, this choice does not affect their partner Pokemon.

Much of gameplay is similar to the original game. Players must capture/befriend wild Pokemon to aid them by circling them with their Nintendo DS stylus (known as a Capture Styler in the game).

There is a major change from the original capture process. In lieu of having to complete definite number of loops without lifting the stylus, the player must fill up a Pokemons Friendship Gauge by drawing loops around the Pokemon, but can lift the stylus to keep away from assaults. However, the power in Friendship Gauge will decrease over time if the player stops drawing loops for long. The amount of power in the gauge filled by each loop increases as the player levels up the styler.


Pokemon Partner

Pokémon     Poké Assist Group
Chimchar         Fire
Turtwig            Grass
Piplup              Water
Munchlax         Normal
Pachirisu          Electric
Shieldon          Steel
Sneasel            Dark
Snover             Ice
Starly              Flying
Cranidos          Rock
Croagunk        Poison
Gible                Dragon
Hippopotas      Ground
Kricketot          Bug
Machop           Fighting
Mime Jr.          Psychic
Misdreavus      Ghost

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