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Pokemon Shuffle Review - Feedback is a thing apparently.

I'm just gonna pretend like last week didn't happen. Stupid to say I'm gonna leave a site. I still check the freaking Adventure Time Wikia chat because I was active there for a week. No one ever leaves a site. Well I don't. Because I sit at my computer all day. Also I have my reasons for posting my reviews here even though I ask for feedback on like three other websites. Not going to delve into that, though. I'm going off topic, aren't I?

FEEDBACK!!!! I like it. Please give it? Thanks.

People seem to hate Pokemon Shuffle just because of micro-transactions, and while I do admit it's a cheap and dirty way for Nintendo to make more money, there's more to the core game than meets the eye. It isn't the best match three game I've ever played, but in short bursts Pokemon Shuffle is a good game. I mean, it's free. Try it.

GamePlay:

If you've played Pokemon Trozei, or even Battle Trozei, you've essentially played Pokemon Shuffle. While it isn't exactly the same, Shuffle holds great resemblence to both Trozei games. If you've played a match-three puzzle game, you've played Pokemon Shuffle. You win by defeating any given Pokemon - one per stage - using four Pokemon of your choice to hurt it. You damage Pokemon in the game by, literally, matching three of your Pokemon on the bottom screen. Thankfully to spruce things up a bit, Genius Sonority had the hindsight to add in type advantages and Mega Evolutions. Type advantages add a strategic element to every stage; should you take a ghost type in against this psychic type? Or maybe even a bug type? The possibilities are endless, and the aforementioned Mega Evolutions only add more diversity to Pokemon Shuffle. You're permitted one Pokemon that can Mega Evolve per stage, just like in the main series of Pokemon games where you can only have one Mega Evolved Pokemon per team. It really mixes things up and adds more to Shuffle as a whole, and I think a lot of people overlook it.

Pokemon Shuffle isn't an action-packed experience. You can plan out your turns for as long as you want to - each and every stage has a set amount of moves you have to defeat the enemy. If this proves too challenging, you can purchase power-ups using coins. These power-ups can include additional moves, experience bonuses and more. There's a wide variety, but make sure you save your coins for harder stages.

Presentation:

So I was pretty happy with the gameplay. This is where the bad comes in - Pokemon Shuffle is literally just Pokemon Battle Trozei toned down a little. I wasn't a fan of Battle Trozei's "do everything as fast as possible" form of match three, so while I enjoy Shuffle much more, it really is just a toned down version of Battle Trozei. The Pokemon icons in game are almost identical to those found in Battle Trozei. Heck, even the game icon is extremely similar. It isn't uncommon for game developers to do this type of thing - especially considering Shuffle is free - but I crave new art designs. I love them. Shuffle lacks them. It makes me sad. For every x amount of stages you conquer, you're essentially entering a new world. Silbern Museum, Bonbon Boulevard, Isla Asul, and so on, and so forth. It's nice but honestly these locations don't mean anything to anyone. It would have been nice had they used actual locations from the main series' regions, but something is better nothing.

Call me crazy, but this just seems lazy to me - there's no 3D. I know it's a puzzle game and that it wouldn't add anything to the gameplay, but that can be said about almost every 3DS game. Ever since I got a New 3DS I've wanted more and more 3D functionality, and sadly Genius Sonority decided to skip it. Sigh.

Sound:

Something interesting revolving around the aforementioned locations, each area has its own defining music. Honestly I really enjoyed the songs found in Pokemon Shuffle. It never got too awfully repetitive - which is an issue I find to be quite common with soundtracks these days - so I still enjoy it to this day, 40 hours of game time later. One thing that does get repetitive is the music that plays when you Mega Evolve one of your Pokemon. The tune never changes and it gets extremely tiring hearing it over and over again across every single stage.

Completion Value:

Completion value? For a puzzle game? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'm ashamed and happy to say that this game has taken nearly 40 hours out of my life. A free-to-play, match-three puzzle game revolving around Pokemon, has kept me occupied for that long. The funny thing is, I haven't come anywhere close to completing the game. Actually, I just beat it. Each stage is ranked on how many moves you have left when you win - C Rank, B Rank, A Rank and the holy-grail of all ranks ever, S Rank. It doesn't stop there, no, you can capture each and every Pokemon you encounter - the capture rate is also determined by how many moves you have left. Going another step farther than that, there's Expert Stages, and Special Stages. Expert Stages are unlocked by S Ranking a wide variety of stages - 20 Expert Stages in all. Special Stages are changed ever so frequently by Genius Sonority themselves, in which they add more and more daily Pokemon and competitions for you to tackle. Stuff like this makes you go keep checking to see what the new daily Pokemon is every. Single. Day. In addition to the 170 stages that come with the initial release of the game, an update just released adding a total of 50 more stages. Do you know how long that'll take someone to finish? A long, long time.

Micro-Transactions:

You were all waiting for it throughout the entire review. Or you're just skipping around waiting to read my thoughts on the games micro-ransactions. Well, here's the final verdict: meh. They're completely optional and aren't required to enjoy and complete the game, so you can purchase hearts and coins at your own accord. Sure, it's nice to be able to play the game for hours at a time, but it isn't necessary. I can stand proud by the fact that I spent $20 on this game. Could I have gotten something better with my money? Definitely. Would I have rather gotten something to eat at McDonalds? Probably. But I got my worth out of Pokemon Shuffle, and you should too.

Conclusion:

Pokemon Shuffle has great match-three puzzle-based gameplay, but poor presentation brings it down a notch. Music that never got too awfully repetitive, a load of content to complete, and optional micro-transactions (for those of us with nothing better to spend our money on), Pokemon Shuffle is a good free-to-play title. Like I said, it's free. Try it.

Pokemon Shuffle gets a 7/10.
Author
9070
Posted on
Rating
4.33 star(s) 6 ratings

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Latest Comments

I didn't like Shuffle, but you make your point.
I haven't played the Pokemon Trozei yet, but if it's almost the same as Pokemon Shuffle, I guess it's a great deal - having it for free. I'm not bothered with the microtransactions, because it's not that necessary to advance forward. It's like a candy crush game, but for me, it is more than that. In candy crush, you just finish a stage. In pokemon shuffle, you finish/defeat a pokemon, AND catch it. It's a double feeling of satisfaction for me if I get to have this two goals of the game.

I really like how you did this review. It was uncovering the game on all corners of it. Thanks for the great review. :3
I like how it's not one-sided! You clearly pointed out the pros and cons c:
1 star because you wrote it! :<

jk good review :3
9
9070
I misspelled resemblance I'm a monkey.
Decent review. Definitely proof read it a couple times and you will fix your errors
9
9070
Yeah I didn't do that lmao.
Nice review.
There's a few misspellings, but I liked it.
9
9070
wows
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