Pokémon Link Battle

[illdog]

I hate describing puzzle game but this is good so I guess you all need to know.

DId anyone play the original on the DS (Trozei in the US)? As this is more of the same but with a few added bells and whistles to cash in on Pokemon X and Y's success. Its a whole screen of Pokemon faces and you have to match them up in to pairs of three or more using your stylus on the touch screen. There are no restrictions on your movements, you can pick up an dude and drag him from bottom left to top right as long as the destination is a match of thee or more.

This time around you have a Pokemon at the top that you are battling, thus explaining the 'Battle' part of the title. The Pokemon at the top slowly attacks you, draining your energy which is shown by two bars at the side of the bottom screen. There are only two bars to make it look fancy. So anyways, your obvious goal is to drain the pokemons enery to zero and catch it.

Because this is now a battle game the pokemon faces types matter. So if your battling a physcic pokemon you wanna start matching up those Houndours, know wha' i'm sayin??? Yeah!

Sometimes two or more Pokemon appear at the top to battle, you can hit them both at the same time if you make a match of five or more. Do some big moves and you get a link chance, where pairs of two start to match up instead of three which can really clear your screen and do big damage to the Pokemon you're battling.

And that's it, don't know how it comes across but it's really fucking addictive, i've got DKC Tropical Freeze to finish and Yoshi's Island to play but I'm playing this. It's been incredibly easy so far but I'm sure that will change.

Oh, it's download only btw, get it from your e-Shop people.

[DANGERMAN]

I didn't realise this was out so soon. I'll be getting it next week probably, I think it looks really good

[illdog]

It really is good. I understand it a little more now, got my first A rank as well. You can move the Pokemon anywhere on the board, each switch doesn't have to make a match. This is how you can build rows of 5 or more to hit multiple Pokemon. You can also take a support Pokemon in to battle with you, so its sensible to pick a type that is super effective in your current area.

[illdog]

Also, quick match ups really are the key to success, this is how you activate 'Link Chance' for massive damage. When pairing up twos instead of three you can clear the board if you use the Dittos that appear sensibly.

[Sly Reflex]

I like this, although I wish it worked on an endless mode. It's very stop/start, once you start a big topple and the chains come in you can catch all 3 pokemon without doing hardly anything else. I'm guessing once you get further into the game that stops being the case, or at least I'd hope so.

[illdog]

I like the structured nature, it feels like your working toward something.

[illdog]

Ive hit a brick wall. Zone 7 Stage 1. I can take two Pokemon types in to battle with me but so far I have been unable to beat the dragons at the end. There are three of the bastards and I have taken ice and fairy types to fight them, i can cunt all over the battles proceeding this one but Ive died about 11 times in a row against these bastards. I'ts a huge difficulty spike as I have had no problem what so ever up until this point.

[illdog]

I finally beat that fuck. Now I cant beat the steel boss at the end of 7-2.

[illdog]

This game is my Dark Souls. Ive played for at least an hour a night, chipping away at a stage then ultimately failing the next for a while until everything finally goes perfect. And that's what Zone 7 onwards seems to demand, you have to attack all Pokémon with their weaknesses and Link your ass off until you know they're dead. Its pure crack, i can't stop playing.

[spatular]

N posted this on instagrandad and I was all like wtf is this?

i concur.

also to add to the questions - this looks like my sort of game - but is there any point if i don't know/understand the pokemon weaknesses and stuff?

actually i can answer a question too, apparently its £7.19

[illdog]

How much is it? Any online stuffs?

Like Spat said, £7.00. Multiplayer is local only sadly.

also to add to the questions - this looks like my sort of game - but is there any point if i don't know/understand the pokemon weaknesses and stuff?

It is learnable if you are willing to give it a little time and it does tell you the weakness of opponents when you are defeated by them BUT... yea, it is a lot easier to step in to if you have a knowledge of the Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock that is Pokemon. There is a searchable Pokedex that helps you find the the types of Pokemon you need (once you have captured them) but this only comes in to effect a couple of zones in when you are able to select Pokemon to take in to battle with you.

[spatular]

Cheers for the info illdog! Reminds me of a poker based puzzle game I got, it was a nice game but my lack of poker understanding made it more difficult than it probably should have been.

[illdog]

After struggling through Zone 7 I pretty much pissed through Zone 8. Even the introduction of two bosses (one after the other) didn't halt my progress. Zone 9 is an entirely different matter.

Whats making things difficult is the size of the dragon boss I'm fighting at the end of 9-3. There is a glowing border around your puzzle area. When the Pokemon you are battling attacks, he not only strikes at your energy bar, he also strikes at the border around the puzzle area. When there is a big enough hole in said border the attacking Pokemon can drop in to your puzzle area, taking up space making much up's that bit harder. This dragon dude is massive, he takes up about 9 squares giving you very little room to do puzzle. Once he drops in I'm fucked, makes me panic. No room + panic = dead.

I always take offensive Pokemon in with me, it might be time to sacrifice for a defensive. Mr Mime heals your border and Chancey heals your health when you match up their darling little faces. But I like attacking. It's worth a go though.