This year marks Pokémon’s 20th anniversary, and this latest pair of games is a truly fitting celebration for old hands. While retaining the familiar formula of the perennially popular series, small changes create huge evolutions. Gone is the rote progression through eight gyms, battling through the Elite Four, and a final clash against your rival. In its place is a story where surprisingly complex characters weave in and out, and your journey across the Alolan Islands is marked by completing challenges that go beyond “defeat enemies”. There’s a much-needed depth that earlier games lacked.
Multiplayer improves too, with four-way Battle Royals joining solo and paired battles, while engaging mini-games – Pokémon Refresh, helping you raise your critters’ affection, and Poké Pelago, in which there are islands to develop like a micro-scale Animal Crossing – add new ways to play. Additionally, new Alolan forms of first-generation Pokémon provide a nostalgic kick for longtime players, joining a host of completely new creatures to catch. The Pokémon series is ageing like a fine wine; two decades in, and these are its greatest games yet.