The GoodSenpai's Games Recap of 2019

Once a year, I revisit this blog to write what is probably my favorite thing to do each year; write lists and reflections on my year in gaming. However, this year I don't feel a list is appropriate because I think making a top ten or five list doesn't exactly do a lot of these games justice. I have several complex feeling on many a game this year and I want to make sure that I accurately depict each one. So this isn't a list of the best and games that I played this year, instead this is a reflection on my year in gaming as a whole. To be fair, I also didn't play anything from the Kingdom Hearts franchise so I think it is safe to say I enjoyed most of the games that I played. Still, trying to put this into a list would be unfair because I had a number of different experiences with gaming this year and trying to format it into a list would be a big disingenuous. Now of course, there is a game that I enjoyed far and away more than just about any other game here but I do want to make sure to highlight some of the other highlights I had.

So a couple of things that I want to explain before I start this. Yes, most of these games I played on the Nintendo Switch, I didn't get a ton of mileage out of my PS4 this year. I mean sure, Hitman 2 remained a massive piece of my gaming experience this year but because I already explained my thoughts on it in this article last year, I figured that I would just refer you to that article instead. Second, I played pretty much all the Pokemon games this year and I have a lot of thoughts on them, both good and bad. I figure that will be the next article is some sort of reflection or ranking of the generations because I didn't want this list being bogged down with Pokemon games. Thirdly, I have to always say that this list covers everything that I personally played in 2019, so there are games that may have come out one, two, or even seven years ago in some cases. This is about my year in gaming, not everybody else's sheesh (there's also plenty of 2019 here). Lastly, I never include anything that I've replayed this year, which is in the same vein as the Hitman comment. I replayed a lot of games I really enjoy this year like NieR: Automata but once again, I made my feelings on that one clear in my 2017 games article. Anyways, let's get on with this reflection/list, whatever you want to call it.

"The Game of the Year" - Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Figure that we might as well start this one off with the big boy and honestly the one I feel I have to explain the least. It is also an excuse to get as many pictures of Edelgard as possible into this article. I have never claimed to be a massive Fire Emblem fan and mostly, like many, I only knew the characters from their appearances in Smash Bros. However, this year, I don't think there was a game that I enjoyed in the way that I enjoyed Three Houses. With a cast of colorful characters, a simple to learn and more intricate that intially appearing battle system, a plot that had me on the edge of my seat to see what happened. I spent hours and hours pouring over my characters, perfecting their stats and gear, optimizing each one to become the best soldier that they could. This all happening while you get to know each. I'm a sucker for timeskip stories in which major characters end up on different sides of a conflict and I applaud Three Houses for going ahead and playing that aspect of the game totally straight. Having gotten to know these characters and their motivations, I found myself in tears at the end of each playthrough and as soon as the credits ended I started on the next one. Each playthrough felt different enough from the others that it truly felt like their own unique stories and I was genuinely curious and excited to see all the different perspectives. Even now starting a new playthrough sits in the back of my head constantly even with my ever growing backlog. Truly, Three Houses is one of the best experiences one can have.

"The Game that I Should Feel Worst About Liking"- Pokemon Sword

If it is not apparent already, since I just spent a ridiculous amount of time typing out my thoughts about all the rivals in Pokemon games, I am a pretty big fan of the franchise. When they announced these games for the Switch earlier in the year I was absolutely ecstatic and was prepared to throw myself back into a world that I had loved but left behind. Here is the problem I found though with playing each iteration of the game, it opened up my eyes to how stale the franchise had become. I loved playing Ultra Moon because it tried a lot of different things that still felt uniquely Pokemon. Sword & Shield feels closer to a mobile game than anything that it launching on a home console in 2019. It's Pokemon so the gameplay loop is still engaging, there are tons of quality of life improvements that make the game less of a slog, and the world of Galar and the new Pokemon are some of the best yet. Gym battles became this bombastic affair with towering gigantamax Pokemon and a crowd that dynamically reacted to the events of the battle. A Wild Area that truly felt random and spontaneous that gave a short view of what a truly open world Pokemon game could be. There are several things this game introduced that make it difficult to go back to the other games. However, the game itself is sorely lacking in content. 

The Wild Area loses it's appeal after the first ten minutes you're there, the game is so linear to keep you from remembering that the game is shallower than the kiddie pool, the story is garbage even by the low standards one would judge a story in a Pokemon game. I played through it enough to get all the badges, become champion, and completed the PokeDex and then what was left? By the time that I'd cleared the 7th gym I realized that so little of the game lay out in front of me that I had to shut the game off for a bit because I was so disheartened. It scratched my itch for a new Pokemon experience but unlike those other experiences, I was left with. I really didn't want to loop myself in with the hordes of unhappy Pokemon fans who berated this game before release and Game Freak already has my 60 bucks...but this franchise sorely needs a soul injection and new life. There are no excuses for this game to be as barebones and low effort as it is. Sword was my biggest disappointment of the year and I don't feel good about saying it.

"The Game that Made Me FEEL like a Badass" - Astral Chain

Astral Chain kicks so much ass. There are so many positives that I could say about this game and to be honest, if you own a Nintendo Switch, you owe it to yourself to go pick this game up. Astral Chain is a gorgeous cyperpunk action game where you fight demons from the other side of time and space, essentially with stands. It has a wildly cool premise, fantastic soundtrack, gorgeous visuals, and this little charm and polish to it that made it wildly engaging. Obviously anything by Platinum Games will be chock full of flashy combat and beautiful set pieces of which Astral Chain delivers in spades. It isn't without it's fair share of flaws; the combat isn't quite up to the usual Platinum Games polish, the camera is quite diabolical, and it's plot is ripped straight out of Evangelion but I still dug the shit out of it's expansive set pieces and even found myself feeling a bit emotional during it's final scenes.

"The Game That Made me Cry the Most" - Death Stranding

It is funny to me how a simple walking simulator was the greatest challenger to Three Houses for my Game of the Year. However, just dismissing Death Stranding as a walking simulator is rather ignorant as to me it stands as a triumph of a game creator who was unwilling to compromise his vision and created something beautiful and unforgettable. The first three hours of Death Stranding are a frustrating and sluggish mess that at times made me wonder why I'd spent 60 bucks on such a wacko game. However, once you get through that. Kojima creates a beautiful picture of a game that is about the human will, connection, but also a display of what humans can do when they work together for a common goal. When the game opens up and finally brings to you it's "multiplayer network" feature I had to change my mindset that I was not playing this game simply for my enjoyment but to make another player's experience smoother. I have yet to play another game in which the in game plot and gameplay are so perfectly linked with one another.  Somehow, walking and carrying your gear becomes this nuanced and engaging experience. The plot of course is typical Kojima but is anchored by some fantastic performances by it's cast particularly Mads Mikkelson and Troy Baker. As the game's final moments played out I felt. I'm not sure if Death Stranding is a game that I will ever return to, at least not for a very long time, but I will remember my time playing it without a doubt and the impact it's message left on me. If you are just dismissing this as a walking simulator I encourage you to please approach this game with an open mind, you won't regret it.

"The Worst Game I Played this Year" - Caligula Effect: Overdose

I feel as though ever since Persona 3 came out and Persona 4 was such a smash hit with it's bright colors and cheery atmosphere in a game that was about murder, there have been countless attempts to capture th. Caligula Effect is one of those titles. I played the re-released version of the game on my Switch and found myself. See what makes the Persona games fun are the characters and how they interact, combined with stylish aesthetics and a simple but engaging battle system. Caligula Effect has none of any of this. The music tracks are awful and often are played at full volume over the rest of the game's sound even in cutscenes, the characters are...characters I guess, and the battle system has a couple nice ideas but the game is so mindnumbingly easy that you can disregard most of the system's more nuanced ideas like combo attacks and chains. The game feels like cheap shovelware too as it's environments become repetitive and character models for NPC feeling very unpolished. The plot has some interesting things going for it, like it's character design being pretty on point and it kept me playing for a decent amount of time but after life got in the way of playing this game for a bit, I didn't find much desire to return...file this one away to the garbage bin.

"The Actual Game of the Year I was too Cowardly to Put Down" - Untitled Goose Game

Many of the games on this list were 60 dollar experiences and very few of them provided me the amount of enjoyment as the 15 bucks that I spent on Untitled Goose Game. Now sure, there's a collective of people on the internet who are like "omg, game with goose, hilarious let's make memes" but that isn't exactly what this game was about. Untitled Goose Game is a wonderfully charming game where you play as a goose (duh) and terrorize this small English village. The premise is silly of course but don't overlook the game's wonderfully charming art style, the dyanamic musical score which escalates to "cute little animated short" levels the more you cause mischief. Untitled Goose Game is an afternoon's worth of content and small puzzles that each feel rewarding to solve but also left me giggling and smiling again and again as I'd steal someone's glasses off their head or lock them in their garage. Untitled Goose Game is goofy, charming, and quite a bit silly but it is probably one of the best things you can own on the Switch right now and is pretty light on the wallet but heavy on the fun.

"Please, Please Play this Game it is So Underappreciated" - Gravity Rush

The term "hidden gem" is one that is over used and lampooned frequently in gaming culture. Frequently it is ascribed to games that really aren't "hidden". Seriously, playing through Undertale doesn't make you some indie game ahead of the curve person. However, some games really do fit that description and don't seem to get enough credit. Gravity Rush and it's sequel are two of those games. The sequel seems like less "hidden" but the original is an absolute mastepiece. Originally a Vita exclusive released in 2012 (no wonder nobody knows this game), Gravity Rush is an open-world game in the style of Infamous in which you control the character of Kat, a scantily clad girl who can control gravity. Now, the game is available for PS4 and is pretty much always on sale...so you should try and pick it up. The gameplay features you soaring though the air doing good in these towering airborne cities. The highlight of the game is it's lovely art style, cutscenes that play out in charming little comic books, music captures that peaceful feeling of soaring through the air, and the controls feel responsive and as you master gravity shifting it feels smooth an intuitive. Mostly though, the games just have this beauty that feels unique, unlike anything I've really played before. Kat herself is an extremely charming character who has spunk and a cheerful personality that makes her endearing. The plot is a little...scattered...but Gravity Rush really hooked me early on and I was willing for forgive it for it's silliness. If you're looking for something unique, you can't go wrong with these games.

"Game I Really Wanted to Like and Just Couldn't" - NieR

Now I said that there were not too many games that I played this year that I really thought were bad In the words of every father ever, I'm not exactly mad at NieR or even think it's really a bad game, I'm just disappointed. It suffers that same problem that Kingdom Hearts has where it's combat system isn't exactly suited for the amount of enemies that the game throws at you. Nier himself is a sluggish brute and his fighting style reflects that, which is sort of the point but it makes for a frustrating experience. The game throws a lot on the screen and makes it hard to account for every enemy and can be even hard to tell when you're taking damage. Checkpoints in the game can also be frustrating. I do understand that it's a bit unfair to be holding up a game that came out in 2010 to a game that came out seven years later on a more powerful console but even at the time this game came out, it would be considered unpolished. However, NieR does possess many of the same charms as it's sequel. The musical score brings real weight to most of the game and the story had me engaged from start to finish, including all of it's endings. It is clear though that Yoko Taro had some grand ideas for this game and it's later sequel but those weren't fully realized until the sequel. Many of you who played Automata and want to go and play NieR for the love of Yoko Taro, I would say just play Automata again.

"Not a Game but the Thing in Gaming that Made Me the Most Happy" - Joker in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Sure, this could be considered something from 2018 but then again, this list just talks about my year in gaming. Anyways, Joker didn't arrive until the Spring of 2019 anyways and it was one of my favorite moments of the year. When talking about Smash Bros and the DLC with friends, I always joked that Joker would have been my dream character for the game (which isn't entirely true since I prefer Persona 4 and Persona 3 to 5 but whatever). Still, it was never something that I thought would ever happen. The entire experience was incredible from the out of left field reveal at the Game Awards, to Joker's surprise release which crashed Nintendo's servers, to finally getting Joker downloaded and playing him until midnight. I am a schill for the Persona franchise and Sakurai went all out. Joker's alternate outfits pay homage to the other games and characters in the franchise, the stage contains music from all the games, Joker's moveset is fun and unique. Overall, it was a moment like any other for me and even if I don't play Smash as much as I used to, this was one of the biggest moments of 2019.

"The Most Fun I've Had Reading Text" - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Adding to the list of games that I always wanted to play but never really had the capacity to, the Ace Attorney games weaved their way into my life this year. I am a sucker for great stories and man to make a game that's basically just reading text interesting, you have to have memorable characters and great storylines...and these games have that in spades. Of course, these games are famous for their silly attachment to pedantic details and their incredibly linear nature. However, you can't beat the feeling of unraveling the mysteries at hand, putting clues together, and finally nailing the criminals. I was surprised at how high the quality of writing was and how attached I became to these characters, some of the cases tugged on my heartstrings and evoked real emotional responses from me. While the cases can sometimes border on ridiculous it doesn't change the game's key themes, finding justice for people as well as the bonds of friendship and the value of sheer perserverance. Phoenix Wright himself is a wildly charming character who runs up against a number of colorful characters and villains who make the experience memorable. I can't say that I am likely to play through these games again but they certainly left an impression on me.

Pokemon's Rivals: Who is the Very Best?

It's that time of the season again where it comes time to make "best of" lists and since we're reaching the end of the decade, everyone is keen to to try and wrap a bow on everything. Lists are nice because they condense everything down into nice and concise messages and provide order to the things we care about. Now of course, my end of year video game review is going to end up still happening and this article should be considered part of that. See, this year I played through every Pokemon game or at least 4-8 and now I have played a version of every game. This is the year that I have returned back to playing and being obsessed with Pokemon and while Sword & Shield were pretty disappointing games, I feel that a large part of my year was spent with these games and I want to write a few articles that detail a lot of how I feel about these games.

So where exactly does that leave us? Well with rivals of course! The rival in a Pokemon game is one of the constants in every generation, many of these games are copy paste at this point. Sometimes they are traveling companions, other times they are antagonists, the rival is one of the core facets of the Pokemon game and has been there since the beginning. In some cases you can name them something like "FartFace" or "Poopbreath" and get a major sense of satisfaction of dooming this fictional character to a life of being made fun of. The original twist of your rival in Red/Blue/Yellow of your rival beating the champion before you did put a personal touch onto the final battle and raised the stakes much higher than what they would have been otherwise. The rival is essential, you need that push from a peer to enable you to make your challenge to be the very best, the best there ever was. However, not all rivals are of the same caliber so the obvious choice is to create a definitive ranking of the rivals from worst to best and see who stands above.

A couple of things that I do have to clarify before this gets going, I have to state a criteria for the evaluation of each.

• First, I am only evaluating rivals from games that I've played, which luckily is all of them with the exception of Black & White 2 so Hugh (who's design I love honestly) will unfortunately not be considered, my apologies to what I am sure amounts to a high quantity of fan girls. Also, I'll feature the Let's Go! games on the list since I did play that one.
• Skill as a trainer and in game feats will be considered as well. I don't care much for competitive aspects but we'll analyze their teams throughout the games. Also, since the rival's team can vary so much depending on the starter chosen by the player, the team that I'll show for each will just be the one that I encountered in my intitial playthrough where I pick Fire every time. Still, I'm going to try and take every team into account.
• Personality and character arc. There are also
• Finally and maybe the most important of all of these, is the aesthetic component, how much do I care for their design.
• Lastly, some characters will end up being grouped together specifically if the rival's gender is tied to the player's choice at the beginning of the game.

So let's get this totally definitive and totally correct list done.

16.) Shauna, Tierno, Trevor - X/Y

Being very up front, X/Y are easily my least favorite games in the series being what to me are a bunch of pretty hollow games that I forgot about pretty soon after finishing them. This trio right here is probably the most emblematic of most of my problems with Generation 6 as a whole...mostly it's handholdy nature. Now, I do think that there is an argument to be made that this group is probably worse than Trace given that in-game feats probably should count and that you battle this group a relatively low amount of times over the course of the game (Shauna twice, Trevor twice, and Tierno three times for some reason). I have a major dislike of these three because the game gives them very shallow characterization as each one is supposed to represent "activites to do in universe". Trevor wants to complete his PokeDex, Shauna just wants to catch and battle with her favorite cute Pokemon, and Tierno wants to make...a Pokemon...dance team (god he sucks). They're your traveling companions but are mostly just there to stop the game every couple of minutes for some forced exposition or random out of nowhere character development. I don't know these people, they have no depth, they're just...there. There's very little that is redeeming about any of them really and their teams are all pretty lame as well. Each of them have one pretty threatening Pokemon apiece (Shauna has Goodra, Trevor has Aerodactyl, and Tierno has a Roserade with Petal Dance) but most of their Pokemon only know 2-3 moves or in some cases only 1. None of their mons have any cover for any of their weaknesses and a lot of this probably has to do with X/Y probably being the easiest games in the series. They never challenge you with a full team of six at any point and you pretty much never battle them again after the middle of the game. This is a short one because there really isn't much to say about these three other than that the word "rival" for any of them is probably a bit generous.

15.) Trace - Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee

Trace is probably the only correct option here and honestly I hesitated to even consider the Let's Go! games but I figure that they fall under the category of "Gen I remakes" so whatever. Trace's main problem is that he's barely his own character, he's basically just a substitution for Blue. The creators seem to almost recognize this as well as they did not even bother to give him much of anything in terms of personality, good character design, any kind of character development, or an any way threatening team of Pokemon. Trace is mostly just there to be "the rival" but doesn't have anything unique about him. His in-game feat of becoming the champion is the main thing that lifts him above the previous three as well as the fact that he does challenge you with a full team of six by the end of the game. Given that he is also only limited to choosing from Kanto Pokemon, his team is not exactly made of the sturdiest of stuff, and even in it's final iteration his Pokemon all know only 3 moves apiece (half the team is hard countered by Grass). His teams don't even change all that much between the games either as he either ends up with a Jolteon or a Raichu. In a way, Trace suffers from the fact that the Let's Go! games are just...pretty easy in general and don't require much thought or skill behind your teams since Eevee and Pikachu themselves can cover just about any type needed and with Kanto's fewer number of dual types make matchups especially simple. Even having a Mega Evolution does not help him all that much as while Mega Pidgeot's speed and high special attack make it a force, it is easily handled once again by your Pikachu or Eevee. His champion rematch team does get better though as a few of his Pokemon (Slowbro, Marowak, and Vileplum) are given some moves to cover their weaknesses a bit better. Overall, Trace is a pretty forgettable character that the game gives a lot of informed ability to but without much to back it up. Unfortunately, he's just a bit too shackled by the difficulty level of his game to truly be anything more than a speedbump.

14.) Calem/Serena - X/Y

Once again, I really dislike X/Y as games and a large part of that comes down to it having many of my least favorite designed characters in the game as well as being a game that I could probably beat with my hands tied behind my back. Now in addition to the three already mentioned. They get the nod over Trace even if their in game feats aren't as good mostly because they at least have more distinct personalities and designs. They, like you, want to become League Champion blah blah blah, pretty standard rival stuff but they've got a bit of romantic tension with you that also makes them feel a bit more real. Serena and Calem are rivals that are there to push you and truly care and I never found

them to be as obtrusive as the other three. Battle wise is where things begin to fall apart because their teams are for the most part...pretty bad. Three of their 5 Pokemon in the final battle on Victory Road are mono-types and a similar number of 3 are also weak to Fairy types, several of them only have 3 moves and very few of them have moves that cover their weak points. This is one of the big problems that hurts games from Gen 6 onwards, is that they don't use full movesets to keep the difficulty low.

Once again, this highlights then Gen 6 is by far the easiest of the main line games. Now of course, similar to Trace, these ones manage to fix up their teams a bit in the post game rematch, now owning six Pokemon but those Pokemon have not gained anything besides higher levels and of the group only two of them have moves that counter weaknesses and that's only if you chose Froakie so that they have a Vaporeon that can cover Grass types with Ice Beam. Sorry kids but you just don't have enough here to be considered.

13.) Marnie - Sword/Shield

Of the rivals from Sword/Shield, Marnie would seem to be a fan favorite given that when you google her name (as I did to find an image for her) you see second-from-top "marnie pokemon age". That tell you all you need to know. Marnie's design was obviously going to win her a big number of fans and she's also notable for being the unofficial face of Galar's Team Yell. Unfortunately, like Team Yell, there ain't much more to Marnie. Her involvement in the story is pretty minimal, she battles you a few times including the end game, but she's got a pretty fun personality. She's got an affinity for Dark types which is definitely a plus in my book as well. Unfortunately, it's once again her lack of feats that cause her to get marooned here. She's consistently a pretty simple fight throughout the game given that her affinity for Dark types makes her an easy target for the game's plethora of Fairy types. She has two Pokemon in Toxicroak and Scrafty that both have 4x weaknesses and having a Fighting type in general will allow you to waltz through her pretty quick. Her team does not even change that much between her final story battle and her post-game crew but at the very least they're given a couple of moves that help them cover their matchups a little better. Of the three rivals you face in game, she's probably the best in terms of design but as a rival she's falls behind pretty far.

12.) Bede - Sword/Shield

Sword & Shield have a fair share of problems for sure and rivals are certainly a part of that. Of the three that are presented though, Bede's storyline can be condensed down to being the "jerkass rival" which would work for him...if he was in any way threatening. His plotline revolves around him being the chairman's endorsed trainer which gives him this feeling of superiority, until that title is taken away from him in a moment in the game that seems almost comically stupid. His big turn however, comes with one of the game's best twists, where after losing his challenger status, Bede instead becomes the Fairy-type Gym Leader. I'm a sucker for rivals who are forced to change their goals midway through the story and I actually really liked this twist and seeing him embrace the "power of pink" was one of the best parts of the game in my opinion. Bede is a difficult one to really gauge because there is a bit of a problem when it comes to "rivals who become gym leaders". The main issue with this is that Bede's teams are split in to two difference phases, one being his pre-Gym

Leader mono-Psychic team and later becoming the Fairy-type leader. It's pretty easy to one-shot his Psychic type Pokemon given the plethora of Dark and Ghost types that can be found early on in the game as well as his team's lack of dual typing. It's not until he becomes a Gym Leader that Bede truly blossoms as his Fairy type team is a vast improvement given it's three Psychic/Fairy types in Rapidash, Gardevoir, and Hatterene. Not to mention that all of his Pokemon have moves to counter their main weaknesses and the dual typing of the initial three making for a more difficult bout than it initially appears. Mawile has a number of resistances and Sylveon makes for a solid defensive wall. The unfortunate part of all of this though is that Bede doesn't become challenging in anyway over the course of the game's story as his party's best attributes are only brought out in the optional rematch. Bede's shortcomings unfortunately are similar to Trace's in some ways though where Sword & Shield's standard difficulty is just not high but he is still capable of catching most trainers off guard.

11.) May/Brendan - Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald

This here is an interesting case because for the most part, Brendan/May are indicative of the laziest type of rival, a similar mold of Calem/Serena. Having your rival just being the opposite gender from the player is a bit lazy mostly because neither character truly develops a personality of their own. Brendan and May are quite literally just genderswapped versions of one another. However, May has one of the best designs in the series and Brendan's is a bit odd and got much worse in the remakes. Both are energetic but as a whole either one feels pretty tangentially related to the story, only really showing up when the game wants to challenge you. The remakes fix this by basically confirming the two to be a couple which adds an extra dimension that is done much better than for Calem/Serena. In battle, there are some different ways of evaluating them and to tell the truth, the starter you choose either enhances or decreases your chance in battles against these two. The Route 119 battle is known to be paticularly challenging for those who picked Mudkip as Hoenn has a dearth of Fire-types before that point. Numeland Torkoal come much later on in the story and Slugma is version exclusive which means that you have to bring a squishy Bug-type or one of Hoenn's plentiful Flying types. However, that Grovyle is quite a tank for that point in game and has been elevated to a near legendary status in the community. However, for most of the game, Brendan/May's party never goes above four Pokemon (though the remakes add a post Elite Four battle). They both have a good mix of some of Gen 3's best Pokemon and have a decent spread of types though you can cover Swellow and Wailord with Electric pretty simply and Manetric is an easy Mon to acquire. Unfortunately for them, they aren't even the best rivals in their own games.

10.) Wally - Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald

That honor would instead go to Wally, who starts our countdown in the top ten. Wally is a strong character though his plot line is rather brief and feels a bit disconnected from everything that goes on. However, the games (especially the remakes) do such a great job of portraying Wally's journey to becoming a stronger trainer and the final battle with him feels emotional and resonant which isn't something I can particularly say about most rivals who are at the bottom of this list. Wally starts the game as a chronically ill boy whose life is greatly enhanced by his journeys with Pokemon. He catches a Ralts early in the game and goes on to become a pretty threatening rival. It's a pretty uplifting story and it's powerful because it's proof of the series core messages of friendship and the

partnership between Pokemon and trainer. What works against Wally though is that this plot line is so removed from the rest of the game and he spends very little time onscreen, making the emotional payoff when you see his strength later on not as strong as it could be. As I mentioned before though, the remakes do this more justice given the graphical upgrades but doesn't fix Wally's prolonged absences from the story itself. Luckily for him though, he proves himself to be one of the most dangerous trainers in the game. In the original games, his party is quite dangerous boasting a defensive powerhouse in Altaria as well as the fantastic Gardevoir. The other members of his party serve to be pretty challenging as well with Delcatty and Roselia being able to sting you easily with status conditions and the always underrated Magneton boasting powerful Steel and Electric moves. A decent spread of types and moves is needed to take on Wally and his final fight comes towards the end of Victory Road when you're worn out from the gauntlet of difficult trainers and high level Pokemon. Gen 6 is both kind/mean to Wally as he gains a Mega Evolution in Gallade but gives 40% of his party a weakness to Fairy (made somewhat worse as Mega Gardevoir counters Mega Gallade pretty well and has better typing). My attachment to the story of Wally is what earns him this spot in the top ten overall and I think he's a worthy pick.

9.) Hau - Sun/Moon

Hau is a pretty typical rival, he's overzealous, probably overestimates his ability a bit too much but what he has is a lot of heart. Compared to many rivals like Barry, Trace, or Bede who are meant to push you but often do so by being especially annoying or by being a jerk, Hau is more endearing. He has a nasty habit of talking to you in some unskippable scenes to explain plenty of things that you already know but weirdly enough, I found Hau much more charming than grating. His energy is that childlike energy that we all experienced picking up a Pokemon game for the first time. He wants to be the best but he's a great friend to boot. Hau's profile does go up a bit in the Ultra games where he is your final opponent at the Pokemon League instead of Kukui while also having the will to battle you over and over again to prove himself. The emotional payoff of having him as your final opponent actually works in this case due to the games giving much more implication that you have been traveling with him the whole way. Hau isn't just all heart though, he's got a decent team to back it up. He's hurt a bit by Gen 7 being the first generation in which the rival does not pick a starter that is strong against yours and does not have a full move set, this is countered somewhat by him having a Leafeon, Vaporeon, or Flareon depending on your choice. Most powerful of course is whichever route he picks up Primarina as it's tanky nature and fantastic typing can catch many Alolan teams off guard. The biggest downside to his team of course is it's lack of coverage for their weaknesses but the diversity of types within his teams mean that there is no singular type that will break him down. Fighting does decent for Tauros and Crabrawler but can be easily snuffed out by his Alolan Raichu. Noivern's great stats, especially speed make it a potential sweeper if not careful. Hau is a surprsingly strong rival even if his placement here is largely due to the connection you form with him in both versions of the game.

8.) Gladion - Sun/Moon

The second and more initially villainous of the two rivals in Sun/Moon, Gladion is a fantastic character in his own right. At the beginning he's incredibly unfriendly but the more you battle him you discover his hidden depths. As the story progresses and you learn more about his connection to Lusamine (the Ultra games have a shockingly good plot), you start to understand him better. However, while I do love Gladion the character, his true power comes from his ability as a trainer. As a trainer, Gladion's team packs a bit more punch than Hau's, especially in the Ultra games. His main game party is strong evolving into Crobat, Zoroark, Lucario, and Type: NULL, all powerful Pokemon.While Hau relies on an Eeveelution to counter whichever starter you pick, Gladion gets a full evolved Kanto starter to battle you and as we all know, they're each pretty fearsome Pokemon . Each Kanto starter covers their weakness well with the Charizard especially having Earthquake to cover it's deadly 4x Rock weakness. There's also a lot of points to be had for a character who gets to wield a legendary and his Type: Null being set to counter your starter is no exception. As it evolves into Sillvally later, it picks up a versatile move set that allows it to take on several different types while also possessing the never weak Crush Claw. Gladion possesses a whole host of powerful mons as well between Crobat and a Lucario which for unsuspecting trainers can be a deadly sweeper. Gladion's power rockets him here to #8.

7.) Hop - Sword/Shield

Okay, this one takes a bit of explaining but I genuinely believe that Hop is one of the best parts of the Galar games. Hop is a lot like Barry from Sinnoh, he's rash, excitable, has his head totally up his ass and is concerned with all the wrong things such as how to throw his Poke Balls. However, this comes from being in his brother's (the Champion) shadow the entire time. There's an insecurity but also a bit of a false confidence that comes from that. He believes He's always wowed (annoyingly so) that you understand type advantages so well when it's the same amount of skill that a grade schooler can show. To put it simple, Hop is a dumbass. However, over the course of the game it is shown again and again that while Hop has a decent amount of skill (he does manage to collect all the gym badges after all), he isn't quite good enough in the most high level of situations. It becomes very clear that this is not someone who is meant to be a Pokemon trainer. Hop loves Pokemon and he enjoys battling but becoming Champion is not something that is within reach for him but it's also not the only thing that

the Pokemon world has to offer for him. As he struggles during some of the most climactic parts of the story, his bravery and earnest personality earn him the respect of those around him. By the end, even the legendary Pokemon of the region take notice. He has a whole character arc about this and while it's not exactly the best written arc, I still find that the general message sinks in. By the end, he decides to take his love of Pokemon and instead put it towards research rather than battle. So you battle Hop nearly a million times in the story and his team stays largely consistent...but it's also sneaky good. Primarily defensive, Hop uses Dubwool and Snorlax as major defensive bases from which to launch attacks from. Corviknight has Light Screen as well However, the lynchpin of his team is his legendary Pokemon, either Zacian or Zamazenta who have some of the most diabolical duel typing in the series. Zacian's incredibly high attack allows it to sweep most teams, even high level ones while Fairy/Steel negates the Fairy types two biggest weaknesses. Zamazenta can form a formidable wall with it's high defense. His toughest team is the event which the player chooses Scorbunny since his Rillaboom comes with High Horsepower, making it able to catch out unsuspecting Fire types. Hop is a surprisingly competent trainer with a solid character arc behind him so despite some of the hate he's received from the fandom, I'm a big fan of him as a character.

6.) Cheren - Black/White

It is not an uncommon opinion that as a whole, Gen V has the best rivals in the series. A large part of this is that the Unova games place a much greater emphasis on the story and characters. This was the first time that we truly saw fleshed out rival characters who not only were there to challenge the player but also a key part of the story as well. Cheren, like many rivals is the traditional one of the three in the game. He has designs on becoming the most powerful trainer and power is the only thing that matters to him. However, when asked as to why he wants to be the most powerful trainer, he struggles to come up with an answer and it's the first time we see a rival really pressed on their ways.

As we'll see further on this list with Silver, power hungry trainers have been present in the series but not quite in the way Cheren does. In the story of Unova, Cheren is meant to represent ideals, most specifically the ideal of strength. He ponders what exactly makes somebody strong. I didn't resonate with Cheren's story as much but that it goes on into the Unova sequels is pretty cool, as he becomes a Gym Leader in those games. As a trainer, Cheren leaves a bit to be desired unfortunately. He does pick whichever starter is strong against yours, which is a point in his favor but his overall only becomes truly threatening in the post game. Compared to many of the gym leaders and other trainers, his lack of dual types and coverage moves make his encounters much more straightforward than most of those in Gen V. However, his power comes more from his understanding of held items which aside from berries you rarely see on AI trainers. His post-game party does fix this, primarily by giving him some excellent Pokemon in the way of Haxorus and Gigalith, the latter's Sturdy enabling it to get off Stealth Rock which makes his battle more tricky than it initially appears. It can be argued that some of his maxed Normal type teams from the sequels are formidable.

5.) Barry - Diamond/Pearl/Platinum

Like I said in my discussion of Bede, I really like rivals who set out to be the very best but end up falling a bit short. After all, as the player character it's your destiny in every Pokemon game to become the best trainer ever. Your rival will always claim to be better but usually you're one step ahead (or just know type advantages better these games ain't hard). Barry reminds me a lot of Hau but much more reckless, he's full of energy and similar to Hau both have a family legacy that they're trying to uphold. In Barry's case, his father his a Frontier Brain which makes him on a level similar to the Elite Four and in the story of the Sinnoh games, Barry really struggles to keep his expectations in check. Barry isn't the best example of this, as there are others on the list who are better examples but

Barry falling hard in his desire to be the best is somewhat endearing and a good lesson to keep in mind. Of course, Barry is meant to be grating it's frequently commented on in universe as even as he wins badges across Sinnoh other characters can see his future failure as writing on the wall. However, instead of being resentful, Barry learns from this and slows down, there's real character development here. Now, of course, Barry gets the nod ahead of some others mostly because his team in pretty much every iteration is rock-solid. In fact, outside of the guy who takes the top spot on this list and maybe Blue in Gen 1, it's pretty hard to find rival teams as good and well-rounded as Barry's For this I look to his endgame Platinum team just since it's the definitive Gen IV game. It's a diverse team and a who's who of powerful Pokemon in Sinnoh. In non-Piplup routes, he gets a powerful Roserade but also Staraptor (packed with Close Combat an great speed), Heracross, Snorlax, and Rapidash all pull big weight in his party. Not to mention that Torterra and Empoleon both have tricky dual typing with Torterra being diabolical for Fire types and Empoleon negating it's Grass weakness. Arguably his party with Infernape is the weakest but Infernape does pack Shadow Claw to deal with nefarious Psychic types. Once again, like with Hau there's no singular type that will carry you the whole as he can switch into a variety of Pokemon to counter your counters. Barry isn't as universally loved as some of the other rivals on this list due to his rash nature but as a trainer he's quite fearsome. I find Barry to be a lovable goofball and he fully earns a spot at #5.

4.) Bianca - Black/White

Bianca and Cheren almost could be their own pair when you think about it but as the two primary rivals from Black/White. However, of the two I resonated so much more with Bianca's story that Cheren. For most of these I've been addressing each character's arc and personality/growth before I've even gone to touch on their teams and capabilities as a trainer. However, with Bianca, that's such an essential part of her character that if I don't address it then you miss out on some of what makes her great. Bianca was the first rival to not take the starter that was strong against yours, that instead went to Cheren. This is countered somewhat by her having the elemental monkey that's strong against your

starter but still her overall team is rather weak. First, unless you pick Water at the start, her team is all mono-type and while the mix is still decent (she'll have 2/3 Water, Grass, Fire, and then Psychic plus Normal) she's probably one of the weakest rivals in the series in terms of combat ability. She does have a Stoutland which comes with several coverage moves to fill some gaps but the team falls apart as soon as it's taken out. Even her post-game party can be picked apart pretty simply provided you've done well in terms of your type coverage. Given that Gen V easily has the most difficult battles in the series...Bianca is often a more welcome sign than even Cheren. All of this though, is a big part of Bianca's character. She becomes a Pokemon trainer not because she's really interested in it. She just goes with it because that's what her friends are doing. Her teams aren't entirely practical and feature a lot of Pokemon that one would assume she just likes, rather than for their abilities. Now while Cheren represented ideals, particularly that of strength, Bianca represents truth, specifically the truth that not everyone is capable of getting stronger. Similar to Hop and even Barry, everyone has to face realities about certain things in their life. I think Bianca resonates for me because when I played Black for the first time I was going through my process of applying to college which forces you to face a lot fo realities about yourself. Everybody has a limit. However, this isn't pessimistic, Bianca is able to channel this into different avenues and she comes to accept that she will likely never be the best, but she's ok with that. She's happy enough traveling the world with her friends, it's all about what you're going to get out of it that's important. She reaches the same realization as Cheren but channels it differently. Gen V is criminally avoided by Nintendo frequently, even though as time has passed Black & White now shape up to be probably the finest entries in the series.

3.) Blue - Red/Blue/Yellow

In many ways, Blue is the definitive Pokemon rival. Most of that comes from the fact that he was the first rival character but one that was easy to want to beat. He's arrogant, disrespectful, and largely. The original twist though of him beating the Elite Four before you was fantastic especially at a time where you couldn't just look up a strategy guide. I remember finding Lance to be so difficult when I was a kid and then suddenly having to face Blue afterwards was just mean. Blue is regarded as one of the most ace trainers in the game, basically being good enough to be champion aside from Red, the original player character. This is reinforced by him being the second to last challenge in

Gold/Silver as after losing to Red, he replaces Giovanni as the Gym Leader in Viridian City. Blue's reputation precedes him and in just about all levels of Pokemon media, he is treated with a similar legendary status to Red. Later games have made him a bit less of a jerkass and more a guy who is confident but excited to meet new trainers. As a trainer, Blue is one of the most interesting to study since his team has remained consistent through most of the games, however, the game changed very much around his team. Originally, his team in Red/Blue is, as one would expect, the most challenging team in the game as for the first time, you're not facing a mono-type trainer. This is also Gen I where Psychic types are effectively running rampant with no opposition and Blue has two of them in his party. His team features six of the best Pokemon in the game, his Alakazam in particular able to be a formidable offense and defense with Reflect and it's Psychic typing. He has an answer for most of his weaknesses too, if you try electric type to cover Gyarados you'll get a Rhydon coming after you next. Of course, later games have made Blue's team much less formidable with the Dark type providing good counters for both but we're going to look more at how strong his Gen I team is. Some of Blue's move choices are rather puzzling, such as his Rhydon not knowing any Ground/Rock type moves but regardless you need a well balanced team yourself in order to best Blue's own diverse group.

2.) Silver - Gold/Silver/Crystal

Silver is a much different kind of rival. While many of them aren't exactly nice, Silver was something completely different, especially from Blue. Blue is a jerk but he's still implied that your rivalry is one of respect and it's clear that he treats his Pokemon nicely. Silver is a complete asshole from the start of the game. He steals his Pokemon rather than being given it by Professor Elm, he constantly berates you and not only that assaults you early in the game, and he treats his Pokemon like garbage. However, the one thing that Silver has, that was new ground for rivals at the time, was a fleshed out character arc. There was much more to meet the eye with him as with every battle he seemed to learn something new from you as well as his strange habit of showing up whenever Team Rocket was

around. However, it's also implied he's not as much of a jerk as he seems initially as he grows a lot during the game, not seeing his Pokemon as mere tools but also as friends. This is telling in that by the end of the game he has a Crobat in his party which can only be obtained by evolving a Golbat with high friendship. The Gen 2 remakes would provide Silver with a lot more characterization that was definitely necessary, establishing that Silver is indeed the son of Giovanni and most media referring to Gen 2 has portrayed him in a much more sympathetic light. Silver, to me, is when Pokemon became much more fixated on it's lore and narratives which would later be seen in the Hoenn games, considered the first Pokemon games that had a story. His teams, for a rival are probably on the lower end, so it's largely his character arc that puts him here and given the smaller move pools and Pokemon choices in the second generation of games, Silver does provide a fair bit of challenge as his Pokemon are pretty much always high level and he packs some tough Pokemon like Haunter into his game early when the player has likely not encountered a Dark type yet. His party does have some weaknesses as Ground does well against him, as does Fighting but the remakes did a better job of giving his Pokemon coverage moves to make those matchups a bit more difficult.

1.) N - Black/White

Here we are, the gold standard. Similar to the way that Cynthia is popularly the "best" champion amongst Pokemon fans, N stands head and shoulders just about any other challenger in this category. If you want feats, hes got it in spades, skill as a trainer, easy, and thanks to Gen V having by far the best storytelling in the series, his character development is so darn good. N begins the game as the leader of the villainous Team Plasma though N himself does not appear villainous. He was essentially raised by Pokemon and has a unique ability to connect with them in a number of ways. As the leader of Team Plasma he looks to free all Pokemon from their trainers and throughout the entirety of the

game questions you on your actions, including a particularly chilling encounter However, it's as he battles with you that he begins to question his convictions and it culminates in a final battle of ideals that is absolutely beautiful to behold. His length of feats is no slouch either as he steamrolled through the Elite Four in game and captured a legendary Pokemon afterwards. In game as a trainer he provides a number of tricky battles due to his bucking the trend of keeping a consistent party the entire game, each battle is different and it can be easy to be caught out cold by some of his picks. The icing on the cake though is his brutally difficult final battle which falls in line with Gen V's love of tricky dual types but also is a fantastically balanced team that even amongst it's "easier" members have enough coverage in their move sets to be exceptionally difficult. This is made even tougher by him owning a legendary in either Zekrom/Reshiram whose dual typings and overall power make them capable of sweeping your party by themselves if you make a mistake. Similar to what we saw with Hop, the mere presence of a legendary in one's party is enough to make what appears to be a simple fight all that much more complicated. N is emblematic of the series being at it's best in Gen V and the challenge he presents is great. That is why he is by far the best rival in the series.