Pokémon Channel

The Good
Graphic models, colour selection and textures are all spot-on. The 3D navigating and viewing in first-person gives a good impression that the player is actually exploring a world of Pokémon and interacting with them. On top of that, the game is decently presented with the menus, interface and of course the videos. The short anime episodes featured are very authentic, reminiscent of 1980s anime style. They are fun to watch, but can skip if you get bored of them.

The gameplay has many perks. As you explore, the actions you perform, such as opening doors and turning on the TV, have some elements sort of like a Lucasarts adventure game, only in 3D. Any Poké-Dollars you can earn to buy some merchandise give the game some of that slice-of-life feel. Even the personal journal adds depth to an emulated daily life in the Pokémon world.

The Bad
Apart from the movies and the mini-games, there isn't too much you can do. Even Poké-Dollar earning opportunities are lacking. When using the TV, you're mainly watching, but not interacting (apart from online purchases and quizzes). If only watching could properly help you progress in the rest of the game, like following fitness lessons to train a Pokémon or any upcoming events you can participate in. Maybe a Pokémon-themed Emergency Alert System would have been an education.

One small problem with the controls is that in order to look around a room, you need to move the pointer to the edge of the screen continuously with the D-pad, which is slow and awkward. This would have been resolved if the control stick were used to move the camera and the D-pad just for mouse pointer. Better still, set one of the buttons to highlight the things that you can interact with, to save time and effort. Sometimes the sequence and flow of the game is slowed down by the hints and messages. If only there was an option to switch them off.

Just like the TV anime series, the Pokémon do their repetitive talking of their own names with the occasional subtitles to allow the player to understand what they are saying. The characters should have had full voice acting for all dialogue to give each Pokémon better personality, especially Squirtle, Psyduck and all the other TV hosts. Don't see why Meowth has to be the only one speaking English. Finally, more types of Pokémon could have been in the spotlight, such as the underrated Raichu.

The Bottom Line
Somehow this game feels like an incomplete adventure game without all the essentials of a typical graphical adventure. It's difficult to find a decent Pokémon activity center that keeps the player interested and this game does an okay job. This could almost be imagined as a prequel to Detective Pikachu. It's also intriguing to find a world that is being operated and inhabited by only Pokémon (except Professor Oak and the player). If you're a young and keen Pokémon player, this is where you'll feel at home at all times. Older gamers would definitely prefer the main series of the franchise. Fingers crossed that the game doesn't make you a couch potato by watching the Pokémon Channel all day.