Pokemon Ranger 2 is still bad

Way back in March I imported the Japanese version of Pokemon Ranger Battonage (Or Pokemon Ranger 2) I was less than impressed. HAL wasn't involved with the project which was a mortal blow to the game as it sucked so bad. They dumbed down the difficulty, they made the tutorial last forever, and the characters aren't as cool. Overall, it just wasn't as fun. I never got too far in it, so I decided, "I'll wait until the US version. Maybe it'll make more sense."

So I wait until freaking November for the game to come out, and I'm still disappointed. All the same problems are there, except now I can read the crummy dialogue and boring tutorial.

Now don't get me wrong. I f*cking love the first Pokemon Ranger. It is by far my favourite Pokemon game ever, and I just loved everything about it. It was fun, unique, well written, and overall pretty challenging for a Pokemon game. I'm such a dork I even searched ebay and bought the manga of it. Pokemon Ranger 1 rocks, which makes the sequel that much more of a let down.

Every once in a while in the sequel you hear about your classmate in the Fiore region (where the first game took place) and you hear about Professor Hastings (also from the first game.) You also hear the same music in the Ranger base as the first game. These elements really make you just wish you were playing the first game rather than this pile of sh*t. I mean, I'm more than 2 hours into the game and I'm still being taught stuff.

Overall, Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia blows. It's boring, too easy, and simply not fun. If you played and enjoyed the first one, I recommend staying away from this sequel. Unless the game gets a lot harder later on, I have a feeling I won't be replaying this one when I finish it.

It's a crying shame that the game sucks. I'm sure if HAL was still in charge of it, it would be as awesome as the first, but sadly, HAL ditched it and left it to "Creatures" to ruin the franchise. I think this pretty much guarantees there won't be a third one.