I stopped playing Pokémon almost ten years ago after the release of Pokémon: Omega Ruby. Omega Ruby was great, and I had a lot of fun in my favorite region, but the games started to feel stale.
Over the years, I’ve been tempted to come back as the games have started to innovate. Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were the closest. It’s perhaps telling that the game that has finally gotten me to return to Pokémon is a fan game.
Pokémon: Infinite Fusion is the best experience I’ve had in years. It’s fun, innovative, and challenging. Most importantly, Pokémon: Infinite Fusion is a game that loves Pokémon. From the lore to the world to the Pokémon themselves, Pokémon: Infinite Fusion gives one of the most authentic Pokémon experiences I’ve ever had.
Infinite Fusions!
Have you ever wondered what it would look like if Squirtle and Charmander fused together? Wonder no further! Fusing is the core mechanic of Pokémon: Infinite Fusion. It allows you to take any Pokémon in the game and fuse it with another.
This is, quite simply, the coolest thing ever. Each pair of Pokémon can fuse in one of two ways that might make very different Pokémon. As the game progresses, you’ll discover how to use this to make different type combinations, combine stats, and get powerful abilities onto your team.
Fusions are some of the coolest and most inventive things you’ll see. Some fusions even have multiple different sprites for fusions you can choose between. Fusions will have you making unwise team compositions just to have the coolest-looking team.
Fusions can be anything! From some of the coolest designs in the game to some of the weirdest or funniest. Some of the most fun I’ve had in this game came not from looking up cool fusions but from finding them. With (nearly) infinite possibilities for teams, your playthrough will almost certainly be entirely unique.
Sableye is my Favorite
Sableye makes some of the coolest Fusions in the game. Taking a Pokémon and turning it into a gem-encrusted monster is just awesome. It also helps that Sableye has two great typings that let it make powerful mashups.
Sableye can also admittedly make some fairly cursed fusions. However, that Is part of the fun too! Some fusions might have you entirely unmaking your best Pokémon just because it looks ugly. Rest assured, for every ugly fusion, there’s an unspeakably cool one just waiting to be found.
The Wonderful World of Pokémon
Apart from its fusions, Pokémon: Infinite Fusion’s greatest achievement might just be how beautifully it captures the world of Pokémon. This game is a beautiful homage to the franchise that many of us grew up with. It features references not only to the anime but also to the Pokémon Adventures manga. It also brings later innovations from other regions into the Kanto region.
Trainers Feel Authentic
Almost everyone who’s ever played a Pokémon game knows how it feels to have a trainer ambush you from off-screen, saying something like, “Our eyes met!” In mainline Pokémon games, trainers can feel like a drag. A necessary chore to progress. In Pokémon: Infinite Fusion, each trainer feels like an actual character, and they are a joy to encounter.
In Pokémon: Infinite Fusion, you’ll learn early on that talking to trainers after battles actually matters. After beating a trainer, they’ll interact more with you. They might ask you for a trade, give you an item, or just ask for a friendly rematch. This feature captures the friendly spirit of the anime and feels like you’re making friends with trainers. I’ve traded good Pokémon away to trainers, hoping for a thrilling rematch.
By far, the coolest feature of talking to trainers is that asking for a rematch actually levels up their Pokémon and may even help them evolve! My earliest experience with this was with a trainer just outside of Brock’s gym who asked for a rematch to prepare for the gym. After a series of rematches, her Pidgey/Caterpie fusion evolved into Pidgey/Metapod! These trainer interactions actually make it feel like you’re a part of someone else’s story. It’s an amazing feeling that no other Pokémon game has captured this way.
The way trainers treat you wonderfully captures how trainers act in the Pokémon anime. In Pokémon: Infinite Fusion, trainers genuinely love Pokémon and want to trade with you, grow stronger, and want you to grow stronger. I don’t think there’s ever been a Pokémon game that has made me feel so invested in trainers as this one.
Cool Trainer Laura is my Favorite Trainer
My favorite trainer interaction so far has been with Cool Trainer Laura. She’s encountered at the end of a long cave, an unskippable challenge right before the exit. Laura is there to test you and, as such, only sends out three members of her whole team. If you rematch her, she’ll bring out all six members of her full team to try and take you down a notch. Most Gym Leaders don’t even do that!
Cool Trainer Laura feels like an experience straight out of the anime. A wandering Ace Trainer who’s spent time on Victory Road encounters the heroes early on and asks for a battle. Later on, they show off their true strength and remain a challenging opponent each time they’re encountered. This is just one way that Pokémon: Infinite Fusion makes each trainer feel like they’re pulled right out of the anime and makes the player feel like they’re truly in the world of Pokémon.
Region Unlocked
One of the innovations of later Pokémon games is that Pokémon are not confined to one region. Each new region has its own national dex that contains Pokémon from other regions in addition to its own. In newer games, trainers from other regions may appear, stocked with their own regional teams, or offering unique trades. Pokémon: Infinite Fusion brings these innovations to the Kalos region.
In Pokémon: Infinite Fusion, you’ll find much more than the original 150 Pokémon in the Kalos Region. Some Pokémon from other regions wander randomly, or lurk in hidden places. Others might be found via trade from other trainers. Some may even be references to other games, like Legends of Zelda.
Other characters and legendary Pokémon from later games may even appear as the plot progresses! Once again, this feels like something straight out of the anime or even later games, as different gym leaders or characters may crop up in different places. Pokémon: Infinite Fusion has done a fantastic job of unlocking the Kalos region and making it feel like a part of a living world.
A Return to Form
If you’re like me, you remember the days when Pokémon was hard. Rivals didn’t pick the Pokémon type your starter was strong against, the Elite Four was a grueling grind, and the Champion would mercilessly wipe your team. While I’ve yet to finish Pokémon: Infinite Fusion and reach the Elite Four or the Champion, I’m pleased to report this game is no pushover.
Battles in Pokémon: Infinite Fusion are actually challenging. This game has forced me to play strategically and thoughtfully. Trainers will have fusions that cover their weaknesses and give access to moves to destroy the Pokémon in your party.
Even Gym Leaders manage to turn up the heat. Similar to the Pokémon Adventures manga, Gym Leaders only allow you to bring as many Pokémon to a fight as they do. This mitigates your ability to stall for time and heal with Pokémon you wouldn’t normally use. You can only take your best Pokémon in, and they have to be enough. Meanwhile, the Gym Leader has covered some of their weaknesses by fusing their Pokémon. These are excellent battles that have me eagerly awaiting the next one.
While not every fight is brutal, Pokémon: Infinite Fusion is a fun and engaging experience that will make you work on some of your harder fights. For trainers who are in search of even deadlier challengers, there’s even a hard mode. I have yet to try this out, but from the sneak peek I’ve taken, it seems insane.
Hard mode recaptures the difficulty of the classic Pokémon games, with a vengeance. Gym Leaders change their gym typings, Pokémon are high level, teams are specifically built to be as broken as possible, and the computer plays competitively and aggressively. You’ll have to use all of your skills to craft busted Pokémon with insane abilities and moves to even have a chance of prevailing.
I Wanna Be The Very Best
I love Pokémon: Infinite Fusion. This game has gone a long way in helping combat my burnout and making me excited about gaming again. The inventiveness and ideas in this game continue to amaze me at every turn. I am excited to keep finding more fusions and eventually even beat the Elite Four and the Champion. I am extremely happy to have found this game, and I can’t wait to keep playing.
