If your children or grandchildren have a Nintendo 3DS and are into Pokémon there is a good chance that you will hear them talking about Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon Omega Ruby. With the holidays approaching these games are most likely on their wish list. So which one should you buy them or does it make sense to buy them both?

So here is what you need to know.

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon Omega Ruby are Essentially the Same Game

There are slight differences between the storylines in the games, but Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon Omega Ruby are essentially the same game. For both games, the adventure occurs in the Hoenn region. In Alpha Sapphire, players will encounter Team Aqua who wishes to increase the seas. Meanwhile in Omega Ruby players will battle Team Magma who seeks to increase the land.

One cool new feature in these new games is that partway through your adventure, you will be able to soar in the sky and look down over the Hoenn region as you soar wherever you want. There are special destinations you can reach using soar that are called Mirage spots. In these Mirage spots, you may be able to find rare Pokémon that are not found anywhere else in the Hoenn region and you may also be able to obtain valuable items.

Should I buy both games?

No. With the cost of video games, it would be a waste. After finishing one game the player will most likely be bored and stop playing due to the similar storylines between the two games.

The only way you should buy both games is if you have two children you are giving them to. When you hear this bit of advice you might say, but you don’t know my children they will jealous and bicker if they don’t have the same things. Let me tell you that in this case, they will not bicker. Like I said earlier, the games have similar storylines, so there isn’t much chance for jealously there between kids. My two kids have different games and they compare notes with each other to see if they have done or achieved certain things that exist in both games.

One of the key differences between Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire is that the Pokémon that appear in the wild can differ. For example, Pokémon Omega Ruby features the Deceiver Pokémon Mawile and Alpha Sapphire features the Darkness Pokémon Sableye. So when players are trying to complete their Pokédex trading Pokémon with you’re their friends is one of the ways to have fun playing, which is why you don’t want to get your kids the same game.

Conclusion

Either way you go both Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon Omega Ruby are good choices. So when making a decision about which one to buy you might consider the following questions:

Which storyline sounds more interesting (facing Team Aqua or Team Magma)?
Which Pokémon are you, or the person you are buying for, most interested in?
Does anyone else in your household have one of the two games already? If yes, buy the other one.

Happy shopping.