Without a doubt one of the most refined Pokémon experiences out there. Its only weak points are some pacing and tone issues with the main quest. I didn't really feel engaged with the story or the characters, and some plot points were overly edgy for the Pokémon brand. The "side quests" are also unimaginative and boring, basically chores. But they are also completely optional so I can't complain too much. Other than that, I had a blast.

There are a ton of quality of life improvements, a varied and interesting region, a buttload of team building capabilities with the sheer number of available Pokémon, and a level curve that is just chef's kiss. With the level cap feature and the exp share, I never had to grind, and I could reshuffle my team with next to no setbacks in term of playtime.

Last but not least, the polish. This game feels like an honest-to-god successor of the gen3 games, what feels like Pokémon would have naturally evolved into if it never moved away from the GBA. It reaches game freak's heights, and surpasses pretty much any Pokémon game that came out in the last decade or so.

One of the better romhacks with a fantastic pokedex and a ton of QoL features, Unbound is absolutely wonderful and a joy to play...when it shuts up and gives you time to play.

There are fun battle challenges, gimmick battles that change the way Pokémon types work, different difficulty settings, a character customizer, lots of optional side-quests that have worthwhile rewards, post-game content for legendaries, a new game plus mode, mega evolutions, dynamax raids, level-scaling trainer battles - all of which make Unbound feel fresh despite being one of a billion FireRed hacks out there now. All of the optional content also helps to make it as long or short as you'd like, which I appreciated, since in a lot of other games you finally get your team together just before the game ends. The New Game Plus feature helps with that as well.

However, holy crap the story is so overwrought and hackneyed to the point where my eyes were permanently stuck rolled into the back of my head anytime I had to do main quest missions that weren't gyms. Not only is the premise ridiculous, but the NPCs talk way too long. These two issues combined to drive me insane at parts.

My only other tiny issue is giving out pseudolegendaries for starters, which is a trend in romhacks that I personally really dislike.

That being said, everything else in the game oozes charm and I had an absolute blast playing Unbound.

This is my first hackrom and it's amazing the level of content, plot and gameplay that can be achieved by fans.

I've been immersed in this world for quite a few months, as I've played it from times to times with my Miyoo Mini Plus and recovering the feeling of play a Pokemon game in a small handheld while playing something new is priceless.

The plot is interesting, it has even a side quest system with great tracking and it's PACKED with content and variety. If you're invested in everything it offers you, you can play for HUNDREDS of hours just catching every Pokemon, doing the side quest, the Frontier, and so on. It's just almost everything Pokemon has to offer in just a ROM.

Can't recommend enough to, at least, give it a try if you're not happy about the latest Pokemon games but doesn't want to give up on the franchise. Even tho it's not "official" content, it sure feels like it is.

I started to think you couldn't construct a single-player pokemon campaign that is satisfying the whole way through, but this certainly gave me a kick in the ass. This game is pretty much the perfect pokemon game, and I'm not sure any other games in the series even come close to it. It's simply the best.

The main campaign has a decent little story. You're definitely not playing for the actual story, but it's the best out of every normal pokemon game, not that it's a high bar. What it does perfectly though is guide you through the game. It always felt like a push to keep exploring and moving forward rather than an actual main focus.

The teambuilding is astounding. It manages to give you every tool needed to make an absolutely perfect team with so much room for gimmicks and weather, whatever you want. I ended up running a sort of "hazard stack lite" with webs and rocks. I was able to fall in love with Minior after catching it on route 1. It was always a pokemon I liked but it was nothing I really loved because I never used it in my life. Now it's one of my absolute favorites. I really loved using Metagross and its line. It felt useful the entire game, even in that awkward period where it has to just be an eviolite tank. It became my best pokemon after it could mega. The other super notable pokemon I got was the Zygarde I hunted down. I got it after the 5th gym, and was actually super disappointed by how bad it was. Before the seventh gym I was gonna drop it, but then I taught it dragon dance by tutor and found the tm for earthquake and suddenly it became a complete monster, carrying my lategame on its back.

There is a lot of worthwhile side content in the game too. I took my sweet time combing through every town and doing quite a few missions before I even hit the post-game, and it was all fun. I found most NPCs had something valuable to say, and I think that's super cool. The quest to even get my Zygarde required a lot of exploration.

The game also has a full brand new ost. It's like, a full one, not like Insurgence that just has like ten songs. This game has a great soundtrack that I actually would say is better than the majority of official pokemon games, which I already rank quite high on this front. They definitely nailed the normal battle theme, I can't imagine getting sick of it.

Absolute perfect package. Proof that Gamefreak really are hacks. Fan games like this are what make me stay a pokemon fan throughout the years.

Pokemon unbound is simply wonderful and the best romhack currently in existence and There is really no competition this game gives the impression that it was made by gaming industry professionals and not gamers or fans.
It has a complete custom soundtrack full of many good songs (love the Battle and Champion theme)so if you are sick of your typical gamefreak songs you Will enjoy this.
The game has a ton of content(more than many paid games out there)like more than 30 side Quests some even having their own stories while others offer you a challenge(like beat the elite 4 with One Pokemon only)a mini game where you Control an altaria and a huge postgame that has the Legendary hunts,the Battle tower and more extra story content(and the game is still going to get more content lol).
Unbound Also has a bunch of quality of life features that Will make you love it,like Being able to use pokeballs without going to the bag menu,battle and puzzle difficulty selection,option to use or not use potions in battle or even deciding if you want the game to have level caps or not make sure that each Run is different and specific to each player.
Everyone can play unbound and still get out with a smile.
This game Also has a new beautiful region with many biomes and a good story that while not perfect clearly got a ton of attention from the devs.
I give to unbound an 10 out of 10 and i can't wait for it's future updates.

this is one of the few recent pokemon hacks to go for it and make a full new region from scratch. in a few ways it pays off, but in others it doesn’t.

for some positives, the whole thing is very impressive. there’s huge variety in pokemon to use and mechanics, dozens of sidequests, and a lot of cool areas. i did mostly enjoy what was on offer at least at the high points.

unfortunately, this length and depth has its setbacks. the entire thing is just TOO long and bloated. there’s areas and sidequests basically directly ripped from other pokemon games that just do not need to be here and it leads to the entire journey feeling like it drags and drags and drags. the story is also nothing special and yet there are regularly LONG cutscenes right before major battles which is miserable if you ever have to reset. i have no problem with the wealth of postgame content, but the main game needed several more trimmings to not feel like such a slog.

also final note fuck whoever made the ground elite four member what do you MEAN permanent unremovable sandstorm + sand rush pokemon spamming flinch moves???