Played v1.3.2a EX.
Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald are the epitome of comfort games for me, and I consider them near infinitely replayable with just a handful of caveats (mostly due to later games' mechanical improvements). Imagine my surprise when I found out that there's a full-throated roguelite ROM hack of Emerald version that includes damn near every Pokémon, evolution, and mechanic up through Sword and Shield and puts the gameplay focus on competitive, strategic battling and team building.
Folks, this shit got me feeling like a Junji Ito protagonist: "👉 This game was made for me!!" I'm gonna have to force myself to put it down after my holiday travel is over or else I might not play any thing else ever again.
If you like doing nuzlockes with Pokémon randomizers, this is basically that but with more randomization in a more structured way with permanent progression systems linked to the hub area. Anything you do in the hub (level or evolve your partner, teach your partner new moves, purchase items like Pokéballs or TMs, catch new partners in the Safari Zone, and much more) is maintained after the reset following each adventure, and each adventure sees you heading out with one of your partners and whatever's in your bag at the time into a map field where you pick to explore different types of routes or gamble on varios events that may bestow great rewards. Your goal is to reach the end of each mini map and challenge a gym leader before doing it all again, eventually collecting all 8 badges and challenging the Elite Four. Money is limited, healing your team is expensive, and fainting is unrecoverable.
This is an impressively technical achievement that reworks so much of Pokémon Emerald into a completely new experience that somehow still retains the magical core gameplay loop of the series. It's a genuinely incredible breath of fresh air and I wholeheartedly recommend it to Pokémon fans who are looking for an interesting new challenge wrapped in a nostalgic package.
First adventure clear team: Charizard, Gardevoir, Deoxys, Salamence, and Regirock. RIP to Magneton, Golem, Mew, and the other fallen soldiers along the way. 🫡
Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald are the epitome of comfort games for me, and I consider them near infinitely replayable with just a handful of caveats (mostly due to later games' mechanical improvements). Imagine my surprise when I found out that there's a full-throated roguelite ROM hack of Emerald version that includes damn near every Pokémon, evolution, and mechanic up through Sword and Shield and puts the gameplay focus on competitive, strategic battling and team building.
Folks, this shit got me feeling like a Junji Ito protagonist: "👉 This game was made for me!!" I'm gonna have to force myself to put it down after my holiday travel is over or else I might not play any thing else ever again.
If you like doing nuzlockes with Pokémon randomizers, this is basically that but with more randomization in a more structured way with permanent progression systems linked to the hub area. Anything you do in the hub (level or evolve your partner, teach your partner new moves, purchase items like Pokéballs or TMs, catch new partners in the Safari Zone, and much more) is maintained after the reset following each adventure, and each adventure sees you heading out with one of your partners and whatever's in your bag at the time into a map field where you pick to explore different types of routes or gamble on varios events that may bestow great rewards. Your goal is to reach the end of each mini map and challenge a gym leader before doing it all again, eventually collecting all 8 badges and challenging the Elite Four. Money is limited, healing your team is expensive, and fainting is unrecoverable.
This is an impressively technical achievement that reworks so much of Pokémon Emerald into a completely new experience that somehow still retains the magical core gameplay loop of the series. It's a genuinely incredible breath of fresh air and I wholeheartedly recommend it to Pokémon fans who are looking for an interesting new challenge wrapped in a nostalgic package.
First adventure clear team: Charizard, Gardevoir, Deoxys, Salamence, and Regirock. RIP to Magneton, Golem, Mew, and the other fallen soldiers along the way. 🫡