Hi, I'm kbrooks25 or Softpaw, I've been playing Pokémon mainline and ROM remakes for the better part of 20 years and found you guys last week. I've played non-stop and am now at the Kanto Elite Four and just wanted to post a brief review in case any other new people find the forum like I did.
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This is by far the best visual remake of Kanto, and the other games, I've seen to date. It's gorgeous. The maps are overwhelmingly vibrant and full of life and detail and it doesn't lose any of the original flavour or life found in the original games. I am constantly blown away by the adaptations of modern Pokémon into the classic 2d sprite formula and it is everything I wanted from the new mainline entries that failed to deliver. There are so many small character inclusions that tie the classic comic and anime characters together with the game in a way that feels completely natural; it's everything I originally wanted from the Gameboy games and is a perfect reimagining of the campaign. Meeting and fighting so many mainline characters in a lore-inclusive way has been an amazing experience.
The gameplay itself feels more akin to the classic Gameboy games than any of the new mainline adaptations, which focus more on Nintendo DS UI setups. It took a while to get used to but is super smooth and the non-intrusive combat window and mobile UI is largely great despite a few issues with menus not closing when touched (best played with a larger phone to avoid this). It's hard and the main story will repeatedly kick you in the teeth but it's not cheesy or overly designed like many newer remakes, the difficulty curve is pretty solid and it rewards creative thinking. The Mewtwo final gym battle is a good example of this as it's obscenely difficult until you realise you can use a sturdy Magnemite with thunder wave to slow him down for your team application. The lack of battle animations is a bit hit-and-miss but there are enough that you don't notice most of the time, especially when farming.
The day-night system is definitely the best version I've seen across all remakes and it adds another layer of immersion that really helps bring the game to life, especially with dynamic lighting and modern weather effects adding extra atmosphere to the game.
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The game is very accessible as a free player, and although there are significant membership/premium benefits it never feels necessary or overwhelming. There are a lot of good cosmetics that reward monotype players and they really make you feel like an expert trainer with your respective element: I use the dark-type cloak/hood and the Absol mount and it's really well made. The region-travel system is solid and the Diglett tunnels enable a psuedo-fast travel until you unlock the subway system. Moving around the map is easy enough and the lack of the Fly HM helps add another layer of decision making to your farming plans. Guilds are also great and the experience bonuses are nice.
My absolute favourite addition is the Trainer Tower system. Classic Pokémon has always had a major issue with pokemon levelling flat-lining and becoming a slog and the Tower system fixes it in a rewarding and challenging way. My only issue with it is that it's very easy to run out of money due to the subway system and bike system requiring 100k, so new players can get roadblocked and can't access it well until much later on, forcing you to grind at Victory Road which *sucks*. The berry system could also do with some upgrading as the inability to find EV-reducing berries on-demand hurts your ability to train Elite Four ready teams, especially as no one really sells berries in the trading economy and there's no GTS system to readily find items so it's very cumbersome.
Typing feels reasonably good, and the addition of fairy types to Kanto really makes the entire region feel better and the extra options for fighting the Dragon E4 master help a lot. There's a lack of dark types in Kanto though so monotype dark players are quite squeezed; I had to train an umbreon and haven't gotten a second type yet as they're night-locked in Route 7. Having a couple additional ways to access dark types would be a nice addition if you ever get the time. Pancham and/or Corphish would be very strong additions that would help ease some of the roadblocks mono-dark players encounter.
There's also a lot more endgame PvE content than other MMO remakes due to the addition of updated Battle Frontier trainers in Sinnoh and the addition of Dungeons. Also as someone with pretty heavy photosensitivity issues the lack of flashing lights and images is a huge plus.
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Absolutely pick this game up for anyone reading this. It's a 10/10 experience and is a love-letter to the manga, anime, and games. It's an unforgettable experience and the community is amazing. Best played on a large android phone with good ram, I.e. the Honour phone series on Amazon. It runs incredibly well and I've had literally no issues or lag the entire time I've played. Can't wait to see what else the devs release going forward!
