Inb4 flame comments, this is my opinion and, hopefully, everyone can agree to disagree with some civility. After finally playing through the second run of Elite Four and catching most of the legendaries, I think I was let down by all the hype from people about this rom. The biggest appeal the drew me to this rom was the delta species and legendaries, which I thought were going to be a core part of the game and wild, not a catch only one and done type deal. Furthermore, many of the deltas I was actually looking forward to were locked until much later or end game, so I couldn’t really play with the mons I wanted to. Same issue with the legendaries. I know it’s a pokemon game, but I was hoping to have reasonable access to them. Instead, you’re meant to catch them post game at super high levels and can’t really use them at frontier. Why catch them at all if they just sit in the box? For that matter, I was hoping for earlier access to better tms because enemy Pokemon were constantly dropping bombs, though perhaps that was a hard mode issue. Next is obligatory hax rant: I get that I played through on hard mode, but the hax in this game are the worst I ever saw in any Pokemon game, rom or no. Enemies crit me for days, or would land moves despite having super reduced accuracy and using low accuracy moves like they had no guard. My moves would miss a lot and confusion was pure suicide. I don’t know what the rates are on hard mode or if that made a difference, but it’s like the game was jam packed with all kinds of content, but not the fun.
Another issue with rates I had were the capture rates. Catching even regular pokemon was like catching legendaries half the time. I had quite a few pokemon struggle themselves to death. I don’t get it. A lot of moments like these really killed the enjoyment for me. As for the story line, even on the lighter mode setting, it got to be a bit overwhelming, especially with some of the dialog. At first, I was entranced by the new take on Pokemon, but I ended wanted a more tame story line. Speaking of which, I was looking forward to Damian as a rival who quickly gets shoved aside by an insufferable character who continuously flaunts her arrogance despite constantly losing while taking the opportunity to mock Damian who seems like the more likeable character. I honestly hoped she got sacrificed, so I wouldn’t have to see her any more in the game, but that’s small potatoes. I also wish that this game ran smoother like desmume, which has great features like multi-save slots for any game points, but I don’t know anything about programming, and that’s probably a tall order. Hopefully, the Giratina screech at the menu can be tuned down because that always is loud even with the game volume adjustments.
Ultimately, my biggest gripe with the game is that despite this being a rom, most of the actual Pokemon I want to play with are locked away until the end or are useless post game when you finally get access to them. I fought trainers throughout the game with legendaries and the like, yet my character did not have access to them until it didn’t really matter. I was hoping that since the MC is always the hero, maybe the story could push for that by giving earlier access to better variety allowing use of legendaries at frontier. The upside of other games is that there are codes floating around to take whatever you want to battle frontier, but I couldn’t find any for this game. Unfortunately, I am going to rank this at the bottom of all the roms I’ve played. It had the most content thus far, but I didn’t have fun, which is the whole point. That’s why after trying to amuse myself at frontier with typical mons, I think I’m going to call it quits on this one. Again, this is all just personal opinion, and it seems like most people really like this game.
Thanks for taking the time to develop this game for free. Despite the fact that it wasn’t my cup of tea, it was an interesting experience and likely brought many people back or outright first timers into the fold of the Pokemon community, which helps keep it thriving.