The start of the game feels like a copy-paste of Rejuvenation's boat section. The difference here is that the ship explodes and you wash up on some random beach. The characters you meet on said boat are Ava, Scarlett, Conner, Nova, and Amelia, who is a member of the black foxes. Ava and Conner's personalities are too similar to one another. They seem to be very unlikable and condescending toward others. Scarlett seems innocent but she gets worse.
Anyways, Conner wakes you up and takes you to a part of a forest to talk about the situation. I'm not gonna explain the entire plot. We'd be here all day. I'll just summarize it to get the main points across. The scene then cuts to Ava and Scarlett running away from the natives. Meanwhile, Conner helps the player by giving them healing stations but is still a jerk. The first episode is literally just fighting natives, saving your friends, and introducing a character named Shiv. (Who in the world thought that was a good name?)
Who drags Kuiki somewhere and the entire thing never gets brought up again and is forgotten about. Oh, and don't forget the fact that Conner and Ava are gym leaders. She sets up a match between you and Conner to receive the first badge. And also humbling Conner in the process. After the battle, we head to Route 1 to find a way home. We run into Hardy then he battles the player. We never see him again until another badge later. Then we run into some crescent grunts who suck at their jobs by shouting out loud as to where they are going. Plot twist! They are blocking the path to another City because Baron wants a legendary Pokémon but during the struggle, he seemingly throws Ava into the Lava while Scarlett conveniently shows up to watch it then breaks down. Honestly, the scene seems good at first glance.
The issue I have with it is that Nova somehow brings Ava back rendering the scene before pointless. We battle Scarlett and run into yet another gym who doesn't really affect the plot very much but only in side content. It makes Aderyn irrelevant. She basically sends us to some random burial ground to clean up crescent grunts and nobody bothered to help. Then Nova shows up and says "We want a peaceful world and the world sucks right now". When it's been like what? A few days? Her motives seem really stupid and only serves as a red herring. Just like the rest of act 1. No wonder it all feels rushed. Then Shiv tells the player to fetch the onyx stone from his mind. Later, we are presented a choice. Either hand the stone to Nova or Shiv. The problem is that this choice is pointless since Nova steals it anyways. Like, what's the point of choices if they don't affect the plot?
You battle the next gym leader and are presented a scene that shows Scarlett questioning Nova's nonsense. Later on, the player meets with Ava and Scarlett over in the grid to get picked up. Unfortunately, the plane leaves and Nova sees the player again. Then out of nowhere, Shiv decides to do something and Nova creates a portal causing the nameless grunts to die. Like, where is the build up? It just happens so suddenly and I just don't care. Oh yeah, remember Scarlett? She betrays us even though she literally saw her friend die in front of her. It just feels so rushed. I don't understand why it needed to exist. There was no need.
Anyways, you run into Tristan. Both of you navigated around the icy mountain and leave. That's it. No bonding or anything... Whatever...
When you leave the icy area, Shiv will talk to you about stuff you already know and leaves. Later, you run into Hardy and battle him. He mentions someone giving another badge and that all he contributes to the plot. Just exposition. Oh wait... Later on, Ava runs into you and questions how you lived the fall when I would question how she lived the fall. Then a bunch of Black Foxes mess around the Addonfall area just as a distraction. Well that was pointless. You go to the gym only to find it abandoned and Tristan asks for a battle since he's a gym leader.
You battle him for the third badge and never see him again until the end of act 1. Then, Hardy appears again as a member of the Black foxes. He hesitates on killing someone and Amelia just lets her live and gets onto Hardy. When you see him at the top of some mountain, he says the reason for joining the Black foxes was to cure his Zoroark. Okay, I have several problems with this. 1: I find it hard to believe that Nurse Joy would just let an innocent Pokémon suffer like that. 2: It has no buildup at all. We don't get a scene where Hardy and his Zoroark are chilling when it coughs? Really? And 3: You're telling me that Hardy doesn't consider it's feelings at all when joining a gang? I thought Pokémon were sentient?
The rest of act 1 is just preparing and fighting a gang war in the middle of a city. Why the Black foxes or team crescent wants control over Blackview, I will never know. Like, couldn't they just use psychic type to teleport to Cellia? I know they want to get closer, but they can't use their Pokémon? You battle Conner's sister for the 4th badge and before hopping on the boat, Tristan wants to come with and you meet with both Ava and Conner to tell them about Tristan. You go to Tristan's house only to find out that there is no Normal type leader and they've been gone for 5 years. Uh, okay? But, wouldn't there be gossip as to what happened to them? This just comes out of nowhere. And then boom! Act 1's over.
So I think act 1 is probably the worst part of the game. There's just so many things happening at once. Nothing feels natural at all. Sure, Amelia wanted to know where Artem was and all that jazz but wouldn't it make more sense for her to capture one of the crescent grunts instead of killing them? Another thing is that it all happens way too fast. The betrayals for example feel weird and they offer nothing except an interesting idea that goes nowhere. Well, at least for Scarlett. Hardy on the other hand just feels like another twist to foreshadow certain plot points like perfection. Yeah, they feel like plot devices. However, I did like the scene where Scarlett breaks down. I'd rate it a 3 at most.
Act 2 is where things kind of start to fall into place. It's starts with you in bed and Ava and Conner talk to you for awhile and then you fall back to sleep only to wake up in Cellia. You stay at a local hotel that Ava paid for and Shiv shows up to give you a vision of when him and Nova were a thing. He tells you the same thing about taking the stone off her since he couldn't convince Nova. Then you run into some Black foxes as they run into a warehouse. Once you beat them up, the police award you entry inside Cellia City.
I won't lie. Cellia city is actually really pretty and I like it. Then, you get introduced to Aurora AKA Shiv's sister. She was shown in a cutscene earlier but you get the point. She gets rid of the black foxes inside the building and takes you hostage. How predictable. Then, Rosetta shows up and causes Aurora to leave. Rosetta recognizes the player as the one who helped with Blackview and asks to meet at the big tournament building. Once there, she asks the player to find Nova through Garret. (Side note, Garret is actually one of my favorite characters) You head to South Cellia to find him. Garret chases the Black fox out and then asks you to find the fox den to test you. So you go down the sewers and do just that. Afterwards, Garret congratulates you and tells you that Nova was in a red manor.
Once you find her, she admits that she has no use for the onyx stone and battles you for it. Before you could grab the stone, Aurora comes in and says she's been looking for Nova and leaves. Nova does too. Before you leave however, you notice a strange coin on the ground. You go to Rosetta for help and she says to go to the the storage place. They know where it's from but can't tell you since it's illegal. So you talk to Garret again and he tells you about the undercity and the story of Lilith. It's kind of edgy when you think about it.
You head down there and find a Black fox base. For some reason, the guard mistakes you as a recruit and lets you waltz in. These villains are clowns. Even Amelia lampshades it but pointing out issues doesn't fix them. Anyways, you fight a bunch of Black foxes, flip a few switches and battle Amelia as well. She accidentally summons Lilith who tells you that a truce is in order to get rid of the twins. She puts you to sleep for some reason and leaves a note saying to look for Garret again. Couldn't she just tell us? Whatever...
So you found garret and you plan to break into the archives to find the info on Shiv and his sister. Then you read a bunch of exposition and a fight breaks out. Personally, I don't think dairys are a good way to explain important information. It's just a bunch of exposition that I probably won't bother to read. They are written by Aurora and it's literally telling you that her life sucks and she hates the world because of her powers. Oh yeah, and one of them tells you the same stuff. It also explains why Aurora wants Nova dead. She stabbed his brother. As to what causes Nova to do such a thing when she cares about him I will never know.
Nova talks about how she has to do terrible things and Aurora is just as bad. Aurora fires back and says she won't forgive Nova. I could tell the entire argument but it feels like melodrama so I'll give you the short version. She eventually summons a portal to toss Nova in there but was stopped by Shiv. He tries to convince his sister to leave Nova alone but she isn't having it and the player walks out of the library. Here, you have two choices, either abandon Nova or save her. Spoilers, it doesn't matter and it railroads you anyways. Cause Nova gets tossed into the grid regardless. Oh yeah and you don't even need to do the quest for the fifth entry to Aurora's diary. Nova lives no matter what cause the plot needs her. If you tell Aurora about the entry, she leaves Nova alone and leaves. But if you don't, Nova just gets injured and you wake up in the manor.
Ava wakes you up and admits that it was a stupid move to leave you in Cellia. Gee, ya think?! Like, what kind of friends are you for leaving me to deal with the melodrama? Anyway, you go downstairs and the group actually sits down and casually talks to one another! (I really wish this game had more of these. It makes the group feel like friends.) Rosetta even invites you to her tournament to battle her. After going through the tournament and getting the fifth badge, the player decides to take a nap only to be woken up by Garret about the info in the archives regarding Shiv and Aurora's powers. Turns out it relates to dreams and you fall asleep before hearing the end of it.
Episode four ends with Aurora telling you that Ayrith is a dream and that you woke up. Okay, here's some problems with this episode. Why does the story still feel rushed? Why did Ava and Conner leave you to deal with Shiv and Aurora's drama? I know it has something to do with them going to Arcanius but couldn't they just get the other gym leaders to deal with it? Particularly the ones that don't do much like Aderyn? It'd give her some sort of purpose for the plot. Another thing I didn't like was that the choices you make may seem important but then gets thrown out the window later. I'm also not a fan of the dev team ripping off inception. Other than that, a solid 6. It actually seems like the story is actually getting decent. It also introduces Garret and it makes the game a little better.
The last episode is where things get weird. Why? Because the game tries so hard to make you believe that Ayrith was a dream but fails. What were the devs thinking when they named the place you woke up in the dreamscape? It makes it sound so obvious that you're dreaming right now and Ayrith is the real world. It tried to pull an inception on me but I saw through it rendering the "plot twist" meaningless. You follow Aurora around and then she makes you find a way to wake Shiv up in Odis Village. You then run into Tristan again. (What's the point of his character again?) Who points you to the direction of the council building. The people inside tell you about Booker and you head there. Booker then tells you to find his books.
This is actually when the game lets your choices matter. You either just find the three books and continue on with the plot. Or you could look deeper into the dreamscape to find the truth. It's actually cool. Regardless, you find the three books and head back to booker who explains about dreams and then you get back to Aurora. You tell her that you'll wake up Shiv and you wake up back in the real world. Ava explains that she's ready to take back North Cellia. It turned out that North Cellia is a warzone and you fight with Aaron, the steel type gym leader who loves to give thesis statements on questions the player has for things. You eventually find one of the Black foxes' research labs. The books explain what the Black foxes plans on doing with perfection. You also find Waldenhall's name on one of them. You pick up Lilith's pokeball and get a flashback of Lilith's life. You run into Hardy and battle him. He leaves and North Cellia returns back to normal.
You battle Aaron for the sixth badge and Garret takes you to the archives to investigate it. Cryptic stuff and you go to the manor. Garret tells you his backstory and you battle him for the 7th badge. Rosetta then screams at the player and Garret that team crescent are on bountilla island. (Let me be honest, I don't care about team crescent. They are one of the most generic villians in the game. Along with the Black foxes who's only interesting character is Lilith.) Once there, you beat up a bunch of crescent grunts. Some of them were beat up by Shiv. Eventually, you go inside one of crescent's labs and beat up more grunts and Garret becomes a chad. You then run into Shiv and battle Barron. After that, the whole place explodes and you get sucked into the dreamscape again.
Aurora wakes you and Shiv up then makes a portal to where Darkrai is and pushes you in. This is where the inception nonsense gets worse. Why? Because there's still too much cryptic pretentious dialogue. Lilith then intervenes to say something obvious and battles you. She shows you that Shiv and Nova messed with her this whole time. I feel like that was obvious given that Shiv, Aurora, and Nova aren't exactly trustworthy. Anyways, you meet with the twins and they summon Darkrai. Darkrai says that you can end the dream all you have to do is just take is hand. If you don't, you'll get a game over. (Which was actually quite cool. I remember Rejuvenation giving you interesting game overs as well. Reborn just trolls you.)
If you took Darkrai's hand, everyone straight up hates you and the game continues as normal. But if you found the truth, you can reject Darkrai. (The truth of the dreamscape is that it's just Darkrai's prison. That's it. Odis Village has no role to play at all.) Oh yeah, then Nova saves you out of nowhere if you helped her. But you just get back to Cellia and Nova shows up in the manor anyways. They talk about everything that transpired and Nova offers her help. The group obviously has trust issues with her. (Which is stupid considering the fact that Scarlett just gets easily forgiven for siding with literal terrorists.) Conner believes her and Garret gives the best speech in the game.
Overall, episode 5 was a predictable mess. It's too easy to figure everything out. However, I do like the fact that characters actually start doing things again. It's so refreshing. Darkrai's introduction was cool and actually interesting. The plot finally gets itself together and it gets compelling. Act 2 as a whole is decent but the end of it is really good. I give this a 6.
Episode 6... Where to begin. I honestly thought this game was a lost cause until we get to act 3. Sure, act 2 was decent and all, but I'll never forgive act 1 for being so rushed and messy. I just can't. Act 2 doesn't redeem the game at all when it has the same problems but to a lessor degree. Act 3 so far is just amazing. It blew the first two acts out of the water.
It starts off with the player overhearing Nova and Ava talking about trust. Ava still doesn't trust Nova but Nova says that she was under Darkrai's thumb. Ava eventually agrees and tells you and Nova to meet up in Cellia East. Ava knows someone who researches perfection. This person happens to be a gym leader. When they arrive in Cellia East, they are amazed that the gym leader spiced the place up and began the search for the gym leader. We eventually find him inside his own nightclub. He makes a spectacular entrance and sees Ava and the player. Ava explains that they were looking for him and they take a seat. Ava introduces the gym leader as Reave, the psychic type leader. (He's also one of my favorites purely by his personality alone.)
Ava explains that the reason they were looking for him was because of his connection to perfection. Reave seems hesitant to discuss it but agrees and wants you and Ava to meet him at his clothing store. Once there, He tells the group about his deal. You are to accompany him
to his meeting with a crescent admin and he'll spill the beans on perfection. Turns out that crescent is also after perfection and when Reave refuses to spill the info, he attacks with some undercover agents and tries to take Reave by force. He fails and runs away.
You meet up with Reave again and he explains that hundreds of years ago, a bunch of explores who had close bonds with one another and came across perfection. They fought for power and all died. Perfection is also similar to mega evolution and that a genuinely strong bond is need to be able to use it. Nova presses for more info and Reave only says a name, "Waldenhall". He also has a connection to the research regarding perfection. Nova tells the player to come back to the dreamscape for answers.
When you go into the dreamscape, it's actually quite a bit. The council in Odis Village tell you that Tristan is in the waterscape and you go there to fight a bunch of Tristan's Pokémon and you him argue with his Lopunny. (I really like that Tristan's Pokémon actually show you how they feel about Tristan abandoning them. They actually feel sad. I can't say the same for Hardy's Zoroark since the game doesn't actually show it's feelings whatsoever.) When he sees you again, he tells you that he was actually Darkrai's doll this whole time and begs you to stop him. After the battle, he tells you that Darkrai is in a place called Chryseum Canyon looking for something. You then leave the dreamscape with Nova and return to Cellia East.
When you go into Cellia East, Ava tells you that there's been a prison break at Cellia prison and that Baron and Artem are missing. You go inside to stop them. When you go into the location of Baron's cell, the place is in shambles. You and Reave investigate and discover that team crescent has a lab stowed away deep in the prison sewers. You also find Baron and Artem inside the lab. Baron gets away and Reave holds Artem back so you can catch Baron. (What a bro!) You corner Baron and battle him. Unfortunately, he escapes and you head back with Nova in tow.
On the way back, you encounter Shiv who is trying to keep Darkrai's control on him at bay. Nova tries to get through to him but fails and you wake up in the docks of Cellia East. Reaves checks on you and wants to meet you at his store. During the meeting, Reave reveals that he knew where Waldenhall went. It's a place called Fairbale. Ava accuses Reave of conspiracy but Garret steps in and reminds the group that stuff needs to be done. After the meeting, you jump on a boat to Fairbale to capture Waldenhall.
In the woods near Fairbale, Your group runs into the Black foxes and fights through them to get to Waldenhall. When things go wrong for him in Fairbale, he books it out of there but was intercepted by Garret. He demands Waldenhall answers on what he did with Garret's sister. Waldenhall refuses to answer and retreats to Visinite Current. Garret chases him and corners him. Waldenhall eventually confesses that he kidnapped Garret's sister for research on the grid and left her there. Garret collapses out of relief and the player goes up to Waldenhall and battles them. Once Waldenhall losses, he warns the player that there is more to his research and leaves while the player gets knocked unconscious. Garret wakes them up and tells them about the ruins. You investigate it however, you see Waldenhall's memory of the ruins.
Waldenhall came across some very dark secrets about the place and ran into a being in the mirror who seems to be Darkrai's trainer. He got spooked and ran off. Causing you to come back to your senses. After that, you leave and Garret gets a text from Reave saying to meet at his nightclub. Once there, Reave reveals that he has continued his research on perfection in secret. He also tells you that he can track down Waldenhall with the perfection energy. Not only that, but you also have that energy and the problem is that if someone with perfection doesn't ascend naturally, they die a slow painful death. However, you deny fate and Reave wants to you to see how long you'd last with it. He gives you the 8th badge when beaten and tells you to come back to his secret lab. He tells you about you're next objective and it's to go to Darkroot.
So, you jumped on the boat and head for Darkroot. The game ends with Darkrai's trainer calling Darkrai.
So there you have it. For now, act 3 is over. Now, this entire episode was the highlight of the game and that's for good reason. For one, Garret gets better and more compelling since the game shows you his past and you bond with him. Two, Reave is such an enjoyable character. I like it when nerds have personalities. He literally lampshades on Ava's presence during the story. He also has a pretty interesting backstory. And three, Waldenhall is actually a unique villain. He's more than a pretentious fool. He also has ambition and isn't afraid to die for his research. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the next versions. I like that there's more to the dreamscape now with a new section of it. The story is actually getting interesting and not predictable. You did a good job Caz and co! I know I was ranting on your writing for quite a bit but you really made up for the game's failure's in the story.
I rate this act so far a 10. Keep up the good work!
