Ariadne

Wow, now having finished playing through Case 20, clocking in at about 68 hours of play (about 6 of which were spent on a certain double battle in some certain woods) I can confidently say that this is my new favorite fangame ever. This game gave me so much joy that I feel like I should try to give something back by sharing my thoughts in what turned into a small novel xD There's so much to gush about I hardly know where to start! I'll try to start broad and get narrower. The structure/conceit: I love the case system. While I enjoy how games like Reborn and Rejuv have integrated gyms into the story, having a completely different way to mark progression made this game really stand out from the crowd. I love how it let all the battles and trainers feel more naturalistic--every opponent's team felt like it was something they would put together, and it meant that there could be stretches of battle-lite play where it felt appropriate. Progression felt more tied to story and character development than you proving yourself as a trainer. Also the case system in general was really fun! I'm a sucker for mysteries and puzzle games and despite how limited the medium of this kind of fangame is technically, the system you built captured the vibe of like a Nancy Drew or Sherlock Holmes game. The mysteries were also well constructed--there were only a few instances were I couldn't figure out what to do next or had to brute force the evidence presentation, and they were uncommon enough that they did not diminish my overall enjoyment. Story - General Vibes: The fucking atmosphere of this game...exquisite, effervescent, empyreal. Noir may be my favorite genre/subgenre, so I am already 100% the target audience here, but holy shit you guys nailed it. The moody jazz ost, the hardboiled internal monologue, the smaller scale urban setting... It's so delightfully contrasted with the simple Gen 3 graphics and the general silliness that is kinda built into Pokemon. In that vein, contrast is something this game does incredibly well. The hardboiled, gritty noir is often lightened by humor and some outright goofy sequences, but those add rather than detract from the tone. It keeps it from being a joyless grim slog and then when the game does decide to get real for a bit, the gut punch leaves you reeling (I still haven't recovered from the end of case 19 ;-; ). I was also impressed and pleased with how well Pokemon are actually integrated into the story and world. I feel like in a number of fangames, Pokemon are just sort of the gameplay vehicle and you could remove them without losing much of the story. But this games actually does the thing I always wanted fangames to do: give you a non-negotiable partner so the game can truly integrate them into the story and gameplay. Even as someone who never had particularly strong feelings about the Swinub line, Truffles instantly became my darling, and I love how she both gets to be a character and that her unique snow-pig attributes get to shine in a variety of ways. (Also, it should be stated that now I do have strong feelings about the Swinub line, thanks to this game!) Story - Characters I feel like most people tend to prefer OC/blank slate/self-insert playable characters in pokemon fangames, not because they're inherently a better fit, but because writing a good protagonist is hard. And if a player doesn't click with the protagonist they're playing, they'll probably bounce off the game. Sylvester Lafayette IV is the exception that proves the rule. He is so well drawn as a character and I was so invested in his story. It certainly doesn't help that he is also the kind of character that is absolute crack for my brain: gruff, repressed stoic, trying to shield his soft heart with cynicism and dissociation (and failing), collects strays and is mad about it, unable to walk away from perceived injustice despite it always leading to trouble... Absolute pathetic wet cat of a man, 10/10 no notes, S-tier blorbo material. And everyone else is so good too! I don't know if there are characters I don't feel strongly about. I love most of them, and the ones I don't like, I get to loathe with the strength of 1000 suns, which is just as fun. Even down to the throw-away npcs like the Number Guy. All their relationships are so well drawn and distinct. My favorites are probably (early-mid game spoilers): Gameplay: I already gushed about the case system above, so I'll talk more about the Pokemon aspect of it. I was playing on normal/medium and found that was mostly the perfect difficulty for me. I wanted to make a team of pokemon that seemed fitting for a PI and/or were obtained through story significant events, which means my team was not particularly optimized. The harder encounters sometimes took a few tries and creative approaches to overcome, but only one fight ever left me frustrated to the point I stopped having fun (again, a certain double battle in some certain woods). There was also a satisfying sense of gameplay/story harmony when (mid-game spoilers) Last Thoughts: I'm very grateful that I found this game when I did. Between being in my last semester of law school and the everything happening in the world right now, I've needed something to latch onto to keep my head above water. Especially since I'm in a video game law class right now, and most days I leave that class feeling like the video games industry is doing everything it can to crush the artistic spirit out of this medium. I don't know if it's common knowledge outside IP law spaces, but there's this overriding theory in both the legal system and industry that no one will make art if they can't make money off it. Coming back here, both to Ashen Frost and the pokemon fangame space in general is such a thorough refutation of that mindset. So thank you again for a bit of respite and fun in a difficult time, and I can't wait for the finale!

Perfect! Thanks Jan. That solved it!

ETA: Didn't see Foxmask's post on the same issue, not sure how to delete this post :/ I'm in the West Gearan Sewers, and every time I encounter the garbador, I get a debug message. The game doesn't crash then, but it freezes on the next encounter. The first few times, I was able to save and reload without a problem, but there's no chance to save when you battle it. Extra info: I am playing on Mac + Wine, if that makes any difference Attached is the bug message

I was defeated on Route 4 and am now chilling with Geara in the void. Seems like this has happened to a few other people. Game.rxdata