Blazed through Reborn EP17, feeling empty and hollow again. Need good Pokemon fangame recommendations to fill the void.

[Fad]

Edit:(I posted here because I'm not sure where else to put it, so moderators, please remove, recategorize or lock the thread if it's in the wrong subforum.)

 

Episode 17 was a rollercoaster. But I keep wanting more and I can barely wait for Episode 18.

 

I'm just looking for a fangame or ROM hack with good dialogue, decent characters, and challenging gameplay and I must applaud Ame and her crew because none of the hacks I've played has met at least 60% of what Reborn has offered to me, too much edgy just for the sake of it, not enough challenge, and lackluster presentation. The only game that has made me more hooked to the characters is Persona 4 Golden (I may haven't played enough games, but money is the last thing I want to overly spend on right now) and I need my Pokemon fix.

 

I've heard good things about Rejuvenation and Insurgence (not sure how finished they are, so tell me in the comments and whether they're recommended or not), but... I need a game that's a bit more finished or long because I'm pretty sure I'll go cold turkey again if the game gets cut off and I'll have to wait much longer and Reborn's nowhere to be found.

 

God, Reborn has raised the bar so high for me in terms of Pokemon games' plot and characters that I have a hard time getting into anything else.

 

Help pls. And sorry if I'm not that active, the last forum that I was active in was 4 years ago, and coincidentally another Pokemon forum, but for a minecraft Pixelmon modded server.

 

I need to ease the waiting game, please Reborn community, help me.

Edited December 27, 2017 by Fad
I feel like this is in the wrong subforum, and since I don't know how to delete my post, I added a message up top for moderators.

[Maqqy]

A good rom hack would be Pokemon Gaia, possibly the best. It's not complete yet but has a lot of content with up to 6 gyms. Gen 6 contents are implemented (includes fairy type and mega evolution) and the graphics are A MA ZING.

[Fad]

28 minutes ago, GS BALL said:

Rejuvenation and Desolation are two interesting fangames, tailored after Reborn. Honestly though and exactly as you yourself said, after playing Reborn (which is of surprisingly high quality), you have trouble playing/appreciating anything other. Rejuvenation is updated to gen 7... But it has a long way to go. Needs a bunch of episodes, still. Desolation is interesting, because choices you make are said to affect story + the world, partially, but i haven't been into that game, yet... People who appreciated Reborn, recommend those two, however.

 

Insurgence is complete but has lots of bugs and lots of fan content (fakemon, like deltas). There is an option for darker story, more faithful to canon content and added difficulty, but none of those are as well thought-out or executed, as inside Reborn... Also, Insurgence is after generation 4 looks and artstyle, contrary to Reborn, which is after generation 3's.

 

If you can afford to play an almost completely fakemon game, Uranium is good. But nothing exceptional, keep in mind. And rather easy, too. Quite renovating, though and with interesting concepts (nuclear type pokemon that work a bit like shadow ones).

Oh my... Pokemon Desolation sounds rather interesting. Choices doesn't matter much in Reborn (?) from what I can remember at least, blame the waiting time for not remembering, and I'd rather not play with Fakemon, so... How complete is Desolation?

[BRS swag]

7 minutes ago, Fad said:

Oh my... Pokemon Desolation sounds rather interesting. Choices doesn't matter much in Reborn (?) from what I can remember at least, blame the waiting time for not remembering, and I'd rather not play with Fakemon, so... How complete is Desolation?

It's just about a third or so. I know it sucks to wait for games  but, you ought to do something or the other every now and then. You could go for Fire Ash if you want the anime story. Can't say it's really good after playing Reborn, but, it is complete (hope so) and is a large game story wise, I've heard.

[error_macro]

As people have and will keep pointing out, don't expect anything as good as Reborn.

 

For me, Rejuvenation was a close second. It gave me some old school RPG vibes, since you're more often than not part of a party rather than a solo traveller like in most Pokemon games. I have some slight problems with its storytelling sometimes, but I'd definitely recommend it.

 

Since you seem the type of player that gets attracted more to the mood/story/characters rather than the gameplay itself, much like me, I don't think Insurgence will appeal to you that much. Too much fancy stuff, while you roam around seeing minimal amounts of plot for long periods of time, and the characters are meh at best.

 

Desolation seemed promising, but still needs work on a technical level. It had too many needless battles, grinding and nameless NPCs for my tastes, but if these things don't bother you much, you can give it a shot. Although I only got past the first gym, so maybe I'm being too hard on it.

 

You can try Light Platinum, too. While I didn't like it a lot for reasons I can't put my finger on, objectively speaking it can be pretty good.

 

Other than that, I had quite a bit of fun playing Pokemon Glazed. Plenty of stuff to do, without it trying to be something it isn't. Or if you're in the mood for some dark humour, try Pokemon Snakewood.

 

Hope that's helpful

[whatonearth]

I've only just started playing rejuvenation, so the jury's still out on that one.

 

desolation's been pretty good so far, I just finished up the second badge and it has a lot of story content. however, it can be a little slow at times, which gets annoying very quickly. (the story's still very worth it so far imo)

 

although, my all time favorite not-reborn pokemon  fangame is super pokemon eevee edition. it has a great story, amazing characters, and a battle system that's not turn based. I'd highly recommend that game to anyone tbh. it's set in Johto, with gen 2 graphics, and the basis of the game is that you have to stop the "hypervisors" from updating the generation to gen 3, which would essentially erase your world as you know it. seriously, it's pretty far in development and definitely worth a try.

[seki108]

To add one more that no one has mentioned yet (but just got an update in Beta 13) is Pokemon Adventures--Red Chapter, a romhack based on Red's role in the Pokemon Adventures manga.  I can't confirm how good everything is, but it's at least interesting.

[SilverAngelus]

http://gbahacks.blogspot.com/p/pokemon-rom-hack-list.html

 

shhh no room for tears. Only joy. (tears of joy are fine) And there's not only gba games, but other fan games as well.

[Fad]

 

7 hours ago, whatonearth said:

I've only just started playing rejuvenation, so the jury's still out on that one.

 

desolation's been pretty good so far, I just finished up the second badge and it has a lot of story content. however, it can be a little slow at times, which gets annoying very quickly. (the story's still very worth it so far imo)

 

although, my all time favorite not-reborn pokemon  fangame is super pokemon eevee edition. it has a great story, amazing characters, and a battle system that's not turn based. I'd highly recommend that game to anyone tbh. it's set in Johto, with gen 2 graphics, and the basis of the game is that you have to stop the "hypervisors" from updating the generation to gen 3, which would essentially erase your world as you know it. seriously, it's pretty far in development and definitely worth a try.

Thank you for the replies, guys, and Eevee edition sounds really interesting. I'm going to give that a try first, then Desolation.

[Fad]

17 hours ago, whatonearth said:

I've only just started playing rejuvenation, so the jury's still out on that one.

 

desolation's been pretty good so far, I just finished up the second badge and it has a lot of story content. however, it can be a little slow at times, which gets annoying very quickly. (the story's still very worth it so far imo)

 

although, my all time favorite not-reborn pokemon  fangame is super pokemon eevee edition. it has a great story, amazing characters, and a battle system that's not turn based. I'd highly recommend that game to anyone tbh. it's set in Johto, with gen 2 graphics, and the basis of the game is that you have to stop the "hypervisors" from updating the generation to gen 3, which would essentially erase your world as you know it. seriously, it's pretty far in development and definitely worth a try.

I gave Super Pokemon Eevee a chance, I loved it, got a decent amount of progress. But unfortunately.... the save file got lost for some reason midway after I exited for a break and rebooted. All the progress after I faced the first gym lost. Any fixes or something? I think I won't be playing that again any time soon..

[Yagami]

@Fad Some games that I recommend:

Fan games(Sadly none of them are completed but more than worth it and unique like Reborn):

Pokemon Apex : This game is unique.But you will either love it or hate it.There is no gym.It's hard.The dev's main focus is slowly improve all pokemon's usefulness.There are level cap.

Pokemon Legend of the Arena: This game won't be completed any time soon since the dev is busy.This is a game where you will be playing entirely for the story.The MC is not silent and funny as hell.The story is about 2 brothers during a championship.

Pokemon Desolation: already mentioned by other users.

Rom Hacks:

Pokemon Fire Red Rocket edition: I recently played it and loved it.You play as rocket grunt and slowly become a rocket executive.You read an alternative story to the main fire red.You have the ability to steal pokemon.But at the same time you can choose not to and get some nice items in return.Seriously play this game as soon as you can.

 

[whatonearth]

On 12/28/2017 at 5:38 AM, Fad said:

I gave Super Pokemon Eevee a chance, I loved it, got a decent amount of progress. But unfortunately.... the save file got lost for some reason midway after I exited for a break and rebooted. All the progress after I faced the first gym lost. Any fixes or something? I think I won't be playing that again any time soon..

that's unfortunate  I'm not sure how to fix it, but you can contact the creator on their twitter here: https://twitter.com/theRaonak 

 

I'm glad you liked it for the short time that you did get to play it, though, and I hope you can recover your save x_x

[Fad]

On 12/31/2017 at 4:40 AM, whatonearth said:

that's unfortunate  I'm not sure how to fix it, but you can contact the creator on their twitter here: https://twitter.com/theRaonak 

 

I'm glad you liked it for the short time that you did get to play it, though, and I hope you can recover your save x_x

I have.

 

And I already finished chapter 6, what THE HELL IS THAT CLIFFHANGER.

 

WHERE IS CHAPTER 7.

[Jess]

I'd honestly suggest Insurgence, Rejuvenation, Desolation, Apex and Full Moon.

They are all pretty good, despite of some bugs/flaws.

[BRS swag]

Did anyone suggest pokemon sage?? It's awesome, with all of its fakemons and nice music. @Jess You'll like it coz there are awesome bug types in there.

[Wolfox]

one quirky fangame I kinda like is Fusion Generation. It's not top tier but it functions in all the ways it should function and has generational coverage till gen 4 or 5

[memelord69]

I agree with Uranium and Rejuvenation. They were enjoyable games. Uranium is pretty much done, minus the postgame. It's a pretty creative game imo. I cleared Rejuvenation up until the current ending, and it's been a great game, too. They're both easier than Reborn imo, idk if you're looking for crazy difficulty. 

 

But to add a new suggestion, maybe take a look at Pokemon Clover. It's a FireRed hack made by some people on 4chan. It's a hilarious game with ingeniously-stupid writing (not at all immersive, but very entertaining), and the main quest is complete. They've been working on the postgame for a while, might be out soonish. It's 100% fakemon and 95% original music. It's also arguably hyper-offensive and anti-PC, so if you don't mind that, then definitely check it out imo. It isn't extremely difficult either, so it'll be a more laid back experience for you probably. Granted, it still won't be a set of free wins. I got stuck in a couple gyms, and if you're not prepared for the Elite Four, you'll wipe hard. 

Also, if you play this game, DO NOT USE CHEATS. SERIOUSLY, DON'T EVER CHEAT. YOU'LL PAY FOR IT BIG TIME

Edited January 9, 2018 by memelord69

[ShadeStrider]

Desolation has the potential to be the greatest game on this site. 

[enCRYPTion5461]

If I can make a suggestion try Pokemon Tri-Master, it has good character development, interesting story, plenty of tough battles and a total of two out of three regions complete with the third one coming soon along with some of the levels being over 100. Only two things to be wary of. First you need to use the Game Shortcut in the folder to play the game and the wait for it to load up is five to ten minutes each time. Secondly the level cap is five levels per badge-it has no warning on that one although I was told it would change in the next update to add the warning for it. So when you go to train for the first gym don't go past level 10 or your Pokemon will fall asleep on you. Those two things aside you'll find a fun game to play.

[Fiasom]

If you're looking for a Reborn fix, nothing will give it better than Rejuvenation. Go play that. Ask no questions.

 

A lot of people have suggested Desolation, and I have played it a little past the second gym, and I have to say, if you care about writing and dialogue, you may find it a huge let down. Choices influencing your relationship with major NPCs - great, but then some of those choices are written really, really, really badly (insofar as I got in the game). Bits of the story shock you - great, but then takes the shock back. Desolation has massive, massive potential. The choice system is pretty good, mapping is pretty good (except for a few places where they've been lazy inattentive [*cough*beach-debris*cough*]), balance and progression are liveable. But it really needs a skilled writer.

 

But then there is a veritable wagon load of games with decent gameplay and meh to bad writing. But none of them are as promising as Desolation. So if the devs of Desolation come across my post, I hope they take it as a constructive criticism rather than pointless ranting of frustration - as I mean it as the former.

 

You could give Insurgence a try. I don't think it is bad in any of its aspects - in fact the context and background, the plot, are pretty good - but it doesn't really outshine anything in any respect either. I liked their Delta species (e.g. Fairy & Psychic type Delta Bulbasaur). Overall, its got more going for it than against it. I will start a re-run of that after Apex (and then Rejuvenation V10, and then Reborn E18, and maybe Snakewood now that I'm thiking about it... and then Insurgence definitely after that).

 

I'm playing Apex right now, and... Writing is pretty good. The scope of the story is smaller than Reborn or Rejuvenation (e.g. fewer characters), but what it does, it does quality (e.g. none of the characters are shallow). Only, the game is hard (and not because there is tough opposition which you need to beat by getting creative, you're simply way too limited in what you can do), and it took me like 8 hours to break through the first level cap (though there is a lot of game play without battling - but 8 hours is still a lot! (Oh, and I take my time exploring while playing, so yeah, longer)). If you get your sense of progress through levelling up, this game will frustrate you. You need to take it for what it is, and it is story first, gaming second. And frankly, I might be about to decide that the story isn't 'thick' enough to carry the rest of the game. There are times when you end up having to explore vast areas with a limited team, and the last time the story motivated you into action was like 2 routes and a forest ago. But the good bits are gooood. Especially that forest - I could live there.

 

Alternatively, I gave Pokémon: Bonfire Stories a try, and I liked it. It was developed for the Relic Castle Gaming Jam (or some such thing), I think. It is short, with only four stories in the current release, but there is some good content there - lots of attention to detail. Each story is independent from each other, so it is not like you pick your starter and go on an epic journey. You talk to a bunch of people around a bonfire, and each dialogue takes you to a different map and you play out the stories they tell, basically. Simple, easy, fun, short. More like a tasty snack.

 

Now, Uranium - that is quality stuff. The Fakemon really work well. The story works too. It may as well have been canon.

 

I really loved playing Snakewood - great dialogues and writing, awesome ambiance and atmosphere creation, and great everything in general. Only, my computer crashed and I lost my save file before I could finish the game, and I'm not replaying it for another long while (*shudders remembering gen 3 mechanics*). The only problems I had with it are some ridiculous original Fakemon (luckily they are not central to the game, and they should not be confused with the zombimon - those are very good) and that it has Gen 3 mechanics - though this was more of a challenge than a problem. I remember taking a relieved breath when I got back to civilization: back to Reborn, with Gen 6 mechanics.. Seriously, take a look at Aerodactyl's Gen 3 moveset. But then again, one of the reasons getting back to Reborn felt like getting back to civilization is because the ambience and atmosphere Snakewood creates is so damn well!

 

So there goes the best of my love & hate games. The plusles and minuns for each of them. Enjoy!