Looking for Pokemon Reborn Fan Responses

[Aeilac]

>What led you to Pokemon Reborn? 

I can't remember where I originally discovered it, but my recent re-discovery was pure chance. When I went off to college I left my GBA SP at my parent's house, thinking I would have no need for it. When a break came and I decided I in fact did, I was disappointed and completely unsurprised to discover that one of my (many) brothers had taken it, lost it, found it, and then completely broken it. I started looking online for alternatives, but then found the game file for Reborn sitting in an otherwise empty file folder on my hideously cluttered desktop. I downloaded the latest version and started playing and holy shit do I love this game.

 

>What do you think about the battle system in the game?

It's fantastic. To me, at least, it does a wonderful job of instilling that self-contradicting sense of apathetic determination into the player. The game is difficult, but not unfair (to the extent that I've seen. I haven't yet gotten to the end of the current episode). It teaches you that you will loose, but that your loss means nothing if you accept it, get up, and try again. In fact, when you get into it, it's not even super especially hard. The level caps make it so you can't have a brokenly overpowered team, and field effects, though usually niche, are a refreshing break from the honestly often repetitive gameplay of many official titles. The huge diversity of obtainable pokemon means you can build your team just about however you want, but makes you go out of your way to get them. And you want to get them. Maybe it's just my nature as a completionist, but I think there's something more to it than that. It's not just "get all the shinys", you want to go out of your way to see what potential advantage you can get. The sidequests feel more essential to the core of the game, not just some optional thing you can do for a cool item or an interesting dialogue. 

 

>What do you think about the stories/narrative in the game? 

I enjoy the story immensely. I think it benefits by being a community-driven game, and by being fan-made. The fact that it doesn't have to pander to review boards, and make sure the content is as "safe" as possible to appeal to their intended market of children, allows the game to tell a much more compelling narrative, one that resonates with me far more than anything nearly any other game has done. All the characters feel so much more real, instead of just one-faceted snippets of personality. People's problems aren't solved so easily, and their problems are engaging and familiar, things that have happened to me personally or very conceivably could happen in the future. I don't think it's edgy, I think it's realistic. (Except for the whole supernatural monsters that you carry around in your pocket and battle against your friends. Maybe not so much that part). 

>In particular, what do you think about the queer characters in the game, like Cain and Adrienn? 

Absolutely fantastic. One of the common things that plagues a lot of media is "token inclusion", but these characters are a lot more how real queer people are. Adrienn's non-binary-ness isn't really pivotal to the plot, it doesn't define xem. The queer characters are their own people, their orientation and identity is just a small part of who they are. Except for Cain kind of since he intentionally makes his whole vibe sex jokes (from what I have seen thus far) but even so, it feeds well into his other motivations and backstory. I really appreciate him as a character, as I do Adrienn. 

 

[Commander]

>What led you to Pokemon Reborn?

 

Honestly, I can actually remember too much other than hearing somebody say that they wouldn't play any other Pokemon game but this one. It was actually just a side conversation I overheard in band practice. I kept it in the back of my mind and took a look and I think I saw a video of Corey's death from Gamerstree (that was the halfway point of the game back then) and decided to give it a shot. I don't think I need to give my opinion of the game as it should be obvious being....5 years here now.

 

>What do you think about the battle system in the game?

 

This honestly is a loaded question for me. I can't say it particularly stands out to really say it's a special kind of turn based RPG since Pokemon is a rather simple system (even if competetive wants to make you want to believe it's quite complex). The thing that really stands out is that all the creatures are pretty different from one another give or take a few making the games easy to get sucked into as no experience is ever the same. It's why I still enjoy Pokemon 20 something years later though the newer once just don't feel right. Anyways, the point is Ame took her own spin to the series and it really kind of shows what you can do to make Pokemon difficult and still loveable which I wish TPC would let someone develop something official made to challenge us. They refuse so people took it into their own hand. But it really is a fun battle system even if 90% of my time was spent on the opposite side of them. I really do enjoy making those fights though I wish it could be easier to put a bit more variety into it. I'm getting off topic though. 

 

>What do you think about the stories/narrative in the game?

 

I'll try to give a simple answer to this question: I've often found myself in awe of this game no matter how many times I go through it with something else catching my eye each time. There's even out of bound secrets like the Mew tile for the curious or the Dratini tile. For a game made from basically outdated tools from the 2000s, it's a damn impressive piece that some people wouldn't believe the things they see. Reborn isn't something you really, really take into appreciation for what it's done until you've played a number of games in that engine. It's a rather fascinating and unique game with a one of a kind story inspired by a community. Even waiting 5 something years (I've lost count) watching the next big thing in the game still gets me excited with really only one bump where I was just tired and didn't want to grind. It's flawed, and I could say it's a mess, but it's a beautiful one I'll wait a few more years to finish then get off this wild ride (waiting for Ame's next project).

 

>What do you think about the queer characters in the game, like Cain and Adrienn?

 

That's one of those things I'm not sure how to answer. It's about as silly to me as if a character is a boy or girl. I'm not going to dislike or like them simply because of that but...

 

Cain is a fantastic written character and Adrienn is iffy (I'll get into that), but if we were to define them as queer characters, then they'd be terrible. If you honestly removed the fact Cain is bi (just say he ran away from home) and Adrienn was a female, I don't think they'd be viewed any different than they are now. Cain's problem is that his backstory just gets very, very little screen time and is in the background so it often is easy to forget about. Cain just is very entertaining and honestly one of the best written characters in the game. Adrienn is on the opposite scale. Xe is someone who just feels forced into this from the jarring explanation of nonbinary to really just not having any relevance other than being in charge (pretty much Ame 2.0). Though in a way that makes sense as Fairy type didn't exist when the plot was first drafted and the game was being worked on. 

 

There is a character really defined and cemented around the idea. Titania really is the character that stands out. Imagine pretending to be in love for so long to stop someone from being suicidal. Honestly, it's one of those topics I've kind of glazed over but looking back I really should talk a bit more about it. Looking back an analyzing the branch split easily has been on of my favorite things to do because of how screwed up that relationship is. The Zekrom path is even more messed up after seeing the Reshiram one. Also...

 

On 3/10/2020 at 2:02 PM, volbeatbeats said:

I've seen some posts online about players/fans seeing some benefits from the queer characters/stories. Have these queer characters/stories affected you in some way? How does it feel to have queer characters in a Pokemon game? What would you like to see in terms of queer characters/stories in the future? 
 

 

These are easy to answer: No, Nothing really, and I guess the struggles and fallout of a longtime sturdy relationship for the last one.

[Des Teto]

On 3/10/2020 at 7:02 PM, volbeatbeats said:

I've seen some posts online about players/fans seeing some benefits from the queer characters/stories. Have these queer characters/stories affected you in some way? How does it feel to have queer characters in a Pokemon game? What would you like to see in terms of queer characters/stories in the future?

• Have these queer characters/stories affected you in some way?

Well, I do think that representativeness matters to minorities in any field. For instance, in my country, the Women Football Worldcup was nationally mediatized this Summer (it never has been) and it led to a lot of little girls signing up to this sport in September. Hence, during the Adrienn's revelation, while I just was informed of the existence of specific pronouns, I think that queer people were pleased of this addition. 

 

• How does it feel to have queer characters in a Pokemon game?

In Pokemon games, romance isn't the main point of the plot. It's for the main part about being the best (you have to level up lol) and defeating an evil team (it could be something else but again, it would give you a Golden Sun or a Final Fantasy). In Reborn, for instance, you could change the sex of the gender of every character, it wouldn't change the story. Every character could be queer as far as we know. So, you would have to include the fact that the character is queer and work around it (see next question). I think an interesting exercise could be changing the sex of characters in famous stories and see what it really implies.

 

• What would you like to see in terms of queer characters/stories in the future?

I see two options:

• Declare that the character is queer and not caring about it. It gives you the Adrienn case, which is fine but just a bonus.
• Work around being queer. And I do think that there is a lot to tell. It could be included in videogames perfectly while still not being the main character trait. Here are some examples of hard-driven queer stories that I thought about: a queer falling in love with someone not queer being stucked in a one-way romance, a non-queer falling in love with a queer and having issues with sexual interactions, a queer having trouble to come out … I admit I'm not really informed about these kind of stories. I'm sure they do exist but I don't know any. I may add that I have a childhood friend who realized after Twenty years he was a she. It led me to private questions in my head that a good story may answer.

[Mimikyu dayo]

What led you to Pokemon Reborn?

I encountered shofu's Pokemon Reborn playthrough, he was during the Radomus gym at the time. The lore and characters looked really attractive to me.

 

What do you think about the battle system in the game?

 

Well, it's Pokemon! So it's instantly a win

 

Ok now seriously, I really like the field effects and how they add a new layer of stratagies, which moves gain additional effects, how you have to approach the gym leaders, etc. As for the restrictions, I feel they harm the gameplay rather than improve it. Since you have to battle lots and lots of trainers during the story (especially Meteor Grunts!) I found myself getting above the cap unintentionally plenty of times and my mons disobeying me during important battles. Now, I get Common Candies fixed this issue but it still feels annoying that I am eventually punished for just battling trainers (and I am a completionist so I like battling everyone in sight...). And it's not like getting OP Pokémon is easy nor that bosses are already difficult, so I think the restrictions aren't too necessary to raise the difficulty.

 

What do you think about the stories/narrative in the game?

 

Interesting question. I really like the bleak setting of Reborn, how the music reflects that (Beryl Ward is a good example of that), the deteriorating streets that almost no one cares about, delincuents and thugs roaming around, even a town with socialites that despise the "low-lifes" but aren't any better than them. It's a disturbingly realistic portrayal of a third-world region, which makes it feel SO REWARDING when you revisit the city later in the game and you find new hope with the reconstruction. 

 

The characters are pretty interesting too, they all are clearly troubled people, each with their own emotional baggages. From the cheery Julia whose hyperactiveness hides her insecurities (and she is the LEAST TROUBLED of her group!) to Solaris and El, wicked villains who both went through hell and that I sympathize with. These are stuff that we are most likely never going to see in an official Pokemon game, which is something that makes Reborn more appealing to me. 

 

I'm not going to say it doesn't have it's flaws. While I feel this a mature story and setting there are some times it feels a bit...too on the edge, or where the story feels very convoluted with so many plots going on. The best example I could think is the Glass Wokrstation aftermath, where a lot of bombs are dropped in a VERY LONG cutscene. Nevertheless, you got me very engaged, dev team, and I'm very excited to see the conclusion.

 

In particular, what do you think about the queer characters in the game, like Cain and Adrienn? 

 

Sexuality don't made me care more or less about them. Cain and Adrienn are pretty cool, the former being a chill rival but with a lot of issues regarding his choices (whether it's his ability to act against the villains or his sexuality) and Adrienn being crucial to the restoration of Reborn. I'd say they are handling queer characters pretty good, they aren't making their personalities "I'm gay" and that's it, they have depth just like the heterosexual characters.

[Chains of Heaven]

What led you to Pokemon Reborn?

I....don't remember at all....I started playing four? five? six? years ago around Episode 15, though.

 

What do you think about the battle system in the game?

WHOOO. HOOOoooooo. ouch but in a good way. Field Effects are so creative and so much fun, and they are balanced very delicately. The ways that both NPCs and the player can take advantage of each one is really fascinating. The way they cut out the easy ways to win while still leaving lots of possibilities for the creative player is a great analogy for the rest of the game, too.

 

What do you think about the stories/narrative in the game?

Unbelievably watertight. There aren't any plot holes, and everything makes sense, and all of it is emotionally impactful. I am able to be invested in all the storylines, from the Lapis gangs to the kids from the orphanage to lovestruck Hardy and tsundere Aya. There's a diverse array of tropes represented, and they're all fleshed out and thought through.

 

In particular, what do you think about the queer characters in the game, like Cain and Adrienn?

Cain is hands-down my favorite character in the game, although not for any narrative reasons I could pin down. I do think it's delightful that he isn't afraid to make the gay innuendos, which, especially in a game that seems to be targeted towards ages 16+, makes him a feel a lot more real. Like, that's just how 18 year olds are (at least it's how me and a lot of my friends do?). He has an undeniable presence, and I think that's really important, because it means that players must acknowledge him being gay and existing as the rest of the characters do.

 

Adrienn could have been more well-written and more fleshed out; xe feels very two-dimensional to me, and that makes me sad because having a nonbinary character that must be referred to with pronouns that aren't he/she is a powerful statement. Maybe xe even fits too well into the model of "overachieving highly functional nb person", which isn't by any means a bad thing, but I feel like it's a common trope. One might also comment about how xe's the Fairy gym leader of all things, and Fairy seems like a very feminine type, and nb identities are too often mistakenly conflated with femininity, but within the game itself Adrienn's character resists that very well. I do wish there were more nb characters, in order to represent a more diverse range (especially racially), but it isn't a glaring lack that really impacts the story and my enjoyment of it negatively.

 

Titania and Amaria and their relationship are wonderfully written. I think how heavily their plotline ties in with the overall game plotline allows for the inner workings of the relationship to be put into the game, which shows off Ame's writing skill extremely well. Their dynamic is so very real and so very relatable, and I think their both being women definitely influences how it's received (some might call them petty for having so many issues, but it's practically life or death in the world of the game...). Obviously this was put together by someone who pays a lot of attention to the way people exist, perform, and hide themselves, which is part of what keeps me so attached to this game and the characters and story. I genuinely think, taken seriously, the way this particular narrative is portrayed within a game like Reborn has a transformative possibility to it. Perfect, 10/10.

 

I'm still working through my thoughts on Terra, but overall it's positive. She is lots of fun! Perhaps there's something to be said about the complete destruction of expectations and norms and laws of physics she brings, along with all the innuendo? I do hope this is something that comes back up in the next Episode.

 

Good luck on your thesis! I would love to read it someday.

 

[Pomm]

What led you to Pokemon Reborn? 
Well around the start of the year I played Pokemon Clover. A pretty stellar game albeit purposefully offensive. After that I played a couple of other Fangames and romhacks. I had always been told that Pokemon Reborn was super edgy and dumb, but my curiosity was peaked, so I did play it, and was quite surprised in it's quality.  
What do you think about the battle system in the game?
Phenomenal. The way the environment interacts with moves and abilities makes the possibility for strategy  in every major fight a glee to invest in and think about. It gives you incentive to explore with new moves in new areas. I'm not really one to talk about gameplay since I know nothing. But that feeling when you're fighting Serra, use earthquake, and you find out the field shatters, its incredible.

What do you think about the stories/narrative in the game? In particular, what do you think about the queer characters in the game, like Cain and Adrienn? 
The story is great, it feels like I'm reading some big shounen manga where there are so many pieces and mysteries to take into account. The length and story make it feel what pokemon is meant to feel like, a journey. Now I say that but I don't think I really even started liking the story until around the end of the orphanage arc. 

As for the representation of queer characters. I'd say it does a great job. As gay as Cain is, he's not annoyingly flamboyant (At least to me), he's a actual person that has flaws and develops. I don't have any particular feelings about Adrienn to be quite honest. Titania and Amaria are kinda overbearing, but I still enjoyed both of their characters, very angsty, realistic and tragic.

 

[ArthurZH]

- What led you to Pokemon Reborn?

 

This is actually a weird story. I was on Pokemon Showdown, and joined a Pokemon league called 'The Sora League', which was basically a few friends around the Australia/Asia timezones that came together and hung out on a server/room. The champion/host, Noah (goes by Revan online now I think) introduced this to all of us, and I decided to tag along! To be honest, I was looking for a more difficult, fan-made Pokemon game that didn't really involve fakemons and had the updated Pokemon roster, so it was perfect.

 

 

- What do you think about the battle system in the game?

 

Actually amazing. Having played showdown for a bit, I found the normal games a bit monotonous after a while. When I started Reborn, I realised how difficult it was going to be having joined prior to field effects introduction, as most people had some form of really annoying strategy (e.g. Hail Bright Powder Snow Cloak Glaceon and Frosslass in a double battle for Serra.....yikes). 

 

I really enjoyed the initial difficulty, and found the field effects really really fun to play around. I personally prefer to stick to mainstream Pokemon stuff, and don't super enjoy fakemons/alternate forms, but the field effects I was fine with (as it was very interactive and realistic). (having said that I also really enjoyed the delta pokemon in Insurgence).

 

Personally I think that the battle system's only drawback is the incomplete animations for moves and the lag around it, which to be honest is getting worked on (Bless Ame and her team) and I'm really looking forward to seeing cool funky animations whilst wrecking things around with underrated Pokemon.

EDIT: Other thought that occurred to me: would also appreciate having more ways to make the fields, e.g. in rejuvenation if you use Z-moves you can create fields. Don't think this was done enough in Reborn personally, but maybe because it made it easier...?

 

 

- What do you think about the stories/narrative in the game?

 

I think this has been the best bit about Reborn, is the interconnected relationships between characters, the plot build up, the backstory we're given, the way Ep18 has been shaping us up to be the "biggest baddie" of the good guys and how we're not super strong (we beat 4 leaders and 1 backup in a row in 3 consecutive battles....). There's a lot of interesting plot points as well, ranging from real-life pollution, corruption in the upper echelons of society (gym leaders), the complexity of mental health issues (c.f. Florinia, Amaria, Charlotte, Corey), the complex issues around orphanages (how they were treated and the regulations involved) and so, so much more that I really loved learning about, and playing through, as it gives us a sense of attachment, the ability to resonate with the characters and importantly it's just good storywriting.

 

 

- In particular, what do you think about the queer characters in the game, like Cain and Adrienn? 

 

So I'm gay and I don't see much representation, nor do I get to learn much about the LGBT+ world because of my country of origin, but I really enjoyed seeing Adrienn, Cain, Amaria and Titania in the game. I think there's a good level of representation, mainly because with some of these characters I can tell that they're "queer" behaviour isn't their "only" characteristics, i.e. they're not portrayed as only being queer for the sake of it. There's a lot of backstory on Cain and how he got rejected, and why he decides to flaunt his sexuality as a way of being truthful; there's more to Adrienn than being non-binary, as he is shown to be someone who really cares about the city and its restoration; there's more to Amaria and Titania's lesbian relationship, as it touches upon mental health, depression, dependency of someone in depression and its mental toll. It's a really really well written queer representation, and I like it. 

 

 

Overall I think Pokemon Reborn has managed to satisfy a significantly large proportion of the Pokemon fans by providing an interesting, harder, actually competent Pokemon game (as opposed to *cough cough*). I have about 10 save files (at some stage they're all getting deleted so I can restart Ep19) and have thoroughly enjoyed the game ever since I was introduced to it about 5-6 years ago (gosh darn I'm old). I'm really excited to see new games like Rejuvenation starting to pop up, especially in context of difficulties. I'm not going to lie, I highly doubt that in the near future we're going to be able to see another equally, well-written game, in context of its storyline, difficulty, and its ability to resonate with the player throughout the game.

P.S. Ame if you're reading this bless you for making this game. Devs if you're reading this bless y'all for helping develop the game.

[Salad Table]

I absolutely love Reborn, mostly because of the battle system that is involved. I do like the story and i'm invested in it, but the challenge of the game is what keeps bringing me back to it. 

The main thing I like about it compared to other Pokemon games is the limited Pokemon obtainable throughout. I've had so many teams through Reborn consisting of Pokemon I've never really used before, it's a really refreshing playthrough.

With Boss battles and their field effects adding another layer of difficulty to this game, you need to come up with proper battle strategies for a lot of major battles, I love that this game really makes you think about how to overcome the obstacle at hand.

I'm currently doing my first ever monotype playthrough of any Pokemon game, and I chose flying. Some battles were very difficult, for example Blake. I had to try multpile different strategies, working out exactly what move to use and what Pokemon to bring out when, different speed ties and how I could change the weather/field effect. In any other Pokemon game I've played I've never had to think about a single battle so in depth that it's constantly on m mind, and I think that's brilliant. One of the things that keeps this consistantly challenge is the very strict level limit. Every battle is accomplishable at this level, but it never makes it a breeze. The battles do generally get more difficult as the game progresses, but the wild Pokemon vailable keep up with the difficulty curve, the wild Pokemon placements are very carfeully thought out and although it might seem odd how late you get certain Pokemon, there's always a reason. For example I was struggling with the Mewtwo battle as it outsped everything on my team, and one of my ideas was to get a Pelipper to activate swift swim on my Mantine, and then I can slow it down with Icy wind. Then I found out I don't have access to Wingull yet, a Pokemon that I always deemed quite weak, but it does have its niche. If that strategy is available at the start the game would be a lot easier. All in all it's a great story-driven fan game that's a challenge for people that have grown bored of the main series.