Commander

For those who don't know: So while I could talk about Joker alone, I think it's better to go into things we do know. First off, we're getting more than 5 DLC characters. We've seen Wave Pack 1 on the direct and we're seeing it down. I'm not sure if it'll be 2 or 3 but I think it's safe to say we're not going to be done with the game anytime soon. Also taking the little bit from Reggie saying "These characters are new to the series and they aren't ones that you'd expect" pretty much does give really high hopes. I don't think we'll be seeing Edelgard or another Pokemon. I mean you literally gave the power to add any character to the game and the Reps of Nintendo certainly didn't put their votes in the wrong place if this is what we're opening up to. I'll go into my guesses in a little bit though. Edit: Whoops I misread that. Had to go back to the direct and it seems like the 5 will go up through February of 2020. Still doesn't mean we can't see a second one but we'll have to wait and see. Slot number 5 must be a smoking gun because this guy is the Cloud of this generation. I'm not kidding. It's not a wild guess as to why he got in since Nintendo has been working with Atlus for a very long time and this is their current biggest icon (and we got a SMT Rep). This is a big deal since it could A) Lead to Persona on Switch (which would be awesome) and B) really sets the premise that anyone could really make it into this game. I also have a feeling old fossils like Isaac and Banjo aren't going to be making it into Smash but it's a bit too early to exclude them. After all, there's likely going to be more than 5 new characters for Smash. Joker certainly set a very, very high bar. But let's get into my guesses. 1) Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia): Lloyd, Velvet, and Yuri all have a shot but I'm seriously surprised there isn't a Tales character in Smash. Bandai Namco is working on it and that's one of their huge heavy hitters. Yuri is so iconic they had to remove him from the official popularity poll since he kept winning so much and would still win after this many years with or without the Definitive Edition. I haven't finished Vesperia but from the parts I played he would perform as a rather unique Swordsman since he uses a combo of his sword and his fist. Throw Repede in there if you're really worried about another Swordsman. Definitely recommend getting the Definitive Edition regardless as Vesperia is one of my favorite Tales games. 2) Rabbids ("Rayman" Series): While I could see Rayman making it instead, this is just a very, very Nintendo pick to include. When you think they're finally dead, they just keep coming back. These things are just...something and there's quite a bit to reference from to make a wacky WTF character. Blasters from the Mario and Rabbids could be neutral. Side B could be the shopping cart, etc. It's basically the villager's arsenal but wackier. The costumes for these guys could end up looking really cool like Pichu's did. 3) Crash Bandicoot (Crash Series): Do I need to explain more? I just think he's a good fit for bringing a very unique character to the series and he really doesn't have any reason to not be. A long time ago I'd say they'd go with Spyro, but I think Crash kind of has a slight edge. There's actually a large group of well known platformers which I think Nintendo would want to tap a bit of the pie into the game. It's another one of those possible maybes. I really had to think about the Number 1 as names like 2B, Jibanyan, and Paper Mario came to mind, but those wouldn't be ones to really top or challenge Joker. Then it hit me: 4) Professor Layton (Layton Series): You may laugh at it but Layton actually has a lot of combat potential and tricks up his sleeve from all the games he played in. The real challenge to designing a fighter like this is that he's a gentleman and a gentleman would never use his fists to fight. There's a lot of cool things you could include like his fencing from the second game, sliding off a banana from the third for a side B, and the good old copter bike from the movie. He'd be very unfitting and that's why I'd love to see him all the more and I double checked on VGchartz and the games were surprisingly popular back in the day. And being honest, he'd become my main if he gets into the game. He'd also be the Level 5 rep that really deserves to be there. And unlike Phoenix, he has seen fighting in his day. Yeah, yeah, these probably won't be the four but it's to give you an idea what I think Nintendo is doing. If Joker is the lead, they are going big. Remember the Sm4sh lineup was Ryu, Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta. 3 of those 4 are some of the most talked about characters in Smash. Yeah, I'm not too worried about a boring Corrin repeat with that kind of opening. I like Corrin as a fighter, but it's the least hype of the four.

Are you implying that I'm not screaming my head off all the time? Blasphemy. Not having to do edits certainly makes the time to crank out in half which is kind of how I slowly have been catching up. I'm still a few chapters away though. I definitely would say yours is more like a personalized story run of the game. It's actually how I am able to enjoy your run even if I have to skip big chunks do to spoiler reasons. I'll probably go back and fully read older chapters when I pass you. It's really a big surprise how so many old maps got revamped that your run is a good source to keep track of what got changed. Valor Mountain Summit...that is going to be a nightmare to cover though. If Giratina were the only problem that'd be such an easy fix.

Let's get down to business to defeat the bugs Did they send me updates when, I asked for links. I'm the saddest loaf you ever met But you can bet before we're through Listen, I'll make a mod just for you I'm just in a singing mood this week. Just because dialogue editing is on hold for the time being doesn't mean I'm not doing other quality of life changes or additions. I've implemented a few more things today and I think this'll most likely be the last update before a release. I have A LOT of small stuff and testing to get done but today's focus was some neat little convenience changes. I'll probably post pics of my testing progress on Discord just because I can, but it's kind of a relief and scary that my next post might be an actual release. Let's break it down now: No More Shifting your way to Victory Okay not really a big change but a rather small one. For stuff like the CoM, I forced shift the style in the menu and had you have to change it back. Not anymore as if you leave a setting on Shift, it'll stay on shift. That also means Master fights will be fought on set mode no matter the style. Blame Dem on this one. Cutting the PBS File Down Another small little tweak. Anyone familiar with the Redux PBS knows it was a nightmare to navigate. It still is, but I finally fixed the PBS file (I think) so No Items doesn't take its own trainer to work. That knocked 1k lines off so hopefully it's easier to read through. I might eventually reorder some of the trainers to slots where they appear in the story (since it is story order and not Ame's new sorting). That also means theoretically that No Item is friendly to transfer and add to other mods which is probably the big thing people want from this change. Put Your Hands Up and Put the Money In Your Own Bag Another minor change but wiping won't cause you to lose money. In the early stages, the amount of money you lose is so little it doesn't matter if you wipe or not but by 13 or more badges, you end up losing 3/4ths of your money so you will soft reset to make up for even an hour's worth of progress to keep it. This is just a convenience so you don't have to worry so much about it. This is based on an old glitch I experienced in an old Hardcore run and I kind of really liked it. Did I Just Hatch a Level 55 Snorlax? So that was a fun little glitch that happened when bug fixing this feature. So something more experienced RPG gamers know that sometimes in games where you don't use Party Members in the reserve they get auto leveled up after certain points in the plot so they don't fall behind. That's...not so much the case with Redux. I teased this feature before, but since I know it does work it's what I call an Auto Leveler. What does it do? It takes the previous Gym's cap and for a small price, it'll make your team that level. Eggs and Pokemon above the cap are excluded so no need to worry about them getting screwed out of a level or a fun surprise when it hatches. Party Members are much cheaper than your main character so if you want to play around with one it's now not as risky or time consuming. "But Commander, doesn't this break the game?" I mean you can probably get to those levels in about 30 minutes on a single mon, but since you have to teach it moves it could come up to a price of 35-50k per mon (5k for the levels, 5-20k for heart scales, and 25k to change the nature). Leveling them this way doesn't let them learn new moves. Also the Nature Changer now takes 5 heart scales since they are buyable after a certain point. Its intention was simply to help people with large rotation teams be able to keep using all their Pokemon with little worry for one to fall behind. Everything is Here! ...I just wanted to make a Smash Bros meme. If it was in a previous version of Hardcore/Redux, it's going to be in this game...except Mission Mode. I just do not have the time to fully flesh that one out sadly. This includes things such as the axed Insanity Mode long ago. Did I bring an old feature back just to make a meme? Yes, yes I did. But being serious, I can't include arbitrary things such as being able to switch TM Breeding and the Level Limiter on or off not because it's hard but just because the latter the game is balanced around. I wonder if that means it is making a return. Perhaps old Hardcore players will remember.

So I decided to give it a whirl and I managed to get through Julia with this team though only three played a critical role: Thoughts on the game through picture first: Now for the written part: So let's talk about the glaring issue: exp and grinding. You need to have your team prepped way ahead of time otherwise exp will be way too low and you'll have to spend a bunch of time grinding off of Grand Hall trainers. I was able to get all of them but Linoone who was 13 to the levels they were with 0 grinding. I suggest adding a bit more levels, mons, or something to the pre Fern areas to help adjust for this. This is the worst area of the game for exp handling to the point I've had to fix it again and again that I kind of know it like the back of my hand. All vital Pokemon to train, average level for fights, ect. That's the main issue I noticed. Now let's get to the fights: Fern: It's a first boss and he has some coverage and moves but you should be able to get a second stage Pokemon and destroy him easily. It's just fine...barring what I mentioned above. Having to dig up and grind from every trainer just to stand a chance is a bit tiring. Not his fault though. Meteor Grunts: Something I already have taken note of is that a lot of care was put into the Meteor Grunts. While I just slapped and combined the new and old teams, all of these are very different but still use some old Pokemon. These guys are definitely going to be trouble later given the Pokemon they use. It's a really nice touch and I think the effort there was pulled off quite nicely. The grunts probably are going to be more memorable that way. Battle for the Bombs: I feel like this battle was toned down a bit as I remember Lunatone and Solrock being more threatening. It's not a big deal since it's a random battle but I felt like commenting. Aster and Eclipse: I'm going to be honest, this fight was a tad disappointing as it's easier than Fern by a large margin. They could use a bit of a buff if you ask me. It's a 10 v 4 and Fern is actually competent. I think giving them a couple more mons might be a bit too much and evolving Elekid and Magby definitely would. I'd say touch up their stats to make them last a little bit longer. Julia: This is the kind of stuff that'll give people nightmares until morning. I saw the level 14 Minun and thought this wouldn't be bad, but ho boy I was very, very wrong. If you have two or three 2nd stagers, this fight probably won't be too bad especially those familiar with Redux, but there is one Pokemon I feel may be way too strong. Electrode. Is it invincible, no? But it can one shot probably 1/2 of your team and there's not much you can do about it. It took me a while to get the right strat down, but it really only worked since I had a speed boost Combusken. I could've probably done it with Mightyena and Raticate though since those are beasts but I would have had to go out of my way to grind them. This fight I feel is fine, but on one condition: Zigzagoon is the only option in the mix mon (aka remove Pachirusu). That Pokemon really helps Pokemon be useful that'd otherwise be worthless. I'll be honest here: this mod is probably more fitting for the title Hardcore than what the actual Hardcore was for (hence why I changed the name). From the Julia fight alone, it is really, really well done to the point I could see little flaw in Julia and her strats were very, very on point. It really is a mod that separates the men from the boys. I guess the best way is that if you think Redux is at least manageable and not that difficult then try this one out. It's definitely worth trying out just from the little bit I tried. As for me playing more, maybe down the line since I got a lot on my plate. We'll see. Also sweating bullets here 'cause this might be better than Redux Edit: I uhh...got up to Florinia. I need to stop playing this. I guess I'll continue on from there. Exp in this part is fine as Rematch trainers will easily fill what missing exp there is in minutes. Now let's get onto the fights. Victoria: She's a bit underleveled but she kind of is what I would expect from a rival with no curveballs. Not really any fun surprises. We'll have to wait and see how she turns out later since this is the infant stages of the rival fights. Nobody really cares about this fight. Scraggy Gang: I like the idea here, but I don't think it really pays off. The scraggy lead was pretty cool, but nothing else really stuck out to me. I'd have to think about it to give suggestions. I'm definitely impressed you managed to still differentiate yourself from mine on a fight near impossible to do so. If you like it, don't change it though as fights like these usually are meant to be forgettable and it at least has something memorable. Cain: Good fight that makes use of the field. Good job. It makes it at just the right difficulty for people swapping around their teams. Also bigger props for using a first stage starter well enough to work and not have to edit a cutscene to make it evolve mid event because people bug you to do something but they don't want you to change it back to a first stage starter. Fern: I like the idea of using Anorith there. I think it's fine as a fitting warm-up boss and I do kind of like how you decided to keep the theme of both sets of starters. I'm really liking this team and am curious how it'll function in future fights. Florinia: Let's break this one down. Compared to Julia, Florinia feels underwhelming. That's partially expected because you have so much to counter with compared to Julia and much stronger mons. It's a good fight, but it does need a little bit of tuning (this girl made me crack at points when buffing her). The first thing is the Sigilyph. The Pokemon is fine but Psywave is just too unreliable. I also realize it's basically a 12-37 damage in HP. Might want to change that to Psybeam or even stored Power or something else. That one needs tinkering. The other one is Breloom which its number one weakness outspeeds and oneshots it. Gotta love how Fearow is available right before. It's the weakest link and while it is kind of famed among Florinia I don't think it's bad to drop it for something better. Either that or you may want to pump a lot of speed EVs into it. Everything else was pretty well done. I think Julia just set a really high bar and perhaps too high for Flo to reach. Though if you tinker with those two mons it'll likely be just right for what you want. Team I used for testing:

Chapter 49: Cera Minting the Past I'm still terrible at chapter names, but what else is new. So one thing I want to clear up is the whole "Because I'm complaining about a battle means that I'm terrible at the game." Really? I have gotten slightly worse over time just not spending as much time on Pokemon, but I'm probably better than people may take me credit for. I'm also worse than people take me credit for. Spending god knows how long on a mod for a "harder" version of Reborn has done me both good and harm, but that's not the point. When I say I have an issue, I'm not pulling things out of my ass as you may expect. Let this sink in: Crawli, other than Narcissa (which was by pure luck), is the leader who took me the least attempts, but I still said he was too hard. I'll recap every leader fight with how many attempts it took (or a rough guess) me along with my thoughts of the designs: V9 fights- Venam (2 attempts) - It's a good first fight since we've had enough battle to get the hang, but nothing in this fight is too punishing other than possibly Toxic Spikes. Seviper is a good ace pretty much making it the main threat and the true challenge of the fight. Keta (1 attempt) - due to the quests being available beforehand, this fight is very easy to blow through so whatever challenge was there was kind of blown away. I liked to think of it more as Keta not being able to focus due to having a very unclear head shown by his spirit half in the grotto. It didn't earn a badge so it didn't really matter all that much. I do think keeping it to singles right now is a wise choice since it appeals and helps newer players get better at the game slowly. Revenant Keta (1 attempt) - I loved the idea behind this fight as it was a "trim the fat" kind of fight. I really think keeping it to 3 really strong Pokemon probably would've worked better, but I know it's supposed to be a WLL reference in the new version. I was using a weak team (remember, we don't have all that many good options for newer players) so I thought it was just right, but it's easy to see why other people could think it was too easy. Marianette (5 attempts) - To sum it up: The fight was the Bewear and nothing else. Everything just felt so underwhelming compared to that which is kind of think heavily nerfing the Bewear and giving everything else a decent boost would have made it work rather well. Mostly just nerf Bewear though. Narcissa (1 attempt) - This is a just right kind of boss since she didn't hit too hard, but she wasn't easy to take down either. If you had a type advantage you could make great use of it and be rewarded for playing smart. This was a very fun fight and I was worried it was going to be outrageously hard, but it really wasn't. I had a team with a huge advantage against her so it should be kind of easy then. Valarie (3 attempts) - So something of importance is that post Narcissa is not a very friendly area to grind Pokemon off of to get leveled up or even close to proper levels. This was added with the fact you were kind of soft-locked into a small area of the game. So while Valarie might be considered too easy, there was a lot of stuff that if she was too hard would pretty much turn people really off of this game considering we were in a very, very story heavy scene with little else. You could pretty much beat her with any team so long as you planned your moves and steps. V10 fights- Valarie (2 attempts, but didn't win) - The Qwilfish steamrolled through my entire team that was 5 levels above it. Qwilfish is not a weak Pokemon, but when someone gives advice of "Just have something that can take it out" pretty much as advice to win the battle, is that really a good battle? The game probably had a lot of changes in the previous areas, but bloody hell this was a huge step in difficulty from V9 Narcissa. This fight would've broken me and the run would've stopped if not for the V9 fight existing. I don't even know how good or bad the rest of her Pokemon are because I didn't have a single thing to handle the Qwilfish. Crawli (2.5 attempts) - Okay, so the first one was kind of a meme because I had two Pokemon who would've absolutely dominated Shelly and Bennet in Reborn get absolutely destroyed because I wasn't expecting something of that level to be thrown. So that was a reset after round one. Anyways, the issue isn't so much his design, but from a defensive perspective. We don't have a very attractive set of Pokemon to the casuals and this team hits very, very hard so you could be brutally annihilated due to A) the sticky web move B) Fire Damage being severely crippled due to rain, and C) Rock Slide flinch fun. You need a team more tailored to take it down which fortunately you do have access to older areas now. It definitely could use some toning down because that's a lot of things thrown at you which none of the other fights really did before to that extreme. Angie (5 attempts) - She's just right, but a little on the hard side. If you have type advantages, you can make really good use of them to combat against her. Fire type were pretty crippled because I didn't destroy the field, but there's so many ways to try and stop her that it doesn't feel restricted or limited and you could use almost any team to win with little worry. I've only felt 3 of 9 Gym leaders or a third were really an issue. Valarie and Crawli kind of are the ones to take note and that was the switch over to V10 so of course I'm going to assume all the other leaders before followed this idea. The game had a HUGE shift in difficulty which it's kind of like going from E17 Serra into E18 Serra which due to a mechanic change made her quite a bit more difficult. I'm not sure if that was a good change as the more difficult a game is, the less people are interested in it (and if anyone says Dark Souls, I will cut you). More vocal people would like it better because they have all already been through this with Reborn so it would come off as way too easy unless the difficulty was amped a bit. Y'all are gonna think I'm stupid for suggesting this, but I think there's a way we can meet in the middle and it's like very little work to do. So the modes are: Casual Mode (aka Easy) Normal Mode (Reborn Style) Intense Mode My suggestion would be to change them to this: Normal Hard Intense You would set this selection through a loop given a little bit of a description of what each one does (which is why you wouldn't have to put Reborn Style on Hard) before confirming if this is the difficulty you want. Afterwards, I'd leave a message that the difficulty can be changed at any time using a gym terminal (or whatever those things are called). I told you, it probably sounds rather stupid without context so let me just break it down and explain. The big change is there's no "easy" mode as while it still is the same difficulty, the game doesn't treat it so much like it's frowned upon which people new to these kinds of games would probably jump to first to try this game out. Hard mode would read "for experienced players" more or less and people who are very familiar with Pokemon would pretty much jump towards that one and...it no longer needs to be compared to Reborn. You also can't complain so much about something being too hard on hard. Intense is for the thrill seekers. The most crucial thing for this to work is the ease of access to the difficulty levels. I'm not sure if the option being in the menus is too glitchy or not but there's really no point in the difficulty change being that tedious and hard to do. Those Jan ports are a good location if the options menu is not possible or practical. So many games with difficulty options are doing it this way and there's really no justified reason not to. What, are you worried that someone is going to lower the difficulty just to get past a boss so they can keep having fun? More often then not, someone might try playing on harder difficulties for fights since there's now consequence in doing so and they can just adjust the difficulty back down in case it's too hard. This sounds like such a pointless change, but it's worked time and time again. Players are curious and it's just like pressing the red button. Someone's going to push it. I probably would've done some of the intense leaders or at least showcased them a bit with my ass being handed to it, but it's just a pain to change it right now. And changing the difficulties and giving descriptions would give me a better idea what is trying to be designed in terms of difficulty as right now I'm just going off it trying to be like Reborn for battles as it is Reborn Style. Also my impression of what people who don't like this run think of me: *hurr durr* Rejav sux Melia ass so bad. Y u gutta chan all dat shit az it waz better before. Alzo da baddles sux even more azz 'caz zey 2 hurd far me. I ez fanny guy. Plah Reducks instad of zis sit game. *hurr der durr* So fun fact: I am too tired to argue with people by the end of each chapter so I have a hard time even caring to respond back to those kinds of people. If you hate the run, don't read it or better yet, make your own. Your perspective might start changing afterwards. And ain't nobody going to be complaining about a third big Rejuv run on the website. I don't mind being third or fourth or whatever either. Plus you talking about this run only benefits me. And anything I say pretty much brings more benefits than harm to Rejuv. I just want to clear that up as anything I say or do really only hurts me and not so much the game. And besides, it is kind of funny or pitiful if someone gets mad at someone getting mad at a video game or hating it. It's almost like my opinion matters. But seriously, I know there's a lot of things I do that can be annoying or aggravating which I do try to be more self-conscious to avoid but I don't filter my thoughts too often. I've also done plenty jumping the gun. So let's talk about the other thing: Redux. I am working on both simultaneously and after spending a long time on both it's hard to do one without talking about the other. Do I think it's the best thing ever? Well it was originally me just designing Reborn the way I wanted to play it so I hope I like it, but it's flawed and definitely has bundles of issues some of which I'd love to fix but I don't want to put in the hours focusing no fixing them. I could shred on my own work and make it look like trash if I wanted to revealing certain things and such, but what's the fun in that. I probably won't mention it here anymore but I ain't gonna be quiet about the Rejuv battles though. It probably does give you impressions that I hate them...and it's not exactly the case. I hound Alex and Azery for the changes they made because they are literally doing the same thing I am, but for a much broader audience. I just did a QA (quality assessment) test of Serra just yesterday and what probably would've felt fine for them, I ended up nerfing, not because it wasn't beatable, but because she was doing too much damage and there weren't enough counters to properly combat that. She lost about 4 levels on each Pokemon and a number of items were changed. That was a fight that was perfectly acceptable, but I felt should be nerfed. It's not something you get good at in the snap of the finger. Going into a fight with a really bad team is such a good way to QA test because it gives you a better idea of what needs changed and adjusted. And believe it or not, Serra is still on my radar for a second run because I'm not particularly fond of how she fights, but she passes for right now. I'm not saying to do things my way, but since there are two people dedicated to the system it should be able to be more consistent in difficulty. I say Valarie and Crawli are too hard, but in reality it could be that Angie is too easy. All I know is that it set itself to be like Reborn so that's the benchmark I have to use when comparing. That's something I'll sort out before talking about future battles though. I'm also a proud supporter Pokemon Memeborn. Anyways, this may sound contradictory but while I tell people who hate the run not to read it, it doesn't mean I don't take what they say into consideration. If you have a point, you have a point no matter what and sometimes you can take that and use that to your advantage. I'm not going to lay off so much on the rants (considering what's coming), but I will try to find something else to do other than the constant bashing. Wow, I really need to stop talking so much. Now let's get back to the new and improved, but actually just the same show but lamer run: (That's certainly one way to open a chapter) (Hold on...let me look at that sprite) I see what the spriter was going for but it looks a little off tbh with it being an L. A fitting L, but a weird one nonetheless. Not really sure what you can do to make it look like his hair was burned off. Tiny details are sometimes night impossible to do. Also, Ninetales . When are you gonna gimmie mine, Jan? (Elder...we vandalized a home. I think that's at least justified for a temporary ban) (Wow, he thinks lighting someone's hair on fire is an offense. Isn't like an everyday college occurrence?) (For the love of god, Texen. Don't put disturbing images in my head) ("And I advise you to shut the hell up" would've been a classic line) (Absolutely nothing. No really, she did almost nothing) (Did he just...kick an old lady into the water? I don't know if this man is bold or stupid) (Did she just go down a waterfall and live? How did she not stop? How fast is this current? How is she alive?) We should check on her. But first, (I have never been so happy to see a Pokemon Center. Veigue can only live for so long) Btw, this is how battles work in a nutshell for me: (Well she went down 3 waterfalls down a fast current so...she's perfectly fine) (That's as close to getting a girl wet as Texen...this is a family friendly run, I promise) (Weren't there like 20 witnesses? Why isn't anyone doing anything? Oh right. Nobody does anything in Rejuv outside of Melia) (I would like to be Sensei now. Though Master Sensei Commander just sounds like a weird title to compensate for something) (Contracts. It's always some bloody contract.) (...Why couldn't you be Sensei? You are the only down to earth character in Rejuv) (Aww...btw, what did Texen even get a degree in? He sounds like one of those theater kids) (I uhhh...kind of know, but I don't know why that would be a reason not to. This whole plot is confusing) (Oh thank the heavens. Aelita used her brain. If certain others did that, we wouldn't be in the predicament we're in now) (Why do I think of Gogo from Final Fantasy every time I see that word. I have no idea why) (Those Garfuas are everywhere, man. Jenner probably has some stuffed in his closet) (It's Reburst, but lame. Never read the manga, but it looked cool enough) (Cue the fetch quest in 3...2...1...) (So what do we have to do to get you down there?) (Who could she have...Vivian?) (Dark Magic is definitely not something to be messed with. Just ask Fire Emblem...except Fates. That doesn't count) (I suddenly don't think this is a good idea. Shouldn't we at least go see what Saki is doing? She had a decent idea...no. Of course not) (Silly Aelita, people are treating you like a child because you are one. I didn't know you wanted me to baby speak to you) (Says the girl who got one-shot by a Mewtwo, passed out from being choked by a Gengar, got captured and tortured in Prison, had to be dragged around by Valarie, and took a month just to get one gym badge. You've got a great reputation). (Pretty sure Sheridan means "This place sucks. Let's burn it down and build a resort.") (If annoying her to death actually works...) (Wow, that actually worked. Maybe if I annoy Geara enough he'll throw Nim at me to stop) (Something tells me the opposite is going to happen to all of us. I mean the game is hyping these things up left and right. They are way more hyped than the gym battles.) (No, we are going right here and right now. I want my stone and I want it now) (Thank you, Jan for the instant warp) You know what I don't understand, why are we stuck with the most boring characters of the whole selection for the main cast? I mean the elder isn't like the most exciting but even she's way more interesting then Melia. It's really hard to find those scenes boring as it shows le gasp character growth of Aelita realizing she's matured and doesn't need the elder aka her mother figure as much anymore. This is stuff I've been asking for on characters over 20 chapters ago. Texen was also here for the perfect amount of time not overstaying his welcome as being here for too long on screen might end up making him very stale. I'm just trying to find words because I have been so pessimistic due to the slog I kind of forgotten what a nice story experience is in Rejuv. It's simple, down to earth, and it actually makes sense. Its when stuff like this comes up that I kind of wish we had a talking protagonist in Rejuv in contrasts to the so many chapters before where I'm glad they didn't because we don't need anymore cockstrocking Melia. I don't hate Melia, but she would have been a much better deuteragonist over the protagonist. I will make something clear: the playable character does not have to be the protagonist but usually are due to the player controlling them. Robin and Chrom are probably the best example of what Melia and the player should be. Why does Robin and Chrom work where Melia and the player don't. Yeah, yeah we aren't talking about Awakening's story, but Chrom and Robin make a pretty good pair which is a bit harder to argue. They work because they complete each other. Robin helps Chrom get out of jams and Chrom supports Robin and encourages them to keep going no matter how rough things get. And despite those two being some of the weakest main characters in terms of depth, that idea works so well and why so many people like the two (and always think of them as best bros). Melia and the PC are best described as Goku and Krillin. How's it feel to be worthless? It's probably just better to leave this where it is at, but if someone goes "alright, we're actually going to dedicate a lot of time to fixing the Blacksteeple and Terajuma segments, does anyone have suggestions?" that'd be a rather amusing attempt to fix what is pretty much agreed upon the worst part of Rejuv. And add that Saki path already, Jan. (Pretty sure underground city above a town has been done like 1,000 times. We just assume something is below half the time nowadays) I know what I said so don't correct me. (Who the heck is Tommen? I don't remember him. Actually, I don't think grunts have names) (Battle time?) (Okay, hold the phone) It says his name is Tommen and then it's ???. How has this mistake not been spotted for like 2 years? (Yes, I know. I saw your name before) (Dully noted. Get better ink next time, buddy) (Sheer determination and vines is my guess) (This guy has been here a month. Talk about hardcore. Everyone probably thought he was dead) (Wait, how do we even know the Magma Stone is here? Are we during this out of pure hope?) (If it was, where's Crescent when you actually need her? I probably could bug her to giving us the stone) (Huh. That was easy) (And convenient.) (Oh he has that book that translates text. If only it worked for Kanji. My life would be complete) (Aren't those the gen...IV HGSS heal tiles? Can't remember if it's Gen IV or V) (Actually it might be FRLG Lavender Tower. It's been so long since I played that game) (That seems easy enough. I don't mind doing it. Not like anything bad happens to people standing on switches) (I don't mind standing on the switch) (I seriously don't mind sitting one out. I usually do all the work for nothing anyways) (Yes, it will. You're one of the few people in the game I actually like.) (That's true. I hate standing in one place for a long time too) (It's hereditary. That and I'm the only one with a high success rate here. Guess I have no say) (Okay. Guess we're teaming up with Granny) (You're doing great. I'll be back after an hour.) (If someone told me I'd still be working on this run after a year, I wouldn't have believed them. WHY DOES THIS THING TAKE SO LONG TO DO?) (Is this the Shouta thing or some WLL? Don't answer that) (Oh no...Snoop Dog, he's returned. Yeetder, what have you done?) (Does some nerd want to explain this for me because I thought heat rose or something so it wouldn't be centuries old.) (We shall. If you weren't an old lady, I'd be making so many innuendos about now) (They really should drag Madelis's ass back here and see the damage she's done and lock her up down here. I think that's a fitting end to a character like her) (Meh. I predict it'll be an easy battle. I have Veigue after all. Nothing can stop him...except Qwilfish) (Oh look dying maids. We totally haven't seen that before) (How does that even....that's a stupid question. Just more nonsense in a world of nonsense) (...Yep. Time to go. Let's just leave and find Saki. I'm sure she has a good idea by now. Or a bad one. Either way it'll work in my favor) (Gee...what did you think would be behind a 1000 year old sealed door? A dry mushroom?) (You probably should've had that message left outside the door) (Remember this, I'm going to use it against Jan later) (And of course it's in a single Pokeball. I call hax) (Well she did kill half her own men) (Can I pay it in hearts instead? Love makes the world go round...and gives everyone else points) (Ask anyone. I really don't know the meaning of giving up as every time I quit, I just come right back) (Isn't that what Frenchera said? Actually, I feel like a lot of characters have said this) (You want to kill us, but you tell us to stand back...brilliant strategy there. 10/10 planning) (So he's supposed to be scary, but he's really not. He only nearly destroyed the world once. Just once. Then another time brought havoc due to earthquakes. Third time he was just a troll appearing on the box art but not being in the game. He really likes to ruin stuff.) (Garufans have some really weird hobbies. Why would you spend so many resources trapping Groudon? Don't tell me they also did it to Regigigas?) I just find it amusing Groudon is trapped while Giratina was just roaming around casually. (Who the heck would complain about getting a legendary? It's a legendary.) (Oh joy another legendary Pokemon battle. My favorite...not) Getting real tired of this theme. Real tired. So yeah, because I do less caption I rant less. Coincidence? I think...actually totally. Unless I see something really big that I want to talk about right that second, I'll probably save my thoughts mostly towards the end of a chapter or a really big scene. But...here's the problem: we've seen this song and dance in the game multiple times. Remember Amethyst Cave? This is pretty similar to that scenario. And random NPCs dying is just done so much I don't think it even is given much thought. Angie did sacrifice the rest. These are merely props. I'm going to use Cold Steel as an example of what a character vs a prop dying feels like. This is CSII spoilers so if you plan to play the game don't read this: I think another pretty iconic death was in Ocarina of Time with the unknown soldier who you talk to hearing his last words before he died simply doing his job. That is one thing that I will criticize Reborn and Rejuv on is just tossing deaths left and right that the big ones really aren't as impacting. Sure it's mostly baddies that die, but it's not different then when they were alive, is there? Rejuv does this a little bit better by giving more random NPCs more personality and stories though some are not quite so clear. It's all these minor NPCs that save what save what I'd say would be a sub-par experience. Don't take that as an insult please. Rejuv is a very, very flawed game and not admitting that would just be pure ignorance. What I can't really decide is if it's a good game held back greatly by its negatives or is a mess which manages to show it can be good or even great. Actually, now would be a good time to explain my feelings towards this game. I don't hate Rejuv. And many of my negative thoughts would be more on the lines of forgettable over flaws if I was doing a normal playthrough. This run is like a second trip through this game letting me catching things I missed and maybe see things in a new light I wouldn't normally. I probably would speak better of Rejuv because of this run than I would if I played it like a normal player. A lot of things I complain about other RPGs can do and even some of my favorites do it as much if not worse, but I do think it's better to point that out than to be silent. So one thing I didn't talk about is the maid game which I hated at first but I kind of like the crystal hunt looking back even though it technically is just pointless padding. Then the game goes and does stuff that I'd even say surpasses a lot of what Reborn does. One of them was the theater play. This created a rather polarizing experience as when the game is good it's a blast, but when it gets bad, it really, really drags on. Normally, I have a pretty good idea if I'll really like a game or not by this far into the game...this is a first where I still don't know. Rejuv is a good Fan-game and probably going to be one of the best and a rather unique way to approach the story being very anime inspired making for some vibrant visuals throughout the game. As a game in general, Rejuvenation had potential to be better than Reborn. When you play a variety of RPGs, you normally don't talk about hacks and fan-games because there is a giant field and most of those are considered terrible. Reborn is among the best of the best in terms of how well made fan-games are, but it's not one that's really easy to approach so casually. It more or less has just the right amount of difficulty to attract and keep people around, but sometimes goes overboard with its dark elements. Rejuv isn't as dark and does thrown in a lot of RPG staples. It should be the more approachable game regardless of quality. It lacks polish. That's the problem. The difficulty is skewed to make sure fights are harder, and the story is hit or miss with it only being remembered by how ridiculous it gets which some is very unintentional. It's a fun game, but it needs more focus and fleshing out in early parts to keep players wanting to continue. And that all goes back to Terajuma. Seems that that's the one thing that's the most criticized and complained about. So for a fun challenge, let's say I was in charge of designing a complete revamp of the Terajuma segment. There are some restrictions though: I cannot change the player's path, I cannot add or change the order of the battles, and I cannot add any characters to the cast that weren't involved before. This'll be a fun challenge as I try to make going through Terajuma a blast to read or die trying. That's a full scale chapter so don't expect it to come out soon though. Redoing the wall scene easily is going to be my favorite thing. That'll be a fun nod to one of my favorite movies. Now let's go back to doing a run. (Wow...she's kind of cute. Why do I have a thing for crazed cultist maids?) (Maybe I should have brought a better team) (Well that backfired) (Now come! My noble steed shall pull us to victory) (The beast has been slain. Onward, my steed. Yah!) I love this Gastrodon. Why haven't I used one of these sooner? I really didn't think Sir Pearl would pull his wait but he's surprised me. I'm tempted to make him a permanent spot on the team...after the Grass leader. Walter, Loewe, and Veigue are the only permanent members so far. I'm considering dropping a bunch of guys from the train list. We'll see. (I think it's dead, Cer) (...You took it down in a Poke ball...) (I just beat your master in a battle. How does that make me weak?) (Yep. And I'm guessing Cera is out of Pokemon thanks to that thing) (Okay, getting sick of this cultist and Arceus stuff) Not really against this on Jan, but if you make a fan-game, for the love of everything don't make a cult group or a crazed or evil church organization. That trope has been driven almost to death. It was cool I'd say 8 or so years ago, but so many games have done something around it that it's just predictable and boring. It's actually abnormal to have church do things like sermons and helping the poor. It's also a kind of boring and lazy way to make an antagonist. Their drive against the protagonist is the obsession of a higher entity to believe what they are doing is for the greater good. If you do try it, at least make them more down to earth or sane. There's plenty of ways to actually go about it. Though I will say I am a bit disappointed Angie is going to return. I really think her being a small antagonist with a very minor role was perfect and bringing her back would simply dampen her character or make her not likable. The most familiar example I can think of is Corey and he someone how survived his suicide and showed up later in the story. His role is done and it was short and simple. That brings me to Cera. I'll talk about her in a little bit. (Isn't that a spot in heaven or something? I dunno. Never read the Book of Arceus) (Well that was convenient) (Joy. She's about to get the Magma...) (Well that's different) So it's a minor detail, but I would've preferred if we actually controlled the character to pick the stone up. It's not a major complaint, but we are a silent protagonist and it's important to feel like we're in control of ourselves. On the other hand, I do like that our character actually accomplished something instead of being a worthless loaf like many of the other cast members. (What is she doing with that old lady?) (Oh joy, we have to make a choice here. Just let the hostage go and nobody gets hurt) (Guess we're going to let grandma die) (Yes, I need it to save Nim to cross lava which I totally haven't been able to do for the last few chapters) (Pretty sure the rest have no idea about this plan, but whatever. Yes, I have to save them) (...That too is a fair point) (Oh boy, I'm not sure what to do...though I should probably keep the stone) (I'm going to leave a bunch of space while you take a guess at what I chose) While I do kind of know what the consequences of the choices are, I'll always pick what I believe is I would choose for a first run. So which one do you think I picked? Any guesses? I mean it's pretty obvious given the captions Also, how is your day? It's night for me so I'll say it was nice. What's your favorite color? Or your favorite hobby? I mean I gotta fill this blank space up with something. At least it isn't song lyrics Or poetry. Bleh. Poetry. Do you think this is enough space? I think it's enough space. Time for the results: (Yes, I gave the stone to her) (Please don't kill the old lady...please don't kill her anyways) (On the bright side, I don't think Angie will hate me as much. Maybe she'll be on my side...still a better ally than Venam) (Don't ever come back) So I believe the elder actually dies if you don't give her the stone. While I do have the lava board, I probably wouldn't have given it to her anyways as I figured there'd have to be some other way to get that TM later. Also, I totally would've traded it for that Groudon. Anyways, the elder may be old, but there's still a lot of questions left and she is the one piece of Sheridan that is keeping the place together or at least Aelita together after all that happened. Both the stone or the elder may turn out to be useful later as well. Cera likely will not care about the stone after Angie's return so we may be able to retrieve it later. We cannot revive the dead. It may sound stupid to give up the stone, but we aren't that desperate yet as we had a couple other options. I kind of wish Saki would've stepped in and save the day as that would've tied in nice with the story, but sadly that didn't happen and we get something else. We'll get to that when we get there. There is something else to talk about: Angie. I said I wish Angie was gone, but I actually feel this should've happened the way it happened. What I wish happened was an extra scene where you see Cera free Angie, but Angie dies due to the overexertion of her powers. She said she was close to death when Kress froze her. That would then leave Cera all alone with her purpose in life stripped away from her. That's a dangerous character you don't know what to expect from and rather interesting to see what became of her during the whole offscreen time. If you didn't give Cera the stone, Cera would then still be desperate to find a way to save her even if she knows in her heart it's pointless as she's going to perish soon due to the event that unfolded. It's much more interesting to let Cera develop over simply letting her be second fiddle to Angie which we know what to expect from her. I think this was a good way to actually divert expectations as Cera feels like a nothing character which her playing a bigger role than Angie would have been a nice surprise. (Yes, you said that already. So did Keta. You should really play more importance in your life over being a martyr here) (If it's inevitable, then it doesn't sound so much like a made a bad choice) (Probably not for a few versions) (Well I just had a couple heated moments...I'll stop) Love how we just leave the unconcious Groudon there instead of trying to catch it. (NOPE!) (Don't be. I made my choice) I can't really judge how well the choice was but it was an interesting idea. If it doesn't add anything later, it's a skewed choice where it tells the player material is more important than people kind of cancelling the morality of the choice. If letting the elder die is part of a good ending, that'll bother me a little bit. I hate when killing off characters is the right choice. (Maybe she's sleeping. She has a habit of passing out after an intense battle) (Nope. Still don't see her) (I was just kidding...geeze) (No, just...wait if she passed out, how did we get out? Was it that soon?) (That's not possible. Remember what he said) (Oh no. Not this again) (...It's almost as if we have short term memory.) I hate flashbacks of things that happened 10 minutes ago. It's lazy and annoying. Now if it happened like 10 or 20 hours ago with easy to miss information, that's a bit of a different story. Even then, that's still stretching it. (Don't tell me it's some eternal sleep. I ain't kissing that girl to wake her up) (......Well at least it isn't a guy) (What did we do?) (Great, now I have to play hide and seek) (Well that was easy) (Am I going to have to face him in a boss battle? I didn't think Gnosis existed in this game) (And he vanished) I have no idea what happened and I don't care. Tommen didn't really have a personality anyways. I...also suddenly remembered Derogs random powers thing. Do you want to know what I got? I got the greatest power of all: Not having to bathe every day. I've been reading previous parts since I caught up. I just wanted to check one thing about the choices and saw that. I also just read what happens if you keep the stone...I'm going to use a spoiler box which I don't think you should read: I really should not have read that. So I do take back what I said on that choice. It's good to provide a big decision like that when it means something. I kind of think that was a dick move as it really should have ended the same way regardless if you're going to make the other choice have no consequences. I'm not mad about my choice because that's on me. I just can't believe that. This game is a rollercoaster to talk about. It does a lot of really good things then one of these slams you in the face. So I guess we see Angie regardless. We were so close. So close but I screwed it all up by looking at the other choice. I think the golden thing is that a future story segment could have been avoided is if the player ran and fought uhhh...Cera for the piece of Magma Stone. Like that's such a simple solution, but we got what's coming up eventually. I'm done and over that for right now. From a story perspective at that moment, I like the handing her the stone option as it flows better. I think this sums it up: Days I've gone without losing it in a rant: 0 Sigh... (I think we both need a drink right about now) (Oh backstory, wonder if that's going to be covered in WLL or V10) (I fucked up. I fucked up real hard. I'm as bad as Melia. Wait, no I'm not. She is the reason I'm doing this whole convoluted thing) (The others are going to kill me. But nobody wanted to go with Saki's plan) (If we listened to Saki, nobody would have had to die) (...Even when I don't lose somebody I lose somebody. WHY DOES EVERYBODY I LIKE LEAVE ME?) (.......Great. Now we'll have to find some ancient magic to undo it or something) I'm going to be honest, I don't think Aelita is permanently dead or in this state. She's an important character and those seem to find ways to get out of situations like this through one asspull or another. If Aelita is actually dead or permanently out of the story, I would have been impressed pulling off the balls to do that. I mean stuff like this is very common, but actually staying dead is a different story. But I wouldn't have guessed they would've thrown something like this at you randomly in the middle of a segment. Then again, I wouldn't have guessed Texen either. (...Gonna guess that's supposed to be "and" there) (Remind me to do this because I probably would totally forget.) (I feel like even more shit because I got nothing out of this. She died for nothing) (Oh right because I totally have a bunch of Shadow Pokemon on me. Oh wait we haven't seen any in who knows how long) (...uhh...we have plenty of time. I don't think Geara and Zetta are going to do anything to Nim. You can't catch a fish without the bait) So I think how they killed off Aelita right now is actually really good. It gives a premise that the Garufa are not good people and more likely are dark corrupted souls. It's kind of like Fire Emblem's dark magic in a sense. I know some people probably aren't a fan of this and the whole people having powers but I actually think it's a fascinating idea that can work really well...if done right. It's still too early to tell on that concept's execution but it is something that can go horribly wrong given it's a Pokemon game. The redesign of this place was spectacular and a great improvement. I didn't even know this was pretty much just a tiny cave originally. Some people may not like the added padding but I think it was a good choice, but it was needed much, much earlier in the game to break up the story segments. We've been jammed with a lot of dialogue and story at a very continuous rate which is due to how steamlined the game focused on being. It's Orre fever in a way. Because there's not much exploration to break up the story and side stories, it can be draining when things are meh or just okay. It can lead those things to be worse than they are which is Blacksteeple and Terajuma in a nutshell. And these added a lot more dialogue and padding on top of a pretty padded story. I see what was trying to be done but it's just draining and simple things can set people off like mad. I don't hate Rejuvenation as I said before. There's a lot to be improved upon (some which probably isn't possible within reason), but there's only two things I really, really hate now that I've cooled off and kind of have adapted to the abrupt changes the new version shifted to. The first is that magma stone choice. It was a good idea, bad execution over such a trivial thing. It's not a choice, but a "Fuck you" for picking one option. The other is just Venam. I don't think she's a good character due to having nearly 0 development despite being a character with some of the most screentime, she actually dampens good aspects of other characters, and she's all over the place to the point I don't even think Jan knew what he wanted to do with her. Melia may be an easy to dislike character, but at least she's consistent. I think now is the best time to do an analysis and try to say why Venam is the way she is. I really hope Jan explains or fleshes out why Venam is the way she is because that isn't normal. **** Venam is a scarred child whose happiness burned from a single building. She is not one who easily got close to others and on that day she lost who two closest friends and an already cold person grew colder. It tore her up and changed her as she got older. Those memories didn't go away as while she still kept the rocker image inside herself she decided to take on a rebel persona. In a sense, she was an unlikable beast. And beasts tend to be lonely creatures. This beasts hated being lonely so she did the one thing she knew that'd grab attention. She acts like an obnoxious brat so that others would take notice of her being this daring bad to the core rulebreaker. This got the attention of two people: Sam and Evan (whatever her two random friends were) as they loved this daring bad girl and all the crazy things she did. She was happy or so she thought. Two others came into her life: one was a boy with illusions of becoming a savior. Another was a blonde girl who knew nothing of the world she lived in. The two would become close, but she'd become especially close to the girl who loved her for who she is and not what she thinks she is. Time had changed and once again she was happy. Though there were those who were concerned about this radical behavior. Jan and Venam's Mother (Chasity) probably pushed Venam into a leader role to try and help her mature out of this rebel stage. And then the blonde girl suddenly vanished, but Venam was not worried. She was, but she knew Melia was invincible and nothing could take her down. She was a tough girl but she couldn't show her feelings so she put on an act. She was tough and had a funny way for asking for help. A new trainer was there for her friend, but she still wanted to make sure they were really a friend. They were and this trainer and her other friend went on a search for this blonde girl, and were stricken with terrible news. It seemed the invincible Melia had met her end. At first, Venam did not believe what she was hearing and took her anger out on Zetta. On the inside, she was weeping, but could not show that as everyone would think of her as weak and pathetic. She simply kept up the tough act and said they'd get revenge in time. It is unknown how she spent her time while we were away on our adventures but one could likely take a good guess that it had to do trouble. And trouble was there when we saw her again. This time in the form of a mansion. And this time the stakes were ever higher. Their souls were the playthings of a madman only escaping because of fate in the form of a little girl. This was the final straw for her two other "friends" as they realized this fun thrill ride was unhealthy especially with how close to being killed and Venam would do it all over again it seemed. She didn't learn a damn thing after all. Venam out in anger and rage for even more of her friends leaving her. Was it truly at them or herself? After all, she was the one who put others in danger for the thrill. One would think events such as these would change one's outlook on life, but she was a beast only good at one thing and that's what she'd continue to do. Only this time, she was truly alone. Though there was one word that stun her: Saki. That was an old wound she was not ready to come back to yet. Our paths would cross once again when Venam set sail for Terajuma. This time it was to scam people out of their money. She was in for a surprise when what was lost had been found. Venam had many emotions running through her head with a bit of anger taking charge only to swing fully back to joy. Perhaps there was more, but an outsider such as ourselves wouldn't be able to tell from a glance. And something odd happened as Venam was willing to stop her wicked ways in order to keep a friendship strong. Likely she would've given up all the money to be with Melia if she had to. The two likely had a grand time while we did all the work finding out where to go next. It's actually due to how the earlier drafts of the story, but Venam in the original most likely had to keep doing her job as the gym leader or something. Not important. Besides the Melia and Venam stuff ain't that interesting both considering in and out of them developing a romance. Now switching back to story mode. And now we return to Venam to grab her most valued treasure: A CD given to her by Amber. While Amber may have treasured it, I believe it to be something much more to Venam. One would call it a coping mechanism. Venam never had much of a happy life after the original trio were separated. This CD was one thing that made her happy and certainly wasn't something she'd part with. She decided the best way to handle this situation was to turn these next few segments into an episode of desperate housewives. Gonna switch back to normal me from now on because there's a lot to explain that's not ambiguous guesses. So Venam and Amber are hostile to each other, but when Amber falls through, Venam worries which is out of character for her. She didn't show as much worry for her two rando friends or even Melia. She jumps down and the two aren't as nasty towards each other. I believe that it's actually a broken friendship where neither one is willing to be honest with the other to renew it despite both secretly wanting the old times back. Amber and Venam are two sides of the same coin so what we see in Amber can often be applied to Venam. Both are likely very unhappy and the reason they can't get along is due to an event that happened in the past (we'll find out later). Nobody knows what happened, but Amber believe Venam framed her to get rid of her. Venam didn't, but Amber isn't willing to believe that. We are missing one piece of the story: why Venam? I believe Venam did something reckless that set off a fire but it was clearly framed by neither of them. It just looked like Venam did something. Anyways, Amber runs off and Venam says she'll go talk to her. I believe this is out of pity or realization Amber might be feeling the same way she does. Then the spite cycle continues. Amber blames Venam for ruining her life, but Venam is pissed for being blamed for something she didn't do. And Venam did the Venam thing and took one of Amber's Pokemon out of anger. Venam's a weird character and maybe that's her way of getting back at being treated wrong. And now we get to the 4 way fight. I don't know what Saki's deal is in this whole situation, but there's one detail that really is one to take note of. Amber lashes out on Melia for being a perfect child. Melia is Amber's replacement. Amber likely knew about Melia way before her first meeting but we'll get to that in a future chapter. Venam responding back that she doesn't care about what Amber calls her, but don't go after Melia can be taken a number of ways. The first is the real one which is that she's slowly falling in love with Melia and wants nothing bad to happen to her. The way I would've liked it to be is something meaning "She's not your replacement, so don't take it out on her. Take it out on me instead." It gives off that Venam still cares about Amber and that maybe there's a slight chance they can resolve this decade cycle of hatred. The Angie segment would actually be really good to help solidify Venam as being this caring girl who puts her friends above anything, but this is unfortunately Melia. I really like the idea of Venam being a really caring girl hiding her true self becoming a tough rebel chick because that's what will get her attention and bring her "friends". She always would be a problem child because you can be a troublemaker and still care deeply about your friends. It just means you have a harder time making it. This is Melia so now for the reveal of what Venam's character pretty much is really like. She's a bad egg because she can be a bad egg. She only acts differently around Melia out of love in Terajuma. She's willing to change her ways and go to the extremes just to be with her. Classic Beauty and the Beast type story starring Angie as Gaston. I want to clear something up as well. Venam acts differently towards Melia than any other character in the game, including Ren. This does not mean someone's in love. Does that mean everything I said holds some ground? Not really. That's just a draw-up of what Venam could be like and means nothing without events or hard context to support it. Small ambiguous events aren't going to cut it. My Ren write-up had support from multiple characters and especially using Narcissa to tie it all up. Venam and Melia happening is fine, but I don't find that type of character interesting. Hopefully that'll tie you over for a while. Next time though, it's sidequests and honestly, I think these next two chapters might be my favorites to talk about.

That's not really anything to go off of being honest here. He could have meant anything by it such as her personality. Though there are things pointing towards Valerie being his daughter. There were two things but talking about them is like asking me to open up a can of worms right before a new episode release. Basically Melia says at Blacksteeple that Valerie is similar to Neved. It's ridiculous to think this other than the fact that Valarie hates heat and swam at Blacksteeple no problem.

My issue is the actual get going as when I get going, I get going. Speaking of which... Redux E18 is technically playable now from beginning to end. Everything from the E16 version is back (with a couple alterations), but there's still a couple things I have to do. The only big things left are the new Party members as well as adding and adjusting Pokemon for the older party members. There's also one other feature that needs to be added, but that's it. Once that's done, it's off to refining the fights and bug testing. And trying to remember things I forgot. You cannot fathom how many custom events I have made and had transfer over. There probably was over 100. A good chunk needed to be edited. Adding those master fights in definitely was not a snap of the finger, unfortunately. Skipping E17 was probably a very, very smart move on my part because this took hours to do. It'll take a little bit less time to transfer for E19, but it's still hours. That's how much custom stuff was put into Redux. I'm not going to promise a December nor January release yet, mostly because there are things I want to fully implement and add, but I still haven't decided if it'd be on a first release or maybe another release in maybe a year or so. That's not planned stuff or anything. Also, I realized I put in way too much effort into a mod, but some of the silly things I enjoy doing. One of my favorites is making Jim Guy quotes for all the leaders. It's a bit of flavor text when I could easily have done generic copy and paste events for all of it. Then again, I don't really gain much from making 3 variants of each gym leaders. Gotta love the holes my ego digs me into. Then there's the fact my brain doesn't let me do things the easy way...without a war. It already stormed up another 3 things I need to get done before a release. Though I do bear some bad news. The best Hardcore character was axed from the game. Let us pay tribute to his passing:

P3 FES is the best version of P3 to play despite the not being able to control characters. The portable version cut out a bunch of content like walking around areas and all that but it's still a playable version. Just frustrating. I'd honestly say go straight to 5 to start out since P4 Golden is the only other good starting place. They aren't too bad though except for P3 you will die...a lot. Gotta love death spells that cause instant game overs. Or play Cold Steel. It's similar enough to a Persona, right?

@Paperblade Thank you for being a voice of reason. I think the main issue we both agree upon is there is an issue with the exp drought and perhaps not the battle itself. If I'm making a poor assumption that's fine too. I try to think of the perspective of the average player playing this game for the first time and not go with my own personal thoughts because hell, I think pretty much all of us here would have an easy time going at it again since we know what to expect and can prepare. One thing not mentioned is that we can get access to so many good healing items like revival herbs which can make fights much easier. I think with that you can plow through with an underleveled team.

Are you implying they wouldn't make a field to reduce super effective damage on a defensive typing? Steel is overall pretty slow so it's probably going to have something like that.

Let's break this down a little bit differently from a mechanics standpoint: I'm not going to jump the gun and say that the fight has to be nerfed as we still have the finale to go through which if it's a joke thanks to that, then we should absolutely push to nerf that fight more. Solaris and Hardy are both great and well done fights...nobody talks about them though or are pumped to talk about that climatic finish. Nerfing the gauntlet though would have backlash. Been here long enough to know any nerf is going to have a huge crowd cry out on why the game is so easy now. It's a war no matter what you do, but I do think Ame kind of got the message and it'll likely be toned down again for the finale. She did nerf it twice already. Due to that, I probably should retest it one of these days to see where it can be toned down other than dropping their levels even more. The fight should at least preserve some difficulty at the very least.

I'd sacrifice Chrom for Sandbag...what do you mean Sandbag isn't a Pokemon...fine. Hitmontop. I was going to go with Hitmonchan, but we don't really gain much from any Pokemon. Both these series are bloated and show off pretty much everything. Hitmontop is an oddball Pokemon and brings something new. A Pokemon that focuses on kicking and spin techniques. Its final smash could be a reference to the pinball games even. Can't really say how to build him since he has options like brick break being a shield breaker. And of course, he'd be spin to win.

(Takes a deep breath) The z ring and mega ring are separate items that for Reborn Marc changed the script to combine the two into a single item. Depending on the script, they could be given separate or together simply by changing the item requirement to activate them. I don't know how it looks nor Jan's plan what to do when giving it out. Most likely it'll just be the Mega Z-ring instead of separate. Edit: Did not realize Z ring could mega evolve in the canon games. Still haven't beaten Gen7

All of that work for one meme...you have made me proud.

Hi there. It is unfortunate, but so long as it fits the filter system, a hacked Pokemon is still counted as a legal Pokemon. And by hacked, it usually means someone used the debug tools built within the game to create such Pokemon. The good news is that you don't have to worry about having them as you won't get banned or anything. It unfortunately happens and sometimes can ruin the magic of the game's systems, but don't worry as having a Pokemon will never get you banned here. If however you mess around the scripts and trade illegal Pokemon like Groudon you will get locked from online. You have to tamper with the script files to do that and if you don't know what that means, it likely means you are safe from a ban.

Ask and you shall receive: Even if you didn't ask. This was just a good way to put this here Yeah, yeah it's techincally against the rules, but am I the only one who actually thought this guy was funny? I'm not one who likes to support this, but I fucking kind of deserved that. Since I cannot give him a like, I shall rename Magneton Yeetder in honor of this man. Though I am a tad disappointed he didn't have the balls to say it on his official account. I also forgot I got owned by a Linoone. I'm terrible at this game, but we all knew that already. And do you know why I picked Magnezone... So he can suck on Yeet nutz. (It's not Commander if there isn't a godawful joke) But seriously guys, don't do this because it's against the rules. Honestly, I don't care so much because I've expected this kind of stuff to pop up for a while and all it does is give me material to work with (I do tend to roll with the punches). I don't promote this kind of behavior (which I kind of am...but it's Yeetder) but if you say something, I'm not going to report or delete it. I might ask you to stop if an argument breaks out, but that's it. If you think I'm a shithead, feel free to call me a shithead. And also, I too lose a lot of brain cells making these chapter. I'm more impressed on how much of the run he's read. That's probably planned DLC for the cheap price of $29.99. It's also required for the true ending. Padding isn't a bad thing as long as it's good. Radiant Dawn Part 2 was pure padding but it was sure fun. I don't think it was that big of a deal as Nim simply was just good bait and they really had nothing better to do. Madame X thought they were dead and if they came back empty handed they'd be dead so them waiting a month on the mountain probably wasn't that big of a deal. They spent a year in the dark realm already so what's one more month. Yeah, yeah, I know the whole Madelis thing debunks that, but it's not that ridiculous when you think about it. Where else could they hide and devise a plan? I...like Texen's hair as weird as it is. It reminds me a bit of the birdkeeper's from HGSS or FRLG. I can't remember which one or was it DPPt? I can't really judge poor Texen's team as the only thing he did was Metal Sound with Lucario. I forgot to mention I LOVE the idea of pummeling a gym leader like that as it's so different than the norm. The logic behind it was a bit off, but everything else about that whole thing was fantastic. Jan has a talent for the simple and fun stuff which I think people don't realize that's a lot of what I love about Rejuv, but the plot is just such a big focus it may come off as I hate the entire game. I was just drained but I really should have went into more details. As for the Aelita battle, it was more my team over anything. It was just kind of something dealing with a Drain Punch Conk with...lefties I think (hell if I remember everything). I think Scrafty had Drain Punch as well. Mienshao I know took up some Hyper Potions which lasted even longer with Bounce. Then Hawlucha did the same thing with Bounce. It must've come off more than "Well that was annoying and kind of reminded me of Ren." It's not that bad and Joker could've come in an had an easy time. --------------------------------------------------------------------- As for what Az said, I'm just going to say I read parts and kind of move on. I'll at least correct a couple things: The level limiter is a shared script between Redux and Rejuvenation which the code is nearly identical with the only differences being slight alterations both made by Fish. I haven't looked as Insurgence's but that one is likely different. The original one I made was rather messy and poor but it gave the idea across there was a better way to go about things. And when I say Fish, I mean Sardines. If we want to talk about where the level limiter originated, I know the original Fire Emblem is one of the earliest with the class system. I think I deserve at least some credit bringing it to the Reborn community, but whatever. I do know the ends and outs of the system quite well, but it doesn't matter. Think what you want to think on the matter as it won't change or help the issues with it. Something I like to do is watch what people say. That's where most of my ideas and changes come from. Sometimes I overreact, but that doesn't mean I don't take notes. Everybody who picks up a fan-game pretty much knows how to play Pokemon. Nobody is bad at Pokemon either. So if one person is struggling, more likely than not somebody else is in the same boat. It's the why someone is complaining is more important. Instead of pointing out someone is factually wrong, think about why they feel that way. What does proving me wrong help the game in any ways? At the end of the day, it's simply food for thought. And yeah, I've taken feedback and criticisms from Rejuvenation (both on and off the site) on the system and am looking for ways to address and try to give something for those guys to work with. I have a few ideas that people may like they aren't big changes, but small things always help. As for the Audino thing, I'm surprised you didn't pull up any of the pre blacksteeple posts about mean complaining how much a pain in the ass it was to grind the old fashioned way. If there's an easy way to grind, I'm going to take the easy way over worrying about having enough Exp and a good team for a boss/bosses. We saw how well that went with Crawli...and Maria. Just saying it might be a bit too easy to grind. It's not a terrible thing, but it really pushes away from establishing an official team. What are my main 6 Pokemon I use? If you guessed Walter, Loewe, Gaius, Veigue, Pancha, and SEC, I'd be surprised. --------------------------------------------------------------------- And now for the main show: Chapter 48: Return of the King I want to start off with this: This run has hit over 20k views and that's a lot of replies. Some people may say that's not that much or most of the replies are probably mine, but I really do want to say thank you. Without all of that, I probably would have upped and quit a long time ago...which some of you probably would like. I won't name any names...*cough* Yeetder *cough*. And as a bit of advice to others: going the extra mile does really pay off even if it may feel like too much work. We've come a long way and this journey has changed us...except not really. Only change is me slowly growing more insane after each chapter...and less funny. I blame it on my evil twin, Yeetder. When in doubt, blame Yeetder. I'm going to have way too much fun with this chapter. And as a warning, Yeeter grows stronger the angrier I get so I must control my temper or else he may become too powerful. At all costs, you must keep me away from Venam. The world must not experience such evil. I fear it may bring an end to it. So this time we shall have a nice relaxing episode over the usual. (Judging from all the debris from the nearby island, I'd say probably not) (Yeah, I just tried it and it didn't work. Looks like we're stuck here) (This elevator is sexist. Of course it does what the woman wants and not me) (If it's another factory, I'm going to leave and find something to...I should check the orphanage. I wonder if Mosley is doing alright.) (Oh thank god it's not another factory) (...oh no. NO! NO! NO!) His power...I feel his power rising but I can't take it. Why does he have to be here? Well, we've handled worse. Let's just get this over with. That Saki path is looking mighty fine right now though. (Does anyone in this game not lie and deceit? Besides you, of course) (Couldn't we have stepped over him? No? Okay.) (You seem...different. This is a surprising improvement) (Are we still in Carotos? It doesn't look like it.) (I'd ask what he'd gain from being in an abandoned mountain, but this is SEC we are talking about. You never know what is coming out of his mouth) (Madelis really didn't think this SEC thing through, did she? On second thought, a mobile SEC would be scary.) (How did Cera get past you? That's what I'd like to...oh right telepor...why did she need the elevator?) (No, I think Aelita has improved. Still rash, but less rash and more obedient. It's like training a puppy. The annoy you until they start listening...and she's cute) (That was...really short. Huh. Why couldn't the rest of this segment be like that?) (There's the SEC we know and love. Well know, not so much love) (Please have a Shadow Pokemon. We haven't seen one of this in like forever) (And here he shall go) (It's 6v3, buddy. You were going to lose) Only reason I have screencaps is because I surely thought he'd have a Shadow Pokemon. Well that was disappointing, but hey, I can't complain too much. He did give us one of our main members...who's not here right now. (Except Team Xen. They deserve to die for what they're...oh yeah that's your boss...you do deserve to die) (Great. At least bring Shadow Pokemon next time. It at least helps the suffering) (Don't tell me we're traveling to the past. That's the only way he'd know what's yet to come. Unless he's from the fu...no more time talk. It's a headache) (Good grief. Even Aelita was sick of dealing with him) (Time? I'm pretty sure we have all the time in the world given Geara and Zetta are very, very patient. They must be practicing a recital) Something I didn't realize when making the band joke was Jenner was in a band going back to WLL. I only played Chapter 1 but that has potential to being one of my favorite fan projects. I know it's a lot of work, but I'd love seeing another side game like that. I also really want to know what happens, but I gotta wait to catch up T_T. (I'm having deja vu. Didn't you way that the first time we came here? I'll take poison over lava though) (How did this happen? Man, that factory must really have taken a lot of fuel to function...wait didn't it function on lava? I really need to reread that segment) (This'll be the third most awkward date I've been on. The first two involve a certain blonde girl) (I'm wondering what the skunk is referencing. Oh well have another shiny I'm not going to catch) And I had a 50% chance of heading away from the plot...turns out I went the wrong way: (I'm pretty sure we have no idea where we're going) (Oh look it's the stalker squad) (I see what you did there, Jan) Deborah and Esther are not the most known but pretty important Biblical figures in the Bible. It's kind of a nod what Jan based the idea of Arceus being based off of the Catholic Church. I should've looked at the other maid names to see if they shared the same theme. Though I only know who Esther is due to the Veggie Tales Movie. Those things really did a good job and are fun to watch. (I don't think Aelita even knows who these guy are) (She has herself to blame for that. She was the one who invited me to her church then imprisoned me) (Something tells me it won't be that easy) (We're so going to lose this race. I already went the wrong way to trigger this event and have to go back) (That looks like something a 5 year old scribbled. What even is that supposed to be?) (Oh boy, I remember the last time I played a game with a maid. It wasn't fun.) (...No, this isn't fun) (Let's not.) Before we do that, there's something important we need to read: (Ouch! That's a terrible way to die.) (...So that's why my feet have this burning feeling. I thought it was just a rash) And part 2: (This mountain is beyond saving at this point. Man, you gotta feel so bad for Keta) And part 3 since I missed it: (Only Sandile can be found here) (Soon, I'll come for you, random TM) After one pain in the butt search later (I can only do so many before I lose it), (No, that was an awful game. Do you see the high encounter rate here? Do you think it's fun dealing with that? "Use a repel" they say. Those cost money.) (...............Are you the daughter of the maid I did in the past? Or did she do me?) (This is why you don't stick your dick in crazy) (Yeah, I don't think I need to explain what happened here) As a side note, Wisp Bone learned Flare Blitz. He finally has a fire stab. (Finally. Now I can get out of this blasted mountain) (The only thing immune to corruption is corruption itself...that can only mean...) (Be careful, Aelita. I think this is Yeetder's lair) I know I should be making fun of a user, but some regular here made an account purely to flame me. I think it's fair game at that point since it's not a real person. No, Yeetder is a state of mind. (Sure...but first...) (So we get both the bomb and the wave here. Nice!) (Do you think the ancients will mind if I take a pee break here? It's those blasted waterfalls) (Don't mind me. I'm just going to ignore you for a second) (What do they mean by...) (Oh, now I get it) Finally, it's been like forever since we did a puzzle. (Wait, weren't you just downstairs?) (Well obviously the front door is to progress the plot so let's just keep go...) (OH NO! NOT YOU AGAIN! GO THE HELL AWAY!) This really is Yeetder's lair. Only he would bring something so evil into such a sacred ground. (...I really should've brought a better team) (At least I can Veigue Endeavor + Ice Shard Cheese it) (Well that wasn't too bad) (.......Let's go back to the entrance...something tells me I'm not supposed to be here) I think this is a glitch due to the fact you can get to the end before doing this scene: (Oh it's magic. It must be evil magic. That is the only explanation) (Aelita, do you really think that's going to work? Remember what happened in Goldenwood. I swear if you pass out on me again, I might submit myself to Yeetder) (At least you now resort to violence more. Violence solves everything...except saving Nim) (Sure. Whatever. Just stay out of my way.) (Give up. These people can't be reasoned with. They offer themselves as sacrifices when they lost a Pokemon battle) (Oh look, she's speaking your language now) (And to the trash, go the spoiled) (And now we do puzzles. Hooray!) (I'm pretty sure Saki is working on a plan. There's also Plan B. We're not screwed) (Again, we're like the slowest people in Aevium. They'll probably be done by the time I get it.) (And now it's puzzle time) (That was a pretty easy puzzle) (Just a what? A ruse? A game? A run made for entertainment purposes?) (Correction: I'm doing the running. Aelita is just sitting there bossing me to move statues. This is bad for my back) (You guys really want Angie back. Wasn't she kind of about to die?) (...I like the other one better. Can we have her again?) (...Aelita, forgive me for all the terrible things I've said about you in the past. You are so much better then the rest of the Melia gang) (And battle time. This will probably be rather easy) (...Of course I get burned) (And paralyzed) (Pretty sure Loewe KO'd whatever that was) (I really should've brought Gaius with me. Damn water types) (Well at least that is over with. Hopefully I'll be able to heal soon) (Well I beat both of them in a battle so all that's left is Cera) (YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! ANOTHER ONE! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!) Only one being is so evil he'd throw a second one just to make me suffer even more. So I don't have it but Loewe was the only one able to do damage and barely lived to activate Torrent Aqua Jet. All I have left was Veigue with 1 HP and this happened: (It's a crit hit wonder) Yep. I barely won due to a critical hit. I'm not dealing with running back through that mountain so this is what my team looks like: (This is why you should always bring a grass type. Damn maid) And now time for more puzzles: (Oh good the last puzzle. I don't know how much more I can take) (Wait...did I do the wrong puzzle?) (._. All of that work just for this. What a great reward.) (After 15 tries due to Veigue dying, I got it on the first try. Too easy) I'm really stubborn on the healing. And now for the other puzzle: (Well that was rather easy) So what I actually did was screencap the answer statues and use them as a reference where what goes where. That's one nice thing about the forums. It's not a difficult puzzle as all you have to worry about it making a wrong move locking a statue in the wrong spot. Still, I had a lot of fun with that. At least it isn't a headache level Ame puzzle. Some of those are brutal. (PLEASE NOT ANOTHER STATUE!) Thank the lord there wasn't another one. I would've had to backtrack to heal. (We are probably a couple miles underground. This whole thing could collapse on us easily. So no, no need to worry) (I never could figure out how to get down to get that TM) (The only good thing in this situation is there's not a character in sight that I hate....I don't want that to end) (Eh, I was distracted by puzzles. I can't keep myself away from those babies) (...Why do we need a flashback of this? We were there like 5 minutes ago) (Go away Esther. Nobody loves you. Not even Angie) (...We literally had no other way to go) (Oh look, all of this was for nothing) (This should be an obvious answer. I wonder what the other options do) (It was probably Yeetder's doing. He can't make it too easy to get his treasure) (I do like the emphasis thing here) (I have a book. Does that count?) (Well that was disappointing, but we had a puzzle so all is forgiven) (Who would ever know...Crescent. Oh Crescent, where are you? We need your Deus Ex Machina powers right about now) (Oh yeah. I've missed that old lady. I wonder how she's taking all of this. Aelita and I did kind of go off the grid for like a month) (Huh. We just had a chapter without a major battle. That feels anticlimatic. At least this isn't Blacksteeple where we went chapters without battles) So two things: The first is that I stopped the chapter here because it leaves just enough for the next part. I usually go with 200-400 pics trying to finish on a climatic battle, but sometimes it just doesn't work that way. The other thing is that I'm probably surprisingly silent on this segment. Other than getting my ass kicked by what are probably considered easy fights, there really isn't anything I had to say. The Texen segment was great, but this was just really meh. It's not bad, but it just means everything passes, but I didn't see anything that stood out too much. The SEC segment was short and to the point which I liked better than...our other experiences. I will say that this Aelita is better than the older Aelita as her character traits aren't blown out of proportion. She's still headstrong, but not to the degree she was. That's a good level for a main character and I honestly kind of wish she was the protagonist now. She's a likable character, she has quite a bit of development, and still has a lot of room for growth. She also has good chemistry with the PC and they bounce of each other rather well. And yeah, yeah, the guy who likes circle jerking Rejuv isn't complaining because he can't find anything to complain about. I...really do have a self-destructive mind. It's a good thing I don't listen to my conscience. Next 3 chapters whenever they come out will certainly be quite the treat. It may be more surprising then me seeing a third Kingdra statue. Fuck those things.

But...you're the main character you can't die. Oh wait that's Melia. RIP Sean. What a shitty way to go. Doing all of this crap and accomplishing nothing in the end. And let's be honest, I'm pretty sure your plan would have worked out so much better. Hell, I probably would've said "Here's your damn woman, now give me mine and stay out of my way." And besides, did anyone really think Geara was going to follow through on that bargain? If he had Melia, that's all he needed and it didn't matter what happened afterwards. And I shall end this on one last note: I looked back at the Reborn season finale then looked at this and you can really tell where you've improved. You knocked it out of the park and had me laughing my ass off with you going edit crazy. One thing still puzzles me: couldn't the Zoroark have made an illusion of a gagged Melia instead of tying ropes around it? I probably shouldn't have said that considering everyone that died because of not trying it. The only thing that was changed was Sean throwing his belt to save his Pokemon. The protag does fall into the lava. I'm not kidding. It's even worse if you realize he's probably dipped more time into Rejuvenation than a vast majority of players. These chapters don't write themselves, people.

So I'll be blunt that I kind of really don't use the Mega or Z rings simply because I've kind of fallen off of Pokemon past Gen V. So my value in their worth is probably much lower than other people's. I just think Megas looked cool and it was as close to old Pokemon getting new evolutions as we're ever going to get. Gen 8 will throw something new and broken to us later. Anyways, there is one point I do want to make: I really hope you don't follow the Reborn philosophy of how Megastones and Z-crystals are handed out. I'd rather it be the reverse and we don't find Megastones and Z-crystals until after we obtain the Rings because it is a tad annoying picking up all these things and them being nothing more than collectibles. It always feels better when you pick up something that you can use and can consider using. This is getting a bit off topic though so I'll stop. Jan pretty much said everything I more or less agree on. If you want to continue, I'd say make a thread in the Fan-game Expose as I'm sure quite a few people would chime in.

The simple way to put it is that adding either in just adds a layer of balance needed. It definitely is possible to balance Megas around V7 or V8 areas but I don't think the devs are willing to go through with it. At first, I was a hard ass about it being available in Hardcore/Redux, but now I don't care so much so it'll stay where it is. There's actually another reward that people probably will be shocked I even am willing to give them. It breaks a lot of the difficulty, but personally after a certain point it's fine imo. If they complain about a game being too easy using mechanics they worked hard for, it was them that used it in the first place. We could go either way with this argument as there's pros and cons to both. The thing about the Mega Ring and Z-ring is the fact it's controllable so I don't see why everyone is so stubborn to make it available so late. It's worthless without the Megastones or Z-crystals anyways and some Pokemon need Megas or they fall off as worthless and by the point you get the mega, nobody is going to use it. Z-crystals are a different story since any Pokemon can slap one of those on and use it. Specialty crystals like Pikachu's really could be brought in and used so there's no excuse pushing it so late again. In fact, most people who play Reborn won't even have this item by the time they finish the game and won't even know it's obtainable in the game. Let that one sink in. There's a lot of questionable variable there with that logic as even a normal Druddigon would be a major threat for a first gym and pretty much be the equivalence of Florinia's Cradily but stronger. This is going off the basis the first gym is fought in the 20s. Even with fairies that thing is nasty and could shred a few of those into pieces. Anyways, the best way to teach players is to make them rethink what they're doing or destroy their brain. Beat 'em dead before they start. Best trick is to throw them something that isn't too threatening so long as you don't go full offensive. If you teach a player a bit about defensive tactics and their benefits, they'll keep that in mind and use it later. It's a good old show, don't tell type tutorial. Don't worry too much about the available Pokemon so long as it's enough and more to figure out how to take a boss down. Explaining stuff ain't going to do any good. I don't know why so many games bog down up to and over an hour of tutorials when they rarely do much. There's no good way to do it, but there's ways to get creative so players at least learn about it. The two simple ones should be have some random trainers make good use of the field but an easy enough battle that it doesn't last or drag out too long. Another one is to throw a quiz early in the game asking questions regarding fields which a player could study up and read to get a nice reward. That's the simple fix. The true issue isn't the inclusion of field effects, but of how little impacting and involved they are. They were mostly used in boss fights up until E18 areas which trainers with one or two Pokemon used them. This idea is a bit too little too late unfortunately as most of the time players are thrown into an unfamiliar field effect right at a big boss. Some people will hate it while others might not mind due to being thrown into an unfamiliar experience and having to learn through trial and error. It's more important on the design side though because most of these fields are ingrained in my head after doing revision after revision look up what the effects do. Going to have to agree to disagree. Adding all the mechanics of a game at once is just going to fly over everyone's head so slowly adding more and more keeps things interesting and adding even more layers to the gameplay. A simple one is each tower that's cleared allows for the main character to use a brand new power or spell. Big mechanic changes or additions shouldn't happen later than the 70% mark since that gives enough time to be familiar and adapt towards it. One I can think of off the top of my head is Tales of Graces f's Accel mode brought in for the postgame content (it's a long story though). I think the bigger issue is the fear that adding a game changing mechanic like Megas may ruin the game's experience since the game won't be as difficult. Personally, I felt that way at first but nowadays I stopped caring and probably would say late game is a good place to put it as I don't think megas and z-moves really add that much enjoyment. I can make good fights without megas, z-moves, or seeds even, but they are there so I'll still use them. Of course I'm aiming for a harder variation in a mod. For a normal game, it doesn't matter so much because a game being easier doesn't make it bad. In fact, more people will actually find it enjoyable. I think people need to get it through their head harder does not mean better. Anyways, I don't think it really matters too much since a handful of Pokemon are going to fall off regardless such as Spinda, Stunfisk, Garbodor, Electrode. All of them are still usable but they fall off.