Commander

Man it's been a long time since I made an update. Oh well, I decided that I'd make a video of Intense Corey since I wasn't going to be able to make the download in time for the end of the month. You can view it on my youtube channel here.

Ahem! Hello laddies and gentlemen who don't miss me. So most of you are probably aware of the fact that I have a run of Rejuv going on in the forums already and well...I feel it's kind of grown a little stale due to the low comment count...I'm just messing with you guys. I know I'm not going to have too many people wanting to listen to me especially in the Blacksteeple section (especially because I'm not actually funny there at this point) but that actually takes a lot out of you due to a lot of issues. I'm not canceling the run so no worries on that. I'm a firm believer of seeing things through and try to as long as I can. I actually considered just summing up my thoughts on this side project but I'm actually impressed with this so I'm doing kind of a mini run. I kind of had two options when doing this: The first was to simply make a new post to separate it out from the first one. The second was to make some intermission chapters. I'm not going to sugar coat that I made a separate thread to attract more readers. Another big thing is that I feel that there's not a really good place to really see rather or not you might like this or check it out. I also really do feel this little adventure deserves some showcase and despite not being at V10's areas, I don't really care to be spoiled a little bit because I need it. So let's get started: Episode I: I Kenneth Say What's Happening First I want to say that 80% of my complaints about Rejuv are gone here. Even if you aren't a fan and really dislike Rejuvenation, I really recommend at least trying this as it's different in a good way and it's pretty short...unless your me who can take 5 hours on a 1 hour segment. And yes, I will be screencapping everything. Fun fact: The screencap total for chapter 1 of this segment is half of Blacksteeple's and I didn't cut anything out of that. So don't expect a really long playthrough. Also, I'll link this to my run in the first page so no worries about it being completely lost. (Well this is a good test of my memory) It's been 6 years since I last played FRLG and if I remember right, there actually wasn't a beach on four island but just stairs leading to a pier. It's very similar but a tad bit different with some touch-ups and I must say it does look kind of nice. I know those rocks weren't part of the FRLG tilesets but I remember being able to walk along the beach on most islands so I'm guessing it was the same in the original. Let's see how well my memory is: I actually knew which Island this was but I didn't quite remember it exactly. I must say you can really tell the quality differences and how far we've really come since the Gen III days. I guess there was a beach. The islands are the hardest things for me to remember in FRLG since I usually just skim that section. (Why is my Lucario shiny?) This is a me thing, but I kind of hate Shiny Pokemon. I really don't think they show be showcased or even scripted in but that's just me. It's just the Shiny Gyarados syndrome where it's really cool idea then you realize it doesn't mean much since it's available to everyone. (This kid is 8 years old and already a playah...I hope it's the kid) (Nope...it's the fat guy...creepo. Thankfully we have a cop right within the group...or future cop) Can I have these guys instead for my inmates? They seem more interesting and not slam my head into the desk from the torture. No? Okay. (I'm pretty sure that was the guy I always pinned the blame on. I gotta rep to keep with my long hair flapping in the wind with my youth to show) (Ladies and gentlemen for the first time in over 3 years, a playable protagonist in Rejuv actually talked) (........I like him already) (I just did though) (Now I understand why this guy wanted to leave in the first place) (Is this one of those I'm traveling to become champion cliche Pokemon stories?) (And my father is disappointed in me just like in real life) (Okay Nino incarnate) Not sure if I made the joke or not but if I call Kenneth ponytailed youth, it has to do with Xenogears which relates to this comic: I tend to make jokes and references to old games and reference them a lot. Most of them will probably go over your head, but for the ones that don't, I salute you. Speaking of that game and any of you people reading this who have played it, I really recommend trying Xenogears or Mother 3 out because they are written in a similar style with the humor similar to chapter 1 (Xenogears pretty much is just this but better) and really a great game...as long as you don't take religion all that serious or get offended by it. Kind of funny how so little people have tried that game yet love the stories and style of this and Reborn. Did I mention I get off topic more than anyone else on Reborn? (Oh good I have to spend a whole game with I Pokemon I absolutely love) Most of my hatred stems from Lucario replacing Mewtwo in Smash and the fact that the one time I tried it out when I was a wee lad, it sucked and I really didn't like it so it became an HM slave. I don't hate it as much now, but I don't particularly care for it either. I'm more of a defensive player who'd actually rather have a Pokemon who can take a few more hits in exchange for a little bit weaker offensives. I cut out the Luca's from Lucario in case something seems off in the dialogue. Btw since I can't rename the Lucario, I'm just going to refer to her as Gelica. It's a female Lucario and honestly kind of looks like Gelica. (It was at this moment Kenneth knew he effed up) (Kenneth, run to the ship buddy before it's too late) (Hey she has a unique sprite as well. That probably means she's a recurring character) (This one might need some explanation but we'll save that in a minute) (......I would like to test this notion) (And anyone who played Rejuv knows that's probably not true...then again, that's kind of true for a lot of people) I'm not sure on the average of people who keep ties to their families but I think it's actually going up. That's a long mess of a discussion so we're not going to get too into it. I hope he at least called or sent letters once in a while. (Biggest lie most protagonist make) (That's too hard of a name to remember so we'll just call him Dean...or Dega. I like Dega better) (I'm not sure what language mijo is for. It might be Spanish as if I remember right hijo is brother so I think it means son. Someone feel free to correct my likely horribly wrong assumption.) (...Why do I have a feeling he's in for a spanking?) (If I see that one more time, his name will be changed to Kenino) (Is that a sarcastic "enough already" good-bye or a "I'm gonna miss you" good-bye? It's so hard to tell) (FREE STUFF! That's the best. Grandpa is the best character confirmed) (5 poke it's a playlopunny magazine collection) (Aww, she's so sad) Oh boy, what a lot to digest for a 2 minute sequence. First thing I missed which is such a nice detail is that the mother had tears in her eyes before covering her face. I'm not going to say this is a masterpiece, but this right here is exactly how to do a scene correctly and why I hate silent protagonists. This scene could've worked with a silent protag, but it wouldn't have been as effective and hold less substance. Now let's talk about the mother and why it's the best part about this. We aren't told why he didn't tell his mother but we understand why. It's either because he was afraid she'd convince him to stay or that it'd break her heart which I'm going more on the later judging by the last pic. These are 2 dimensional characters as well, but they actually felt more alive then the main cast of Rejuvenation because we're not being drowned with explanations and just let the scene play itself out. Very little was explained but we still have a very good idea despite it not being said. Oh this is one small little criticism which is honestly very, very minor. There's events where scenes will play out where the top and bottom of the screen have black lines signifying a scene taking place. Sometimes it's there and sometimes it isn't or disappears after movement is done. I'd actually prefer if all scenes kept the black lines as it gives it that clip scene feel. I'm not sure if this is a change in the V10 version. And as for the menu, I'm not a big fan of the change. I preferred the simple design as it's way easier to customize, but it's not that big of an issue to me. I'm also experiencing a weird BGM glitch where the tracks become very staticy and out of sync in the overworld. It could be my new windows 10 computer or my "antivirus" system causing that issue. No idea if anyone else experienced this yet or not. (I've spent most of my life working as a detective...wait, wrong game) I kind of would have liked to see no ... and his full name. Not a big issue but just tastes. (Who are totally not into each other or something) (One of which is an ass. I won't say which though) (And now I must tell you my dark and edgy backstory like any good protagonist would) (He was the perfect dad like any protagonist's dad who isn't evil is) (Because I want to be awesome just like my totally way too perfect dad) (And that was back when I thought heads were designed to smash through walls. Ah, those were the good times) (Like beating up children for their money, enslaving a fox man thing to obey my every command, and wear sunglasses because have you seen the sun in Sevii. Also 'cause sunglasses are cool) (Basically, I did everything my older brother was too lazy to do as no chore was worth a woman's wrath) (Even though I'm being controlled and voice by the coolest, most talented trainer in the world....Morgan Freeman) (Which we will represent by using the Sinnoh Mt Cornet backdrop with a different color scheme...no wait we're not doing that. This is original and creative content) (Mostly because my grandpa wouldn't shut up about it) (He also believe he served in their military fighting off some weird black guys who could fly. He has...issues. And besides, who'd be dumb enough to believe people can fly. Next you'll tell me people have teleportation powers) (Because edgy protagonists can only have dark and depressing dreams. One time, I dream where this creepy red haired scientist had a crush on me. Even crazier is that I had an Afro. Ponytailed life is the only life for me) (Because dark edgy protagonists get triggered like that. Something about foreshadowing or whatever. Look, I'm just trying to be cool.) (What is this? Persona 3?) (Men can cry, okay. And I'm not crying...thinking about this. Leave me alone. Mommy, I need you to tell the judging people to leave me alone) (That's probably because he's salty I whoop his butt in video games. I got that hand-eye coordination) (It's all because life's meaningless and then we die. And the fact that my Lucario dies to wild Delibirds in that cave) (Because being an adult makes you mature...even though I feel no difference other than a sudden fear of becoming fat) (I could've said 14 years, but a decade sounds more edgy) (Mr. Blakeory sounds like a wonderful man who has a wonderful daughter who I'm sure some foreign guy who lived in Reborn will have a wonderful time with in the future) (And this totally didn't sound like a shady business plan that'd probably trick people into becoming slaves because that's never happened in history before) (And it totally doesn't sound cliche or something like an obvious evil villain plan...nope it looks legit) (But it doesn't matter since it's for a good cause) (Mostly because it was something other than Professor Oak's voice. You aren't my dad so you can't tell me I can't use something) (I also basically was in the same position as a broke college kid so...it was a win-win situation) (Also because I got denied from Kanto University. Something about not being a competent battler. Those Kantians suck) (I also took a moment of pause to sound more dramatic despite everyone knowing what I was about to say) (Suddenly, my heart is lifted due to all the darkness being lifted. It feels as though I may be destined for a great time here) (Though I'll only help if there's a reward for compensation. Can't do heroic deeds for free? I gotta eat, sleep, and buy potions) (This excitement is crushing the dark essence that is my soul) (Gelica is looking straight into my soul and sees...nothing.) (So rough that it made a night in prison look like a beach episode) (I'm a broke "not college" kid. My stuff consists of ramen noodles and a book Edgar Allen Poe wrote) (I said in a timid voice, but in reality I was trying not to laugh at the squeaky voice of the captain) (And before I stepped off, I remembered I forgot my grandpa's magazines) (They were much too important to be forgotten so I began searching for them) But first let's take a look at Gelica (You know, this shiny sprite has grown on me...) And for those who don't know this is the character I named her after: Now all we need is a motorcycle and they could be best buds. (And...this looks a little too familiar) (Way too familiar) I'm not sure if Jan got the idea from me or not, but I actually did make scripts to silently add Pokemon in and showed how to define all the attributes. I'm not sure if gender is locked, but I believe everything else is. The tabs need a little bit of updating, but it's no biggie tbh. And since this probably will be a guide to some people I'll just give you a run down of Lucario. Lucario is a mixed glass cannon. It has great stats, great typing, great speed with its only downside being its flimsy. At these low levels you won't be able to tell though. It's basically your only Pokemon for chapter 1 as well. As for move recommendations, I recommend keeping its base set until Swords Dance in which you can replace Detect with. Power-up Punch is a good move, but Lucario is a wee bit too frail to make good use of it and Poison Jab Detect can stall damage. (One of these things is different from everything else) I decided to kick up the challenge a little bit in which I'll restrict myself to set mode with no items. I know people in my normal run probably are a bit upset since I don't really showcase much or interesting strats all the time, but here we're going to make things interesting. I'm not really that good at Pokemon, but I'm pretty knowledgeable with standard RPG tricks so this shall be fun. (Dammit let me finish talking and explain this stuff) Okay we'll get out magazines now. (Maybe the captain's name is Kenneth as well) (I'm starting to think this is me being personified into a game...though he lacks the innuendos) (Mom, the people are still judging me) (Note where the egg went) So if you're like me, you probably thought you could walk around to hatch the egg...well no. It's a key item so it doesn't work that way. (Which means a Ditto somewhere got very lucky on that day) (Whatever happened to that Red fellow thinking on that topic) (So it's a pokemon that's in Kanto that can only be found on that island...hmmm...I know what it is) It's... (Finally we're about to see something interesting) And to that I respond with... (Yep, we're ending it here) Normally, I don't make episodes this short but this is a good stopping point and I got a bunch of stuff to do so...I'd rather get this out now. See you guys sometime next week...hopefully. And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe

Commander's inner conscious: Isn't there something you should focus on trying to get done? Me: Nope (Fans begin to riot in the distance) Chapter 33: Pokemon Rejuv but everytime Aelita talks, her dialogue is replaced with dog noises (Oh look, we finally get to play as a different character. This sounds fun) (Oh my god, that brings back The Longest Journey memories) There's a part of the game where you order cops on and off duty and it's really fun. It's a fun little game that I kind of wish got a remake or a port since it was made in the 90s. Surprisingly good voice acting as well. (M[el]ia Drew is on the case) I always wonder how many people pick up on my more obscure references. (We already went over this. No there isn't.) (........Slams head into desk) It's not the scene. The barrier is literally forgotten about after this exact moment. (Oh look, I'm now an edgy teenage girl) I know how character changing works inside out after my experience so I'm sure the Maria thing had a sprite of Maria when looking at the menu. I forgot to show it though. Obviously we can't look at the pokemon but they are still my Pokemon as well. This is merely a skin change as it's still me. And that's all we have on "Commander Ruins the Magic Show". I honestly probably could explain how a vast majority of eventing works by merely looking at it if you guys are really interested to see how it's done, but there is actually one I cannot figure out. The Magma/Aqua Job hunt from Reborn still has me puzzled to this date on a couple things. Alas we have hit the train of topics of not which we must briskly depart. (Hello worthless books that hold no significance) There's very little to explore here. On the left side there's the Zorua and Pangoro tale, but I cannot recall there be anything too interesting. This was a missed opportunity for a dirty magazine joke. Oldie but a goldie. (Oh I actually screencapped it) If you didn't connect the dots yet, it's pretty obvious who this is or at least somebody you know. (Children's tales often hold the most important information) That reminds me of something. You've probably heard Legend of Heroes Trails games or at least heard me say it a bunch of times, have a pic of best girl in the series, and waiting patiently for them to announce CSIII at E3. Anyways, there's actually a quest where you collect a bunch of books for a super weapon. More importantly though, these books vary quite a bit and actually have a full story. Carnelia is a tale of a badass nun delivering an artifact to a church based on a guy's perspective. It's actually a true story and relates to a character in the Cold Steel series. There's some truth to all of them...but I really need to reread the Doll Knight books to see what that was about. Most people's favorite is Gambler Jack, but I really liked Doll Knight. Point is that a children's story can do quite a bit for a game and really is a cool little pastime. (...What's the point of the Castle having secrets if the book is easy to find that spoils them) (Spoiler Alert: It really doesn't) (And...here we go) (The designers screwed up so they had to do patch work to make it functional. I'm starting to think Blacksteeple is a representation of the entire game) And...boring dialogue about this being suspicious and oddly so easy to find. No creepy Neved popping out from behind to stalk Emma either. Though I'm afraid to ask why Neved installed a hidden dungeon in this...Neved is a sexual predator. That would explain so much. (My inner edge is telling me to cut stuff so I did) Oh joy my two favorite characters in the same room. All we need is Madelis and we'd have the hole crew of everybody I hate. Of course there's no chance we'd meet her out here in the middle of nowhere on a freezing cold island. (Edgy Mcedge with a side of tragic backstory at your service) (How to be a good character?) Okay, I've beaten that joke to death at this point. I'm sure somebody somewhere is going "man, all this Commander guy does now is rant about the same old material. I'm getting outta here and watching me watch some Poke Tuber instead." I agree so for the remainder of this chapter, I ban myself from ranting and saying negative things about any characters or plot points. I was I liked wine because I feel like it and we haven't even started. (One worded questions which no significance. My favorite) (Very good Emma. You used your above average IQ for an NPC's deduction to figure out by listening and repeating what the other person just said to confirm and make the player all the more aware that she does not know what is being asked. Gold Star for you.) (By power of reason and logic, Aelita surely wouldn't answer and give information to a questionable character who she doesn't know and totally looks and seems very suspicious) (It's okay, Aelita. Not everyone can do the right or correct thing) (And since Aelita is such an honest character, Team Xen totally is unfairly punishing her and not suspecting that she's lying or anything. Team Xen is so bad and unfair they should be stopped. They hurt people and hurting is bad) (Ah yes, it is very hard to miss the signs that Keta gave off very clearly that things were not going very well for him and something was really bothering him for a long while before even I met him) (Neved was only trying to receive the answer he believed was right. Neved did nothing wrong) (Ah yes, Emma now is displaying empathy at the proper time. Such emotions shown so well is much improvement compared to earlier scenes) (Now, now, Emma only wanted to show me that you were okay. I am thankful knowing my comrade who has lead me into dangerous and near death experiences whom I only have known for a day is safe so our friendship can blossom deeper) (Here's a random note: why is it called a dungeon if there's no dung in it) My joy for this seen seems to have taken quite an excessive tool and since I need a minute's rest, I shall skip the last two pics of this scene even though they are great and fulfilling dialogue of great importance on the sexuality side this Emma is on before cutting out to our favorite protagonist: (Crack-pai is nice, but not as Wall Senpai) And if you were thinking that this positive attitude would cease once I reached the end of the scene due to tiredness or fatigue, you would be wrong. I am now fully committed to giving you the most joyful positive experience of the greatest part of the game as I can. It's because we all love the joys of long cutscenes with great and engaging dialogue and not actions and gameplay where we beat poor, cute and innocent creatures to near death. We are a kind, loving species who like making each other feel good. (Oh Valarie, you are my favorite fan-game water gym leader who hasn't tried to kill me) While Valarie is an engaging and fleshed out character, it seems I would prefer a certain famous other water gym leader over her, but only a little big increment. (Ah yes, she showed me that fire type who likes sticks) (Ah yes the intelligent decision to disappear once more when we are not already very suspicious. Smart move.) (An escaping of this place would be the most of pleasures) (It seems I have a feeling of grasping something else at the moment...out of joy for action) (Ah flowers, what a wonderful representation of who I truly am) (It should be a could exercise to embrace the wonders of flowers. They are beautiful but illogical in this place like myself) And now I shall greet and old friend of mine: (Ah Turret, you're my favorite character in this place.) (I believe that is a book to handle not so friendly gentlemen in the proper way) (Silly Braxien, books are light, but highly effective weapons so they can't be heavy) (I'm sure that is going to be an interesting and deep character just like all of the female cast is) (Don't throw the books out yet. Books are wonderful sources of information and so helpful...just like Wall Senpai) (But our productivity increased from nonexistant the moment I reached this map and activated the sequence of events we see) (I believe this shed is the same temperature as my sleeping quarters. It's a nice temp that I could sleep in it forever never needing to wake up) (She put as much consideration as I did for this 20 slide powerpoint over a topic I've done 3 essays on which was only worth about 5 points) (Very good Valerie you won a logic for your sharpness) (This is a great use of repeating obvious information we already know because the player forgets so much according to the developers) I am having a wonderful time right now and am happy as can be in this great well thought out system. I have no regrets for my stupidity intelligent decision as I learned that my kindness is as deep as Madelis's character. Now if you excuse me, I need a moment with my pillow...a long moment to tell it my true feelings for this game because I cannot contain such joys. (And as you can see, Valerie is into grabbing people's balls to release their contents) (Because violence solves everything) (I would be worried as well, but I believe in you, Misty) (Because Pokemon are unintelligent creatures made for obedience and slave trade, they totally wouldn't start a revolt being free from such shackles. We'll be fine) ("Le gasp...Pokemon eating Pokemon. What is this conspiracy?" said Commander as he bit into his Karp Fillet) (Sounds like something I'd do. I am a gambler after all. I also play poker so long as I'm the dealer). (I believe it's best left up to the imagination to picture what she is doing right now) (She's a strong independent woman who needs no mech. She'll be fine) Oh, I do have a little bit of a random thing to talk about that isn't run related. There's a bunch of leaks and talk going around about Generation VIII. The leaks are kind of wishy washy, but more credible than what it usually expected from them as the second big leaker talk is more credible than the first one. Pokemon has been atrocious with a lot of leaking activity lately but the translator leaking has said he doesn't get many of the script information as his role is purely translation but he had no signals yet or indications of a lot of these new things the original leaker mentioned. A lot of little things about the game are being confirmed and we'll likely get a trailer for E3 which is likely what they're pushing for. The one thing I want to make clear is that Pokemon is not making an MMO. There is no evidence at all supporting this or even to dive into that system. The leaker who stated that got a lot of his information early on and it mostly is just very reasonable obvious logic Pokemon would be one of the first to have a chance to develop and create on the switch. It sounds as if they are making an entirely new battle mechanic to add onto the game which is centered around an ATB system, but information implies that we may still have the classic Pokemon mechanic as a primary system still at hand. I do think the online system will be bigger and better as USUM seemed like a prototype concept for something which would be a good tie in for this crazy dimension stuff. The reason I think this is because Game Freak has been advancing and re-enhancing the formula for who knows how long and they added even more depth and gimmicks to it as well. Why would they nearly perfect the engine if they planned to replace it shortly after? This is a very simple easy to learn system and basic so it really confuses me why they would "dumb down" and simplify it for real time combat. Mentioning an ATB (Active Time Bar) would've made more sense imo if they were going to completely shake up the formula because it's close to the original design while shaking it up for interest. There's validity, but seriously, take everything with a grain of salt. I'm almost positive it'll have a big focus on online as it sound similar to the FE Fates situation and there's a lot of evidence to support that. And that's my rant but it's not about Rejuv so it doesn't count. You see this talk pop up, you can quote me right and use this as a response. Your welcome for saving you time. Now back to relevancy where I murder myself with kindness. (This is high quality dialogue and scenario writing for Rejuv's standards) (Oh how delighted I am to screencap this mature and engaging dialogue) (Yeah, teenage rebellion. Nobody ever has gotten hurt trying that) (Oh look, a guard who is actually doing his job for once) (...........................................................................SAKI'S JAPANESE!?!?!?!?!?!) Does that mean I'm Japanese? What is this Japan you speak of? (This is quite a different take on the saying "Smack that ass") (....Something tells me that was not a wise decision) (Either this was some brilliant plan or a really faulty one...I'm going with brilliant) (Fun fact: all right is the proper English way to say alright) (It kind of looks like Snoop Dog's hou...haven't I used that joke already?) (Remember to be friendly to the environment and not to hurt trees. Because without trees, we'd all be dead) (There a many things I want to say right now, but I am under oath.) (Thank you for stating factual information that the player could not understand without proper explanation) This is not a rant or anything negative so it doesn't count, but one thing I feel happens in a lot of games, not Rejuv of course, is that they decide to bog down on explanations to give players understanding. Sometimes it is actually better and more effective to not explain something and have players wonder about it instead. Take Xenoblade for example. The Mechon are never really explained but when you analyze and study them, you can get quite a bit of information and start to figure out how they move and function and even what they are. It's really a fascinating subject to look into and study. (Rejuv is a good game and everyone should play it) (That is a very convenient cave which conveniently is needed to progress the plot because conveniences are what make a game great) (Wondering into mysterious caves on a prison is a great idea) (We could use the nonexistent jump mechanics) (Because climbing is too logical and we need an easy map design for a solution...which is good game design) (We now introduce real time mechanics) (Hooray, now we can progress the plot) You know, I do question why the stairs weren't just built in the first place. There's a house there and a cave entrance so the trees could simply have just been hiding it. Just saying. This is still positive stuff. Nope, no negatives whatsoever. (Yes, yes it did. I just love the cast of this place soooo much) (Thank you for your great observations which you can see so well by not looking that direction) (Apparently friends talk to each other by facing away. The more you know) (Free stuff. My favorite thing to collect in my nonexistent backpack) (The way this scene is put up it reminds of those cliche movies where the guy and girl make out before being chased by a scary person or creature) (This totally doesn't imply that I'll need it later...totally not) (Why did I have to obtain this....don't ask questions just positive things. This is a good segment which is fun and enjoyable...very good fun...fun) (Probably only sells potions and poke balls) (I'm starting to think Snoop Dogg is Madame X) (Y'all think I'm crazy but the proof is right in front of you) (Finally, I feel like something exciting is about to happen) (Aha, we are on a stealth mission. How exciting. Everyone loves stealth missions in RPGs) (Should I be worried that Team Xen runs on simple programming?) (And now I'm having vibes of that one anime...Railgun something. It's got a bunch of clones in it) (I'm crying tears of joy how fantastic this dialogue is) (Oh my. Madelis said something I can agree with for once) (Now, now be nice Madelis. Even if it's true it's not a nice thing to say) I honestly was doing really good and fine until this part. I am not mentally prepared to handle this level of high quality dialogue. And you know how I love Team Xen so much and they are all the best characters ever. I would never say anything bad about them. (That was kind of random, but it skipped a long string of point...ful dialogue so let's keep doing random) (Did Neved sleep in the closet or something before this?) (Now I shall turn my head so that the totally cleverly people can hear my evil plans) (I would actually like an explanation of why that place was very important as Shadow Pokemon are super relevant in this plot and totally not shoehorned in) You know what, screw this positivity. I'm just slamming my head and torturing myself because they trying to fix a faulty hardware issue with coding which makes no sense. The only reason coding would be needed would be to reprogram a system that was replaced which it probably wasn't. The is fault in the cooling system or the machine is being overworked. I'm starting to think this place was built by monkeys. And my god could we please not have characters turn away all the time. When characters are static it's very hard to justify them looking away. Okay, I'm good, but oh hell no am I ever doing the no negativity thing again. I have to do something to keep my sanity in a run. (I don't even get this room thing. I probably wouldn't have even added it in) I think a better line would've just been her complaining about being stuck on this god forsaken island. Because it is just pure torture. (I'm starting to think Madelis is new at this) (I want you to remember this. It's a contradiction as you'll find out later) >>>They are admins as well. Remember that. (What is she going to try and slice us into pieces with a sword like some cliche RPG or something. Hah swords in Pokemon would be so stupid) (..............................................I may have spoke too soon) (Okay, I really need to say something right now) I was going to wait until later but as you can honestly see...there's really no point in having both Madelis and Nastasia as both have bland personalities and both really could easily fill the others role. It's frustrating as I'm looking at Madelis and she honestly had the potential to easily be one of the best anti-heroes in the game. Even if she is one later, she'd still be a rather poor character as this stuff, everything happening now is so critical in a plot. I said that already but the cool thing about a pivotal moment is that it can turn boring scenes into really good ones on future playthroughs. It's a term I usually refer to as double writing which simply means a scene is meant to be seen in two different ways which is actually hard to pull off well. I'm not really asking for advanced writing levels here and actually saying to focus on the basics. There's actually something I said before which I kind of have to take back. I once said story is the least important part of the game. I'm kind of in an odd stance and have to go with "it depends." So many narratives I've seen save what would have been bad games and ended series before they even could continue. I play games for the storylines usually and a cool gameplay mechanic is generally a nice plus. You could point out other mediums which would be better for a story, but video games are like a mix of a visual novel and a movie on how they present the story. People are engaging in movements and actions, but you have more control over it. It's kind of why Pokemon turns me off in general. Anyways, story really needs to have a few simple things to be successful or enough to avoid complaints: a good foundation/transition into the world, memorable moments, and a focus is a great start. I'm going to start with the foundation by saying things you really should never do. Don't start with a dream sequence, flashback, or show a scene further on into the story. I've only seen this work well or effective very, very few times because of what it does. Flashback is the iffy one which is not to be mistaken as a flash forward to the current plot. Basically these are merely concepts to try and introduce you to the world and give a very important event that greatly affects the plot or the main character. Seriously, don't do this as it pretty much just leaves players confused and dampens the buildup to an event later. In other words, it does more harm than good. So a foundation or transition is basically giving the building blocks of what the player needs to know to enjoy the game. This is a hard question to answer as there's no right answer as it grinds down to the plot. The wrong way to do it is to jam a lot of information and expect players to know or remember it a few hours later after not touching it. Rejuv's is not good, not bad, but just okay and it works. A lot of Golden era JRPGs are a good example of this done right if you're curious and want to study up on it. Now we get into memorable moments. 60% of a games plot is stuff that you do not care about or is always particularly interesting. You never really here people talk about people's time walking on the world map, their visits to town with their NPC dialogue, or miscellaneous messages. Sometimes there's even plot points you straight up forget until someone says something about them. Anyone remember that Sewer Boss in Chrono Trigger? There's a lot that goes on in a single scene which you'll have certain ones where you'll go: how do I make this memorable? It's everything. The things I post in this run are just pictures and that's a terrible representation of story. Graphics may appeal to the eye, but that only does so much. Characters are merely pixels until they are built up and fleshed out so players can understand them or even grow found of them. Movement gives depth to what is going on and makes it easier to understand. Dialogue often is a reflection of the character's thoughts, but sometimes no worlds need to be spoken. And music cements the emotional impact. The mistake here is neglecting that 60% and putting your focus specifically on these moments when the moment itself is the least important bit. Substance is so important and it's why scenes that speak no words of have no dialogue can be impactful. Rejuv has these even if they are wishy washy at times. The biggest issue I have with Rejuv's story is the lack of a focus. And yes, I am very unfocused and rambly, but we aren't talking about that kind of focus. The focus I'm talking about has to do with plot progression and what the protagonist strives for as a goal. Basically it's a "why the hell am I going to these places?" type of ordeal. You're already shooting yourself in the foot with the league system as that's your cliche focus. The bigger issue is that the path traveling has so little connection to each other it's almost laughable and requires a lot of backtracking. 80% of the plot is pure coincidence which I hate to beat around the bush is bad writing. Well I can say that percent is true up through the first have of the V6 segments. There's random elements in the game that are often forgotten about or pushed to the side such as Shadow Pokemon and the Garufa when they should be complementing it. I rant on the plot A LOT if you couldn't tell because I'm someone who really likes to talk about plot. I also get that even the greatest games sometimes fall flat once, twice, and even 20 times. I've also played games with worse overall plots than Rejuv. Fire Emblem Fates is a good example. Where would I even start on that one? Anyways, we all know this section has been really boring and there's like nothing to even give humor on. So anyone who's still with me here, thank you for helping me through my suffering. Also fun fact, I forgot we've been to prison twice before this. Jan has a strange fetish for dungeons. Just like having a main hero cast full of girls (She does. It's called her ass) (look at that fabulous monitor background tileset and how it perfectly meshes with the cave walls) (THANK YOU! No backstory moment for once) My chair needed a break anyways. (Evidence that the most intelligent character in this game is Wall Senpai) I know y'all be hating that a brick wall is my soon to be wife, but I don't care. I know how everyone digs dem big chests and booties, but I ain't into that. I'm all about the character and Wall Senpai delivers there. They are a kind, caring, and the only goddamn thing willing to listen and acknowledge me by facing the same direction I am. They are also wise beyond their years. People think I am crazy, but I'm not crazy. You are the crazy one. You can't see things the way I do. Prison has taught me so many things. So many. And I've met so many wonderful men....I'M A KANGAROO! (This game in a nutshell) (Does anybody actually do that in the game?) (Is that actually the correct spelling of mustn't?) (Told you, anti-hero material) (Love how this is supposed to be super mysterious but really obvious) I mean seriously, why didn't this set off red flags that "Nancy", a canon character, is our supposed mother. It wouldn't surprise me if the player was some kind of clone as well...you have no idea how many times I've seen that in a game. (...Yeah...Team Xen really isn' that smart) (If there wasn't a name before it, I would have zero idea who's talking since they all sound the same) (...That's not Snoop Dogg) If Snoop Dogg really was a part of Team Xen, I'd freaking love it at this point. I'm pretty sure I stopped taking this game too seriously somewhere in the middle of the Keta segment and just trying to find good laughs. Sure I rant, but uhh...this game tests your endurance. I'm sure I'd do similar stuff to Reborn, but I've probably read much of the dialogue way more times than Rejuv's. Man, I really need to start finding new material. There was a game that came out a couple days ago uhh...The Alliance Alive. Man, I really am considering trying out the demo as it seems interesting. (Forshadology much?) >>>Term actually comes from an LP I read of the game that actually is absolutely hilarious and worth reading if you're bored I learned that term from Xenogears. \o/. Never play that game unless you want to go through every emotion in the human body. I salute anyone who does a runthrough of Xenogears because they know not the beast they came upon. Definitely on par with Xenoblade despite coming out about 10 years before it. Damn, I'm getting so bored I'm talking about other games. You know what, I don't care anymore. We all know what's coming anyways as it's pretty hard to avoid the topic and that topic is going to be "fun" to cover. (Can't let you do that, Xen Delis...that sounded cooler in my head) (Btw, are we on Day 2 or Day 3. I'm pretty sure we're on Day 3...maybe we're in DBZ time) (That stands for getting shit done after spending 5 chapters of utterly pointless dialogue) (I'd like to fiddle with Madelis's machine...if you know what....when this place makes you like Madelis more you know it's bad) (Hello daughter, how is your day?) (If you knock her out and mug her, I didn't see anything) (Why is Braxien facing...) >>>Checking out dose hips Okay, is anyone else bothered by the character orientations besides me here? Because holy smokes I didn't realize how bad it was. Something tells me the devs don't like this place either and rushed it a bit when revamping it. (And the stupidest thing you could do is turn your back on the enemy) (Sure...and I'm a holy saint who praises rejuv for it's emotional and engaging story) (I mean given I'm probably older and have gray hair...yes, yes she would be my mother) (Wait a minute if this is part of the castle...how big is this place?) (Yeah, another boring conversation shortened) I'm not really angry right now...just REALLY tired of this place. We still have 600 screencaps to go. Hooray! (Sigh...sure, whatevs) (I'm pretty sure they are better at distracting themselves than you are at it) (Who cares? She's obviously part of this evil team or at least a valuable tool so...they won't kill her...yet) Gaming Cliche: A close loved one to the protag is often killed off either at the start of the game or when you are reunited with them so that you have some hatred towards the evil group. Commander's Gamer Fact: Only half of gamers' favorite villains actually outright kill someone important >>>Next time on Game Busters (Bye daughter who calls me her son) (What is she even?) Okay we're going to skip a lot of dialogue because you get the idea. All they do is talk about planning since the news of the sinking ship means that the captain is here and a good idea would be to find him to drive us out of here by boat. They then look at the terminal and they see it's to the Poke ball block thingy...Yes, I just skipped 15 pics of dialogue. You're welcome. (Why is a Fennekin more tech savy than an entire group of terrorists...I really have to stop asking questions) (Didn't we already just hear...) Alright, somebody is going to die today. I have heard too much repeated dialogue that I need to kill someone. I vote @Azeria to be the victim since it would be minimal loss of value for the community. RIP. You may or may not be missed. This is like Golden Sun Dark Dawn all over again. I don't think that game is bad...but mother of god when they all just keep repeating each other near the end and adding comments for every scene. (Oh joy my computer skills are about to lose it again) (I...must resist) (Pokemon Rejuv...trust nobody) (Yes, yes it is) There are only two people we know who are capable of performing such actions. Saki who honestly would nail it being the evil character of the group (though that'd make her discount Terra) and a certain other character who I dare not mention the name who is dead and likely will never show up again. Let's say that it's Saki's doing. (makes all the girls I met jealous) (Let it go off to end my suffering) (You know what's funny, I legit forgot all about this) (Basically this is a master control) Just an FYI, this whole segment makes absolutely no sense and it's some of the worst writing you will ever see in anything. It's one of those "what was the writer smoking when they came up with this" because while I know a few things about tech, the chances of this actually happening or being logical. Let's start off with the programming. If it reached a certain head, it would melt and fry components until it could no longer function. At worst a component would explode and catch fire but it'd be so little it wouldn't matter. Secondly, most of the wiring you see here would normally be underground to avoid exposure and wear from people stepping on it. Not as extreme as the explosion situation. >>>When I say worst I mean logical sense and not awful. This is something that's supposed to make sense but doesn't which...probably was just trying to raise tension. (Or you could, I don't know, break the CPU running the thing) (She's the reincarnation of another character I so love) (Still doesn't give a clear understanding of her age but probably Venam's so...2) (Okay let me just show you how geek knowledge works) You see this right here, it's supposed to represent a terminal or engine similar to the Frankenstein movie. Those devices on the left and right are what are supplying this power. You could easily break both of them with the Pokemon we have and solved the whole problem we're having. A system without power is a system that doesn't work. (Can we just call them the Snoop Doggs...please?) (Taking out the Snoop Doggs probably isn't the wisest move) So the thing about breaking or cutting the Snoop Doggs is that it's very easy to reconnect the wires inside of Snoop Dogg back together. The Snoop Dogg is merely there as a layer of protection. Also we're going to call these boxes wrappers. (Okay I cut some stuff so Imma need to explain) When the main module or M&M is disconnected from the Snoop Dogg the wrappers will kick in an generate enough power through Snoop Dogg so that this hood will keep working like it should. So even if you cut M&M you need to cut all the other wrappers otherwise Snoop Dogg will be a problem. Valerie suggested we take hit these wrappers with some hot beats from Braxien, but if we make it any hotter in hear we might raise the roof before getting burned by M&M. So Braxien said we should talk to Saki to figure out how to approach this in a cool new way to chill these wrappers out. Trust me, that was more interesting than what the real thing was and a lot less scrolling to go through. (Yes, it was M&M all along) (And the greatest asspull in the game is coming up in...) (Ah yes the most logical part of this segment) (Because that's a smart thing to do) (This is quality writing right here folks. High quality) (Thanks for being super specific because it's SO hard to find) 10 seconds later... (Man, you were so difficult to find. You have no idea how long it took) (It's official. It's a custom tradition in Aevium to drop your baby on the head the moment it was born) >>>That was kind of harsh...doesn't mean it's untrue (Why would any guard give you...considering they give people pick axes to carry around, I shouldn't really ask. How have these people not escaped yet?) (Finally! I've been meaning to get into a fight with that tourist guy) (I just love how gullible these guards are) (Why would...this guy is kind of smart, kind of not) 12 seconds later... (Because you people are blind) (And the cop is being a dumbass again. I think that dish did a number on him) (You've come to wrong town, fuzzball) (Oh boy finally some action sequence) ....Which we will be doing probably sometime next week. And time for news thingy about Redux. I know I kid about it earlier but I'm putting that project on hold...probably for a long while. I just don't want people to pop here or send my DMs why I'm making new chapters of this run while the mod is silent. I can make time for this since it's only like 2 to 6 hours a week a chapter. Redux I need 20 hours a week to make progress and quite frankly, I don't have the time to do that anymore. So chapters of the run will pop up more constantly, but I don't know if or when Redux progress will be made. Also sorry if I feel grouchy or being way beyond my normal critical and bashing of this segment. We've finally passed the worst of it though and can finally talk about more interesting stuff in the next 2-3 chapters before finally ending this place. There's A LOT to talk about in those sections.

Actually get to work on writing some of those book ideas I have

I really doubt this leak stuff about a real time Pokemon RPG is honestly real. You know what happened to the last super successful franchise that did that? Well, let's just say Final Fantasy went from the king of RPGs to just average with a lot of companies slowly building up to overshadow them down the line if they aren't careful. We also a great majority of franchises do keep a basic system engine for their main games and create a few changes to make it interesting. Pokemon followed this same formula for over 25 years. I don't know why people are expecting a great change now considering the franchises's success relies on it. And as for those "real time leaks" we've been seeing those for I think it's 10 years now. Won't believe it until Nintendo makes an official announcement due to that. Now let's be theoretical and say that this does happen. Given how recent Pokemon Games have been designed with a minimal effort on main campaign for maximum profit everywhere else (and an emphasis on visuals) this game would flop. Millions of people would not want a game like they suggested unless it was developed by an expert design team such as Monolith Soft or Platinum. Basically you cut a 10+ million audience to a 2-3 million audience because I do not see this game working well (even the shift to ATB with FF was a jarring shift for me, but a good shift once I played with it enough). It's not a good business move when you are on top and still very strong. They'd quickly have to create a hybrid system to try and win people back and get back to where they once were if not outright go back to the old system. You don't see Pokemon Rumble being talked about all that much which would be a theoretical base of this talk of making a game like that. Now let's talk purely on Gen VIII. I don't particularly care all that much as I'm hopping off the Pokemon Train once Reborn is done and finished. It is still possible people could create a Gen VIII pack, but it grinds down to the resources and people interested we have left. There are plenty of people talented enough to create a pack but it's the effort required to do so that will be the bigger question. Sprites would need to be created, the scripts need to be edited including additional AI testing and changes, and even new animations otherwise they'd feel jarring given the other 7 gens have them already. However this does connect to Reborn... I'm not so sure Ame would be on board with adding another Generation on top of Gen VII given how much additional time that Gen added and changes that were made due to it. Reborn is not some game that's a long ways away from being completed, but Gen VIII may or may not come out by that time. It's really, really early for a new generation game as most come out 3-4 years after the previous one is released. There's a lot going on in the background of this community that I cannot really say how Gen VIII will pan out around here. We'll just have to wait for actual details before being able to have a good answer.

Oh boy I see a debate has been brought up which I'm really surprised Jan went in and answered. I'm not going to ping either of you Fiasom or Jan because my thoughts are very limited due to not reaching that area, but this is an interesting scenario so I'll jump in and throw a little bit of my thoughts on the matter, but remember I only have a vague idea of what was going on and haven't experienced it. Huh, positive stuff...uhhh....I made a goddamn post so this should be easy. Does Keta's poofy head count because goddamn I love looking at that. Is it an afro tho? I also for some reason always think its fluffy and nice to sleep on. And before you ask, we already established I'm weird a long time ago.

I don't think struggle can crit though

I didn't think I'd ever see a worse design and idea choice to top E8 version of Serra. Judging from what people are saying, I guess it now only has one move instead of a full 4 and simply spams decimation...which uhhh....I'm so glad I beat Madame X in V9 because that would've made for a boring fight. I'm guessing Protect doesn't work, but I'm pretty sure Fake Out Does for chip damage. I was gonna suggest Leech Seed Snover, but I supposed Heat Wave is gone preventing that option.

Before I begin off I want to clear some things up and out of the way beforehand. I am a firm believer that you have to play a game from beginning to end in order to give it a proper review, however, I do also believe it is completely fair to review a game at least 20-30 hours into it as a player generally has a firm idea how much they are enjoying it and the problems and issues that arise. The best way to put it: you can't say a game is bad only playing halfway through it, however, you can say it is unenjoyable and you don't recommend it. Do not take that as a subtle jab or anything as I want to be fair and professional here unlike in my run where I let my mind just go wild. I'll also just mention the scoring system now because most people just read that and believe nothing else matters. I like scoring systems as it lets you gauge how this game compares to other games in a quick glance. Rejuv is an odd game where comparing it to a majority of fan created content is kind of disgracing all the hard work and effort into it. That's why I'd judge it as a low budget game giving it a 5/10 from what I played (Version 9 through Blacksteeple) from how I review games. From my own experience though, I don't think Rejuv deserves that low of a score so I bumped it up to 6/10. For everyone about to throw angry comments at me, that's not a bad score from me. I've played games that I scored really low as games I absolutely love such as Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn which is probably a 7/10 from me. For me at least, a score like this simply means that a game has many faults which could turn a lot of people off, but if you are willing to overlook those faults it is worth checking out. I've actually had a hard time trying to think of the positive things in the game like I'm actually able to do for most games I've dived many hours into. The game is not bad at all and I really, really want to get into and praise it. I loved my experience with Reborn and would love to experience it all over again. Pokemon Rejuvenation does many similar elements and inclusions that I loved about Reborn which I kept asking myself, "Why don't I like it as much as Reborn?" There are three answers I came up with: my experience with Reborn dampened any other experience with similar "inferior" game, my interest in Pokemon is significantly weaker than it was, or my judgement has changed due to having more games I played under my belt. So I truly believed it was the first one that was most likely the answer and while it is part of the issue, it's far from being the full reason. I think this video really does explain my thought process and really is a great watch for any developer or anyone: It's a really, really long video so I'll highlight one point he made. When he went to a video game store such as Gamestop (I don't remember if he specified) he talked about all these higher quality games then the ones he played, however, he's not excited or really into them as in a sense, it's the same as it's always been and nothing new or engaging to him. His video then goes into a full discussion about how the game is not the most important part of the game, but the experience and feeling that's left in the player's mind. It's worth watching the whole thing if you're interested, but we're here to talk about Rejuv and how this ties into why I feel the way I do. I have almost no emotional attachment to this game. Many of the aspects of this game I experienced first with Pokemon Reborn so they don't leave as much impact as they could, but I've played games similar to one another and even similar systems to a predecessor, if not the same, and still felt something. Most of the attachment I have comes purely from the run I'm doing as honestly having the power to do almost anything and letting my mind go free is fun to me. It's actually kind of sad and embarrassing that when I think on this game in retrospect of what I've played, I've forgotten nearly everything even boss battles I fought the day before I'm writing it in the run. I do remember some things about the game, but I can't deny I have little attachment to this game. It's a truth I've been denying and I hate having to accept it. I doubt I'm alone on this aspect. If you one of the people angered, annoyed, or ticked by anything I said up until this point, this is your time to speak. I've bashed out this game to oblivion nitpicking and almost always pointing out the negatives. In a sense, I want you people to tell me why I'm wrong. You can't tell me there aren't people who love and adore this game and get excited for every bit of news. It's a very popular fan-game. I'm just really interested in seeing what the fans of this game see that I don't. It being your first game or not playing many games like or better than it is valid reasoning for your thoughts. Some of my first games I played I could write a short essay about my enjoyment including an old Mary Kate & Ashley game for the Game Boy Color. Yes, I did like that game. I really encourage sharing as it gives me a different perspective to look at and discuss stuff both here and in the Rejuv run. Heck, it could change my thoughts on stuff. I'm saying this all in a review because there's just so many untold thoughts and opinions and people who are silent because there's no good place to talk about your thoughts on the game. Believe me, you don't want to have no emotional attachment to a game. The only time I had that feeling was playing Sword Art Online Re: Hallow Fragment which I said "I can't believe I spent money on this" before closing the game after an hour and never touching it ever again. You honestly just feel not compelled to even think about and talk about or really into it. It's simply a hollow feeling where all you can think about is "Why can't I enjoy this game? Is it really that bad?" So that's why the remainder of this review (or actual review) will be me centering around this ideology talking about the positives and the negatives in groups. I'm also going to try to avoid skewing towards the pessimistic side or the minor details since I cover a majority of that in the run. I may change, add, and rewrite portions of this review when I reach further into the game as I am heavily analyzing it and could find things later in the game worth discussing. And forewarning, there will be spoilers. Overview Pokemon Rejuvenation in a simple sense is simply Pokemon with an actual plot or at least deeper than anything the developers of the actual series are willing to dive and get into. Game Freak has improved over the years, but that's a very long discussion best saved for if they ever aim to make a full engaging plot. It was heavily inspired by the main fan-game of this site, Pokemon Reborn and first started development a few years back. After a lot of feedback, this game actually drastically changed and improved upon many of it's faults. In fact, there are changes in the game I still haven't touched or even experienced due to the changing nature of this game. Maps have been redone and even new areas have risen in place of older ones. Story/Scenarios The story goes that you are a 10-year-old boy who might actually be 16 who was moving to Aevium on a ship with your mom, Nancy. If that name sounds familiar, it's actually an older version of the canon character from the Black and White 2 games. I believe that the player character, who is a silent protagonist, was from Unova supposedly. It's not really that important where there from. Suddenly the ship gets attacked and everyone is killed (or believed to be dead) from an evil terrorist group called Team Xen leaving you as the only survivor before it's capsized. Then you go to Jenner's lab where you meet Jenner acting a bit suspicious before getting your first Pokemon and him asking to find his daughter. After some miscellaneous events, you'll be attacked by Team Xen where you learn their goal is to capture Melia but she manages to escape their grasp only to die shortly after. You then infiltrate the Team Xen Shadow Pokemon Lab where your Snag Machine broke which the only way to fix it is to go to Akuwa Town and find a girl named Saki. After more roadblocks to this goal, you eventually reach the town only to find out it's abandoned and get captured by Team Xen and thrown into a castle-like prison. That is a very light and watered down version of the early segments of this story, but it's both good to give new readers a quick read on what the game is about and people who haven't played these segments a refresher. Now I do actually have one belief which I feel is true to a degree: there is no such thing as a bad story. What that means is simply that an event or scenario in a story isn't bad purely because of the idea it's based off of. The story overview of this game is not that bad and pretty simple: a boy is traveling through the region to become stronger to help people and search for his mom while doing his best to stop and evil organization. A simple storyline is great to work with and easy to always keep a big focus on. This is Rejuv's downfall as it often forgets its setup often leaving very choppy plot transitions. I know this is an RPG without a lot of resources and someone who probably is a novice meaning it's likely that they can only design a very linear RPG. This simply means that story will have one path and one solution to progress. That's no issue as most RPGs are designed and created with that in mind. The issue is behind the reasoning and execution. The first city of the game, Gearen City, actually does this decently and rather well...up until the boss fight in Goldenwood. It turned out Melia has the power to instantly teleport anyone with her to a place she's been before which she magically doesn't use until the moment where there was no possible way to escape from the bad guys. It's never used again after the first episode either. Then you meet another character who warps issue characters into the void simply because she can which saves your butt soon. My favorite one is the fact that you can't into town simply because the only possible way to break the fence and get through it is to find a girl two residential areas back. This game likes making you move back and forth...a lot. All of these plot (in)conveniences happen at least all the way up until the 8th gym as that's as far as I know when it comes to the story. I think my favorite to talk about is Ren and the fence as for some reason someone thought it was a good idea to design a route with a boss at the end to the next path, then force them to go all the way back to the first main area with really no significant reason. Ren's dialogue has improved as it's not as forceful, but there's an obvious answer to make this less jarring. I even said in the run I didn't understand why Ren couldn't simply say he got a message from Venam asking for help. The player knows they can't go forward so they may as well check it out. The obstacle from nowhere trope happens all the time so it's not so jarring for me. It's more of an annoyance than an issue but when it happens a lot (or in short amounts of time) it really irritates players when so many are so easy to fix. This is more of a gameplay issue than a story issue so I'll explain that one deeper later. Something I don't see get talked about really is the lore. There is an early civilization who I think founded and developed life on Aevium called the Garufa. Basically, these were people who were able to steal powers from Pokemon and use them for themselves. This power difference lead to them being both arrogant and dominant over normal humans. They were a very advanced race at the time being able to create a hidden library to store many archives of their knowledge including a way to understand their language. The most important piece they left behind was a prophecy which...you know you'd think I'd remember the most important piece of Rejuv better. From my memory, it basically tells of five souls determining the fate of the land. If they are good, salvation will be brought, but if they are bad, it'll bring ruin. The introduction to this lore is spectacular through a sidequest just giving a quick impression what they were like along with all these statue texts around. Then when you get to reading them you realize there's not much else to them as it's all about the prophecy. The hidden library doesn't even have any books you can read on them (nor do I think the normal library either). The little bit we have from the sidequests is honestly pretty interesting and worth doing to learn about, but then it centralizes on the prophecy. There's actually other history and customs sprinkled out about other towns and places, but it's just enough to bring a story together. This is not a boring world not meant to be explored. There's little things to uncover to the point one of the most interesting and most well written character isn't even alive and makes a physical appearance in the game. I love it when games reward me with information about the world for going the path less traveled or being curious about certain things and touching them. There's even a tale about Aevium being a kingdom (aka a castle you visit) with a short tale of a knight fulfilling his duty to protect his land. The way it was designed and set up is great and probably one of the few things story and plot you'd be interested in reading and learning...unfortunately, there's just so little of it. I've told you almost everything I've found lore wise through the game. I know there's more due to seeing spoilers but I thirst for more than I see. I don't care if it's relevant to the main plot or not which most of these probably are only there due to being so. I just feel having a bunch of optional history and even interesting tales really deepens a game's world which Rejuv was really onto something. There is one thing I'm very mixed on though. This game has taken some inspiration from anime works which many games do for good reason, but it does them using over the top elements such as Venam exploding in anger whenever someone says her real name. Some of this humor is absolutely hilarious and you'll get a kick out of it, but at the same time it does bother me and dampen the game. With a bunch of nonsensical humor going on, I general get the impression a game is being written for a fun and light-hearted adventure. If Rejuvenation was designed like that, I think it'd be a great ride, but it's actually something else. Pokemon Rejuvenation wants to be taken seriously as it does incorporate mature themes and depth which a lot of it is hit or miss, but I feel these two styles clash with each other. Can you really take a prison situation seriously when a little girl chucks a giant piece of machine 100 feet in the air? There's nothing wrong with humor in a mature game, but I feel it's more distracting when it really shouldn't. That's all I'm going to cover in regards to overall story but we do have a topic that ties into it next. Characters Remember how I said a character who wasn't even in the game was one of the best characters. The name of that character is Sirius who was the husband of the Ghost Gym Leader Narcissa. We actually get to see through the eyes of one of his coworkers a man who went from being a good person to doing questionable actions based on reaching out to the impossible. It was stated he didn't go insane, but he was hungry for power and change and believed he had the means to obtain it. He kept it a secret to his wife Narcissa to the point she's in disbelief and not willing to accept the truth after so many years. We find out all of this from four books and less screentime than nearly every single character of the game. I wanted to start with him as he's one of the very few exceptions of fleshed out characters and what I tend to expect out of them. Writing and designing characters can be a complex thing, but for right now, I'm going to focus on the internal aspects of them. I could make it look super convoluted or complex, but when it comes down to it there's really only two important things to designing characters. For every action, there's a reaction and there's always a reason as to why someone does something. That's the secret to designing a good character. Since this game is inspired by anime, I get the feeling that a bit too much Shonen style influenced the making of it. The best way to put it is that the scenes themselves and how they are presented are more important than the characters themselves generally meaning they lack depth. Dragon Ball Super is a good example and I know many people have at least seen or heard of a Dragon Ball episode. While we all may not be the biggest fans or even hate it, there's no denying that it's very popular and well know if not straight up very successful. Remember how I was treating this as a low budget game? With the little resources available, it's really hard to pull off an action based plot and rely on it. I would say Rejuv pulls it off decently, but this style becomes very apparent at Blacksteeple. I feel that area is viewed as the worst because it's the most boring area in the game. I haven't reached the end of it in my run, but it's surprisingly one of the most interesting areas and I could write a lot about it looking at it in retrospect. I feel it's only boring because the cast is flat and lacks depth. The unimportant NPCs have very uninteresting dialogue and the important NPCs like to talk a lot. You're likely supposed to be really attached and feel awful about the situation Aelita is in which is the main driving force, however, I really just did not feel anything for her. You're then inserted into a group you just met making a plan for escape probably within an hour total with most of that dialogue being fluff. The biggest issue here isn't the issues here but everything that happened before. Characters are nothing more than strangers we have yet to meet. You have no connection to them so you don't feel anything about them. I have a good example: my dog died a few years back. You probably didn't really feel much when I said that. Now let's change this a little bit. A few years back, I had a dog who had diabetes leading her to be a glutton and fat. She was a cheerful and determined dog who didn't let her weight determine what she could and couldn't do. Every single morning, she'd run down the hallway to jump up and cannonball right onto my stomach. And every time she'd have that little smirk while I hollered in pain. Of course, she was always smiling because she was a happy dog. She also played favorites always waiting for my mom to come home holding one of her slippers in her mouth to comfort her. In due time, she became really sick where all she would do is puke, have severe diarrhea, and just lie still. In a week though, she did start feeling better and moving around. Coincidentally, I was playing a nuzlocke where I named a Chimecho after a Disney Character who was also the name of my dog. By the time I reached the champion, my dog was in very bad condition but there was at least a chance it would pass for good. When facing Wallace, I had to make a risky play and send out that Chimecho against a Gyarados due to my weakened team. She was wearing a focus band so there was a 10% chance she wouldn't get killed. Luck was not on my side as the band did not activate and she died and part of me knew what was about to happen. I won the battle, but the game was not done with toying with my feelings. The images of all my mons showed up on the screen and the very last one...just had to be that Chimecho. The following day, my dog died. If she lived a day longer, it would've been her fourth birthday. As you can guess, that's a true story (seriously, you can't make up stuff like that). It wasn't as effective as I spoiled the ending in my first example, but imagine if I didn't. I feel like too many of Rejuv's cast fit my first story, but not all of them do. We're introduced to these characters and they don't really react to the story all that much or sometimes act out of character with not explanation such as Venam. One of the best plot building points was completely ignored which was Melia dying. It's so important to build off of these early events to help establish characters and get to know them. Not every character needs to, but getting to know a character and seeing emotion and reactions out of them helps build up, no, drives to their future actions. Over the parts that I played, there's only one character I saw do this effectively on screen and that's Narcissa. So does things better in a quarter of time characters with plenty of buildup time and scenarios do. I'm not asking for mastery level writing on it as again, it's just a little bit goes a long way. You also don't need a deep backstory or even a backstory at all to do this. That video I showed really tells it all when it comes to this. You take a scene further into the story and jump backwards to give the information needed to connect to them. Let's actually flip that Aelita scene. What if in the Shadow Lab, Aelita was killed and Keta lived. We then jump to an angered and saddened Keta not able to save the one thing most important to him. He then swears that he will do whatever it takes to destroy Team Xen and takes your snag machine planning on finding someone who can fix it (he doesn't want to force you to get involved). I'd say seeing Keta getting tortured would honestly make me more emotionally invested then the guy's daughter because all she does is charge ahead, say things without thinking, and almost die twice. That's just me as I feel Keta was way more fleshed out and interesting. While that covers most of my issues with characters, there is one last thing. There is a lot of fluff and exposition dumping in this game. Exposition is sometimes required as there's things the player needs to know to understand the plot, but Rejuv does it...a lot. If you want me to fall asleep, just make a scene of a character explaining stuff for 15-20 minutes. The areas around the second gym leader are the biggest culprits of this. Then there's the fluff. Fluff is a term I use to refer to dialogue or events with 0 benefits. Dialogue not relevant to the plot or the world isn't always fluff as sometimes it can be used to flesh a character out. Having two characters chat with one threatening to put spiders in the others hair just to see them freak out establishes that the first character is likely a bit of a troublemaker and the other kind of is a wuss. Blacksteeple is one of the worst areas I noticed this as dialogue is repeated minutes after it was said (sometimes exposition as well). There is something that did slip my mind. The main character is a silent protagonist but there is something unusual about them compared to the typical Pokemon silent protag. They are actually portrayed to show emotions quite a bit as well as the contradictory speak and don't speak character. While I'm not really a fan of the silent protagonist, I can't say it's awful nor good here. I do have a bias towards skewing the character as being a person instead of an "immersion" tool so I'm always for showing characterizations and feelings and even throwing a silent thought bubble if someone really felt like it. The character is fine as is though and there's really nothing that can be done to change it being so far into development. Gameplay If you've played Pokemon, you know half of what Rejuvenation has to offer already. It's a game designed with the inclusion of all Pokemon but restrictive so you have to learn to strategize with unlikely options to overcome powerful foes. It's simple, fun, and it works. For the glory seekers there's even an intense mode and for the weaker players there's an easy mode, but this game is best played on normal as you get some of the difficulty, but not enough to bang you head against the wall...bar a few I've experienced before. There's often rebalancing to help solve this so my information on it is likely outdated. There are some changes as Rejuv brings in Reborn's field effect system to change up how battles can play out by nerfing and buffing moves, items, and Pokemon on certain fields. Rejuv even brings in some of its own custom ones. One key thing to note is that Rejuvenation does have a deeper focus on a linear design. While there are always some twists and turns and secrets, the game's maps are generally small and straightforward. You will be getting quite familiar with these areas as there are many hidden Pokemon and events to collect, but the biggest and most notable sidequest system is the Help Center. This are tasks designed to help random strangers and the selection is very diverse. One quest could have you searching for a lost bird while another may have you face a very, very difficult trainer who'll probably kick your butt multiple times if you face her too early. There are so many fun distractions that are almost always worth looking into. That is one thing I do feel Rejuv should get a lot of praise on. Despite its limitations, it manages to really mix things up on the journey. While the puzzle aspects are generally on the easy side, every goal and task in the main story is handled different. One of my favorites that was axed was the escape mission from Goldenwood as all the townsfolk were chasing after you to try and recapture you. There are some rough spots with this diversity such as the Blacksteeple Castle, but the objectives there besides talking to NPCs are still fun in my opinion as the issue had more to do with story and dialogue. Almost every area in the game is great to explore and from what I saw, some older areas even recieved bigger additions. Now there are many bells and whistles to this game I have yet to explore though. There's the password system for additional features as well as multiple difficulty modes which really make it great for replays. This game I feel is easier to pick up and replay over Reborn due to many of its designs from a gameplay perspective. There's multiple characters to pick from which the options got even bigger with the addition of redesigns as well as the old designs to pick from. It's even nice enough to even be able to switch difficulties for a small fee...though I do kind of wish this remained a menu option. There's also a complete redesign of the level pacing progress. I can't speak on this matter that much since I have not played the newest version, but grinding and slow level progression are not so much an issue with the game anymore. There's a similar design to something I began designing with the mod Pokemon Reborn Hardcore I made where Pokemon can only gain exp and level up only to a certain level until a new badge is acquired. In most Pokemon games, it's very difficult to keep an even leveled team and usually a Pokemon or two on your team fall behind. In Rejuvenation, I've heard people running rotation teams of 12 for certain areas just fine without even needing to grind. I'm personally all for this philosophy as less time spent fighting boring enemies means more time spent doing the fun aspects. It's most likely a significant improvement over the old system, but I still haven't tried it out so I can't say for certain. The old system though did have some grinding issues as many of my Pokemon were slightly underleveled when swapping or replacing them with an older team member. This did not help with a certain boss being very difficult forcing me to grind like an old school RPG. Graphics This is going to be a weird one to judge because of how Rejuvenation uses other assets other than the ones it created. I'm only going to say this once but taking and using someone else's stuff is always going to be a slight degree of stealing even if you do not claim it as your own. It also leaves a message you lack the skills and confidence to do it yourself showing signs it's probably a terrible game. I say that as a mere warning and not really about debating it. The best way to put it is that the Graphics are 80% good and 20% really bad. The art itself made for Rejuv is honestly really good and most stuff looks really well polished and great. The vs sprites are spectacular and a lot of the trainer sprites look crisp. The game is really nice to look at and still puts the Gen III styled sprites to shame as that Gen's best looking art looks bad compared to Rejuv's best. The animations are easily the highlight of this game though. Rejuv is able to break a lot of that normal stiffness of characters standing idle talking by having them do things. One of the Xen grunts even does a facepalm. It's so vivid and fun to look at and stand out so well. Then there's the 20%. There's actually two things you need to look for when judging the graphics on something seriously: art direction and art consistency. I know there are multiple people who design and created things for this game however most actually remain rather similar in terms of direction, but you will start noticing jarring graphics. Some of the borrowed assets were not designed to function as certain things which if you look very carefully you can see sloppy and jarring tiles. One of my favorite from V9 to point out is the stripe under the Lilligant Hair Saloon. This is mostly early areas though as later areas it becomes less apparent. One thing I have noticed is some of the newer overworld sprites, tiles, and designs. I have a feeling that these are designed by Jan or someone not with high level skilled spriting. These actually remind me of Earthbound styled sprites as they have little shading and look flat. They aren't flat, but they are jarring, but usually see much worse, and it's definitely worth a game looking jarring for custom tiles because those usually end up more appealing, praised, and liked over generic and free ones. There is one thing I really don't like though and it's this: (I just took an image from Discord. If for some reason you want it taken down I will and replace it with one I'll make) Okay, it has kind of grown on me a little more after seeing it enough times, but the player side looks and feels blurry to me. The white outline really stands out and is a little blinding in this picture, but the light blue is my biggest gripe. I don't even know what those are even supposed to be. It could be plasma, a coil, but I think it's supposed to be striped lines. I'm not going to dive in more as I'm probably in the minority here as it seems a lot of people on discord mentioned really liking it. I also have a strong bias for simplicity especially in design. Putting heavy details and adding components to something I feel usually ends up cluttering the original idea to the point it's those little things that distract you taking away from the entire design. That's why if I'm being honest I prefer the old design and even really liked Gen III's basic design. I don't really care for the modern Pokemon battle UI's that much (though Colosseum and XD are my favorite) (Also, I gotta say that background looks really cool) I will say that despite all those little things, Rejuv certainly is one of the best fan-games graphic wise and most of the areas generally look really nice and well mapped that they feel kind of unique in its own way. I'd even argue that it's better than Reborn visual wise. As long as you don't mind minor graphical errors or some art inconsistencies, it's a pretty looking game. Music Something I overlook and feel that gets overlooked in games sometimes is the soundtrack. Music is a very powerful tool and way stronger tool of immersion than a silent protagonist. It's such a great tool to enhance the experience. Something that is not exactly hidden is that Rejuv uses music created mostly by remixers such as GlitchxCity. I'm having a hard time judging it because the soundtrack is pretty forgettable to me bar a couple songs. I have no idea why, but I loved the theme used for Goldenwood City. I guess it is a good thing they are rather forgettable as it's better than being jarring. There is one theme I felt very unfitting. I think it's GlitchxCity's version of the Team Skull theme used for the Xen admins and it just felt off and unnatural. Just imagine Sephiroth walking into the first with that theme going on. That's kind of how I feel about it. I know there have been stereotypes such as GlitchxCity's music is used in every fan-game and that remixes aren't the best option to do so. This is probably the nostalgia talking, but I really don't agree on either of those. I have not played that many fan-games or hacks, but I've played enough to say I haven't seen that many people do so. Most notable fan-games I think used a variety, but there really aren't that many to note. I do feel like bringing up Reborn as I feel so many of the tracks filled the roles of the place they were used. Even after long periods of time some of those songs are still stuck in my head such as Coral Ward's mysterious sounds. So I guess it is possible if you find the right tune for the right atmosphere. I really only praise and not criticize fan-game for their music choice unless it's really blaring because it's hard. The "It" Factor Normally, I'd never make a category like this, but I feel this is my biggest issue with Rejuv and not its characters or any other complaint. Video games are all different no matter who makes it and for what purpose. Companies with franchises make changes as they continue on to the next game in the franchise to simply keep it fresh and enjoying. What players usually enjoy the most is what I call the "it" factor. The best way to put it is the one thing that a video game can provide that no other video game can. This can range to anything from a method of storytelling, a new game mechanic, and even an art style. Often, this is the central focus and emphasis when creating and designing the game. It's almost always the thing that everybody talks about. I've seen it in Zeta/Omnicron, Reborn, Insurgence, Full Moon, and even in Raptor Ex. We are not talking about those games. We are talking about Rejuvenation. So what is Rejuvenation's "it" factor. I don't know. I just want to make something clear: this has never happened to me before. It's not because Rejuv is simply a poorly made game or rushed. There's a lot of time, effort, and heart put into it. The weird thing is that I've played games far, far worse and could answer this question. This hasn't been something I sat down and though about for five minutes either. It's something I've spent days trying to answer and came up blank. I did technically come up with one answer which was "It's similar to Reborn" which is a valid reason, but that's not good enough for me as that's using a game to justify playing a game and not something standalone. I'm not even sure if I should blame the development team or myself on this one either. I'm leaning towards myself as what right do I have to criticize this game if I can't give you one really good main reason to pick it up and play it. So this ended up having me think about a lot of games throughout my entire life and what I could say about them in a quick brief. Rejuvenation brings much to the table in what it has to offer. There's a very large cast, an abundance of sidequests, and many little features to enhance the game. I really don't feel the cast is a good representation of what the "it" factor would be for me as I feel they aren't built up or feel fleshed out as a smaller cast in other RPGs making not as lovable or endearing. I can't call something that focuses on simple fun and enjoyment because it steps into darker and more mature moments but not enough to call it an engaging and emotional story. A lot of features and inclusions such as Shadow Pokemon feel forgotten about or even shooed in for fanservice. The graphics are great, but the art style isn't one of a kind or breathtaking. Zumi, I'm not trying to bash your work as it's really, really good, but I'm thinking of games like Okami with unique art styles when speaking on that front. I'm not deep enough into this game yet to say there isn't one because maybe it gets established or some area really improves and becomes a focus later on creating this factor, but that doesn't mean I can't have opinions and impressions after playing a good chunk. The best way to describe it is that I see something really good, but it feels like it's set back and steps out of the water to play it a little safe. The closest one I see to it is the lore I talked about earlier. You don't see someone try something so contrasting to what we expect from Pokemon or a sub-genre like that everyday. The Garufa I'm sure will turn many, many people off and I've seen complaints about it all the time. I've even complained about it before, but as time went on, I'm more intrigued towards the idea and the history of these people. The problem is that there's not enough to adventure more in depth on it when I wish there was. There is one other aspect of Rejuvenation I could see being argued for Rejuvenation's "it" factor. It has to do with its sidequests and variety of tasks in each episode. It's pretty good and one of the best things about Rejuvenation. There's just one problem: I feel that's normally what a good RPG should focus and strive to do to keep people engaged. It's really hard to place something I feel should be there for something included or representing its uniqueness. Why is this a big issue for me? Well, it's not the fact that not having one is necessarily bad nor makes the game bad, but it does place an issue for it when I judging. I feel when I can't really pull something specific out and go full in depth about it, it means the game can only be average or just good at its best. In the olden days, achieving this was a lot easier than it is in modern days as there were so many unheard of things. It's also scary to think the Rejuv may simply be forgotten about due to this as well. It's also possible I'm not seeing what a lot of people see as everyone's perspective is different. Conclusion Pokemon Rejuvenation is quite an unusual game. While it may come off as simply a clone of the most well known fan-game on this site, I feel it does enough to separate itself from all the other aspects it attempts. I've said before that "The best parts of Pokemon Rejuvenation is when it's not trying to be Pokemon Reborn" and I do sincerely mean that. That's actually a compliment and not an insult either. When I look back at all the previous Generations of Pokemon up until Generation VI, there's so much I love about those games including the sprite style. I don't feel like I'm the only one who feels the generations after V feel more hollow and less exciting. It's so easy to assume that it's because I'm always getting older and Pokemon feels more like a game designed for very, very young people or those deep into the competitive aspect. Pokemon still has been as strong as it always has, but it just hasn't felt the same. With some toning back, Pokemon Rejuvenation is actually what I felt Generation VI should have been. If you look at the progress of Pokemon from Generations I to V you can see the evolution and improvements going on. The games became more vivid with more features and ideas added upon it. They didn't just create a game, they jammed packed it with as much as they could just because they loved doing it. Now imagine people designing and putting that much effort into a game similar to Rejuvenation. It'd blow anything any Pokemon game both real and fan out of the water. It'd have hiccups, but it'd be an absolute blast. It'd be a full scale adventure game with multiple levels of difficulty reminiscent of the sprite styled games, but more expressive and animated like the Gen VII style (despite one being sprites). I doubt that day will ever come though given the direction they are taking the series and it still generates just as much revenue with half the effort and inclusions as previous generations did so the second best thing is fan-games which are well done which Rejuvenation is. If you really like Pokemon this game is probably the fan-game I'd try to pick up as it's less dark and grim compared to Reborn and more visually pleasing on the eye with its light colors. The world is not too big and there's plenty of places to explore especially after getting the HMs to unlock even more areas. The biggest gripes I have are that nothing really stands out to give a very unique feel and experience and the story, while not bad, has a lot to be desired especially for an RPG which is quite long. If you're on the fence, I'd give it a try as you'll know whether or not you'll enjoy this game pretty quickly as the segment up until the first gym gives you a good taste of everything. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that's the end of the review. So one thing I know what a lot of people are thinking is asking why would I review a game only reaching a short segment of it and not to the current release. It's actually pretty easy as Rejuvenation just finished an episode and I'd rather give out some feedback now than wait a year or a year and a half later to be caught up. Likely when I get further into the game (likely the end of act 1) I'll make another post showing if my thoughts have changed on some aspects or if new issues I felt rose up instead of editing this one because I don't think I need to make it any longer than I did. And before anyone asks if I'll do one for Reborn, I'm waiting until the final version is released before doing that. And the last thing is that I'm not a big fan of scores because of how warped the perception of them is. If you guys really want them I can do that because I like seeing scores too as it's a quick analysis of how someone views something. Mine is just different from the usual as a warning.

Huh, I'm not sure why this isn't mentioned but I do have a serious question. So obviously the game is related to the Rejuvenation game, but I am curious how many spoilers to that game there are so if there's a certain point that I should play up to before trying it I'd really like to know about that now just to avoid any major spoilers or twists in the game. As for the error people are seeing, I am quite familiar with it as well...I've done like 100 of those. I can't remember the exact way it's done in events but uhh...I'm sure it's easy to fix. Basically, that's fancy for Jan dun goofed with an event.

Well Spring Break is almost over for me so let's get this done before I have to start doing more busy work stuff: Chapter 32: Foxy Flowers of Fulfillerment M. Girl: Warden, there's no more beds to sleep in. What will I ever do? Neved: Not a problem, young mistress. You can spend all night long in my chambers. M. Girl: Oh Neved, I could never. I'm so young. Neved: Age should never be an obstacle of love M. Girl: But what will the others think. Surely it'll bring nothing but suffering to you. Neved: I say damn them all. I'll freeze then into oblivion to be with you. M. Girl: Oh Neved Neved: Oh M-Girl (Random smooching noises) (How long have you been there? Oh god, nobody else saw me playing with the dolls, did they?) (Oh joy, now I have to go google this word) (Just because my hair isn't slick doesn't mean I need a bath) I'm trying guys. So many of these are just hard to make something clever or interesting. Then again, they're probably getting old and rusty...just like my grandpa's 25 year old dish washer. (There was a caption here, but it was removed due to R7...I'll let you use your imagination) (I'm not against that. It improved Heather's entire character) (Watt are you jolting on about? It's quite a shock he'd surge to such amplitude means.) If I was really in prison, I'm pretty sure someone would've murdered me by now. I mean honestly, how many of you would actually want to be trapped in the same place with me for the rest of your lives. (I'm pretty sure she's older than you) Wait...did we really just repeat everything that was just said? (Seriously, we had another repeat in the same general area.) (If Rejuv hasn't broken me yet, I doubt you could break her that easy) Just for the record, Rejuv is far from the worst RPG I've ever played. That's a tough one to decide on since I've played a ton of hacks which I really didn't care for Flora Sky or Light Platinum. I will defend Raptor Ex though even though I know it's bad, but I had a lot of fun with the game. It was onto something with that final boss though. Off topic though, but I could probably go on forever about the few games I absolutely hated. Oh, I remembered something. I'm up until the boat so I'll likely try to swap over to Version 10 after the events of Blacksteeple so you may see a couple things that aren't present in the current release. And there are things I'll probably spend a long while talking about when I reach and see the changes, but added content like scenes and more lore is a thing I'd like to know about and then I can comment on it if anything changed in my mind. I gotta keep my place as best...second best written run of Rejuv (Oh good more pointless events to waste everyone's time. My favorite) (....That is the stupidest thing I've ever seen) Seriously, I don't understand the concept of planting flowers here. I know there are fantasy flowers that can live in harsh climates, but even those aren't in abundance or easy to grow/maintain. It's like trying to order firemen to put out a forest fire with just buckets of water. I mean there's actually a bigger thing they could focus on and around. I'll give you a hint: it's all around us. Snow is something that can be a problem as it's really hard to traverse on so plowing it would make sense. You could also...turn it into drinking water. Or how about fixing the statues likely getting many cracks from the cold weather. I'm sure I could actually find plenty for these people to do. (Oh don't worry, I've already experienced that once) (Corporal punishment.......we're in fucking jail. What else can they do to me? Find and murder my brethren or something) (I'm continuously playing a game that makes me rant, suffer, and frustrated for months now. Clearly, I'm a very intelligent person) (Why do I have a feeling she reads the Daily Poppet) (Oh good, more little girls to boss me around) (Can I just say something?) If I were Neved and that situation would happen, I'd be red alert on everyone because whoever did that has the strength of a goddamn Pokemon which wait for it....would imply somebody was using their Pokemon to do stuff. I know Jan probably only did it for the LOLs, but I'd probably would have made it an important detail about Saki. Let's say it'd probably make her character a lot more interesting and reasonable over what we have now, but that's a tale for later when...that happens. And skipping the filler stuff...it's like 3 words (Yeah, it's such a downgrade without that ponytail) Skipping that (get used to this) (.........Remind me why we have a library in a prison) It's actually not that uncommon to have materials to read in prison iirc. Not really sure how prisons currently handle books though since you technically could hide contents in those. I did watch a bit of a show on prison before and how they put people in there to spy on the prisons and give feedback being in the prisoner's perspective. (That's........the dumbest plan you have) Okay for a game design perspective it's actually not that bad, but it's just added tedium. The library actually would be a cool concept in practice as this would be a push to explore it, but it's really just so empty and nothing to really touch. I know it's a ton of work, but having a bunch of interesting lore or tales would really make it a cool place to relook at. Also as a spoiler I knew this place was dialogue heavy so I didn't screencap any of the books. Thankfully we have our handy dandy RPGmaker so I can relook at it. (If anyone bored wants to make changes to the in-game textboxes, please do as it'd save all of use so much more time) I'm not gonna lie, this story felt kind of half assed simply just to answer some lore questions. Look at the last line of text. There wasn't really even a war being talked about. I know I didn't say I'd help work on Rejuv before, but honestly I'd gladly spend a good month or two writing stories and trivia into bookshelves all across the region because it's actually something I like doing. I'm sure you'd guys would like having seven or more of this: "Eons ago when Kingdom of Aevium still reigned and Pokemon were but not, there live a lone queen, the guardian of the land. With time she grew bore of her loneliness so she hired a sole knight with one duty alone: to protect the queen. She grew quite fond of him and perhaps he of her, but such a bond would not last long with the test of time. Evil has risen to the doorsteps of her kingdom causing the knight to fulfill his duty. The battle was fierce, but the battle ended with a knight returning, but not of which the queen was fond of. In his hand he held the blade of her beloved knight, but even this did not cause her to fall into grief and despair. She raised her bow piercing the armor of her knight's killer 'til he breathed no more. And thus, the war ended and peace and prosperity continued to all but the one who ruled it." I'd actually probably make it longer or more engaging, but there's a lot of missing variables and context I'd need to make sure it's correct. I did make the assumption that the two loved each other (which is generally kind of obvious), but I also assumed she fell back into despair afterwards. I'd actually write that she disappeared once the war ended, but we don't know that either. It's also sad because it would have had a great tie in to an event that is coming up (not for a long while though). Also, that really didn't take me all that long, but mostly because I wasn't to focused on writing in "ye ole English" Oh f....forgot about some dialogue (......Why couldn't I just follow you?) (Pretty sure he's the only one with a brain here) (From this angle, it looks like her jaw dropped...and I'm dying of laughter as I picture it with glowing eyes) I'm not crazy, right? you guys see it too, right? (Nevy really likes coffee...he'd probably get along with Johnathan...actually, I think they'd become besties) >>>Old HC joke as I wrote about him being cranky without his coffee (Because she's been driving everyone up the wall) (I'm ngl, it would have been cool to have a sipping animation. Oh well, zero budget games have their limits) (She's the only one I know who'd get herself almost killed multiple times in minutes) (I'm pretty sure M-Girl is more special than anyone else here.) (I'm all for it personally) (I'm going to have to call this place Blackrant Island...that sounds racist) I actually wrote and designed this character all around the concept of having to live in his father's footsteps and he really was proud of it to start. I'm not going to spoil much (obviously), but let's just say that he ends up learning a certain lesson the hard way making him realize he is not his father. So I really disagree on the idea of punishing somebody simply because you couldn't take it out on someone else. Plus, they did give Keta proper punishment by brutally murdering him with Mewtwo. Whatever, this is a battle I'm not really going to get into too deeply because it is a silly one. Okay this was a misclick but it's pretty funny (Rejuv for best action adventure) (His heart is in adventure...god that was bad even for my standards) (Oh joy another engaging character personality reveal) Let's be honest: Neved is a really boring character. He's loyal purely for the sake of being loyal. Basically I characterize this class as kind of the soldier class. He puts his duty above all morals to the point he doesn't even question authority. It works in characters such as Solaris's case as they are powerful and to be feared, but in Neved's case, he's just boring. There's nothing really all that interesting about him. He talks about how he does it for his daughter coming up, but it shouldn't change your view on him. It makes Madelis look interesting. (I probably would've used the term children as it's better suited for the idea) (I think we all kind of do) (M-Girl understands) I know her name is Emma, but M-girl has really caught on for various reasons. It's short for Mysterious Girl...obviously. Don't worry, I'll definitely be talking about M-girl much, much later. (Oh I haven't seen Evil Kamina in a while) (Because a certain somebody was dumb enough to kill him...oh wait that would be the smart thing to do) This argument feels dumber and dumber the more it goes on. Sorry, but torturing Aelita simply because your group has anger problems is kind of silly. Oh, I have a good analogy or where this was a good thing. You've all played Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, right? I'm kidding as that game's hard to find. But in it the Black Knight kills Gawain, but is unsatisfied with the duel. That is why he purposely left his son alive so that he would use this moment to get stronger so that he could have a duel to match the one he idolized so much for his strength. The Black Knight pretty much was that powerful foe you wanted to take down and it feels so good when you do. And he is very scary. Nobody in Team Xen really gives off that impression leading to the whole I don't really see the purpose of them beating Aelita up purely do to her dad. I would see it more for keeping the player in check, but there really was no follow up on that. (You know, this line would have been really cool if that were true, but it hasn't even been a year) I would've liked seeing the concept of bringing Keta back to life to make him their servant or agent. In other words, it would have been a very interesting story as the grotto Keta would be the original Keta trapped from the afterlife due to his revival and the Keta in the city would be the one who was supposed to be a mindless puppet, but slowly began to regain himself as Keta's soul was ripped in two being a part of each. (M-Girl, something tells me you still don't get it.) (Believe it or not, I have thought up a situation where that happened before) (M-girl, you're just trying to get yourself killed, aren't you?) (Sharp tongues are always the ones to get off) (M-girl, you need to learn to shut up.) (In other words, he'd slowly freeze her to death. I'd appreciate if you did that now) (Isn't it obvious? It's not his daughter.) (...So you kill and torture in the name of love?) (Still doesn't make you any more interesting) (You know, Neved really should invest in a lamp. I believe you can find some bear sized ones downstairs) (And thus we see just how much he trusts M-girl) (You're gonna ask when this cutscene will end, right?) (Actually, I want to ask how only their Pokeballs are disabled and not yours) (A doctor somewhere tried that once. Let's say it didn't end well) (Neved is Canadian. Everything makes sense now) I can officially check off Canadians on the list of people I've insulted. I'm almost positive they make maple syrup to sell in Neverwinter (Ah yes, that warmonger) (M-girl would know a thing or two about failing...tech) (Well she's not wrong) (It's as if this was designed intentionally) (Yeah, we gonna burn da house down) (........Doesn't seem like you're doing a good job of that) That's a bloody lie and he knows it. (Now I want to see Neved fighting with his fists for some reason) (It's Team Xen. They drive trucks like nobody cares and have tanks. I'm pretty sure they prepared for a war to break out or something) (I wonder if there's wine in that fridge because I'm gonna need a good one of those when this is all done) (Meanwhile, the guards are probably yelling at a strange dressed man to stop singing...or saying sexual innuendos...and to stop flirting with them. There's a lot damage I could do during a cutscene) (We declare war on the Trump?) (......................................................................Please just die) (I'm pretty sure that's not coffee if Neved is this relaxed to an answer like that) (Emma does not get it. They are after the blood of fallen soldiers to revive an undead army) (Blood is harder to get when it's spilling out) Skipping dialogue because it's a repeat of before (He probably wants to be alone....doing things lonely people do) (So you're gonna throw that wild dance party then, yes? It'll last until the Popo shut us down) Meanwhile in the library.... (For some odd reason, I can hear some faint yelling that sounds familiar. Must be my dead ex-boyfriend coming back to haunt me or something........I was going through a phase, okay?) (Also this riddle is bad and whoever wrote it should feel bad) That's it for this place. I'm not kidding. We'll never need to visit this place ever again. Ever. And I also really don't remember this but I'm pretty sure the old version just took you there. >>>I forgot about a certain...kind of important...scene (I'm also not a huge fan of the new tree that blocks the path) I'm going to say that this was kind of a bad change because the old version had a small sliver you squeezed through which is more believable than walking through a tree. If that was the solution, then surely other people would figure out that there is a set range and they can move out of the range by going through the trees. Believe me, I'm sure the design was intentional as there's even a house back here. But alas, we'll never get that answer. (Knowing Jan, it probably took him that much time to make that) (......Yet it's located in an easy to spot place from a cop looking overhead) Just gonna say that the new location is really unrealistic and easy to spot. Not that big of a deal as a bunch of RPGs due rely on that convenience once in a while. Not as cool as Xenoblade X's where you have an early game area with a bunch of strong enemies around so it's better to sneak and not go the violent way. That game is super solid...except for the story and characters which range from meh to great (pizza guy best character). (I'm pretty sure the Warden does, but he just don't care) (You make it sound like this is paradise) (Is laying in the snow and dying an option because I'm not sure how much more I can take) Okay the dialogue isn't that bad, but right now it feels like I'm listening to a political speech on a topic I don't really care about at all and it's the only thing they talk about. The Neved parts are good, but besides him, all we hear is about Aelita and not using Poke Balls. We actually could have cut the entire Poke Ball signal talk and placed it into here. Spoilers but let's say there was not spot and they used Braxien's powers to create a jamming signal to block off the signal block. They found this spot which was a good place to plan for an operation in which Saki figured out a few things they could do. It makes that fox a very important piece and could then bring up how the signal thing works. But alas, it'd be really hard to change the plot of this place, but my gripe is that the entire segment is filled with 90% filler and 10% interesting dialogue not really the concept of no battling (though believe me that does make segments really boring after an hour) (Oh good I can battle generic wild mons while I spend many hours listening to long segments of dialogue) We're not even halfway done with this place, folks. (Okay, now we gotta have that...talk) One of the biggest issues with silent protagonists is the excessive need to write in a monologue style. A consistent issue with Rejuv is the fact that the story isn't willing to commit to one style. There are times where the game treats the silent protag like a blank protag not feeling anything (in which players are supposed to reflect their emotions onto it) and then there's defined silent protags. The latter practically gives them a base character who has emotions and feelings and could be viewed at as a person. You see this in Rejuv from time to time and honestly, the dev teams just needs to go full in instead of dipping the toe because it is a bit jarring. I also partially feel the silent protag was forced into this game simply due to not wanting to break the tradition in fear it'd make the game bad or at least it was never considered. We all know how much I love silent protags. (It's probably because y'all won't shut up. No wonder why I'm the best character in the game) (You know, I kind of pictured Saki being a little...overdramatic or at least more than this) (It's almost as if they can't comprehend we're in below zero weather...according to the NPCs) (...Excuse me while I facepalm...again...Arceus almighty just strike me where I stand and end this) If I was really a spy, then I'd have to be really good at my job and pretty believable. They put a bit too much trust into a newbie who's been here only for one full day. I probably could name a handful of characters that seemed super trustable but were really spies in the end (cough *Citan* cough). Just me being ranty here and I really wouldn't count this off in a review for the game. (It's almost as if you're foreshadowing something in the future.) (.....I'm not sure if I should be happy or terrified for that) (Unless it's Adam's brother Samuel, probably not. I hear that guy makes good beer) (IT HAS A STICK! TAKE IT DOWN QUICKLY BEFORE EVERYTHING IS BURNED!) >>>BotW references. Gotta love them. (I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I'M STILL SHOUTING, BUT I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO SAY HERE!) (I still don't see why the team hasn't questioned there being a house in the middle of nowhere) I'm pretty sure it's not stated that they built this house, but they wouldn't have had the time or materials to accomplish this. Oh well, it's a whatever thing. (Did jan just lazily take the back of Saki's hair and flip it to make the back of Aelita's?) (Moans about this not being ToCS and wanting to play it) (Oh god it's a female as well...nope we are not going there nope, nope, nope) (trust me foxy lady, I scare a lot of people when they see my face) (Oh god, I think we found the tsundere character in the game. Shoot me. Shoot me right now before it's too late) (Hello wall! I'm please to make your acquaintance. You are the third smartest character in the game so you have my praise and respect) (...You couldn't give it a better freaking name. I mean we both could've figured it out after the previous cap...) I secretly think this was intentionally designed to see people like me crack because goddammit I'm getting close. Like this is the kind of situation where I want to up and quit this run for good bad which none of the other parts came even close. There's just so many writing sins that we just see repeated again and again. Which leads to the bigger problem: there's two episodes worth of dialogue in this place alone, but most of that is completely pointless or time wasting dialogue. Believe me, y'all should be fortunate you can just turn your brain off while people like me have to literally read and analyze all of this dialogue. Best way to describe this place is a bowl of Lucky Charms, but the box is defective and has not marshmallows in it. Sad part is that I think this place got renovated twice. Trust me, I'll be talking A LOT about this place in a recap because it really deserves more than a "Oh this is the worst part of the game" comment as there's a lot to talk about. Let's just try to end this chapter before the time bomb we call rantmander goes off again. Also, I'm going to be calling Braxien Fally from this point forth. Just give it a moment and you'll figure it out. If you haven't, try saying it aloud a couple different ways. (Well it's too bloody late to turn back now...you aren't going to murder me, are you?) (I need a subtitle to recover from my rant.) (Why do people look away when they are talking to each other? Is this a new tradition? Wall senpai, teach me the meaning behind this custom) (Wall senpai told me things about you that cannot be said aloud) (Talking Pokemon is so tacky like Reborn. Talking walls is where the trend is now.) (Pretty sure every nuzlocke mon could talk) Fun fact: I did draw up a deep nuzlocke series with a lot of lore behind it. One thing I did do for it was have all Pokemon be able to speak the human language. I actually don't think Pokemon speaking human language is really all that out there or ridiculous truthfully as with enough intelligence, it's very possible. Think of it as learning a second language in a sense. So I'm not really bothered by talking Pokemon, but I could see why some people are. I do have some crazy nuzlocke tales such as Leon's curse that maybe I'll share during the playthrough if it gets really boring or not much to talk about. (Because she's a Pokemon and she'll get beat up if anyone sees a rare Pokemon out in the open like this?) (Oh good, why don't we share everyone's backstory while we're at it?) (Yes, wall senpai told me the whole story) (I thought we didn't have much time. Why are we telling pointless backstories?) I swear it's like the tournament of power time here. Speaking on that, that last episode of DBS pulled an asspull, but I don't give a damn because goddammit it made me so happy. I never expected to be excited this much for an episode of Dragon Ball. Oh wait, this ain't Dragon Ball. What was I doing again? Something about foxing walls...oh... (But who owns that Poke Ball?) (Oh, that answers my question...now for the other 500) (Why must everything lead back to dirty thoughts for me?) And no, I'm not a furry at all for the two of you wondering. We're just gonna leave it at that because that topic can get very uncomfortable very quickly. Let's just say I've been very deep into the rabbit hole to the point very few lines I'm not willing to cross nor am really bothered by. However I would like to take this time to say that if you feel uncomfortable or offended then please...grow a spine and get over it. And don't worry as you're not alone because by the end of this run I'm sure half the community is going to hate me for some random reason if the haven't already (But do you tute on your dute with a flute...yeah, I'm pretty sure my brain is fried at this point) (And here you have Rejuv's very own Pikachu. You want to beat it with a stick due to how worthless they are, but the plot demands them to stay) But honestly, I've grown to like Pikachu more and more as time passed on. I actually didn't hate it because of the anime, but because the goddamn thing always activated static. It's like Golbats with confuse ray. Screw those things. Run. Focus Commander. You can do this. I believe in you. (You have a warm house with entertainment. I have a cell with...are there books in there? We really should've checked) (I've done that and heck no it doesn't) (How long does it take before I freeze to death outside?) (Oh joy, I'm sure Saki can read my mind) (Anyone with a bloody brain knows that is a terrible idea. Let's bring a bunch of deadly, probably starving beasts we've never met and hope they don't kill us. Brilliant plan) (Spoiler alert: that's what we f*cking do later here) (Wait, hold on a minute) A normal prison would have a police force strong enough where an officer could gun down a couple people no problem in case of a possible prison break. So under normal circumstances, we'd have no chance even with all our Pokemon. You can't tell me this was not intentionally designed to end in a massacre. (No plan is perfect. Something will go wrong even with the bestest of plans) (Nah, wall senpai can take them all down. Nothing can break the mighty wall) (I...legit forgot everything that happened in this segment) Seriously, I can't even remember almost any of the dialogue I've been reading in the past hour. That's kind of sad. Probably because it's boring and forgetable...just like most of this cast. I'm probably just going to do a rewrite for this segment because goddamn I don't think anybody is enjoying it at this point. It's not like the Elias and Dittoceus scene where the scene is good, but way too damn long. These scenes are short and drag on forever. So here's the rewrite sponsored by Wall Senpai. [continuing on from the previous caption] Saki: While I could totes beat any of those loser guards, beating them all at once is trouble. We all tried that once in Akuwa Town and look what happened. Braixen: Still, we may have no chance no thanks to you showing this foreigner our only means to fight back. Saki: Braixen, you can trust Commander. They are a really trustable guy. Trust me. Braixen: And is this the same person with their friend being a hostage Valerie told me about? I'm sure the Warder has his fingers wrapped tight around this one. Saki: They were the ones to tell us that Aelita was a hostage. Now stop accusing Commander before you scare them off. Braixen: Fine, but only because Valerie trusts them. Saki: So did our cute little adventurer find anything? Braixen: Saki...you're embarrassing me. And yes, I did find something quite interesting. On my stroll, I noticed something odd. I saw a castle. Saki: Braixen, we really don't have time for your sass. Braixen: No, no, no, I'm not talking about that castle. It was a different castle though it looked very similar to the Blacksteeple one. The most peculiar thing is that a barrier around it. Saki: That's weird. Are you certain there's a barrier around it because I feel like at least one of the guards would've mentioned it by now. Braixen: Yes. I didn't believe it at first, but the Warden approached it and placed his hand onto it. But oh I wouldn't go there. Something about it makes my fur stand up straight. Saki: Just like Spinarak. Braixen: Don't even speak of those damnable creatures. Saki: Alright, alright. No need to be so cranky. I wouldn't worry about it though. It's not going to get us off this island so need to go snooping there. It is weird though that even the Warden can't get in there. It makes you wonder... Braixen: If you're about to wonder off, Valerie has given me full permission to burn your butt. Saki: I'm not THAT much trouble. Oh snap, we've been gone too long. We gots to get outta here before da popo throw us in the brig [Runs out] Braixen: Honestly, I can't tell if she's a genius or a complete moron. And yes, I did actually make the scene shorter despite adding content, but there's one thing left to do here: (Wall Senpai, will you be my waifu?) (Saki kind of sounds like me imitating a black guy. Don't ever ask me to do that impression) (I wish he used the number instead of the name here...though on the flipside it is a nice detail) (Speaking of...why is there an Absol Statue here?) (Does that mean we have to make out to make him leave...There are only two people here I'm willing to do that with and Saki sure ain't one of them) >>>Dr. Jenkel and Quagman? Skipping boring dialogue (Yes we shall plant the illogical planting of plants which will die instantly) (What was the first clue: the fact she wears a cloak or was swimming in the bloody ocean) (I'm pretty sure not a single person I met said hi in this game. Most just give you a mean look or challenge you to a battle...or try to hang you...or capture you...I'm starting to think people aren't very nice in this game) (Oh god no. My luck with women is terrible. They either nearly get me killed or sent to prison.) (So if I talk to her, you'll leave me alone...you have yourself a deal) (Yes, but society frowns upon it) (I accept that as permission to stalk you from now on) (M-girl, I'm starting to think you're anti-social. Welcome to the club) (Because she can boss us around and doesn't live in a cage...I think that's a valid reason) (I swear that sprite looks like she's about to fire her laser) (I'm having a weird sense of deja vu right now. It's almost as if I've seen the Absol Statue somewhere else before) (Devices as in tech...yep this is ringing some bells) (Oh hey I never noticed that crack on the Absol statue...nice touch) (Doesn't like Team Xen's objectives...) Guys, I finally figured out who M-Girl is. It's gotta be Mosely as she heard me screams and came swimming to my aid to break me out. I mean who else could it be as there's only so few girls who have M in their name and piss off Team Xen as much as she did...and also have lighter colored hair...oh something I actually didn't mention but has been bothering me for a while. You see these walls. It really, really bothers my vision that they don't have any shading at all. I get that it's hard to sprite but the lack of shading sometimes can get kind of irritating on my senses. I already have depth problems so let's not screw with my senses more than we have to. (Maybe I should have named M-girl Camus) (Damn I wish this dialogue was less monotone than it is) This is what happens when you put monotone characters together. Like this scene is amazing but uhh...yeah...you'll figure it out. Also it's like one of the few scenes from that series that aren't spoilers (Oh yeah, those pillars also defy logic...for some reason) (...And somebody is about to die) (FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!) Skipping more dialogue (Seriously I'm cutting down on dialogue and it still flows well...kind of freaky) (That...actually is interesting character development) (If it weren't for that cop watching us, I probably would've killed you for saying that.) ...I don't have a screenie but basically Valarie gave her the middle finger before walking off. (For some reason my urge to punch you rises) So Neved is basically the most emotionally unstable of the Xen Admins losing his temper and being more personal compared to the others. I can't really say all that much because I'm not all that invested. And yes, I am aware that it's very hard to express emotions through sprites as you don't have the visuals nor the voice acting most games have nowadays. I'd say the best reference or example to look at is Final Fantasy V. Seriously I really think Rejuv fans should really give that game a try as it's very different compared to the FF games following it. And the GBA Version imo is the best iteration of it. But the point I'm making is that the games story was generic, but a few members of the cast were lively and fun. I could honestly give better comparisons of Rejuv and FFV than it and Reborn. Probably the best reference material Rejuv could use to fix a lot of its issues. (Wait a minute, how the heck even is Valerie allowed over...did she swim under the moat or around or something?) (You'd think she'd be facing Saki and not me...is there something on my face?) (Oh, I'm definitely smiling on the inside) (Seriously, look at her, not me) I'm not even going to bother with the last four pics as it just says that we're all turning in for the day. Oh yeah, the book in the shack was about handling abuse owned by a woman called Anathea. I know the one maid in the cellar is Anju, but I can't actually remember who the heck Anathea is but probably Marianette's mom...or something. That's probably going to be the last update for a little while as things with school are going to get busier and my Spring Break is over...well...it was over two days ago but you get the idea. But since I don't think I triggered fans enough I made something special for you all about my thoughts on Pokemon Rejuv:

No probs. I probably wouldn't have been so harsh if I knew you were on mobile. Sometimes I make posts on my breaks so I understand. Anyways while Reborn is much bigger than Rejuv, the mod community is much, much smaller than Rejuv so that would be a poor assumption to make. This is coming from the guy who holds the largest chunk of it though the modular pack isn't that far behind anymore (or maybe it passed me). Things'll be slow since this is new but when people start using and talk about it, you'll want a good point of reference or you'll get a lot of questions.

I haven't seen the V10 changes but I really have to say that these always bring me a smile as it's a nice touch and always stands out. That's not really a good answer coming from me though and while I could make a joke response like "Melia dying" I do think people feel like I kind of hate the game with all the rants and such. I don't, but it's just that the parts I don't like are the most apparent. This may come to people as a surprise, but my favorite thing would have to be the community around it. Rejuv has a lot of faults and I'm actually taken aback by how open people are about it and often we disagree with each other even to the point we joke around about some of the major faults to the game. It's actually due to fans that made me to decide to give the game a second chance and I can definitely say I don't regret it even at the cost of my ever rising blood pressure. It is a faulty, but really fun game to talk about. But if we are only sticking to the game, you should all know it's easily that play in Goldenwood. I'd also be a hypocrite if I hated on tumblr as I found most of the profile pics I've used from there

Since the OP isn't willing to give the answer in the original post nor answer it I suppose I can best do it in a brief way. These are Quality of Life mods that add features that are generally used to enhance the game. You can select which ones you want by adding or removing a file in a folder making if very customizable and "compatible" or something. If you need thorough explaining on that process please just ping me or some means as I don't remember too well where everything goes (you replace the script file though for it to work). Now for the features themselves they do things such as being able to change the weather freely, access the developer tool Debug mode (don't touch this though), being able to transfer mons onto different save files, an on screen clock, and some other stuff. If you're interested or someone here is, I probably could just post the full list here for people to read so you don't have to thread hop (because ain't nobody got time for that).

I'm going to be that guy here, but this honestly is a weak argument that I just don't get. First off, there's no point in diving into competitive when talking about Pokemon bias because that's a system built on bias opinions. I team of NU or even PU could topple a team of OU if one was built just right. In fact even in OU when I played competitively I did run mons of lower tiers just for better synergy as they were better suited for my needs. So just throw tiers at the window because it's not a fair perspective to compare. With experience you'll learn that a balanced game is a bad game. Game Freak knows what they are doing when making certain mons very strong while others super weak. It is intentionally designed that way so that most mons can be different and even unique. We've hit 700 something mons and the thing is that most really stand out as different from even similar Pokemon. And they still continue to do that. And as for the Mega Evolutions and Z-moves, of course they are going to show bias to certain mons. They want to make money so what's going to make more money: a badass evolution of the fan favorite Charizard or a new form of Luvdisc. I'm just happy that they go beyond that sometimes and show love for the forgotten mons such as Mawile. Is the format perfect? Oh hell no. There's a lot of faults with this system and Game Freak even knew that which is why changes happened over time. It was a very faulty system to begin with, but it is one if not the only system to last as long as it did, especially at a time where games were trying to find themselves. A very scary thought is that the entire gaming industry could be entirely different if it were not for the original Generation 1 being released where it did. You really can't blame the creators for being fond of their very first game as it got them off the ground and gave many of them very successful and lifetime careers. Which brings us around back to full circle. So in return I have to ask: what's your point? The devs not having any kind of bias for their work probably means they don't even care. I have bias for liking certain characters I designed more than others, but that's a natural thing. Most of the fanbase isn't even into the competitive aspect, but enough was to address and make changes and greatly improve competitive play. I suggest those who try answering this think very carefully what they are about to say as most answers can be torn to shreds effortlessly.

I think you guys really need to just let the joke end (or clinging to false hopes). Caz has been inactive for roughly two months now and his last activity, which is very little, is over 6 months ago. I've made this repeated broken record sound numerous times, but it's so we don't go down that road. So right now it actually is possibly justified to lock Deso's thread due to it passing a few number of criteria, but Desolation is such an unusual games as usually fan-games in this situation fade into the realms of the forgotten by now. That's simply due to so many players picking this version up and enjoying it for what it is and discussing it for what it is. Caz also hasn't made a statement on anything or been inactive so nobody could touch this project and pick up where it left off (that's a discussion best saved a year from now though to give plenty of time). If that kind of discussion remains here, it'd be easy to justify unlocking it and preserve it's current situation. If the discussion moves more towards simply hoping for a version 5 or talking about future releases, I might suggest to the mods to lock this thread as since all that is really doing is bumping up this thread when it really shouldn't. Now if some newbie jumps in asking when the newest release is coming out, don't beat him up with sticks or anything because he probably didn't really know better compared to people who have been here months or years doing that. Also, it's just talking about releases themselves and not the contents so feel free the theorize on what could have been. Also, it's really not been that bad but I'd rather douse the fire now than see it burn later. I can't speak on the auth's behalf, but I'll also probably wait a couple months to see how all this pans out before giving my suggestions on handling this situation. It's just an odd duck situation because it still has remained rather popular and active despite its unknown state.

Yes and no. The best way to put it is not using ones talents to better others or themselves. I'd say that Serra fits the bill best there. Not sure who to put as greed but Lust is definitely Lin. The term reaches far beyond just a sexual standpoint. Elias might be good for greed. Gluttony is another hard one but I suppose Terra would be the closest.

No, no, no, you have no understanding of how the industry works. You see, every episode is now being released as new for $9.99. Bonus is just DLC packs for skins such as the fan favorite Dr. Jenkel skin. Now you too can creep Aveium out by being the greatest professor in the land. All for $5.99 per model. Pre-order now and we'll even throw in this in-game "Azery Sucks" and "Zumi is a weenie" T-shirts.

Pretty much what's going on right now: