Feng Lei

So... I am notoriously bad at sidequests, triggering them and completing them in general. The photo quest for instance, my camera will not let me take pictures when I want, and I haven't the slightest clue where the landmarks are. The game is so generally beautiful, that just about everything qualifies as a landmark in my eyes. I mean, in Blackview for instance, I would consider the old cathedral a landmark. Regardless of where they are, I can't take pictures with them because the camera does not work, as aforementioned. Next, the Ranger station on top of the mountain is still locked. I have far too many keys to keep track of, but I am pretty none of them have worked thus far. Any way to get into that place? And then the locked wooden door in Weeping Depths. I believe there was a woman who wanted me to find a book there. How might this room be unlocked? And finally, the Arceus painting gets stolen? Someone mentioned that was possible, maybe? And lastly, that secret diary. Where is it? I have a tiny key, does it work on the diary? Sorry for all the questions, but I could wonder around forever and not get it.

Someone make them see reason. These Nuzelocke rules are... just... not entertaining anymore. I guess we wait for the Mirror Queen to show them the error of their ways. Assuming they don't have something that can erase that field.

I just finished the game. Here are my thoughts: Overall, it is a fantastic game. Going in, I feared a second Rejuvenation. And while it's clear Jan has a wealth of talent, and goes through far more work, I think, than even the Reborn devs.... I just could not enjoy that game. It required far, far too much exploration and complexity that didn't interest me. And the story... even to this day, my reaction to each piece was mostly "wait, wut." I know that's how it is supposed to be, but the insanity and lack of questions was just too much. The plot for Rejuv is all over the place, and answers leave me more confused than questions. As such, I was turned off very badly. And then I learned about Desolation. Funny thing is, I wouldn't have bothered if Rejuv hadn't been down, as I was contemplating letting go of sanity one more time for the sake of a replay. Thank goodness I was redirected to this, indirectly. Where to start? Ah, yes... The MUSIC! The music is amazing. Easily the best soundtrack of any pokemon game I've ever played, hands down. Reborn's has changed too much and not in good ways. Pokemon Desolation by comparison is a pure, untainted masterpiece, a real gem of sound design. Blackview City's theme is probably my favorite. Each piece is selected with care and excellent taste. Every note provides what the music is intended to bring, be it engrossing atmosphere, engaging fun, energy, horror, dread, suspicion, it's all there exactly as it should be and I cannot thank the dev enough for creating this came. Second, the characters. I found them all very engaging, and dare I say it, better than even the Reborn cast. That is not ultimately true, but what we get is still quite good. The lack of overwhelming sexual puns and profanity save at certain intervals was a nice touch for me. At first I thought Ava was a Charlotte rip-off, and I never did end up traveling much with Scarlett long enough to save her. But Ava turns out to be her own fleshed out character in the end. Same goes for most everyone. I much enjoyed how Garret and Aurora are developed so swiftly in so short a time. Same goes for Rosetta and Tristan. And oh, Tristan, Tristan, your character yet drives the story to an extent. The map design: here I am conflicted. The routes are laid out beautifully. And they have far less going on compared to Rejuvenation. And yet, they are somehow less memorable overall compared to Reborn, and I do not know why. There's some beautiful layouts. Each place should feel iconic. Silver Rise, its forest included, was amazing. So was the volcano. Weeping Hill, as well, was most enjoyable. And of course, the soundtracks for all these areas was stellar. But what grabbed me was how everything outside of such specific places was somewhat... emptier than elsewhere, I guess you could say. What I did find was that Caz is a master of city design. Blackview and Celia are exactly what I always wanted out of Reborn and Grand Dream Cities. Despite being so large, both Blackview and Celia are masterfully designed, not only in their atmospheres, but in their geographical layout. Let us take Blackview, for instance. Everything in this city is spaced so perfectly, I don't even know what to say. To digress for a bit, the atmosphere is amazing in its claustrophobia. There is this constant balance between a ruined slum like Reborn's Obsidia, and a still thriving industrial complex. The oppressive yet not totally malevolent aura pervading this city is excellent, and its soundtrack ties it all together. It is mysterious, treacherous, yet also opportunious. Heh, new word. Imma coin it. Opportunious. Anyway, within this atmosphere, the ominous sense of impending violence, I navigated what I feared would become a navigation hazard. To my overwhelmed astonishment, it turned out Blackview's street layout actually helped me. The layout is such that every important location is spaced so that it facilitates swift plot advancement or furthers the player's understanding of the city's locations. A couple circuits around it and I had memorized more or less where I needed to go, and due to its excellent atmosphere, I enjoyed exploration without growing tired or exhausted. It felt just like my first playthrough of Reborn, but far cosier and less empty feeling. And then came the Plot to poor Blackview. . . and as for the rest of the plot, each segment is well done. My complaints are few and far between. I would perhaps mention Weeping Hill as an example of Team Crescent just being there with no buildup. And I think the sequence of events should have been prepared for longer. Or at least the events that follow it in the Sky. That portion was perhaps the most contrived and frankly senseless. It also raised questions. Exactly who was it that the flying Gym Leader -cannot spell her name, Aederyn? - wanted us to meet? I thought it was Tristan, because I was sure he mentioned something about knowing her. But maybe not. At any rate, everything starting from Silver Rise and beyond was solid, gold storytelling. And apparently it is story that can radically change. Another example of great plot and game layout was Celia. Now this place is what Grand Dream City was supposed to be. And after enjoying Blackview, I felt confident I wasn't in for a second Grand Dream NIGHTMARE. *Screams incoherently while clawing bloody divots into the wall* Instead, it was a pleasant exploration interspersed with a quickly and pleasently violent escalation of the plot. And it had an explosive and eventful climax. If only I had found the means to save Nova, even if she did not deserve it, I would have liked to give her just a few more chances... I hear there is a way to do this, but how, exactly? Food for thought on the next run I guess, whenever that be. The Pokemon: I admit I was spoilt by adding a modified file that gave me speed run abilities. This patch also, fortunately or unfortunately, gave me the luxury of the debug menu, my sweet salvation for surviving to the end of Rejuv, and this one as well. I don't think I abused it much, save to get me a Shiny Turtwig and as many repels as I could. I also ended up using it to give myself a team of mono-fire types. They... did far better than I thought they should. That all said, there seems to be more than enough pokemon to make the game feasible if not easy. Which leads into the Difficulty: I don't know. I liked the difficulty level, but only because I was enjoying the fast-paced thriller story too much to desire a significant wall. However, I do think the game should be more Difficult. As with Rejuvenation, I did not get the sense that the field effects were put to such masterful use as Reborn uses them, where the field makes or breaks your team over its knee and leaves you scrambling to find countermeasures. And the battles... were definitely not that hard. The only trainers to give me real pause were Hardy in my rematch with him in the tournament, Aurora and Amelia. Perhaps the difficulty should spike after the Awakening. The AWAKENING: This has to be one of the best plot twists I have seen in a pokemon fan game. My experience with the larger population of games in general is limited, but this really felt original to me at least, and very well crafted. All along, I did feel like I might suddenly be forced to wake up. But for that to happen at the end like it did. Wow. My questions are many now now, but the story has laid them out in a proper order that I can manage and follow without getting utterly overwhelmed, or feeling like there was never a point, a flaw in Team Meteor's plot, which persists to this day. But foremost among the lingering questions is: What is Tristan?!? This game is extremely well crafted. I especially loved the dialogue boxes. About time someone added those to a fangame. It was a nice feature from Black and White that I enjoyed, and this game surprised me by adding in and expanding this visual tool. Favorite designs were Hardy and Garret. But Ava grew on me quickly. Scarlett's as well, if not for her being sidelined in my playthrough. My rating, 9/10. And I can't wait for more. But it looks like we'll all have to. Thank you Caz, for creating a stunning game. Here's to whatever you have planned for the future, and and best of wishes to you in or rl endeavors, should they force you to abandon this story here. If this is the end, then it's a satisfying one to close the curtain on. And if not, well, looks like we trainers have some answers to uncover.

They are definitely going to lose all available pokemon before they completely whiteout. Assuming they don't face something in the near future that does it.

Shhh, wcv. No. Don't speak of that. Only YOU, the main character, can move boulders! *insert Smokey the Bear Picture* And I find it odd that Cain, considering all that he's comfortable with, is so hesitant for us to meet his family. His mom tries to interact with us as formally as possible given the circumstances, and his sister has her own problems. We get very little out any of the three.

It says it is down temporarily, and also that I do not have permission to go to its old page directed from the Other Games tab. What is the problem? Hope its not serious.

Victoria is an excellent example of how the Greater Good is in fact a valid philosophy. She fights you always for the sake of the short-sighted immediate good, as wcv says. But for every "bad" decision she tries to stop you from, she opens the possibility for death and loss down the line. She kind of gets it after the Kiki battle. Kiki's life is important, but it is not as important as rescuing the orphans. Same with Obsidia. Your life is not so important as to preserve it when you have the potential help save the ward and its inhabitants. That all said, I still like Victoria. She always gave some good exp points and I never thought of her as a problem, save in the battle at Obsidia, where she just plain got in the way. Fern is also basically Blue, just with a different color. And then goes totally bad later on. For me, Cain is the annoying one. His motives are not good all through this arc of story, and he constantly promises to give you the key and then refuses, despite knowing he has to do so for you. He ends up not even going to the wasteland, breaking a promise to his sister, so why all the focus on stopping you? He sure gives it to Fern right off, of all people. So if he doesn't like handing out the key(s)... I just never appreciated it. I honestly think it is time for the Penta-Op to give up on the Nuzelock. It was fine at first, but they are going waaaaay too slow for comfort. At this rate they are going to get exhausted. Or too frustrated. Although they are playing it smarter than me. Surely they will destroy or nullify the dreaded Mirror Field. Otherwise, they had better find something that has Mirror Shot or Flash Cannon.

An angry one. I always enjoyed and yet despised Serra's field. I ALWAYs end up playing with a physical team, mostly because specially offensive teams consist of pokemon I just don't like.

Speaking of cave-collapses, that's how I defeated High King Pykumuku. And FINALLY! Found that cave where blizzard is needed to freeze the water! I read where it was on Appaphyl, not in the middle of the darn lake. Anyway, cave-collapses are fun. But not when they happen to you... Hey... now there is an idea for Hardy's gym: make him a darn cave-collapser. Oh, the rage-quits people would have when he squishes their team flat. Then again, it works well enough already with the wild Aggron/Lairon/Aron troupe. Scariest battle in the entire game for me, who did not have the cave field note, for some reason. As to the contents of next episode, I feel like they won't get to Cal just yet. Could easily be that I'm wrong, but it seems like their current pace has slowed enough that they will try to prepare for him as much as possible. He can be a threat, especially if you get unlucky enough to fight him in high sunlight. Ouch. That was not pleasant at all.

Ok, done. But I am beginning to suspect the chocies are more subtle and nuanced than we thought. It may well be there are actually more than just the vanilla and chocolate Reshiram and Zeckrom paths, unlike what we first believed. Clearly, choices can be made to alter E18 events, even after the supposed important WTC Tourmaline choices.

Ok, I have just played both my Reshiram and Zeckrom path games, which I took deliberately to get both stories. But there's a problem:

Because Charlotte was harder in the past? I just fought her with my mono-rock run of a slow version of Hardy's team, kinda. She was easy, but I am surprised she didn't have a Blaziken. As to said rock run... Kabutops. That thing saves the team again and again. It's how I managed to sweep Samson. But boy, is it frail. Not that I didn't know that before...

I feel like maybe the field should do something more with sandstorm. It lowering accuracy would help with its telluric seed. Or maybe something that assists rock moves in some way, granting them extra abilities. Since, well, most of them are rather straight forward. Perhaps turn Rock Polish into a move that boosts both speed and attack? That would be down Hardy's alley.

I found Shade reasonably tough two out of four playthroughs. But Aya with her E16 team was a monster and I struggled for some time against her. If only she did not have that Toxapex, though it can be troublesome when spike setting. I naven't the foggiest as to how the pretentious pentathletes will handle her. My hope is that they at least live to reach Tanzen Mountain. If they do that, I feel like they would continue playing even if they completely fail the nuzelock. On the other hand, if they go down in the Wasteland, I question if they'll bother going forward.

Many, many worst yets.

Thank you, Leo.

I... do not remember Chandelure being on the team. Which is rather peculiar of me.

I would agree, but... I had a damaged Pokemon Stadium 2 game that left mental scars. That game seriously was broken. I actually started counting opposing crits, and they happened literally every single damn time the game was going to lose. I think I got to like 5 crits in my entire playthrough of the varying stadiums, and countless crits for the AI. That thing was a monster, and it knew how to fight like no other Pokemon game, fanmade or canon, that I have ever witnessed. I ended up buying another one aabout five years later. Turned out that game was so much easier than the broken/damaged/possessed one. Seriously, compared to one another, the second just seemed bewildered, even in hard mode, whereas the first seemed perfectly self-aware... So, I can see how they'd feel unlucky.Some people are like that, though. Had a friend who could beat the odds all the time, only for all the bad probabilities to just hit at once. Now, what they will do against Kiki, I have no idea. Or Aya. Or Serra... or heck, Cain. Cain can really mess with you, if you aren't prepared for that mermaid seal. *Shudders* Welp, kudos to everyone here who called it that Shade would wipe the floor with them. I actually struggled in a recent playthrough with him, and remembered my fear of him after two other playthroughs where I swept him without trouble. That Mimikyu is scary. Far scarier than his Trevenant ever was. That is what Mimikyu replaced, no? And I had to laugh at how they don yet realize the video screens are prophesies. I thought it was obvious considering we had Corey's death scene as one of the clips. Clearly, the others were just yet to come... they are in for a shock when Kiki gets the scythe.

I laughed for a long time when I found it, and it's funny that I for some reason expected this. I can't imagine why, but it did not surprise me as much as it just humored my funny bone.

@Mobius, that was my ending strategy. I think the real issue is that the Rock Slide is not causing flinches as much as it is supposed to. That, and not using Rock SMASH'd!, enough. When he fought me the first time around, My Megaggron got pummeled fast and had to be returned or fainted. My second attempt at the gym still ended the same. I think the Rock SMASH should be used more than slide. Because if he does go for SMASHing, then steal types don't last long...