What led you to Pokemon Reborn?
Uh, good question. I think I was browsing TVTropes, one trope had Pokémon Reborn mentioned, and I got curious.
What do you think about the battle system in the game?
I like it! It's quite a bit harder than the main games, so I often cheese the leader fights with copious amounts of cotton candy, but I enjoy it anyway. I am really looking forward to Lite Mode though, might even try challenge runs with Lite Mode.
I really love the Field Effects; it's always fun when you figure out how to use a gym leader's field against them (Or just replace it with a field that suits you better).
But while I enjoy the challenge, I'm mostly in Reborn for the story.
What do you think about the stories/narrative in the game?
I love it. The world feels very "real" in a way, I love the varied cast, and that everyone has a well fleshed-out personality.
And while it's dark, it's also strangely hopeful in a way? Yes, things are going to hell, no denying that. But Reborn City managed to get from a polluted, crime-ridden mess into a genuinely beautiful city. I think Reborn has a nice balance between Hope and Despair, if that makes sense? Some series, movies, etc feel like they keep trying to get darker and darker and darker to be more "real" or whatever; Reborn definitely has lots and lots of darkness, but there's always also hope. The orphanage is horrible - But there's people who care and break into it to save the kids. Reborn City is a mess - But it can be fixed. Pokémon have been stolen from their owners - But you can return at least some of them. There's a lot of gang activity - But many gang members end up reforming and getting a stable job. Maybe you can't save everyone or fix everything, but you can save some people, and fix some things, and that matters, too.
In particular, what do you think about the queer characters in the game, like Cain and Adrienn?
Every time an NPC refers to Adrienn with xyr correct pronouns I gain 10 years to my life span.
Cain is my #1 favorite character in the game. His innuendos are fun, but what I like best about him is how much he cares about others. He sees a little girl with nobody to rely on, and immediately goes "I gotta be her friend and help her!". He finds out she's in big trouble, and stages a break-in to save her, a complete stranger. He may not alway go about things the "right" way (e.g. Heather feeling like he was just getting on her nerves), but his heart's in the right spot, and that's what counts. And then there's the Void bit.
And Adrienn. Well. As a genderfluid person, having a canon enby character is just so, so amazing. Every time NPCs use "xe" or say "Mx. Adrienn" I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It's like being told, "Yes, you exist. I know. I see you." Every time. And even aside from that, Adrienn is just so amazing in general? Xe couldn't dethrone Cain from his #1 spot, but xe is my second favorite character. Kind, compassionate... Adrienn saw that Reborn city was a mess and decided "Well, I'm gonna fix this!" and then xe did. Being my pronoun buddy probably helped Adrienn jump up my list of favorites, but xe would've probably landed in 2nd place anyway.
I also love being able to play as an enby. Even the villains are nice enough to use they/them pronouns, sure they might kill me, but at least nobody's misgendering me xD
I never even knew how much I wanted representation until I got it, but now I really don't want to let it go, it's just so nice. You can pry Adrienn and the Enby Player Character out of my cold, dead hands now.