V13 review part 1.

[Magus543]

Hello forums, man it's been a while since V12 huh? And hot damn was this worth the wait, really there is a LOT to unpack and enjoy.

 

 

So we begin with Alexandra explaining the plot such as the League being a sham(Which isn't really hard to guess.), who Celine actually is, and that we are actually bonded to a soul named Ardrest. I gotta say I'm pretty lucky I remembered most of the plot, because this is just a large exposition dump. But the biggest revelation here to me, was Nim's true nature as a time travelling amnesiac Nymeria I mean Storm 9. So after an introduction to Rejuvenation's version of a Dynamax fight, we also get exposition what Damian and Alex fought over Nim and how she got involved in the plot, then we also get an explanation for who Mom was. And she's some sort of spell like Kanon. And she's still alive in the black box, and apparently the Garufa weren't a tribe but a corporation.  Also we have a mind palace and we really like Kenneth but whatever. 

 

Can you believe that this has FINALLY been explained after all these years? In fact, this entire update is mostly here to explain plot points that have been a mystery box since the game's development began, and luckily for most of us, they deliver answers in a very satisfactory way. 

 

 

Most of the time anyway. But we'll get there. So Alexandra and Damian realize the folly of relying on teenagers/young adults to fight a terrorist organization and volunteer to train and build team chemistry between us. (Even though they really should just teach us to restrain a bad guy after we beat them in a Pokemon match. Looking at you Geara.) And so it begins with a training match with Melia and us, and I for one am excited to use my team again after so long, and the field is a goddamn fairy tale field that benefits Melia's team and is stacked against mine.

 

 

Oh Rejuvenation, I missed you.

 

And after some frustration, Melia is defeated and we now begin the training. Gotta say this section demonstrates Rejuvenation's strengths in characters and chemistry, it's a joy to see our crew after so long, and this part really helps in selling that we are a team, even if we carry most of them. But I digress. 

 

 

Alexandra: And now everyone is trained and ready to go retrieve plot devices.

 

MC: But I'm still lvl 85, if the League is a sham, couldn't you just give me the rest of the badges so I can FINALLY lvl up to max?

 

Alexandra: And now everyone is trained and ready to go retrieve plot devices. 

 

MC: This entire update is going to be spent as a lvl 85 isn't it? 

 

Everyone: Don't worry, WE can go over the cap. But never you, in fact, the game will throw some lvl 89s at you because fuck you. 

 

MC: At least I have my herbs that can revive my team to max.

 

Dev Team: Hahahaahaha. No.

 

MC: Well at least me and Aelita are team leader.

 

Aelita: Hahaahah, I'm the only one who can talk between the two of us. 

 

So to retrieve the next plot devices, we'll have to split up into groups, and this is actually a pretty smart writing move. It's a common complaint that Rejuvenation has TOO many plot points and characters so this allows the writers to give the limelight to certain characters, give them some time with other characters for development, AND address more plot points that have been sort of forgotten like Angie.

 

 

For Erin and Kanon's section, I'm glad that it addressed certain complaints about Kanon's character because it just seemed for a long time, the writers had no idea what to do with him, at first he was some smug incel who was stalking Melia, was a traitor to the group, then revised to just be an incel but still on our side, then he's actually a literal slave born out of magic and V12 sort of treated it like it was a triumphant revelation for him and treated Huey like a joke for finding this disturbing. So it's good that Erin points out just how messed up his existence actually is, and even Kanon starts to agree. In fact, Erin and Kanon's interactions were pretty amusing in this section, you can tell the dev team put a lot of effort into this, with the new group talk function, Erin and Kanon's dynamic is pretty interesting, Erin's an abuse victim and longs for a purpose, finding it in supporting her friends and family, and Kanon's someone who is unable to think for himself and defines himself by his worth to others, to the point he refuses to think for himself and proclaims himself a lesser being. It's a nice contrast to Angie and her slaves.

 

 

Unfortunately, this is where I have to start getting critical, Angie is honestly doesn't exude as much menace like she did the last time, not helped by the fact that she's contrasted by the wacky antics of her maids. It's been a while, but I don't remember her maids being so silly and comical. They were just coldly doing their jobs. (Pun intended.) Now the Maids are silly and barely motivated to do their jobs. Also doesn't help that the Regice rift is pretty anti-climatic, they are just easy fodder and an annoyance. This chapter has a pretty jarring tonal shifts, where it's either Angie menacing Erin and Kanon and the latter two barely surviving and learning more about each other, and Angie's past, or it's Erin playing straight man to Kanon and the Maid's antics. I had no idea what the team was going for here, it still mostly works but it's carried by Erin and Kanon's interactions.

 

 

So one of the big twists of this chapter is that Erin and Kanon were both abused by Vitus, like that's one hell of a coincidence and honestly makes the world feel smaller. Hell apparently KANON is the FIRST CREATION by the first humans? That's just feels contrived and unneeded like connecting Erin to Melia by blood.  The whole Theolia family drama doesn't really hook me and this chapter unfortunately doesn't do much to help. Like the whole Erin section remembers who she was just feels like a retread of the Melia and Marianiette plot points, of standing up to her dad and such. It feels like Erin is just a copy of Melia. I'm sure this was planned but honestly, not a well executed plot point, but this is just my opinion.

 

 

We also learn that the Theolia family has even more dirty secrets when we learn that Anathea put a love spell on Vitus and THAT was the real reason he was temporarily reformed. 

 

Pretty fucked up. And Vitus was still evil enough to banish his children except Melia/Maria to another dimension. 

 

Honestly both parents are looking pretty terrible RN. Especially with asking their children to spy on the other.  Who by the way are artificial avatars of the not-Triforce. Yeah there is a lot to unpack.

 

 

 

Another important point to note, but Erin actually quotes the same lines Madam X did in the prologue when telling Maria not to forget, and Erin proclaims that if Vitus is God then she's the devil in the most dramatically edgy way possible. Presumably to give hints to who Madam X is. This is just weird to me because Vitus worships Arceus, or something, and never really boasted of being God himself in dialogue even in the scene where she's being locked away. Maybe the update changed the early game dialogue? I dunno, that bit of Erin's proclamation of being the devil just felt like it was trying to ape Persona 5 or Tales of Berseria and not working. It just feels forced. 

 

 

 

So at the end, Erin and Kanon defeat Angie and Cera (who luckily threw away her Groudon. Smart.) and rescue Alex and Damien. Then there's some weird shit of Vitus's ghost actually possessing Angie, paying off that easy to miss scene back in Terujuma, and then the two villains escape. Honestly, pretty scary thought of what Vitus does in Angie's body. Then the path ends with holes in reality being created.

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for the next part, and I hope you enjoy the update as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

[Magus543]

Error post, NVM. 

[EmilianTheRed]

Pretty good review, looking forward to part 2. Glad to see I'm not the only one dissapointed by the Regices.

[Dausk]

On 7/20/2021 at 9:13 AM, Magus543 said:

Unfortunately, this is where I have to start getting critical, Angie is honestly doesn't exude as much menace like she did the last time, not helped by the fact that she's contrasted by the wacky antics of her maids. It's been a while, but I don't remember her maids being so silly and comical. They were just coldly doing their jobs. (Pun intended.) Now the Maids are silly and barely motivated to do their jobs. Also doesn't help that the Regice rift is pretty anti-climatic, they are just easy fodder and an annoyance. This chapter has a pretty jarring tonal shifts, where it's either Angie menacing Erin and Kanon and the latter two barely surviving and learning more about each other, and Angie's past, or it's Erin playing straight man to Kanon and the Maid's antics. I had no idea what the team was going for here, it still mostly works but it's carried by Erin and Kanon's interactions.

I think the idea was that at this point, the maids had formed their own personalities the same way Kanon did. Nymiera mentioned that the longer maids remain alive, the more human-like they become. I thought it paralleled with Kanon's situation quite well. Overall good review.

[MhicKy]

The story for me is pretty great so far but I had some complaints with the other teams Pokemon composition, not by the Pokemons themselves but their movesets..

Erin's Alpharos had not a SINGLE move with 100acc so I had to repeat the fight against Angie multiple times because it would CONSTANTLY miss.. Her Zangoose was fine except by the fact that it didn't had Facade but Return(?) like, why? Facade on Zangooze with Crest is MUCH more powerful than Return and her Butterfree is basically useless against Engie's barrage of Ice Types save the fact that it has a Focus Sash so it can put at least one of them to sleep before going to bed itself..

But aside from the composition and the fact that the NPCs already have Pokemons that surpass Lv85 when we can't I didn't had much complaints, the story and the gimmick was fun!