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Pokémon: Old Amber is a fairly substantial remake of the Gen 2 games Gold/Silver/Crystal. This game will allow you to catch all Pokémon from the first 7 generations.
So how is that different than how HeartGold and SoulSilver allowed you to catch pokémon from generations 3 and 4? Well, those pokémon were sort of an afterthought. The pokemon available to catch in Johto remained the same, with later generation pokemon only being available in the postgame.
Old Amber is different. The species from all 7 generations are FULLY integrated into the game world, and the pokémon that trainers use on their teams have been updated as well to take advantage of the greater diversity of species available, keeping game balance in mind. As an example, the gym leader Morty was limited to using the Gastly line in the official games. In Old Amber, he has access to a better variety of Ghost type pokemon including Mismagius, Mimikyu, and Spiritomb.
You truly can catch them all. Trade-only evolutions have been replaced with alternate evolution methods. Check out the Library in Violet City as well as the Radiation Lab in Pewter City for more info on how to evolve these pokémon.
Old Amber is different. The species from all 7 generations are FULLY integrated into the game world, and the pokémon that trainers use on their teams have been updated as well to take advantage of the greater diversity of species available, keeping game balance in mind. As an example, the gym leader Morty was limited to using the Gastly line in the official games. In Old Amber, he has access to a better variety of Ghost type pokemon including Mismagius, Mimikyu, and Spiritomb.
You truly can catch them all. Trade-only evolutions have been replaced with alternate evolution methods. Check out the Library in Violet City as well as the Radiation Lab in Pewter City for more info on how to evolve these pokémon.
Legendary and Mythical pokémon can be controversial for some players, and with good reason. They tend to be game-breaking. Beating the game doesn't seem quite as satisfying of an accomplishment if you're blasting everyone away with a Level 70 Mega Rayquaza you caught with a Master Ball. Because of this, all legendary and mythical pokémon are only obtainable at the end of the postgame.
Additionally, because some players would rather not deal with them, legendary and mythical pokémon have their own separate Pokédex called "Myths & Legends", so you can complete your main Pokédex without bothering with them if you want.
There are a LOT of Legendary and Mythical pokémon, to the extent that catching them all one right after the other and using thousands of Ultra balls is going to become tedious. For this reason, I instituted an "Alpha" system. Legendary and Mythical pokémon are grouped into 18 groups, with each group having an Alpha. You only have to capture the Alpha, and then the others in that group will join your party in recognition of your strength. For example, capturing Ho-oh will cause Zapdos, Moltres, and Arcticuno to join your party.
Additionally, because some players would rather not deal with them, legendary and mythical pokémon have their own separate Pokédex called "Myths & Legends", so you can complete your main Pokédex without bothering with them if you want.
There are a LOT of Legendary and Mythical pokémon, to the extent that catching them all one right after the other and using thousands of Ultra balls is going to become tedious. For this reason, I instituted an "Alpha" system. Legendary and Mythical pokémon are grouped into 18 groups, with each group having an Alpha. You only have to capture the Alpha, and then the others in that group will join your party in recognition of your strength. For example, capturing Ho-oh will cause Zapdos, Moltres, and Arcticuno to join your party.
Difficulty modes are another feature, and no, you don't have to beat the game first like in Gen 5 in order to choose another difficulty. The difficulty level I strongly recommend for the best experience is Normal. In fact, the walkthrough I wrote assumes a Normal difficulty, but you do have the option to choose Easy or Hard if you want.
For many enemy trainers, difficulty modes will affect primarily the levels of their pokemon, but it often will change their moveset or species used entirely. For example, the first enemy trainer other than your rival uses a Level 3 Sunkern on Easy mode, a Level 3 Rattata on Normal mode, and a Level 5 Yungoos on Hard mode.
Gym leaders are perhaps the most strongly affected by difficulty modes. They have 2 pokemon on their teams in Easy mode, 3 in Normal mode, and 4 in Hard mode. Additionally, your rival uses a different team as well in each difficulty mode.
The choice of difficulty has consequences for money and experience. You get 20% LESS money on Easy Mode. However, you get 30% MORE money on Hard Mode in addition to 33% MORE experience on Hard Mode.
For many enemy trainers, difficulty modes will affect primarily the levels of their pokemon, but it often will change their moveset or species used entirely. For example, the first enemy trainer other than your rival uses a Level 3 Sunkern on Easy mode, a Level 3 Rattata on Normal mode, and a Level 5 Yungoos on Hard mode.
Gym leaders are perhaps the most strongly affected by difficulty modes. They have 2 pokemon on their teams in Easy mode, 3 in Normal mode, and 4 in Hard mode. Additionally, your rival uses a different team as well in each difficulty mode.
The choice of difficulty has consequences for money and experience. You get 20% LESS money on Easy Mode. However, you get 30% MORE money on Hard Mode in addition to 33% MORE experience on Hard Mode.
You get TWO starter pokémon, but don't get too excited just yet. A bit of realism has been added. The traditional Grass/Fire/Water starters in official games are considered rare pokémon of great potential. It seems a bit odd for someone to offer a literal child a choice among three rare and powerful pokémon as their FIRST EVER pokémon. That's like getting a BMW or a Lexus as your first car at 16. It's plausible for some people but unrealistic for most.
Your first starter is a Level 5 Mareep. You don't get a choice. There is a herd of Mareep kept in your starting town, so instead of being given a rare pokémon, you are given a common farm animal. In fact, if you don't like the specific Mareep you get as a starter, you can catch more right there in your hometown. That's not to say that Mareep is a bad starter. It evolves at level 15 and again at level 30. As a pure Electric type, it's only weakness is Ground, and its Static ability is extremely useful.
Your rival, however, is Professor Oak's granddaughter (non-canonical of course), so she gets a better starter than you. On Normal and Hard modes, she gets a Level 4 Gible. On Easy Mode, she instead gets a Level 3 Horsea.
Shortly after your first rival battle though, you meet the gym leader Bugsy, who gives you your second starter. The good news is that he actually does give you a choice among three pokémon. The bad news is that because he is a Bug type user, all three of your choices are Bug type: Cutiefly, Nincada, and Yanma. The three are very different and have their unique pros and cons. The idea here is to provide more diversity of choice than just type diversity.
So what if you want to catch one of the traditional starters like Bulbasaur? Well that will be addressed in another section.
Your first starter is a Level 5 Mareep. You don't get a choice. There is a herd of Mareep kept in your starting town, so instead of being given a rare pokémon, you are given a common farm animal. In fact, if you don't like the specific Mareep you get as a starter, you can catch more right there in your hometown. That's not to say that Mareep is a bad starter. It evolves at level 15 and again at level 30. As a pure Electric type, it's only weakness is Ground, and its Static ability is extremely useful.
Your rival, however, is Professor Oak's granddaughter (non-canonical of course), so she gets a better starter than you. On Normal and Hard modes, she gets a Level 4 Gible. On Easy Mode, she instead gets a Level 3 Horsea.
Shortly after your first rival battle though, you meet the gym leader Bugsy, who gives you your second starter. The good news is that he actually does give you a choice among three pokémon. The bad news is that because he is a Bug type user, all three of your choices are Bug type: Cutiefly, Nincada, and Yanma. The three are very different and have their unique pros and cons. The idea here is to provide more diversity of choice than just type diversity.
So what if you want to catch one of the traditional starters like Bulbasaur? Well that will be addressed in another section.
The gyms are the backbone of the official Pokémon games, and I wanted to make gym leaders have actually interesting teams. They typically don't use held items, but on Normal Mode, every gym member has one pokémon on their team with some sort of trick up their sleeve. Fortunately, the coaches in the gym (the "Yo! Champ in the making!" guy) are actually useful in Old Amber. They give good advice on things to watch out for when battling the gym leader. However, keep in mind that their advice is based on the gym leader's Normal Mode teams.
The original Gen 2 games had 16 gyms, and left out only the Dark type. With the addition of Fairy, there are now 18 types. Well, I made Old Amber match. There is now a gym for every type. Most of the locations and typings remain the same with four notable changes.
The original Gen 2 games had 16 gyms, and left out only the Dark type. With the addition of Fairy, there are now 18 types. Well, I made Old Amber match. There is now a gym for every type. Most of the locations and typings remain the same with four notable changes.
- The gym in Goldenrod City has been changed from Normal type to Fairy type. The gym's very design is meant to look like a Clefairy, which is now Fairy type, so the type change made sense. Whitney is still the gym leader.
- The gym in Blackthorn City is now a Dark type gym, and it's led by former Elite Four trainer Karen.
- The Dragon gym has moved to the Dragon's Den.
- The Normal type gym has moved to Pallet Town and is led by Norman. He looks like the Norman from the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald games, but... there's something different about this Norman.
I promise Old Amber was made long before Sword and Shield came out, so it's coincidence that they had the same idea. The Elite Four never made any sense to me. If they truly were four of the best trainers in the region, then it would make no sense to expect someone to defeat them all consecutively along with the defending Champion. The fourth member may be waiting in an empty room by themselves all day while the vast majority of challengers lose to one of the first three. It makes zero sense, so the entire concept of the Elite Four has been totally scrapped.
Instead, you become Champion the same way you do in Sword and Shield. You have to battle in a tournament, which just so happens to start when you first arrive at Indigo Plateau. Unlike the original games, you have to earn ALL 18 gyms badges before you can enter Indigo Plateau, so you will have thoroughly explored Kanto by this time.
Even though the plot says there are 32 contestants in the tournament, it's single elimination, so you will only have to battle 5 of them in order to win the tournament. Like the Elite Four, once you start, you cannot leave until you either win the tournament or you lose. Unlike the Elite Four though, there are two major differences.
Instead, you become Champion the same way you do in Sword and Shield. You have to battle in a tournament, which just so happens to start when you first arrive at Indigo Plateau. Unlike the original games, you have to earn ALL 18 gyms badges before you can enter Indigo Plateau, so you will have thoroughly explored Kanto by this time.
Even though the plot says there are 32 contestants in the tournament, it's single elimination, so you will only have to battle 5 of them in order to win the tournament. Like the Elite Four, once you start, you cannot leave until you either win the tournament or you lose. Unlike the Elite Four though, there are two major differences.
- Your team is fully healed after each battle.
- Unlike the Elite Four, trainers you battle in the tournament don't specialize in a particular type. All of them have well-balanced teams.
After becoming Champion, you are able to battle gym leaders again in rematches. The idea that those wanting to challenge the Indigo League would be required to defeat the best trainers in the land as a matter of official procedure, and for EVERY contestant to defeat the same set of people made as little sense as the Elite Four did. Instead, Old Amber takes a different approach. You still have to defeat the gym leaders to earn badges, but they aren't battling you at their best. They are intentionally using their weaker teams against you. They are trying to evaluate your skill. They are not trying to be undefeated.
However, all that changes once you are the Champion. When that happens, you can challenge them to a rematch, and they will come at you with everything they have. They will all use full teams of 6 high-leveled pokémon during rematch battle. You are still better off handling the rematch battles in the same order you handled the first battles against them.
If you win, they will give you their endorsement to enter Mt. Silver. The endorsement will also contain a clue as to the location of an Alpha pokémon. More on this in a later section. You will need the endorsements of all 18 gym leaders in order to enter Mt. Silver.
You may also repeat the tournament again, although nothing really changes there. Rematches against gym leaders and the tournament are good ways to earn Bottle Caps and Gold Bottle Caps though.
However, all that changes once you are the Champion. When that happens, you can challenge them to a rematch, and they will come at you with everything they have. They will all use full teams of 6 high-leveled pokémon during rematch battle. You are still better off handling the rematch battles in the same order you handled the first battles against them.
If you win, they will give you their endorsement to enter Mt. Silver. The endorsement will also contain a clue as to the location of an Alpha pokémon. More on this in a later section. You will need the endorsements of all 18 gym leaders in order to enter Mt. Silver.
You may also repeat the tournament again, although nothing really changes there. Rematches against gym leaders and the tournament are good ways to earn Bottle Caps and Gold Bottle Caps though.
Once you have all 18 endorsements and are granted entry to Mt. Silver, you will find your final challenge waiting for you at the end. It's an unnamed trainer who is really powerful. If you can defeat him, then the Alphas will awaken and become active in the world. At this point, you can use the clues written on the endorsements to help you track down the Alphas. Each Alpha captured will give you the associated Legendary and Mythical pokémon in their group.
There are two Safari Zones in this game. The first is in Fuchsia City. This is the only place where you can catch the starter pokémon from the official games such as Charmander or Litten. They are sectioned off in the later part of the game like this intentionally because they are not really intended to be of importance to the game. You can catch them and use them on your team if you want, but they are really there just for the sake of completion.
The second Safari Zone is located in a cave at the base of Mt. Silver. Unlike Mt. Silver proper, you don't need endorsements from gym leaders in order to enter this Safari Zone. There are decently powerful pokémon here.
The second Safari Zone is located in a cave at the base of Mt. Silver. Unlike Mt. Silver proper, you don't need endorsements from gym leaders in order to enter this Safari Zone. There are decently powerful pokémon here.
This may be one of the more controversial changes in the game, and it's something I did just to make Eevee a more interesting species. Its evolution methods have been completely overhauled. No more stones, no more waiting for a specific time of day, no more affection stats, etc. No more any of that. Instead, there is a special Eevee trainer on Route 5 who can teach your Eevee special moves. These are the special moves from Let's Go Eevee.
Learning one of these moves will immediately cause Eevee to evolve into the evolution that matches the move's type. For example, learning Baddy Bad will cause Eevee to evolve into Umbreon. However, the greatly improved stats of Eevee's evolutions make these moves very overpowered, so they have had their base power nerfed. For example, Buzzy Buzz still has a 100% chance of paralysis, but its base power is now 40 instead of 90. Additionally, certain moves like Shadow Ball and Dig can no longer be learned by Eevee and its evolutions. These handicaps are meant to balance out these special moves.
Learning one of these moves will immediately cause Eevee to evolve into the evolution that matches the move's type. For example, learning Baddy Bad will cause Eevee to evolve into Umbreon. However, the greatly improved stats of Eevee's evolutions make these moves very overpowered, so they have had their base power nerfed. For example, Buzzy Buzz still has a 100% chance of paralysis, but its base power is now 40 instead of 90. Additionally, certain moves like Shadow Ball and Dig can no longer be learned by Eevee and its evolutions. These handicaps are meant to balance out these special moves.
Somewhere in the Kanto region is a hidden village. It's not hidden in the sense that it's concealed by an illusion or anything, but rather it's hidden in the sense that a remote small town is hidden. You have to go pretty far out of your way to find it, but its location is something you can probably figure out if you think very hard about what you know of the Kanto region. It's worth finding too since this is the only location where you can find a certain species.
After becoming Champion, there are a few expert trainers in Celadon City who will offer services to you, such as boosting the EVs or IVs of your pokémon, changing its nature, or unlocking its hidden ability. They accept different things as payment, such as Bottle Caps. They have the potential to make your pokémon very overpowered, which is why they are only available in the postgame. If you are having trouble with the gym leader rematches or the final battle, it may be worth talking to these people.
Alolan variants exist in this game, but they cannot be caught in the wild. In Cianwood City, you can find the Alolan Biodiversity Center, which will trade you Alolan variants of Kantonian species in an effort to increase genetic diversity in both regions. So you can trade your Raichu for an Alolan Raichu at the same level.
Because these variants are foreign, it's rare to see enemy trainers using them, but it does happen, particularly with the most elite trainers.
Additionally, there are also NEW variants that I created for this game. These are primarily intended as crazy what-if ideas and just there for fun. No serious effort has been put into these. Additionally, they are not found in the wild and are not used by any trainers. You have to go out of your way to acquire them. They are as follows:
Because these variants are foreign, it's rare to see enemy trainers using them, but it does happen, particularly with the most elite trainers.
Additionally, there are also NEW variants that I created for this game. These are primarily intended as crazy what-if ideas and just there for fun. No serious effort has been put into these. Additionally, they are not found in the wild and are not used by any trainers. You have to go out of your way to acquire them. They are as follows:
- Electric/Psychic type Porygon, Porygon2, and Porygon-Z
- Electric/Flying type Drifloon and Drifblim
- Dragon/Water type Dragonite
- Fire/Fairy type Ninetails
- Normal/Ghost type Spiritomb
- Pure Flying Salamence
- Ghost/Fairy Gengar
- It's possible to cheat in two different ways at the Goldenrod Game Corner. You will have to figure out how, but the methods involved can still be difficult enough.
- Items available at the Goldenrod Game Corner can also be purchased at the Celadon City Department Store for a lot less money than you would need to spend buying coins at the Goldenrod Game Corner if you just paid for all your Coins that way instead of winning them. The trade-off is that you get your items sooner in the game in Goldenrod.
- Trainers can NOT use items during battle. Held items are allowed since it is the pokémon that is using the item, not the trainer. This rule applies to both the player as well as enemy trainers. So no more spamming Max Revives in order to win a difficult battle.
- The region is called Johto-Kanto now since the two have agreed to a political merger. As such, there is zero difference in status between Kanto and Johto gym leaders.
- The male and female Nidoran species have been combined into a single species, although their respective evolutions are still distinct. This means there are 806 pokémon species in the game instead of the official 807.
- All TMs are reusable. So are fossils.
- There are no more HMs.
- You are given an Abra Pager early in the game that will replace flying. It works the same way.
- You are given a Surfboard at the very beginning of the game that allows you to surf across water from the very start.
- You can obtain a Pickaxe on Route 3 to smash rocks with.
- The Pokedex has been rearranged to be more logical. For example, Magmar now comes right after Magby and right before Magmortar. And Miltank is right after Tauros. And so on.
- Cinnabar Island is now more accurately called "Cinnabar Islands". After volcanic destruction ruined the city, they rebuilt and became even better than before. They created a second island out of the molten rock and built a bridge between the two.
- Due to a battle at the Power Plant in which pokemon kept using moves like Earthquake and Hurricane, the geography of eastern Kanto has changed somewhat. Basically the docks connecting Vermilion City to Lavender Town have been destroyed. And the mountainous path that led from Cerulean City to Rock Tunnel has collapse. Fortunately, Diglett's Cave has grown over the years, and there is a new path in Diglett's Cave that connects to Rock Tunnel.
- Professor Elm pays you for your research. Every time you battle a wild pokemon and win, your Pokedex collects data from the battle that gets transmitted to Professor Elm. He gives you $40 each time, and $60 if you actually catch that wild pokemon. These are very trivial amounts, but it's still helpful for players who have exhausted all of their funds and don't have any trainers nearby that they can battle for more money.
Changelog
v1.0.5:
Fixed warning messages when using certain stat raising moves like Ominous Wind.
Fixed invisible wall on a small part of water on Route 34
v1.0.8:
Removed some confusing dialogue from old man in lakeside cabin.
v1.1.11
Slightly improved encounter rates for rare pokémon. Fixed issue with Mind Blown move.
v1.1.12
Tweaked opponent teams on Easy mode.
Added Rare Scent item for sale on 2nd floor of Celadon City Department Store. It makes rare pokemon in an area more likely to appear for 200 steps.
Move Reminder no longer requires Heart Scales
SETUP
DOWNLOAD LINKS
I used Pokémon Essentials v17.2 for RPG Maker XP to make this game, and I used assets from the following people:
Luka: modular pause menu and title screen
Kyledove & Speed: tilesets
Newtiteuf & Darkrange: tilesets
Evolemon: UI assets
Dragoon: HGSS overworld sprites
shiney570: starter selection script
Crystal Noel: Evolution Moves script
I am fairly certain I got everyone, but if you are playing the game and see anyone who I might have missed, please let me know and I will be sure to credit them.
Luka: modular pause menu and title screen
Kyledove & Speed: tilesets
Newtiteuf & Darkrange: tilesets
Evolemon: UI assets
Dragoon: HGSS overworld sprites
shiney570: starter selection script
Crystal Noel: Evolution Moves script
I am fairly certain I got everyone, but if you are playing the game and see anyone who I might have missed, please let me know and I will be sure to credit them.
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