Completed Pokémon Alpha Genesis

CrimsonTy · Aug 13, 2022

Did a Nuzlocke, lost to the first gym.
My final team consisted of Combusken (Teriyaki), Rookiedee (Chessbird), Venipede (Venus II), Zubat (Acrobat), Votlorb (Borltov), and an Egg I never hatched.
Boxed: Wurple (Adrian)
Dead: Makuhita (Wheat) and the Pokemon in the final team.

The game is kinda boring. No trainers except for the Gym Trainers, the rivals showed up once and never appeared, the town the Professor was supposed to be in wasn't there, and homes and towns were empty. It looks like the only thing done was the beginning and the ending with some filler routes.
The starting town had 0 way to heal so I had dangerously low HP Pokemon going into Route 1 (I almost lost my starter to a Rattata). The cave and routes had 0 trainers making it a little annoying to get EXP. The map designs were pretty plain but at least they weren't too open or too cramped. Also Pinsir shouldn't be is a place where Pokemon are in the mid 10s.

I understand you didn't have much time to work on the game but I still wanted to give constructed criticism.

Tonystar73 · Aug 13, 2022

CrimsonTy said:
Did a Nuzlocke, lost to the first gym.
My final team consisted of Combusken (Teriyaki), Rookiedee (Chessbird), Venipede (Venus II), Zubat (Acrobat), Votlorb (Borltov), and an Egg I never hatched.
Boxed: Wurple (Adrian)
Dead: Makuhita (Wheat) and the Pokemon in the final team.

The game is kinda boring. No trainers except for the Gym Trainers, the rivals showed up once and never appeared, the town the Professor was supposed to be in wasn't there, and homes and towns were empty. It looks like the only thing done was the beginning and the ending with some filler routes.
The starting town had 0 way to heal so I had dangerously low HP Pokemon going into Route 1 (I almost lost my starter to a Rattata). The cave and routes had 0 trainers making it a little annoying to get EXP. The map designs were pretty plain but at least they weren't too open or too cramped. Also Pinsir shouldn't be is a place where Pokemon are in the mid 10s.

I understand you didn't have much time to work on the game but I still wanted to give constructed criticism.

I appreciate the criticism. It's my first time making a game, so I felt I've learnt a lot. And I can only hope my next game I make will be far more superior and more enjoyable.

Also sorry you couldn't nuzlocke the game.

If it's of any interest, I'm currently working on the game so I can flesh it out better. So, if you ever felt interested to possibly try again later on in the year when I upload an update, I'll be interested to see how you fair then. But of course, I won't blame you if your just hear for a one and done thing.

TechSkylander1518 · Aug 22, 2022

That region map came out really nice! You seem to have a great handle on the region map style, I've always found that tricky myself!

I think you made great use of the default tiles, especially in the first town - little things like the fences and backyards and the couches added some nice details to make it feel more like a place people live in.

I loved all the hidden berries and the stones on the beach - I feel like hidden items are often skipped over in fan games, and keeping the trend of hiding stuff in rocks or having that little shadow of a berry is a great way to give the player clues without making the item obvious!

The title screen is really generic - the background is just a solid color, the sprites are just the default trainer and starter Pokemon, and they're all arranged in a straight line. It doesn't really say much about the game, other than "You can play as Red and get these Pokemon as starters", which is pretty common in fangames. I think that, even if you're just using default graphics, you can still toy with them a bit to show what's unique with your game. You could make the background one of your maps, for example, or put Blue and Green in as well, since all three are characters in the story.

Beech's intro speech is basically the same as in default Essentials, apart from giving his name and remarking that "I'm sure they'll be simple."

I get the goal of having an opportunity to name the rivals, but it feels awkward that the player's mom is involved enough in their life to talk about how their friend is also getting their starter, but forgets her name. Since all three characters are planning on getting their starters at the same time, maybe you could just have a scene where the player signs them all up to get Pokemon, and enters all their names at once?

Every NPC in the first town gives directions to Wandering Forest. It feels a little excessive, especially considering the player literally can't go anywhere else.

I love a good character theme, but Blue's theme was only played for two lines before the map's theme returned, which felt awkward.

Even though they're all canon Pokemon, it still felt odd to not display them when the player looks at the Poke Balls for their starter.

"I'll take this one" is really generic dialogue, and it's basically just repeated by Blue and Green - I feel like there could have been a little more of their personality added, even when it's just grabbing the leftover Pokemon.

I feel like Green's catching tutorial was a little too vague. She says that the Poke Ball should work "if you do everything correctly", but that's not really true, there's an element of chance to it. (Honestly, given how most people playing this are going to be familiar with Pokemon games already, I don't think you even need to bother keeping it in)

It felt strange that the player's mom just said "I look forward to hearing about your adventure later" when you're right there and able to talk with her.

For that matter, what the adventure is isn't really clear - I don't think any NPCs even tell you to take on the gyms. It feels like a lot of the progression just comes from knowledge of standard Pokemon games and just going to the next available map.

The gym guy mentions the type of the gym, but doesn't even mention the type's weaknesses.

The theme of "Maybe life isn't really that simple" is a great idea, but it feels shoehorned into the last scene. Apart from one line in Beech's intro, the idea that life could be simple or complex doesn't really come up at all in the game.

I know a lot of these issues come from time management issues, though, and I think that's ultimately a good sign - if I'm understanding right, it's the maps that you were able to put the most effort into, and those all came out very well. Of course, I can't say for sure that you'd do just as well on the other aspects of the game, they are different skills, but it seems to me like you'd be perfectly capable of putting just as much work in on other areas with less time constraints.

The Essentials wiki link is still in the game's folder.

Can't interact with the PC in the player's room.

You can look at Blue's mailbox before naming him, which will make it say it's 0s house.

The Egg is listed as being received from "Best Friend" rather than the name you give the rival.

Battles in the cave display the indoor battlebacks, and battles in the forest display the indoor background with grassy battlebases.

You can just go straight into Hollow Forest without beating the gym.

The signs in the overworld don't say anything.

Pokémon is written as "pokemon" everywhere in the game

Title screen says "Aplha" instead of "Alpha"
Good morning \PN - Good morning, \PN
Ah yes - Ah, yes
Hey \PN! - Hey, \PN!
your frist pokemon today? - your first Pokémon today?
Ah come on - Ah, come on
I know you want to really -I know you really want to
You Honestly can't - You honestly can't
Hey friend, I hear your getting your first pokemon - Hey, friend, I hear you're
I bet your pretty excited about that huh? - I bet you're pretty excited about that, huh?
Okay then. You best hurry along then. - Okay, then. You best hurry along, then.
Town shouldn't be capitalized in the man's dialogue at the edge of town
Ah \PN, glad you could - Ah, \PN, glad
a friend of yours or something right? - or something, right?
Ah of course - Ah, oh course
What up losers! - What up, losers!
Ah excellent, now - Ah, excellent, no
I would like to go last if that's okay? - last, if that's okay?
Where you going? - This one's technically not a typo because it would be correct in some forms of English, but since Beech just talks in standard English, I figure you mean "Where are you going?"
take this one then - this one, then
as your such a great - as you're such a great
there is actually some pretty amazing Pokemon - there are actually some
I'll leave you to it then - to it, then
Ah okay - Ah, okay
Well its really quite simple actually - Well, it's really quite simple, actually
pokeballs - Poké Ball
Then if you done everyone up to that poiint correctly, It should be as simple as 1, 2, 3. - Then, if you've done everything up to that point correctly, it should be
I sure you'll get - I'm sure
Here you go then - Here you go, then
Ah thats a shame - Ah, that's a shame
Hey \PN, hows your adventure going? - Hey, \PN, how's
Oh I'm sorry to hear - Oh, I'm
I hope your happy - you're happy
on your adventure as far... - so far
as simple as its made out to be - it's

Tonystar73 · Aug 22, 2022

TechSkylander1518 said:
That region map came out really nice! You seem to have a great handle on the region map style, I've always found that tricky myself!

I think you made great use of the default tiles, especially in the first town - little things like the fences and backyards and the couches added some nice details to make it feel more like a place people live in.

I loved all the hidden berries and the stones on the beach - I feel like hidden items are often skipped over in fan games, and keeping the trend of hiding stuff in rocks or having that little shadow of a berry is a great way to give the player clues without making the item obvious!

The title screen is really generic - the background is just a solid color, the sprites are just the default trainer and starter Pokemon, and they're all arranged in a straight line. It doesn't really say much about the game, other than "You can play as Red and get these Pokemon as starters", which is pretty common in fangames. I think that, even if you're just using default graphics, you can still toy with them a bit to show what's unique with your game. You could make the background one of your maps, for example, or put Blue and Green in as well, since all three are characters in the story.

Beech's intro speech is basically the same as in default Essentials, apart from giving his name and remarking that "I'm sure they'll be simple."

I get the goal of having an opportunity to name the rivals, but it feels awkward that the player's mom is involved enough in their life to talk about how their friend is also getting their starter, but forgets her name. Since all three characters are planning on getting their starters at the same time, maybe you could just have a scene where the player signs them all up to get Pokemon, and enters all their names at once?

Every NPC in the first town gives directions to Wandering Forest. It feels a little excessive, especially considering the player literally can't go anywhere else.

I love a good character theme, but Blue's theme was only played for two lines before the map's theme returned, which felt awkward.

Even though they're all canon Pokemon, it still felt odd to not display them when the player looks at the Poke Balls for their starter.

"I'll take this one" is really generic dialogue, and it's basically just repeated by Blue and Green - I feel like there could have been a little more of their personality added, even when it's just grabbing the leftover Pokemon.

I feel like Green's catching tutorial was a little too vague. She says that the Poke Ball should work "if you do everything correctly", but that's not really true, there's an element of chance to it. (Honestly, given how most people playing this are going to be familiar with Pokemon games already, I don't think you even need to bother keeping it in)

It felt strange that the player's mom just said "I look forward to hearing about your adventure later" when you're right there and able to talk with her.

For that matter, what the adventure is isn't really clear - I don't think any NPCs even tell you to take on the gyms. It feels like a lot of the progression just comes from knowledge of standard Pokemon games and just going to the next available map.

The gym guy mentions the type of the gym, but doesn't even mention the type's weaknesses.

The theme of "Maybe life isn't really that simple" is a great idea, but it feels shoehorned into the last scene. Apart from one line in Beech's intro, the idea that life could be simple or complex doesn't really come up at all in the game.

I know a lot of these issues come from time management issues, though, and I think that's ultimately a good sign - if I'm understanding right, it's the maps that you were able to put the most effort into, and those all came out very well. Of course, I can't say for sure that you'd do just as well on the other aspects of the game, they are different skills, but it seems to me like you'd be perfectly capable of putting just as much work in on other areas with less time constraints.

The Essentials wiki link is still in the game's folder.

Can't interact with the PC in the player's room.

You can look at Blue's mailbox before naming him, which will make it say it's 0s house.

The Egg is listed as being received from "Best Friend" rather than the name you give the rival.

Battles in the cave display the indoor battlebacks, and battles in the forest display the indoor background with grassy battlebases.
View attachment 12020

You can just go straight into Hollow Forest without beating the gym.

The signs in the overworld don't say anything.

Pokémon is written as "pokemon" everywhere in the game

Title screen says "Aplha" instead of "Alpha"

Good morning \PN - Good morning, \PN

Ah yes - Ah, yes

Hey \PN! - Hey, \PN!

your frist pokemon today? - your first Pokémon today?

Ah come on - Ah, come on

I know you want to really -I know you really want to

You Honestly can't - You honestly can't

Hey friend, I hear your getting your first pokemon - Hey, friend, I hear you're

I bet your pretty excited about that huh? - I bet you're pretty excited about that, huh?

Okay then. You best hurry along then. - Okay, then. You best hurry along, then.

Town shouldn't be capitalized in the man's dialogue at the edge of town

Ah \PN, glad you could - Ah, \PN, glad

a friend of yours or something right? - or something, right?

Ah of course - Ah, oh course

What up losers! - What up, losers!

Ah excellent, now - Ah, excellent, no

I would like to go last if that's okay? - last, if that's okay?

Where you going? - This one's technically not a typo because it would be correct in some forms of English, but since Beech just talks in standard English, I figure you mean "Where are you going?"

take this one then - this one, then

as your such a great - as you're such a great

there is actually some pretty amazing Pokemon - there are actually some

I'll leave you to it then - to it, then

Ah okay - Ah, okay

Well its really quite simple actually - Well, it's really quite simple, actually

pokeballs - Poké Ball

Then if you done everyone up to that poiint correctly, It should be as simple as 1, 2, 3. - Then, if you've done everything up to that point correctly, it should be

I sure you'll get - I'm sure

Here you go then - Here you go, then

Ah thats a shame - Ah, that's a shame

Hey \PN, hows your adventure going? - Hey, \PN, how's

Oh I'm sorry to hear - Oh, I'm

I hope your happy - you're happy

on your adventure as far... - so far

as simple as its made out to be - it's

Thank you so much for your comment. I can tell you took the time to really critique every aspect of the game, which I greatly appreciate.

You left me with a lot to think about... And I can only hope that, the next Game Jam I take part in, I'll do a much better job in the various areas that you spoke about needing improvement.

Completed Pokémon Alpha Genesis

CrimsonTy

Just some guy

Tonystar73

Rookie

TechSkylander1518

Wiki Dweeb

Tonystar73

Rookie