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Released Pokémon IIII

This project has a release available. The full version is still a work in progress.
title.png

Pokémon IIII​

(It's Pokemon 4 in roman numerals. Yes, I am aware that that would technically be Pokemon IV. Yes, I did not call it that on purpose. I'm trying to not send the wrong message. We both know the one.)

What would you do if you woke up one morning and everyone was gone? Your mom? Not there. The neighbor? Not at home. The store? Completely deserted.

Would you just go back to bed? Let everything be, this'll fix itself eventually, and the like? Or would you go out and look for clues to figure out what happened? Well, hopefully, the latter, because otherwise, this will be a very short gaming experience.

Play as Clyde and his friends in a race against the clock, as they try to figure out what happened to the people of Kamelia Town, while there are signs of a storm brewing in the distance...

About​

If the title's not unneccesarily cryptic enough for you, I'm sure that summary did it. I should preface this game by saying: This is a puzzle game first and a Pokémon game second. What does that mean? Lots of keys, numeral locks and things to read. There's no wild encounters, no training, and very few battles. And even those battles are actually just puzzles.

...I am not doing a good job selling this thing to you, am I?

I wanted to do something a little different for this jam, and this was the thing that came out; It's a relatively short game and I dare say that the puzzles are not that difficult (if push comes to shove you can pretty much brute force your way through most of them), so if you're into that kinda stuff, give it a try.

Features​

Four different protagonists
Between one and two hours of gameplay (depends on how fast you do the puzzles)
A variety of puzzles, from code riddles to puzzle battles

Screenshots​

2023-02-12 (1).png
2023-02-12 (3).png
2023-02-12 (4).png
2023-02-12 (5).png
2023-02-12 (6).png
2023-02-12 (7).png
2023-02-12 (8).png
2023-02-12 (9).png
2023-02-12.png
2023-02-12 (2).png

Three Settings​

Cozy Town
Ruined Factory
Ominous Forest

Credits​

Pokemon IIII

Made for Relic Castle Winter Game Jam 4 by:
Never_this_again

Ekats Public Gen 3 Tilesets by:
Ekat
Heartless Dragoon
Morlockhater
Nemu
Ross Hawkins
Pokemon Dawn
Slimshady
Thedeadheroalistar
The-Red-Ex
Vurtax
Zein
Redblueyellow
Fabnt
War8
Dragoon
Silverdeoxys563
SteamyJ
Anonalpaca
Pokémon Rejuvenation
Puggsoy
Aveontrainer
Idillio
Dasani
Shyin

Generation 8 Pack:
Battler Sprites:
Gen 1-5 Pokemon Sprites - veekun
Gen 6 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon X/Y Sprite Project
Gen 7 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon Sun/Moon Sprite Project
Gen 8 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon Sword/Shield Sprite Project

Overworld Sprites
Gen 6+ Berry Tree Overworlds - Anarlaurendil
Gen 6 Pokemon Overworlds - princess-pheonix, LunarDusk, Wolfang62, TintjeMadelintje101, piphybuilder88
Gen 7 Pokemon Overworlds - Larry Turbo, princess-pheonix
Gen 8 Pokemon Overworlds - SageDeoxys, Wolfang62, LarryTurbo, tammyclaydon
Gen 1-5 Pokemon Overworlds:
MissingLukey, help-14, Kymoyonian, cSc-A7X, 2and2makes5,
Pokegirl4ever, Fernandojl, Silver-Skies, TyranitarDark, Getsuei-H, Kid1513,
Milomilotic11, Kyt666, kdiamo11, Chocosrawlooid, Syledude, Gallanty, Gizamimi-Pichu,
2and2makes5, Zyon17,LarryTurbo, spritesstealer, LarryTurbo

Icon Sprites
Gen 1-6 Pokemon Icon Sprites - Alaguesia
Gen 7 Pokemon Icon Sprites - Marin, MapleBranchWing, Contributors to the
DS Styled Gen 7+ Repository
Gen 8 Icon Sprites - Larry Turbo, Leparagon

Cry Credits:
Gen 1-6 Pokemon Cries - Rhyden
Gen 7 Pokemon Cries - Marin, Rhyden
Gen 8 Pokemon Cries - Zeak6464

Script Credits:
Golisopod User, Luka S.J.

Compilation of Resources:
Golisopod User, UberDunsparce

Super Simple Level Caps by:
Clara

Generation 8 Move Animation Project
Thanks to the Reborn team for letting people use their resources. You are awesome.
Project lead by StCooler.
Contributors: StCooler, DarryBD99, WolfPP, ardicoozer, riddlemeree.

Music by ENLS:
Cold Storage
Eterna Forest
Strange House
Conquest Grass Battle

Advanced Item Field Moves by:
Bergium
TechSkylander1518
Moyo
Marin

Generation 8 Pack Scripts by:
Golisopod User
Luka S.J.

Marin's Scripting Utilities by:
Marin

Marin's Map Exporter by:
Marin

v20.1 Hotfixes for Essentials by:
Maruno

"Pokémon Essentials" was created by:
Flameguru
Poccil (Peter O.)
Maruno

With contributions from:
AvatarMonkeyKirby<s>Marin
Boushy<s>MiDas Mike
Brother1440<s>Near Fantastica
FL.<s>PinkMan
Genzai Kawakami<s>Popper
Golisopod User<s>Rataime
help-14<s>Savordez
IceGod64<s>SoundSpawn
Jacob O. Wobbrock<s>the__end
KitsuneKouta<s>Venom12
Lisa Anthony<s>Wachunga
Luka S.J.<s>
and everyone else who helped out

"mkxp-z" by:
Roza
Based on "mkxp" by Ancurio et al.

"RPG Maker XP" by:
Enterbrain

Pokémon is owned by:
The Pokémon Company
Nintendo
Affiliated with Game Freak

Download Link​

Resource Pack​

Walkthrough​

I do have a walkthrough for this, that gets you straight through the game, which I can post if this turns out too difficult. But like... not immediately.​
 

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DeanOneal

Rookie
Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2023
Posts
1

Pokémon IIII​

(It's Pokemon 4 in roman numerals. Yes, I am aware that that would technically be Pokemon IV. Yes, I did not call it that on purpose. I'm trying to not send the wrong message. We both know the one.)

What would you do if you woke up one morning and everyone was gone? Your mom? Not there. The neighbor? Not at home. The store? Completely deserted.

Would you just go back to bed? Let everything be, this'll fix itself eventually, and the like? Or would you go out and look for clues to figure out what happened? Well, hopefully, the latter, because otherwise, this will be a very short gaming experience.

Play as Clyde and his friends in a race against the clock, as they try to figure out what happened to the people of Kamelia Town, while there are signs of a storm brewing in the distance...

About​

If the title's not unneccesarily cryptic enough for you, I'm sure that summary did it. I should preface this game by saying: This is a puzzle game first and a Pokémon game second. What does that mean? Lots of keys, numeral locks and things to read. There's no wild encounters, no training, and very few battles. And even those battles are actually just puzzles.

...I am not doing a good job selling this thing to you, am I?

I wanted to do something a little different for this jam, and this was the thing that came out; It's a relatively short game and I dare say that the puzzles are not that difficult (if push comes to shove you can pretty much brute force your way through most of them), so if you're into that kinda stuff, give it a try.

Features​

Four different protagonists
Between one and two hours of gameplay (depends on how fast you do the puzzles)
A variety of puzzles, from code riddles to puzzle battles

Screenshots​

Three Settings​

Cozy Town
Ruined Factory
Ominous Forest

Credits​

Pokemon IIII

Made for Relic Castle Winter Game Jam 4 by:
Never_this_again

Ekats Public Gen 3 Tilesets by:
Ekat
Heartless Dragoon
Morlockhater
Nemu
Ross Hawkins
Pokemon Dawn
Slimshady
Thedeadheroalistar
The-Red-Ex
Vurtax
Zein
Redblueyellow
Fabnt
War8
Dragoon
Silverdeoxys563
SteamyJ
Anonalpaca
Pokémon Rejuvenation
Puggsoy
Aveontrainer
Idillio
Dasani
Shyin

Generation 8 Pack:
Battler Sprites:
Gen 1-5 Pokemon Sprites - veekun
Gen 6 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon X/Y Sprite Project
Gen 7 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon Sun/Moon Sprite Project
Gen 8 Pokemon Sprites - All Contributors To Smogon Sword/Shield Sprite Project

Overworld Sprites
Gen 6+ Berry Tree Overworlds - Anarlaurendil
Gen 6 Pokemon Overworlds - princess-pheonix, LunarDusk, Wolfang62, TintjeMadelintje101, piphybuilder88
Gen 7 Pokemon Overworlds - Larry Turbo, princess-pheonix
Gen 8 Pokemon Overworlds - SageDeoxys, Wolfang62, LarryTurbo, tammyclaydon
Gen 1-5 Pokemon Overworlds:
MissingLukey, help-14, Kymoyonian, cSc-A7X, 2and2makes5,
Pokegirl4ever, Fernandojl, Silver-Skies, TyranitarDark, Getsuei-H, Kid1513,
Milomilotic11, Kyt666, kdiamo11, Chocosrawlooid, Syledude, Gallanty, Gizamimi-Pichu,
2and2makes5, Zyon17,LarryTurbo, spritesstealer, LarryTurbo

Icon Sprites
Gen 1-6 Pokemon Icon Sprites - Alaguesia
Gen 7 Pokemon Icon Sprites - Marin, MapleBranchWing, Contributors to the
DS Styled Gen 7+ Repository
Gen 8 Icon Sprites - Larry Turbo, Leparagon

Cry Credits:
Gen 1-6 Pokemon Cries - Rhyden
Gen 7 Pokemon Cries - Marin, Rhyden
Gen 8 Pokemon Cries - Zeak6464

Script Credits:
Golisopod User, Luka S.J.

Compilation of Resources:
Golisopod User, UberDunsparce

Super Simple Level Caps by:
Clara

Generation 8 Move Animation Project
Thanks to the Reborn team for letting people use their resources. You are awesome.
Project lead by StCooler.
Contributors: StCooler, DarryBD99, WolfPP, ardicoozer, riddlemeree.

Music by ENLS:
Cold Storage
Eterna Forest
Strange House
Conquest Grass Battle

Advanced Item Field Moves by:
Bergium
TechSkylander1518
Moyo
Marin

Generation 8 Pack Scripts by:
Golisopod User
Luka S.J.

Marin's Scripting Utilities by:
Marin

Marin's Map Exporter by:
Marin

v20.1 Hotfixes for Essentials by:
Maruno

"Pokémon Essentials" was created by:
Flameguru
Poccil (Peter O.)
Maruno

With contributions from:
AvatarMonkeyKirby<s>Marin
Boushy<s>MiDas Mike
Brother1440<s>Near Fantastica
FL.<s>PinkMan
Genzai Kawakami<s>Popper
Golisopod User<s>Rataime
help-14<s>Savordez
IceGod64<s>SoundSpawn
Jacob O. Wobbrock<s>the__end
KitsuneKouta<s>Venom12
Lisa Anthony<s>Wachunga
Luka S.J.<s>
and everyone else who helped out

"mkxp-z" by:
Roza
Based on "mkxp" by Ancurio et al.

"RPG Maker XP" by:
Enterbrain

Pokémon is owned by:
The Pokémon Company
Nintendo
Affiliated with Game Freak

Download Link​

Resource Pack​

Walkthrough​

I do have a walkthrough for this, that gets you straight through the game, which I can post if this turns out too difficult. But like... not immediately.



Thanks for sharing the download link with us. I'm seeking for a casino with Amazon gift card, and I came across this website: https://casinosanalyzer.com/online-casinos/amazon-gift-card Several sites are listed here where I may play online casio games and make real money.​
Thanks, you made my day. Love you <3
 

AenaonDogsky

Arbiter of Doggos
Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2017
Posts
501
Hiyo, here's a small review:

The premise and story of this game is very well executed - the events unfold slowly but steadily, and whatever necessary exposition is there never feels intrusive. The puzzles have been designed as to not be improperly difficult, and the switching of characters made the whole experience even better. The battles also play out like puzzles, which is what I was hoping for from a game like this. There's only a couple of instances where the puzzles could have been implemented in a slightly better way.

Most objects are interactable without the game turning into a click-fest. Items and hints are reasonably placed. The mapping is also on a very good level, both interior and exterior, and coupled with the atmosphere, makes for a great experience. I do think that BGM choices barring the last few areas didn't contribute to the atmosphere, however.

I also wasn't expecting cutscene direction and presentation, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much attention was given to proper character movement, etc. There's also small details here and there, like the sledgehammer having an actual item sprite.

The dialogue is also well-written. All characters have their own message speed, pacing and mannerisms. The humorous bits in the factory area make the atmosphere less gloomy, and the vocabulary backs the setting up.

Here are some of my notes, and a bug and typo report:

- I was kinda expecting that bed ending xD

- not sure if pallet town ost is fitting

- I dont think the playground hint (in the store) should be that expositionary. Just mentioning the age should suffice, but I can see why

- you could lower bgm volume in interiors that have the same bgm as exteriors

- I actually waited in the wait area and was expecting something to happen xD

- nice that you explain the date format for international players

- The email can be better shown in a big text taking over most of the screen by using line commands

- The jenna dad hint I also think isn't that necessary after inputting the wrong password, but I can see why

- why is enter the house prompt a thing?

- I always get a good chuckle out of the weather forecast

- I think Jennas dialogue is a bit too over the top, but then I realized all of them are teenagers

- I was expecting Jenna, being seemingly better at math than the protagonist, to be able to read the financial report xD

- ESRAs last parts of dialogue before starting the puzzle sequence is amazing. Also looks like the binary isnt gibberish

- I think esra's floor tile explanation was a bit long-winded

- it'd be nice if there was an sfx when the tile puzzle doors opened

- dunno if the castle smashing urge hint should be a thing (yet again, I understand why)

- the container from where you get the sledgehammer could have a different color to stand out more

- I guess some players will try going for the 2nd factory floor first, rather than exiting. The fact that you can exit should be made a bit clearer

- sad that the sign tile obscured by the smash rocks has no text

- I feel like the assembly puzzle isn't designed greatly, the riddle is too abstract to be connected with "trees" and what I assume to be the lumberjack's entry. "leaves" without going anywhere does have a pun in there as it pertains to leaf, though.

- You could perhaps implement the hint system when jenna and clyde talk to each other

- Nice little details, like sledgehammer sprite, and prompt that you used your weakness policy as a hint (unless engine default), and how every character's dialogue speed and pacing is different

- I feel like some pieces of dialogue could be put into separate textboxes, since the textboxes do tend to get kinda scrolly

- Is there an actual hint about which password to input in katie's house, or is it just trying out all available ones?
In the latter case, this is an area for improvement, unless something flew over my head there

- perhaps its best that you dont let the player leave the house Owen enters, since its not exactly clear if you did something right
(i read the old womans note, and then was like, is that it?) until Display Key acquisition at least. The hint that this is the store guy's house is well-presented, though. But Im not sure if not letting the player leave is the best choice here, anyway.

- some players might find the color similarities between passable grass and impassable bush difficult to distinguish as it pertains to pushing the boulder

- is there any meaning to getting the zorua before heading out of the forest? Can you just blaze through and out?

- it would be nice if you had the player spawn right before exiting the tree, after the zoroark part

- overall very good interior and exterior mapping

- after deciding to fight and reload the game to see the other ending, the game takes you straight away to the credits scene, i dont know if intended.

- burn from volcarona ability might make last battle potentially easier, perhaps remove it (depends on feedback)

  • the "dont leave town" prompt on the left hand side, can be activated if you move downwards from the grassy tile (should be one tile left)
  • black border here
  • the financial report should be able to be activated from this tile too
  • You can see the border on the left here
  • the upper part of Nexus ground floor machines doesnt have any dialogue
  • you can walk here making much of the puzzle easier xD or harder, depends
  • smash rocks appear outside the assembly hall even after you smashed them the first time around
  • if you remove psychic, and replace it with Trick, you are basically unable to progress. This can be mitigated by giving the TM psychic and Scald to beat next mon, along with Trick
  • unsure if bug, but top right tree in Old Grove shows the imps eyes once in a while (might be something you did with other trees, I didnt notice if so)
  • "Badges" is shown in the save window
  • should Owen take ahold of the girls items even though he is never shown taking them? eg sledgehammer. Though I can see removing those causing problems
  • shouldnt entering the tree spawn you "below" the ladder rather than next to it?
  • wait a bit before transitioning to the flashback grey areas from hollow, because color is visible for a frame or two. Same for transition back to hollow
  • zoroarks walking sprite has no walking animation on left and right frames

- "calender" instead of calendar, in the email
- "Katies grandmother" (should be Katie's)

I will not talk about plot details in-depth, because I know there's people who just click on spoilers, so I hope I can make this vague enough:
I think there might be another non-intended interpretation of the events - mainly, that the actions of the thing were just a way to scare off those related to those implicated in the impeding project, so as to stop it. The bad ending however seems to debunk this, unless the "state" is maintained. It does feel like the bad ending makes the overall situation improve, while the good ending doesn't... if you intended it to be that way, then yeah, it leaves a melancholic taste either way...
 

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Just finished playing this on stream!
Some thoughts:
Well that was a fun game! I was looking forward to it because I enjoyed Little Academy, and this did not disappoint!
The narrative felt really well done. From the start I was pulled in to it, and as the story progressed I just got more and more intrigued. I was guessing and what possibly could be causing what was happening. The pay off with the zoroark felt pretty good and made things click, especially the letter about the true not appearing damaged after having its bark come off.

And the writing complimented this pretty well too, each character felt defined in personality, the dialogue was funny and interesting. Only bad thing I have to say about it is that sometimes it felt like it dragged out too long, especially in the factory. I was just wanting to tackle those tile puzzles but ESRA kept on being the quirkly little chappy that she is. But it really wasn't that bad, and at least her dialogue was funny.

Puzzles in the game all felt like a good difficulty, none too hard. And taking it so far as to even make the pokemon battles all puzzles was really neat, and they all worked pretty smoothly. The statue in the factory troubled me a bit because sometimes I just felt like having a solid attempt depended on me getting lucky, as if my scald missed, or they lowered my defense with crunch, I'd be screwed. But otherwise, the whole battle puzzle system was very creative and nice. Good idea having the computers which give you full details on the mons, and I like that every character nick named their pokemon. It was a nice touch.

So yeah, great game! I look forward to whatever story you cook up next

EDIT AFTER WATCHING CADE'S VIDEO OF THE GAME:
Wow okay I understand I totally did not do the drapion battle the way it was supposed to be done. I understand that it isn't actually meant to be that luck dependant and you're supposed to use the ring target. But I do think in that case the crate containing sledgehammer should be more obvious. Because I completely skipped it for my whole playthrough and never went to the assembly hall haha
 
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- I feel like the assembly puzzle isn't designed greatly, the riddle is too abstract to be connected with "trees" and what I assume to be the lumberjack's entry. "leaves" without going anywhere does have a pun in there as it pertains to leaf, though.
I actually completely missed the assembly hall on my playthrough, but watching Cade's now, the riddle is about "trees". Because they have rings (tree rings) and leaves. I feel like the riddle is fine as a riddle, the problem would more be that if the riddle doesn't click immediately it is probably pretty frustrating.
 

Never_this_again

Trainer
Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2021
Posts
76
Hiyo, here's a small review:

The premise and story of this game is very well executed - the events unfold slowly but steadily, and whatever necessary exposition is there never feels intrusive. The puzzles have been designed as to not be improperly difficult, and the switching of characters made the whole experience even better. The battles also play out like puzzles, which is what I was hoping for from a game like this. There's only a couple of instances where the puzzles could have been implemented in a slightly better way.

Most objects are interactable without the game turning into a click-fest. Items and hints are reasonably placed. The mapping is also on a very good level, both interior and exterior, and coupled with the atmosphere, makes for a great experience. I do think that BGM choices barring the last few areas didn't contribute to the atmosphere, however.

I also wasn't expecting cutscene direction and presentation, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much attention was given to proper character movement, etc. There's also small details here and there, like the sledgehammer having an actual item sprite.

The dialogue is also well-written. All characters have their own message speed, pacing and mannerisms. The humorous bits in the factory area make the atmosphere less gloomy, and the vocabulary backs the setting up.

Oh my god, I thought I had already replied to you. Turns out I just intended to but never actually did. Thanks for your comments, I'll give comments on some of them in bold below.

- not sure if pallet town ost is fitting
I went for calming/somber music in general for the game, though I can understand why someone might not think it's fitting everything.

- you could lower bgm volume in interiors that have the same bgm as exteriors
Huh. I honestly didn't know that could be an issue. I'll look into it

- The email can be better shown in a big text taking over most of the screen by using line commands
I tried that, but it looked even less inviting to read, at least to me. I guess it's a personal thing.

- why is enter the house prompt a thing?
That's easy, because I didn't have a graphic of the door opening and closing.

- I was expecting Jenna, being seemingly better at math than the protagonist, to be able to read the financial report xD
That's giving my throwaway lines too much credit, but I appreciate it.

- ESRAs last parts of dialogue before starting the puzzle sequence is amazing. Also looks like the binary isnt gibberish
The binary all means something, but it's not essential to understand for anything.

- the container from where you get the sledgehammer could have a different color to stand out more
I'll need to do something about the sledgehammer location. I thought about just putting it on the table as an item ball, but the different color is not a bad idea either.

- I guess some players will try going for the 2nd factory floor first, rather than exiting. The fact that you can exit should be made a bit clearer
That's kinda why I put the hardest battle puzzle there, so you realize you're missing something and leave to go get it. But from what I've seen it just makes people more determined to brute force their way through.

- I feel like the assembly puzzle isn't designed greatly, the riddle is too abstract to be connected with "trees" and what I assume to be the lumberjack's entry. "leaves" without going anywhere does have a pun in there as it pertains to leaf, though.
I don't take that as much of an issue. That one is a puzzle you can just brute force your way through by just trying each of the eight codes, if you cannot figure it out at all.

- Is there an actual hint about which password to input in katie's house, or is it just trying out all available ones?
In the latter case, this is an area for improvement, unless something flew over my head there
The joke here is that her dad changes the password so frequently that there's a bunch of old ones around the place; there is no way of telling which one is the correct one. It's just trial and error.

- is there any meaning to getting the zorua before heading out of the forest? Can you just blaze through and out?
You technically can. Not matter how may Zorua you find, once you find the one outside the forest the cutscene plays and the flashback ends.

- it would be nice if you had the player spawn right before exiting the tree, after the zoroark part
I'll look into changing that, but I like giving the player some time to walk before locking them into another cutscene.

- overall very good interior and exterior mapping
Thanks!

- after deciding to fight and reload the game to see the other ending, the game takes you straight away to the credits scene, i dont know if intended.
That's a bug that I've seen and that I've never encountered in testing because I've always launched the game through the debug menu. I'll see if there's anything I can do to change that.

- burn from volcarona ability might make last battle potentially easier, perhaps remove it (depends on feedback)
That's a rather luck based thing so I don't mind it. Besides, if you go the intended route that's not even making any difference.


  • Bugs are duly noted, but as for those few:
  • smash rocks appear outside the assembly hall even after you smashed them the first time around
    Not a bug, and more of a little hint that something is generally amiss with the town.
  • unsure if bug, but top right tree in Old Grove shows the imps eyes once in a while (might be something you did with other trees, I didnt notice if so)
    Not a bug, just cosmetics, there's a few throughout the first part of the old grove that blink every now and then.
  • should Owen take ahold of the girls items even though he is never shown taking them? eg sledgehammer. Though I can see removing those causing problems
    That's just for gameplay reasons. If you want an explanation lore-wise, he might have picked up similar items at other points since he's kinda having his own little adventure in the Illusion World before you meet him.
  • zoroarks walking sprite has no walking animation on left and right frames
    It has, it's just very minor. But I'm not an artist, so I work with what I've got.

I will not talk about plot details in-depth, because I know there's people who just click on spoilers, so I hope I can make this vague enough:
I think there might be another non-intended interpretation of the events - mainly, that the actions of the thing were just a way to scare off those related to those implicated in the impeding project, so as to stop it. The bad ending however seems to debunk this, unless the "state" is maintained. It does feel like the bad ending makes the overall situation improve, while the good ending doesn't... if you intended it to be that way, then yeah, it leaves a melancholic taste either way...

I feel like you're being a little too vague here, because I do not quite understand what you mean. What I want to say about the ending though, seeing how no one has figured it out yet, is that there is a second layer to one of them if you pay attention to who's speaking.

Just finished playing this on stream!
Some thoughts:
Well that was a fun game! I was looking forward to it because I enjoyed Little Academy, and this did not disappoint!
The narrative felt really well done. From the start I was pulled in to it, and as the story progressed I just got more and more intrigued. I was guessing and what possibly could be causing what was happening. The pay off with the zoroark felt pretty good and made things click, especially the letter about the true not appearing damaged after having its bark come off.

And the writing complimented this pretty well too, each character felt defined in personality, the dialogue was funny and interesting. Only bad thing I have to say about it is that sometimes it felt like it dragged out too long, especially in the factory. I was just wanting to tackle those tile puzzles but ESRA kept on being the quirkly little chappy that she is. But it really wasn't that bad, and at least her dialogue was funny.

Puzzles in the game all felt like a good difficulty, none too hard. And taking it so far as to even make the pokemon battles all puzzles was really neat, and they all worked pretty smoothly. The statue in the factory troubled me a bit because sometimes I just felt like having a solid attempt depended on me getting lucky, as if my scald missed, or they lowered my defense with crunch, I'd be screwed. But otherwise, the whole battle puzzle system was very creative and nice. Good idea having the computers which give you full details on the mons, and I like that every character nick named their pokemon. It was a nice touch.

So yeah, great game! I look forward to whatever story you cook up next

Thanks for your kind words, I appreciate it! I'll try to watch your stream as soon as I get around to it. I've heard the comment about the dialogue in the factory, I'll try to cut back on some of the dialogue in an eventual patch.

EDIT AFTER WATCHING CADE'S VIDEO OF THE GAME:
Wow okay I understand I totally did not do the drapion battle the way it was supposed to be done. I understand that it isn't actually meant to be that luck dependant and you're supposed to use the ring target. But I do think in that case the crate containing sledgehammer should be more obvious. Because I completely skipped it for my whole playthrough and never went to the assembly hall haha

Yeah, the Sledgehammer location needs to be a little more obvious. I actually had it as an item ball in the first draft, but then I realized that would be the only item ball in the entire game, so I moved it to the crate. But from what I've seen that's obviously too well hidden.
 

AenaonDogsky

Arbiter of Doggos
Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2017
Posts
501
I actually completely missed the assembly hall on my playthrough, but watching Cade's now, the riddle is about "trees". Because they have rings (tree rings) and leaves. I feel like the riddle is fine as a riddle, the problem would more be that if the riddle doesn't click immediately it is probably pretty frustrating.

I feel incredibly dumb, lol!

Oh my god, I thought I had already replied to you. Turns out I just intended to but never actually did. Thanks for your comments, I'll give comments on some of them in bold below.

Thanks for the response! Just in my opinion, it's best to maintain some kind of consistency with expected mechanics overall (referring to the rocks appearing again, doors asking for prompt, etc) Oftentimes from a developer perspective, it doesn't really feel like it's anything meaningful, but on the player's side it does feel like something's off (and not in the setting sense, even though it's understandable here).

Other than that, while I understand the necessity of brute forcing being an option, it's generally not a good thing to expect a puzzle to be solved that way. The "here's 4 passwords, just input till you hit gold" method can be used if you can implement it in a sort of helpful way for players who don't have a knack for puzzles - otherwise it can be tiring and give off the impression of a lower quality experience.
 

Macaw

Rookie!
Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2023
Posts
1
Hi, I really enjoyed playing this game! The fact that you intended it as a puzzle game first and Pokémon game second is actually what made me play it. I especially liked the way you made puzzles out of battles.

I found the battles the most interesting puzzles. I like that you first have to try them (maybe a few times) before you realize you might need to do something else first. But, I think there should at least be some kind of warning for the second battle that deleting the wrong move could kind of softlock you up to grinding, or otherwise a way to try again.

Also, I wasn't expecting it in a puzzle game but some of the dialogue, especially ESRA's, was very funny :)
 

Haunted Ditto

Creator of Pokemon Pandora and Pokemon Climate
Member
Hi, I just finished your game.
Here are my thoughts:

  • Overall way more fun and enyoable than I expected
  • Great dialogue
  • Interesting and compelling story
  • Fun puzzles
  • Nice mapping
  • Helpful information about the opponent in advance
  • Solid amount of play time for a jam game

  • The fight in the factory was tough. I had to watch Cade's stream to find out that the sledgehammer is already there and the fight is the last thing to do. Maybe I just ignored this info, but a more obvious indicator would be nice
  • The last two "puzzle fights" weren't as close as the first ones. You had way more Pokemon which lead to more wiggle room. So it was/seemed easier.
  • There were many code puzzles where you just had to search the numbers. Suggestion: Another type of puzzle which is easy to make in Essentials are buttons + doors where you need to find the right order. Could have been a nice addition to replace one of the code puzzles.

Overall a very good jam game. 👍
 
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