Completed Pokémon Ancient Bronze

TechSkylander1518 · Mar 3, 2023

I love the premise of this game - there's so much potential with settings in the Pokemon world or non-legendary Pokemon that just get a passing glance, so it's fun to see a game look at things like a Poke Ball factory or a Psychic Pokemon and use them in a horror premise!

I really liked that abstract way of picking your starter, it was fun to try to guess the results!

The animation of the Channelers disappearing after battle was a really nice touch!

I love Bronzong's death form! The color difference is a simple change that still adds a great creep factor (especially with the eyes), and it's the perfect sort of overpowered boss/secret bonus for a game jam!

I feel like the difficulty choice is a little intrusive when it happens mid-narration. I think it'd be better put before the story starts, or slip it into a choice the player makes later.

This is very nitpicky, but "A mere worker named Henry, you worked at a factory" - using "worker" and "worked" so close to each other feels a little redundant to me, I'd swap one of them out. ("A mere man named Henry", "you were employed at a factory", something like that)

I think the letter would look better if you used the \l[n] command to display it all at once.

This is also nitpicky, but "Welcome to the factory" seemed like a strange line when Henry's returning, I'd think the channeler would say "Welcome back".

I got Makuhita for my starter, and things were off to a bit of a rough start. Makuhita doesn't have any Fighting moves until level 7, and its speed is really low, especially compared to the Rattata in the first area. (And since running from battle depends on the speed stat, that meant I couldn't just run from them, either)

Your maps are really big, especially for indoor locations. It makes navigating a little tedious - it's a long walk to get anywhere with the wild Pokemon spawning, especially with no repels, and since the factory generally has the same decorations, it's not really visually interesting. And there's a few spots where the gaps are so big that there's not even any crates or anything to look at, just the floor.

I don't really see the point of making the player pick up their running shoes instead of just giving them right away? Or why the player's asked if they're sure they want to leave Henry's house - there's nothing for the player to miss besides flavor text, and most of the time, if a player's interested in flavor text, they've already checked before being prompted.

I noticed there were some places where you had a bunch of identical events together -

You can use the event's name to make it bigger, so you don't have to copy the same event over multiple tiles.

It's really tedious putting the Bronze Shards in one-by-one - I think it'd be a lot easier to just check if the player had the required amount in their bag, and just do it all at once.

Since the badges and trainer card aren't really relevant to the game, I think you could probably just take them out of the menu/save display. (It's a bit of work for something that doesn't affect the game at all, though)

On a similar note, the message for being defeated still says that you "scurried off to a Pokemon Center", even if you've only interacted with the healing device so far.

There's not really any reason in-universe for Henry to leave the other starter Pokemon behind? Maybe you could have the other two vanish when he picks one up.

I think it'd make more sense to condense the channelers in the battle room into one trainer, and just pick her difficulty from a Show Choices command instead.

The goals of the channelers and Benjamin's replacement seem a little confusing. It seems like the letter intentionally lured Henry to the factory, but they act like he's invading at times? Henry also gets really mad at the spirit revealing he's not actually Benjamin, but it doesn't seem like he has any reason to be angrier about this unrelated ghost? (Was the replacement actually the spirit that originally possessed Bronzong, and I just missed that?)

It felt strange to have this plot between two men with a long history when Henry is still using Red's sprites. (Some of the Channelers even call him "kid") I've actually got a backsprite for the old man from the Teachy TV here, but honestly, I think you could get away with just switching out the overworld sprite and leaving the backsprite blank.)

It feels a little odd to have the riddle in four separate events, and then another separate event to put in the answer. I think it'd be better to just combine them all into one, to avoid a situation where the player confirms they want to try to answer, but because they think the riddle will be provided with the device.

I think it'd be good to make it easier to encounter Bronzor - I honestly thought it just wasn't there for the player until I looked in the PBS files. Maybe the Chaneller that gives a Drowzee egg could give a Bronzor egg instead?

It seemed like there wasn't any difference in the endings if you got the Purple Bell or not? That definitely seemed like it could be fun to have different endings for.

Your project hasn't been renamed, so it pulls saves from any project named Pokemon Essentials. You can change it by editing the Game.ini file.

You've still got your project file in the folder, you might want to look at this guide for compressing a game for release.

The title screen still displays "Version 20.1" from the Essentials title screen.

Some passability errors-

These crates are entering the void

If the player interacts with the device from the left, Genesect spawns on top of them

You can run away from the overworld Voltorb, Snorlax, and Genesect - I got the impression those fights were supposed to be mandatory? Voltorb and Genesect also didn't play their cries, while Snorlax did. (But after battle, not before)

If the player is defeated in the maps before they make it to the first rest stop, the events healing them don't turn off Global Switch 1 (the starting over switch), so when they enter the rest stop, the nurse healing event will autoplay.

Inccident - Incident
Man that was a good - Man,
You've been invited to Dr. B's for a visit, I expect you to be there for me even if things went south...
what friends are for right? - are for, right?
suspicuous - suspicious
better get going then - going, then
or need sunlight, Perfect! - either change the comma to a period or don't capitalize Perfect
Ah, yes, My favorite - my shouldn't be capitalized
the first pokeball - Poké Ball
of fanmade pokemon - Pokémon
I call them... "Fakemon" - missing period
It's my PC - missing period
so many good memories -
Surprisingly enough not a geodude - Surprisingly enough, not a Geodude
plant i'll ever have - I'll should be capitalized
"Buy Pokemon Scarlet" - Pokémon
my Pokedex! - PokéDex!
It's dead however and I don't know - It's dead, however, and
Alright, Am I - am shouldn't be capitalized
after they shutdown - shut down
It say, "Emotion"/"Knowledge"/"Power" -
The voltorb became a pokeball? - The Voltorb became a Poké Ball?
Ok then? - Ok, then?
Your supposed to be asleep - You're
Seems to be some generator - Missing a period at the end
Pokeball Convayors - Poké Ball Conveyors
What's pass here - past
from a bronze pokemon - Pokémon
You cannot surpass my will - missing period
You will not stop us - missing period
Hey, We need to - We shouldn't be capitalized
this much lava though? - this much lava, though?
What do you think slowpoke taste like? - Slowpoke should be capitalized
If slowpokes can't feel they're tails, - If Slowpoke can't feel their tails
Your welcome - You're
to battle this Chanler? - Channeler
off limits kid... - limits, kid...
3/4ths of bronze - doesn't say 3/4ths of what (gallon, pound, etc)
Add 1/4th of purple dye - same thing
Unless you have a waterstone - Water Stone
Hey kid... - Hey, kid
Once apon - upon
A man by then name - by the name
timid, purple, bronzor - timid, purple Bronzor
ran away from it's - its
made it's behavior - its
if you trade me a Shedinja - missing period
It seems to be a Machine? - machine shouldn't be capitalized
the masterball - Master Ball
if your not ready - you're
your just an imposter - you're
"his replacement" - missing period at the end
You Monster! - monster shouldn't be capitalized
Your right - You're
Your the owner - You're
same way as benjamin did - Benjamin should be capitalized
you made it back home and continue living your life -
local pokemon orphanage - Pokémon
about "Genesect" as they were surprised the legends were real - "Genesect," as they were surpised
that you have been through enough - missing period
being surprised of it's defeat - its
was strucked by destiny - struck

Aladdin · Jul 4, 2023

error running the game

Completed Pokémon Ancient Bronze

Pokemon Ancient Bronze:

(RPGMaker XP / Pokemon Essentials v20.1 / Pokemon Essentials Deluxe)

Attachments

TechSkylander1518

Wiki Dweeb

Aladdin

Novice

Completed Pokémon Ancient Bronze

Pokemon Ancient Bronze:​

(RPGMaker XP / Pokemon Essentials v20.1 / Pokemon Essentials Deluxe)​

Attachments

TechSkylander1518

Wiki Dweeb

Aladdin

Novice

Pokemon Ancient Bronze:

(RPGMaker XP / Pokemon Essentials v20.1 / Pokemon Essentials Deluxe)