#i need to aquire an old pc so bad...

[halopako]

sketching ♡

[bootsnbutterscotch]

[REVIEW]: Pokémon Ethereal Gates Demo

(Based on thoughts before finishing the demo)

Every now and then you come across a diamond in the rough; a game you think shouldn't be good after you experienced the horrors of the fee to play Brick Bronze and the terrors of setting up Rejuvenation, but actually is pretty good. That, ladies and gentlemen, is this game, or demo as it were.

The game isn't flawless, but it is without a doubt one of the greatest experiences I've had with a fanmade Pokémon game period. It is clear the developers have put a lot of time and effort into their game. Let's begin by saying the game offers a promised lineup of over 200 brand new Pokémon to toy around with. Each of these Fakemon looks like an actual Pokémon that could seriously exist. I've already picked out my favorites of course, those being Fernling, Avinch and Polbee. Each is unique and interesting design-wise, even if a few suffer from the unfortunate but necessary "Early Game Syndrome".

The characters are just as interesting as the Pokémon if not moreso, but for sake of time I'll only talk about a few of them. There are two rivals in this game. On one hand you have April, the nerdy girl who likes going on her adventure solely for the research. Though she chooses the starter weaker to yours, her character is what really shines through, much like Hau from Sun and Moon. She actually reminds me a lot of Bianca from Black and White, which any character that makes me think of my favorite Pokémon games ever gets a gold star. She's a great character to the narrative. On the other hand you have your "true" rival, August. Words cannot express how much I hate this kid, though I hate him for all the right reasons. Basically I hate him the same way I hate Blue or Silver who really are great characters simply because they succeed in making the player hate them. August is impatient, whiney and selfish, not to mention he explicitly states that he will pick the starter Pokémon strong against yours simply to make himself feel better about himself. I want to beat up his pet fire cat to a bloody pulp whenever we meet, and when a character can bring out such primal rage in me, you know we have an amazing character on our hands!

As for the evil team, Team Mythos, we don't know too much about them quite yet but they are shaping up to be interesting villains. Perhaps not exactly memorable since they have yet to really show off their personalities to us or have yet to do something memorable, but I have high hopes in the development team that they can pull off something good.

The graphics are incredible too. The bright colors are a welcome change from the dull and uninteresting colors of the multitude of Pokémon fangames that try to be edgy and adult. Though swears are present here, the game never once tries to be darker than it actually is. The Leneka region is never about blowing up trains or destroying ships with Deoxys tentacles, it's about the brightest and fun you can have in the world. This is what Pokémon is all about: a welcoming world to explore, and the graphics here do an amazing job at showcasing this. As for the graphics in battle, most Pokémon are vibrantly animated and feel like they are actual creatures and not just still pictures. They are beautiful.

Also, as a side note, gone are the mini sprites of Pokémon when looking at them in your party or PC. Replacing them are headshots of the Pokémon which are arguably better than sprites in official Pokémon games since it's easier to find and recognize a Pokémon in a PC with a picture of its head.

I've gone this entire review without once mentioning the incredible soundtrack this game comes packing with. Let's fix that. Whoever made the music in this game needs to be given a raise because hot damn. Almost every track in this game is great and fits the colorful theme of Ethereal Gates. And the battle themes are even better with this game having possibly a greater trainer battle theme than Sun and Moon. The town/city themes are great and really make you feel comfortable and Hawthorne's theme is calming and welcoming. Of course there are some tracks I think could be better like the Pokémon Center theme or the rival battle theme. This could simply be a case of aquired taste however, but I just feel as if there are instruments missing. Again though, most tracks are spot on.

Any issues I had with the game are my fault and my fault alone. Originally I was curious as to why the HP of my Pokémon wasn't showing up anywhere but in the summary, and that's when I realized I had forgotten to install the new fonts. Oops. Another was the massive amount of lag I endured while playing the game, but that was just my old PC being old. Though as a piece of constructive criticism, having different quality levels available so people with older PCs can play optimally wouldn't be half bad an idea.

The only real issue I could see other people having was how jarring sending out Pokémon is. When they burst out of their Poké Ball, their sprites become huge for a split second before turning into their regular sizes. Hopefully this is fixed when the full game is released so it feels a little less clunky.

But for the most part, the game is very, very promising. I legit cannot wait to explore the rest of the Leneka region and fight the rest of the Gym Leaders. I want to see the amazing things this game has to offer and I want to discover each and every single unique and interesting new Pokémon hiding in the mountains, fields and oceans of Leneka. I truly wish the best for the developers in their venture to see this game completed.

9/10

If you like what you read and want to support them, go follow them here: @pokemonetherealgates. The demo and game are free as well, so that’s something worth celebrating.