Pokémon Hunter

I’m sure the creator is well aware of the game’s flaws by now, so I’m not even sure why I’m reviewing this… but I figured I spent so much time playing it that I might as well put forth the effort in case feedback is still wanted.



Setting/Plot/Story

Basically, the game is a flashback to when the heroes of the story met, and… mercilessly slaughtered some cute little fuzzies who were tormenting some townsfolk. We get a short intro scene where they begin to tell their story, and that’s pretty much it. There are a bunch of characters you meet along the way, but Halibabica makes it quite clear with skillful use of ugly RTP sprites that we aren’t meant to care about them. When I downloaded the game, I was really counting on the story to be the thing that held it together, but unfortunately it is one fot he game’s weakest aspects.


Audio

RTP, except for the title. If you’ve played RTP games before, you’ll probably want to turn your speakers off like I did.


Graphics

Again, mostly RTP. However, there are enough pokemon additions to save it a bit in this department. The monster sprites seem to fit really well with the battle system, something I’ve noticed that many RM2K games don’t do very well. I also appreciated the pokemon sprites which symbolized new skills. The mapping is pretty decent in some areas, and then badly thrown together in others. Most beginners have this problem, they simply become lazy as they progress through making their games. I’m sure this is probably something Halibabica has improved on since making the game, so I won’t go into detail on to exactly to improve it.


Gameplay

Here’s what it comes down to: how does it play? Well, quite simply, it’s a dungeon crawler and nothing more. And I like how it is set up with the eight areas surrounding the town, and how the town changes as you get further in the game. The main problem with the gameplay is that the learning curve is way too steep, there’s too much grinding involved, and there is nothing added to the battle system to keep you coming back for more. I made sure to try and get as many skills as I could in the dungeons, but it soon became evident that level building was the only thing that was really going to help me.


Replay Value:

As far as I can tell, there isn’t any, and there isn’t meant to be.



Lasting Appeal

I spent a good few hours with this until giving up in the sixth area. I really tried to like it, but there ultimately wasn’t enough to give me that final push to the end. Judging from the other reviews on the site, it is clear there’s an audience out there for this, so it depends on what kind of player you are.

I’m going to give the sequels a chance because Halibabica has remained dedicated to this series for quite some time. I respect that, and it gives me hope that they will be improved. I have no doubts about his future projects as he has proven he can release long, full, complete games time and again.