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Article Aureview - Pokemon Uranium

Discussion in 'Pokémon General' started by Pixel, Sep 13, 2016.

  1. Pixel

    Pixel Aether Child

    Thamill
    (Larvitar)
    Level 16
    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2014
    Posts:
    5,083
    PokéPoints:
    ₽274.5
    Ice Stone ★★★★Lucarionite ★★★★Dawn Stone ★★★★Decidium Z ★★★★★Galladite ★★★★
    Hey guys, [member='Aura'] here with a new series of articles I like to call Aureview (y'know, Aura + Review? No...?)

    Before I start with the actual review, however, I want to outline what I'll be discussing in a review. I've picked 4 categories; Story, Gameplay, Graphics, and Sound. When I review a game, I'll be critiquing it based on these 4 things, before giving an overall statement on my experience, and then rating it with a 0-5 Star system, except that my scores will be based on Pokémon moves. I've kept them in a spoiler just in-case anyone wants to be kept in suspense~

    [​IMG]
    0/5 - Splash. This game really doesn't do anything...​

    [​IMG]
    1/5 - Struggle Bug. It lowered that special feeling you get when you play a game.​

    [​IMG]
    2/5 - Supersonic. Kinda confusing, and it's missing something...​

    [​IMG]
    3/5 - Zap Cannon. Might need to Lock-On to this game to see it's true potential!​

    [​IMG]
    4/5 - Hyper Voice. I'd definitely burst your eardrums talking about this game.​

    [​IMG]
    5/5 - Aura Sphere. It's a game that sends out it's message with perfect accuracy. I definitely felt the flow with this one!​

    So, without further ado, let's start this review! For today's review, I'll be talking about the fan-made Pokémon game, Pokémon Uranium.

    Ah, fan-made Pokémon games. More often than not, you'll see more Let's Plays of these on YouTube than you do actual Pokémon games, and with good reason; if it's a main series Pokémon game, and you like Pokémon, you're probably not going to ignore it's release. Fan-made games are different, because they can be good or bad. Pokémon Uranium falls into the former category of "good", however it's been under a bit of controversy. After being in development for nine years, it was finally released to the public as a free download, where players could experience an all-knew Pokémon journey, with a total of 166 fan-made Pokémon out of the game's 200 total. Out of the 34 "official" Pokémon that appear in the game, most of them are either given a new evolution, be it a regular one or a Mega, or a corrupted "Nuclear" form. However, the game does use Pokémon's standard battle formulae, as well as sprites and sounds from the games, and so Nintendo decided to have it taken down under copyright jurisdictions. All official download links have since been removed, however there are plenty of download mirrors floating around, so it's still available for download.

    Pokémon Uranium takes place in the Tandor Region, a brand-new location filled with routes, towns, cities, caves and mountains for you to explore. The game starts with the usual "Welcome to the world of Pokémon" intro, and after choosing your name, you're treated to a sort-of cutscene. If you do not wished to be spoiled, I'll include the overview of the cutscene in a spoiler, however this happens right at the beginning of the game, so I'm not sure what y'all are scared of.

    We meet the player's father and mother. Their father is Kellyn, the (default) name of the male protagonist from Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, who is also a Pokémon Ranger in this game. Their mother, Lucille, is a researcher who is studying something to do with nuclear whatever, however she dies before our eyes in a flashback of a laboratory accident. This makes Kellyn, the father, grow cold and distant, which is why the player has moved in with their aunt, which is where the game starts.

    After the introduction, you go to meet the Professor of the Tandor Region, Professor Bamb'o (wow, wonder what plant he's based off of...), to receive your starter. You also meet your rival, Theo, who is much younger than any rival we've seen in the official Pokémon titles. You receive your starter based on a colour-coded quiz, rather than choosing which one you want, and Theo will receive the starter that is weak to yours, to which he complains about having the "disadvantage" against you. The game's starters are all brand-new Pokémon, they're all dual-types, and they all have only 1 stage of evolution as well as a Mega Evolution which, just like the regular games, is only temporary.

    The first starter is Orchynx, the Kitten Pokémon, and a Grass/Steel type. At Level 28 it will evolve into Metalynx, and then it can Mega Evolve into Mega Metalynx during battle. The second starter is Raptorch, the Fire Dino Pokémon, and a Fire/Ground type. At Level 29 it will evolve into Archilles, and then it can Mega Evolve into Mega Archilles during battle. The third starter is Eletux, the Hippocampus Pokémon, and a Water/Electric type. At Level 27 it will evolve into Eletruxo, and then it can Mega Evolve into Mega Eletruxo during battle.

    For my playthrough, I received Orchynx while Leo received Eletux. The battle UI is very impressive, it's a single-screen (unlike the dual-screen interface we've been used to since Generation IV), but it uses custom graphics and the sound effects present in the Generation V games. The battle actually lasted a while for the first battle of the game, but that just may have been the fault of my computer, just like another problem I'll introduce later.

    After the battle, Theo storms out, and the music loops a 2-second barrage of sound over and over for about a minute until it fixed itself. After that I went to save, with the save screen being similar to the Generation V and VI screen where your party is visible. After that I attempted to head out onto the first route, when the game froze and crashed. Booting the game up again and attempting to enter the route caused it to freeze and crash, no matter how many times I tried. However, this was no fault of the game or the download link I used, but rather my very-poor-at-playing-games computer. However, from the measly hour I spent playing the game (it ran slow on my computer, y'know, before it crashed...) I could still get a really good feel for this game.

    This is definitely one of the better fan-made Pokémon games I've seen in a while. The story was definitely unique, but the gameplay wasn't anything special since it is just a fan-made Pokémon game. The graphics keep the charm of the official games while adding the creativity of the game's designers, and the soundtrack is composed of mostly remixes of themes used in the official games, that being said the remixes are quite good. So, to sum up, I'd definitely recommend you try this game, just make sure your computer is good at running them or you might run into a few problems. So, in conclusion, I'd rate this game a...

    FINAL REVIEW - 4/5​
    [​IMG]
    "Hyper Voice. I'd definitely burst your eardrums talking about this game."
    As always, this is [member='Aura'], and I'll see you all in the next instalment of Aureview!​
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  2. Lunen Transnima

    Joined:
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    PokéPoints:
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    Glad to see that you liked the game, [member="Aura"]! I'm going to pass your review onto the developers just so you know. There are some things in here that they could fix. ;D

    I'll let ya know what they say.
     
    Pixel likes this.
  3. Pixel

    Pixel Aether Child

    Thamill
    (Larvitar)
    Level 16
    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2014
    Posts:
    5,083
    PokéPoints:
    ₽274.5
    Ice Stone ★★★★Lucarionite ★★★★Dawn Stone ★★★★Decidium Z ★★★★★Galladite ★★★★
    I actually figured out the problem that caused the game to crash, and it no longer does! But feel free to give them the review anyway, just make sure to tell them that the problem no longer occurs~
     

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