When it comes to 'rogue like' games, theres a coin flip in my brain.. will this be a game that will bypass my ability to perceive the passage of time as I keep trying to progress forward and unlock more, or will this be a game that feels like an uphill grind where only the story can keep me around.
PokéRogue fully fell into the former category, with only D&D podcasts i was listening to giving me an indication of how long I spent buried in this game.

They hooked me early by getting a shiny in my first run but my lack of true comprehension for the pokemon battle mechanics really stuck out in later levels, that combined with the RNG of it all does make this an uphill battle towards the end.
The main reason i'm abandoning the game aside from reclaiming the passage of time, is knowing that Gamefreak will never implement this level of care into the mechanics they introduce and drop every generation. There was something so satisfying about DNA splicing a GMAX Blastoise and a Blue-Shiny Mega Gengar .. and still having the option to use a teracrystal on top.

normally hearing a game announcement that sounds cool but then I hear “rogue like elements” makes my ass itch, don’t really care for when they’readded in bigger releases, and the ones I have played (mainly Isaac) I’ve only really played an hour or two tops but it’s genuinely not a bad idea, more game for less, which is why this was an exception, dev and discord controversy aside pocket rogue is an exceptional fangame, though the further you get in can be real mindless, especially when you get consistently shitty rolls in either mode.

genuinely, any recommendations to change my mind on roguelikes??? Already kinda fell off of this after taking over my life for a good month or so, good to know it has a page here to jot down some thoughts