2 reviews liked by Updog


I think more games should have glitches, actually. It will cull the weak from the strong.

I feel conflicted even joking about that because that level of discourse has reached such a weird level among the online gaming community, especially with Pokemon. Its got such an unpleasable, toxic, spiteful fanbase that its gained a counter-discourse machine of people who see any complaint as some kind of personal slight. Navigating gaming discourse is bad enough without those two extremes to balance. So in regards to that element of Pokemon, I guess I come down to "the developers needed more time and less crunch" and "this game is pretty neat and charming." I think those thoughts can coexist pretty easily.

For as new to the Pokemon scene as I am, I've always wanted more freedom to choose gyms in any order. The open-world gimmick of the game leans into that idea on such a vaster scale than I anticipated. Even beyond just the gyms, the different challenges all over the map add such a fascinating variety to a player's experience. The team battles and the Titan Pokemon hunts are really novel ways to split up the standard gym badge routine. It helps that the characters you meet along the way are almost universally charming. The bond you build with your rivals also feels more personal than previous games have. Despite how disparate their plotlines feel at first, the main cast comes together in a beautiful way in the final dungeon to really form a trusty band of adventure teens.

The final dungeon in particular is where this game really soars. There's a pattern to games that were put under crunch where the early game can be stunning, while the final levels fall apart. Get those early reviews to look flattering, you know? Which is why I was so surprised when the final dungeon is easily the most gorgeous, well developed part of the game. Its a stunning, emotional climax with some of the best music and vibes I've ever seen. For once, the game's writing excels in the unspoken. There's an aching void left in our heroes, wondering how much of the truth they'll ever understand of the situation. We don't get full answers, only pieces. And that writing is deliciously intentional, reveling in its ambiguity. I've gradually realized that Pokemon really excels at using gameplay to tell its story. A rival has a secret heart of gold only seen through how high their frendship points with their Pokemon must be. Pokemon Black/White's boss uses attacks that can only be used by Pokemon that really hate their trainer. Their writing skillset has always been the subtle details, rather than the actual dialogue or story crafting. The game manages to sort of use the franchise's weaknesses as strengths in such a creative way. By giving you less information, the game makes you sit in those unanswered question. It works! I like the Pokemon! This might be my favorite one!

Pay GameFreak more, give them more time to make games, the industry can't survive like this.

I think when talking to a friend about this game, we eventually settled on it being to Animal Crossing what Rune Factory is to Harvest Moon in terms of basically being an adventure RPG version of a comparatively chill franchise. The comparison is by no means perfect, but Ever Oasis had the cute animal people city management aspect I enjoyed about Animal Crossing alongside a more guided adventure-y structure that held my interest for far longer.

I had a whole lot of fun with this game for the main story, and had every intention of going the whole mile and getting all the residents... but honestly, the fact that the postgame consists almost entirely of delving into the horribly repetitive and not particularly fun labyrinths made me really not want to 100% the oasis.

Which is a shame, really, as I liked the main game quite a bit. The characters weren’t particularly deep, but they were charming, and I really did like the setting quite a bit. The story itself was also pretty simple but well told, and it did a pretty good job of being emotionally effective. Or maybe I am a sap. Nah, it’s got some genuine gut punches throughout.

The story dungeons are pretty alright, though they don’t quite do the best job of signposting what skills and weapons you’ll need going in. It’s not too big of a deal since you can warp back to the oasis and shuffle your party around without losing your place, but it can get a little annoying. The music is definitely a strong point, though the battle theme itself can get a little repetitive. The oasis’s theme doesn’t have the same issue in my opinion, since it’s kind of fun to listen to it evolve over the course of the game.

The town management aspect of the game is definitely pretty fun, and I enjoyed the little side stories that accompanied upgrading each seedling’s shop. I think the major criticisms I have of the system is that I wish the side stories had some kind of level recommendation since I found myself slamming into monsters that were way too high a level for me on some of the sidequests. Another criticism I have is that I kind of wish the non-seedling residents got to have their own sidequest storylines, since I definitely liked the designs of all the different peoples and it was kind of a bummer that only one storyline-relevant Lagora, Drauk, and Serkah each got to have their own little story arc.

Anyway, it’s a shame this game felt like it got slept on a bit, because I really do wish it could develop into more of a franchise and iron out the rough bits, not unlike the aforementioned Rune Factory series. Who knows, maybe it’ll happen on the Switch someday despite all expectations. I sure hope it will. There’s definitely potential in the ideas and setting, and it’d be nice to see Nintendo messing around with a new IP.