the 'abandoned' status isn't quite accurate--i'm pretty sure i did absolutely everything possible in this hollow retreading of hoenn years ago when i was a child and, indeed, had it set to 'mastered' but i give up on this recent replay. pokemon diamond (and pearl, assumedly) is honest to god one of the most boring rpgs i've played. worse, i remember feeling this way as a kid after following the hypetrain for months on months before release, stalking serebii for scraps of information and discussing the impending release with my online friends at the time, only to end up with a game that felt like one i had already played before: pokemon ruby.

i mean, is it doing much else? it's got snow. that's about it. night time. uhh. a physical special split. the little things are indeed little because, overall, it is a mess of uninteresting environments pitting you against trainers with one type of mon and bad guys that use creatures from the same pool of, like, five. and you know what? i probably shouldn't replay pokemon ruby because i bet it's just like that, too. but then, it was novel, and i bet for people who play diamond first, it's novel here, too.

i don't know, these fucking games don't do much. you catch pokemon, you fight everyone you see, your creatures become too strong and unstoppable until the very end when suddenly the elite four is about twenty flights above you. and i just do not have the patience to grind my way through it. maybe if the writing was interesting or funny or curious or anything other than--i get it. this is designed to be a child's literal first jrpg. pokemon ruby was literally my first jrpg. but god is it bland. god, and isn't the dialga reveal bland, too. now that's one thing pokemon ruby performed better, i'd say.

music's good. pixel art as far as pokemon is concerned: very good! pixel art as far as tile sets are concerned: very bland! and samey, and whatever else. i don't know, i felt exhausted playing this and that goes double for writing.