I've just earned my second badge in your current demo. Not sure how relevant any commentary will be since you're releasing version 2.0, but here are my thoughts:
Highlights
-actual backgrounds in Pokemon battles (as opposed to a white vacuum or smears of colour)
-the tongue in cheek humor throughout the game: I love the self-degrading town signs, and all the kids who have given up on training Pokemon in order to play the video game adaptations of the sport. Haha, I'm glad you are liking that, Zephyr had the idea for most of them, and expect to see a lot more in the next demo!
-the dual-type starters. The extra element really gives them a lot more personality.
-the new rival scenario. A game where you start with the stronger Pokemon? Now there's something refreshing! I do see how the dual-type natures may help Theo to surpass you as his Pokemon rises in level. It should keep you on your toes. As Snoopi said, he also has an unique personality. We worked really hard on Theo =).
I'm not so keen on
-the diamond-shaped menu system. It's very odd and unintuitive to navigate (I instinctively want to use the left/right arrows to move around, as opposed to up/down). It's also very, very sluggish. Haha, many people complained about it. That custom menu was actually just a way I could prove my eventing skills on rmxp back there. Our new menu is pretty simple and really intuitive.
-"vendor trash" fakemon. Owten and Chyinmunk strike me as the Uranium version of Ratatta or Bidoof - normal type Pokemon you pick up at the start of the game to fill your team roster, and abandon as soon as stronger and more interesting elemental types appear. But maybe I'm just bringing in some bad assumptions - as the game designer, how do you envision 'mons like Owten being used in battle? What special abilities do they bring to the mix, and what niche would they fill on a team?
Well, Chyinmunk is pretty bad but it's evo Kinetmunk can be very useful early on the game, since it has quick attack and thunder shock. Owten is the only flying pokémon yoyu can catch till after the second gym, and it's REALLY useful against Terlard.
Most importantly
Thank you for finally breaking the the "Monotype Gym Leader" mold! I think that by now everyone has mastered the type advantages of Pokemon, making it far too easy to stack a team of surfers for a fire-type gym, or to earthquake your way through an electric gym. When each of your opponent's 'mons present a different type challenge, you really have your work cut out for you.
I'd be very interested to face these polytype gym leaders in 2-vs-2 matches, especially if they train Pokemon that guard each others' type weaknesses. (grass & rock; psychic & fighting, etc.) Don't worry because there will be 2-vs-2 gym battles! I always thought Gyms were a bit tad too easy on the official games, so that + higher levels to their pokémon made the them way more challenging. I bet everyone had a hard time against Davern haha.
