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Crystal hack: Pokémon Coral Version (2022 DEMO OUT NOW!)

Logged into an old account of mine just to stop in here and say, wow. Corsola is one of my favorite Pokemon and I'm loving that someone is making a game using them as a mascot. And, not only that, but the really high quality, too. I'm going to go ahead and post some of my thoughts from playing the demo up to Sunbeam Island (but not through to the gym yet), just in case they can be of any help.

The number of QoL updates here are fantastic. I love being able to run in Gen 2, the Phys/Spec split is an absolute godsend, and the stuff you're doing with HMs/traversal is something I wish the real games would've done 20 years ago. Having sprites of newer Pokemon in the older style (which are made extremely faithfully, I might add) is pretty exciting to see, not gonna lie. Although, on the flip side, it makes it a tad more disappointing when you run into an old Pokemon using a sprite we've already been familiar with for decades (makes me wish those were unique too). There are some locations in the game that made my jaw drop and/or made me legitimately excited to play, which is pretty damn impressive for a GBC romhack in 2020 (the mountain top view is an example of the former while the fairy forest is an example of the latter). The inventive locations makes this particularly enjoyable.

What I'm loving most about this hack is that it feels like a proper Pokemon game that actually could have been made in this era. The world feels old-school Pokemon, with all the charm, surprises, attitude, and personality, something we've been lacking for a long time now. A lot, if not nearly all, hacks go for this weird edginess that really makes it difficult to enjoy them, but this one nails the legitimate Pokemon aesthetic instead, which is a breath of fresh air. It also feels wholly unique, which is helped along by the fact that you use unique tiles, a unique color palette (pink being prominent is awesome and I can't believe Game Freak hasn't used the cherry blossom motif before), and original music (which is also quite good btw). The fact that there seems to be a real theme here for the story that is so far relatively consistent is also pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to where you go with it, especially since it seems to be inspired by Corsola.

I really enjoy that the gym leaders are met before you fight them. I know this has been something more recent Pokemon games attempt to do, but honestly? You've done it better here than Game Freak ever has, probably in part because you've kept in line with the minimal, imagination-provoking design of Gen 2 encounters while incorporating them. But I also like that they haven't, so far, just been shoehorned into some overarching plot that makes little sense. It makes the world feel a lot more lived in to do it the way you have here.

Now, for some of my critiques. After the second Gym, the game gets a tad long-winded. There's a long series of routes that ends in a massive dungeon and you don't really get to prepare properly for almost any of it, because the last Mart was over 3 routes prior. The lack of a Mart/merchant in the town outside of Mt. Onwa also makes exploring the large dungeon really tedious, because you'll be going in and out quite a bit and you don't get any access to Escape Rope or Repels until after you fully explore it. It also wasn't at all clear that you'd have to call your Mom to get the Island Pass, so at first I thought the game actually just ended there. I don't know if I just missed dialogue that told me to call her or not, but that feels like something that should be a bit more heavily hinted at. While playing, I noticed there's a real lack of items post-Gym 2 and I'm not quite sure why. I found probably 5 or 6 dead-ends or suspicious looking locations between the 2nd Gym and returning to the starting town that looked like they should have something of interest, but didn't. It felt a tad punishing to have so much to explore but to gain so little from it. Hiding repels, escape ropes, or potions would go a long way in this stretch of the game in particular. Finally, I was a tad disappointed to find out that backtracking to the split in the road in that sparkling cave area resulted in no items. Since that area is such an obvious one to backtrack to after going all the way through the map's loop, I feel like there should be at least some reward, even if it's not the one that would've been originally given.

That's about it, as far as critique goes. Overall, those are definitely nitpicks I'd suspect will get ironed out with time. I'm loving the charm and inventiveness you've got going here and am excited to see where you take this next. You've got yourself a fan for sure.
 
pichuscute0 said:
Logged into an old account of mine just to stop in here and say, wow. Corsola is one of my favorite Pokemon and I'm loving that someone is making a game using them as a mascot. And, not only that, but the really high quality, too. I'm going to go ahead and post some of my thoughts from playing the demo up to Sunbeam Island (but not through to the gym yet), just in case they can be of any help.

The number of QoL updates here are fantastic. I love being able to run in Gen 2, the Phys/Spec split is an absolute godsend, and the stuff you're doing with HMs/traversal is something I wish the real games would've done 20 years ago. Having sprites of newer Pokemon in the older style (which are made extremely faithfully, I might add) is pretty exciting to see, not gonna lie. Although, on the flip side, it makes it a tad more disappointing when you run into an old Pokemon using a sprite we've already been familiar with for decades (makes me wish those were unique too). There are some locations in the game that made my jaw drop and/or made me legitimately excited to play, which is pretty damn impressive for a GBC romhack in 2020 (the mountain top view is an example of the former while the fairy forest is an example of the latter). The inventive locations makes this particularly enjoyable.

What I'm loving most about this hack is that it feels like a proper Pokemon game that actually could have been made in this era. The world feels old-school Pokemon, with all the charm, surprises, attitude, and personality, something we've been lacking for a long time now. A lot, if not nearly all, hacks go for this weird edginess that really makes it difficult to enjoy them, but this one nails the legitimate Pokemon aesthetic instead, which is a breath of fresh air. It also feels wholly unique, which is helped along by the fact that you use unique tiles, a unique color palette (pink being prominent is awesome and I can't believe Game Freak hasn't used the cherry blossom motif before), and original music (which is also quite good btw). The fact that there seems to be a real theme here for the story that is so far relatively consistent is also pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to where you go with it, especially since it seems to be inspired by Corsola.

I really enjoy that the gym leaders are met before you fight them. I know this has been something more recent Pokemon games attempt to do, but honestly? You've done it better here than Game Freak ever has, probably in part because you've kept in line with the minimal, imagination-provoking design of Gen 2 encounters while incorporating them. But I also like that they haven't, so far, just been shoehorned into some overarching plot that makes little sense. It makes the world feel a lot more lived in to do it the way you have here.

Now, for some of my critiques. After the second Gym, the game gets a tad long-winded. There's a long series of routes that ends in a massive dungeon and you don't really get to prepare properly for almost any of it, because the last Mart was over 3 routes prior. The lack of a Mart/merchant in the town outside of Mt. Onwa also makes exploring the large dungeon really tedious, because you'll be going in and out quite a bit and you don't get any access to Escape Rope or Repels until after you fully explore it. It also wasn't at all clear that you'd have to call your Mom to get the Island Pass, so at first I thought the game actually just ended there. I don't know if I just missed dialogue that told me to call her or not, but that feels like something that should be a bit more heavily hinted at. While playing, I noticed there's a real lack of items post-Gym 2 and I'm not quite sure why. I found probably 5 or 6 dead-ends or suspicious looking locations between the 2nd Gym and returning to the starting town that looked like they should have something of interest, but didn't. It felt a tad punishing to have so much to explore but to gain so little from it. Hiding repels, escape ropes, or potions would go a long way in this stretch of the game in particular. Finally, I was a tad disappointed to find out that backtracking to the split in the road in that sparkling cave area resulted in no items. Since that area is such an obvious one to backtrack to after going all the way through the map's loop, I feel like there should be at least some reward, even if it's not the one that would've been originally given.

That's about it, as far as critique goes. Overall, those are definitely nitpicks I'd suspect will get ironed out with time. I'm loving the charm and inventiveness you've got going here and am excited to see where you take this next. You've got yourself a fan for sure.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the kind words. A lot of your critiques have already been addressed in the indev version, but thanks for bringing them up anyway. The whole "getting on the island" part of the game has been completely reworked and I've cut down MAJORLY on backtracking with optional areas that open up on repeat trips. I don't want to promise or announce anything, but I'm slowly working my way toward releasing a new demo. It will probably only have a gym or 2 worth of new content, but the older stuff has seen BIG reworks and improvements.
 
I figured you were so on top of things that you would probably have gathered most of what I mentioned already by now haha, but glad to hear there's been changes. I'm very much looking forward to whatever you have in the future and I've subbed to the thread to make sure I keep up to date. Definitely take your time, but also keep up the great work!
 
Created an account just to thank you for this hack, this is by far the most fun I've had with any hack so far and I really got the feeling I'm playing a brand new generation and I just felt like exploring everything there is to see. My main team was Floatzel, Marowak and Cottonee. (is there a way to evolve it?)

To give some feedback:

Pros:
Amazing original soundtrack
The best maptiles and mapdesign out of any GBC hack I've played, amazing locations to explore
Great choice of catchable Pokemon

Cons:
The gym leaders are a trainwreck balancing wise and they ruined some of the fun for me.
Ditto doesnt work as a gym leader ace since you can easily outplay it by bringing a weak mon, Smeargle was fine.
Poliwag as an ace is way too underwhelming, Poliwhirl would work way better.
3rd gym leader should have 3 Pokemon, and please give them decent coverage moves, I beat her with an untrained Larvesta which should not be a thing.

I think you are scared players might not be able to progress if the gyms are too hard but thats what items are there for.
 
Hi, thanks a lot for this great hack!
You really are doing good work so far!
I just have to ask if the pokemons from later gens are getting their right cries next version?
 
Made an account to give my two cents. Downloaded Coral a while back and gave it a proper go recently. Really glad to find that it's still being worked on. Just wanted to give some feedback and maybe help keep motivation up for finishing it :)
For context, I just collected the Island Pass.

Positives:
1. I love the NPCs in this rom. Not to spoiler too much, but there is some great subversion and meta-commentary going on here without being too unnatural or forced within the world. Refreshing, engaging and memorable writing. Thank you in particular for that aspect; it makes the world more believable and the people living in it seem more grounded and realistic as a result... a difficult feat for a pokemon game. I especially liked a certain Master in a cave and the way you are introduced to the gym leaders.

2. There were difficult sections in this rom, and I really liked it. I read another post about getting to the next town only to be confronted with a battle, however you do get help before that mission in the way of a Super Potion (which should be enough to take on the goon). I'm a bit of a Dark Souls fan and this rom had me going long stretches without a Pokemon Centre (bonfire), which had me on the edge of my seat and strategising more. "Should I take a random man's boat to an unknown island I haven't been to before even though my Pokemon are nearly all fainted or trek back to the last town to heal?" Stock up on antidotes... :)

3. The native wild Pokemon are well chosen. I've played most of the generations and was happy to see a good variety from each in this that fit naturally into each environment. Nothing OP from the start, but decent choices to set you up nicely for gyms etc. I liked the rarity of some later ones too that added to their 'value'.

4. The map is beautifully designed and has a nice midway loop that allows you to see and reflect on the progress you've made, especially after a moderate difficulty spike. Also there's a breath-taking and true-to-map view, that I was not expecting and haven't seen in previous games. Great innovation and creativity! Areas are big, detailed and usually contain a side area to explore and find goodies in. Looking forward to progressing further in this unique setting. Also huge props for upscaling Snorlax.

5. The HM system is revolutionary. Seriously. I don't know how I can go back to conventional roms now. Also the lava surfing was a welcome change (loved the npcs here too), although I felt sorry for my poor lava spluttering Growlithe carrying my heavy ass.

Suggestions/Observations:
1. I had a hard blank screen crash after entering a PC and somehow ended up looking at the move description menu for my party. When I exited out, it crashed. Reloaded to a previous save and lost some pokemon levels. Might try and recreate it if you need specifics.

2. I also thought about the lack of a Mart on Sunbeam Island, but I like the justification you give in the world from an NPC in the pokecentre. Don't feel you have to change it for a mart, maybe you could put a stall there selling the herbal remedies so it's a choice of whether you give your pokemon medicine they don't like or you charge onwards. Maybe a berry tree would help along the way too, or an NPC on the mountain pass who heals your pokemon after you beat them, maybe a mountain guru or natural healing springs near the summit/viewpoint. It could help with the pacing and be optional. If you decline the guru's offer, he could give you something instead. Just a thought.

3. The Master (in the cave) has a line of dialogue/lyric where the 3rd person conjugated verb has an unnecessary apostrophe (something like "get's"). Really liked this character, hence the tough love.

That's pretty much it for now. Great mod, glad it's not abandoned as you can tell a lot of passion and dedication went into it. Keep it up!! Can't wait for the update :)
 
I hope this game gets finished. I suddenly remembered this game from 2 years ago so I checked it and I was disappointed that it hadn't been finished yet. Pokémon Coral was one of the first few Pokémon ROM Hacks I'd ever played, so now that I've remembered the game I feel nostalgic.
 
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Yeah I just scrolled through the Pokémon Coral page and it seems the creator is still working on this, which is a relief.
 
oliver654321 said:
I love what you're doing and loving the game. How can I evolve traded Pokémon and could you do a Train heist where the evil team takes over the train and you have to stop them??????
Click to expand...

coraldev said:
That's actually a really cool idea. I might end up doing that. Thank you for the suggestion.

As for evolving trade Pokemon, you can't in this demo, but eventually you will be able to use an item called the "Link Cable" that you'll be able to buy from a shop to evolve trade evolution Pokemon.
Click to expand...

AYOOOOOOO praying this is in the new release of the game. Still love this game
 
Is there any news on Demo 3 or updates for content after the third gym? I'm a huge fan of this ROM and I'm not sure where to keep up with updates from the Coraldev..
 
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