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FireRed hack: Pokemon Maia Version (Version ?.2) - The first completely Open World Hack

\k o m o d o/

13
Posts
6
Years
Amazing. Never seen anything better. This mapping, can't be beaten. Waaay better than Cosmos. Custom player, custom UI, and custom graphics. Beautiful, 12/12
 

CancelSlay

2
Posts
8
Years
  • Age 27
  • Seen Apr 18, 2022
Pokémon Maia is an intricately crafted experience, drawing inspiration from the likes of such influential ROM Hacks as Pokémon Quartz and Chaos Black. Every aspect of the game is thoroughly fine-tuned to create an awe-inspiring aventure that stays with you for months, no, years after you play it. Every patch of grass, every tree, every single second of the game has a massive amount of care put into it that GameFreak could only hope to rival.

From the thought-provoking dialogue to the lifelike characters, this game is just amazingly polished. The deep and intriguing worldbuilding kept me hooked, and the emptiness (don't worry, the landscape may look empty but it's actually chock full of secrets and things to find!) of the world contributed to a growing sense of loneliness, which persisted throughout the game and created a jaw dropping atmospheric experience, comparable to the masterpieces of yesteryear like Soda Drinker Pro and Metal Gear: Zombies. While the world had a gloomy and desolate tone, it was broken up with surprisingly cheerful moments of wholesomeness, so the player never feels like the game is overwhelming them.

The plot was terrific, with plot twists that gave enough clues beforehand to allow a keen player to notice, without making them obvious. The gradely graphics don't distract from the plot at all, either. In fact, they fit the entire game perfectly, contributing to a lonely yet relaxed atmosphere that's just thriven and thro. And of course, how could I forget about the eximious design of the open world? Unlike more modern open world games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Skyrim, and The Witcher III, which exist solely to rip money straight from your wallet and life from your soul, Maia's beautifully prestantious open world is filled with something new every step you take. There's no more useless filler content, like Zelda's shrines and Skyrim's storyline, either. Instead, every single thing you find is meaningful, like taking a bite out of a Strawberry Cheesecake, except you're being force fed it for hours on end.

And that brings me to my next point: the amount of hours you can get out of this game is budgeree. Theoretically, there isn't a maximum amount of fun you can get from the game. However, in practice... there still isn't a maximum amount of fun you can get from the game. I could go on for hours about all the shenanigans I've been up to in this [I ran out of synonyms for great a long time ago so substitute your favorite here] work of art. And I will. I'll be honest, at the beginning, I didn't really understand the point of this game, but by the end, I was talking the ears off of everyone I knew about this masterpiece. My only gripe about this work of art is that there's so much to do that no player could reasonably expect to see all it has to offer in their lifetime, so the player feels like they're missing out. This is offset, however, by how meaningful everything feels, so you never feel like you haven't accomplished enough. Anyway, enough about my life, let's get into the real review.

The Impact

Maia has had a profound impact on my life. Every time I feel down, I think about Maia, which helps me realize that nothing I ever do could match the quality of this game, so everything I do is futile and there's no use worrying about worldly things. I'm a hundred times happier now, and a thousand times Maier.

The Plot

I don't want to spoil too much, but the plot was rad. It keeps you on your toes, with you always wanting to see what's coming next. I especially liked the part where [censored to prevent spoilers] decided to [censored to prevent spoilers] the [censored to prevent spoilers]. I was extremely sad when the plot was over, until I realized that the plot is never over. Overall, I'd have to give this section a 10/10.

The Graphics

The creator is apparently into self-deprecating humor, because what he advertises as "ugly palettes" are actually beautifully constructed so as to provide an even more atmospheric experience. Sure, the palettes are simple, but their beauty lies in their minimalism. It doesn't have to rely on fancy graphics to fool your everyday non-gamer into dropping hundreds on the game like Celeste does, and it instead uses actual novel gameplay to create a one in a million experience like Call of Duty. Don't worry, though, it's not one of those games with extremely simple graphics because the developers were lazy and wanted to prey on nostalgia like Shovel Knight. Vietnamese Crystal also has some amazing moments where the graphics and music mesh perfectly, making the music feel like an extension of your soul and your mind. This should probably go under the "Impact" section but I've already come all the way down here.

The Deeper Message

Vietnamese Crystal was also probably the deepest game I've played in the past year. The part where the protagonist loses his job (it happens in like the first 20 minutes so it's not a spoiler) really made me think. About what? I have no clue, but I was thinking so hard. I meant to say it made me think about the meaning of life and the place of us humans. I also thought about the graphics, and the plot, and the characters, and the music, which brings me to our next subject, the characters.

The Characters

Oh my god you just got tricked so hard. This one's actually about the music! The music sounds like default FireRed music, but when you listen a little bit more closely, Vietnamese Crystal's music is actually taken from crystal. The only thing that I hated about the music was that the sound quality was so high that my 3DS's speakers couldn't handle it, so now my cartridge slot is broken from trying to put my copy in there anyway.

The Verdict

I give Pokémon Maia a ten out of ten, but I'm going to have to dock a couple of points because it made me cry multiple times, so now everyone keeps looking at me weird since I still keep occasionally sobbing. So unfortunately, Maia only gets a ten out of eight.
 
Last edited:
Disturbed

Disturbed

1,906
Posts
15
Years
  • Age 30
  • Seen Oct 21, 2019
the only reason i haven't played this yet is because i know it'll ruin other hacks for me forever
 
miksy91

miksy91

Dark Energy is back in action! ;)
1,480
Posts
15
Years
This hack is pretty good. But hard to tell yet whether it's going to take HotY this year or not.
Springs are often time when after possibly a long and dark winter, hackers find the motivation to start something new. And when the April comes (usually 1st of that month), similar masterpieces like this one use to shine.
 

Pokemonfanpika

19
Posts
6
Years
i like idea of open world but this game need this ability to bulid a home and use pokemon for many things like battles or cinstruct and this many villages like harvestcraft this is my idea
 

Murderlinez3

Shiny Scyther
46
Posts
6
Years
  • Age 28
  • Seen Dec 26, 2022
Christos please nominate this hack for hack of the months or even for hack of the year, I am sure many people would vote for that shiiit, best hack ever !!!! Lol
 
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