Cruelty, Thy Name Is Glazed. (Journal #3, Pokemon Glazed)

     Binge gaming is something that comes almost naturally to me. I can still vividly remember the first time I ever played a video game, and from that moment on, gaming was second nature. Over the years, I would play more games, on more systems, until what most people considered a long session was something that I considered normal. So, it's really no surprise that I can binge game as easily as others binge watch or binge read. But, after a while, games start to become too easy. You've seen it all before, you know how the AI is going to act before they act, and you're already playing the meta-game, planning three of four or more steps ahead based on how much you can predict. Enter Pokemon Glazed.

     Like many things relating to copyright law, ROM Hacks are in the murky grey area that the courts tend to not want to touch with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole. However, since there's absolutely no profit being made off the game, it would seem to fall on the legal side of fair use, much like fan translations. But, I'm not writing about the flaws, holes, and grey areas of the legal system.

     I wholly recommend Glazed, not just because it's a new story for the Pokemon series, but also because it's a well thought out, and well put together, game. It's engaging, the storyline is amazing, and there's variety and depth to the named characters. The storyline not only takes you across the Pokemon world, but to a few places in our world, on Earth. There's some easter eggs here and there, like seeing an extremely rare Pokemon on Earth right after someone mentions that Pokemon don't exist there. All in all, it's solid, well put together, and I'm going to keep playing until I finish not just the game, but the postgame.

     I have my gripes, of course. No matter how well put together a game is, or how well it's modified, there's always a flaw here or there. Mostly minor ones admittedly. A graphical problem here, or walking over a one tile hole in the floor there. But, there were two major ones, one inherent in the system and one possibly accidentally made, that I have to mention.

     The internal save system, since it's running on an emulator, doesn't function correctly, so when I didn't know that and closed the game, four hours of play time were down the drain. After figuring that out, and solving it by using a different manner of saving. However, that also leads me to the other issue. The level curve. Oh dear gods, the level curve.

     For most of the main series game, it's a pretty gentle slope. AI Pokemon are maybe five levels higher than yours at most, and soon enough, you've closed that gap and the levels are equal for a bit, until they get a bit higher, and so on and so forth. Here, though, it's a bit more extreme. Your Pokemon will be, without grinding, somewhere around level 10 at the first gym. The level of the Pokemon there? Between 15 and 18. Not too bad, right? Next zone, your team will probably be around level 15 by now, with a lucky first gym win and no grinding. So, this zone, you're averaging level 15. The opponents, however are mid- to upper 20's. That's not a joke. You're going up against Pokemon that are about ten levels higher than you. The level curve is brutal. I've been told that it calms down after the third gym, but I can't confirm that yet myself.

So, in short, would I recommend it? Absolutely. It's a bit hard, but right before the level jacks up, there's usually a place to grind levels. A bug trainer in the swamp, the Challenge Lighthouse, a few other trainers that you'll just find accidentally. If you don't mind grinding levels for a bit, and if you need the spare cash, spending a bit of time leveling makes everything easier. If you're a fan of Pokemon, or even if you're new to the series, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Just don't forget to save!