This is a custom Pokémon game based on the Pokémon Crystal Polished.
Beyond of everything Polished Crystal has to offer this hack rom is actually a "semi-nuzlocke" mod of the same hack rom. And yes, I know Polished Crystal has a nuzlocke feature mode built-in, however, I dont like some nuzlocke rules anymore and here it comes what I am trying to change the nuzlocke experience for a new concept of "semi-nuzlocke" or "soft-nuzlocke".
- Pokémon permanently dies? No, but there are only few ways to revive it. And here is why: ... ..* Throughout my nuzlocke experience (without built-in nuzlocke, only my own rules) I realized that my wish for revive one especific Pokémon gave me a certain thrill in which I desired to overcome my own rules and invented new ones in order to bypass perma-death and the journey was AMAZING. I had to obtain a very rare item in order to revive one specific Pokémon. It was great, so I decided to keep that experience.
- Only 1 Pokémon catchable per land mark? Duplicate clauses? Shiny clauses? Well... let's talk about it. ..* Yes, one mon by map is basically what defines nuzlocke experience, you take affection for that little one, I know! BUT... ..* After playing Legends Arceus (with permanent death clause) I had experience something new... Because Legends Arceus is about catching a lot of mon, by the end of each region map many Pokémon has been caught and many has been released and only the strong ones (or carefully trained) survived the jorney. The limitation of only access Pokémon Storage at the main map create a sense of danger in the wild...And that my friends was game changing for me! ..* So, NO. There's no such thing here (Hear me out, dont quit yet 🤣 ). Of course you can activate the built-in normal nuzlocke if you disagre with me and want only one catch by route, BUT ... ..* This Mod was crafted to play diferently and I will explain how this balance it all (read my proposition bellow).
- No Battle items Clauses? Items can be used in battle but are they really expensive or not quite effective, only real trainers can get and know how and when to use them, a lot of items was blocked of in battle usage from pocket like all berries, and some was maintained as the spray-like medicines. ..* Why I decided to maintain usable in battle items? Because my proposition is about freedom with a cost to it. This "cost" may be a lot of things, maybe exploring, maybe strategical gameplay, maybe resource management (and I know what everybody think of it in Pokemon games, but doing the right way without been too many punishing is rewarding! Trust me).
- Breeding is allowed? Yes, I miss breeding! But the day-care feature has been modified to bypass exploitation (more details bellow in overall changes).
- In order to simulate a nuzlocke main experience (Catch clauses, Death clauses) I had to change access to revival and unlimited healings and rise abroad dificulty concerning exploitation like PC, Day-Care, Fast-Travel. ..* You wont be able to freely and unlimitedly access full healing. So, your Pokémon will faint, eventually. ..* Grinding will be significantly harder without PokéCenter so overleveling wont pay off. ..* Whiting out will not heal your Pokémon. Exploiting for revive wont happen. ..* So you gonna need a lot of extra Pokémon and may the lucky ones survive till the Hall of Fame!
- There are only 3 Pokémon Healing Machine in the game (So, yes you can still do it) ..* Elm's Lab, Fuji's Lab, League's Lobby.
- There are only 4 Pokemon Storage Machine in the game (so, yes you can access and exploit it if you will, when you can) ..* Goldenrod's PokeCom Center, Bill's House, Safari Zone, Battle Frontier (Post-Game).
- There are only 8 Flying Spot in the game. ..* Azalea Town, Mahogany Town, Lavender Town, Pallet Town, Yellow Forest, Mt. Silver, Mt. Moon, Indigo Plateau.
- Day-care and Pokémon Center Overhaul. ..* Day-care now is a House Care for Retired Pokémon! Once you retire a Pokémon you cannot take it back. They still can breed thou. ..* This is for bypass day-care exploitation for revive a fainted mon since daycare interaction will be everywhere. ..* Nurse Joy can retire a Pokémon, every retired Pokémon with Nurse Joy will give you an mail item. ..* You can write a good-bye mail for your fainted beloved Pokémon and store it in the PC 🥲 ..* Cute, right? And you can trade mails for heart scales as well.
- Every Pokémon Mart has a Magikarp Dealer and you can buy as many as you wish. ..* To avoid softlock you may buy a ✨ Magikarp ✨ and keep going. ..* Pretty good business this Magikarp Selling, right? So, you can also Sell Magikarp as well! ..* For half price, of course, but hey remember Lureballs?
This is a custom Pokémon game based on the Pokémon Crystal disassembly.
My goal is to create what the title says: an improved, polished version of Pokémon Crystal. It fixes bugs, takes into account the official game changes since 2001, and adds some new ideas of my own. Many features restore what was removed from R/B/Y, or original to HG/SS.
I've had vague plans to make a Pokémon game for years. I'm very impressed by the effort that's gone into disassembling Pokémon Crystal and making the code so well-organized. Thanks to making it open-source (and to the ROM hackers that inspired me), I'm finally making this game a reality.
There are many ways to create games but the way we work at Game Freak may be a little different from other companies. That is, we constantly change and tweak what we have come up with. To make a fun game even more fun and polish it up, we take what we have made and start thinking about it from scratch. And to make the game the most fun to play we make endless changes and tweaks no matter how long it takes. It may not be the best way, but I think these tweaks are important to make our games fun and better.
— Junichi Masuda, "HIDDEN POWER of masuda No. 7"
The current beta version is 3.0.0. It has some incomplete original content and known bugs, but it's playable from start to finish. Download the nightly release to get the very latest ROM, up-to-date with the master code branch.
The most recent official version is 2.2.0 as of September 20, 2016. The changelog lists all changes since then. I recommend playing the 3.0.0 beta instead.
If you want to do a Nuzlocke Challenge, check out Nuzlocke mode in the Option menu!
If you have any questions about these steps, read the FAQ!
A full list of features is in FEATURES.md. Features new to the beta are in CHANGELOG.md. Some highlights:
- 253 Pokémon, including some new evolutions.
- 48 new moves.
- 65 TMs and 21 move tutors.
- Many new mechanics, including the Fairy type, Physical/Special split, Natures, unlimited TMs, Running Shoes, and continuous Repel.
- New maps: some restored from R/B/Y, some devamped from HG/SS, and some original.
- New characters, including Lorelei and Agatha from R/B/Y, Lyra and the Team Rocket Executives from HG/SS, and others.
- More post-game content, like Gym Leader rematches and an event after the battle with Red.
- An improved level curve with steadily increasing challenges throughout the game.
- Music and graphics devamped from other versions.
- Nuzlocke mode in the Option menu, enabling the basic rules of the Nuzlocke Challenge.
You can post questions or comments on any of these sites. But please read the FAQ first if you have a question.
- Discord
- Skeetendo
- PokéCommunity
- Romhack.me
- /r/PokemonROMHacks
- Nuzlocke Forums
- Pokémon Hackers Online
