#game-review #evergreengame #jrpg #finishedgame2018 # Pokémon Emerald  [Console:: Gameboy Advance] [Status:: Beaten] [Approximate Start Date:: 2018-06-17] [Finish Date:: 2018-06-17] [Clear Time:: 26h] [Total Play time:: 130h] [nReplays:: 5] Start and Finish Date reflect most recent playthrough from my recording from a previous spreadsheet that I began back in 2017 ## [Rating:: 93] Pokemon Emerald has one of the most interesting and engaging campaigns of all the Pokemon games I've played. Gym Leader fights are hard but fair, there's very few difficult obstacles that truly bring down the experience, the game is also never too easy, and there's always a reasonable level curve when playing. There's a ton to do after beating the game as well, especially for a Gameboy Advance title, which has kept me playing so many years later. # Playthrough Notes This was the first main-series Pokemon game I ever owned as a child. I got the cartridge from my neighbor Seth, I'm not sure where he had gotten it from, but he gave it to me. I started with a Mudkip and I still have the data of that Swampert in my modern games. I enjoy playing through Emerald quite a bit since it carries a lot of nostalgia for me. There's something about playing through the post-game business that really sticks with me, though that's probably just because that's what I did a lot as a kid, do the post-game stuff. refight the Elite Four over and over and over again. Build up my secret base. I haven't done a Nuzlocke, and don't plan to. But I do want to experiment more with party mons with each playthrough, to give things like Pelipper and Altaria a shot, since I haven't used them yet. (I gotta stop using Gardevoir and Manetric). Last time I played this was on a train from Beijing to Hangzhou in 2018 # My Thoughts - [[Places in Hoenn carry a Pro-Environmentalist Message]] ## General Pokemon Emerald fits into my Big 4 of favorite Pokemon games along with Platinum, HG/SS and all of Gen 5. I guess I'm a sucker for the stretch of Gens 3-5. I have played the first two hours of the game so much that I have gotten a little bored with it at times, but no so bored as I am whenever I restart Fire Red or Leaf Green. But I've been able to play through the game with each starter at least once and I can appreciate what each one brings to the game. I like Swampert the most of the three, but I can completely understand why others like Blaziken and Sceptile as well. The Hoenn starters are easily the best set of starters of any generation, in my opinion. The Postgame rocks: - Battle Frontier is so cool - There's a ton of coo legendary Pokemon sidequests, including catching both Groudon and Kyogre. - Secret Bases are great - Finding Steven in Meteor Falls for a "Red-esque" fight. - Finding the Underground Fossils so you can get both Lileep and Anorith in the same game. ## romhacks - Inclement emerald is a great hardcore version of emerald that features mons up to Gen 7 and some Gen 8 mons - Emerald Rogue is a roguelike version of Emerald ## General Notes - Walda passwords being a way to customize the boxes is a really cool way to do things. - Lots eReader events and compatibility just lost to time because of a lack of support and preservation # Favorite Moments / Memories - Fighting Wallace while swinging on the swing at Sanborn Park during the summer. I think we were walking about back from Dairy Queen in Downtown Robbinsdale. - Finding a Chimecho on Mt. Pyre and trading it with Alex Ozark since he needed one to complete his Pokedex and I had just found one. - My only true, non-manipulated or chained shiny, Like TRUE RANDOM ENCOUTNER was a Gulpin on Route 110 # What were you doing when not playing this? - One of my recent playthrough of Pokemon Emerald was in the Summer of 2018 when I was on a train riding from Beijing back to Hangzhou. we had a long train ride and so I distributed a Gameboy Advance emulator and a copy of Pokemon emerald and let everyone who wanted one the ability to play on their laptops. It was very fun to hop between cars and see where everyone had gotten to. I played through the whole game on that train ride, through the main campaign, and finished at 3 in the morning. # Relevant Links *Links to associated media.*