#game-review #finishedgame2024 # Pokemon Fire Red  [Console:: Gameboy Advance] [Status:: Beaten] [Approximate Start Date:: 2024-04-26] [Finish Date:: 2024-07-24] [Clear Time:: 24h 35m] [Total Play Time:: 25h] [nReplays:: 3] *(Previous playthroughs not combined with Pokémon Leaf Green)* ## [Rating:: 84] # Playthrough Notes - see also [[Pokemon Leaf Green]] - The Sven playthrough, started with Charmnader, "Borto", - this is playthrough 4 of Fire Red from my childhood up to now. - Planned Squad: - Charizard () - Vileplume - Jynx (ZYNX) - Vaporeon (Spaghetti) - Rhydon - Clefable (Naz Reid) - Will want to use some of the trade evolutions in a future game # My Thoughts - Okay, the walking part of this game is pretty rough, but if you can just accept that it's going to be pretty slow, then that's fine. - [[I like Gen 3 Pokemon Games Because I Have to Work For my Party's Success]] - Nugget Bridge ain't even over water dude, what gives, huh? - I'm trying to play this run of Kanto without the usual biases I have when I replay the Kanto games (get to each gym as fast as possible and be reasonably levelled). I'm trying to explore the world because I'm curious, and taking on those optional paths, and allowing myself to hit a dead end or two. It's more fun if I'm hanging out in the world. - Damn these NPCs are NOT conversational (i.e. do not talk about anything beyond Pokemon), this is a fun thing to look at as we play. - Growing up on Pokemon it made me less prone to talking with NPCs because they either felt like tutorials or weren't interesting. I realize now as I play [[Dragon Quest V - Hand of the Heavenly Bride|Dragon Quest V]], for example, that talking with NPCs is important in some games, and to have conversational NPCs is an artform. - [[Having Conversational NPCs in a Game is Crucial If You Want Players to Explore the World]] - Damn, it's a real revelation when you meet someone in the world who doesn't say a SINGLE THING about Pokemon. - As always [[Giving my characters funny names is one way I'm being able to stay engaged while playing games]]. - This applies to nicknames on my Pokemon - I also gave my character and my Rival character then names "Sven" and "Ole" because it made me chuckle. - One of the ways I usually identify if I'm actually going to commit to the run is whether or not I get towards Rock Tunnel. In the past I would usually drop a run either around Brock, or when I had to grind to beat the Rival and Misty in Cerulean. Clearing the S.S. Anne and Lt. Surge is sort of the last bottleneck. - [[Generation 3 Kanto games are balanced around the expectation that the player will fight every trainer]]. - But heaven help me the Pokémon Mansion is hell with its RANDOM encounters. Oh it's so bad and so annoying. Navigating a maze with random encounters is MISERABLE. - [[There aren't that many 'convenience features' I'd want in Fire Red]]? - I think the game really drags when you have some of the water routes and all your guys are too high of a level to get meaningful exp growths, but then the game's Gym leaders and Elite Four are just WAY higher levels than what feels reasonable. - Giovanni's second, stronger Rhyhorn was supposed to be a Rhydon, right? It's Level 50. - In Red and Blue, this is a Rhydon as well. But here's it's a high-level Rhyhorn. This just really bothers me :[ ## I Like The safari zone! It's Got More To it than you'd Expect - The Safari Zone is a little basic, but it's fun trying to catch a variety of fun new mons - I managed to catch a Dratini and THEN a Dragonair which was holding a Dragon Fang. Absolutely crazy Safari Zone moment. 1/500 chance of that happening, and I caught it first try. - These odds are: $p = \frac{1}{100} \times \frac{5}{100} \times \frac{16.35}{100} = \frac{81.75}{100000} \approx 8.2 \times 10^{-5} $ - the last term comes from this table: https://www.docdroid.net/g3I5Qtl/frlg-lookup-tables-pdf#page=2 - Cool safari zone code guide: https://www.docdroid.net/Tx5NbeU/safari-zone-research-pdf ## Team specific notes - General - Oh I'm really having a tough time dealing with Water types in this because they're all dual-types. Water/Poison, Water/Ice and Water/Flying absolutely make using any Grass type to handle water types miserable. I also don't have electric coverage this go around. - Borto (Charizard) - Objectively quite useful. - Fly with your starter is just so convenient - There's nothing quite so satisfying as having your Charmeleon reach level 34 and learn Flamethrower. - Surprisingly, I didn't use Charizard that much in regular battles. I know how good it is (I mean how could you not when you're a 10 year old kid in 2008? There's a reason Charizard had a reputation as a favorite, after all.) and wanted to try out some of my other guys, y'know? - UTRP - DrMrsStink (Vileplume) - Bodies Misty and Lt. Surge - Sort of falls off in the midgame when there's Poison types EVERYWHERE - I imagine once I get to more of the water routes it'll be easier to use again. - Very useful for Viridian gym with Petal Dance. I could just click it, and wait for things to die. - Unfortunately, probably the weakest member of the team on the basis of shallow movepool (no really good spammable moves), being unable to handle a lot of more common water types (Water/Ice, Water/Flying and Water/Poison make Grass mediocre at best.) and not being able to resist ground types (something Grass types otherwise are REALLY good at doing). - No shame, it was really nice to have in the early game, but it fell off near the end, but I appreciate its contributions all the same. - Naz Reid (Clefable) - Absolutely kicks ass when it evolved. I moon stoned it right before Rock Tunnel and it carried - Just an objectively good choice given is HUGE movepool and the fact you can get some reasonably strong Normal-type moves quite early on. - Amusingly, the lack of spammable moves in my final movepool isn't great for grinding, but that's fine. - A little lacking for late game fights, but that's fine. It would stay alive, allow me to heal, do some chip and then generally make progress in most fights. - Absolutely GOATED in legendary catching: - Knows T-Wave for status and Seismic toss for controlled damage, meaning I just always send it out first, and paralyze the target, and then Strength + Seismic Toss as needed. - Spaghetti (Vaporeon) - I actively went out of my way to race to Fuchsia to get Surf asap and after that, Vaporeon was REALLLLLLLL useful again :] - Keeping Bite on Vaporeon is nice because I have a special attacker with a Dark type move. - Just generally a solid party member. Surf is spammable as all heck. - This is my answer to my rival's blastoise. I just need to teach it Toxic, and we're set. - I ended up doing this, replacing Aurora Beam. Easily the best decision I could've made, Vaporeon SAT on my final rival fight. - Blastoise set up rain, and then died to Toxic, which gave Vaporeon's Surfs a boost, which allowed it to easily handle Alakazam and Arcanine, after already having beating Rhydon, and stalling out Blastoise. - If not for Jynx, this would easily be the MVP of the run. - ZYNX (Jynx) - honest to god one of the best fucking Pokemon in the game for when you can get it? You can get it after getting the Good Rod / Super Rod after clearing the Pokemon Tower and catching a Poliwhirl. - Jynx can take down Erika with ease proivided you don't over-level it - Jynx's Ice/Psychic typing is incredible for all of the roughneck bikers on the cycling road since they almost all have Poison, Flying or Fighting types. - Jynx has a naturally strong matchup towards most Poison types in the game, including most of Koga's gym. - Having a non-Ice Beam ice move in Ice Punch is a godsend for handling grass anf flying types. Given though that a lot of these are Poison types, we could theoretically use Psychic here instead. - Jynx has a ridiculously useful Special Attack stat - Trade Evo makes Jynx grow faster and you also get more Exp for other Exp Share mons in the process. - Annihiliated LAnce after a single Calm Mind. Paralyzed Aerodactyl Hyper Beam knocked out a different teammate, so I brought in Jynx and +1'd on the recharge, and then spammed Ice STAB - Honestly, just use Psychic types in Kanto. You won't regret it. - MVP of the playthrough by far. - Rhydon (Bumpstock) - Got a Careful natured Rhyhorn which is really nice to have tbh - Went and gave him Rock Slide because that's easily the best Rock move in the game. Worth it. - I tried putting it in the Daycare initially to give it a few levels, and in that whole time it gained exactly one level. Oh well! - I think this means that the day care is much better at getting new captures to higher levels before Lt. Surge. And that's fine! - Really useful. Physical attacker (only obvious one on my team, oops) really come sin clutch dealing with a lot of those annoying special fat mons - Once it gets Earthquake it's FREAKING OVER DUDE. - If only this came sooner and I didn't have to rely on Dig for as long as I did. - TMs are those "late game spells". You don't get the strong weapons or attacks until you're late in most JRPGs, and that's how Pokemon feels with Earthquake. It's the hyper-powerful move you get right before the end of the game that'll still put in a ton of work. ## Gen 3 Kanto Games are Comfort Games for me Fire Red and Leaf Green are games I can play and explicitly not worry, and still feel like I'm challenging myself. I think with certain Pokemon games, there are aspects of how they play that make me feel like I have to "do something more". Sinnoh games in particular are notorious for this because you have to go out of your way to make sure you see every Pokemon in the regional Dex to unlock the post-game. Fire Red and Leaf Green feel more like games that you'll likely catch 60 Pokemon and be more or less fully levelled by the time you reach the Elite Four. I think that sense of comfort therefore comes from the understanding that I know the exact pacing, but can still appreciate the long-form experience of playing the Gen 3 Kanto games. See [[Fire Red and Leaf Green Nostalgia Essay Drafting]]. These worlds do not grow old, but I am. So while the areas don't change as I age, my relationship with them does. It's like a dream world I can return to. Go on an adventure once again, and not have to worry about the issues of real life. I go on a journey at 10 because that's the thing to do. ### This Comfort is by Design I think this was the intention from the developers too. Pokemon Red and Blue were hugely popular games, and these games are attempts and re-releasing these games for a new generation. Sure, it was to make a quick buck, but at the same time I think the idea that [[One of Nintendo's Best Moves was porting their SNES titles to the Gameboy Advance]] applies here. I think Game Freak, Creatures and Nintendo saw the success of porting their old games to the GBA and realized how easy to it would be to hook a new set of players on experiences that those from the previous generation might've had. ## There's Definitely Some Annoying RNG Jank in Kanto Pokemon - The Misty fight feels so unfair entirely because Water Pulse can confuse your Pokemon. - Couple with Starmie's stats, I tried to approach this fight with an Oddish I was raising. Sure enough Starmie managed to beat it twice becauseof a Swift critical hit, and then a Water pulse confusing to "It Hurt Itself in Confusion!". What a giant joke of a fight, even hwen I have the levels for it. Starmie is a serious monster to fight. - Every time I see the move Poison Sting hit my guys, I immediately hold my breath and wait for the Purple shading and the wubbling from my Pokemon' ssprite - Getting Poisoned happens so often in this game it's ludicrous. - Poison Point is something unique to Gen 3 that wasn't there in Gen 1, which causes some real annoyances. - Fighting a Zubat I got confused, poisoned, flinched, and my move missed all in three turns back to back to back. This ois the reality of fighting Zubats. This is why people do not like Zubats. - This happened well after Mt. Moon too. This was on Route 11. - Law of large numbers type shit - Sludge ALWAYS poisons me >:( - I swear to god, the most frustrating thing in these games is "It hurt itself in confusion". - Every time I see that textbox I roll my eyes in disgust. I want to see those goddamn odds. ### The Jank was Not Present in the Original Games - The abilities added in this generation of Pokemon introduce a lot of extra cases where RNG jank can occur. Poison Point and Static are everywhere (the latter is on every single electric type in the game), and as a result you end up having to go heal a lot more often than usual compared to the original game. - This is why dungeons like Mt. Moon feel like such a marathon: the original iteration of Mt. Moon didn't have as many issues with Pokemon with Poison Point. ## Catching Legendary Pokemon is a REAL CHALLENGE - It's incredible how, despite Paralyzing Articuno and getting it down to the "low-red" HP region, I still had to throw almost 100 different Pokeballs. I straight up had to reload my save because I literally ran out of balls on my first attempt. I had 38 Ultra Balls, 49 Great Balls and 5 Pokeballs. Absolutely crazy. Maybe next time I'll keep track of how many shakes I get? - I used Clefable to get the targets Paralyzed, and in low HP and it still took me a solid amount of time to catch Articuno and Moltres - I caught Zapdos in the first Ultra Ball I threw LOL ## I think that these games are better in a vacuum than in the context of their peer Pokémon games If you only look at Fire Red and Leaf Green by themselves, these games can be observed like a more traditionally animal collecting game in the way they were originally designed. While there was a focus on interconnectivity between players playing Fire Red and Leaf Green, there wasn't a focus on Ruby and Sapphire players, which maybe implies that they were designed to pretend to be standalone games until 100% story completion. But by looking at Fire Red and Leaf Green as this [[EarthBound]]-like RPG where you're traversing the modern world and having JRPG fights, you can start to understand why TMs are single use, and why Blue acts the way he does (he's the goldfish poop gang recurring villain character we see). ### We Should Analyze Fire Red and Leaf Green as a contemporary JRPG - Which tropes are present in Red and Blue, (and Fire Red and Leaf Green by extension) that were more common in older 90s JRPGs? - I wonder what the thread between [[EarthBound]] and Red and Blue is, if any. - Maybe there's a societal comparison of childhood life in Kanto vs. Eagleland that's cool - Status Conditions In Pokemon mirror those seen in older JRPGs: - Confusion and Poison are exactly like those seen in other RPGs # Favorite Moments / Memories - There's some npcs at the celadon hotel who are on vacation. A boyfriend and girlfriend except the girlfriend also brought her brother. The boyfriend is very upset by this. - the Silph co. employee who complains that the reason that Team rocket took over is because Silph Co. Assigned him to the TIKSI branch. And then when asked where the TIKSI branch is, he responds that it's in Russia. - Russia and America are thus canon in the Pokemon universe # What were you doing when not playing this? - We were watching [[Amazing Race 3]]'s legs in Switzerland and Malaysia as I was exploring the S.S. Anne, hating on Flo. - Went through Route 7 to Rock Tunnel, and all the way through the Pokemon Tower questline at the Blue Moon Ranch (?) in Kemp, TX, setting on the back patio in the humidity and heat, with a an RnC in my owala and progressively getting groggier, not a care in the world. That was some good stuff right there. - Doing some Silph Co. fights at the farm over the fourth of July. - Also watching the early legs of [[Amazing Race 10]] as I went about the Cinnabar, and early Sevii Islands. - Finished the game while watching the Mauritius and Madagascar legs of TAR10 # Relevant Links -