So, I'm ready to do my write up about Pokemon Gale of Darkness ROMhack known as Pokemon XG: NeXt Gen. First of all, here are a few posts to refer to while reading this one:
1) My post on Grand Colosseum, a similar ROMhack for Pokemon Colosseum and a prequel to XD/XG
Well, I finally completed Grand Colosseum. Took me a bit longer than I planned since, well, the mod certainly wasn't kidding about increasing it's difficulty. I will write my impressions here. For context, I didn't just complete the main game, but also the post game and took the Mt. Battle 100 trainers in a row challenge(which might have the toughest battles in all of Gen 3).
2) I wrote a bit about the difficulty curve in appropriate thread, so instead of talking about it again, read this post. This also outlines why it took me so long to finish NeXt Gen compared to Grand Colosseum.
I mentioned the NeXt Gen Pokemon XD romhack I am playing, and something came to mind.
That said, I will try to keep it short. I won't talk about the main game, Pokemon XD, only differences the ROMhack has. If you haven't played either Colosseum or Gale of Darkness, I heavily recommend both. They have a few mechanics different to mainline games but the RPG elements are pretty much the same, they are essentially the definitive home console Pokemon RPGs that beat out even Sw/Sh and S/V in many cases, even tho the games are 20 years old at this point.
I am including my text doc that keeps my movesets organized and annotated it for your reading pleasure. This shows you the team I have and all the movesets, which are very interesting and diverse not just for Gen 3 but for Pokemon in general. Many of these are unique and have not been seen in any mainline game as of now, so if you're a moveset aficionado or a competitive player then you're in for a treat.
As of now I have completed every single normal battle, including post-game battle with Miror B and his Shadow Ho-Oh which was a pain in the ass. I have not done Orre Colosseum, which is just Stadium/Battle Tower rules battles against NPCs from the main game as this is essentially just a post game Battling Facility from other games. That also means I have not done the Lucky Egg quest, which in this ROMhack gives you a nice TM instead. Lastly, while I've climbed all 100 floors of Mt. Battle in Grand Colosseum in one consecutive sitting, I have not done that yet as XD and XG expect you to do this not once, not twice but THREE times as each time you do you get a unique Pokemon: in XD those were the Gen 2 starters with some unique moves, in XG it's the three Mythical Pokemon(Mew, Celebi, Jiraichi). This is going to take me a LONG while to do, between training all Pokemon and finding the time to do this in one sitting, but I can tell you right now by looking in the game documentation that the modder inserted himself as the Floor 100 boss battle, with what I assume is his own main game team to boot. Pretty cringy, but as you will find that's something of a pattern with him, either way the Pokemon don't go higher than Level 70 in Mt. Battle here, which is coincidentally how high your Pokemon need to be to stand a chance against the final Miror B encounter, so that's some good game design at least. I've done enough of the game that I think I can speak for the sum of it's parts now.
Just like last time, I will list which features of the mod are positive or negative compared to the original XD game. If you don't know anything about XD, either play it or watch a review of it, I won't write about how it differs from mainline titles or anything. If you did play the GC titles already, I will just spoil that XG is definitely worth playing, it is not only one of the better ROMhacks out there but possibly one of the best "classic" corridor design linear Pokemon experiences I have seen. What few flaws it does have are not enough to dissuade anybody from picking it up, especially since it's free.
Lastly, before I start, I should remind everyone that I used Trigger's PC utility to transfer Pokemon from my carts into patched XD which became XG. You can do this too, it works just like Pokebank so you're not cheating in new Pokemon or items or whatever, it is very nice for purists. HOWEVER, the game DOES screw up compatibility with the app at one point, read my Grand Colosseum write up about that. Basically, the game introduces two brand new Pokemon that are not in any Gen 3 game: Alolan Ninetales and Marowak. While nice, the save cannot be read by Trigger's PC once they are merely seen, not even caught. My advice? Keep a backup profile right before they are encountered(The Under in Grand Colosseum and Phenac City in NeXt Gen) and then keep playing the game normally. Once you are finished, "fix" the completed save using the method I outlined in my Grand Colosseum post, then use some sort of Genning software like PKHex to confirm that the Pokemon you ave are kosher and save the files of your Pokemon in another folder. Using the software, load up your backed up save and inject your completed save's Pokemon, you won't be able to transfer progress or items but even at that point of the game in both titles you can pretty much do everything you would want from postgame utility side of things, like using infinite TMs to train Pokemon in moves that are hard to get or impossible in mainline Gen 3 games, do EV training in Grand Colosseum's Mt. Battle, buy Ethers or PP Ups in NeXt Gen ect. This is not a perfect solution, but nobody else will tell you how it's done so you might as well know if you're aiming to play these games yourself with other Pokemon than the game provides(which I strongly recommend you do, the main strength of Gamecube titles are the Double Battles, not the Shadow mechanics).
With all that said, let's get down to the positives and negatives of NeXt Gen:
Positives:
+Large variety of Shadow Pokemon, giving you a nice challenge facing them(they have new Shadow moves too) and great rewards for catching and purifying them. There is also a lot more of them, when you are in a story critical section expect every single trainer to have at least one Shadow Pokemon, sometimes several later on in the game. There are over 120 Shadow Pokemon total, which is more than XD has and almost as much as both GC titles combined
+MUCH more wild Pokemon found in Poke Spots, only 9 accessible in total in XD where as each spot has much more than 9 Pokemon in them here. Many of these are rare Pokemon like Porygons or Chansey and pretty much all of them have moves that cannot normally be taught in Gen 3, making them very valuable to catch if you're planning to transfer them back to carts via Trigger's PC
+Legendary overworld encounters from mainline games. They appear in certain locations at certain points in the story and are not Shadow Pokemon, they add flavor to the region and give you fantastic optional boss encounters. Heavily recommended to pad out your teams, considering the increased difficulty
+Pretty much all Pokemon as of Gen 3 are available in NeXt Gen one way or another, except for Mewtwo strangely enough. You will have no trouble finding your favorites and creating a team around them. Two Alolan forms of Pokemon from Gen 7 are also available as well, and Bonsly can be acquired from a trade as well(not recommended for Trigger's PC users)
+New items and moves from later gens that fit perfectly with the main game. Game further adds brand new items, like Dosha Berries(Weakens one Shadow Move), Aura Filters(Weakens Shadow Moves by 50%) and variety of Shadow Pokemon exclusive items that along with higher level of meeting them make using Shadow Pokemon in their unpurified states actually viable. Shadow Lugia can further also be finally used after catching it not only as a gimmick but as a genuine powerhouse that truly lives up to it's reputation. Furthermore, the game even adds a few Shadow Moves to be used by all Pokemon as SMs(Shadow Moves) similarly to TMs late in the game. Game even adds a brand new Pokeball, Shade Ball, that has the design of Shadow Lugia and makes some of the difficult Shadow Pokemon encounters in the late game much easier(Shadow Lugia is ridiculously hard, you are insane not to catch it with this thing or your Master ball)
+Physical/Special split and Fairy typing, making this game "Next Gen" true to it's title. Game well balanced around these changes, furthermore most Pokemon have the same moves and abilities as they do in today's games, making them feel up to date
+Unique/Special moves not found on certain Pokemon either until later gens or not at all(as of now). If you use Trigger's PC app to transfer these Pokemon back to Gen 3, you can theoretically transfer these all the way to Gen 5 without issue or beyond if you can bypass Pokemon Bank(with homebrew or emulators, for example). Very good for those who love competitive battling or special one-of-a-kind Pokemon, see the .txt document to see just how crazy these new additions can be
+No new Type combinations, all Pokemon are the exact same typing as they would be normally with the exception of Fairy Types. This sounds like a no-brainer but Grand Colosseum changed the typings alot, and while this did help some Pokemon it did make matchups unpredictable until you re-learned them for that one game. The matchups in this game are much more predictable and easier on old muscle memory
+Move tutor in Agate teaches more moves and they're all not only free but also repeatedly teachable. All TMs have infinite uses like in later gens
+Much higher levels and better teams for trainers, making this game genuinely difficult. The game doesn't start too bad, but around Cipher Key Lair you will start sweating and grinding, see my second linked post for more info. Key note here is that the game is tough but fair, not bullshit hard like you will see with other romhacks, furthermore it plays around with the game mechanics in interesting ways that competitive fans will appreciate and even throws a few curveballs mechanics wise in the post game Shadow Pokemon catch-a-thon. Admins and other major fights have completely reworked teams that much better fit the game's pacing and new changes, don't be surprised to see them sending out Legendary Pokemon(some of them which are Shadow Pokemon) past a certain point
+Game lets you buy Ethers, Elixirs and PP Ups. This might seem like a minor change, but considering that you still can't do that in mainline games as of Gen 9, this is a pretty big change. Since these resources are no longer limited, you can theoretically hoard as many of them as you want for Gens 3 and 4, if you're a purist type
+Duel Square is an EV training ground. This isn't as efficient as the Mt. Battle Floors 1-69 in Grand Colosseum, but if you need to grind a stat in a hurry, then you're free to do so as soon as you unlock Pyrite
+Ability to use a special stone to trade-evolve Pokemon on the spot, if you don't have access to Trigger's PC(and you won't past a certain point as I said above)
+Name Rater will change nicknames of any Pokemon, even if it's not owned by you. This might seem like a small change, but that was apparently not a feature in mainline games until Gen 8 and even then you would not be able to nickname Pokemon which had already been given nicknames. Very useful as the game has a nasty bug that never changes names of non-nicknamed Pokemon when they evolve. This can lead to situations where a Charmander is still called that when it evolves into Charmeleon or Charizard, that also includes Pokemon from other languages
+Berry Master will give you a whole bunch of berries any time you talk to him in Agate, not just one at a time like in Gamecube titles and Grand Colosseum, and that will include new berries like the Type weakening ones. You can get more any time you enter and exist the town, making Berry only runs viable thanks to quick grinding of any berry you want
+Better item distribution, giving you the likes of Amulet Coin and Lucky Egg early so you can skip a lot of the grind if you're efficient enough
+Mecha Groundon, which is just a joke in Gale of Darkness, becomes an actual optional mini-boss encounter in the form of Robo-Groundon, a unique Groundon reminiscent of PokeStar Studio prop "Pokemon" fights in Black and White 2
+The final two dungeons in the game are very difficult, but very rewarding as well. They are not impossible and not too frustrating, but they show rare difficulty spikes you just don't see in the mainline titles anymore. Citadark Isle was already one of the better dungeons the mainline games had and it's much harder/better here. See my second linked post for more info
+Ability to change your Pokemon from a PC between every round of a Colosseum battle
+Last Shadow Pokemon is Ho-Oh instead of Dragonite(which here is encountered earlier), presumably the same one that was seen at the end of Colosseum/Grand Colosseum. This not only gives you some sense of continuity and a perfect partner to Shadow Lugia in Citedark Isle, but also ends the game on a high note with a dangerous and rewarding encounter if you don't plan on sticking around for Orre Colosseum or Mt. Battle
Negatives:
-Much of the dialogue is rewritten, usually to be much worse. The main story isn't changed mind you, just some exchanges and characters. Most egregious example of this is Lovrina, who now speaks entirely in black twitter lingo, including hashtags(author of the mod is black). Her character is entirely ruined and she even has stupid nicknames like "Bubbles" or "Bae" for her Pokemon. Like I mentioned, he even replaced Mt. Battle Floor 100 boss fight with himself, be prepared to cringe
-Some minor glitches with new moves and abilities, if you've been playing for a long time you will notice they don't quite work the same way as they do in future titles and might throw you off or glitch out on you
-Some dialogue is not re-written and mention using Pokemon or strategies you never see them use, probably leftovers from the main game. Minor nitpick and doesn't actually effect the game but you would think the mod author would catch that, with how he changed so much dialogue elsewhere in the game
-Around halfway thru the Alolan forms break Trigger's PC compatibility, if you're using the app. See above for more info
Overall, I find this to be a very worthwhile addition to my Pokemon collection and one of the better experiences I have had with the franchise in over 20 years of playing it. The game is worth picking up alone for all the PP increasing items, free move tutors and absolutely bonkers movests on new Pokemon, that includes the repeat encounters from wild Pokemon you can farm repeatedly. There is very few flaws this ROMhack introduces and it mostly has to do with the new writing, even then the story is the same and it has no impact on the gameplay. NeXt Gen lives up to it's title, as it is basically a modern day update to a game that is nearly 20 years old now, one that is one of the better titles in the franchise on it's own and now is probably one of the better Pokemon experiences, period. It makes SV and SwSh look like a joke, I will tell you that much, you've seen the Positives vs Negatives and that doesn't cover all the positive features from Gale of Darkness that are all still there unless noted otherwise.
If you want my advice, play Colosseum and Gale of Darkness if you haven't. If you're already familiar with the Gamecube titles, play Grand Colosseum and NeXt Gen, you won't be disappointed. For someone as jaded as me, these two titles and XG especially reminded me why I love these games to begin with. It boggles the mind how one man can make a much better product than the company itself on much better hardware. XG truly feels like the third title that was supposed to improve everything for the Gamecube that we never got, it has all the quality of life features that these third titles like Emerald or Platinum add but without changing the story or it's encounters. The game is still fresh enough that it doesn't need them, and makes the few additions like overworld Legendary Pokemon or Robo Groundon stand out that much more.
As for what's next, well, I will grind NeXt Gen a little bit more. I want to get the TM from the Lucky Egg quest as I think I know what it will be, I am missing a couple of TMs even after finishing the game so that narrows it down a bit...plus I was already given a Lucky Egg during the main story. Unfortunately, I need to complete at least one round of Orre Colosseum before that quest starts, and god only knows if the mod author made the game any harder. Lastly, I will need to complete Mt. Battle three times in a row in one sitting each, obviously without changing teams or losing once. I will need not just items and levels but also free time for that as well, so I will be kept busy. The main game is already done so there is nothing worthwhile to be added here.
As for after that? Well, I guess I will start playing some portable ROMhacks. I've got my eye on a simple one first, New Emerald. It seems like your basic "quality of life" patch that doesn't add anything too wild, certainly not on the level of NeXt Gen
If you can't already tell, I am a bit of a purist so I will see if I can't play these on real hardware with a Flash Cart, like I did with SuperGold97. Problem is that I need to order an actual GBA flashcart, but that will also be a good excuse to download some other ROMs and play many GBA games I missed out on, so it's a good purchase regardless. Obviously, that will also let me use Trigger's PC as well to transfer Pokemon in or out as I please. If that won't work, then I will just use the emulator. I probably won't do another write up for months, but the page I linked more or less summarizes the new changes if you're interested in playing this ROMhack yourself in the meantime.
