Ohhh shit, we're actually doing this!So, a couple of weeks back back, I did a review of the pokedex of the Pokemon Uranium fan-game, a fan-made game made in RPG-Maker by JV and Twitch and uses assets mostly borrowed from Pokemon's fourth and fifth generations, with a lot of mechanics from the sixth. And I've been itching to do a more proper, non-text let's play of a video game on this blog for a while now... but I've played all of the pre-3DS Pokemon games to hell and back and it wouldn't be that interesting of a screenshot let's play, so having a pretty fun game that I knew next to nothing about it's definitely ideal.
Since Pokemon Uranium is a video game that I can play casually on my computer, it's not something that's going to eat into my schedule too much while simultaneously also being easy to take screen-caps of. And that's right! My playthrough of Uranium will now feature pictures. I've been trying to think about the logistics of doing something like this, and we'll see how long I can keep this up. This will be a mostly blind playthrough (all I know are what the Pokemon look like, and maybe around the first gym or so, but I played that a long time ago).
This is my first screenshot-based LP, so it's... it's a bit rocky, and I'll try my best to keep up some sort of style and commentary that's not just bland description. I won't promise to set up any sort of internal narrative or whatever, but hey, we'll see.
And considering that picture-based LP's are going to be a pretty huge web-page, well, I'll be putting all of my Uranium let's plays after a break, which means... clicky clicky!
We speak the English language, but I appreciate having multiple language options. A bit of fiddling with the options to map controls to my own preference, and here we go!
Title screen! Thanks for the creation of the ROM, the two of you.
So this game has the option of playing regular mode, or an enforced Nuzlocke mode, or a Randomizer mode. Nuzlocke, of course, is the ever-popular challenge with several rules to make a Pokemon game harder -- you can only catch a single pokemon per route (the first one you meet, too) and if a Pokemon faints, it's considered dead and you have to release it. It's a pretty fun challenge that makes you get attached to creatures you wouldn't expect to! I've had my own shares of Nuzlockes.
I am a pleb and with its reputation for being super hard, Uranium is not a game I am willing to Nuzlocke.
Hi, Bamb'o. I'm not sure if the apostrophe is required, but at least he's following the trend of Pokemon professors being named after trees. He's a very casual professor, which is an interesting subversion to take considering Bamboo was conceived before Alola and the existence of Professor "Shirtless" Kukui was a thing.
Holy shit, backstory. Instead of greeting us as just a random 10-year-old kid that's came of age, Bamboo here wants to employ us!
The "low-down" is basically just technical stuff, though, and a reminder to basically talk to everyone. This ain't my first rodeo, Bamb'o. Honestly, this isn't anyone's first rodeo, considering how you're statistically almost guaranteed to already be a pretty huge Pokemon geek to even be playing this fan-game.
Ah, it's technically the same as what Oak, Elm, Birch and all the rest of the official Professors want you to do. The difference is Bamb'o is going to apparently pay us (?).
Bamb'o then goes into a talk about how he's an expert on Pokemon Elements (the usage of the term "elements" instead of "types" signals pretty hard that this is fan stuff) and gives a generic "world of Pokemon" speech. The one he displays is Owlten, a cute cat-headed owl.
Ooo, thematic foreshadowing!
We're given a selection of three sprites: a boy, a girl, and what I think is meant to be a gender-neutral, androgynous one. Inclusive, I approve. I am a boy.
In some of my playthroughs, instead of putting my own name, I pull a Pokemon Adventures and do something the manga does -- give names to the protagonists based on the names of the games. To hang out with Red, Gold, Ruby, Dia and the rest of the protagonist crowd, I name my protagonist "Ura". Short for Uranium, but the fact that it's similar to Urataros, one of the protagonists of Kamen Rider Den-O, makes it a bit more believable to me as a name.
Oh shit, long cutscene backstory! I completely forgot about this bit.
(Sometimes I don't screenshot things fast enough, which is why sometimes the dialogue cuts off)
We get a backstory! "Kellyn" is the name of the protagonists of the spin-off game, Pokemon Rangers: Shadows of Almia, and this game will have a fair bit of Pokemon Ranger tie-in, so to speak. I'm not sure how deep the connection goes, but it's cool!
Also, introduction of parents in a protagonist's backstory? In a prologue, no less? Never a good sign for them. I didn't take screenshots of every single line of dialogue, but suffice to say that the future did seem bright for Ura's two parents, except, well, of course, the obligatory main character tragic backstory thing.
We get a pretty long cutscene about an "ordinary day" at the nuclear power plant where Lucille worked, and "everything seems to be working perfectly". Lucille is an important character, and has green hair. The other dude, Cameron, is the guy with some sort of Super Saiyajin variant with red and yellow hair. The other two schmucks aren't important, so they have regular generic sprites and black hair. Like a peasant.
I'm not complaining about Uranium, by the way. Giving important character unique designs is a pretty common trope in anything remotely relating to Japanese anime.
So yeah, there's a meltdown. Not pictured: conversations featuring how it might be a mistake in the thermometer.
What, they couldn't think up of a cooler name for a temperature control device in a nuclear plant? Call it a thermal monitor or something? Eh, whatever. I guess I'm nitpicking.
NOW! You know it's serious because the screen starts flashing back and forth between red and normal. The two generic scientists run the fuck off, while mom...
Dang it, mom, don't be a hero!
I'm not 100% sure why mom ran into the basement, actually. She just goes "..." then runs off, and apparently Cameron just stands there slack-jawed.
Or, y'know, apparently Cameron goes to help the evacuation of the two or three other scientists in the building. That's the official report, anyway. I know what I saw in that cutscene. Still, can't blame Cameron. Sirens and a nuclear meltdown is scary as shit.
Also, the fact that we're in an adult-audience-aimed fan game that isn't afraid to use death and cuss words (Uranium is a lot better at limiting the cuss words, though, compared to some other fan games I've seen), it's pretty telling that mom's likely not dead from the fact that they didn't specify her death and used an ambiguous term.
More evidence to her not really being dead is Anime Rule #3: if you don't see a body, the character's not dead. Hell, half the time, even if you see a body, the character's also likely to not be dead.
Neat little world-building by using a nuclear plant meltdown as a backstory, though.
Dad threw himself into his work out of grief, I guess. Poor Kellyn, you were so cheerful in your home game!
Also, he basically becomes a distant, almost non-entity of a father to Ura. And, yeah, there's a reason that he's distant. And I sure sympathize with a man who's lost his wife in a tragic accident. That does not make what he did to Ura right! Well, screw you too, distant dad!
Ura gets sent to live with his elderly aunt, who I assume is called Aunt May.
Also, this game uses the gender-neutral pronoun "they" and "their" in every single part of the game, presumably because it's too much work to program in three different pronouns for each of the protagonists. It's a neat little compromise, and "they" is definitely the gender neutral term, but I do admit that it did distract me a couple of times.
Also, man, what an irresponsible dad, huh? Go marry your job, Kellyn.
TIMESKIP
OH NO AUNT MAY
Of course, Kellyn, the wonderful father that he is, doesn't even bother sending monetary support. Holy shit, man. Not only does Kellyn shove the responsibilities of raising an also-grieving son to an elderly woman, he doesn't even bother to send money despite being established to basically be married to his job?
Yeah, I like Kellyn less and less now.
Bit of a backstory on how we meet the professor. He's looking for hired help. We also get our home town, Moki Town, and our rival, Theo.
That was a long cold open prologue, huh? I'm not sure how effective it was. Maybe it'd been better to explore the backstory as we progress through the story? Or is there so much more that we'd rather get this out of the way first? Eh, I should stop thinking like a reviewer and just enjoy the game.
Finally, we're in the game! Huzzah!
As with the official Pokemon games, almost anything in your room can be interacted with. I'm assuming anyone reading this has at least some passing knowledge on how Pokemon games work, so I won't stop to explain too much actual game terms.
Ah, your personal item storage PC still has a potion. Some things never change.
The item PC's basically pointless after the first generation, huh?
It's a map of West Tandor. Clearly, there's an Eastern part of the region that we're going to have to explore. A neat little Generation II style Johto/Kanto dealie going on here.
Also, Moki Town apparently branches into two paths, with the western path seemingly leading to a dead end while the eastern path leads to the rest of the region, so I assume the western path is the one we'll end up going through first.
It's a Nintendo Wii-U! I never owned one, and the time that Uranium is released (between generations VI and VII) the Switch was probably just announced. Also, another little running gag from the official games.
Not a gag from the official games is the weird meta in-joke of how apparently Pokemon Red and Blue are in-universe games. These are probably the Pokemon world's equivalent of, like, Sims or something. Actually, would Pokemon games even be popular in a world where you can go out and catch your own Cyndaquils and Littens?
The "Start" (well, Esc.) equivalent brings us to the menu, which is kinda-sorta similar to the Generation V layout, I guess. As usual in an early segment of a Pokemon playthrough, we don't have the Pokedex and Pokemon yet. We still have eight gym leaders, though, so, again, some things don't change.
...what the fuck.
Aunt May is a furry, apparently. I mean, she's allowed to do what makes her happy. I'm not going to shame her for that. She did spend what's basically her entire life to caring for the traumatized little half-orphan that is Ura. A responsible parental figure, not at all like Ura's father.
... I really don't know just what you find in a sock drawer which would count as 'scandalous', and thank god the game doesn't actually elaborate on it.
Probably some Arcanine-themed roleplay socks or some shit, I dunno.
Aunt May is a good old aunt to Ura.
Apparently Theo, our rival, is an unreliable child. Also, apparently he's Cameron's kid, a.k.a. our presumed-dead mom's co-worker from the prologue.
Aunt May gives me some running shoes, which the game gives an option of toggling all-the-time. Does anyone ever not toggle the running shoes on all the time in any Pokemon game?
Also she is emotional. Awww! She's implied to be struggling to make ends meet, but she still spends money to buy these running shoes! Not like my dad, who didn't even bother to show up. It's not like he's dead or anything, right?
Pfft, I sure as hell hope I don't run into him. Kellyn can go piss off. It's not like he's dead or anything. Aunt May is the real parent in this family. I'll make you proud, Aunt May!
I'm actually legitimately curious how much character development distant-dad-Kellyn will have in this game's storyline. I don't think any protagonist's parents have really been a huge factor in any official game other than Norman, and while the parents' story being super-important is sort of a trope that I'm tired of in a lot of fiction, I do sincerely wish this storyline will be handled well.
Oh, that Aunt May, she always keeps the fridge stocked. NOM NOM
And so Ura ventures out into Moki Town! It's a far, far bigger town than all starter towns (which tended to just be maybe three, four houses), and while a significant amount of the NPCs in houses and streets just say generic early-game filler dialogue, it's still pretty neat!
I think the music uses a remix of one of the HG/SS soundtrack for town music. Cherrygrove or Violet, I want to say? Also, as you can see, Uranium has a day/night cycle based on the computer clock, and I'm playing this segment of the game at night. I'll try to get some screenshots done in the day, because it's a lot more visible.
YOU CREEP GET AWAY FROM MY AUNT >:(
Although actually, unless you have an Arcanine prince costume in your closet, I'm pretty sure Aunt May won't reciprocate.
Obligatory "technology is incredible" fat dude.
Ah, apparently the in-universe Pokemon Red and Blue game are out. This kid is one of the several who make references to it.
Other NPC's talk about the Tandor-original Pokemon, but that one dude also tells us that Pokemon from other regions like Mankey and Dunsparce are also found in Tandor. Still, a vast majority of the Pokemon are fan-made.
The left side of Moki Town is blocked with tall grass and Ura's refusal to step into tall grass without a Pokemon, while the right side is blocked with Rock Smash boulders. Ah, HM area gating, how I have not missed you.
Ura finds Cameron in one of the houses. Apparently Theo's gone off to the lab all excited and stuff.
I try andsteal money from a little kid's room investigate Theo's room, and apparently there's a poorly-written story on his computer about the Most Awesome Pokemon Trainer In The World.
...which is basically what you expect from a fanfic from an 11 year old kid. It's funny, actually.
No, kid, Ura will never think you're cool. At least learn how to capitalize properly!
Theo's basically a mini Cameron, because apparently spiky Saiyajin hair with a yellow streak in the middle is genetic.
In a nice bit of subtle foreshadowing, you can see the three starters roaming around in the professor's apparently huge courtyard, just sort of lounging around. You can't reach them or interact with them, but it's cool!
Professor Bamb'o gives a pretty long speech about how he wants us to heelp capture Pokemon for his research, and then talks long about how starter Pokemon are important and different Pokemon are suited for different trainers.
To this end, Bamb'o gives us a "Pokemon Aptitude Test", so the way we select our starters is theoretically more similar to the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon side-games. I say theoretically, because, well...
Oh, and Theo continues to be a little shit by interrupting Bamb'o all the time. Bamb'o, hilariously, calls him out on it.
See, even though it's supposed to be a personality test, the choices are colour-marked to make it blindingly obvious which starter you'll get. Which sort of ruins the whole point of a personality test determining your starter, but also makes it easy for me to pick the critter I want.
The other two questions are just asking me which of three Pokemon or three moves I prefer. Also, I guess Ura is someone who goes Leeroy Jenkins into the fight and really, really wants to be the very best like no one ever was.
BURNING SPIRITTTTU
I mean, Bamb'o is strictly not wrong. In actual playing through the story of Pokemon games, I tend to gravitate towards sweeper-style teams that spam thunderbolts and flamethrowers and earthquakes. We'll try to be a bit more balanced this time around.
Raptorch GETTO DA ZE
Yeah, basically we're going in fully on appearances here, and I find Raptorch's sprite to be the neatest out of the three. If we're going by actual viability, I'm pretty sure Eletux the Water/Electric horse-dog wins hands-down. But hey, I'm sure we could make something of a Fire/Ground armoured Charmander.
We are nicknaming everything in this let's play. My nicknaming sensibilities range from actual names to references to pop culture to just whatever floats my mind.
Hello, Charlie! Named after one of the raptors from Jurassic World, but also because his face reminded me of Charlie Brown for some reason.
Pretty sure Bamb'o just low-key dissed poor Theo and called him a little brat.
Dude, I know he's an irrtating but the kid's like, ten. Cut him some slack, Bamb'o.
Bamb'o tries to handwave this by telling Theo that he's got some sort of greatness within him... but he's "so young, I can't tell." So basically by giving himself an excuse, like many faux fortune tellers in the real world, Bamb'o makes any interpretation of his hogwash valid.
Theo gets Orchynx, the Grass/Steel metal kitty, which is probably the flat-out most disadvantageous of the three starters.
Obligatory rival battle let's go!
Also, despite Bamb'o's exasperation, we don't actually pull a Black/White and actually wreck the room.
Ura's VS sprite looks more confused than badass. Like "aw gee I guess I got to put my dukes up and try to look thratening" but his heart isn't really in it, y'know?
Theo looks exactly like a little brat. And he's holding an Ultra Ball in his sprite that he doesn't actually use for his Orchynx.
BATTLE!
See, Charlie the Raptorch is Fire/Ground, which means it takes a whopping 4x damage from Water attacks. Orchynx is Grass/Steel, which means it takes a whopping 4x damage from Fire attacks. Eletux, is Water/Electric... which is honestly not the worst matchup against Orchynx's Grass Steel. So it means that Orchcynx is the only starter out of the three to not have a 4x advantage against one of the other two.
Whatever the case, Charle starts off with ember.
Burning armadillo velociraptor straight-up just one hit murders the baby metal plant lynx.
Orchynx really doesn't communicate visually that it's a grass-type or a steel-type very well, does it? I mean, I guess it's green and silver and all
Theo is SHOCKED. Ura is victorious.
PUSSY.
Although, to be fair, this is exactly what a eleven year old kid would do if he lost a Pokemon fight -- spaz the hell out. Most other ten and eleven year olds in Pokemon are a lot more mature than real-life ten and eleven year olds.
Don't blame your weak starter for your own inadequacies, Theo!
Like, sure, there was a nigh-impossible chance that the poor kitty could stand up to a 4x STAB move, but jeez, it's a dick move just blaming the poor kitty for the defeat. Orchynx's fainted, sure, and probably can't hear, but still.
(Also, yes, Charlie is the better starter in this case)
Uuuuaaahhh indeed, Theo. Go back and cry to your daddy. I've seen preschoolers take their defeat more gracefully than you!
Bamb'o is not amused. He just wanted to handle a job interview for research field workers, damn it. He wasn't prepared to deal with kid tantrum drama when he got out of bed this morning.
Took a peek at Charlie's nature. He's Calm, which means he's going to have improved Special Defences and decreased physical attack. I think (not 100% sure) that the line is special attack inclined anyway... but that's going to make the lack of Earthquake kind of disappointing. Eh, we'll see.
The Uranium starters have abilities that are different from the classic Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent trio, and Charlie has Flame Body, so anyone who touches him has an ability to get burnt. Not the best ability, but the Burn status is one of the better ones, and it did serve me pretty well in this early route.
I am a good boy and I say goodbye to Aunt May first. Theo can wait!
Oh no, Cameron's threatening to beat me up! I'm a small defenseless child! Well, mostly defenseless, I have a fire-breathing armadillo raptor. But mostly defenseless!
While Cameron is threatening to beat me up... I admittedly would have a similar reaction if it was my kid running home upset and crying like shit.
Cameron listens to reason, though.
And unlike Kellyn, Cameron understands that despite having actual reasons behind his behaviour, shitty behaviour is still shitty behaviour.
ANGRY YELLING followed by a calm talk. Cameron's a good dad.
We're spending a lot of time with Theo, huh? Hopefully the next couple of let's play sessions will be a lot less dialogue-heavy. I'll also try to summarize things a bit better.
Make a well rounded team. Or, well, if you're going to fight against Charlie, bring a goddamn Water-type.
Cameron then gives us both the PokePod, which functions not like an iPod, but like an iPhone. Each official Pokemon game other than Kanto ones (backwards village people, those Kantonians) always have some sort of Pokegear or Pokenav or P*DA or Poketch or whatever, some sort of new-fangled communications device.
Stop talking my dad up, Cameron. If he cared, he would've either sent money to Aunt May, or shown up himself to give me these damn PokePods.
Yeah, you really got to be patient with Theo. He's an interesting character, for sure, and I like that they build him up, but I could definitely use a lot less of him.
FORE-SHA-DO-WING!
Yeah, Lucille is 100% not dead, is she.
:'( I will call you every day Aunt May I love you
To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause...!
Interestingly, instead of a little skit showing the in-game battle system as a capture tutorial, Uranium has Bambo'o talk over an animation of the overworld models of Chyinmunk and Eletux battling. It's an interesting way to not bore the audience (which is comprised of 100% hardcore Pokemon fans) but also in-universe teach rookie trainers Ura and Theo.
POKEDEX GET!
That's about all of the trainer's starter kit, huh? Bamb'o hints that I should keep checking back with him and he will give me rewards. I don't care enough to 100% the dex, particularly with the trading nonsense, but I do plan to capture as many as I can without going out of the way to catch, oh, anything that'd be as hard to catch as a Feebas.
No Pokemarts in this little backwater town, so I have to go to Kevlar Town (it's bulletproof!) to buy more than the five Pokeballs Bamb'o gives me.
And... Route 1! It's a pretty route with a waterfall and river cutting through it, and while nothing too complex, it's a lot more pretty than most first routes in official games.
I sort of sped my way through Route 1 to reach Kevlar Town in order to buy more Pokeballs, although the trainers here don't really have much in lieu of Pokemon... it's mostly just Chyinmunks and Birbies. I'm not going to screenshot every single battle because, well, holy shit, it'd be too much work. As far as most non-gym, non-evil-team route goes, it's probably just mostly going to be a highlight set of pictures of the more interesting trainers, as well as those that use a new Pokemon. In this case, everyone uses the same two early-route bird and rodent, so nothing interesting here.
Also, despite some of them clearly being a lot younger than Theo, they don't throw a hissy fit, so clearly Theo's the anomaly in this society.
Time to earn my keep and start capturing things, I suppose. First up, the creature that basically makes up a good half of the encouters on Route 1, the rodent equivalent, Chyinmunk. The designs of these fanmade Pokemon are actually pretty decent, even if they do have their own art style, but some of their names are just really awkward, yeah? Chyinmunk in particular. I get the "chipmunk" part, but what the fuck is a "chyin"?
Chyinmunk society is a Stripe-archy, apparently.
I had wanted to go the boring way and just call him "Alvin", but Chyinmunk is a girl, so I wanted to name her after one of the Chippettes. Not bothering to take the ten seconds it would for me to google their names, I just call her Chippette.
Definitely not going to keep this thing on my party -- some games do allow you to get by with having some of the early-route critters as part of your endgame, but Uranium is certainly not that game. Not a hue loss.
AAAAA IT'S A BIRB
I certainly love that the neon markings around Birbie's eyes and chest makes it look like a giant, floating grinning lunatic face with its beak as a nose. Birbie is an adorable bird baby, apparently based on the Superb Bird-of-Paradise. I know I'm not the biggest fan of Birbie's evolution line (or their sprites, at least), but it's adorable and Birbie will hang out with us and make me happy until he gets replaced. While I know there's a fair amount of Tandor Pokemon that I'm going to use, but Birbie has a marginally greater chance of staying in my team for a longer time than Chyinmunk.
"Happy Birb" is not my proudest nicknaming endeavour. I like it more than "Angry Birb" or "Flappy Birb".
And... and that's about it for this, I think. It's mostly a long series of story time and introductions, but the game is certainly relatively well-made. I know I was a bit frustrated in my first playthrough, but apparently I played through a Beta version, and this one is a lot more polished? We'll see.
We get a backstory! "Kellyn" is the name of the protagonists of the spin-off game, Pokemon Rangers: Shadows of Almia, and this game will have a fair bit of Pokemon Ranger tie-in, so to speak. I'm not sure how deep the connection goes, but it's cool!
Also, introduction of parents in a protagonist's backstory? In a prologue, no less? Never a good sign for them. I didn't take screenshots of every single line of dialogue, but suffice to say that the future did seem bright for Ura's two parents, except, well, of course, the obligatory main character tragic backstory thing.
We get a pretty long cutscene about an "ordinary day" at the nuclear power plant where Lucille worked, and "everything seems to be working perfectly". Lucille is an important character, and has green hair. The other dude, Cameron, is the guy with some sort of Super Saiyajin variant with red and yellow hair. The other two schmucks aren't important, so they have regular generic sprites and black hair. Like a peasant.
I'm not complaining about Uranium, by the way. Giving important character unique designs is a pretty common trope in anything remotely relating to Japanese anime.
So yeah, there's a meltdown. Not pictured: conversations featuring how it might be a mistake in the thermometer.
What, they couldn't think up of a cooler name for a temperature control device in a nuclear plant? Call it a thermal monitor or something? Eh, whatever. I guess I'm nitpicking.
NOW! You know it's serious because the screen starts flashing back and forth between red and normal. The two generic scientists run the fuck off, while mom...
Dang it, mom, don't be a hero!
I'm not 100% sure why mom ran into the basement, actually. She just goes "..." then runs off, and apparently Cameron just stands there slack-jawed.
Or, y'know, apparently Cameron goes to help the evacuation of the two or three other scientists in the building. That's the official report, anyway. I know what I saw in that cutscene. Still, can't blame Cameron. Sirens and a nuclear meltdown is scary as shit.
Also, the fact that we're in an adult-audience-aimed fan game that isn't afraid to use death and cuss words (Uranium is a lot better at limiting the cuss words, though, compared to some other fan games I've seen), it's pretty telling that mom's likely not dead from the fact that they didn't specify her death and used an ambiguous term.
More evidence to her not really being dead is Anime Rule #3: if you don't see a body, the character's not dead. Hell, half the time, even if you see a body, the character's also likely to not be dead.
Neat little world-building by using a nuclear plant meltdown as a backstory, though.
Dad threw himself into his work out of grief, I guess. Poor Kellyn, you were so cheerful in your home game!
Also, he basically becomes a distant, almost non-entity of a father to Ura. And, yeah, there's a reason that he's distant. And I sure sympathize with a man who's lost his wife in a tragic accident. That does not make what he did to Ura right! Well, screw you too, distant dad!
Ura gets sent to live with his elderly aunt, who I assume is called Aunt May.
Also, this game uses the gender-neutral pronoun "they" and "their" in every single part of the game, presumably because it's too much work to program in three different pronouns for each of the protagonists. It's a neat little compromise, and "they" is definitely the gender neutral term, but I do admit that it did distract me a couple of times.
Also, man, what an irresponsible dad, huh? Go marry your job, Kellyn.
TIMESKIP
OH NO AUNT MAY
Of course, Kellyn, the wonderful father that he is, doesn't even bother sending monetary support. Holy shit, man. Not only does Kellyn shove the responsibilities of raising an also-grieving son to an elderly woman, he doesn't even bother to send money despite being established to basically be married to his job?
Yeah, I like Kellyn less and less now.
Bit of a backstory on how we meet the professor. He's looking for hired help. We also get our home town, Moki Town, and our rival, Theo.
That was a long cold open prologue, huh? I'm not sure how effective it was. Maybe it'd been better to explore the backstory as we progress through the story? Or is there so much more that we'd rather get this out of the way first? Eh, I should stop thinking like a reviewer and just enjoy the game.
Finally, we're in the game! Huzzah!
As with the official Pokemon games, almost anything in your room can be interacted with. I'm assuming anyone reading this has at least some passing knowledge on how Pokemon games work, so I won't stop to explain too much actual game terms.
Ah, your personal item storage PC still has a potion. Some things never change.
The item PC's basically pointless after the first generation, huh?
It's a map of West Tandor. Clearly, there's an Eastern part of the region that we're going to have to explore. A neat little Generation II style Johto/Kanto dealie going on here.
Also, Moki Town apparently branches into two paths, with the western path seemingly leading to a dead end while the eastern path leads to the rest of the region, so I assume the western path is the one we'll end up going through first.
It's a Nintendo Wii-U! I never owned one, and the time that Uranium is released (between generations VI and VII) the Switch was probably just announced. Also, another little running gag from the official games.
Not a gag from the official games is the weird meta in-joke of how apparently Pokemon Red and Blue are in-universe games. These are probably the Pokemon world's equivalent of, like, Sims or something. Actually, would Pokemon games even be popular in a world where you can go out and catch your own Cyndaquils and Littens?
The "Start" (well, Esc.) equivalent brings us to the menu, which is kinda-sorta similar to the Generation V layout, I guess. As usual in an early segment of a Pokemon playthrough, we don't have the Pokedex and Pokemon yet. We still have eight gym leaders, though, so, again, some things don't change.
...what the fuck.
Aunt May is a furry, apparently. I mean, she's allowed to do what makes her happy. I'm not going to shame her for that. She did spend what's basically her entire life to caring for the traumatized little half-orphan that is Ura. A responsible parental figure, not at all like Ura's father.
... I really don't know just what you find in a sock drawer which would count as 'scandalous', and thank god the game doesn't actually elaborate on it.
Probably some Arcanine-themed roleplay socks or some shit, I dunno.
Aunt May is a good old aunt to Ura.
Apparently Theo, our rival, is an unreliable child. Also, apparently he's Cameron's kid, a.k.a. our presumed-dead mom's co-worker from the prologue.
Aunt May gives me some running shoes, which the game gives an option of toggling all-the-time. Does anyone ever not toggle the running shoes on all the time in any Pokemon game?
Also she is emotional. Awww! She's implied to be struggling to make ends meet, but she still spends money to buy these running shoes! Not like my dad, who didn't even bother to show up. It's not like he's dead or anything, right?
Pfft, I sure as hell hope I don't run into him. Kellyn can go piss off. It's not like he's dead or anything. Aunt May is the real parent in this family. I'll make you proud, Aunt May!
I'm actually legitimately curious how much character development distant-dad-Kellyn will have in this game's storyline. I don't think any protagonist's parents have really been a huge factor in any official game other than Norman, and while the parents' story being super-important is sort of a trope that I'm tired of in a lot of fiction, I do sincerely wish this storyline will be handled well.
Oh, that Aunt May, she always keeps the fridge stocked. NOM NOM
And so Ura ventures out into Moki Town! It's a far, far bigger town than all starter towns (which tended to just be maybe three, four houses), and while a significant amount of the NPCs in houses and streets just say generic early-game filler dialogue, it's still pretty neat!
I think the music uses a remix of one of the HG/SS soundtrack for town music. Cherrygrove or Violet, I want to say? Also, as you can see, Uranium has a day/night cycle based on the computer clock, and I'm playing this segment of the game at night. I'll try to get some screenshots done in the day, because it's a lot more visible.
YOU CREEP GET AWAY FROM MY AUNT >:(
Although actually, unless you have an Arcanine prince costume in your closet, I'm pretty sure Aunt May won't reciprocate.
Obligatory "technology is incredible" fat dude.
Ah, apparently the in-universe Pokemon Red and Blue game are out. This kid is one of the several who make references to it.
Other NPC's talk about the Tandor-original Pokemon, but that one dude also tells us that Pokemon from other regions like Mankey and Dunsparce are also found in Tandor. Still, a vast majority of the Pokemon are fan-made.
The left side of Moki Town is blocked with tall grass and Ura's refusal to step into tall grass without a Pokemon, while the right side is blocked with Rock Smash boulders. Ah, HM area gating, how I have not missed you.
Ura finds Cameron in one of the houses. Apparently Theo's gone off to the lab all excited and stuff.
I try and
...which is basically what you expect from a fanfic from an 11 year old kid. It's funny, actually.
No, kid, Ura will never think you're cool. At least learn how to capitalize properly!
Theo's basically a mini Cameron, because apparently spiky Saiyajin hair with a yellow streak in the middle is genetic.
In a nice bit of subtle foreshadowing, you can see the three starters roaming around in the professor's apparently huge courtyard, just sort of lounging around. You can't reach them or interact with them, but it's cool!
Professor Bamb'o gives a pretty long speech about how he wants us to heelp capture Pokemon for his research, and then talks long about how starter Pokemon are important and different Pokemon are suited for different trainers.
To this end, Bamb'o gives us a "Pokemon Aptitude Test", so the way we select our starters is theoretically more similar to the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon side-games. I say theoretically, because, well...
Oh, and Theo continues to be a little shit by interrupting Bamb'o all the time. Bamb'o, hilariously, calls him out on it.
See, even though it's supposed to be a personality test, the choices are colour-marked to make it blindingly obvious which starter you'll get. Which sort of ruins the whole point of a personality test determining your starter, but also makes it easy for me to pick the critter I want.
The other two questions are just asking me which of three Pokemon or three moves I prefer. Also, I guess Ura is someone who goes Leeroy Jenkins into the fight and really, really wants to be the very best like no one ever was.
BURNING SPIRITTTTU
I mean, Bamb'o is strictly not wrong. In actual playing through the story of Pokemon games, I tend to gravitate towards sweeper-style teams that spam thunderbolts and flamethrowers and earthquakes. We'll try to be a bit more balanced this time around.
Raptorch GETTO DA ZE
Yeah, basically we're going in fully on appearances here, and I find Raptorch's sprite to be the neatest out of the three. If we're going by actual viability, I'm pretty sure Eletux the Water/Electric horse-dog wins hands-down. But hey, I'm sure we could make something of a Fire/Ground armoured Charmander.
We are nicknaming everything in this let's play. My nicknaming sensibilities range from actual names to references to pop culture to just whatever floats my mind.
Hello, Charlie! Named after one of the raptors from Jurassic World, but also because his face reminded me of Charlie Brown for some reason.
Pretty sure Bamb'o just low-key dissed poor Theo and called him a little brat.
Dude, I know he's an irrtating but the kid's like, ten. Cut him some slack, Bamb'o.
Bamb'o tries to handwave this by telling Theo that he's got some sort of greatness within him... but he's "so young, I can't tell." So basically by giving himself an excuse, like many faux fortune tellers in the real world, Bamb'o makes any interpretation of his hogwash valid.
Theo gets Orchynx, the Grass/Steel metal kitty, which is probably the flat-out most disadvantageous of the three starters.
Obligatory rival battle let's go!
Also, despite Bamb'o's exasperation, we don't actually pull a Black/White and actually wreck the room.
Ura's VS sprite looks more confused than badass. Like "aw gee I guess I got to put my dukes up and try to look thratening" but his heart isn't really in it, y'know?
Theo looks exactly like a little brat. And he's holding an Ultra Ball in his sprite that he doesn't actually use for his Orchynx.
BATTLE!
See, Charlie the Raptorch is Fire/Ground, which means it takes a whopping 4x damage from Water attacks. Orchynx is Grass/Steel, which means it takes a whopping 4x damage from Fire attacks. Eletux, is Water/Electric... which is honestly not the worst matchup against Orchynx's Grass Steel. So it means that Orchcynx is the only starter out of the three to not have a 4x advantage against one of the other two.
Whatever the case, Charle starts off with ember.
Burning armadillo velociraptor straight-up just one hit murders the baby metal plant lynx.
Orchynx really doesn't communicate visually that it's a grass-type or a steel-type very well, does it? I mean, I guess it's green and silver and all
Theo is SHOCKED. Ura is victorious.
PUSSY.
Although, to be fair, this is exactly what a eleven year old kid would do if he lost a Pokemon fight -- spaz the hell out. Most other ten and eleven year olds in Pokemon are a lot more mature than real-life ten and eleven year olds.
Don't blame your weak starter for your own inadequacies, Theo!
Like, sure, there was a nigh-impossible chance that the poor kitty could stand up to a 4x STAB move, but jeez, it's a dick move just blaming the poor kitty for the defeat. Orchynx's fainted, sure, and probably can't hear, but still.
(Also, yes, Charlie is the better starter in this case)
Uuuuaaahhh indeed, Theo. Go back and cry to your daddy. I've seen preschoolers take their defeat more gracefully than you!
Bamb'o is not amused. He just wanted to handle a job interview for research field workers, damn it. He wasn't prepared to deal with kid tantrum drama when he got out of bed this morning.
Took a peek at Charlie's nature. He's Calm, which means he's going to have improved Special Defences and decreased physical attack. I think (not 100% sure) that the line is special attack inclined anyway... but that's going to make the lack of Earthquake kind of disappointing. Eh, we'll see.
The Uranium starters have abilities that are different from the classic Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent trio, and Charlie has Flame Body, so anyone who touches him has an ability to get burnt. Not the best ability, but the Burn status is one of the better ones, and it did serve me pretty well in this early route.
I am a good boy and I say goodbye to Aunt May first. Theo can wait!
Oh no, Cameron's threatening to beat me up! I'm a small defenseless child! Well, mostly defenseless, I have a fire-breathing armadillo raptor. But mostly defenseless!
While Cameron is threatening to beat me up... I admittedly would have a similar reaction if it was my kid running home upset and crying like shit.
Cameron listens to reason, though.
And unlike Kellyn, Cameron understands that despite having actual reasons behind his behaviour, shitty behaviour is still shitty behaviour.
ANGRY YELLING followed by a calm talk. Cameron's a good dad.
We're spending a lot of time with Theo, huh? Hopefully the next couple of let's play sessions will be a lot less dialogue-heavy. I'll also try to summarize things a bit better.
Make a well rounded team. Or, well, if you're going to fight against Charlie, bring a goddamn Water-type.
Cameron then gives us both the PokePod, which functions not like an iPod, but like an iPhone. Each official Pokemon game other than Kanto ones (backwards village people, those Kantonians) always have some sort of Pokegear or Pokenav or P*DA or Poketch or whatever, some sort of new-fangled communications device.
Stop talking my dad up, Cameron. If he cared, he would've either sent money to Aunt May, or shown up himself to give me these damn PokePods.
Yeah, you really got to be patient with Theo. He's an interesting character, for sure, and I like that they build him up, but I could definitely use a lot less of him.
FORE-SHA-DO-WING!
Yeah, Lucille is 100% not dead, is she.
:'( I will call you every day Aunt May I love you
To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause...!
Interestingly, instead of a little skit showing the in-game battle system as a capture tutorial, Uranium has Bambo'o talk over an animation of the overworld models of Chyinmunk and Eletux battling. It's an interesting way to not bore the audience (which is comprised of 100% hardcore Pokemon fans) but also in-universe teach rookie trainers Ura and Theo.
POKEDEX GET!
That's about all of the trainer's starter kit, huh? Bamb'o hints that I should keep checking back with him and he will give me rewards. I don't care enough to 100% the dex, particularly with the trading nonsense, but I do plan to capture as many as I can without going out of the way to catch, oh, anything that'd be as hard to catch as a Feebas.
No Pokemarts in this little backwater town, so I have to go to Kevlar Town (it's bulletproof!) to buy more than the five Pokeballs Bamb'o gives me.
And... Route 1! It's a pretty route with a waterfall and river cutting through it, and while nothing too complex, it's a lot more pretty than most first routes in official games.
I sort of sped my way through Route 1 to reach Kevlar Town in order to buy more Pokeballs, although the trainers here don't really have much in lieu of Pokemon... it's mostly just Chyinmunks and Birbies. I'm not going to screenshot every single battle because, well, holy shit, it'd be too much work. As far as most non-gym, non-evil-team route goes, it's probably just mostly going to be a highlight set of pictures of the more interesting trainers, as well as those that use a new Pokemon. In this case, everyone uses the same two early-route bird and rodent, so nothing interesting here.
Also, despite some of them clearly being a lot younger than Theo, they don't throw a hissy fit, so clearly Theo's the anomaly in this society.
Time to earn my keep and start capturing things, I suppose. First up, the creature that basically makes up a good half of the encouters on Route 1, the rodent equivalent, Chyinmunk. The designs of these fanmade Pokemon are actually pretty decent, even if they do have their own art style, but some of their names are just really awkward, yeah? Chyinmunk in particular. I get the "chipmunk" part, but what the fuck is a "chyin"?
Chyinmunk society is a Stripe-archy, apparently.
I had wanted to go the boring way and just call him "Alvin", but Chyinmunk is a girl, so I wanted to name her after one of the Chippettes. Not bothering to take the ten seconds it would for me to google their names, I just call her Chippette.
Definitely not going to keep this thing on my party -- some games do allow you to get by with having some of the early-route critters as part of your endgame, but Uranium is certainly not that game. Not a hue loss.
AAAAA IT'S A BIRB
I certainly love that the neon markings around Birbie's eyes and chest makes it look like a giant, floating grinning lunatic face with its beak as a nose. Birbie is an adorable bird baby, apparently based on the Superb Bird-of-Paradise. I know I'm not the biggest fan of Birbie's evolution line (or their sprites, at least), but it's adorable and Birbie will hang out with us and make me happy until he gets replaced. While I know there's a fair amount of Tandor Pokemon that I'm going to use, but Birbie has a marginally greater chance of staying in my team for a longer time than Chyinmunk.
"Happy Birb" is not my proudest nicknaming endeavour. I like it more than "Angry Birb" or "Flappy Birb".
And... and that's about it for this, I think. It's mostly a long series of story time and introductions, but the game is certainly relatively well-made. I know I was a bit frustrated in my first playthrough, but apparently I played through a Beta version, and this one is a lot more polished? We'll see.
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