Pokémon has almost thirty years of history. Several generations have enjoyed its games. Growing up with them. Defining a part of their identity through them. That’s why it’s not surprising that many players have been asking for Pokémon games that are more focused on that audience. Those who have grown up with the games and want a more intense experience. Something that Nintendo doesn’t want to provide them, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have it.
If you want a truly hardcore Pokémon experience, what you’re looking for is PokeRogue. It’s a game that combines Pokémon with procedurally generated maps and encounters, where we have to descend level by level with battles against Pokémon, bosses, and gym leaders. Always with the risk of losing everything if we die.
PokeRogue is, as its name suggests, a mix of Pokémon and roguelite. While we don’t lose everything when we die, everything changes each time we die and we can only keep some of our upgrades. This, along with the inclusion of all the key items from the series, makes it a natural evolution of Pokémon nuzlocke. Except here it’s taken to a less rigid rule system and feels more like a standalone video game.
This is helped by the fact that, although it is a game where everything is procedurally generated, we have different biomes that are randomly generated. However, the first two biomes will always be a town and plains filled with normal, bug, and grass pokémon, but after that, we will encounter a variety of biomes. Our rival will appear on floors 8, 25, and 55, and there will be a final boss or gym leader on every tenth floor, providing an extra challenge as we progress in the game. This is especially challenging because the game adapts to the logic of each biome, with ice pokémon in the ice area, fire pokémon in the fire area, and so on.
Although PokeRogue is starting to become a trend, no one knows who its creators are. The current version of the game is on GitHub and it seems that several people are collaborating on it. Which makes it an obvious collaborative effort.
If you are interested in playing PokeRogue, the easiest way currently is through the website. There are different pages that host different versions of the game, there is no official site for the game at the moment. You can also play it on desktop with the latest GitHub fork. However, it should be noted that the game is not yet finished and there is no approximate date for its completion. Although it is already perfectly playable and enjoyable.
That’s why, if you’ve always wanted a more complex and deep Pokémon, PokeRogue may be what you’re looking for. Even if Nintendo won’t be very happy if they find out about its existence.
