Pokemon ROM Hack Review #4: Pokemon Glazed

NuMetalManiak As Suikoden V took up a lot of time for my next RPG, Pokemon Glazed took a lot of time for my next ROM hack. And well, Pokemon Glazed was rather worthwhile. I wanted to try this one because the Tunod region was briefly shown for a ROM hack I played prior, Pokemon Prism. This game makes Tunod the main setting, but also allows for more postgame stuff in the form of the entire Johto region as well as the new Rankor region, which lies between Tunod and Rankor. What's new?

-This Pokemon Emerald ROM hack has Pokemon up to Gen-5, including every starter and every legendary up to that generation. Also somehow included are the Kalos starters and even a few mega evolutions (but not all, they have Mega Absol for instance but not Mega Swampert). The Fairy type is also present
-While I'm not a fan of HMs, they all are in here, and includes moves like Rock Climb, Whirlpool, Dig, Bounce, and Fury Cutter
-Because it's expansive, you go from one plot to another, first starting in Tunod, then Johto, then Rankor. And yes, the enemies get tougher and tougher without letting up.
-A brand new enemy team who's bent on utilizing Legendary Pokemon makes the main plot worthwhile, even through the post game.

Might as well talk about characters, since this game has plenty.
Team Fusion: They are the main bad guys, who have some sort of goal of catching legendaries to awaken Mew. Led by Michael and his wife Regina. Many grunts specialize in Fighting type Pokemon.
Luke: He's apparently from the REAL WORLD, so not Pokemon, and is met multiple times throughout the journey through random alternate universes
Blake: He's a member of the Elite Four who's mostly trying to stop Team Fusion and you often team up with him. His main Pokemon is Darkrai.
Michael: The original boss of Team Fusion who is trying to get legendaries to awaken Mew. His main Pokemon is Zoroark.
Regina: The wife of Michael, who ends up taking over the organization during the Johto and Rankor plots. She shares similar Pokemon to her wife.
Henri: Michael and Regina's son, forced into Team Fusion but not necessarily agreeing with his parents' methods.
Pikachu: This isn't an ordinary Pikachu. This is an annoyingly recurring enemy Pikachu with a red scarf that runs around making your day hard. He eventually stops though.
Percy: The first rival you fight against, Percy starts with a Cyndaquil and is just like the player, trying to win the Tunod League.
Chelle: A recurring rival, she has a Pikachu and Chikorita as starters, and is met very often.
Cato: Another rival, this time a son of a gym leader, his starter is a Totodile.
Tye: This rival is only met in the Rankor region and uses Eeveelutions.
Pius: He's a deacon from a church in the game that is devoted to the Pokemon Arceus. His methods are often unsound, but he's also enemies with Team Fusion later on.

Plot: So this plot tries something weird for a Pokemon game, involving the player going in an out of alternate universes at times. Anyways, he/she starts in home at the Tunod region in Glenwood Town. The professor in this game is named Willow and gives one of five starters to you, it's the three Sinnoh starters as well as Shinx or Riolu (mine was Riolu). Then your parents get attacked by the red scarfed Pikachu and then you battle Percy shortly after. From then on, you're obviously gonna be challenging gym leaders, but you also have run-ins with Team Fusion as you go along. Not to mention moments when you slip into alternate universes for brief scenes involving Luke. Blake, the Elite Four guy, helps you out at the times you fight Team Fusion. At one point that Pikachu steals all your badges, but Henri who's reluctant about being in Team Fusion gives them back and decides to quit that team. Blake also slips into the alternate universe with you, and you both learn that Team Fusion is trying to awaken Mew. In attempts to stop Team Fusion, you, Blake, and Henri go to different locations, and well things don't go as planned, as Michael manages to capture Palkia, Regina captures Giratina, and while Henri manages to get Dialga somehow they all go to Team Fusion's main labs. Michael then uses the three legendaries to summon Mew which destroys the lab, and after defeating Mew, you see that Michael has come to his senses and realizes what he done was bad. He releases the legendaries and stops being an enemy, though this leads to Regina divorcing him later. Also the Pikachu stops being a thorn and decides to also be one of your Pokemon. The fight against the Tunod Elite Four can be difficult, as unlike others, they are not bound to a certain type, but a certain color. Blake, the champion, uses black-colored Pokemon. Defeating him means you win the Tunod portion of the game, though because you continue your journey, it's Percy who becomes champion instead.

When we start the Johto region, we realize that our recurring rival Chelle is actually the sister of Silver, the main rival of the Gen-2 games. From here, things seem the same, battle the Johto gym leaders although they are out of order due to some circumstances, namely the eruption of Mt. Silver destroying Indigo Plateau and such. Notable changes here include Pryce and Chuck being retired leaders, with Chuck making his into a regular dojo, a new Psychic-type gym leader named Brian, Silver being a Dark-type gym leader, and Whitney now being a member of the Elite Four with her boyfriend Simon running Goldenrod's gym, a Fairy-type specialist. Also Regina leads a newly revived Team Fusion and Pius is investigating activities involving them. Pius for some reason kidnaps Jasmine and you and Whitney come to find her eventually, then you continue pursuing Regina with Henri. Unfortunately Regina does capture Ho-Oh. Eventually though we do in fact reach the new Johto League, which has new members Whitney and Eusine, familiar characters, as well as Kris, the champion.

Henri helps the player reach Rankor to pursue Regina and Pius, with Regina capturing Moltres screwing up the weather. This is also where we meet a new rival, Tye, as well as Wattson, a Hoenn gym leader who's married to Powell, one of Johto's Elite Four. Henri asks to help Zapdos fight Regina, then captures it. Later on, Articuno is scared off, then Pius captures Lugia and challenges Regina to a duel at the Peaks of Alpha. Aware of the situation, you and Henri battle both Pius and Regina, then the Swords of Justice (Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion) appear, and the legendaries that were caught are released. For some dumb reason, both Pius and Regina confess their love to each other and then you continue your journey. The final challenge is to beat Soul, the top champion in Rankor.

To think that there's a lot of plot stuff involving captured legendaries and morals being crossed, it's crazy. There's even quite a few sidequests, most involve catching legendaries, and one deals with helping Lance find Red. This rom hack has an enhanced version called Blazed Glazed, and it's rumored that it's possible to get Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde, the Kalos legendaries, there. But whatever, this was an exceptionally long but worthwhile rom hack I went through.

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