News

Fan-Made Pokémon Game Designed for Adults

Pokémon – like Doctor Who, LEGO, and blanket forts – is not just for kids, though it has to be acknowledged that it does not explicitly cater to its current adult audience, either. A fan, though, is creating a new Pokémon game aimed at appealing specifically to the grown-ups. Pokémon Apex is an unauthorised fan game – made in RPG Maker XP and in the works since 2014 – developed by Nathan Gunzenhauser, better known by his pseudonym iamvishnu, “developed with an adult Pokémon fan in mind,” according to the official website.

This adult iteration of Pokémon is not an excuse for titillation, though, but will include “some adult dialogue (some swearing) and themes (death, abandonment), and some minor horror elements,” as well as a greater difficulty curve compared to the official Pokémon games.

In his description of the game, iamvishnu outlines the issues he has with the previous Pokémon games that he intends to solve:

  • Low Difficulty: Most Pokémon games are geared towards younger audiences, meaning they are typically very easy to finish. Personally, I think Pokémon could benefit from a steeper difficulty curve. Apex will not be brutally difficult, but it will require players to make conscientious choices about their team and play style.
  • Poor balance: Core Pokémon games may seem well-balanced on the surface, but once you start digging into stats and movesets, it is clear that some Pokémon are way better than others. It is my belief that every Pokémon is entitled to a moveset that complements its stats and vice-versa. I intend to solve this problem by raising the base stat totals off all fully-evolved Pokémon to at least 400, as well as refining movesets to better reflect the play style of each Pokémon.
  • Characters are bland: Pokémon games always tend to follow the same tropes, and characters are very seldom interesting. I intend to solve this problem by giving the protagonist a voice and personality, as well as making characters seem as much like real people as possible instead of forcing each one into a character archetype. This includes the protagonist, rival, antagonists, and supporting characters. Characters will also experience development, showing their growth (or decline) over the course of the game.
  • Game structure is formulaic: Start in a small town, meet a tree-themed professor, get a fire/water/grass starter, get a PokéDex, defeat the eight gyms, defeat the bad guys, defeat the Elite Four, etc. You’ve done all this before. The same tired game structure is used in every core Pokémon game. I intend to solve this issue by introducing starters that do not fit the standard type wheel. Furthermore, progression through the game will revolve around opening up new areas. There will be no Gyms, nor Elite Four. Furthermore, instead of one singular storyline, there will be many sidequests and secret storylines to discover.

The game is far from finished, but an alpha build is available to try here.

Are you interested in an adult-themed Pokémon? Or does stripping away its adolescent qualities strip away the magic?

Ashley Allen

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 Possible Price Revealed

According to a new report, the GeForce RTX 5090 GPU will be very expensive. It…

3 hours ago

AMD Krackan Processor with 6 Zen 5 and Zen 5c Cores for Budget AI Laptops Leaked

A new AMD processor in the form of an engineering model has been leaked in…

3 hours ago

SK Hynix Begins Production of First 321-Layer NAND Chips

SK Hynix has claimed to be the first company to mass-produce 321-layer NAND memory chips.…

4 hours ago

Trust Gaming GXT 609 Zoxa 2.0 PC Speakers

SOUNDS GREAT – Full stereo sound (12W peak power) gives your setup a booming audio…

8 hours ago

PowerA Wired Controller for Nintendo Switch

Special Edition Yoshi design Ergonomic controller shape with Nintendo Switch button layout Detachable 10ft (3m)…

8 hours ago

Logitech G Saitek PRO Flight Rudder Pedals

Fluid Motion: These flight rudder pedals are smooth and accurate that enable precise control over…

8 hours ago