Pokémon Crystal Maeson

Hack description

Pokémon Crystal Maeson, like other hacks of the same author, aims to give a game he has played a lot a different flair through a variety of changes, so it keeps feeling fresh or more interesting to his own particular tastes.

On 20/03/23 it was updated once more, to fix a couple of mistakes, simplify the Clock Reset procedure, and a couple of minor changes.

On 04/09/22 it was updated once again, to fix one palette error on Crobat's back sprite. People asked to add the Shiny icon to the Naming Screen, and it was also added.

On 21/08/22 this hack has been updated to include optional patches to remove flashes during battles and while walking with poisoned Pokémon. This is something several people brought up to the author of this hack, and he was happy to give the choice as, pure white to pure black flashing effects can be painful to most people's eyes, specially if playing with back-lighted screens.

To avoid confusion, the patches inside the 7zip file have been organized on folders to make things simpler.

Hack Updated to version 1.3. Significant rework on Pokémon Stats both in BST and stat spreads, fixed a number of mistakes in several areas, Freeze has been changed for Frostbite, etc. Battle Tower was updated to count for the changes too.

Version 1.2 was a smaller update, containing fixes for a few mistakes, and a considerable number of changes on Moves looking to make more moves interesting options to use.

Version 1.1 brings a slew of improvements and also bring back elements that where cut for the first public release regarding how Types interact with each other. These cause a large number of changes to Stats, Types, Moves, and more, you can check the updated readme to see them. Corrections were also made on the several text files, which had a number of errors.

Here's a general summary of some of the changes made by this hack:

·Moving away from the "vanilla Pokémon experience" by making a different "balance" for the Pokémon themselves. This means new Type Matchups to make Types equal, giving many species different Types, new Stat distributions for each evolutionary line and putting them at the same level, streamlining evolution across all species and more.

·To help with the above, the Pokédex has been changed. It no longer offers the dubious trivia it originally had, and now provides both a list of Weaknesses and Resistances and the Base Stats of each species to help the player.

·A Physical/Special split has been added, and beyond that, many old moves have been taken out to implement new ones in order to give each Type moves of different Power tiers for both Physical and Special sides. There has been no intent to follow trends made by newer games with the new moves, though.

·An effort has also been made to streamline all stuff related with training and RNG. DVs/IVs no longer factor in Stat Calculations, meaning any Pokémon can reach full potential (Shiny and Female Pokémon included, of course). Acquiring Stat Experience is a far less frustrating process now, as there has been changes to Vitamins in addition to new Items to make them actually useful this time, and you will need to pay attention and take care of your team this way.

·There has been a fair increase in the overall difficulty of the game. The AI has been improved, Levels have been raised (Generation 2 had a rather low Level curve), teams for pretty much every trainer out there have been tweaked (which, with the prior changes and having to learn new stuff does in fact increase the challenge), and the Pokémon from Trainers do get progressively harder as you progress because just like you, they also get Stat Experience, and after a point all of them will have fully trained Pokémon. Badge bonuses and NPC "nerfs" have been removed too, among other changes.

·Another big point of this hack is a huge rework of the Battle Tower. Besides renewing the Pokémon you fight there to be in line with the new changes made to the hack (and also adding a lot more variety to the species you find there), a lot of new stuff has been added to it. Among other things, Move Tutors of various types and a reward system where you can get Special Eggs with Pokémon that know a unique move, somewhat similar to what Pokémon Stadium did. This place is much more than it ever was.

·Some "endgame" content was added too, in the form of rematches and other things. Once you beat Red, the Elite Four gets stronger and Gym Leaders want to fight again (not the only ones though). To help levelling up, a series of helpful Items were added to the Battle Tower. Pokégear Rematches also had some pretty substantial upgrades compared to the original.

·There has been a number of changes to Items and Item storage too. There are a few new Items, such as Fruits that help you strengthen your Pokémon, and Kurt Balls are now very different from what thy were in the original game.

·While there's no intention to create a new story or region, there are some new maps here and there, sometimes to bring back stuff like the Viridian Forest, others to expand certain places that felt short, or simply a few new areas. There were also many small additions and changes made throughout the game, way too many to point out here.

·Big changes to the graphics in many areas. Pokémon sprites were cleaned up, improved or changed (they also have individual icons for each and Shiny colors were altered too), the overworld graphics had also some touches here and there. Many areas had some edits here and there to make them feel better to traverse or to look at, and the scrolling is also smoother. In general, the colors used by the game are less saturated so its easier to the eyes when playing on anything with a back-lighted screen. Also some menus and other UI stuff got redesigns to make them easier to the eye, and hopefully more clear to see.

There's much, much more to the changes, but if you want to read more about it you have the usual "why this is so long" readme included. In fact, there's a variety of files with different information to help accommodate people to all these modifications, in case you have ages of free time to read it all!

Contributor	Type of contribution	Description
Maeson	Hacking

Reviews

Great Ideas, but doesn't feel quite right	Mylocke	2023-09-08	Version 1.31
I really love Pokémon, but I don't have a lot of time on my hands. So when I play a Pokémon game I want to feel like I'm really getting something new out of it. While this hack does offer so much new to the player with the re-balances of evolutions and power and new move power tiers within each typing, the Weakness and Strength to other types is where I really start to disagree with the work. Some make sense, some do not, and it was a hell of a time trying to re-learn them. All in all I'd say this is a different game completely with a Gen2 Pokémon Skin - So if you're looking for an, albeit competent, but completely different RPG Monster Team builder experience with a Pokémon skin, sure. I would recommend you play this. - But if you're looking for a new way to play Pokémon Crystal and enjoy experiencing the game you remember, I would choose another hack to scratch that itch.

Gen 2 hacks are so interesting, this one included.	Chronosplit	2023-03-23	Version 1.31
Pokemon gen 2 hacks tend to see a lot more in terms of complete gameplay overhauls or different perspectives. Maybe it's the fact that Crystal was still in a place where many of Pokemon's bedrock mechanics weren't completely set in stone. Either way these out of the box ideas are more fun in that you must think of completely different strategies. Maeson works more on JRPGs in general than most Pokemon hackers which means you'll see some very different ideas compared to most patches. For example the only Normal type Pokemon is Ditto; Normal is now a completely neutral type that only has Tackle for straight damage, and you can't tank the early game with a Geodude anymore. You'll also notice right out the gate that beginning moves are completely rebalanced, most being 50 power with a side effect. Changes like this aren't for everyone playing as they turn how you view the gameplay of Pokemon on its ear, and you'll see total overhauls of a lot of Pokemon in an effort to make every single one completely viable. You'll also see visual upgrades including a new font (which I'll admit I'm not totally sold on, but it grows on you). This is a fresh look at addressing problems that plagued these games from the start, and you should definitely look at this. I would say even give this a look if you're not into Pokemon hacks, but you've played a lot of hacks for other JRPGs.

A great starting point (needs some minor revisions before I could recommend)	spe420	2021-06-18	Version 11
This hack is great. From the start, seeing all the minor tweaks to the original game was very refreshing, and I felt that original "magic" that we all probably have come to be so fond of (as far as early Pokemon games go). That said, there has been one major turn off for me, that I've noticed without having even got to the first gym leader yet. The most glaring issue I've found is that Rock Type Pokemon simply don't have any resistance to Normal Type moves any longer, and this seems to have been by design, in accordance with the Hack Author's revamping of the Type Matchups (see: TypeChart.png, and Pokemon Crystal Maeson Readme.txt). The given rationale in the Readme for these changes is to "make every type of Pokemon equal"; I greatly appreciated this as a concept (that is to say, in theory), however, as stated, without having played for terribly long the following problem became evident: that (at a minimum) Rock Type Pokemon no longer have an intrinsic defensive bonus. All Normal Type Pokemon have been recast as the novel "Beast" Type, which does not have a comparable offensive deficit vs. Rock Types. For example, a Pidgey can easily defeat a Geodude in the beginning of the game, in about two-three hits with "Scratch" (which is now a "Beast" Type move, as opposed to a "Normal" Type). Moreover, "Normal" Type moves (like "Swift") can still be learned, but are also now near equally matched against Rock Types. In other words, A Rock Type Pokemon will now only have a defensive bonus against the special attacks that it is strong against, etc. The other major flaw I found was that a Spearow was weak against Bug Type moves. I think the Author should go and revise some of these to be more consistent with the original games. That's just my opinion though. I do like the introduction of the Beast Type in place of Normal. It does make things more interesting. And in general, I appreciate the ethos behind the revisions. However, there are some issues that seemed just a little too much to bear with. Hope to see a revised version soon! Would even love to see people use this as a template for future hacks. It has been a very fluid experience thus far, aside from the points raised herein. Would absolutely recommend if these changes were to be implemented.

Big Changes, Better Experience	RainbowDragonite	2021-02-27	Version 1.1
With the readjusted Base Stat Totals and Normal not being so normal anymore among other changes, all Pokémon are on an even playing field. With the improvements to Stat training and access to all Pokémon, experimenting with various teams and strategies is much easier to do and just as fun, whether it's a handful of favorites or mono type runs. To me, Gen 2 isn't a high point, but this hack changes that.

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