To put it bluntly, Pokemon Uranium feels incomplete despite the long development time, and I do not think it is the best Pokemon fangame out there.
With many people praising how good the visual looks in Uranium, I have to disagree. On the one hand, the overworld does look nice. However, I don't like the design of most of the original characters as I find most of them to look awkward. Most of them have poses traced from existing Pokemon games, and it is glaring for me. Additionally, I am not impressed by move animations as most of them are either generic or no animation whatsoever.
As for the Pokemon, some of them look great, but I don't think most of them can pass off as an actual Pokemon. For me, Owten looks more like a Digimon rather than a Pokemon aside from that Chinese pun (猫头鹰 [Owl] literally translate to Cat-headed eagle). I'm aware that comparing official to fangame is like comparing orange to apple, but that's something I want to point out. I also would like to point out that the game isn't very balanced at dealing with overall stats. There are some Pokemon with noticeably low overall stats like the Smore line, then there's Pokemon that look like they are designed for competitive battles like Harptera, who not only has high overall stats, but it evolves relatively fast with fantastic abilities and moves to back it up.
Moving on to the sound department, I think it's great. But I don't like the fact that some of the later Pokemon reuse the existing Pokemon cries, like Saidine and Daikatuna both use Sharpeod's cry. And the Spritzee line uses the Munna line's cry for whatever reason.
Onto the game design. One thing I agree on is that the level curve is awful when you reach the East Tandor. Which doesn't help the fact that traveling at East Tandor isn't fun. Also, the game has a bright idea to give the player HM Fly only after obtaining the eighth gym badge. Other than the notorious East Tandor, it is fairly standard. Though if I have to talk one thing, Route 10 is too dark to traverse at nighttime.
Also, can I waste my time ranting on Garlikid? Despite being a Legendary Pokemon, I never get the legendary vibe from its design. I suspected it was made as a Legendary Pokemon for more popularity, but that didn't work on me. Doesn't help the fact that it is obnoxious, its name sounds like a maniac would scream or the fact that I find its sidequest to be shallow. Also, you have to face a trainer before obtaining it, which can be a pain if you're Save Scumming for a good Garlikid.
Now, it's far from the worst game I've ever played, but I won't exactly say it's my favorite Pokemon fangame. Still, if you enjoyed Uranium, that's great! It's just that I have weird opinions.
VideoGame A more critical look
To put it bluntly, Pokemon Uranium feels incomplete despite the long development time, and I do not think it is the best Pokemon fangame out there.
With many people praising how good the visual looks in Uranium, I have to disagree. On the one hand, the overworld does look nice. However, I don't like the design of most of the original characters as I find most of them to look awkward. Most of them have poses traced from existing Pokemon games, and it is glaring for me. Additionally, I am not impressed by move animations as most of them are either generic or no animation whatsoever.
As for the Pokemon, some of them look great, but I don't think most of them can pass off as an actual Pokemon. For me, Owten looks more like a Digimon rather than a Pokemon aside from that Chinese pun (猫头鹰 [Owl] literally translate to Cat-headed eagle). I'm aware that comparing official to fangame is like comparing orange to apple, but that's something I want to point out. I also would like to point out that the game isn't very balanced at dealing with overall stats. There are some Pokemon with noticeably low overall stats like the Smore line, then there's Pokemon that look like they are designed for competitive battles like Harptera, who not only has high overall stats, but it evolves relatively fast with fantastic abilities and moves to back it up.
Moving on to the sound department, I think it's great. But I don't like the fact that some of the later Pokemon reuse the existing Pokemon cries, like Saidine and Daikatuna both use Sharpeod's cry. And the Spritzee line uses the Munna line's cry for whatever reason.
Onto the game design. One thing I agree on is that the level curve is awful when you reach the East Tandor. Which doesn't help the fact that traveling at East Tandor isn't fun. Also, the game has a bright idea to give the player HM Fly only after obtaining the eighth gym badge. Other than the notorious East Tandor, it is fairly standard. Though if I have to talk one thing, Route 10 is too dark to traverse at nighttime.
Also, can I waste my time ranting on Garlikid? Despite being a Legendary Pokemon, I never get the legendary vibe from its design. I suspected it was made as a Legendary Pokemon for more popularity, but that didn't work on me. Doesn't help the fact that it is obnoxious, its name sounds like a maniac would scream or the fact that I find its sidequest to be shallow. Also, you have to face a trainer before obtaining it, which can be a pain if you're Save Scumming for a good Garlikid.
Now, it's far from the worst game I've ever played, but I won't exactly say it's my favorite Pokemon fangame. Still, if you enjoyed Uranium, that's great! It's just that I have weird opinions.