I've been following this game for a while.
For years actually.
My overall experience has been "I wish, I wish, I wish"
I wish they had the chance to finish the original story the game had back when it was a Pokemon fan game, instead of leaving that version with a very depressing cliffhanger of a final build, I wish the combat/equipment got a little more opportunity to show it's versatility-
And I wish I could say there's actually a new area since I played it last year-
I'll split this rating into two parts since this is basically two totally separate games that just so happen to share some characters in alternate forms-
The old version of the game (.1155) is a solid 4/5, the only downside being that they never actually finished the story for it, so it's left on a seemingly permanent cliffhanger, unless the devs somehow or for some reason wrap the old version of the story into the new to to tie up that loose end, the characters are mostly solid, as are the arcs, it just makes for overall light-hearted fun, and the Misty-Gary-Mackinzie boss fight is definitely the best piece of game play in any version, even if it's not explained very well, you actually HAVE A BOSS FIGHT, which makes you THINK, rather than just press a button and the enemy dies. That being said, it's highly unlikely that version will ever be resolved due to copyright issues.
As for the current game-
I'll be honest, it's 50/50, I can definitely see it becoming just as good if not better than the original game they were making...if it ever actually gets an ending-
The biggest issue with the new version isn't so much the update times as it is the content, the devs have been adding a lot of side content and new characters without much if any clear focus on the main story-
As a matter of fact there hasn't been an update to the main questline since-
2022? At least in terms of what the devs are labelling as "main quests" in game, the last main quest was in the Phoebe update, which...yeah, literally came out over a year ago,
It's not that they DON'T add stuff, they're just focusing on new side content right now it seems and potentially gameplay adjustments.
This game is, and has always been, an objective 8/10 game, whether it's the old or new version.
The only thing that keeps it from being a 10/10 game, is the lack of gameplay variety, and the lack of main story progression, but when and if the devs fix that issue, I'll update my review, but the best I can give an incomplete game is an incomplete score, highly recommend version 1155 even without the finale, and also somewhat recommend current build as well, so long as you don't mind the side quests.
I will gladly wait for more, as I compete with the devs in a race.
What'll happen first? Me getting my life together, or them actually finishing a main story?
Stay tuned: IN 2025!
Edit: Well damn, in a matter of days after I wrote this review, we ACTUALLY got an update with main story in it.