Pokémon Soulgold Is A Love Letter To Johto And Gen 2
Pokémon has had a near-unstoppable run. Each Generation is beloved by a certain subset of fans, and there are people who enjoy them all to some degree. But the second Generation has become a fan favorite over the years, especially when you take the enhanced remakes of HeartGold and SoulSilver into account. While the first Generation is still beloved, the next era has a lot of hold on fans.
That's why it's been such a force in official and unofficial channels, and now it's coming back. Available now on X, Pokémon SoulGold is looking to deliver on the promise of more Johto, and everything Generation 2.
Pokémon SoulGold Takes Players To An Expanded Johto
Pokémon SoulGold is a "Johto-focused expansion" of Pokémon Emerald, aiming to deliver a "traditional" angle on fan-crafted adventures, complete with an expansion of the Johto region, new mechanics, and an expanded post-game. It's pretty much everything a hardcore Johto fan could want, without encroaching too much on what fans like about the series.
In SoulGold, you'll go through a main storyline, alongside many quality-of-life improvements to the overarching Pokémon formula. Stat up/drop messages are now combined into a single notification, making them easier to read. Pokémon from "all generations" are accessible through "battle facilities," which allow you to earn more party members without injecting them into wild areas and bushes. Hidden Grottos reset daily and sport rare Pokémon and items, while "Boss Pokémon" are in, including legendary fights, with a guaranteed catch.
Nine starters are available to choose from, some of which have Mega Evolutions, and an achievement system lets you hunt for 100 trophies. Johto has been given a fresh tileset, a title defense system was added (to keep the champion battle fresh), all Mega Evolutions are in, there's a Rocket Arcade to earn money, and even more features are live to boot (like fishing for items, unique battle frame colors for shinies, music sync for battles, and multiple pages of options for customization).
This Is A Pokémon Game By Fans, For Fans
The creator really thought of everything in terms of quality of life, which is where many fan game directors start when it comes to the Pokémon series. It doesn't seem to really encroach on the core design of the Pokémon series, but there are lots of extras involved behind the scenes.
If you're curious, here's everything that was added for the 1.0 release patch:
- Added several Champions regulation M-B learnset additions such as Wave Crash Swampert and Earth Power Sceptile.
- Removed the requirement of beating Leaf in postgame to unlock the last level 85 level cap.
- Volcarona learns Giga Drain via level up.
- Zubat line learns Wing Attack via level up.
- Torterra learns Shell Smash via level up.
- Increased Safari Ball catch rate multiplier to 500. (For reference, Beast Balls have a modifier of 410 against Ultra Beasts in mainline games).
- Roamers now respawn after a Title Defense round.
- Tile collision fixes.
Any Pokémon fan owes it to themselves to experience the second Generation. While a Switch 2 port would be ideal, there are some options out there, like playing the originals or the remakes via HeartGold and SoulSilver.