Playing PokéRogue

I have recently found out about this online rogue-lite game and I figured it would give it a shot. It’s called PokéRogue and as you might guess involves playing a rogue-lite based around Pokémon. This is a concept that has been touched on before, but this is my first time playing a full-fledged rogue-lite using Pokémon mechanics. Like all games in the genre, you do your best to travel as far as you can until you wipe and start again. Each attempt starts out with an encounter you can either defeat or catch and occasionally you will be met with a trainer battle or rival battle. Each time you beat an encounter you get a selection of items to choose from to help you on your journey. There will always be a boss encounter on the tenth encounter which is a leader or a stronger than normal Pokémon. After beating the boss, you get your entire party healed and an increase in the level cap. On occasion you will encounter double battles as well so make sure to have at least two reliable Pokémon on your team.

Do note that you have multiple files to attempt runs on so you can go back and forth between multiple attempts. At the start, you can only choose from the 27 starters from all Pokémon regions and you can unlock more as the game progresses. There are two ways to unlock more starters. The first is simply catching them during the run. Once caught they will be added to the roster of starters for later runs and can be added to your current party should you wish for it. Do note that this is a limited resource, but don’t sweat it too much as that is the benefit of future runs. Also, catching a Pokémon’s evolution will give you the base form as a starter.

The other way to add Pokémon to the roster is through the egg gatcha. Don’t worry, the gatcha doesn’t require actual money. Instead, you can get them by beating gym leaders and the like during your runs. These eggs have multiple tiers which determine the rarity of the Pokémon you will get. The five types I can confirm exist at the time of writing are common, rare, epic, legendary, and Manaphy. Hatching eggs is very useful because they can give you egg moves that allow you more options when using a starter. Just note that rarer eggs take longer to hatch. Remember that it is also good to catch or hatch the same Pokémon repeatedly and not only do they get better moves, but they can gain better stats as well.

Personally, I am having a lot of fun with the game right now, and it helps that the game is free and easily accessible online at pokerogue.net. It just requires a username and password to play and is easy to get into once you get the feel for it. The only problem is sometimes the servers can be a little wonky. Thankfully it autosaves after each encounter. Go check it out if you’re interested. I am getting back to my latest run. Have a good night everyone! See you next week!