Pokemon‘s Gen 2 games are iconic for the way they elevated the series by adding features such as breeding, shiny hunting, and two entire playable regions for fans to explore. However, these games follow the early-era formula for Pokemon and limit players to a fairly linear progression route. Unlike the open-world of Gen 9’s Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Gold, Silver, and Crystal offer very little variation in how players can journey through Johto and Kanto.
An upcoming Pokemon release aims to change this by letting players experience the Johto Region in any order they choose. The Gen 2 games are often criticized for their slow level curve, which the introduction of an open world is intended to fix. The best news is that fans can play this version of Pokemon‘s second generation soon, as it releases on October 30.
Pokemon GS Vitro Makes Johto an Open World with Modern Features and Mega Evolution
The fan-made Pokemon GS Vitro from developer Clara_Dragon is bringing players back to the Johto Region with a new open-world twist. Pokemon GS Vitro is essentially a remake of Pokemon Crystal, with the hook being the ability to explore the Johto Region and take on the Gym Leaders in any order. To achieve this, opposing Pokemon levels are scaled with the player’s team, and Gym Leaders have a variety of different teams they can use depending on the order players encounter them.
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Image via The Pokemon Company
Players will start in Ecruteak City with the entire Johto map open to them from the start. Gone are HMs restricting where players can access, and instead, players will be given Field Moves from the jump that allow them to traverse any obstacle in their path. This means that players can sprint right toward the Lake of Rage and catch the Shiny Red Gyarados, or take a detour down through Ilex Forest and Headbutt trees to find a Heracross.
Pokemon GS Vitro even goes beyond the content offered in the original Gen 2 games to include features from later generations. The Pokedex has been expanded to include later-gen mons for a total of 350 obtainable critters. Perhaps most exciting is the inclusion of Mega Evolution, giving fans access to one of the most popular battle mechanics in the franchise that was never available in the original Johto games. Other features in Pokemon GS Vitro include:
- Field Moves replace HMs, and some have unique functions. For example, some Pokemon can use Rain Dance outside of
- battle, etc.
- Selector at the start of the game for Permadeath Mode (Nuzlocke) and Random Mode
- Pokemon may have slight variations in their colors, similar to Pokemon Stadium 2
- Share experience from 8th gen+, where PC Pokemon also gain experience
- New features in the Pokegear, such as the Encounter List and PC Access
- Turbo mode only in battles
- Quick healing option for the Pokemon on your team
Although Pokemon GS Vitro isn’t releasing until October 30, Pokemon fans have plenty of other fan-made games to check out in the meantime. The newly released Pokemon Wishes of Tomorrow brings back Shadow Pokemon from the GameCube’s Pokemon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness, while Pokemon Emerald Rotate takes the original Hoenn map and rotates it by 90 degrees. There seems to be no end to fan-made experiences designed to give Pokemon fans a new way to play through the beloved series.