As the title states, I am going to be running through the Pokemon Kaizo series using only MonoFighting, and you might be thinking that this won't be interesting in the slightest compared to doing something like a nuzlocke. However, the reason I went with a MonoFighting run > a nuzlocke is because this game abuses everything broken about Gen 1 and spams it really hard to the point where you're essentially forced to hax and luck your way through the game (so basically it makes the game harder in my opinion than it would be doing a nuzlocke). Additionally, the game is extremely tedious in how it forces you to progress through and I believe that's more pronounced with a MonoFighting run than with a nuzlocke. More on that a bit later. As of currently to my knowledge, there is Pokemon Blue Kaizo, Pokemon Crystal Kaizo, and Pokemon Emerald Kaizo released and made by SinisterHoodedFigure, and these are all the games that I will be playing under the MonoFighting rules. This list will get added onto if any future romhacks of the series come out. Finally, I should probably add that I have personally already played Pokemon Kaizo Blue and Crystal in the past (and subsequently did a MonoPoison run of both), but not Pokemon Emerald Kaizo. Now, if you have no idea what Kaizo means at this point, read the below short paragraph, otherwise skip ahead for a more in-depth explanation of how exactly the Kaizo series goes about being... well, "Kaizo".
Firstly, let's get this out of the way for those who don't even know what "Kaizo" means, as there's a chance that some people may not know. Simply put, Kaizo is a genre of video game hacks that are ridiculously difficult, and typically feature a lot of trial-and-error type of gameplay. I'm sure there's a better way of explaining it. Anyways, now (try to) put that in the context of Pokemon, and that's what these hacks are essentially.
If you're here, I assume that you know (or now know) what Kaizo means, so let's see just how exactly the Kaizo series goes about being difficult and annoying as well as general changes that the hacks make:
Whew. So without further ado, let's dive into the small little ruleset that I'm personally going to be playing by. Note that I'm gonna follow these rules for all games. Also, I assume that you all understand the concept of a MonoFighting run, so I won't even bother touching on that really.
Alright, now that all of that is done, I think it's time to finally dive into the Let's Play itself! I have played a bit already, but I do still kinda wanna play more before posting the first update. Also, it's past 1 AM rn as I'm finishing this so lol I rather not type more considering how long it even took and instead just want to go sleep. I'll probably post again tomorrow night (or rather today for me but way later) or the following day depending on how busy I am. Lastly, feel free to give advice if you wish (either for the Let's Play in question or something about my formatting and whatnot, doesn't largely matter), or if you wanna be nicknamed at some point in this or something, I can try to do my best to incorporate others into this. After all, I do feel that these lose their charm without community involvement of some kind.
Firstly, let's get this out of the way for those who don't even know what "Kaizo" means, as there's a chance that some people may not know. Simply put, Kaizo is a genre of video game hacks that are ridiculously difficult, and typically feature a lot of trial-and-error type of gameplay. I'm sure there's a better way of explaining it. Anyways, now (try to) put that in the context of Pokemon, and that's what these hacks are essentially.
If you're here, I assume that you know (or now know) what Kaizo means, so let's see just how exactly the Kaizo series goes about being difficult and annoying as well as general changes that the hacks make:
General Pokemon Kaizo Series Changes
Pokemon Blue Kaizo Specific Stuff
Pokemon Crystal Kaizo Specific Stuff
Pokemon Emerald Kaizo Specific Stuff
It's late when I'm typing this so I might've missed something above, oh well.
- Each game allows you to catch all 151/251/386 Pokemon in the pokedex and gives you a much wider variety to catch from the start.
- Every map has been edited in some way in order to force you to play the way in a specific way. A good prominent example of this is in Pokemon Blue Kaizo where in order to access Fuchsia City you need to have Fly; however, the normal path to Fly from Celadon is blocked off by water that you have to Surf on. Instead, you're forced to go around all the way through the routes below Lavender Town, go through Fuchsia City, and then are forced to go upwards on Cycling Road almost the entire way up, and for sections where you have to go downwards to get through certain sections of Cycling Road you have to be stupidly precise with your movements, as otherwise you'll have to start from scratch.
- Most/All Pokemon have modified movesets in some way so as to be more useful earlier on in the games. Additionally, evolution methods are changed for some Pokemon in all 3 hacks. No more need for trade evolutions.
- Trainers in general are much better, with their AI being made much better and parties being changed to be a lot more threatening than in the original games as well as general moveset improvements (ie some trainers abuse OHKO moves and other broken things along those same lines). For example, in Blue/Crystal Kaizo, Psychic-types get spammed like crazy (and this right here is pretty much what I meant earlier by "more on that a bit later"), and same with generally solid Pokemon such as most Normal-types and such.
- Revival items do not work in battle at all (they do work out of battle though); this means once a Pokemon faints during a fight, it is gone until that fight is over and you revive it then.
- You can buy some really neat items way earlier on in the game (or just in general when they weren't able to be bought prior) than they normally would.
- Some moves are modified to function differently for the purpose of making them better moves.
Pokemon Blue Kaizo Specific Stuff
- The only notable thing that is different between Blue Kaizo and others is that certain items are much cheaper.
Pokemon Crystal Kaizo Specific Stuff
- The main thing that's different between Crystal Kaizo and the others is the fact that every important trainer has a full team of shiny Pokemon in their roster. It's not the most important thing, but it can be potentially helpful due to the specific DVs needed for a shiny.
- The other thing is that there is an easter egg that I'll leave you to figure out for yourself.
Pokemon Emerald Kaizo Specific Stuff
- Some Pokemon get a stat buff in some way.
- There are additional bosses that can be fought (unsure on this since I've not played but I believe they're locked to postgame).
It's late when I'm typing this so I might've missed something above, oh well.
Whew. So without further ado, let's dive into the small little ruleset that I'm personally going to be playing by. Note that I'm gonna follow these rules for all games. Also, I assume that you all understand the concept of a MonoFighting run, so I won't even bother touching on that really.
1. I have to play on set to make it slightly more difficult.
2. I cannot use repels, no matter how bad the encounter rate is. This means I must face the full brunt of assaults from every wild Pokemon, even if I cannot run away successfully.
3. I cannot use the Poke Center to heal up my Pokemon; instead, I must rely on healing items I buy and pick up to keep myself going until I faint.
4. Lastly, I am not allowed to use multiples of the same species on the final team, because otherwise I could avoid using Hitmonchan. This also makes Blue Kaizo harder because I'm actually gonna be stuck with 5 mons instead of a full team.
2. I cannot use repels, no matter how bad the encounter rate is. This means I must face the full brunt of assaults from every wild Pokemon, even if I cannot run away successfully.
3. I cannot use the Poke Center to heal up my Pokemon; instead, I must rely on healing items I buy and pick up to keep myself going until I faint.
4. Lastly, I am not allowed to use multiples of the same species on the final team, because otherwise I could avoid using Hitmonchan. This also makes Blue Kaizo harder because I'm actually gonna be stuck with 5 mons instead of a full team.
Alright, now that all of that is done, I think it's time to finally dive into the Let's Play itself! I have played a bit already, but I do still kinda wanna play more before posting the first update. Also, it's past 1 AM rn as I'm finishing this so lol I rather not type more considering how long it even took and instead just want to go sleep. I'll probably post again tomorrow night (or rather today for me but way later) or the following day depending on how busy I am. Lastly, feel free to give advice if you wish (either for the Let's Play in question or something about my formatting and whatnot, doesn't largely matter), or if you wanna be nicknamed at some point in this or something, I can try to do my best to incorporate others into this. After all, I do feel that these lose their charm without community involvement of some kind.
Last edited: