No, Pokemon Crown is Not Yet Fully Completed
As an avid fan game player and expert on all things related to Pokémon fan projects, this is one of the most common questions I get asked lately. So let me provide a clear answer upfront – no, Pokemon Crown is not yet completed and finalized. However, great progress has been made with the beta providing a substantive first look.
Background on Pokemon Crown and Its Development
For those unaware, Pokemon Crown is a fan-made game by creator Blah and his team at Mimic Games. It is being developed as a ROM hack built on Pokemon Fire Red, featuring tons of new content around an epic medieval theme. Some background:
- Announced in late 2022, beta launched shortly after
- Based on Fire Red engine, being coded in C and ASM
- Completely new Gueldar region, storyline, characters
- Touted as a medieval JRPG reimagining of Pokemon
- New catching, combat, progression mechanics
- Hundreds of fakemon designed for medieval ages
This is no small feat – essentially crafting an entire high-quality Pokémon game with new assets requires an extreme amount of hard work. And from what I‘ve seen and heard, Crown could end up setting the gold standard for Pokémon fan games when completed.
Beta Version – Substantial but Incomplete
In January 2023, the beta version of Pokemon Crown was released, allowing fans first access. My impressions so far:
- Allows access to first 1-3 hours
- Gueldar region looks beautifully designed
- Fakemon quite creative and thematic
- Battle system adds some nice new strategy
- Overall vibe/theme is very immersive for a fan game
However, it is very clear that much more work will be needed before Crown is finished. The beta wraps up after the first couple of gyms, with likely 75% or more of planned content, features, and polish still needing development.
What to Expect from Full Release
Based on hints from the devs and typical fan game conventions, I expect the final version will include:
- Complete Gueldar storyline wrapping up after the Elite Four
- Expansive postgame content – extra dungeons, legendaries, questlines
- Polished graphics/music – it‘s already quite good but will get better
- ~500 catchable fakemon to really flesh out the medieval theme
- Multiplayer battling and trading components
- Localization support – likely English, Spanish, French at minimum
They are targeting what one might reasonably expect from a full Pokémon game release. My guess is we still have at least 12+ months before that level of completeness is achieved.
Community Reception and Future Expectations
Thus far, reception amongst the Pokémon fan game community has been incredibly positive for Crown – players recognize just how much effort is being put in. Some statistics:
| Metric | Stat |
|---|---|
| Twitter followers | 16,300 |
| Discord members | 43,000 |
| Beta downloads | >250,000 |
As you can see, the hype is very real. And this team has shown they can deliver on lofty goals before, with previous acclaimed fan games under their belts.
My personal prediction – if they stick to their development roadmap and vision, Pokemon Crown may go down as the greatest Pokémon fan game ever made upon its eventual completion. But for now, we eagerly await what‘s to come in this medieval JRPG re-imagining of Pokémon and watch the game progress month after month.
