I've played through Pokemon Crystal quite a bit over the years, but it's been a while since I've been really captivated by it... until Pokemon Crystal Clear came around.
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Okay, so I know I said I wasn't gonna revisit the Kanto region again for a while... but this time it's both Johto and Kanto... so it's fine.
Pokemon Crystal Clear was created by user ShockSlayer, and man is it one of the greatest ROM hacks I have ever had the pleasure of playing.
It's a brilliant re-visitation, and in many ways improvement, over Pokemon Crystal version.
It's really a sequel to Pokemon Crystal, while also clearly being it's own thing... while also being a masterclass in how to implement insane levels of customization into a video game.
It's basically an open-world version of Pokemon generation 2, where you can pick any city or town to start your journey in, along with a variety of trainer sprites and colour edits to choose from, and finally, a wide selection of starter pokemon to choose from, too.
Heck, you can be a Team Rocket member with a starter Porygon if you want... there is a great variety of options.
I decided to start in Azalea town, with a Blue sprite I coloured green, and an elekid.
Things like difficulty range depending on the starter pokemon you select, as well as which town to start off in.
It's interesting to note that your player starts off in a basement apartment, with a secret doorway to a cave network available basically anywhere you pick.
And from there, you start off attacking the Pokemon league in any order you so choose.
The player can freely navigate the two regions, and the levels of wild pokemon, enemy trainer pokemon, and gym challenges, will scale depending on your progress.
And you may have noticed, you can select which Pokemon from your party will follow your trainer spirte on the overworld with the select button, and this is just such a brilliant extra touch.
From there you'll realize that many roadblocks that once existed that required things like HMs or other story requirements to pass are gone, leading to basically everywhere being able to explored.