- It's time to go.
- Was I a good game?
- No, you were the best.
I follow the game for years, since book 2 was still in development. So much time has passed, so much has changed. A lot of stuff happened to this game, but it has finally made it to it's end. To here. It is time to close the book and remember all the things that the game has had to offer, all the content created, the scenes, characters, minigames, and, of course, all the sex scenes. Let's go!
The setting.
This is the universe of "Avatar The Last Airbender" and "The Legend of Korra" series featuring a world where 4 nations once lived in peace... and you know the rest, you wouldn't be here otherwise, right? Anyways, without the reader's knowledge of this universe the game won't make much sense, so I am definitely not recommending playing this game before watching both series. If you haven't yet, know that I do really evny you, as you are about to have a great time with those series first, and then - with this game.
But, for others, the setting is familiar, so, let us move on.
The plot.
There are several other adult games on Avatar franchise (which I am not allowed to name in this review), however, all of them have the same problem - the timeline of Avatar series is so vast it covers over 70 years of main plot, making it practically impossible to cover the entire thing in one game? Or is it? Turns out it can be done, and this is the only shining proof of that. There are 4 chapters featured in this game, each having 2 routes, so there are in total of 8 sub-plots to chose from. And they are set in the way so they cover almost the entire 70 years of plot. How is that even possible? Well, I cannot answer that without severely spoiling the ending, but beware of some Nolan-level of trickery which does make sense when you make it to the end. In details:
* Book 1 covers book 1 of AtLA.
* Book 2 covers book parts of books 2 and 3 of AtLA featuring antagonists of the series.
* Book 3 covers book 3 and part of 4 of AtLA.
* Book 4, Slave Route covers book 1 of LoK.
* Book 4, Love Route covers book 4 of LoK.
So, as you can see, only books 2 and 3 are not covered, and, well, there isn't really much to cover there as no new characters get introduced (except 2 female antagonists in Book 3) and existing ones don't get much of a development.
What amazes me even more is how this all is tied into a single story, referencing past parts and combining them together into something bigger than just a set of disjoint parts.
The gameplay.
"Trainer" in the name tells us exactly what to expect. And, it does deliver. The first chapter was almost the exact replica of early Akabur's works (which, again, I cannot name), however, to my relief, towards book 2 and later this game developed its own unique style not seen anywhere else. It was always nice to see devs experimenting with several mechanics, implementing new types of content into the game. This not only greately raises originality and final quality of the game, but also provides a remarkable variety in gameplay for the player going through the game's books. One may see a turn-based RPGM style combat in book 1 and traditional "corruption/love" gauges, different levels of inhibition the main heroine goes through, then it is all changed in book 2, where new mechanics start to creep in. By book 3 it is entirely different game, which once more changes in book 4.
I cannot say I liked absolutely everything the devs experimented with, this is the point of experimenting, right? However, so many good things made it into this game I bet there will be something for everyone.
This is all just a fancy wrap for the core "trainer" experience, which doesn't go anywhere, but is more tied to the plot in later books and less to grind and repetitive actions of the player, which I greately appreciate and am sure anyone who played this game would as well.
The biggest flaw for me in this game is it's simplicity, by 2022 I expect more from the games - more thorough menus, more stuff on screen etc, as the bar for standarts has risen greately. Many devs remake old games, rewrite old code, redraw old art. Will it be done here? Likely not. However, the next project is bound to be marginally better and more complex.
The art.
Like the gameplay, which is result of coding skills of the developer responsible for that part, art has also underwent serious development throughout the years, which is clearly visible in the comparisson of the very first chapter and the very last. I will therefore rate chapters 2 and 3 for art as they hold somewhat a middle ground for what you would expect. Keep in mind though, it does get better.
With 2DCG game based on the pre-existing universe the first thing you expect is the characters to be drawn very close to the original. Here it is achieved not only with characters, but with environment, landscaping, clothing, clutter etc. The biggest praise here is earned by the consistency of everything. Only consistently good art allows for the player to immerse oneself into the world and the setting presented. Here it is achieved throughout the entire length of the game, only maybe lacking in the first chapter.
The scenes themselves consist of the main heroine drawn separately just for this scene, together with custom background, which is usually plain, but unique nontheless. Usually a few variations of the position of moving parts is drawn and they change each other in a loop, as if it was a low-frame animation. The highest amount of "frames" I have seen in a scene is like 5, 6? It works for most of the "animations" composed of such frames, but sometimes there is either not enough frames, or they have too much difference inbetween, that I have noticed my brain failing to "fill the gaps" which is what is intended when looking at those. Not really a bad thing, just, not perfect.
The art style is also not ideal. I can understand the artist unwilling to draw the protagonist, however seing a plain skin-toned cylinder entering and exiting the heroine's body sometimes doesn't look too appealing, idk. Maybe some more detalisation could solve the issue?
Some of the scenes I have seen were clearly rushed and underdeveloped. Like, when you see a closeup of some particular body part and you see 2 black lines which should connect on body (the outliners) actually don't connect, leaving some pixels inbetween. Remember when you drew in MS Paint and didn't fully connect the lines and then applying color fill colored the entire canvas? This one.
However, this is mostly nitpicking. The quantity of sex scenes (significant part of which being "semi-animated") is in hundreds, many - with several variations depending on the player's actions (like, where to finish). The scenes are not generic!!! I have to point this out after making acquintance with one popular DC universe game which shall not be named, where scenes actually are generic and it ruined the fun for me. Here each scene cannot be described with just "CharacterName - SexualIntercourseName", as there are variations to this. Some depend on surroundings, some depend on the plot, the point is - they are not bulk-made with the intent of checking every box, they appear natually as the story progresses and this is great.
Another thing I want to say about the scenes - is that some of those come out exceptionally good, for me at least. All are good, but some - oh man, I remember first time seing Opal's final sex scene and thinking: damn, this couldn't even be better.
The writing.
I HATE the games with lots of text. If I wanted text, I would go and read a goddamn book instead. Here though, the amount of text is just enough to get everything you need from it, understand what is going on, but also not too much that you would just fast-forward everything. Even if you sometimes do, this is RenPy and you can just scroll up and see what the fuss was about if you change your mind.
One giant achievment of this text is the writing style. It can be informative, it can be descriptive, it can be fun, but here it is all of above. There are lots of jokes in text, about breaking the 4th wall sometimes, it feels that the writer doesn't take it seriously and wants the readers to do the same - relax and enjoy the story, and laugh sometimes. Don't we all want this?
The bad points.
There are a few of those, so I have decided to unite them here. Some I have already expressed above, but I don't feel like those are significant.
What is significant though is:
Lack of gallery. All the hundreds of the game's scenes can only be triggered if the conditions are met, many - just once, some even require alternative routing and some of the choices lock them. That said, what if I just wanted to re-experience a certain scene? Can I do it? No, I can't. Not without the mods at least, as there is no gallery. Why though? It doesn't look that difficult. There is a mod though, doing just that. I highly recommend this mod.
Loli and granny stuff. Idk about you guys, but I am not really into that thing. However, the devs surely are. What started as a requirement for setting plot in book 3 (Toph) grew more and more towards book 4. The reintroduction of the AtLA characters in LoK in their 70s-90s is ok, but they can be fucked "as is", which is avoidable, but requires careful menuing. However, there is a "youth potion" which magically transforms them into their prime age, which they can take. What I don't really understand is already young girls taking the same potion to become literal kids, which are still available for sexual intercourse. There is a choice for that, so I cannot really blame the devs for including that content, but I swear, each time it was pushing the limit more and more and I don't like where it is going. Luckily, we ran into the end sooner.
Crab games. Yes, crab games (not squid games, it wasn't even planned then) - a pokemon ripoff with crabs being placed instead of pokemon. Like, why? This was present in Book 2, but it's tumors spread wide in book 3, where almost every pokemon mechanic is present. Let me tell you this: I got all my crabs to legendary max level and beaten all encounters. What did it cost me? Everything? Nah, just a few hours of unenjoyable grind. Thank god the crabs are no more in book 4.
Conclusion.
This right here marks the end of the era of "Classic Trainer Games" started long ago and ending just now with its last major remnant now finished and released. The bittersweet gameplay so many devs have tried and yet only a few having mastered. Four Elements Trainer is one of those few games where you not only see the mastery of this genre, but also how it went there and how it developed throughout the ages. The game I would recommend as one of the shining examples of a trainer game done right, one of so few 2DCG games scoring perfect score on character mimicing, the game of 8 games somehow tied in one story worth experiencing for yourself.
Can this be less of a 5/5 mark? Certainly not.
For me it is finally time to replay the entirety of this game 2 more times, spanning all 8 parts of the story. Which is exactly what I recommend you to do.
Thank you for reading, and enjoy the game!
