The principle of wasted potential is when an idea has promise but fails to capture it or has too much holding it back to succeed.  Games that fall into this situation have a great idea that's not developed enough, something that's over capitalized on, or poor design choices.  When a game falls into this situation it's really sad because it could have been good, it could have been great but instead only manages to be decent at best.  This game tries to be an combination of Pokémon, Harvest Moon, and Minecraft.  You catch and train Pokémon (including Gen 6 Pokémon) and then can Challenge other people.  You can collect resources and craft tools pokeballs, and food.  You can also grow plants and raise animals.  The game has a four season system much like Oracle of Seasons, with minor changes each season like the Pokémon you can catch an resources you can gather.  It looked interesting when I first saw it and was eager to see what it had in store.  It at the very least sounds interesting, but sadly it falls into the Principle of Wasted Potential.

     Graphics (8):  Starting strong this game is the graphics.  This game incorporates several Pokémon from other generations and manages to have the sprites of those Pokémon blend in fine.  Of the many Pokémon hacks out there this game is one of the better ones.  I think several of the normal sprites might have been redone as well, I don't know why, but it's nothing to really complain about.  A minor gripe is the text for the typing is a bit annoying, you get used to it after a while so it's not really a big deal.

     Addictiveness (5):  This game starts of rather strong.  You can go and catch Pokémon and start training them, and begin gathering resources to make tools.  You start making tools and pokeballs and start mining, selling things for money that you then trade for other things like livestock.  You then start getting eggs and milk and you can cook food to help your Pokémon or restore your energy.  But unfortunately things don't get much farther after this.  In minecraft you have endless creative possibilities and can craft stronger and stronger tools allowing you to do more and more.  This game has tools that will break but you have no way of telling how much durability they have left or any way of making them stronger.  You also can only have one of each tool at a time even if that tool has one use remaining.  Your ranch stays the same with absolutely no customization.  You can plant Apricorns but you can't pick which kind you plant, you'll get a random one of four kinds.  You can raise livestock for eggs and milk but after you get enough you have no need to keep raising them and can just sell them.  Honestly doing this helps you get through the game faster because with no animals to take care of you can skip to the next season much easier.

     Another problem with the game is that while it's really short, it's also rather padded.  You have several story events you have to do in the correct order or you can't do the next one.  But the trigger for the events can be season specific so if you miss an event in summer and end up in fall you have to wait until it's summer again just to get the next event.  There isn't that much foreshadowing so it's a bit difficult to figure out what you have to do next, for example you have to be at a certain place in summer at night, when you have two badges but no one says anything that would suggest that.  There aren't that many story events but that's also a bit of a problem because you don't get much time to connect to the different characters.  If there were more story events that allowed you to travel around with the other characters and get a feel for them the game would probably be better.  Another thing is that in order to go to the final fight you need to get married for no real reason.  If you're anything like me you didn't even bother with romance and so you had to quickly pick a character and get them to like you give them the feather and then move on to the end game.  And to top this off giving them the feather doesn't really do anything except let you go to the final fight.  The game starts off interesting but the charm wears out quick and it gets stale mid to late game.

     Story (5):  This game was trying to do something new, there are no gym leaders, evil team, or Pokémon league.  Unfortunately, while it's a unique plot they don't actually develop the story that much, possibly due to the lack of story events.  The story does some building up but fails to actually tie anything together.  If you want to find out what happened read the Game Description, all the back story is literally all there.  Also, without spoiling anything, the ending is really bad.  Unlike beating the Pokémon League which gives you a sense of accomplishment, this game gives you a quick ending and then puts you back in the game without giving anything that really satisfying.

     Depth (4):  Most Pokémon games have a large area to travel though with secrets to find, and a lot of Pokémon to get.  Pokémon games are full of adventure as you play as a kid discovering the world and trying to become the best.  This game has a very small area with no real secrets to find.  There's nowhere to really explore leaving no real room to adventure.  You can upgrade your fishing rod, that's nice.  You can go to some "hidden" grottoes for some items, or some secret Pokémon, nothing big.  You can collect resources and craft tools, but you really can't craft that much.  This game is really small, which is another problem.  If you could get to new areas depending on the season like in Oracle of Seasons then it would add a lot to the game.  If you could upgrade and customize your ranch, that would add a lot to the game.  If you could have your Pokémon help you farm it would add a lot to the game.  If you could upgrade your tools besides your fishing rod it would add a lot to the game.  There is a lot you could do that would make the game more interesting but it fails to do anything that adds any substantial depth to it which is the greatest hindrance to this game.  This game is like if you played minecraft but couldn't get anything but wooden tools, couldn't build or change your house, and could only move around on a small area.

     Difficulty (4):  There's this thing when two surfaces rub against each other, what was it called again.  Oh right, grinding.  If something is difficult you just train until you're strong enough and try again.  Some parts might get a little hard, but if you just do some good grinding sessions you should have no problem whatsoever.

     Overall (6.5):  This game had potential, it tried for a different story, with unique gameplay and interesting mechanics.  But if fell into the Principle of Lost Potential.  It doesn't have the adventure of Pokémon, or the creativity and development of Minecraft.  The game's lack of depth is the greatest problem, you don't have anywhere to go, or anyone to truly interact with.  If this game was developed more it could have been something, but instead it's a bit of a chore to get through.  A way to think of this game is having a really well embroidered pillowcase, with a thin and cheap stuffing that doesn't really fit.  it looks great on the outside but isn't full enough to be comfortable and what it does have is cheap padding.  I can only hope that this game gets a version 3.0 to fix the lack of depth which is the greatest flaw in this game.