On December 14, 2023, Pokémon Zhu/Purple released the "Afterword: Blue Disc" (hereinafter referred to as "Blue Disc") of the paid DLC "Secret Treasure of Zero". The editorial department of "Fami Pass" was fortunate to participate in the preview event for the media in advance, and the following will bring you the content of the early review of this work.
Live up to the Pokémon battle against the signboard of the famous education school
Most of the content of this trial is located in the Blueberry School on the sea, and players will start the game from the entrance of the artificial facility "Eco Dome" in the school.
In addition to being able to embark on new adventures in a completely different environment from the Padia region and Kitakamigo, encountering the series' previous companion Pokémon is also a major selling point of this DLC. It's worth mentioning that these partner Pokémon are displayed on the map in the form of icons, so it's easy to find them.
In the main story, players can also make some of their partner Pokémon companions by challenging special Taijing team battles such as "The Strongest ○○○", but this time you can even see them roosting in the wild or appearing in groups, which is quite rare even if you look at the entire series.
And that's not all, Pokémon Battle is also a very exciting part of Blue Disc, because the Blueberry Academy, the stage of this adventure, is a school dedicated to cultivating students' Pokémon Battle ability.
▲ Conversations between students are often also related to fighting
In this Blueberry Academy, there are 4 strongest trainers known as the "Four Heavenly Kings of the Blueberry Alliance", and this trial can challenge one of them, Nelly.
While it's tempting to start the battle early, players will have to complete the Four Heavenly Kings Challenge, which is similar to the Pardea Regional Gym Trials, before they can do so. Nelly's challenge is to use the legendary Pokémon Old-Story Loton (Millerton)'s new riding ability to fly through the rings in the air and reach the finish line within the time limit.
Previously, it was possible to glide through the air using the riding skills of Milleton, but the prerequisite was that you had to go to a high place first, and the Pokémon itself could not lift and fall on its own. The new ability Flying allows Pokémon to fly freely in 360 degrees, and players can switch to airplane mode by simply pressing the left stick while gliding.
After completing the Four Heavenly Kings Challenge, it's finally time to face Nelly. Although Blueberry School is a prestigious school that focuses on Pokémon battles, in the end, it's just a traditional trainer battle, and it's still a doubles battle mode. For the author, who served as the official commentator of the Pokémon World Championship 2022 and 2023, of course, it is handy......
Eh, why is it suddenly dark in front of my eyes?
Although I could use the excuse that I tried all kinds of things because it was a trial, I was shocked to lose this battle. It's not just a matter of losing, but the other side is really going to use a variety of strategies just like a real player in a regular ranked match.
Although I can't go into details here due to spoilers, Nelly will skillfully use those "common tactics" in ranked battles, and will also use items with a high appearance rate in ranked battles such as "Momentum Belt" and "Convex Helmet" to make a series of actions that I think "In ranked battles, this Pokémon should bring that item", which greatly exceeded my expectations.
To be honest, this is the first time I've played against an in-game trainer and I feel like they're doing all sorts of things like a real person. In addition to the battle with Nelly, the other Pokémon battles that can be triggered in Blueberry Academy are basically in doubles battle mode, which also makes me look forward to fighting against several other Four Heavenly King characters.
By the way, this trial will also be able to use the new Pokémon Steel Bridge Dragon from Blue Disc. Judging from the short experience of use, it gives me the feeling that it is an enhanced version of the aluminum steel dragon. As an evolutionary form of the Aluminum Dragon, this seems to be a matter of course, but you must know that the Aluminum Dragon was originally a Pokémon with a very high race value, so the author only had the question of whether it would be enhanced in all directions after it evolved, thinking that it might evolve more to redistribute race values like the Flying Mantis → Giant Pincer Mantis/Axe Mantis.
That being said, this is just the author's impression after a short hands-on experience, and the actual situation will have to wait for the official release of the DLC to be confirmed.
Use the "Synchronizer" to become a Pokémon
Next, let's talk about another new element I got this time in this trial, the synchronizer. Players can use this feature to synchronize with Pokémon and carry out various actions, in other words, to experience the feeling of actually becoming a Pokémon.
It's been more than 27 years since Pokémon Fire Red/Chlorophyte was released, but there aren't many franchises that can manipulate Pokémon into action. While some recent examples such as Pokémon Assemble and Pokémon Tekken Tournament can be cited, this should be the first time that a similar mechanic has been introduced for a canonical Pokémon series.
Although strictly speaking, Pokémon Riding can also be regarded as a mechanism for manipulating Pokémon to move, only this "Synchronizer" has truly included all the Pokémon that appeared in the "Pokémon Scarlet/Purple" and "Secret Treasure of Zero" DLC. Being able to synchronize with your favorite Pokémon and embark on an adventure is exciting just thinking about it.
What happens if you synchronize with the Pokémon that inhabit the water on the ground? Can you synchronize with the gopher or the gopher? Will the Leave King really act honestly? These are all questions that I am quite concerned about.
In addition, when encountering a wild Pokémon in the synchronized state, normal battles will not be triggered, and players can play "autonomous battles" by pressing the Y key.
Collect BPs to help other societies
After that, I also experienced the activities of the association. The so-called alliance club is actually a club where trainers who participate in the Blueberry League compete with each other in Pokémon battles and practice Xi. Players can use the computers in the alliance to donate BP (Blueberry Points) to other societies to get rewards in return.
For example, if you help the art department, you will be able to change the appearance and outfit of the club. Not only are these outfits of outstanding quality, but you can also choose a variety of themes on your own. One of my personal favorites is the "gorgeous" theme, which I thought was simply a glittering style, but in fact it uses a tasteful and luxurious interior. By the way, the graffiti on the club wall also changes depending on the theme, which is quite worth seeing.
Another element that I personally like is that you can change the "Poké Ball Throwing Posture" after donating to the baseball club. There are 8 known throwing postures: relaxed, gorgeous, spinning, left-handed, praying, cute, ninja, and star of galel. Among them, the Galel Star pose is the pitching posture of a star in the Galar region that everyone will associate with when they see it.
In addition, players can also invite other trainers to serve as guest instructors for the Alliance. Judging by the number of icons on the selection screen, there should be a total of 23 characters. It's impossible to know the full list yet, but even if you count the Gym Master, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Chief Champion, and the school teachers in the Padia region, there should be less than 23 people, right?
The main way to earn BP is to participate in an extracurricular activity called "Blueberry Fun Activity", or "Blue Fun Activity" for short, and earn BP by completing tasks such as catching wild Pokémon and taking photos of Pokémon swimming.
In this trial experience, a "Blue Sports" mission provides about 10~30 BP points, and the game has both pitching positions that can be changed with only 10 BP, and content that requires hundreds or even thousands of BP to unlock, so it is still necessary to participate in "Blue Sports".
After completing a certain number of quests, there may be special quests or special quests in the alliance circle, which can help players obtain BP efficiently.
Reconnect with legendary Pokémon from the past
There's a character named "Uncle Dim Sum" in Blueberry Academy.,I thought I could just get food like Mori no Yokan or Marasada from him.,But I didn't expect to get the legendary Pokémon's favorite "Dim Mc." Take these treats and go to a specific place, and it seems that you have a chance to meet the corresponding legendary Pokémon.
*"Uncle Dim Sum" will only appear after the player has cleared Blue Disk.
In this trial event, the official specially showed us the whole process of meeting Lie Empty Sitting. When getting a snack, Uncle Dim Sum will give you some hints about where the Pokémon will appear.
The Lie Sky Seat in this demonstration appears to be on a steep cliff in the Padia region. Normally, this would be a difficult place to reach, but with the new flying ability of Milleton, this problem has been solved.
The Burning Sky Seat in the demo is level 70, and like other wild Pokémon, players can throw Poké Balls to capture them during combat. According to the developers, some legendary Pokémon will appear in this DLC, and the exact list is not yet known.
Other information that is of concern
The 19th Taijing attribute that many players care about, but unfortunately no more information has been released this time. However, it seems that this will be a new element that will be enough to change the common sense of Pokémon battles in this game, so it is still quite worth looking forward to.
In addition, the additional elements related to the Taijing Fragment, which I am personally very concerned about, were also not shown in this trial. The only thing I found was that I picked up 14 pieces of Taijing in the scene, and you must know that there were only 3 pieces of Taijing that fell in the scene before, which shows that the number has increased significantly.
Based on this, the author boldly guesses that if players donate BP to the cooking department, they may receive a new dish that can change the type of Taijing, or that a trainer who provides a large number of Taijing fragments will appear in the game, like the Uncle Digger in "Pokémon Sword/Shield" "Armor Island".
With anticipation and excitement for the new elements, "Pokémon Zhu/Purple" "Secret Treasure of Zero: Part II: Blue Disc" has been released to everyone, so please enjoy this DLC.