>>24701505pokemon games are written in a way to be as neutral as possible. this is especially evident in the gen 1 games, where everything story-related is extremely barebones and more or less acts as a template, which player's imagination is supposed to fill.
more complex themes such as dealing with death or the dogfighting aspect of pokemon battles are rarely, if at all, touched upon, and when they are, only the surface is scratched. everything is still played safe and most importantly - it's all very subtle. gamefreak knows they are doing this stuff for children, so they just avoid subjects that could cause heavier controversy and make kids feel overly uneasy.
subtlety is something teenage writers tend to lack, which is one of the reasons why i'm wary towards fangames. these people tend to put stuff in their stories for little to no reason, which can sometimes lead to ridiculous contrast between setting and events that happen in them - it just doesn't fit together. that's what i described as "edgy juvenile shit".
if pokemon reborn does not have this issue, then good.
i am not convinced towards trying it because of what i said though - essentials. i am aware that making an rpg of this scale (721 pokemon, many moves, etc) is a tremendous undertaking - i have some experience with programming and fan projects - so of course essentials is a great starting point for those who want to give making a fangame a shot.
however, there are some reasons why i tend to avoid essentials games. you've already mentioned the animations, but this is a broader subject than just move animations. things like menu fade-ins/fade-outs or the way trainers send out their pokemon are not tweaked well and don't feel quite right. aside from the kinks of the engine, these games too often base upon gen3/4 artstyle without trying to do their own thing, also tend to have design issues (maps, etc.)
ending this wall of text here, because the comment is getting too long. i hope this cleared it up.
