Fangasm: The Secret of Cinnabar Mansion

The Secret of Cinnabar Mansion
1 Player
System: PC
Developer: Involuntary Twitch
Year of Release: 2015
Download Here

Made for the website Relic Castle's Game Jam 2015, The Secret of Cinnabar Mansion is a short plot-centric Pokemon fan game made with RPG Maker. Anyone who knows about early Pokemon lore knows what the titular secret is in reference to, the creation of Mewtwo. So from the get go it's kind of obvious what you're getting into. Is this short little game worth your time?

The game begins with a Rocket executive telling you to place a package on the lowest level of the Cinnabar Mansion and gives you one of three Pokemon (Magneton, Weezing, Porygon) to protect yourself. The game utilizes the GBC-era graphics to great effect, considering the plot the graphics fit in really well. Cinnabar Mansion is a bit bigger, but the same puzzle ideology from the actual games is still in place, pull switches and doors open or close. There's a couple trainers around as well, but really fighting was fairly pointless. Your "starter" begins at level 30, and by the end I had only gained two levels. This game only lasts about an hour, so I found myself avoiding trainers, and running from wild battles, maybe that was the point? There is one "boss" battle, if you go all the way up to the top of the mansion instead of down eventually you run into a level 38 Ditto. I don't really know the significance of this encounter, but you have to beat him in order to get a key card to the bottom floor. Maybe it's supposed to be Mew hiding up there?

As you fight your way through the mansion you gather journal entries, like in the main game, though these notes are expanded on. The notes spell out the story fairly well. Dr. Fuji and his fellow scientists are exploring ancient ruins when they find Mew. They find the DNA to be incredibly unique, somehow containing the DNA of all other Pokemon. Giovanni, the Team Rocket leader, demands they clone it. Instead the doctor seizes this opportunity to splice some DNA of his dead daughter into the clone. This kind of backfires as the new clone grows uncontrollable and makes everyone working near it nervous. You even find a letter from the doctor's wife telling him she's leaving due to his obsession. I really liked the journal system, but it did have a couple weird glitches. It tells you how many journals you've read every time you find a new one, but the count was off sometimes, and I eventually managed to find eight out of seven!

They never explain what happened to the team, and why the place is full of robbers, but your goal kind of sums it up. Basically you've been sent into bomb the building, eradicating all evidence of the abomination down stairs. At the bottom of the mansion, past several test tubes full of deceased experiments awaits the clone. When you approach it talks to you, explaining how lonely and scared it is, and once it realizes why you're there begs for you to release. I assume you can leave him and just blow the place up, but I let him go first. Afterwards you lay the bomb and leave. The game ends with the Rocket Executive from earlier congratulating you. He tells you your family is safe, and they apologize for any undue stress, before informing you that he has to finish the clean up by killing you as well. At this point the clone steps in, erasing his memory, and thanks you for rescuing him and showing you the positive side of humanity. I assume there's a bad end where you just get murdered.

The plot was obviously heavily inspired by the first Pokemon movie, and the history of Mew short that usually is aired prior to it. I really do love this weird and depressing side plot in the Pokemon mythos. It's never been fully revealed how Mewtwo got made, but there have been some dark implications. As to this game as a whole, I... can't really recommend it. It's quick, and if you want to see this guy's take on the story, it might be worth your time. But really, aside from a proof of concept, this is safe to skip. I do like the idea of smaller, self contained narratives, with an emphasis on either avoiding battle, or utilizing specific strategies to overcome predetermined battles. Might be worth looking into.