History YMMV / PokemonDarkRising

* CondemnedByHistory: This rom-hack was one of the most well-known and popular ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fan-works when it was first released in 2012. At a time when most rom-hacks were simple touch-ups to the base games, and many weren't even finished, ''Dark Rising'' set itself apart by having its own entirely original setting and DarkerAndEdgier story, having a much higher level of challenge compared to the mainline games, and even incorporating Pokémon from later generations at a time when this was practically never done. However, OnceOriginalNowCommon hit the game ''hard'' - pretty much every one of ''Dark Rising's'' notable attributes became commonplace just a few years after it came out, and without the its main selling point propping it up, the game was eviscerated for its myriad of now glaring flaws. The story was now viewed as a nonsensical ClicheStorm, the map design was scattershot, the game was almost entirely FakeDifficulty with a wildly erratic level curve and grossly overpowered bosses, and the lack of a Physical-Special split meant the many Pokemon were outright useless in battle. To top it off, the game was filled with numerous typographical errors and {{Game Breaking Bug}}s which, combined with everything else, gave it a distinctly amateur quality which reflected even more poorly on it in relation to the dozens of considerably more polished rom-hacks. While the sequels [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel have been received somewhat more favourably]], practically no one now looks at the original with fondness, and it is now held up as an example of what ''not'' to do when designing a fanwork.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: ''Dark Rising'' was pretty widely publicized and touted as one of the best, or at least most notable, Pokemon romhacks/fangames when it originally came out. This is because at the time, Dark Rising was significantly more ambitious than many of its contemporaries. It not only featured a brand new region and a original story with a darker and more serious tone, but also included Pokemon from newer games (up to gen 5, which was the most recently released when it came out), and a much harder difficulty for its campaign. Along with the fact that most romhacks were not even finished at the time and simply abandoned, Dark Rising stood out. However, with the passage of time, all of Dark Rising's selling points became the standard for romhacks and fangames. These days, having things like a more ambitious and darker story, all Pokemon up to the current gen, brand new region, a well-tuned harder difficulty, etc are all expected. This has made it so that Dark Rising not only looks unimpressive by modern standards, but outright bad with its typo-ridden dialogue, poor mapping, broken scripts and events, questionable level curve resulting in much ForcedLevelGrinding, lack of a physical special split, among other problems, all standing out much more in comparison to the far more polished fangames and romhacks that come out today.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: ''Dark Rising'' was pretty widely publicized and touted as one of the best, or at least most notable, Pokemon romhacks/fangames when it originally came out. However, as time has gone by, the fangame scene has considerably developed, with fan games becoming more polished and sophisticated, and as such standards have changed. Compared to most modern romhacks and ''RPG Maker'' games, Dark Rising comes across as quite sloppy and unpolished in many areas, such as its dialogue, mapping and area design, spritework, level curve, high number of bugs and bad scripts, etc.

* CompleteMonster: [[Anime/PokemonHoopaAndTheClashOfAges Hoopa]] is an ancient Pokémon who [[GreaterScopeVillain manipulated the events of the first two games]] to get rid of Arceus and Darugis and gain control of the universe. [[AdaptationalVillainy Hoopa]] turned the world into a wasteland and inflicted the "Trainer's Curse" on anyone who owns a Pokémon, which will kill and eventually zombify them should they lose a battle, gleeful as it corrupts people into killing others. He has the zombies hunt down any trainers, seeking to remove anyone he deems unworthy of existing in his "perfect" world, with no mercy given to [[WouldHurtAChild children]]. At the end of the game, Hoopa tries to have the heroes killed, but he only manages to kill Kaz. A childish fiend that views his world as his playground, Hoopa proved to be crueler and more dangerous than [[BigBad Darugis]].

* CompleteMonster: [[Anime/PokemonHoopaAndTheClashOfAges Hoopa]] is an ancient Pokémon who [[GreaterScopeVillain manipulated the events of the first two games]] to get rid of Arceus and Darugis and gain control of the universe. [[AdaptationalVillainy Hoopa]] turned the world into a wasteland and inflicted the "Trainer's Curse" on anyone who owns a Pokémon, which will cause them to die and eventually become a zombie should they lose a battle. He has the zombies hunt down any trainers, seeking to remove anyone he deems unworthy of existing in his "perfect" world, with no mercy given to [[WouldHurtAChild children]]. Hoopa also commits personal crimes, such as taunting Kaz that he's becoming a remorseless killer thanks to the Trainer's Curse and having Joel turned into a zombie, causing Kaz grief. At the end of the game, Hoopa tries to have the heroes killed, but he only manages to kill Kaz. A childish fiend that views his world as his playground, Hoopa proved to be crueler and more dangerous than [[BigBad Darugis]].

* HilariousInHindsight: After the Giovanni battle, he states his intentions to use his mind control powers to form a new organization made up of Teams Aqua, Magma, Galactic, and Plasma. In ''[[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon]]'', an alternate universe's Giovanni does just this with Team Rainbow Rocket, made up of previous villain team leaders under his leadership.

* ShockingSwerve: You thought Dark Rising 1's ending was a downer sequel hook? Get a load of Dark Rising 2's ending! After you defeat Darugis for real, and seal him for good, you'd think you finally accomplished your goal. [[spoiler: "Arceus" tricked you. He wasn't really Arceus, he was [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIFamilies Hoo]][[Anime/PokemonHoopaAndTheClashOfAges pa]], [[DiabolusExMachina who had no foreshadowing whatsoever]]. The protagonist dies, and Hoopa declares that "order is mine." All your effort in beating this game is rendered null and void, because of a last minute, out of nowhere villain.]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: ''Dark Rising'' was pretty widely publicized and touted as one of the best, or at least most notable, Pokemon romhacks/fangames when it originally came out. However, as time has gone by, the fangame scene has considerably developed, with fan games becoming more polished and sophisticated, and as such standards have changed. Compared to most modern romhacks and ''RPG Maker'' games, Dark Rising comes across as quite sloppy and unpolished in many areas, such as its dialogue, mapping and area design, spritework, level curve, etc.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The hack got a lot of attention as one of the best or at least most notable romhacks when it originally came out. However, it doesn't compare favorably to to newer hacks and RPG Maker fangames which are more polished, have better mapping, difficulty curves, far less bugs, more quality of life features, and so on.

* BrokenBase:
** Some people like the game's difficulty compared to the main series Pokémon games. Others hate it because they consider the hack very poorly-made; there are numerous bugs and glitches (or at least questionable design decisions), said difficulty is lazy and poorly thought-out with the trainers just being overleveled and overpowered (with moves and items you either don't have access to at that point in time or will never have period).
** The story. Posts by the romhack creator indicate that it was her primary concern when creating Dark Rising, to have a stronger and more ambitious storyline. Some people did enjoy the more serious plot and found the original characters interesting. Many other people consider the story an incredibly dull ClicheStorm with weak and forgettable characters, and that it has strong elements of bad fanfiction given the presence of characters from the anime (including Brock, Misty, and Ash who has become champion) and a special guest appearance by Yami Yugi from ''Anime/YuGiOh'' as a gym leader.

** The story. Posts by the romhack creator indicate that it was her primary concern when creating Dark Rising, to have a stronger and more ambitious storyline. Some people did enjoy the more serious plot and found the original characters interesting. Many other people consider the story an incredibly dull ClicheStorm with weak and forgettable characters, and that it has strong elements of bad fanfiction given the presence of characters from the anime (including Brock, Misty, and Ash who has become champion) and a special guest appearance by Yami Yugi from {{Anime/YuGiOh}} as a gym leader.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: V. After he sold his soul to Darugius, and lost to the protagonist, he is sent to the underworld. The protagonist sheds a tear for his death... Of course the reason why V worked for Darugis is so that he can torture the protagonist and his father's soul forever. Doesn't help that he's a murderous leader who wants to sink a ship filled with innocent people. [[spoiler: After he is reborn, his reaction to the death of his children is conceit and contempt.]] He is still this in dark rising 2; [[spoiler: The brief moment he shows up, he dies again, and the player grieves for him and his kids.]]