Do you remember this post? 8 months later, I must say: Run&Bun has been a blast so far :).
I'm not the most consistent. There have been some breaks here and there, since the game requires some serious effort if you don't want to lose the whole run to a mistake. But I've managed to play a lot and I've gotten pretty far!
Some stats as of the publish date of this post:
- 8 attempts
- 105 streamed hours over 70 different days
- Many more hours just off-screen planning
Attempt 8 is the current run and my personal best:
- 5 badges
- Post Bridge Rival
- 17 deaths
This is a really good game. It's difficult but usually not unfair, and it never feels centralized unlike the Kaizoslop games. Although I say it's been 8 months and 8 attempts, it doesn't really feel like that. Most of that has been attempt 8, which is both the ongoing one and also where I took the longest break. I'm going to take some time, though, to summarize all of them. Here you go:
Attempt 1
The first time I was actually hardcore nuzlocking this game. I didn't speak yet, and there definitely were a couple things I had to learn.
I reset this attempt after losing Monferno to Camper Gavi's Ponyta after missing a Mach Punch range. This is a battle you can choose to do before the Slateport Museum grunts to get an early electric type, but I learned the hard way that most of the time it's too much for that level cap. If I'm not mistaken here, I've never attempted getting this encounter early at that point of the run ever since.
Attempt 2
Not worth much. Fell victim to Lady Cindy's stupid Phanpy at route 104. It's a very early battle where you can just get unlucky with paralysis, attract and flinch.
I lost a mon here and decided to reset. You can see no real wipes yet, though (foreshadowing?).
Attempt 3
I began speaking on stream on this one. It got a lot further, beating Norman (the fourth gym leader in this game). It wasn't the most solid of runs but, to be honest, I played it really similarly to my personal best. Got to experience the whole early game.
This run wiped on the Winstrate gauntlet, just after Norman's gym. I didn't consider Ribombee's ability, Shield Dust, which protects it from secondary effects, and used Fake Out on it. It resulted in Infernape getting paralyzed, which basically lost me the battle against Winstrate Victoria on the spot. (I know, the anti-ape agenda is calling me "Smartest Ape player" right now).
It was the first time a relatively small mistake resulted in losing a run, which definitely helped me understand the nature of run-losing situations. It was a really difficult spot and wiping to it is completely understandable, but even with that mistake I could've played it a bit better, maybe avoiding the full wipe.
Anyways, a great run. Seeing how far I got on what was essentially the second attempt motivated me a lot.
Attempt 4
Reset after losing a mon to Fisherman Darian, another really early trainer, after getting significantly unlucky with Bounce paralysis and some crits. Nothing else to say, this game likes trolling you at the beginning and we just pay the tax from time to time.
Attempt 5
A more normal run. It was bad on deaths though, and I reset after getting unlucky on what already was a poor line on Sr. And Jr. Anna and Meg on route 117, before the third gym.
My box wasn't going anywhere and from the VODs I just remember that I was rather tilted after losing two more mons the day before to one of the most bullshit battles in the early game. I agree with the decision.
Attempt 6
Became my new personal best. Completed the Winstrate gauntlet and got into the desert, but didn't leave it. Wiped to pretty bad RNG on Ruin Maniac Rigger's double screen Dragapult team, which is honestly wipe potential if you can't manage the screens because the other three mons have really threatening setup moves (at least I called the wipe).
I started having self-made shitpost images on the right side of the stream here, and this Dragapult was present during many, many stream hours after this happened as part of a shitpost image.
Aside from that, there was some controversy regarding a Lairon encounter I killed but chose to recatch, which caused me to actually plan around encounters after that, even though I don't like it, to avoid future incidents like it.
Attempt 7
Lost a mon to the stupid Phanpy fight again. This is where the "bum corner" shitpost came from.
Attempt 8
The current run and the furthest attempt, sitting right after Bridge Rival with 5 badges.
This is the run where I began to consistently plan out battles before starting stream. I've noticed it's usually a lot better because I'm very impatient when planning on stream and don't spend nearly enough time. I also found out that I like the format of planning ~6 fights and doing them in a row.
Even if it wipes, this run will be special to me in a way the other haven't. It's taken the longest, of course, but also because I took a long break from playing Run&Bun during this attempt at a very difficult spot, a double battle I didn't feel comfortable with (Black Belt Rhett and Guitarist Marcos).
After some time, I wanted to play again, but didn't find any lines for this battle. I even considered resetting just to be able to play, but in the end I came back after 3 whole months, did the battle while risking the run on three different chance rolls (in total, I had less than a 50% chance to make it out) and got lucky. It is just because of that good RNG moment that this run is still alive today.
Seeing all those goated encounters, still alive and progressing the run, all the times where pokemon I deemed "mid" or just "bad" clutched up again and again when not even I believed in them when I caught them (Copperajah showing up AGAIN)... That's to me one of the best parts of playing a long, difficult game like Run&Bun. I can't even imagine what beating the game feels like.
Overall
I'd like to continue playing as long as it's fun to me. I might take breaks when I don't feel like it, and I may never beat the game. That's not necessary at all, since I'm just enjoying the journey.
If you're interested or just want to watch me talk alone for a while, here are the links to my Twitch account and the VODs on YouTube (I recommend mostly the later ones!).