You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here Contents hide Pokemon Emerald is one of the purest games out there, released in a time before microtransaction hell. More than a decade before the release of lootboxes, battle passes and other predatory gubbins, Emerald released on the beautiful Game Boy Advance.In a comedic bid to bring modern gaming practises to our untainted retro games, one Pokemon modder has hacked the GBA game to bring loot box mechanics to the the beloved classic JRPG.Pokemon Emerald defiled by Loot BoxesCreated by modder btchmampdup, the new Pokemon Emerald mod replaces the basic Pokemon catching mechanic with, well, loot boxes. Just like an EA game crawling back from its 2015 grave, players will no longer be able to engage with fun gameplay mechanics, but will instead will have to open a box for a random game of chance. Save Up to $1,200 on the Samsung Galaxy S25! Pre-order now and save big with trade-in and Samsung credit. Limited time only! *Includes trade-in value + $300 Samsung credit. The new Pokemon mod has a bunch of different loot boxes that you can purchase to get your hands on new creatures. The basic Poke Pack willgive you a weak, basic monster; Great Packs give you a Stage 1 Basic Monster; Ultra Packs give Stage 2 monsters, and more bespoke Packs give you themed creatures.Of course, the Master Pack is here, and can be opened to get a guaranteed legendary creature. Come ooooon, Deoxys! Must-Listen: Publishing Manor Lords w/ Joe Robinson VideoGamer Podcast Listen Now Theres actually no way to get any Pokemon outside of packs of trading, the modder told fans on Reddit. I changed the code for Poke Balls and any instance where you receive a mon, so youre kinda stuck opening these things until you get a good mon.Additionally, as with real loot boxes, the mod creator made it so that the game nickle-and-dimes players to even get a chance at gambling. A basic Poke Pack is 3,000 PokeDollars and an Ultra Pack is 8,000. In comparison, a single PokeBall price in Pokemon Emerald costs 200 PokeDollars.I did a play through and before Gym 5 while fighting everyone and selling everything the most you get per town is 2-5 of these packs(assuming you waste your money on only packs), the modder explained. Also its not common you get anything good from these by design so youll have to keep grinding them to get anything good, like real loot boxes!While the idea of real loot boxes in an actual Pokemon game is demonic, their addition into Emerald via this mod does make for a fun challenge mod. If youre tired of Nuzlocking the Gen 3 games, this could be a fun new addition to your library of ROMs you play three hours of and never pick up again.Pokemon EmeraldPlatform(s):Gameboy AdvanceGenre(s):RPGRelated TopicsPokemon Emerald Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share