Many of the gyms were challenging (Winona, Norman, Tate and Liza, Flannery) and memorable for using actual Pokemon native to the region (In Johto, Chuck's main Pokemon is a
Poliwrath, not a Johto fighting type like a Hitmontop or a Heracross?!?!?
Hoenn is not unique or memorable for having region-specific Pokemon in gym teams, every region does the same thing bar Johto. As Johto was a smaller region bordering on Kanto, it made sense for the trainers to use several Kanto Pokemon. It would've made less sense if they hadn't.
Wow, you expect top-notch graphics on a GBA?!?!? Of course there isn't going to be a 100% realistic volcano in a GBA game.
No. No, I don't. I didn't say that at all. Nowhere in my post did I ever mention graphics. What I said was that nothing interesting was done with these locations. Take the volcano - you can do loads with a volcano. We could explore the lower regions, traverse the rivers of lava, discover the natural hot springs. A simple step-and-move puzzle where you have to jump onto rocks in order to cross the lava (ala Blackthorn gym) would be great. None of this would require exceptional graphics, but it would've made the location unique and interesting. But instead the design remained exactly the same as every other cave in the series, but with a red tinge, which made the location dull and generic.
I can't stand any cave/ocean in any game without repels, so I guess that's your loss.
I'm not sure what your point is here. You're trying to defend Hoenn's water routes by claiming that all oceans are boring? Therefore, surely logic dictates that Hoenn's oceans, being considerably larger than any other, would be correspondigly more boring?
And if you honestly think a little surfing and fighting wild Pokemon makes the game "intolerable", then don't play Pokemon. There are parts in every Pokemon game where you'd be better off buying repels, anyway. And you have to fight Pokemon in a Pokemon game. That's kind of the point of the game.
I don't think that "a little surfing and fighting" makes a game intolerable. I'm saying that a large part of the region being nothing but surfing and fighting the same two monsters over and over makes that part of the region very dull.
First of all, Team Aqua tried to make the volcano inactive, not erupting.
OK, I'll admit I am incorrect on that count. I'll let Archie off that count of stupidity and instead wonder how exactly a meteorite is going to suck all the lava out of a volcano.
The team leaders were insane, but that makes the teams more interesting.
Archie and Maxie weren't insane. They were just dumb. There's a huge difference.
The war between the two teams set the scene for the legendary Pokemon (or two legendaries, if you're playing Emerald) perfectly, and the two teams made Ruby and Sapphire version much different.
I did like the idea of the two warring teams, and they were fairly well-implemented in Emerald. But Ruby and Sapphire still have the problem of both teams being basically the same. Take Emerald, where Team Aqua hid under the sea, while Team Magma's base was inside a mountain. That made sense for both teams. Compare to RS, where regardless of the version, both teams have an underwater base.
The designs were bad? What about Absol, the final starter evos, the Weather Trio, Deoxys, Zangoose, Gardevoir, Electrike/Manectric, Shroomish/Breloom, and the many more great Pokemon in Hoenn?
Yeah, I'm not saying all the designs are bad. Hell, some of my favourites are from Hoenn - Sharpedo, Flygon, Tropius... actually, now I think about it, I don't really dislike many of the Hoenn designs. I'm just very un-attached to a large amount of them - I think because I found the game as a whole so unengaging, I struggled to get attached to any of the Pokemon.
About the protagonists, well, they aren't my favorites, but he doesn't look as stupid as the Sinnoh protagonists.
I wasn't a huge fan of Lucas either, but Brendan is definitely my least favourite design. But I usually just play as a girl in Hoenn/Sinnoh instead, so it's not a huge thing.
And DPPt had "ambitious plots"? The only things that actually kept me interested in the dialogue of those games where the localization team's insertions of Internet slang. Seriously, DPPt has a plot so full of holes that it makes the Micheal Bay Transformers movies look like Shakespeare.
Oh, I'm not saying that DPPt had an incredible plot. But the coherence of the plot isn't really my point - the point is that while both RS and DP had a similar "evil team awakens legendary, almost destroys world" style plot, DP's worked, for me at least, much better because they went with it with full gusto. It was clear in DP that the "save the world" plot was of much higher importance than the "collect the badges" plot. I'm finding it hard to pin down a particular quality of the games that gives me this impression, but to me it definitely comes across that in RBY/GSC, the evil team plot is essentially a sidequest to the main badge-collecting plot, while in DPPt/BW, the badge-collecting is a sidequest to the main "save the world" plot. RS on the other hand seemed to commit to neither with much gusto, both plots seem lackluster and unengaging.
And don't even mention the "Simplistic charm of RBY and GSC". This isn't a senior center to discuss the "Good old days", this is a Pokemon forum. Take off your nostalgia goggles before bashing a game.
My apologies, I didn't realise that positive comments regarding the first two gens were banned on Pokemon forums. :/ The arrogance involved in convincing yourself that an opinion contrary to your own must be solely down to nostalgia goggles and that there is no way I could possibly genuinely hold such an opinion is astounding.
Plus, while this is a small thing, these games turned many older fans away from the series, starting with when Rowan shows you a Pokemon. What does he show you, but an overly cute and kiddie looking Buneary. I mean REALLY?!?!? To not rebuff older players, why didn't the games show a tougher looking Pokemon, such as a Gible for instance? If it showed a Gible, it wouldn't make players think, "oh no, one of those kiddie games". The story is at it's worst, as I've said, and the dialogue seems distinctly kiddie.
Honestly, I doubt anyone who purchased a Pokemon game will be put off by a cutesy monster in the opening screen. Come on, who buys a Pokemon game expecting it to be hardcore?
