3rd Gen Birds vs. Golems

There was plenty of legendary pokemon available to catch over on the 3rd generation games, RSE and FRLG, but I just want to focus on the ancient golems from RSE, and the legendary birds from FRLG.





The legendary birds are always stationed at their respective spots, like the Victory Road where Moltres is, the Power Plant where Zapdos is, and the Seafoam Islands, where Articuno is.

The regis are a little bit tougher to obtain as you have to first get a Relicanth and Wailord as well as a Pokemon with Dig and Dive, then you'd have to dive towards a specific spot near route 134, where read this braille text, and then, the regis will finally surface upon different caves: the Desert Tomb in the desert where Regirock is, Route 105's Island Cave where Regice is, and the Ancient Tomb in Route 120 where Regirock is. But even if you know where the caves are, there are still puzzles to solve within each of them, like to reach Regirock, you'd have to go right twice, down twice and then use Strength, to reach Regice, you'll need to stand there and wait 2 minutes, and for Registeel, you'll need to use Fly in the middle of the room. Whew.

Still though, the discussion of this thread is, which do you prefer, the legendary birds, or the ancient golems? If you had to pick a region, Kanto or Hoenn, just to find these legendary pokemon, which region would you pick? Any other thoughts? Feel free to share!

The Golems...

The Ice types (Articuno and Regice) are both my favorites in each trio respectively.

I'm neutral towards Zapdos, and I don't care for Moltres. I like Regirock and Registeel both a little more.

I prefer the legendary birds and they are so beautiful. I pick the Kanto region to find the legendary birds of course. if I was to pick the Hoenn region, I'm sure the birds would be replacing the golems locations to catch them.

When I was playing the 3rd generation games when they first came out, I never knew the golems were in the Hoenn region and I recently found out the golems were in the Hoenn region through Bulbapedia.

Not a big fan of either, but I like the birds more. They felt more epic and their cries commanded a powerful vibe. The relocation of Moltres to Mt. Ember made the battle way more epic and I'm glad they did that. I'm too lazy most of the time to even get the golems

I gotta say with the small additions to FRLG.. The Sevii Islands was the closest it got to challenging the player to secrets compared to the journey that Game Freak made us go through for the golems in RSE, but ended up being very anti-climatic. I mean there was no special pokemon to get from there other than ruby and sapphire plates... other than a togepi which was nice...

I mean there was even a steelix monument that was just standing there to mock us which was nothing more than a grave. The unowns?.. Gah what am I going to do with them? They just take up a whole box that is dedicated to them!

RSE was more clever- not sure if it went a little overboard though with all the steps. I still prefer Kanto region any day unless you bring up Johto... The regis trio in FRLG would have been interesting if perhaps they were somewhere in the Sevii islands though it probably would feel unnatural... Maybe registeel to be found by the steelix would have been appropriate.

As far as the birds go I have to agree with Strangerhypno on moving Moltres to Mt. Ember that was a breath of fresh nostalgia steam, but the others were really meh.. Oh and they moved Articuno as well into Cerulean cave (I think?..)

Secrets overall- to obtain something special in games from solving are always great but Game Freak likes to deliver short sometimes at least in the early days (I don't know how they do with the newer gens)..

I always preferred the golems due to the increased difficulty in catching them.
However, now that I've used both the birds are much more appealing to me.

I would prefer to search the Golem's i like puzzle, its realy boring to hunt the birds. Moreover i like heonn region, because of its watery landscape.

Aesthetically I definitely prefer the birds but the complexity going into how you have to obtain the Regi's is possibly my favourite way of obtaining a legendary Pokemon so they will always hold a soft spot in my heart for that alone.

I prefer the golems for the sole reason they bring back memories of me and my dad playing and trying to figure out the golems' puzzles together. The birds are very pretty, but they don't hold as many cherished memories to me.

The Golems were cooler to figure out, but personally I prefer the birds for the sole reason that Zapdos is my fav.

I don't have much patience solving complicated puzzles to find pokemon. Like, it can be found there but first you need to sacrifice a lamb on a blood moon while facing the magnetic north pole.
So I like the Birds more. They look awesome and Zapdos and Articuno are fun to use, It was a shame that Moltres wasn't very useful though.

I prefer the three Golems because I like puzzle solving, and tbh I played one game with the birds and never even used them.

The 3 golems had a deeper impact on me as the puzzles are really tricky and I remember looking online for the solution since I could never figure them out. So yeah, in a sense I do prefer the 3 golems over the 3 birds.

I think trying to catch the 3 golems in Kanto would be a unique experience and wouldn't mind it at all! :P

I personally much prefer the Golems. The Regi trio are pretty much the only legendary Pokémon that I actually like and are definitely then only ones I'll ever use on a team. The birds are fine but the whole mystery/puzzle surrounding the golems and their designs being so nerdy just makes me adore them.

I prefer the legendary birds. Probably due to nostalgia, but I also love all of their designs.

I feel that the Regi trio are way too difficult to obtain with the puzzles and the need for Wailord and Relicanth. I find it to be such a hassle.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as everyone in this thread: the Bird Trio are much more efficient by movepool and stat standards, but the very complex Regi Quest helps the three golems stand out more than the birds, as well as the rocking Regi theme for each golem. These days, however, the golems, even their leader Regigigas (stupid Slow Start, why does it even exist?), are just a pile of rubble compared to their former selves, but the thing to note here is not how powerful competitive-wise it was back then (all were at least BL), but instead the emotion of finding and battling them that makes them stand out more than the generic legendaries the birds were, though I'll admit fighting Moltres at Mt. Ember is indeed better than fighting Articuno and Zapdos at generic locations (especially coupled with the rockin' legendary music in FRLG).

P.S: Did I mention Gen III has the best overall soundtrack of any generation ever?

I must say that I prefer the golems over the birds, sadly - and I say "sadly," because, while the bird trio might have a special spot in my heart, the golems are surrounded by an aura of mystery and require a lot of effort to be caught. I'd also say that I'd choose Hoenn regardless of the presence of the golem trio - but I'd try catching them, of course.

The golems, on the account of being more fun to catch and having better cries.

Golems by a long shot. That's not to say those legendary birds aren't awesome (they are!), but something about the golems has always clicked with me. They were so cool to me as a kid and they had the absolute best battle music that always gave me shivers. Catching them was a big challenge. Hoenn will take my vote for something like this.... I would definitely make it my goal to find and catch them <3

I prefer the legendary birds personally, although the Regis have good designs. If I had to pick a region to find them in, I'd go Kanto.

I did enjoy the challenge and puzzles involved in getting the Regis in Hoenn though, well the first time anyway. xD