Now, I don’t think gen3 is exactly bad...

[Ace Trainer 188]

But am I the only one who thinks that it is massively, INTENSELY overrated?

I mean, I don't hate it (but I am certainly starting to), I can play a gen3 game and be completely content with it, and I like most of the new features introduced like abilities, and improving the box system, but it just has so many flaws that everyone overlooks.

Too much water is fine, but only 2 lines for all of them? Why? And why are most of them only exclusive to like fishing and stuff? And by the way, fishing in this generation is just painful. Many times it will retract after 1 second, even more times the buttons won't respond. And that's basically how to get most of the other water mons. As for some others, there is the really dumb plot, the original games having no postgame to speak of, and just not feeling right, complete, of have aged well.

Overall, the generation is enjoyable. I can see why people like it, but I CANNOT get why this is seen as the best gen ever. Some say gen4 and 5 are overrated, but that is wrong. I think both very much deserve the praise they get. Unlike gen3, gen5 still holds up very well to this day, both games having a good plot that they won't force into your face, a lot of great mechanics are still there, I could go on. As for gen4, just look at the games it brought us aside from the original DP. And because of it, a lot of mons became more usable (even if they were still fine to use before) and Bite is no longer the throwing dentures attack.

And both of the gens above, despite being extremely good and doing a lot for the franchise, get tons of hate but gen3, I literally have to look it up to see if anyone doesn't like it. Why is a gen that while is perfectly playable, just isn't really that fun or innovating, considered the best over actually far more interesting and less basic ones? Again, I do indeed understand what makes this generation good, I don't see why people consider it the best at all. And if anyone here who actually doesn't like gen3 (if there are any), feel free to come here and post because I would like to see if I'm the only one who feels this way or not.

 

[HeroLinik]

Honestly, the whole notion of the gen being overrated isn't as much of a thing now as it was back in 2012. Back then, people on the internet were constantly begging for and demanding Hoenn remakes to the point where it was very memetic (the same thing is happening now with Sinnoh). Most of the Hoenn love now seems to be focused largely on what Emerald brought to the table, such as the Battle Frontier (and honestly, I think Emerald is only overrated precisely because of the Battle Frontier). As a result of this, Emerald is often considered the superior Hoenn game, even to ORAS. As for the water, the main issue regarding it isn't the water itself, but the fact that the game is designed around "broken bridges" that rely you to use HMs to proceed. It wasn't as obnoxious as Gen 4, but it's pretty blatant.

Also there's one issue that you seem to have overlooked regarding the gen, and that's the movesets. While you did mention something regarding the physical/special split, one of the issues that makes teambuilding for the gen difficult is the fact that a lot of mons have very poor level-up movesets (Lombre in particular is stuck with Absorb for most of the game and won't evolve until you get Dive). This main issue seems to be this, compounded by the lack of physical/special split.

 

[Ace Trainer 188]

Oh man, tell me about the overreliance on HMs. Now kicking myself for forgetting one of or if not the worst aspect of that gen. This was also the generation with the worst Victory road. Y'know, the one where you needed everything except for Cut and Fly and had a confusing, random map.

 

[HeroLinik]

This was also the generation with the worst Victory road. Y'know, the one where you needed everything except for Cut and Fly and had a confusing, random map.

Actually, you only need three HMs to proceed. The waterfalls can be bypassed by going the long way around, and Flash is never even needed at all, let alone Victory Road as you can just feel your way around or just look up a guide.
Now the Gen 4 one is another story entirely. You actually need five HMs to proceed through it, and it can potentially result in pigeonholing your team and movesets. This can be dangerous at a point this late in the game.

 

[Fairy]

THANK YOU. I don't hate the third gen but I just really, really fail to see why everyone wants to die on the "gen 3 is best change my mind" hill??? It just.. didn't hit the same milestones as RBY/GSC for me and the quality of life adjustments it made compared to the previous games were pretty lackluster? That and I just never really connected with any of the characters (or Pokemon, for that matter) and the whole gen came off as a weak entry. :( It could easily be that I was growing out of Pokemon at that point in my life but even to this day the amount of gen 3 hyper-fans is perplexing to me lol.

 

[Zeostar]

I think it's a matter of what the majority grew up with.

I'm noticing Gen 5 is now receiving the treatment of being called the "best generation" since most of the fans of that are now grown up. Even though at one point it was bashed relentlessly.

Gen 6 will probably be getting called the best in a few years as well. It's like a cycle.

 

[pkmin3033]

The problem I had with Gen III - or at least Ruby and Sapphire - was that they were basically half a game. These were the first Pokemon games that had the narrative that has become standard for the entire franchise - thanks for that by the way, Gen III, that hasn't gotten old AT ALL by this point, har har - but it was half a narrative, because both versions only focused on one team. Emerald offered a much better, more complete package, but it still didn't fix the other problems with the games, so it's a pretty hollow victory honestly. I enjoyed Emerald more than I did RS because of it, and because of the additional features it offered like the Battle Frontier, but...well, everything else was still a problem.

But the problem with the water isn't that there is too much of it, it's that there isn't really enough to do on it. Diving was a new concept at the time, sure, but they never really made that particularly meaningful or interesting. Where were the underwater puzzles? Or they could have had something similar to the Seafoam Islands from Gen I, with diverting currents and interconnecting caves, both underwater and above ground. Something like that would have been pretty great to explore and, let's face it, for the time it wouldn't have been that outside of Pokemon's comfort zone. Hell, even just more small islands dotted around the empty expanse of the ocean would have been welcome, or just more than one-room underwater Regi caves. They should have done more with it. It's bland, repetitive, and boring.

Also, that GODAWFUL soundfont. Gen III has the absolute worst music in the entire franchise. It's average in ORAS, but the originals...oh god. No. It's not even funny anymore to say that Gen III has the best music. Not even ironically.

Time and worse games (BW, SM, and SnS) have softened my perspective of Gen III significantly - prior to Gen V I absolutely hated it - but I do think that a lot of the love it receives is down primarily to nostalgia, in much the same way that Gens I and II are often put up on a pedestal by older fans. Examining it critically, it's not as bad as I remember it being (or at least, Emerald isn't) but there is still a ton of wasted potential and a lot of looking at the gen through rose-tinted spectacles elsewhere. It could be worse, but it could have been so much better.

But in terms of how it's aged, no Pokemon game ages well in terms of gamplay, because of the small QoL improvements that are made each gen to make the games run smoother. There is no real difference between Pokemon gameplay other than the system it's on, but god does it show when you compare the GBA titles to even the DS ones, nevermind the 3DS or Switch games.

 

[Pendraflare]

I'll have to agree myself - Ruby and Sapphire are my least favorite games in the main series. I went on a long ramble about these games five years ago. It can be found right here.

tl;dr: the villainous teams and rivals are lazy, training stinks out loud, second worst post game in the series. And it's not that I think they're bad games in their own right, just games I would rather play other entries in the series than.

 

[DragonKing48]

Anything past Gen 5 isn't good because the gamespeed is just too damn slow....doing ANYTHING takes forever and it's just ridiculous. Don't take 25 minutes to save and 15 to Pokemon Center heal!

 

[Mab]

There's definitely some nostalgia there -- LeafGreen was my first game and I consider Gen III the second best generation, coming squarely after V.

Still, I think the combination of the huge leap in graphics (I actually think Gen III's graphics are among the best in the series, alongside HGSS and LGPE), the increased emphasis on a concrete plot with the titular legendary (it's not Gen III's fault that wore thin fast!), and the fact that these games were pretty much the perfect marriage of relatively large, pretty-looking areas and uncontrolled, player-directed exploration.. I can see why these games have endured for me.

It's not the same anymore, but my first time playing through the mid-game of RSE where the game pretty much just sets you loose to explore the whole huge mauvile/desert/volcano area was amazing and it's something I'll never get to experience the same way again. That part's not nostalgia talking either, I didn't play the Hoenn games until my mid-teens. So yeah, while I can see the flaws, both ones inherent in old Pokémon games and ones specific to this generation, I think Gen III is great and deserves its high spot in most people's personal rankings.

 

[Raicheot]

I got to admit I wasn't a fan of gen 3 when originally released but after the remakes I'm a big fan of the gen and Swampert has become one of my favourite pokemon especially mega and can't forget Rayquaza one of the best legendaries

 

[hirokimura]

Gen III is overrated yes. But I don't think it's bad. But we have to admit that the post game is non existent, that you can't even have half the pokedex without a friend who has FRLG, so well. At least it's a good gen for all those fangames.

 

[Bellsprout]

Interesting that you said gen 4 and 5 get a lot of hate. I know gen 5 did but I never heard much gen 4 hate besides that the surfing speed was terrible. Personally gen 3 is my favorite though I grew up with playing gen 2 first. My least favorite thing about these games is the sheer amount of legendaries and the focus on them. Though in my opinion the turn of the plot shifting to being about a legendary pokemon really started in Crystal, it is emphasized and to the norm we see today starting in RSE. The other thing I don't care for is team aqua/magma. I get the idea behind them, but the story is particularly dumb especially in team aqua's case.

What makes gen 3 for me is ultimately the pokemon, but I also greatly enjoyed the diversity of the hoenn region. Something about the layout is perfect to me. The Battle Frontier is one of the very few post games that kept me playing when I finished the main story. But anyway I would say lately all I ever hear is how gen 5 is the greatest generation ever and like someone said above me it may be due to the fact that the people who grew up with the 5th gen are older now, hard to say really. I remember a lot of gen 3 praise years back, but I'd say it has died down quite a bit.

 

[Ninetales]

I love generation 3! Mind you, I never played Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald. However, I was introduced to pokemon via the Advanced Generation anime at the ripe age of 5.

While Pearl was my first game, I have always felt a certain connectedness to Hoenn and was planning on purchasing Emerald before ORAS was announced. I personally adore the remakes! From bases to contests, they were full of content and I consider Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire to be two of my favourite main series pokemon games to date.

Perhaps the thing that I love the most about gen 3 is the pokemon introduced in that generation. 5 out of my top 10 all-time favourite pokemon were introduced in generation 3 (Beautifly, Gardevoir, Milotic, Blaziken, & Sceptile). Overall I love gen 3 and consider it to be one of my favourite generations. (Second to generation 4 and tied with generation 5!)

 

[Percy]

Generation 3 is life for me hehe so I may be a bit biased

i think its subjective to each person if they think a gen or game is "overrated." gen 3, imo, is not perfect. its not even close lol. but there's always a preference. its only natural that gen 3 would be popular since it contains the remake of the first ever game. it appeals to nostalgia.

gen 5 back when it was first released was the opposite, interestingly. almost everyone I know was flaming it even though they've never even played the thing. its just the loud opinion of others. like, I enjoyed gen 5 immensely and easily in my top two gens. the games just plays up to the individual's preference, i think.

 

[hirokimura]

The hype plays a lot as well. I did bash gen 5 back in the days simply because the leaks they were giving were making me bleed by the eyes...And I wasn't wrong, since I consider black and white one of the worst pre XY games (After XY included, I feel every game is shit, ORAS aside). The really sad thing is people didn't consider black white 2 which is really making the generation really good and brought me to love gen 5. Actually it's my second fav after gen 2

 

[colours]

hi, gen 3 fan here! guess that's a criminal opinion these days, much like disliking gen 5 (which is also an opinion i somewhat have! whoops i'm a terrible pokemon fan, apparently). for this post, when i mention "gen 3" i'm referring to RSE in particular, and not FRLG. not because i don't count FRLG, but just for the sake of clarity and because RSE seems to be what this thread is about.

admittedly, there is a nostalgia factor in liking gen 3 for me. it was one of the first mainline pokemon games that i've owned (i've owned ruby before sapphire) so i've had tons of fun as a kid just starting off with my torchic and fighting team magma and eventually aqua (i later on got sapphire). gen 3 had a lot of magic for me. and i really mean a lot. i think the two biggest factors that made me love gen 3 a lot were the pokemon and the post-game in emerald's case.

to start with, i love the pokemon selection. gen 3 has a lot of pokemon designs that i absolutely love over most other generations. like, if i had to rank each generation by design, gen 3 would come in a solid second behind gen 4. ludicolo, gardevoir, jirachi, the weather trio, zigzagoon/linoone... i can go on and on really. as someone who also likes gen 7, gen 7 doesn't come anywhere close to the memorability of gen 3's pokemon designs. that's pretty much my second main reason for enjoying it. gen 3's pokemon design, for me, is nearly unrivaled. different strokes for different folks of course, people are free to dislike the region or the pokemon or whatever. but a lot of the pokemon in gen 3 grew on me over the years. some more examples: breloom (which is actually one of my top favourite grass types), salamence (used this pokemon EXTENSIVELY in my teams), latios/latias... i think i've rambled on enough about the pokemon selection and how much it meant and still means to me but it really has introduced some of the best and most memorable pokemon in the entire franchise. but anyway, enough about the pokemon and into my first reason for being such a huge fan: the post-game.

i know some people are tired of hearing "battle frontier", but man, that's how i personally enjoy my pokemon games. some people care about the plot, some people care about the dialogue, i just want something to do (battle-wise) after i beat the game. i want some degree of being stuck to my game after i beat it. this is one of the biggest reasons why i don't like BW. the battle subway will always be such a disappointment and a downgrade to gen 4's battle frontier because game freak had the potential to do so much better, and they didn't. it was kind of a slap to the face that they made something as incredible as the pokemon world tournament in B2W2 that was on par if not even better by a hair than the battle frontier but they didn't put that much effort into BW's postgame battle facilities. but anyway, my point is that i was stuck to emerald for a good long time after i beat the main story because the post-game battle facilities kept me going and going. it was fun and enjoyable for me. it offered somewhat of an appropriate level of challenge that i think a lot of people are clamoring for these days that's missing in current-era pokemon games.

also, i'd be remiss if i spoke about hoenn without mentioning diving. yes, i'm going to be that person and say that i loved diving. it's such a damn shame that Game Freak didn't bother to do much about it other than have it return in ORAS in a prettier way, but i loved the experience. it's something i wish would be brought back as a permanent feature in every generation because it doesn't make any sense not to. why can we surf but not dive in gen 7? especially in USUM, where as evident by the mantine surf minigame, there's a whole sea to explore out there? why not make a diving minigame or something? why not bring back a diving-themed safari zone or something, and make looking for underwater pokemon fun that way? i can see Dawn's point in that yeah, there's a lot more that can be done with it, but as a concept, i loved it for the same reason i loved soaring. there's a whole sky out there and we finally got a chance to explore it alongside running into wild pokemon while in the middle of flight, and even encountering legendary pokemon in flight. it feels somewhat natural in a way, and i think that's why i'm a huge fan of both so much.

all these factors combined (also i don't care if you insult hoenn's OST but meteor falls will be memorable as hell to me and i can perfectly remember it without even looking up the soundtrack), is what made hoenn such a great generation for me. it's fine if you have a different opinion, what's great about pokemon and especially pokemon gaming is that there's so many games out there that appeals to all sorts of people with different tastes. i'm not going to lie though and say that this thread makes me feel somewhat bad because i can't help but feel like the intent is to shame people who like gen 3 when i feel that we're better than that.

 

[Lunar]

As a massive Gen 3 fan here I'll probably always have big love for those games, and will stand by them until Pokemon ends one day haha. That being said, there was faults, particularly with Ruby and Sapphire, but the generation as a whole was superb imo. Just for some context, it was my introdution to the series, and the games I was brought up playing, so there is a lot of nostalgia factor there!

But, the games had features and mechanics that made the games fun to play for longer periods of time, that we don't see with a lot of modern Pokemon games! Both FRLG and Emerald had a decent post-game (some people don't like the Sevii Islands but hey at least it was something to do) and I was really attached to the 'mons that were introduced in Hoenn, and brought back in FRLG, cause once again, they were the ones I grew up with. I loved the graphical style of Generation III and the soundtrack brings back a lot of memories, but objectively that isn't relevant in the big picture, however I think Game Freak did a great job reimaging Kanto and designing the Hoenn region, I don't even mind too much water at this point.

The games introduced doube battles, the VS seeker and a whole loads of features that weren't just gimmicky and have actually stayed around (for the most part), so I see them as pretty important games in Pokemon's development. Were they a little overrated? Sure, but a lot of fans (myself included) approach it with nostalgia goggles on, which I'll happily admit and still find Emerald my favourite Pokemon game for the all around experience it gave me :)

 

[Sheep]

it's actually really interesting to me to see this, because I feel like it was unpopular/underrated for the longest time. @_@ idk exactly when it happened but opinions suddenly shifted towards it being awesome. personally I was addicted when gen III games were newer and replayed so, so many times, but I can respect different opinions. secret bases were especially fun for me to make new files for, since I could decorate ones in new locations and then mix information into my main game (Ruby at the time, with Sapphire being the game I restarted often) to have tons of battling options. so yes, loveloved it. I just swear the typical opinion was totally different years ago ahaha.

 

[tokyodrift]

Not the worst games in the series, but also not the best either. Overrated? Maybe. I don't hate them, far from it. Ruby and Sapphire were just incomplete games, but my 8 year old self didn't really mind. Looking at these games as an adult though, there is simply nothing to do post game. Emerald solved that issue with a few added features, namely the Battle Frontier. Which I think was a great addition, I feel like it gave meaning to breeding since the Battle Frontier was pretty tough in terms of difficulty. I was 8 when these came out and I quite enjoyed them, especially coming off the heels of Gen 2 which rank highly in my mind. It's a decent generation with a number of new features that became staples in future games. Speaking on ORAS, it was meh in my opinion and I haven't touched them since I finished them. I do think the energy surrounding Gen 3 changed when ORAS were released. I feel like people took the time to replay them and kind of figured out that it's not as bad a generation people make it out to be.