Thoughts on Alola's map design

[Maya]

What is the general consensus; do people like it?

I think that multiple islands are nice, but they all felt really small and almost claustrophobic, and I don't think they helped the fact that the map already isn't that big. I also think that more could have been done to make them feel unique to each other in terms of their environments.

 

[Nah]

Yeah the size is my issue with it too. I like my games to be on longer side, but it's hard for it to be that way when the islands (and by extension, the region) are small. Kinda cuts into being able to have a feeling of exploration too.

 

[User19sq]

The actual Hawaii is eight islands big. Of course the Poke Pelago could be counted, but still.

I think Alola's on the small side because we have eight hundred Pokemon species crammed into a 3DS cartridge. We're already pushing the system's limits, here.

 

[Lunar]

I do like the islands of Alola, and feel like they do have some diverse areas with a few different cultures, but like you say, it does feel claustrophobic and like they crammed a lot into small areas.

 

[Mister Coffee]

I actually would have preferred the islands to be interconnected through water routes that could be traveled along. I personally like water routes and I actually feel like the region felt less like tropical islands simply because I wasn't wandering through tons of water in order to stumble upon the shores of a new island.

Back in Ruby and Sapphire (OR/AS), traveling in the water for long periods of time sometimes felt like being lost at sea, and then when you finally reach the shore of your destination I personally always thought, "Oh Finally! Land!" Finding the shores in that fashion really gave me a feeling of traveling along a collection of tropical islands out in the middle of the ocean.

Though in Sun and Moon, I feel like I'm constantly on land through the vast majority of the game, and only traveling in the water in the middle of the islands or along the shores. It really makes the islands feel only like one vast land mass with a few lakes and rivers within it. You're never really playing in the ocean's open waters, so on an immersion level it might as well not even be there.

 

[Maya]

I actually would have preferred the islands to be interconnected through water routes that could be traveled along. I personally like water routes and I actually feel like the region felt less like tropical islands simply because I wasn't wandering through tons of water in order to stumble upon the shores of a new island.

You know what, I hadn't considered that before but that's exactly one of the reasons I loved ruby/sapphire. The fact the islands aren't connected in a similar way is so disappointing!

 

[Maya]

I definitely agree that there should have been more, especially considering their limitations.
But the thing with island maps (and I thought this about previous gens too) is that, if you were to just merge the islands and maybe have a couple of off-shore cities/areas... it would be so much better. Their idea was to make the world feel bigger, but I really think it does the opposite.

 

[blue]

I like it; it's different from the landlocked regions we've been used to over the past six generations. Admittedly a couple of the islands are on the smaller side, but overall I feel that Alola as a whole is a great region.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

I liked it at the start. But after half the land isn't explored in the storyline or areas you can't even get to is so large, I think it was a let down.

7 of the 8 islands were there. One of the bigger islands was not. And yes, 7 were there. Poke Pelago, Eggextutor Island and Ather Foundations Island were all islands of Hawaii.

 

[Mr Nelsy]

The actual Hawaii is eight islands big. Of course the Poke Pelago could be counted, but still.

I think Alola's on the small side because we have eight hundred Pokemon species crammed into a 3DS cartridge. We're already pushing the system's limits, here.

I agree with the 820 pokemon squished into small islands concept here, but technology is advancing at an alarming rate so I wouldn't be surpised with the next Nintendo handheld that this would be fixed^^. However my opinion is that the Story is far too short, it could of expanded massively, and imagine if they were able to squeeze all the regions into one game? That's what I'd like to think the next game would consist of, Kanto-Alola, starting off with a choice of the original starters in Kanto and having to start new teams as you advance through each region, being able too unlock access to your old Mons' when you've progressed appropriately through the region. Imagine beating the Elite Four in Kanto then having to start with a level 5 Totodile in Johto, only being able to access your level 70 Charizard after you've reached say the 7th Gym in Johto and the end game of each region progressively being a lot harder than the last. But rather than only be able to obtain pokemon through certain regions have it so it would of been in each generation of game where you can still obtain the pokemon from previous generation and it would then be available in the next region and so on and so forth.

But going back on topic, having the islands larger as well as interconnected via surf/dive/waterfalls would of been cool, aswell as keeping the pokeradar concept from ORAS would have been ideal too, being able to chain for egg move pokemon. Expanding the story a it instead of it feeling rushed would of been good and maybe implemented more flashbacks like Lillies one with Team Skull would of been neat showing more of the main characters backfrop such as Guzma and Lillies mom. But all in all it wasn't a bad game and I really like the idea of re inventing Gen 1 mons and hope they continue to do this but mainly for Mons who are negelected massively rather than the typical battlers picks. Maybe a reinvention of the fossil pokemon would be cool.

That's enough from me anyway haha.


Nelsy

 

[Bellsprout]

I thought the sizes were fine I would have just preferred more of them. Poni island was my favorite because of how much there was to explore. Which makes me wish more of the islands were a little less developed. Melemele island would have to be my least favorite because of how small it is and that it serves little purpose beyond being an island made one big tutorial

also i dont really count aether paradise, poke pelago, or exeggutor island as viable islands since they were standalones.

 

[w1f1pa55w0rd]

the islands were a pretty good idea, but i would have loved it if they were bigger. There was little to no post game content. But thats different. But about the map, ORAS's map was good, and i would have liked alola to be similar to that, but overall a decent idea.

 

[Altairis]

The islands themselves felt really small and only really seemed larger because we had areas blocked off at certain times. But I sort of understand, I mean, it was a small island group. But I liked how they were different than past game maps.

 

[Melody]

It really didn't feel like there were enough stretches of land imo

 

[Zenionith]

I actually liked that you could basically go to every spot on this island group. Other regions always had space between them that couldn't be accessed.