I was initially excited by the two additional routes HGSS added, but ended up heartily disliking them.
Route 47 is genuinely visually stunning (by the standards of the visuals at the time anyway) and feels genuinely distinct from all the other routes in Johto. But for all that it looks great, it's just... small. It takes far less time to traverse than it looks like it should; the feature of there being different levels is neat, but there are no alternative paths to travel on foot so the main part of the route ends up basically being a corridor. And even though you can use Surf at the base of the route, you need Waterfall or Rock Climb to actually go anywhere or access the tall grass. The Cliff Cave is a really cool place in concept (I love how you can hear the waterfall even inside the cave) but it's just a glorified ladder; it should have been much bigger and sprawling.
And then Route 48 is just... nothing. No trainers, only one item barely hidden or out of the way, nothing to actually return for barring a couple of Pokemon not found anywhere else.
I wish these routes had been as expansive as the official region artwork made them look. They don't feel lived-in or particularly sprawling and considering they're counted as two different area they're barely the size of several other routes in Johto - Route 31 and Route 34 and Route 27 all contain actual houses, but you couldn't imagine anyone living here.
I've said before but I wish the area leading here could have been a forest. Johto is full of caves and the cave between Cianwood and Route 47 is an incredibly dull area - a forest would have been a more interesting way to connect the two locations (with the player heading north from Cianwood, climbing upwards and gradually turning south, then finally emerging onto Route 47) and would have been the perfect opportunity for a winding road with multiple branching paths and a bunch of different trainers. Ilex Forest is a dark, gloomy sort of place but imagine a clifftop forest that was sunny, windswept, and bright, full of Pokemon like Skiploom, Pidgeotto, Drowzee, Sunkern, and Tangela. Not only would this add a bit more length to the story, it'd also provide an opportunity to put some wild Pokemon and NPC trainers with species not seen elsewhere. Considering how disappointed everyone in Kanto is shown to be by the closure of the Safari Zone in Fuchsia, people should be raring to visit the brand-new Safari Zone in Johto: the road there should be absolutely chock-full of eager trainers looking to capture rare Pokemon, as well as showoffs who've come to battle and showcase their teams.
Route 47 is genuinely visually stunning (by the standards of the visuals at the time anyway) and feels genuinely distinct from all the other routes in Johto. But for all that it looks great, it's just... small. It takes far less time to traverse than it looks like it should; the feature of there being different levels is neat, but there are no alternative paths to travel on foot so the main part of the route ends up basically being a corridor. And even though you can use Surf at the base of the route, you need Waterfall or Rock Climb to actually go anywhere or access the tall grass. The Cliff Cave is a really cool place in concept (I love how you can hear the waterfall even inside the cave) but it's just a glorified ladder; it should have been much bigger and sprawling.
And then Route 48 is just... nothing. No trainers, only one item barely hidden or out of the way, nothing to actually return for barring a couple of Pokemon not found anywhere else.
I wish these routes had been as expansive as the official region artwork made them look. They don't feel lived-in or particularly sprawling and considering they're counted as two different area they're barely the size of several other routes in Johto - Route 31 and Route 34 and Route 27 all contain actual houses, but you couldn't imagine anyone living here.
I've said before but I wish the area leading here could have been a forest. Johto is full of caves and the cave between Cianwood and Route 47 is an incredibly dull area - a forest would have been a more interesting way to connect the two locations (with the player heading north from Cianwood, climbing upwards and gradually turning south, then finally emerging onto Route 47) and would have been the perfect opportunity for a winding road with multiple branching paths and a bunch of different trainers. Ilex Forest is a dark, gloomy sort of place but imagine a clifftop forest that was sunny, windswept, and bright, full of Pokemon like Skiploom, Pidgeotto, Drowzee, Sunkern, and Tangela. Not only would this add a bit more length to the story, it'd also provide an opportunity to put some wild Pokemon and NPC trainers with species not seen elsewhere. Considering how disappointed everyone in Kanto is shown to be by the closure of the Safari Zone in Fuchsia, people should be raring to visit the brand-new Safari Zone in Johto: the road there should be absolutely chock-full of eager trainers looking to capture rare Pokemon, as well as showoffs who've come to battle and showcase their teams.
