Please don't use terms like "triggered" and then "git gud." It devalues them, and this is an open community where everyone is entitled to their opinion. And I'll admit I use hyperbole to make an eye-catcher but let's open the floor to discussion:
1. Route 216 and 217 to Snowpoint are definitely hard, but not really due to being challenging. They're hard because they are long levels of attrition designed to break your patience. While some of the isolated elements could make for a good level (the abundance of Ace Trainers and lack of checkpoints do give the game some needed bite), it really comes down to nesting a lot of these elements into one long route. It sucks to be fighting hard trainers with half a team of HM slaves and constant hail while getting stuck in a snow bank every five steps with low visibility.
And really, can anybody even defend the deep snow mechanic? It doesn't add anything of value and just makes the trek take longer. And realism isn't a defense when you have fish that shoot lasers.
2. Linearity here is that there is one golden path without any player input on the order of events. Remember how in Kanto you could do over half the gyms in any order? And in Johto you had that T-split in Ecruteak city where you could do the Lake of Rage first or the Olivine lighthouse first? That's what I'm talking about.
Linearity vs. non-linearity isn't really a "one's better than the other" discussion, as both are tools that deliver a specific experience. It's just that Sinnoh has a linear path but doesn't really utilize it to deliver anything and still has a lot of backtracking as you crisscross around the map despite the linearity. Mt. Silver you only visit once, Mt. Coronet you revisit multiple times in growing doses.
Gamefreak themselves recognized this problem in Platinum, as they re-worked the gym order from Diamond & Pearl so it made a little more sense.
3. Well, count along with me: (discounting Fly in both instances since it's the fast travel option).
Hoenn had: Flash, Cut, Rock Smash, Strength, Surf, Dive, and Waterfall.
Sinnoh had: Flash (as a TM now but still utilized for puzzles), Cut, Rock Smash, Strength, Surf, Waterfall, Defog, and Rock Climb.
That's one extra field move over Hoenn.
4. Opinions, so let's just move on. Good for you if you liked them, but I didn't.
5. While overall I liked Unova's art asthetic (very Earthbound and I love Earthbound), the routes themselves seemed to be lacking, like something was missing. It's a feeling I've had for every game in the series since.
For example, as part of the new linear gameplay and downplaying HM's, Unova had a lot of artificial barriers to halt exploration (like a group of men dancing for no reason). While mechanically there isn't much difference between a group of dancing men halting you from going to the next town and a wide ocean you can't surf yet, aesthetically it feels different.
An ocean, to me, felt like "wow once I get surf I can explore all of this." It was like a present waiting to be opened. Being able to surf gave new gameplay options.
Men dancing for no reason felt like the game was trying to stop me from having fun. A very "eat your brocoli first, we need N and Cheren to rant about empty platitudes for 3 more hours before you can come back here." These barriers were taking away gameplay options that had already been provided.
1. Route 216 and 217 to Snowpoint are definitely hard, but not really due to being challenging. They're hard because they are long levels of attrition designed to break your patience. While some of the isolated elements could make for a good level (the abundance of Ace Trainers and lack of checkpoints do give the game some needed bite), it really comes down to nesting a lot of these elements into one long route. It sucks to be fighting hard trainers with half a team of HM slaves and constant hail while getting stuck in a snow bank every five steps with low visibility.
And really, can anybody even defend the deep snow mechanic? It doesn't add anything of value and just makes the trek take longer. And realism isn't a defense when you have fish that shoot lasers.
2. Linearity here is that there is one golden path without any player input on the order of events. Remember how in Kanto you could do over half the gyms in any order? And in Johto you had that T-split in Ecruteak city where you could do the Lake of Rage first or the Olivine lighthouse first? That's what I'm talking about.
Linearity vs. non-linearity isn't really a "one's better than the other" discussion, as both are tools that deliver a specific experience. It's just that Sinnoh has a linear path but doesn't really utilize it to deliver anything and still has a lot of backtracking as you crisscross around the map despite the linearity. Mt. Silver you only visit once, Mt. Coronet you revisit multiple times in growing doses.
Gamefreak themselves recognized this problem in Platinum, as they re-worked the gym order from Diamond & Pearl so it made a little more sense.
3. Well, count along with me: (discounting Fly in both instances since it's the fast travel option).
Hoenn had: Flash, Cut, Rock Smash, Strength, Surf, Dive, and Waterfall.
Sinnoh had: Flash (as a TM now but still utilized for puzzles), Cut, Rock Smash, Strength, Surf, Waterfall, Defog, and Rock Climb.
That's one extra field move over Hoenn.
4. Opinions, so let's just move on. Good for you if you liked them, but I didn't.
5. While overall I liked Unova's art asthetic (very Earthbound and I love Earthbound), the routes themselves seemed to be lacking, like something was missing. It's a feeling I've had for every game in the series since.
For example, as part of the new linear gameplay and downplaying HM's, Unova had a lot of artificial barriers to halt exploration (like a group of men dancing for no reason). While mechanically there isn't much difference between a group of dancing men halting you from going to the next town and a wide ocean you can't surf yet, aesthetically it feels different.
An ocean, to me, felt like "wow once I get surf I can explore all of this." It was like a present waiting to be opened. Being able to surf gave new gameplay options.
Men dancing for no reason felt like the game was trying to stop me from having fun. A very "eat your brocoli first, we need N and Cheren to rant about empty platitudes for 3 more hours before you can come back here." These barriers were taking away gameplay options that had already been provided.
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