Umm... Pokemon Heroes was a Gen II era movie(Why did you think Ash and Brock were in thier original outfits and Misty being there at all), and it was where the twins were first revealed to the public. EVERYTHING ELSE they appear in came out after Heroes did, including Ruby and Sapphire.
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Umm... Pokemon Heroes was a Gen II era movie(Why did you think Ash and Brock were in thier original outfits and Misty being there at all), and it was where the twins were first revealed to the public. EVERYTHING ELSE they appear in came out after Heroes did, including Ruby and Sapphire.
Let’s say nice things about… Sword and Shield. Because why not? I think they need and deserve it.
Despite dexit and other issues, I really liked Sword on the whole (Sword is the only one I have played, though I’ll still talk about both games here). It has some fun new features and solid gameplay all around, I even find the gameplay better than in the Gen 7 games in certain aspects. It is a fun game and I’m happy I got it after all.
Apart from the base game, I really like the Expansion Pass for S/S. I think it is great and better than a third/alternate version because it builds upon the base game instead of making it obsolete like a third/alternate version would have done. I like how it adds new content, features, new Pokémon (and brings back old ones too!), it also improves or downright fixes some of the issues I had with the base game. I hope they will continue with more DLC in the future instead of third/alternate versions.
With the Crown Tundra, S/S also allows players to catch every single legendary Pokémon that exists as of now, taking the throne from US/UM as the new best games in the series when it comes to the number of catchable legendary Pokémon. And following on the trend from OR/AS and VC Crystal, there’s a mythical Pokémon to catch without any event as well, namely Keldeo!
One other thing S/S continues with which has been in previous generations as well (notably Gen 7) is that several trainer classes have a Pokémon motif on their clothes. Some I have noticed are Youngsters who have a Greedent on their shirts, and Schoolboys/girls who have a Blipbug on theirs. There might be even more, but those are some of the ones I noticed.
Something I noticed about the Diplomas you get for completing the Pokédexes in S/S is how they feature very subtle images of the legendaries that are the mascots of each Dex, which I thought was neat, I almost missed at first. The main Galar Dex has Zacian and Zamazenta, the Isle of Armor Dex has Urshifu, while the Crown Tundra Dex has Calyrex and the horses.
I have been battling in the Battle Tower in Sword lately, and I noticed one thing there. The trainers often have a name that is related to what they say before/after the battle. For instance, there’s a Gentleman who talks about battling wildly, and his name is Wilde. There are many other examples of this as well, I don’t know if it is true for every single regular trainer at the Tower but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the case.
Lastly, I want to say something positive about Gen 7 as well. I got a bit sour towards Gen 7 in the unpops thread recently so I wanted to say something positive about it as well in order to make up for that. Gen 7 is my third favorite after all. Anyway, what I wanted to do was to give some praise to one of my favorite features of Gen 7: Poké Pelago. It has been praised by others in earlier posts in this thread, but I wanted to say something about it as well.
Poké Pelago was the sort of feature I had wanted to see in the series for a long while, and it finally became reality. What I like the most with it is how you can get things done in the games even when you don’t play them, or get extra things done alongside playing the games and doing other things. It also gives something to do for all the Pokémon stored in PC boxes. I liked everything about it.
Let’s take a look at all of the five Pelago islands and why they are all awesome:
Isle Abeens: Awesome way to farm Poké Beans, the random Pokémon joining was positive too because it meant you could always have some extra fodder in the boxes. It was also great when some rare Pokémon joined, such as Lapras. Or just any Pokémon I didn’t have registered in my Pokédex yet.
Isle Aplenny: One of the best ways to farm berries in the series, as it allows you to have up to 18 berries planted at once, accessible from everywhere no matter where you are in the games!
Isle Aphun: An amazing way to farm various valuable items every day, it meant I was never short on valuable items like evolution stones.
Isle Evelup: My favorite method of EV-training in the entire series. Just set the amount of EVs you want a Pokémon to gain, leave them there, return when the time is up and they will have the EVs. It could also be used for regular training and Exp but I never used it for that.
Isle Avue: The one I have used the least but I occasionally used it to quickly raise the Friendship level of certain Pokémon, so that was great.
Another thing I like about Poké Pelago is how the island names are all plays on the activity that takes place on each island. Abeens = (Poké) beans, Aplenny = plenty (of berries), Aphun = fun (exploring the caves must be tons of fun for the Pokémon who gets to do it!), Evelup = level up. I’m unsure about Avue though, can't think of the meaning for that. Maybe a native English speaker can see what it is supposed to mean? I surely can't.
On the whole, I really liked Poké Pelago and I miss it a lot in Gen 8. There’s the Poké Jobs in S/S but they aren’t anywhere near as great IMO, though I’ll admit that I haven’t used them all that much.
Despite dexit and other issues, I really liked Sword on the whole (Sword is the only one I have played, though I’ll still talk about both games here). It has some fun new features and solid gameplay all around, I even find the gameplay better than in the Gen 7 games in certain aspects. It is a fun game and I’m happy I got it after all.
Apart from the base game, I really like the Expansion Pass for S/S. I think it is great and better than a third/alternate version because it builds upon the base game instead of making it obsolete like a third/alternate version would have done. I like how it adds new content, features, new Pokémon (and brings back old ones too!), it also improves or downright fixes some of the issues I had with the base game. I hope they will continue with more DLC in the future instead of third/alternate versions.
With the Crown Tundra, S/S also allows players to catch every single legendary Pokémon that exists as of now, taking the throne from US/UM as the new best games in the series when it comes to the number of catchable legendary Pokémon. And following on the trend from OR/AS and VC Crystal, there’s a mythical Pokémon to catch without any event as well, namely Keldeo!
One other thing S/S continues with which has been in previous generations as well (notably Gen 7) is that several trainer classes have a Pokémon motif on their clothes. Some I have noticed are Youngsters who have a Greedent on their shirts, and Schoolboys/girls who have a Blipbug on theirs. There might be even more, but those are some of the ones I noticed.
Something I noticed about the Diplomas you get for completing the Pokédexes in S/S is how they feature very subtle images of the legendaries that are the mascots of each Dex, which I thought was neat, I almost missed at first. The main Galar Dex has Zacian and Zamazenta, the Isle of Armor Dex has Urshifu, while the Crown Tundra Dex has Calyrex and the horses.
I have been battling in the Battle Tower in Sword lately, and I noticed one thing there. The trainers often have a name that is related to what they say before/after the battle. For instance, there’s a Gentleman who talks about battling wildly, and his name is Wilde. There are many other examples of this as well, I don’t know if it is true for every single regular trainer at the Tower but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the case.
Lastly, I want to say something positive about Gen 7 as well. I got a bit sour towards Gen 7 in the unpops thread recently so I wanted to say something positive about it as well in order to make up for that. Gen 7 is my third favorite after all. Anyway, what I wanted to do was to give some praise to one of my favorite features of Gen 7: Poké Pelago. It has been praised by others in earlier posts in this thread, but I wanted to say something about it as well.
Poké Pelago was the sort of feature I had wanted to see in the series for a long while, and it finally became reality. What I like the most with it is how you can get things done in the games even when you don’t play them, or get extra things done alongside playing the games and doing other things. It also gives something to do for all the Pokémon stored in PC boxes. I liked everything about it.
Let’s take a look at all of the five Pelago islands and why they are all awesome:
Isle Abeens: Awesome way to farm Poké Beans, the random Pokémon joining was positive too because it meant you could always have some extra fodder in the boxes. It was also great when some rare Pokémon joined, such as Lapras. Or just any Pokémon I didn’t have registered in my Pokédex yet.
Isle Aplenny: One of the best ways to farm berries in the series, as it allows you to have up to 18 berries planted at once, accessible from everywhere no matter where you are in the games!
Isle Aphun: An amazing way to farm various valuable items every day, it meant I was never short on valuable items like evolution stones.
Isle Evelup: My favorite method of EV-training in the entire series. Just set the amount of EVs you want a Pokémon to gain, leave them there, return when the time is up and they will have the EVs. It could also be used for regular training and Exp but I never used it for that.
Isle Avue: The one I have used the least but I occasionally used it to quickly raise the Friendship level of certain Pokémon, so that was great.
Another thing I like about Poké Pelago is how the island names are all plays on the activity that takes place on each island. Abeens = (Poké) beans, Aplenny = plenty (of berries), Aphun = fun (exploring the caves must be tons of fun for the Pokémon who gets to do it!), Evelup = level up. I’m unsure about Avue though, can't think of the meaning for that. Maybe a native English speaker can see what it is supposed to mean? I surely can't.
On the whole, I really liked Poké Pelago and I miss it a lot in Gen 8. There’s the Poké Jobs in S/S but they aren’t anywhere near as great IMO, though I’ll admit that I haven’t used them all that much.
Isle Avue -> "I love you"
(also, I totally agree on how wonderful Poké Pelago is)
You know what's even funnier than Carnivine, the carnivorous plant Pokemon that eats bugs, being weak to Bug? Victreebel, the other carnivorous plant Pokemon that eats bugs, being extra weak to Bug in Gen 1, because Poison used to be weak to Bug instead of resistant to it.
A grass type signuture move that's super effective against bug would totally make sense for Carnivine. Like a physical version of freeze-dry.
I was never a big fan of Pokemon X and Y (they remain, to this day, my least favourite games in the series) but the recent addition of the first few Kalos mons to Pokemon Go has got me enthusiastic about the gen 6 critters and reminded me that were a fair few things about those games/that generation that I did quite like.
-First and most obviously, the Pokemon themselves. This was (and I believe still is) the smallest generation in terms of new species, but it's made up for in terms of design. Gen VI is an extremely well-designed generation, and there are very, very few species here I actively dislike. Pyroar, Pangoro, Gogoat, Malamar, Tyrantrum, Aurorus, and Noivern are all longstanding favourites of mine; for once, all three starters are great (particularly their final evolutions, with the warrior-wizard-ninja archetypes). Volcanion remains one of my favourite legendaries
-Vivillon. The regional aspect to this Pokemon was very cool and made the GTS a lot more fun, and I hope Pokemon Go replicates it faithfully. Of course, being from the UK, I get the Garden pattern so I'm a little biased since IMO it's one of the nicest of the set (other favourites include the Polar, Marine, Icy Snow, Elegant, and Monsoon patterns). If I'd had the Ocean or River or Savannah pattern I might not have been quite so keen.
-The fact that it was the first generation in 3D. Admittedly this wasn't great for every Pokemon; some, like Swellow and Salamence, had their designs outright ruined by this. For others, it was the making of them; I went from disliking certain designs because they looked flat and stiff on the DS to loving them because they looked dynamic and interesting on the 3DS.
-Lumiose City. While it is generally accepted that this place is far, far too big (and I can never visit it without getting lost and having to take a taxi) I appreciate GF's ambition and the first city in the games that genuinely did do justice to the scope of the place it's based on. Castelia City is amazing but it's still too small to ever come close to truly feeling like it's doing Lower Manhattan justice (and I say that as a big Unova fanboy).
-The hints at a good story. I feel like the story of X and Y is a fundamentally interesting one. It's just that the idea was driven off a cliff by the game writers. Every so often there's a moment where I feel like something brilliant is peeking through, but it's quickly stifled. Lysandre's initial conversation with Diantha is a prime example. Unfortunately, any complexity or depth the central story has is drowned out by the mediocre characterisation and the bare-bones "break into the evil team's HQ" plot we've seen again and again. The anime and the manga both did this story a little better (to varying degrees).
-The music. While a lot of it is fairly forgettable (especially the dire Gym Leader theme), Diantha's theme, the Pokemon League music, the Route 8 theme, and the opening movie are all highlights to me.
-Clothing customisation. I was initially uninterested but rapidly found this incredibly fun (and chose to play as a girl for this feature). My character looks incredibly stylish in her pencil skirt, I love it.
-Baby Pokemon having 3 perfect IVs no matter what. Simple little quality-of-life change that improved that continued the tradition of making life a little easier for Pokemon breeders but that didn't make things too easy.
In sum, while there's a lot I disliked about XY, they're not all bad. I'll probably give my copy of Y another go at some point.
-First and most obviously, the Pokemon themselves. This was (and I believe still is) the smallest generation in terms of new species, but it's made up for in terms of design. Gen VI is an extremely well-designed generation, and there are very, very few species here I actively dislike. Pyroar, Pangoro, Gogoat, Malamar, Tyrantrum, Aurorus, and Noivern are all longstanding favourites of mine; for once, all three starters are great (particularly their final evolutions, with the warrior-wizard-ninja archetypes). Volcanion remains one of my favourite legendaries
-Vivillon. The regional aspect to this Pokemon was very cool and made the GTS a lot more fun, and I hope Pokemon Go replicates it faithfully. Of course, being from the UK, I get the Garden pattern so I'm a little biased since IMO it's one of the nicest of the set (other favourites include the Polar, Marine, Icy Snow, Elegant, and Monsoon patterns). If I'd had the Ocean or River or Savannah pattern I might not have been quite so keen.
-The fact that it was the first generation in 3D. Admittedly this wasn't great for every Pokemon; some, like Swellow and Salamence, had their designs outright ruined by this. For others, it was the making of them; I went from disliking certain designs because they looked flat and stiff on the DS to loving them because they looked dynamic and interesting on the 3DS.
-Lumiose City. While it is generally accepted that this place is far, far too big (and I can never visit it without getting lost and having to take a taxi) I appreciate GF's ambition and the first city in the games that genuinely did do justice to the scope of the place it's based on. Castelia City is amazing but it's still too small to ever come close to truly feeling like it's doing Lower Manhattan justice (and I say that as a big Unova fanboy).
-The hints at a good story. I feel like the story of X and Y is a fundamentally interesting one. It's just that the idea was driven off a cliff by the game writers. Every so often there's a moment where I feel like something brilliant is peeking through, but it's quickly stifled. Lysandre's initial conversation with Diantha is a prime example. Unfortunately, any complexity or depth the central story has is drowned out by the mediocre characterisation and the bare-bones "break into the evil team's HQ" plot we've seen again and again. The anime and the manga both did this story a little better (to varying degrees).
-The music. While a lot of it is fairly forgettable (especially the dire Gym Leader theme), Diantha's theme, the Pokemon League music, the Route 8 theme, and the opening movie are all highlights to me.
-Clothing customisation. I was initially uninterested but rapidly found this incredibly fun (and chose to play as a girl for this feature). My character looks incredibly stylish in her pencil skirt, I love it.
-Baby Pokemon having 3 perfect IVs no matter what. Simple little quality-of-life change that improved that continued the tradition of making life a little easier for Pokemon breeders but that didn't make things too easy.
In sum, while there's a lot I disliked about XY, they're not all bad. I'll probably give my copy of Y another go at some point.
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Over the years I keep going back & forth on how much I liked XY. They're very flawed, but I think overall they are better than given credit.
One thing I never let go of, though, is Kalos. I just think its a really nice region! I appreciated that every cave tried to have its own gimmick, I thought the routes were lovely, the pokemon variety within those routes were good. Just a pleasant region to go through
I've always had the opinion that Hoenn had some of the best land routes in the series, but it was marred by the uninspired water routes; overall I think kalos might win out for me as one of my favorite regions.
One thing I never let go of, though, is Kalos. I just think its a really nice region! I appreciated that every cave tried to have its own gimmick, I thought the routes were lovely, the pokemon variety within those routes were good. Just a pleasant region to go through
I've always had the opinion that Hoenn had some of the best land routes in the series, but it was marred by the uninspired water routes; overall I think kalos might win out for me as one of my favorite regions.
The discussion on textures in little-things-that-annoy-you has reminded me of something: Johto in HGSS is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful region. This isn't to say that it wasn't good in GSC, it was excellent there especially given the limitations! But I feel they absolutely brought their A-game on the remaster, and I daresay it's the nicest a Pokémon game has ever looked.
I think XY is one of the nicest Pokémon games to replay too. It's not bogged down by endless cutscenes like every game since it, Kalos is a really nice region, and the Pokémon diversity, while perhaps overwhelming at first, gives amazing versatility to your in-game team. There are so many Pokémon you can just pick up and use. Just look up any Pokémon from the first six generations and see if it's in the games; chances are you can find it lounging about in Kalos. Sure, the game is ridiculously easy, but it's very conducive to challenge runs. I had a real blast going through Y training two teams, for instance, switching over to the other team after (almost) every big story battle. It's a really fun Pokémon game to relax with.
Let's not miss this opportunity to say something nice about Galar.
I like Crown Tundra! I've said this before, but it's a very pretty landscape with a lot of biome variety; but beyond that it feels so natural. It's one of the best types of feelings a place like this can evoke in a video game, where it doesn't feel like a developer creating a set route and instead feels like a completely wild place you're exploring for the first time.
Peony's theme is sick
I will give non-DLC Galar this love:
-several of its routes have nince vibes. The fields before milo's town is cool, for example, and I like the desert-y mountain route. Aesthetically the "ruins" route is...fine, just hampered by the ladders
-Route 9 is the best water route in the series and the best route in the game
-glimwood tangle is pretty, as is ballonlea.
-slumbering weald's theme is A+
-several of its routes have nince vibes. The fields before milo's town is cool, for example, and I like the desert-y mountain route. Aesthetically the "ruins" route is...fine, just hampered by the ladders
-Route 9 is the best water route in the series and the best route in the game
-glimwood tangle is pretty, as is ballonlea.
-slumbering weald's theme is A+
This song. Just this song and the entire accompanying sequence. Pokemon's answer to the TTYD Shadow Queen fight and it's glorious
I like about the Gen 8 games that Vitamins can be used to max out stats instead being limited to 10 per stat, making various Event Exclusives moves into TR, TMs and level up moves that are crucial to certain Pokemon's usability and viability and lastly the EXP Charm which is should be an item given for the post game.
Sadly, that doesn't make me want to get the Gen 8 games to be honest. There may be stuff I would like if I played the game, but I don't have any interest in SwSh. This may be the first time I fully skip a Pokemon generation.
Sadly, that doesn't make me want to get the Gen 8 games to be honest. There may be stuff I would like if I played the game, but I don't have any interest in SwSh. This may be the first time I fully skip a Pokemon generation.
XY was my return to Pokemon after a long absence. I can't find it in my heart to dislike it, no matter how easy it is. And actually, perhaps the fact that it was so easy makes it perfect as a reintroduction to those who once played but haven't checked in in a while.
I wouldn't blame the breaking into the villain HQ's plot to be what made Team Flare a disappointment (infact I kind of like how to access the HQ you had to first find it which is revealed to be under Lysandre's cafe in Lumiose City, battling the waiter & waitress who are Flare members in disguise & trying to work off their 1 million dollar due you have to pay to be part of Team Flare. That was an interesting bit of foreshadow (since you go to the cafe to meet Sycamore and and that's where you first meet Lysandre) and world building with the grunts).
I'd more blame them having Lysandre being super serious "commit genocide to keep the world beautiful" and the grunts being wacky "gotta make a quick buck"; those two don't really mesh even with the explanation they're trying to make as much money as they could so Lysandre could fix/upgrade the Ultimate Weapon. Felt like after Plasma half of GF wanted to keep doing serious villains but the other half wanted to do a wacky so they compromised when they shouldn't have (or maybe they could have had two different villain groups).
I actually quite like the Gym Leader theme, though when I first heard it I did think it more sounded like an Elite Four theme, lol.
Other memorable themes (for me): VS Team Flare, Poke Ball Factory/Kalos Power Plant, Friend's Theme (Friend's Forever), A Terrible Past, Floetta Returns, Kalos Legendary's Theme, Looker's Sorrowful Theme, & Emma's Theme.
Funny thing about that... it was unintentional. GF only meant for Legendary Pokemon to have 3 perfect IVs. So how did Baby Pokemon also end up with 3 perfect IVs? Well the way they did this was by designating that all Pokemon in the Undiscovered "Egg Group" were to have 3 perfect IVs when obtained. GF seemingly forgot that was also where they put the Baby Pokemon... and Nidorina and Nidoqueen (though only Nidorina can be caught in the Wild, on Route 11). However ORAS onwards the 3 perfect IVs only applies to the Legendaries.
I liked how they really made it feel like England, with the British slang and all, and a lot of the new Pokemon being based on British legends/culture or animals that live there
I mean, the "destroying the world" thing just doesn't work full stop. In X, Lysandre wants to make the world unchanging and eternal so its beauty lasts forever. Um... I don't think it would quite work that way. In Y, he wants to end the world... so its beauty never fades. That's a bit like me saying I want to kill my wife so that she stays young and beautiful forever. Yes, it works metaphorically but it's batshit crazy.
Yeah I'd buy that, makes a lot of sense.
The first time I heard it I thought my 3DS was running slowly. It's definitely an acquired taste!
I wish they hadn't switched that back. Not only was it a QOL change, it also incentivised catching the baby forms (and Nidorina) where they were available. There's a great example of this in Reflection Cave: you can catch both Mr. Mime and Mime Jr. Mr. Mime is easier to find, but if you put the effort in to catch a Mime Jr, you'll end up with a stronger Pokemon on average. It's a cool little gameplay element.
I guarantee there have been at least six people in the past fifty years who have been deranged enough to do this for real.
That's not exactly Lysandre's motive, though I don't blame you for not catching it. He gives his motives why he's doing things in chunks and they're very much "blink and you'll miss it" moments. Lysandre is also a more dramatic person so he bury his motives in somewhat fancy talk and a few time metaphors. To put Lysandre's motives simply:
- Lysandre is a descendent of a king of Kalos (revealed to be AZ's younger brother who took over ruling after AZ banished himself after firing the Ultimate Weapon & Floette abandoned him), and though he is not royalty as Kalos doesn't look to have kept their monarchs, he still feels that he has a responsibility to help the people of Kalos.
- I'm guessing before Lysandre's company Kalos had a problem with a lot of people living under the poverty line as Lysandre's focus of helping the people was to improve everyone's lives. He did so by going to university/college to learn about technology (this is likely where he met Sycamore who was one of his teachers) and after so started his company.
- Lysandre's goals were noble and he helped a lot of people and uplifted Kalos's reputation. However, Lysandre fell into a mental sinkhole of thinking he needed to help EVERYONE and despite all the money and time he spends there are people who he still can't reach out to help. This began a spiral of madness for Lysandre, figuring out why he couldn't, and he came to the conclusion is that there simply wasn't enough resources for everyone. And not just in Kalos, the entire world he viewed having an overpopulation problem. And this caused suffering, notably for the poorer people while the rich not only took what they needed but also greedily hoarded and held onto more resources that others could use (money, land, opportunities, media attention, etc.). If things kept going as it was now he concluded the world would be consumed away and in the end people will be fighting over the few resources that are left until there was no more.
- Eventually Lysandre's mind broke. He could no longer see past most people being selfish, greedy, and uncaring for each other and the world. He decided, since he's the only one who cares, he'll remake the world in his own image and only for those who believe what he believes. Thus he started Team Flare and came up with plans to use the Ultimate Weapon he likely knew about as it was a secret kept with his family throughout the ages. He knew what it could do so planned to make himself and all his followers immortal while then wiping out everyone else (each game only explained one side of his plans to match the game's Legendary though it's clear both goals were intended to happen thanks to AZ's story explaining the Ultimate Weapon's dual power).
Also probably doesn't need to be their wife, significant other, or related/personally known to them. Stalkers are very much real and many have a "they must only be mine and if I can't have them then no one can" mentality.
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No, I get it.
I just feel that the execution of this is WHY it's not a good story. Everything you highlight is interesting as hell and gives the plot all the moral greyness and contradictions that BW's story had (and SM too - though the less said about USUM the better). But I feel that too little of this is highlighted in-game or, in the instance that it is, it's mentioned in passing or in an incomplete way, which leaves the backstory and context feeling light and not properly filled in. If any of what you'd highlighted was discussed in detail or affected the plot it would have made the story richer. But it isn't. Where in Kalos is there massive poverty? Where is there overpopulation? Where are people struggling for resources? Sure, these might all be things that are happening outside of Kalos in the wider world. But then why aren't we there?
Moreover, the flowery metaphors don't even hold up. The game directly associates Diantha with the idea of the passage of time and the dwindling of natural resources, but then utterly ignores her until she needs to show up right at the end to be battled. Professor Sycamore has almost no involvement in the main story. The game's plot is more concerned with the generic "stop evil team from awakening bad legendary, then catch legendary" routine which feels awkwardly crammed in because we need to have a big scary legendary to fight.
The shallow characterisation of nearly all the cast really doesn't help with this. Lysandre directly says to Diantha that he "would end the world to stop the world's beauty from fading" and she shrugs it off as if it's a philosophical point, perhaps not realising that he's being completely serious. Does she feel any guilt for underestimating him? Fuck knows. She just casually thanks the player for stopping him. It's incredibly underwhelming.
Like I said, there's the germ of a good story - a really good one, in fact - at the heart of XY. It's just bungled really badly and not given the room it needs to breathe.
The Isle of Armor really made the most out of the map design despite its limitations (no field moves) with the Isle of Armor. It was really reassuring to see just how good and layered it is (look at that forest!) and it honestly gave me hope the next game will be so much better after so many instances of corridor syndrome.
Also, for the base game, making the Gym Leader Challenge hype and a big deal was definitely a welcome change.