Galar's problem is that it's in Sword and Shield, but the region itself had potential.
Oh, it had potential. There was just that little issue of this potential being largely unfulfilled.
To avoid being all negative about Galar, given the idea of this thread and all, I think I will try to phrase my argument in terms of liking what the other regions did better:
An appreciable aspect of
Kanto is its variety of dungeons. Sure, it has the standard forest and caves at the beginning of the game, but you also get to battle your way through an ocean liner, a power plant, a shady mafia base underneath a casino, a haunted tower, the icy deep caves underneath a pair of godforsaken rocks out in the ocean, a burnt-out mansion, and a large office building. Plus a few more caves for good measure. Galar appears to have given up after the first two entries: two forests and two caves, that's it. And they're comparatively
tiny as well.
Whenever we talk about
Johto, one aspect springs out clearer than the others: its mythology.
This is how you do reverence towards legendaries. Not statues in a hotel lobby, but giant temples in a holy city. Add to it the pristine feel of the whole are around Ecruteak, starting with National Park and Violet City (with the Ruins of Alph), Mt. Mortar and Lake of Rage in the east and the seaside route to the West, and Johto manages to provide a really nice atmosphere, despite the limitations of the hardware and engine the games were running on. I don't really see anywhere in Galar with quite the same feeling of being built around its mythology, although the Crown Tundra and Isle of Armor might contain something of the sort.
Hoenn has the greatest layout of the regions in my book. No matter where you go, you can usually continue forward, and then loop back to some previously visited location (and the region is gorgeous too, full of places that are nice to revisit). Going west from Fallarbor Town takes you back to Rustboro City. South from Mt. Pyre you'll get back to Mauville. North and east of Slateport, you're back to Oldale. Verdanturf Town contains another shortcut back to Rustboro. The ferry service provides a shortcut between Lilycove and Slateport. The result is a region you can traverse on foot (or by bike), without taking much more time than flying. Granted, the towns in the sea are a bit of a pain to get to and from (Sootopolis in particular), but the land portion of Hoenn manages to be compact enough that I often find myself taking the scenic route when going between two locations, rather than just teleporting from point to point. Galar is a bit more of a pain to traverse, despite its tiny size. There are some loops, but few true "intersections" making travel by land somewhat cumbersome (not to mention that you pass through the full length of every dungeon and Route along the way). Try drawing a line on the map from Ballonlea to Hulbury, for instance. Or Wyndon to Circhester, which neighbour each other on the map. It's not a region that invites you to visit any route more often than you need to.
I would be daft if I didn't mention the whole atmosphere of
Orre. Outskirt Stand is a dusty island of civilization in the endless desert. Phenac City is a watery and vibrant paradise in an otherwise parched and desolate region. Realgam Tower shines like a gem. And Pyrite Town and The Under easily stand among the greatest, most atmospheric locations in all of Pokémon. Post-industrial towns in the wasteland, where any government has long since packed up and left for greener pastures, and where only the most rugged thrive. The combination of music and graphics makes Orre a top-notch region.
When it comes to
Sinnoh, it is mostly in the same boat as Hoenn but less pedestrian-friendly. If I were to point out one specific aspect of Sinnoh that compares favourably to Galar, it's the use of its central area to tie the region together. Mt. Coronet is "everywhere" in Sinnoh. To quote Bulbapedia: " As a centerpiece of the region, the cave connects
Oreburgh City,
Eterna City,
Hearthome City,
Celestic Town, and
Snowpoint City via
Routes 207,
208,
211,
216, and
217." Sure, Mt. Coronet is a bit of a hassle to navigate and generally a pain in the rear when you try to go anywhere, but on a conceptual level it ties the region together much more effectively than the Wild Area, which has only three exits and is generally treated as a separate area from the rest of Galar. Mt. Coronet is deeply integrated in Sinnoh. The Wild Area is a place in Galar.
I think we can all agree that
Unova stands as the high water mark of scope and variety in Pokémon. The region is massive, featuring 21 cities (twice as many as Galar even if you count Postwick and Spikemuth), 29 Routes (if you count the bridges), and a ton of dungeons and side areas. And what variety it has too: you've got grassy fields, forests, big cities, suburbs, a desert, two malls, marshes, volcanoes, tropical beaches, misty mountains with waterfalls, electric caves, mountains, ruined towers, ruins both underwater and under sand, movie studios, sewers ... Galar is honestly pitifully small and samey by comparison.
When it comes to
Kalos, beauty was a central theme of the development, and it shows. The marvellous gardens south of Lumiose and at the Perfum Palace. The countryside around Camphrier Town and the Battle Chateau. The seaside cliffs of Ambrette Town. The caves, oh, just all of the caves. The cozy autumn feel of Laverre City and the routes around it. The waterfalls of Couriway Town. Anistar City on the seaside. And of course, the jewel of Kalos, Lumiose City. Granted, Galar looks nice in places, but it doesn't hold a candle to Kalos. I think one of the reasons why is that Kalos subtly "teleports" you a bit, as if the routes and cities aren't contiguous. For instance, none of the routes around Lumiose feel like they're directly connected to the city. It's as if you take the train for an hour or two before coming out at the other end of the gate. As if you're only seeing parts of Kalos, allowing each location to feel like it stretches for miles beyond what you can see, despite the fact you can run through it on your direct way between two cities in a hot minute.
I don't really count
Alola among my favourite regions either, but at least it deserves some praise for, paradoxically, doing the opposite of Kalos very well. While Kalos feels like each route/town transition takes you several miles away in just a moment, Alola is extremely cohesive. You can clearly trace every step of the path around Alola's islands (with a few exceptions, granted - Wela Volcano Park is the worst offender, but Mt. Hokulani also feels like it's miles away from the city it's supposedly overlooking). The routes feel like they begin where the towns end, and it feels believable. Of course you can just step around the corner from Hau'oli City's Poké Center and out on Route 1. Seafolk Village is located right on the shore of Poni Island. Paniola Town lies right next to the ranch, it's right there.
Granted, this is a trade-off. With Alola having such smooth transitions, it doesn't really do well in terms of variety of biomes. Wherever you go, you see the Hawaiian seaside. You couldn't walk from the tropical beach and right into a snowfield. Kalos solved this problem by "teleporting" you. Galar solves it by saying: "yes, you
can walk from the tropical beach right into a snowfield, I don't see the problem!" Galar has the cohesion of Alola, but absolutely jarring transitions of biomes. The weather in the Wild Area is the most frequently mocked here, but going from the desert-like Route 8 to the perpetual winter of Circhester, or the snowy Route 10 to the sunny and temperate Wyndon, feels jarring. Stow-on-Side is a parched, rocky cliff with an architecture reminiscent of South American mountain towns. It transitions right into Glimwood Tangle, which is a deep, dark, fairytale forest. It's like each city has a Route associated with it, but they're cobbled together randomly with no concern for the greater picture. When you step out of one area and right into another with completely different aesthetics, it feels very jarring. Might as well mention how Orre solved this issue too: making each area a separate "island" with implied miles and miles of driving between them. Galar seems to take the same approach with the DLC areas too.
So yeah, there are aspects of the other regions that they do beautifully and elegantly where Galar just flunks. It's small and lacks features, and doesn't really invite travel on land anywhere but within the Wild Area. If the next games present an even worse region, I think I could find something positive to say about Galar by comparison, but given how long this franchise has been going and how much the creators have gotten right before, I think it is awfully poorly designed.
