-
Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
Yeah, I got that, but I still don't get the connection.
Like in the Mystery & Conspiracy thread, bdt2002 also mentioned another ship: Falkner & Janine. While I disagreed that the scene in question was a hint to it, I can still see the pairing of the two characters from both a casual glance of the scene as well as looking deeper into their characters & interactions.
But Lucian & Shauntel? It's questionable if they ever interacted, maybe at most Lucian read some stuff written by Shauntel (though being it's alluded she's a ghostwriter who knows if he knows she wrote it and she definitely wouldn't know she read some of her work). Like, I'm sure if they did meet and sat down they would have a lovely conversation about books, but that's really all I see happening. It would take many more encounters for even a remote chance of a romance to occur. Going back to Falkner & Janine, the two live in regions right next to each other and seem to be in general talks with one another (mostly arguments on who's father is better); I can see where a tsundere relationship can form.
Klinklang > Gen 1's trio of penises moles that are really happy to see you only show their heads above ground any day. Cry harder, genwunners.
Allow me to clarify something real quick just so it’s not stressing me out anymore. That whole theme of shipping in those two posts I made was purely coincidental. I had only made those posts because they seemed relevant to each respective thread. I apologize if the topic change upset anyone. it also doesn’t have anything to do with how I wanted to have more of a social life this summer
Now that that’s over with, let’s go back to discussion of these unpopular opinions. First, my take on the Mythical Pokémon debate. Point #1: they do count as Legendaries. It’s kinda like that whole “squares are rectangles but rectangles aren’t squares” thing. Point #2: Mythical Pokémon aren’t always bad by design, but my problem with them is how they’re used as a cash grab for things, notably the movies and the next upcoming game. Since around the late 2000s or so, there’s been around one Mythical released per year. In the years where there aren’t, you get things like Lucario and Zoroark.
Now that that’s over with, let’s go back to discussion of these unpopular opinions. First, my take on the Mythical Pokémon debate. Point #1: they do count as Legendaries. It’s kinda like that whole “squares are rectangles but rectangles aren’t squares” thing. Point #2: Mythical Pokémon aren’t always bad by design, but my problem with them is how they’re used as a cash grab for things, notably the movies and the next upcoming game. Since around the late 2000s or so, there’s been around one Mythical released per year. In the years where there aren’t, you get things like Lucario and Zoroark.
A few short thoughts on some subjects that have recently been discussed here:
Cynthia (and Champions in general)
I don't think Cynthia is poorly designed. Nor do I find her overrated or overhyped. If anything, I think she deserves most of the hype she gets, so I'd say she's "correctly hyped" if such a term exists (if it didn't before, then it does now). I think she's great, and I like her for many reasons. She's a an attractive young woman (I was 16 when D/P were released, so go figure) with a strong and balanced team. I don't recall finding her super difficult in the Sinnoh games, but I did a lot of grinding before the E4 when I played them (IIRC I grinded my teams to 66 in D/P and 60-ish in Platinum) so it's probably not that strange. However, I almost lost against her the first time I faced her in Black. I was seriously underleveled (or rather, she was overleveled) and I had a very hard time beating her with my team. I think I only won thanks to using several Revives.
Another reason I like her is because I find her to be a lot better and more interesting than any of the previous Champions. Let's take a look at them in order:
I always found Blue to be terribly bland and uninteresting in the Kanto games, both as a rival and a Champion. I think there's a lot of potential to make him great, but his story and character development needs to be handled a lot better in order for that to happen.
I feel that Lance is underwhelming, both as a Champion and a Dragon-type trainer, I honestly liked him better when he was just a regular E4 member in the Kanto games. Though I have a lot of negative bias towards most of Gen 2 and Johto, which might also be a contributing factor as for why I just don't find him all that interesting.
Steven and Wallace were okay. I think they were better than Blue and Lance, but I don't find them quite as great as subsequent Champions. In R/S/E at least, OR/AS improved upon them massively.
In comparison to all of them, I think Cynthia was handled way better. Her character is interesting and I think her involvement in the story is well handled as well. She was also the first female Champion in the series, which might be another reason as for why people like her.
Overall, she's one of my favorite Champions in the series. My top 5 Champions are Iris, Alder, Cynthia, Steven and Leon, in that order. Not sure if liking any of them is unpopular though.
Shauntal and Lucian
I have never thought about a ship or a connection between them, but I guess it makes sense. A reader and a writer, it would be a perfect match! As for Shauntal being a "Ghostwriter", I have never thought about that either. The way she is portrayed in the games makes it feel like she is the one writing the books... though I guess they can still be published under somebody else's name.
Klinklang
I agree about Klinklang having a great design. I like it a lot, I used one on my mid-game team in Moon and it was tons of fun! It feels like a highly underrated and underappreciated Pokémon if you ask me.
Mythicals
First of all, I don't think the opinion that mythicals having declined in recent generations (in terms of how they are handled in the games), or the more recent mythicals being cash grabs or Pokémon solely created to advertise the new movies are unpopular opinions. I have seen opinions like those being thrown around a lot, so it feels more like popular opinions at this point. That said, they are still opinions I mostly agree with. I think that mythicals in general were well handled from Gen 1-5, then they have been shafted starting from Gen 6 and forward. With that said, I still like several of the newer mythicals as actual Pokémon. Magearna and Zeraora are two of my overall top favorite mythicals. I like Diancie, Volcanion and Zarude a lot as well. Hoopa and Marshadow are cool too.
About mythicals, perhaps this is an unpopular opinion regarding them? Mew is my least favorite mythical Pokémon. I don't care much for it in terms of design, it feels rather bland and boring to me. The whole gimmick of it being able to learn every move through TM/Tutor has always felt very forced to me. It's lore/backstory in the games is below average if you ask me, there are a lot of unanswered questions but the way they set it up as a "mystery" is pretty poorly handled. And the way GF constantly seems to push it as a "special" Pokémon (way more than any other mythical) has always felt extremely forced to me as well. While I don't dislike Mew, I find it overrated, and I like Mewtwo a lot better than it.
Cynthia (and Champions in general)
I don't think Cynthia is poorly designed. Nor do I find her overrated or overhyped. If anything, I think she deserves most of the hype she gets, so I'd say she's "correctly hyped" if such a term exists (if it didn't before, then it does now). I think she's great, and I like her for many reasons. She's a an attractive young woman (I was 16 when D/P were released, so go figure) with a strong and balanced team. I don't recall finding her super difficult in the Sinnoh games, but I did a lot of grinding before the E4 when I played them (IIRC I grinded my teams to 66 in D/P and 60-ish in Platinum) so it's probably not that strange. However, I almost lost against her the first time I faced her in Black. I was seriously underleveled (or rather, she was overleveled) and I had a very hard time beating her with my team. I think I only won thanks to using several Revives.
Another reason I like her is because I find her to be a lot better and more interesting than any of the previous Champions. Let's take a look at them in order:
I always found Blue to be terribly bland and uninteresting in the Kanto games, both as a rival and a Champion. I think there's a lot of potential to make him great, but his story and character development needs to be handled a lot better in order for that to happen.
I feel that Lance is underwhelming, both as a Champion and a Dragon-type trainer, I honestly liked him better when he was just a regular E4 member in the Kanto games. Though I have a lot of negative bias towards most of Gen 2 and Johto, which might also be a contributing factor as for why I just don't find him all that interesting.
Steven and Wallace were okay. I think they were better than Blue and Lance, but I don't find them quite as great as subsequent Champions. In R/S/E at least, OR/AS improved upon them massively.
In comparison to all of them, I think Cynthia was handled way better. Her character is interesting and I think her involvement in the story is well handled as well. She was also the first female Champion in the series, which might be another reason as for why people like her.
Overall, she's one of my favorite Champions in the series. My top 5 Champions are Iris, Alder, Cynthia, Steven and Leon, in that order. Not sure if liking any of them is unpopular though.
Shauntal and Lucian
I have never thought about a ship or a connection between them, but I guess it makes sense. A reader and a writer, it would be a perfect match! As for Shauntal being a "Ghostwriter", I have never thought about that either. The way she is portrayed in the games makes it feel like she is the one writing the books... though I guess they can still be published under somebody else's name.
Klinklang
I agree about Klinklang having a great design. I like it a lot, I used one on my mid-game team in Moon and it was tons of fun! It feels like a highly underrated and underappreciated Pokémon if you ask me.
Mythicals
First of all, I don't think the opinion that mythicals having declined in recent generations (in terms of how they are handled in the games), or the more recent mythicals being cash grabs or Pokémon solely created to advertise the new movies are unpopular opinions. I have seen opinions like those being thrown around a lot, so it feels more like popular opinions at this point. That said, they are still opinions I mostly agree with. I think that mythicals in general were well handled from Gen 1-5, then they have been shafted starting from Gen 6 and forward. With that said, I still like several of the newer mythicals as actual Pokémon. Magearna and Zeraora are two of my overall top favorite mythicals. I like Diancie, Volcanion and Zarude a lot as well. Hoopa and Marshadow are cool too.
About mythicals, perhaps this is an unpopular opinion regarding them? Mew is my least favorite mythical Pokémon. I don't care much for it in terms of design, it feels rather bland and boring to me. The whole gimmick of it being able to learn every move through TM/Tutor has always felt very forced to me. It's lore/backstory in the games is below average if you ask me, there are a lot of unanswered questions but the way they set it up as a "mystery" is pretty poorly handled. And the way GF constantly seems to push it as a "special" Pokémon (way more than any other mythical) has always felt extremely forced to me as well. While I don't dislike Mew, I find it overrated, and I like Mewtwo a lot better than it.
While I don’t exactly agree with you, I can definitely see where you’re coming from. Mew has probably the least going on visually out of all the mythical’s. As for mewtwo, it’s cool, but I feel that some of its specialness has kind of gone away with all the other artificial legendary’s. Here are some other legendary opinions for this thread:
Ho-oh
I think ho-oh started a trend of legendary Pokémon being more divine. If that’s what Game Freak wants to do then that’s fine, but you’ll either have to make them uncatchable or give some kind of explanation better than “it likes you“. Ho-oh is at least a little more tame than “creator of the universe”, in that it only, y’know, revived the dead! Ho-oh itself is fine, I’m just not a big fan of its impact.
Lugia
If you’re going to give ho-oh godlike powers, then you could at least give lugia something similar. I have heard the story of its creation, originally being created for the movie, and then being incorporated into the games as the other box legendary, replacing some other lion Pokémon, but if they really wanted to put it in the games, they could have kept the lion and made lugia like mewtwo in gen 1. Over all I do like lugia better than ho-oh.
Ultra Beasts
Are they legendarys? Yes. Should they be legendarys? I don’t think so. I absolutely love the ultra beasts but I don’t know if they should even count as Pokémon. They’re aliens from another dimension. I’m not saying that they should have been less powerful, that’s part of why I like them so much. The fact that they on par with our universes gods is terrifying. But putting them among that pantheon just feels wrong, like it’s not doing them justice. I’ve seen people dislike the ultra beasts because they look too alien. Which is understandable, but that’s the point. They’re aliens from another dimension. I’ve also seen people who want ultra beasts that are equivalent to first route Pokémon like pidgey or caterpie. But I think that that’s exactly what we’ve been seeing. Buzzwole and nihilego Are those pidgeys and caterpies. And as I said earlier, that’s the best kind of terrifying. If we’ve only seen the early game stuff, what about an ultra snorlax, gengar, hydraogon, mewtwo! Give me those bst’s in the 10,000! Granted, usum kind of made that less likely, with all the ultra beasts being in their own universe, and poiple basically just being the ultra space equivalent of a stater. Although it’s still my head cannon that eternatis is from ultra space, and that eternamax is basically slowpoke.
Last edited:
For Gen 4 being a clone of 3....initially I'd honestly say it was far worse
Trading from GBA to DS initially required only being able to do 1 mon every 6-12 hours, so the complaint of Gen 3 dexit technically still applies for most that can't be bothered. And while RS did something unique with 2 teams for version differences, we had none for DP bar version exclusives for mons. And DPs base dex is incredibly terrible, in addition to the fact Gens 3s...not only is more balanced, but also flat out bigger. Then you have drastic speed problems, and worse diversity for tiles, and Girantina flat out being sad for location. Most also were very divisive for the cross evos
Why was 4 better recieved? It was right after the awkwardness for kids in middle school, and the anime was hyping with new legends or Lucario. And noticeably the Dex had a butt tonne of legendaries, including God. It was a resurgence of Pokemania, and the already overrated Gen 2 gets a remake. Gen 3 had FRLG, which without wacky sprites or glitches, kinda shows how bare Gen 1 is in scenery and content (Gen 2 only gets by with duo regions despite both being smaller than OG/FRLG Kanto)
Plat fixed some things (tiles especially), and the villains are given slightly more involvement, but I can't feel attached to Gen 4 overall despite loving EoS. It feels unfair how sacked 3 was for rep
And unfortunately similar to how Late Gen 1/2 Pokemania hype died, it also happened when Gen 4's died, causing people to be more cynical to Gen 5s faults and reboot attempt, not unlike 3. It almost happens for every odd and even numbered region (odd bad, even good), until Gen 8 broke the cycle in being mostly hated by a lotta people
That said, I can't dismiss 3s errors, the main one being how bloated the battle engine became....that continued till now, reliance on external assets, and the color palettes for mons. The anime wasn't doing so well for the TV series either, it was already declining for Gen 2. And the GC games are beyond overrated (not to mention people miscredit HAL when they were the ones that did the mon model/anims, unlike Genius Sonority)
I'm probably less affected by Pokemania given how late I am to the Fandom (like, 2018), but it reminds me of other nostalgic boons in other Fandoms enough for me to say that, it's a shame how this enabled GF to retread back additions with sudden success most of the time
Also GTI's story >> Super's. Super is ripoff down to the final boss, along with the garbage "kindergarten"
I've been meaning to write something along the same lines for a while, though I think of it more as a spiritual sequel than a clone.
Some things which spring to mind:
-Team Galactic's goal is for all intents and purposes identical to Magma/Aqua's; the plots of both games are more or less identical
-there are two different cover legendaries which the evil team awakes, then both are brought together in the 3rd version
-Hoenn and Sinnoh parallel one another in many ways, which accentuates the similarity between the two; Hoenn is tropical and verdant while Sinnoh is cold and mountainous, and Hoenn's mix of land and sea routes contrasts with Sinnoh's very few sea routes
-as mentioned, lots of routes and locations also feel quite similar (not least the tower which became a frontier) and there are some straight-up copies like the creepy old lady on Route 111/228
-both regions feature a lot of back-and-forth and jumping around to different areas as part of the plot, in contrast to, say, Unova, Kalos, and Alola, which are for the most part straightforward
-both games feature the unselected player character as a pseudo-rival, with the real rival being a distinct original character
Given the extent to which the fourth generation innovated (the physical/special split, gender differences, properly implementing form changes as a concept, giving a large amount of underwhelming Pokemon deserved evolutions) it kept a lot static. For all that Masuda claimed prior to release that DP would be "the ultimate Pokemon version" it seems a lot like that was meant more in terms of refining what had already been done rather than creating something entirely new. Gen V really did reinvent the series in a bigger way than any other generation imo.
Cheese (the food) sucks
Oh wait, this is about Pokemon. Then...
I liked Diamond and Pearl gym structure more than Platinum's, The journey between Eterna City and Veilstone City feels much more epic than arriving into Hearthome after beating 5 trainers that are not even neccesary and doing the stupid and annoying Hearthome Gym challenge which I rlly hated. Also Lucario would be a bigger threat if Veilstone were the third gym, and I rlly like Fantina having Drifblim-Gengar-Mismagius instead of Duskull-Haunter-Mismagius. For now we gonna ignore Volkner's Octillery and Ambipom.
Oh wait, this is about Pokemon. Then...
I liked Diamond and Pearl gym structure more than Platinum's, The journey between Eterna City and Veilstone City feels much more epic than arriving into Hearthome after beating 5 trainers that are not even neccesary and doing the stupid and annoying Hearthome Gym challenge which I rlly hated. Also Lucario would be a bigger threat if Veilstone were the third gym, and I rlly like Fantina having Drifblim-Gengar-Mismagius instead of Duskull-Haunter-Mismagius. For now we gonna ignore Volkner's Octillery and Ambipom.
Hearthome Gym in general sucks. Ghost gyms are challenging to build a concept around in fairness, but Morty's gym is more interesting in both iterations than DPP's effort. The maths puzzle in DP is dull and simple for the majority of players (at least they recognised this, since one of the trainers in the wrong rooms calls you out for deliberately taking the wrong room) and I've always found the flashlight maze in Plat to be incredibly tedious and more of a chore than a challenge.
Contrast this with Veilstone Gym (which is legitimately tricky and somewhat interesting in both versions) and the Eterna Gym (which is a cool concept well executed in DP and a completely hideous mess in Plat).
Contrast this with Veilstone Gym (which is legitimately tricky and somewhat interesting in both versions) and the Eterna Gym (which is a cool concept well executed in DP and a completely hideous mess in Plat).
Not to mention completely trivial if you are playing in an inaccurate emulator like NO$GBA.
Last edited:
Oh good lord, I'd never seen that before. Awful.
At least the math test could be missed if doing mentally or in the last one, when it asks you the answer of the first
Veilstone Gym in Platinum sucks, it takes a lot of time when you hit the bags, the rolling yellow things were much better
To me I'd personally say that Gen 3 was sort of the experimental generation that Gen 4 built upon and made its identity with its games. Gen 4 is praised for a lot of reasons, aside from the fact that it was the era when the second wave of Pokemon fans rolled in, but in many ways the big things it has going for it (and this applies to the DS era as a whole) aside from that green_typhlosion mentioned is the sheer amount of fun content the games have. The games are still pretty simple in terms of story, but what they have going for them is content. The regions are great to explore, but what DPP and HGSS offer is the amount of stuff you can do after becoming Champion. DP had a whole lot to explore after defeating Cynthia in Route 224 and the Battle Zone, and it brought back Contests from Gen 3. Platinum took it even further and added a Battle Frontier, which returned in HGSS. HGSS brought back Kanto but expanded upon it so there was genuinely more to do there, and added loads of content that made for a game that gave you so, so much to do aside from the main campaign: it modernized GSC by adding more stuff like Pokeathlon, the Frontier, more legendaries to find in Kanto, and vice versa plus stuff like Gym Leader rematches, the Safari Zone that is customizable, and vice versa.
The DS era was all about having more to explore and more to do in those new areas. Gen 5 had this too, with BW1 having half the region left unexplored for post-game, more post-game dungeons, and Alder+bonus bosses in Cynthia and Morimoto, and BW2 did this too with more of the region to explore, Pokemon World Tournament, and more.
Each game in Gen 3 was sort of the experimental stepping stone that led to the creation of what Gen 4 was all about and what defined the DS era the most. Ruby and Sapphire had a pretty barebones postgame like the two gens before it, but it added Contests and Secret Bases as fun features that DPP retained. FRLG added the Sevii Islands as new areas to explore and train your Pokemon, which was a big aspect of Gen 4/5 postgames in DPP, HGSS, BW, and BW2 with the Battle Zone, Kanto, and certain parts of Unova. Sevii was sort of the building block that led to all that. Emerald had the Battle Frontier as a full blown multi-battle facility post-game to do, which Platinum and HGSS brought back in their own spin.
Of course, that's not to say that Gen 3 was the only experimental/testing ground generation for the gen/era that came after. Gen 5, despite sticking to many things Gen 4 did, was also an experimental ground in and of itself. And how? It tried to experiment with adding a story to tell in Pokemon games. One of the reasons Gen 5 gets praise now is it had a really cool story to a Pokemon game to make it feel even more like an RPG, and this is something that would define the 3DS era. The 3DS era, with Gen 6 and especially Gen 7, was all about trying to create a story alongside the adventure beyond the simple "Get 8 badges, fill that Dex, and become the Champion", and tried to create characters and a story arc for many of them to make a more story-driven experience. This is aside from the fact that Gen 6 brought in yet *another* wave of Pokemon fans with new kids joining the Pokemon craze (aka the third wave), and in many ways like Gen 4 it also brought a lot of modernizations and innovations.
You can see this in how the 3DS games have a lot of story-driven elements in their adventures. XY's execution was a bit of a mess, but it definitely tried to have a story to tell, especially when one of its post-game quests is also a story in and of itself with Looker and Emma. ORAS also focused a lot on story, by fleshing out the characters and turning the barebones story of RSE into something that was genuinely quite cool to experience. Not to mention the post-game Delta Episode that added more to the lore of Hoenn. SM and USUM are, of course, incredibly story driven, especially the former. The games like SM and USUM and even the likes of ORAS have a lot of this, and even now there are people who *do* praise them because they loved the story they experiences with these games. USUM added quite a bit in terms of story and lore by adding a post-game story to call its own as well, with the Rainbow Rocket ep and looking at the Lillie/Gladion/Lusamine dynamic in a different angle from SM. Some could say the overall execution was worse (and in some ways, it is), but it's also an alternate angle at some of the characters' dynamics and personalities that SM didn't touch upon.
(I unfortunately can't really pinpoint on what Gen 7 tried to experiment with that Gen 8 expanded upon, because rn we only have Sword and Shield so I can't tell what the Switch era's schtick is, but if anyone can identify it I'd love to have some input).
A bit of a side note from that, but as an unpopular opinion in and of itself. I think Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are really great remakes, and overall really great games. I think a lot of people were a bit disappointed in them because they compared it to HeartGold and SoulSilver in terms of how they fleshed out and expanded upon their source games, but I think ORAS is also an awesome game and one of my favorites in the series, but I think they improve upon the original RSE differently. As such, I also really like ORAS for different reasons than HGSS. While HGSS fleshed out its source game by adding loads of awesome content to do in the post-game, and having a lot of stuff to do and more places to explore, I think where ORAS excels instead is in taking the Gen 5 approach and fleshing out the story. It took a rather weak and barebones story from Ruby and Sapphire and made it genuinely interesting to experience, by expanding upon the lore of Hoenn, fleshing out the characters to make them more interesting, and creating a truly enjoyable adventure to experience in Hoenn. That's not even to mention how it made Hoenn even more beautiful and seeing it in a modern light was so cool, just as HGSS did in making GSC Johto even better and more awesome. Plus while it didn't quite add the scope of content that HGSS had, it did still have a lot of cool features despite not having a Frontier. Soaring across Hoenn on Latios/Latias was awesome, and getting an overhead view of Hoenn was and still is cool, and finding a lot of Mirage Spots and tons of legendaries was still awesome, plus upgraded E4/Steven rematches like HGSS did with its own E4 and Lance. Not to mention the return of Contests, which are even better than in Gen 3. Overall I do really like ORAS, and appreciate it even more now in hindsight because when I look at it for what it is, and not for what I wanted it to be, I can truly appreciate it for the fact that it really is great in its own right and does a great job in reimagining the RSE experience in a modern light, just in a different fashion from how HGSS did it with GSC.
Finally, completely unrelated to the above, but tying into Champions. I think Alder is an incredibly underrated Champion. He's not the most memorable probably because you don't battle him the first time you go to the League, but he was one of the most involved Champions we ever had, even moreso than Cynthia or Steven pre-ORAS. He's not the strongest in terms of team, but he was one of the strongest morally and had a very compelling backstory. He's a man who seeks to teach the younger generation to love Pokemon, above all else, rather than sheer pursuit of strength, and while he does enjoy battling, he more than anything wishes to bring Pokemon and people even closer together, even after he retires in BW2, and challenges Cheren's viewpoint in that sense. But he's also a foil to N: while N wishes to separate people and Pokemon in BW1, Alder sees Pokemon and people and wants them to be strong together through bonds of trust and friendship. Even moreso, while N is determined to assert his way as superior, refusing to accept different ways of living, Alder is open and tries to spread understanding even in spite of differences. This is apparent even after N is defeated by you at the castle, where even though N defeated him, Alder still tried to reach out his hand to N as a friend, and tells him that even if people cannot fully understand each other's different viewpoints, that is not a reason to reject them, which shows how strong morally he is, and is key to N's growth that we see especially in BW2. It also ties wonderfully into the theme of truth vs ideals, and how at their core, both are based on perspective more than anything, and there is no one right answer: that answer is different for everyone.
His backstory also ties into his character now, in that he once upon a time madly pursued strength with his first partner Pokemon until one day, his original Volcarona died from illness, and that changed him profoundly and made him the man with the viewpoints he has today. This really ties into how he approaches Cheren: back in BW1 he was merely concerned with strength, but Alder changed that, because he knew from his past and still regrets that he never pursued a more meaningful goal with his first partner Pokemon, and he wants to make sure Cheren doesn't go down the road he did. He is a man driven by his life experience more than anything, and much of his character is based on what he lived in his entire life. I think that makes for a genuinely great character and a really cool Champion in his own right.
(end of long-ass rants lmao)
The DS era was all about having more to explore and more to do in those new areas. Gen 5 had this too, with BW1 having half the region left unexplored for post-game, more post-game dungeons, and Alder+bonus bosses in Cynthia and Morimoto, and BW2 did this too with more of the region to explore, Pokemon World Tournament, and more.
Each game in Gen 3 was sort of the experimental stepping stone that led to the creation of what Gen 4 was all about and what defined the DS era the most. Ruby and Sapphire had a pretty barebones postgame like the two gens before it, but it added Contests and Secret Bases as fun features that DPP retained. FRLG added the Sevii Islands as new areas to explore and train your Pokemon, which was a big aspect of Gen 4/5 postgames in DPP, HGSS, BW, and BW2 with the Battle Zone, Kanto, and certain parts of Unova. Sevii was sort of the building block that led to all that. Emerald had the Battle Frontier as a full blown multi-battle facility post-game to do, which Platinum and HGSS brought back in their own spin.
Of course, that's not to say that Gen 3 was the only experimental/testing ground generation for the gen/era that came after. Gen 5, despite sticking to many things Gen 4 did, was also an experimental ground in and of itself. And how? It tried to experiment with adding a story to tell in Pokemon games. One of the reasons Gen 5 gets praise now is it had a really cool story to a Pokemon game to make it feel even more like an RPG, and this is something that would define the 3DS era. The 3DS era, with Gen 6 and especially Gen 7, was all about trying to create a story alongside the adventure beyond the simple "Get 8 badges, fill that Dex, and become the Champion", and tried to create characters and a story arc for many of them to make a more story-driven experience. This is aside from the fact that Gen 6 brought in yet *another* wave of Pokemon fans with new kids joining the Pokemon craze (aka the third wave), and in many ways like Gen 4 it also brought a lot of modernizations and innovations.
You can see this in how the 3DS games have a lot of story-driven elements in their adventures. XY's execution was a bit of a mess, but it definitely tried to have a story to tell, especially when one of its post-game quests is also a story in and of itself with Looker and Emma. ORAS also focused a lot on story, by fleshing out the characters and turning the barebones story of RSE into something that was genuinely quite cool to experience. Not to mention the post-game Delta Episode that added more to the lore of Hoenn. SM and USUM are, of course, incredibly story driven, especially the former. The games like SM and USUM and even the likes of ORAS have a lot of this, and even now there are people who *do* praise them because they loved the story they experiences with these games. USUM added quite a bit in terms of story and lore by adding a post-game story to call its own as well, with the Rainbow Rocket ep and looking at the Lillie/Gladion/Lusamine dynamic in a different angle from SM. Some could say the overall execution was worse (and in some ways, it is), but it's also an alternate angle at some of the characters' dynamics and personalities that SM didn't touch upon.
(I unfortunately can't really pinpoint on what Gen 7 tried to experiment with that Gen 8 expanded upon, because rn we only have Sword and Shield so I can't tell what the Switch era's schtick is, but if anyone can identify it I'd love to have some input).
A bit of a side note from that, but as an unpopular opinion in and of itself. I think Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are really great remakes, and overall really great games. I think a lot of people were a bit disappointed in them because they compared it to HeartGold and SoulSilver in terms of how they fleshed out and expanded upon their source games, but I think ORAS is also an awesome game and one of my favorites in the series, but I think they improve upon the original RSE differently. As such, I also really like ORAS for different reasons than HGSS. While HGSS fleshed out its source game by adding loads of awesome content to do in the post-game, and having a lot of stuff to do and more places to explore, I think where ORAS excels instead is in taking the Gen 5 approach and fleshing out the story. It took a rather weak and barebones story from Ruby and Sapphire and made it genuinely interesting to experience, by expanding upon the lore of Hoenn, fleshing out the characters to make them more interesting, and creating a truly enjoyable adventure to experience in Hoenn. That's not even to mention how it made Hoenn even more beautiful and seeing it in a modern light was so cool, just as HGSS did in making GSC Johto even better and more awesome. Plus while it didn't quite add the scope of content that HGSS had, it did still have a lot of cool features despite not having a Frontier. Soaring across Hoenn on Latios/Latias was awesome, and getting an overhead view of Hoenn was and still is cool, and finding a lot of Mirage Spots and tons of legendaries was still awesome, plus upgraded E4/Steven rematches like HGSS did with its own E4 and Lance. Not to mention the return of Contests, which are even better than in Gen 3. Overall I do really like ORAS, and appreciate it even more now in hindsight because when I look at it for what it is, and not for what I wanted it to be, I can truly appreciate it for the fact that it really is great in its own right and does a great job in reimagining the RSE experience in a modern light, just in a different fashion from how HGSS did it with GSC.
Finally, completely unrelated to the above, but tying into Champions. I think Alder is an incredibly underrated Champion. He's not the most memorable probably because you don't battle him the first time you go to the League, but he was one of the most involved Champions we ever had, even moreso than Cynthia or Steven pre-ORAS. He's not the strongest in terms of team, but he was one of the strongest morally and had a very compelling backstory. He's a man who seeks to teach the younger generation to love Pokemon, above all else, rather than sheer pursuit of strength, and while he does enjoy battling, he more than anything wishes to bring Pokemon and people even closer together, even after he retires in BW2, and challenges Cheren's viewpoint in that sense. But he's also a foil to N: while N wishes to separate people and Pokemon in BW1, Alder sees Pokemon and people and wants them to be strong together through bonds of trust and friendship. Even moreso, while N is determined to assert his way as superior, refusing to accept different ways of living, Alder is open and tries to spread understanding even in spite of differences. This is apparent even after N is defeated by you at the castle, where even though N defeated him, Alder still tried to reach out his hand to N as a friend, and tells him that even if people cannot fully understand each other's different viewpoints, that is not a reason to reject them, which shows how strong morally he is, and is key to N's growth that we see especially in BW2. It also ties wonderfully into the theme of truth vs ideals, and how at their core, both are based on perspective more than anything, and there is no one right answer: that answer is different for everyone.
His backstory also ties into his character now, in that he once upon a time madly pursued strength with his first partner Pokemon until one day, his original Volcarona died from illness, and that changed him profoundly and made him the man with the viewpoints he has today. This really ties into how he approaches Cheren: back in BW1 he was merely concerned with strength, but Alder changed that, because he knew from his past and still regrets that he never pursued a more meaningful goal with his first partner Pokemon, and he wants to make sure Cheren doesn't go down the road he did. He is a man driven by his life experience more than anything, and much of his character is based on what he lived in his entire life. I think that makes for a genuinely great character and a really cool Champion in his own right.
(end of long-ass rants lmao)
But it's a GYM! Like, an actual one! I can't believe it took them four generations to make a gym that's an actual gym. The puzzle might be a little underwhelming but it's so stylish it almost compensates.
Hard agree, Alder is by far and away the best champion (and that's the Pokemon-related hill I'm willing to die on)
While we're on topic of the Gen 5 games, here's mine: The Unova region should have been based on California.
Specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area to be exact. Why? Well, as someone who lived in the Bay Area for their who life, and is of Asian Descent ( Specifically from South Asia ) I believe the Bay Area has a stronger " melting pot " vibe than New York. We have a whole lot of different ethnicities living in this part, ranging from South Asia, China, Japan, African American, European etc. They exist in relatively good harmony to each other ( Granted there have been racial tensions due to COVID ) and we have things like Chinese New Year and LGBTQ + parades in San Francisco.
Speaking of San Francisco, its a technological capital full of all the latest companies and has a lot of exciting sites like museums dedicated to the Holocaust and Galleries dedicated to Modern Art and Impressionism artists like Monet. And that's not mentioning Los Angeles which has Hollywood which is what PokeStar Studios is based off of! So in other words, California has a rich culture and history that can serve as lot of inspiration for Pokemon. It makes a lot more sense to have Pokemon based off Oni in the Bay Area than it is in New York.
And there's unique abundance of ecosystems! Notably, California has the Chaparal ecosystem, which is a one-kind unique ecosystem. In fact, the California Government is so dedicated to protecting it, they ban a lot of common pets that they wear would destroy the environment if released, including Ferrets, Gerbils, and Quaker Parakeets. And in the South, we have the Palm Springs Deserts, while in the North we have mountains that are covered in snow that is a popular ski resort. And that's before the bays. Imagine exploring areas like that in Pokemon In contrast, New York does not have any deserts, nor does it have a unique system like the California Chapparal.
That being said, even if Unova was a missed opportunity , I would still love a region based California for the aforementioned above.
Specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area to be exact. Why? Well, as someone who lived in the Bay Area for their who life, and is of Asian Descent ( Specifically from South Asia ) I believe the Bay Area has a stronger " melting pot " vibe than New York. We have a whole lot of different ethnicities living in this part, ranging from South Asia, China, Japan, African American, European etc. They exist in relatively good harmony to each other ( Granted there have been racial tensions due to COVID ) and we have things like Chinese New Year and LGBTQ + parades in San Francisco.
Speaking of San Francisco, its a technological capital full of all the latest companies and has a lot of exciting sites like museums dedicated to the Holocaust and Galleries dedicated to Modern Art and Impressionism artists like Monet. And that's not mentioning Los Angeles which has Hollywood which is what PokeStar Studios is based off of! So in other words, California has a rich culture and history that can serve as lot of inspiration for Pokemon. It makes a lot more sense to have Pokemon based off Oni in the Bay Area than it is in New York.
And there's unique abundance of ecosystems! Notably, California has the Chaparal ecosystem, which is a one-kind unique ecosystem. In fact, the California Government is so dedicated to protecting it, they ban a lot of common pets that they wear would destroy the environment if released, including Ferrets, Gerbils, and Quaker Parakeets. And in the South, we have the Palm Springs Deserts, while in the North we have mountains that are covered in snow that is a popular ski resort. And that's before the bays. Imagine exploring areas like that in Pokemon In contrast, New York does not have any deserts, nor does it have a unique system like the California Chapparal.
That being said, even if Unova was a missed opportunity , I would still love a region based California for the aforementioned above.
I think overall its own region is better than wishing Unova was California instead of New York (and I'm not just saying that because I live in New York).
While being a melting pot is one theme of Unova, I feel Unova has other factors to it which was based off it being based on New York thus wouldn't exist without it. Take, for example, the bridges of Unova. Sure, San Francisco may have one of the most famous bridges, but since Manhattan is an island with (at least in the game) the main way to travel to and from it is via bridges that gave GF the idea of essentially the big circle Unova is known for with the four bridges forming the "corners".
I think California would make for a neat region, I would likely guess "technology" would be a big theme due to it having Silicon Valley, but I don't think it would have served the same purpose as GF saw New York having.
And meanwhile, I'm here in Chicago visualizing it being part of a region full of Cornn Berry fields because that's what 90% of Illinois outside of Chicago and its suburbs is.
Random NPC (likely after a battle): "Man, getting a house is stupidly complicated. They're charging over 10 million Pokedollars but we're only able to carry 9,999,999! What do they think they're selling, bikes?"
Suddenly that $5 million requirement to hypothetically join Team Flare doesn’t seem so bad after all.
I’m stuck in the middle in this California debate: while I do think there are other places the Unova region could have been based on, I can’t seem to decide which of those places would be the best fit. Fun fact, I actually recall hearing somewhere that the Orre region from the GameCube spin-offs was based on Phoenix, Arizona but I don’t know if that’s actually true. I think New York (the city) was probably the best option they had, with Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the entire state of Florida not far behind. The peninsula shape just kind of works in my opinion.
One more opinion that may or may not be unpopular while we’re on the subject: Unova’s beta name (Alleos) should have stayed.
Another one of my personal unpopular opinions is that the statement "Unova is underrated" is getting alot more overrated. As much as I like Unova myself (considering it introduced my favorite pokemon of all time), I have seen the majority of pokemon fanbase saying that BW/2 were some of the best games and countless people consider gen 5 to be the golden age of pokemon. I'm not saying Unova is overrated btw, I just mean that it isn't as underrated as people make it out to be. Besides most people that hate Unova are obvious genwunners which are pretty rarely seen these days.
As a resident of London that was my major gripe with Wyndon. "Wait, this person has a house to himself?!"