I just wish I could find Poketoons in English, because YT's translater is jank.
A plate breaks and it says something like "Slaughter noises"
A plate breaks and it says something like "Slaughter noises"
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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
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I'm surprised it's taking so long to release the Pancham episode in English as that's just narration, no lip flaps to match. However the new Poketoons does have lip flaps to match so will probably take some time to do. Then again Twilight Wings had a relatively short turn around time, maybe they don't consider Poketoons a high priority? Or, maybe they'll do with them like they did with Generations, wait till all episodes are out and then translate & release them all nearly at the same time (except now it would be in reverse with the Japanese episodes coming out first than the English; or should that be considered the norm and it was Generations (& Origins) that did things reversed?).
Goes to show what they know.
Also Lucario has been OU since its introduction with just recent games it being allowed into UU as long as it doesn't Mega Evolve.
Even the people who made Lucario apparently don't like him, because they did him dirty with that Mega Evolution design. It's so bad dude.
No, I got the same vibe. I do like the characters, and isolated it's a cute short adventure... but it's nothing we haven't seen before. It feels like an episode 1 which just exists to set up the character, a small bit of what they're capable of, and the start of their journey... except it's not a series. It's a one shot. We're not going to get an episode 2 where she reaches her first town and has to stop a batch of thieves attacking the Pokemon Center. We're not getting an episode 3 where she actually catches her first Pokemon as a trainer normally would and have a misadventure with that Pokemon. We're not going to see all the different people she'll encounter and some possibly travel along with for a time. Not going to see all the interesting locations, both recognizable from the games or newly made. Not going to see her battle the Pokemon League the way the player does and seeing interacting with the League Trainers and other notable NPCs. It's just the start of the journey.
And yes Truant Charizard is pretty good, though I never understood whenever a character tries giving a command to a friend/other family member's Pokemon they act as if the Pokemon won't listen just because they aren't the trainer; as if the Pokemon doesn't have a will of its own. Charizard wasn't listening to her because it belonged to her father, it wasn't listening because before that point she was an inexperienced kid; it wasn't until seeing the genuine determination in her eyes did Charizard than decide to lend her its power, and only to peacefully resolve the conflict because as soon as they landed it was back to lazing about.
The even worse (but more plausible) alternative is that the person who created it sat back, heaved a sigh of satisfaction, and said "ahhh, look at that. It's perfect" then passed it along to his boss, who marked it "no revision needed" and then gave it to an appalled game renderer
I never understood what the appeal of Marnie was. From my experience playing the game, she one of, if not the most disliked character in SwSh. My big issue with her is that she no relevance until the 7th gym despite being introduced to her at the very beginning. I honestly forgot she existed until my arrival of myself for the 7th gym badge. Even during the Rose fiasco, she is still background character despite providing the support for the player with Team Yell.
Granted, I know that SwSh isn’t known for its stories and character, but I find Marnie bad for the aforementioned reasons above. If I have to pick a favorite SwSh character it would be Sonia. Sonia goes from hesitating to go on an adventure to becoming a Professor after really getting interested in the lore of the Darkest Day, to the point of becoming the new professor, something we’ve never seen in a Pokémon game before. My second favorite character is Hop, though “ favorite “ might be a bit too much. I like his character arc in trying to distinguish himself from his brother and player and how he tries different team comps to improve and at the ends he decides to be a Professor as a result. My problems lie in the gameplay. Too often does he interrupt you while your exploring to show you info you already know or that you don’t need an explanation on, and that’s not going through all the dialogue he states during the battles with you, especially with type advantages. People thought the hand holding in SM was bad? Hop makes it look so much more tolerable in SwSh.
Granted, I know that SwSh isn’t known for its stories and character, but I find Marnie bad for the aforementioned reasons above. If I have to pick a favorite SwSh character it would be Sonia. Sonia goes from hesitating to go on an adventure to becoming a Professor after really getting interested in the lore of the Darkest Day, to the point of becoming the new professor, something we’ve never seen in a Pokémon game before. My second favorite character is Hop, though “ favorite “ might be a bit too much. I like his character arc in trying to distinguish himself from his brother and player and how he tries different team comps to improve and at the ends he decides to be a Professor as a result. My problems lie in the gameplay. Too often does he interrupt you while your exploring to show you info you already know or that you don’t need an explanation on, and that’s not going through all the dialogue he states during the battles with you, especially with type advantages. People thought the hand holding in SM was bad? Hop makes it look so much more tolerable in SwSh.
Waifu. It's the same reason she has a TCG collection already out and getting another one. The notable part is that the collections are not Japanese exclusive, which never happen for solo trainer focused ones.
They should just update DP with graphics and QoL improvements and sell it as BDSP. After numerous disastrous ideas (Ultra Wormholes, Wild Area, raids), cringe gimmicks (Z Moves, D/GMax), and just pure trash (Let's Go) in the past few years, I really don't want them ruining another game with new ideas.
She's a rival who isn't Hop or Bede, which goes a long way IMO. And she's not overused like them*.
(Also, yeah, she's also a tiny punk tsundere, what do you expect from the fans?)
*You fight Bede 4 times from start through the League. Hop is 8 fights. Marnie is 3.)
You leave hop alone. Idc abt bede he could get beat up or whatever but if i see hop hate its on sight.
I don't even know if this is an unpopular or popular opinion because I have never seen anyone talk about this but the safari zone was a mistake. Top 3 most fucking annoying gimmicks and it took way too long for them to ditch it out. Not really excited for it to come back in the gen 4 remakes, but I guess its the last time we'll ever see it
I don't even know if this is an unpopular or popular opinion because I have never seen anyone talk about this but the safari zone was a mistake. Top 3 most fucking annoying gimmicks and it took way too long for them to ditch it out. Not really excited for it to come back in the gen 4 remakes, but I guess its the last time we'll ever see it
It's a matter of taste for many, really. Even if she doesn't develop too much over the course of the game and she's not that prominent, she does have a likable personality for many, and sometimes, that's all a character needs to have for someone to like them: just a likable personality.
If there's any reassurance, it's becoming increasingly likely with time that this is exactly what's going to happen.
Well, I personally liked it, lot of people disliked the HGSS Safari Zone, apparently you had to wait 30 days in real time to obtain some Pokémon. On the bright side, it did allow you to obtain certain Pokémon like Houndour and Murkrow which were only found in Kanto in the original GS. In the case of Gen 4, they got rid of the Safari game in ORAS, so I imagine they will do the same for BDSP.You leave hop alone. Idc abt bede he could get beat up or whatever but if i see hop hate its on sight.
I don't even know if this is an unpopular or popular opinion because I have never seen anyone talk about this but the safari zone was a mistake. Top 3 most fucking annoying gimmicks and it took way too long for them to ditch it out. Not really excited for it to come back in the gen 4 remakes, but I guess its the last time we'll ever see it
Not....really. Most of the HGSS safari zone expansive roster is locked behind postgame. Baoba won't call you to introduce the decorations that make the more rare mons spawn unless you beat the league before.
Actually I imagined the first one was just a Lucario with an orange body & "pants", all the black swapped with yellow (except the legs, those turned blue), green eyes, and suddenly spikey hair. They liked it, but said "too on the nose" and reworked it so it was more "original". Because, let's be honest, Mega Lucario is just the artists interpretation of a Super Saiyan Lucario without giving it the exact aesthetic of a Super Saiyan.
More specifically, she was a Rival that was neither friendly nor jerk, at least when you met her.
*GASP* Yes, apparently we can have someone who is a rival that doesn't see the player character as best buds forever or an enemy to be mocked, but rather another person who is of equal trainer skill that she has to beat to accomplish her goal. She's both willing to help you out, but she isn't going to do it quite out of kindness but more because it's either the right thing to do or/and wants to battle you to see where she measures up before having to do the "final" battle (note she doesn't have Grimmsnarl until the Wyndom stadium even though she likely had it all this time (as opposed to Bede who had a member of the Hatenna family every time you battled him); no need for her to show you her strongest Pokemon for battles that don't matter).
Now, after you beat her she starts leaning more friendly, but that's cause she lost. No point in being stern & distant anymore, you knocked her out of the Champion Cup so she can finally let her guard down. She's not even angry, which to some seems a bit gary stu on the player's part, but I more see it being part of her pragmatic personality: Why hold a grudge when it gets you nothing? Better to be friendly with the potential future Champion so that you can possibly ask them to get the help Spikemuth needs. Also her own career as a trainer is safely secured as she knows she can fallback on being the Spikemuth Gym Leader, even before we're told that information I imagine it's possibly a discussion that her and Piers had before but she still wants to have her shot at being Champion (plus with both her and Piers as participants that increases their chances). She doesn't like Team Yell causing trouble in her name not because she doesn't appreciate them discouraging other trainers but their antics could get her disqualified and/or make people think even less of Spikemuth thus less likely to help it. Not saying she isn't naturally friendly or lawful, but I'm also saying she doesn't lose anything not being friendly or following the rules. Think about this: Marnie likely could have opened the main gates of Spikemuth or just gone straight to Piers and tell him what's going on. But instead she waited for the player because she wanted to have a battle with them, likely have some personal control of the revelation she's Piers' younger sister, and being she knows the gates will come up before they would get in trouble if some trainers quit because they were impatient, well, that's not her fault. Infact the only time you see Marnie get angry is when something goes against her plan: Piers offering her the Gym Leader position. She wants BOTH of them to compete, and Piers handing over the Gym Leader position now means only she'll be in the Champion Cup. And even if much of this is just fan theory, it's still a refreshing take on a rival from what we usually get.
But, yes, her being absent for a lot of the story does hurt her development. Her also lacking interactions with Hop (without the player) and Bede also I think hurts her as we don't see how she acts towards them. Now, I imagined she wouldn't act any differently toward Hop than she does to the player, but during the period of the game where Hop was feeling down on himself could have had a scene where we walk on Hop and Marnie finishing a battle where Marnie won. However, Marnie is upset because she can tell that Hop wasn't putting his all into the battle, Hop admitting he was more using the battle to figure out a better team. Now the player would know Hop is having a down period so he means no insult, but to Marnie she could take it as meaning Hop doesn't consider her a challenge which gets her angry and say further not nice things (maybe ending in a "quit if you're not going to take things seriously" and walking away) to Hop putting him further in a slump. After they both lose in the Champion Cup would she realize that Hop is well-meaning but it having a bit of an inferiority complex with his brother messing with his head, possibly something she could relate to. As for Bede, I say for that have it be an earlier event where we walk into an end of a battle with them where Bede won. She's angry once again, but more justified this time as Bede is doing his usual gloating about being hand-picked by the Chairman (could also maybe hint about Marnie's background and about to mention it but Marnie stops him telling him to "cut if out"). Marnie already has a dislike for the Chairman who has shown he doesn't care about Spikemuth, so losing to his prideful proclaimed prodigy (while she had a Type advantage, no less) cracks her stern mask, maybe confiding in the player soon after that people like Bede is why she thinks Galar is in need of a better Champion who isn't under Rose's thumb (though leave the ambiguity to that).
Anyone feel like a lot of Gen 2 mons don't really....follow up design wise to Gen 1 mons?
It's especially noticeable for early route mons, where despite Pidgey/Rattata/Caterpie line and Sentret/Hoothoot/Ledyba both covering the same basic animal niche, Gen 1s are noticeably more realistic and less blatantly shape or cartoon based
It gets more annoying in some cross evos. Elekid is a lot more blatantly based on a human made contemporary thing. Smoochum demystifies Jynx being an an intangible being outside the wig (this would have probably been removed given the controversy though), as does Magby ruining that Magmar is based on a 60s alien called Solarites
Wackier evo lines (Hitmonlee/chan, or Poli line) get....a notoriously cutified simpler mon. Sad thing is the leaked protos show that this wasn't the case initially. Even Crobat is cutified compared to Zubat/Golbat
And then there's the absolute lack of fossils, less odd real life inspirations (Pitcher plant, Raffelasia)
Even type wise, while Gen 1 had a lot of poison, water, and Grass mons, Gen 2 is littered with Normal, and the new steel ends up being for cross evos most of the time
Granted this doesn't apply to all Johto mons (the cool Houndoom line, Ttar, legends, and even the starters), but it mostly felt way too safe compared to Gen 1. I think the only reason it's considered "a close follow up to Gen 1" is strictly due to time of release, and it having watercolor. Even though I'd say Gen 3 is closer design wise to one (though that loved body lines and colored eyes for the main dif)
It's especially noticeable for early route mons, where despite Pidgey/Rattata/Caterpie line and Sentret/Hoothoot/Ledyba both covering the same basic animal niche, Gen 1s are noticeably more realistic and less blatantly shape or cartoon based
It gets more annoying in some cross evos. Elekid is a lot more blatantly based on a human made contemporary thing. Smoochum demystifies Jynx being an an intangible being outside the wig (this would have probably been removed given the controversy though), as does Magby ruining that Magmar is based on a 60s alien called Solarites
Wackier evo lines (Hitmonlee/chan, or Poli line) get....a notoriously cutified simpler mon. Sad thing is the leaked protos show that this wasn't the case initially. Even Crobat is cutified compared to Zubat/Golbat
And then there's the absolute lack of fossils, less odd real life inspirations (Pitcher plant, Raffelasia)
Even type wise, while Gen 1 had a lot of poison, water, and Grass mons, Gen 2 is littered with Normal, and the new steel ends up being for cross evos most of the time
Granted this doesn't apply to all Johto mons (the cool Houndoom line, Ttar, legends, and even the starters), but it mostly felt way too safe compared to Gen 1. I think the only reason it's considered "a close follow up to Gen 1" is strictly due to time of release, and it having watercolor. Even though I'd say Gen 3 is closer design wise to one (though that loved body lines and colored eyes for the main dif)
^ is why I don't understand why people think GSC/HGSS are the best games. They're fun, but all the good pokemon are either Kanto or EXTREMELY rare.
While I don't think GSC are the best games either, I'd put them aside and solely concentrate on HGSS.
I'd put them below GSC in essentially everything but the interface, because there were so many things they could have fixed from the originals but, outside of QoL improvements, the only changes were restoring Viridian Forest and Seafoam Islands (which is good), ramping up the levels in Kanto a bit (as well as adding non-Johto Pokémon) and some rosters changes. And that's it.
Well, as someone whose first game was Crystal and still loves it, I'll take a stab. I think they're very much games of their era. When they were released, the internet was still in its relative infancy and so lots of aspects of the games were unknown and rarely-discussed. The Johto region felt incredibly mysterious and exciting - there were all sorts of secrets in the game that I didn't discover until years down the line. It was a long time after I'd beaten the game for the first time that I unlocked the hidden rooms in the Ruins of Alph, for example. The lore of the Johto games is rich and engaging and still has people obsessing over it today.
The extreme rarity of many of the Johto species is a legitimate flaw of these games and I wish each Johto Gym Leader could have had a Johto signature mon. But looking back, at the time that wasn't an issue in the way it was now. The rarity of those Pokemon was legitimately part of their charm - waiting for that elusive swarm, or hunting in caves for that rare species with a low encounter chance, or desperately lobbing balls at that species which has a high chance to flee. I only knew like 3 or 4 other kids who played Pokemon when I was younger and the occasions where we'd a) be together with our GameBoys and b) have a link cable were actually vanishingly slim, so trading was a genuine rare event.
Plus the overload of Kanto mons wasn't quite such a glaring issue at the time; they don't feel like another region's Pokemon, since Johto and Kanto are so interlinked. Scyther being Bugsy's ace is fine because no one in Kanto had Scyther as their ace. Lots of Pokemon which were hard to find in RBY are common in GSC so that was a point in their favour; when I was finally able to trade with people who had RBY, they were very keen to give me exclusives like the fossils and the Kanto starters in return for them.
No Pokemon game has ever given me the sense of wonder and excitement that Crystal did, and maybe that is just nostalgia goggles talking - I'm sure someone whose first title was Moon would say the same. But it's more than that. Internet trading and the proliferation of forums like this means that if there's a tricky puzzle in the games or a hard-to-find species, I can sort it out within minutes. That wasn't the case in 2001. Those Pokemon like Slowking and Scizor I couldn't get on my own genuinely seemed more elusive than Lugia, and it took months of grinding to get my Larvitar to become a Tyranitar. I never managed to catch a Sneasel or a Delibird. Obviously, I never managed to complete my Pokedex on my old Crystal file.
I may have rambled a bit but I hope that partially answers your question. IMO HGSS should actually have tweaked the locations and rarities of Pokemon like Houndour and Murkrow since by this point the Johto mons were less hard-to-get and deserved a proper showcase in their own region. But that's another conversation.
GSC I like the aesthetic and music. And Gold was my first Pokemon game, so it was my first foray into the series. Gold was the "Pokemon magic" to me. So when HGSS roll around and do justice to that and more, it just was amazing. Game looked, sounded, played, etc. nice. It carried on the "tons of content" from DPPt. There was the following Pokemon and GB Sounds, the former that just helped the nostalgia. And so much more. Sure, the games have their flaws, but they're my favorites for a reason: they're excellent remakes of Pokemon games that meant a lot to me. It's a lot nostalgia based, but I don't think it's entirely that. So there's a simple tangent on HGSS for me.
I don't think people are crazy if they think Emerald, Platinum, or BW2 are the best in the series though. All of those are solid entries as well.
Gen 2... I think the games (and their remakes) are solid overall, but when it comes to the typical reasons I see given as to why Gen 2 is supposedly the greatest generation ever, I honestly have a hard time vouching for them. Here are some of the more common reasons I see given, and why I don't find them very convincing:
- Being able to revisit Kanto - It's boring. Aside from battling the Gym Leaders and Red, there really isn't anything noteworthy to do. Kanto was already pretty dull in the original games, but in GSC, the region is about half its original size, the few locations that do remain are really just there for the sake of being there, the player still runs into Lv. 2 Rattatas on Route 1, and there's just nothing else new to look forward to once you get there. It seems to me like this iteration of Kanto was included the way it was just so players could reminisce about their trek through the region the previous generation - which may be a great idea for a museum exhibit, but not so great as a gameplay choice.
- Adding Steel- and Dark-types - I'm not really on board with judging a game based on the things it introduces (e.g. DPP introducing the Physical/Special Split, BW introducing reusable TMs, XY introducing Fairy-types, etc.). I can appreciate that they introduced them, but every game to come out since has included them too, so you can still get the perks of their existences in those games. But as for this particular addition? Your options are as follows: Magneton (doesn't learn any Steel-type attacks), Umbreon (requires max happiness), Murkrow (unavailable until Kanto), Forretress (only obtainable via Headbutting trees and also doesn't learn any Steel-type attacks), Steelix (requires a trade), Scizor (also requires a trade), Sneasel (also unavailable until Kanto), Skarmory (unavailable in Gold and arrives very late in the other games), Houndoom (also unavailable until Kanto), and Tyranitar (also unavailable until Kanto). So I can't really say that GSC shows off these new types very well. Maybe that's supposed to be part of the overall "discovery" theme of the games, but it wore pretty thin for me after I discovered that, yes, these types do in fact exist.
- Day/Night feature - Honestly, this was always a pet peeve of mine in these games (and RSE to an extent as well). Starting in Gen 4, you can just change the time on your system, but that wasn't the case in GSC. Here, once you set the time, it's all but fixed permanently (barring DST or a password in Crystal). This means that if you can't play the game at a certain time or on a certain day when a specific Pokemon you want to catch appears or an in-game event you want to participate in occurs, then tough shit for you, you're fucked. I know people love to talk about how "rEaLiStIc" it is, but here's the thing: I don't play video games for their realism. I detest when "realism" impedes my enjoyment of any video game, and this is no exception. Plus, this feature is also what drains the internal battery, thus wiping out your entire game once it runs dry. And any feature that does that deserves a hearty NO U.
- Silver - He doesn't even feel like a proper rival. To me, the best rivals are the ones that provide an incentive to keep getting stronger. Some examples: Blue was an obnoxious douchebag, but he at least had the clout to back it up (gym badges, championship, always being a step ahead of you, etc.). Wally is essentially the anti-Blue; you're the one who's always at least a step ahead of him, and you need to keep getting stronger so he doesn't catch up to you. Hugh needs your help getting his sister's Purrloin back from Team Plasma. By comparison, Silver... just doesn't provide any incentive. He's ultimately just some delinquent that the regional police should be chasing after. It never felt satisfying to beat him early on, because he'd just keep acting too far gone and blaming his Pokemon for his losing. He starts to show some character development later on after losing to Lance, but it's still way too little, way too late. And even then, it still feels like Lance drills into his brain the importance of raising Pokemon with love more than you ever do, thus rendering any potential incentive Silver could provide as a rival obsolete.
- New Team Rocket - Neither iteration of Team Rocket scares or impresses me, but this iteration especially was a huge missed opportunity. The notion of a Giovanni-less Team Rocket trying to find their new identity is a cool concept, but I think they'd function better as villains if they had adopted a "Who needs Giovanni?" mentality and built up their own criminal establishment, as opposed to the "Waaah I miss my daddy!" bullshit we had to deal with instead. Renegade outlaws who do their own shit with no restraints or loyalties sounds a lot more interesting than another flock of brain-dead personality cultists, if you ask me. Plus, they could incorporate Lugia and/or Ho-Oh into their atrocities, which would automatically make them more terrifying than Giovanni's posse. The point is, I can't agree with people who tell me about how "great" this team is when I think they could have just as easily taken a vastly different - and far more interesting - direction.
- Red - Let's make it a rule: if a trainer can be beaten by anyone whose team is 20 levels lower than his without breaking a sweat, his battle doesn't deserve to be called the best battle in the series. There really isn't a whole lot of strategy required to beat him besides spending another 8 hours level grinding against a bunch of Lv. 40-something mons outside Mt. Silver. His battle isn't bad, but far from being a contender for my favorite in the series. As for his being the player character from Gen 1... I don't know, I think my Gen 1 self would put up a much more substantial fight than this, and would use Pokemon that you'd actually expect the "best" trainer to use (like, say, Mewtwo).
- Following Pokemon (HGSS) - The way some people gush over this feature, you'd think they had sold their souls to be able to have a Pokemon follow them around the same way Pikachu did in Yellow. Now, I personally like this feature, and think it adds a nice touch to the games it's available in, but you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that it can (or should) singlehandedly make or break a game. The absence of it in BW or B2W2 doesn't stop them from being my favorite games in the series, and the presence of it in LGPE still can't drag me into playing them.
On the topic of Gen 2 and their remakes, I do agree with a lot of points said about their flaws, like how they poorly show off Pokémon and how bad the levels of wild Pokémon are in general are especially in the post game. I played HGSS before I played GS before I go into my post.
Kanto in Gen 2: I actually disagree saying that Kanto harmed Johto. I liked being able to travel Kanto and get all the gym badges in any fashion you want, it provides a sense of openness that no other game has tried to do. But my main reason why I like is the cultural contrast between the two regions. As someone who loves Art History, I love looking at artwork between of different People and how they used art to show off culture and I think Kanto and Johto show off that very well. When you look at Kanto, it’s 100% modern. No ruins, temples, legends, or myths of any kind, the only region to be like that in any Pokémon game. This is referenced by its Pokémon as well, with Porygon being the first artificial Pokémon, Eevee having an unstable genetic code that allows multiple evolutions, Fossils can be resurrected from labs, and even the Legendary Pokémon don’t have any lore: The Legendary Birds are merely stated to be rare Pokémon, and Mewtwo was created from Mew through its DNA. Cities like Saffron are huge modern Metropolises, while Pewter has a museum dedicated to science. Johto on the other hand, pays close attention to traditional rituals passed down through the years. Ecruteak honors old form of dance through a theatre, Pokeballs are created through hand instead of factories like in Kanto, and there are no fossils in Johto because the region does not respect new technology. The legendary Pokémon also reflect the lore as well. The Legendary Beasts were created from Ho-oh after lightning struck the two towers, causing Ho-oh and Lugia, guardians of the towers to flee. The towers remain untouched has a reminder of the past. Celebii is said to punish children by taking them through time.These are nice details that you are supposed to put to notice after playing the Johto games to show off the region.
Silver: Definitely my favorite of all the “ Jerk “ Rivals. I feel like Silver is less of a criminal and more of someone who need a warm hug.
In all seriousness, I find Silver a lot more interesting because he’s less of a snob compared to Blue and Bede ( The only rivals I consider jerks ). Unlike Blue, who doesn’t change at all even when you beat him ( In the Sevii Islands he is still saying “ Smell you later “. ) while Bede just vanishes during the half of the story and makes a random appearance in the Climax as a gym leader. While Silver does do a lot behind the screens, he also shows the most change between the two, becoming different person in the end of the Johto games. And lastly, Silver’s personality is explained by the abusive relationship between him and Giovanni in HGSS, something that isn’t addressed in Blue and Bede. In HGSS, he even lets his starter follow him. That being said, most of Silver’s growth was explained in the remakes, not the original, so understandable why you may not like Silver.
Type Distrubution: I’m playing through the virtual console version of Silver, and OMG, I never realized how bad type distribution is.You thought DP had terrible Fire type distribution? Well GS, has it just as bad. No Fire Stone available means that Flareon, Arcanine, and Ninetales are unavailable until Kanto, while Entei is roaming legendary Pokémon who is incredibly difficult to catch. This leaves Magmar as your only option for a Fire type in the wild. Umbreon is the only Dark type available until the post game, and most Steel types are also quite rare, with Scizor and Steelix being unavailable. And they only introduced only one Ghost and Dragon type in Gen 2, despite being the rarest types in Gen 1. Thankfully, Crystal and HGSS fix these issues by allowing stones to be obtained before Kanto and letting lines like Houndour and Misdreavus be obtainable before Kanto giving more diversity.
Personally, I’d say Gen 2 is completely obsolete by HGSS.Most of the flaws that plague the original Johto games are more or less fixed in the remakes, the same way how Platinum fixed DP.
Kanto in Gen 2: I actually disagree saying that Kanto harmed Johto. I liked being able to travel Kanto and get all the gym badges in any fashion you want, it provides a sense of openness that no other game has tried to do. But my main reason why I like is the cultural contrast between the two regions. As someone who loves Art History, I love looking at artwork between of different People and how they used art to show off culture and I think Kanto and Johto show off that very well. When you look at Kanto, it’s 100% modern. No ruins, temples, legends, or myths of any kind, the only region to be like that in any Pokémon game. This is referenced by its Pokémon as well, with Porygon being the first artificial Pokémon, Eevee having an unstable genetic code that allows multiple evolutions, Fossils can be resurrected from labs, and even the Legendary Pokémon don’t have any lore: The Legendary Birds are merely stated to be rare Pokémon, and Mewtwo was created from Mew through its DNA. Cities like Saffron are huge modern Metropolises, while Pewter has a museum dedicated to science. Johto on the other hand, pays close attention to traditional rituals passed down through the years. Ecruteak honors old form of dance through a theatre, Pokeballs are created through hand instead of factories like in Kanto, and there are no fossils in Johto because the region does not respect new technology. The legendary Pokémon also reflect the lore as well. The Legendary Beasts were created from Ho-oh after lightning struck the two towers, causing Ho-oh and Lugia, guardians of the towers to flee. The towers remain untouched has a reminder of the past. Celebii is said to punish children by taking them through time.These are nice details that you are supposed to put to notice after playing the Johto games to show off the region.
Silver: Definitely my favorite of all the “ Jerk “ Rivals. I feel like Silver is less of a criminal and more of someone who need a warm hug.
In all seriousness, I find Silver a lot more interesting because he’s less of a snob compared to Blue and Bede ( The only rivals I consider jerks ). Unlike Blue, who doesn’t change at all even when you beat him ( In the Sevii Islands he is still saying “ Smell you later “. ) while Bede just vanishes during the half of the story and makes a random appearance in the Climax as a gym leader. While Silver does do a lot behind the screens, he also shows the most change between the two, becoming different person in the end of the Johto games. And lastly, Silver’s personality is explained by the abusive relationship between him and Giovanni in HGSS, something that isn’t addressed in Blue and Bede. In HGSS, he even lets his starter follow him. That being said, most of Silver’s growth was explained in the remakes, not the original, so understandable why you may not like Silver.Type Distrubution: I’m playing through the virtual console version of Silver, and OMG, I never realized how bad type distribution is.You thought DP had terrible Fire type distribution? Well GS, has it just as bad. No Fire Stone available means that Flareon, Arcanine, and Ninetales are unavailable until Kanto, while Entei is roaming legendary Pokémon who is incredibly difficult to catch. This leaves Magmar as your only option for a Fire type in the wild. Umbreon is the only Dark type available until the post game, and most Steel types are also quite rare, with Scizor and Steelix being unavailable. And they only introduced only one Ghost and Dragon type in Gen 2, despite being the rarest types in Gen 1. Thankfully, Crystal and HGSS fix these issues by allowing stones to be obtained before Kanto and letting lines like Houndour and Misdreavus be obtainable before Kanto giving more diversity.
Personally, I’d say Gen 2 is completely obsolete by HGSS.Most of the flaws that plague the original Johto games are more or less fixed in the remakes, the same way how Platinum fixed DP.