This is kinda hard for me to put into words, but...I like that Kanto in HGSS sounds really different from, say, Kanto in FRLG. It's more different than GSC vs. RBY. Is that just me?
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When you say sound, do you mean in terms of the soundtrack? Because I totally get what you mean if so.
Been thinking about this since it was posted. The two iterations do have a starkly different feel which I've always found rather interesting.
GSC Kanto felt kind of ultra-post industrial; Celadon City has become so polluted that the only wild Pokemon inhabiting it are Grimer and Muk, Power Plant is back up and running, the Seafoam Islands have closed up except for one tiny chamber Blaine lives in, there's a working railway and port, Lavender Town is more industrialised and bustling, Viridian Forest is gone while the actual city has become more bustling and more of a thoroughfare for the Pokemon League. A lot of the soundtrack there feels peaceful but quite downbeat - more stripped-down and less exuberant than it was in Gen I.
By contrast in Gen IV it feels like a lot of the excitement and the expansiveness of the earlier games has been retained: Viridian Forest is back (and with all the different levels and nooks and crannies, more complex and engaging than any forest had been at that point in the series), the Seafoam Islands are restored, and many of the areas GSC squeezed tightly like Route 3, Route 14, and Route 25 are even larger than they were in FRLG. A lot of the soundtrack reflects this newfound exuberance by being bolder and brighter than it was in GSC.
Honestly I kind of liked the stark appeal of GSC's tired Kanto to the less modern and more colourful Johto but that's probably nostalgia talking since Crystal was my first game. I know a lot of people who played RBY were devastated to see Kanto cut down (literally). IMO both iterations are interesting and equally valid, though. I feel like there's always been an undercurrent of ecological concern throughout the series and Kanto has always (especially with Sun and Moon's additions to the lore about Muk and Lapras) been the most industrialised region of them all, so GSC's rather blighted vision of it always made sense to me.
GSC Kanto felt kind of ultra-post industrial; Celadon City has become so polluted that the only wild Pokemon inhabiting it are Grimer and Muk, Power Plant is back up and running, the Seafoam Islands have closed up except for one tiny chamber Blaine lives in, there's a working railway and port, Lavender Town is more industrialised and bustling, Viridian Forest is gone while the actual city has become more bustling and more of a thoroughfare for the Pokemon League. A lot of the soundtrack there feels peaceful but quite downbeat - more stripped-down and less exuberant than it was in Gen I.
By contrast in Gen IV it feels like a lot of the excitement and the expansiveness of the earlier games has been retained: Viridian Forest is back (and with all the different levels and nooks and crannies, more complex and engaging than any forest had been at that point in the series), the Seafoam Islands are restored, and many of the areas GSC squeezed tightly like Route 3, Route 14, and Route 25 are even larger than they were in FRLG. A lot of the soundtrack reflects this newfound exuberance by being bolder and brighter than it was in GSC.
Honestly I kind of liked the stark appeal of GSC's tired Kanto to the less modern and more colourful Johto but that's probably nostalgia talking since Crystal was my first game. I know a lot of people who played RBY were devastated to see Kanto cut down (literally). IMO both iterations are interesting and equally valid, though. I feel like there's always been an undercurrent of ecological concern throughout the series and Kanto has always (especially with Sun and Moon's additions to the lore about Muk and Lapras) been the most industrialised region of them all, so GSC's rather blighted vision of it always made sense to me.
This is even more cool when you consider that HGSS is canonically taking place 3 years after FRLG. The fact that Kanto sounds more at peace is imo reflective of the fact that Team Rocket and their antics are gone and defeated, after Red crushed them 3 years prior, and Kanto is perhaps even livelier now than it was back then and the people are all doing well, no longer having to deal with a crime syndicate causing trouble throughout the region for people and Pokemon alike.
Cinnabar Island is perhaps the most unique though. FRLG Cinnabar's theme is very lively and upbeat, but HGSS Cinnabar's theme is very solemn and quiet. Cinnabar's HGSS theme is actually very sad in a sense, because we know in the time between that Cinnabar's volcano erupted, and though it was a bustling town in FRLG, the whole town was destroyed in the eruption so now in HGSS it's a mere shell of its former self. It's a sad reminder that what was once there is now gone forever, never to come back again, and Cinnabar has been reduced to practically nothing in its HGSS incarnation. The lively bustling town that it was in FRLG is little more than a memory now.
That's kind of an interesting take on GSC Kanto. It's often criticized for being severely dumbed down, and I always imagined it was for technical reasons due to lack of cartridge space, since I always was of the impression that it was intentionally compromised just so they could fit it into the Game Boy cartridge's limited memory in the first place. But that's a take that I never imagined as a possible perspective: Kanto has advanced so much technologically and in terms of development and civilization that most of the nature in the region is gone. It makes GSC Kanto a bit sad in a sense, but it also parallels reality in many ways, since as humans continue to advance and develop lands, many things go away with it including nature that was previously there beforehand, which is something that many have concerns about even today.
Nothing about Kanto feels like it's advanced that, though, or that it's kind of in the midst of collapse
Lavendar Tower put up a tower, but it's not exactl bustling. It's still a small town with a small scope.
They put up a railway but...Johto has that too (& a far fancier radio tower) and the railway was put in what was the largest metropolis in Kanto to begin with.
The port "functions" but it already functioned to begin with, we the player just dont get to use it.
The power plant is up & running but frankly it's a much better power plant than it was before: it's smaller and presumably more effecient. And by rebuilding it they completely shunted off the pretty depressingly large abandoned wasteful complex that was there prior
Viridan Forest is easy to read as cut down but it still uses tree tiles; this to me says the forest is still there it's just being presented as smalelr for cart space. The same applies to all the truncated routes: in a real kanto they would still be there mostly unchanged but we have cart space to deal with so they're shortened. Same applies to Victory Road & Mt Moon.
So then there's Cinnabar, Sea Foam, and Cerulean Cave taken out by volcano, by .... ???? and by I think cave in respectively. But sea foam wasn't really populated to begin with and cerulean cave just lost its entrance and was ALSO blocked off by others due to its danger. And all 3 are just...natural disasters that they're coping with. Well, maybe, I dont actually know why Seafoam is closed down in-universe.
So really, the most "wow this is way worse now" thing is probably Celadon's water being fully polluted. Otherwise most of the nature is absolutely still there and most of the cities are about the same;.
Lavendar Tower put up a tower, but it's not exactl bustling. It's still a small town with a small scope.
They put up a railway but...Johto has that too (& a far fancier radio tower) and the railway was put in what was the largest metropolis in Kanto to begin with.
The port "functions" but it already functioned to begin with, we the player just dont get to use it.
The power plant is up & running but frankly it's a much better power plant than it was before: it's smaller and presumably more effecient. And by rebuilding it they completely shunted off the pretty depressingly large abandoned wasteful complex that was there prior
Viridan Forest is easy to read as cut down but it still uses tree tiles; this to me says the forest is still there it's just being presented as smalelr for cart space. The same applies to all the truncated routes: in a real kanto they would still be there mostly unchanged but we have cart space to deal with so they're shortened. Same applies to Victory Road & Mt Moon.
So then there's Cinnabar, Sea Foam, and Cerulean Cave taken out by volcano, by .... ???? and by I think cave in respectively. But sea foam wasn't really populated to begin with and cerulean cave just lost its entrance and was ALSO blocked off by others due to its danger. And all 3 are just...natural disasters that they're coping with. Well, maybe, I dont actually know why Seafoam is closed down in-universe.
So really, the most "wow this is way worse now" thing is probably Celadon's water being fully polluted. Otherwise most of the nature is absolutely still there and most of the cities are about the same;.
I didn't say it was in decline specifically, just that it's got less of the fantastical tone RGBY Kanto had. There were more unknown and dangerous places like the Cerulean Cave, the Power Plant, and Pokemon Tower and it felt more like a world there to be discovered.
By contrast most of those places are gone or developed by GSC. Lavender Town seems less remote and the unease present in RBGY is gone. The region as a whole feels more managed and constrained.
I love how "Eternatus - Phase 1" kind of sounds Metroid-y with the beat and SFX it uses, it gives Eternatus a whole new layer of awesomeness in my opinion
Eternatus EMAX definitely one of my favorite themes, I like how it kinda mashes the Dog theme, Slumbering Weald, and I think Hop's too.
I've only now realized this, but I really love the existence of the Pokeball Emporium in XY. If you're anything like me, you can't stand to use a Pokemon in competitive play that isn't caught in a fancy ball, and in most other games (especially gen 4, which to be fair is what I've mostly been playing these days) you have to either remember or look up which Pokemarts sell the one you need. Having one, singular shop that sells (almost) every type, then, is an absolute godsend, and I don't know why they didn't continue the trend in future games.
Of course, it's not perfect (apricorn balls...) but it's so convenient. And, it makes sense in-universe! Pokeballs are an item that every Trainer needs, so why wouldn't a shop open up dedicated to selling them?
Of course, it's not perfect (apricorn balls...) but it's so convenient. And, it makes sense in-universe! Pokeballs are an item that every Trainer needs, so why wouldn't a shop open up dedicated to selling them?
With odd balls being easier to find in the 6/7/8 gens, I've taken to making sure that no 2 members of my final team share a ball, and that sort of convenient one-stop-shop makes finding 20 of the right ball so much easier.
(I used to exclusively use Pokeballs for my final team, but in game trades etc coming in rare balls made that impossible)
(I used to exclusively use Pokeballs for my final team, but in game trades etc coming in rare balls made that impossible)
And then you have someone like me, who would never spend all that time and money. Yeah, Ultra Balls are frankly kinda ugly, and Quick Balls not much more attractive, but they work.
And you know what? There's plenty of room in Pokémon for both approaches and a multitude in-between. And that's pretty neat, I think.
And you know what? There's plenty of room in Pokémon for both approaches and a multitude in-between. And that's pretty neat, I think.
Wish there was a way to swap what ball a Pokemon was in. "But then you can lie you caught a Legendary in a Poke Ball when you used an Ultra Ball". Um, who cares? I mean, it's possible to catch any Pokemon in any Poke Ball so it's not like that's a tall claim. And honestly not a lot of people pay attention to what Poke Ball a Pokemon is in, it's mostly more for the player's satisfaction that this species of Pokemon is in a specific kind of Ball.
So with that said, I say also let players change around the color of the Poke Balls. Obviously there would be some rules to keep each Poke Ball pattern consistent (like a normal Poke Ball needs to be two-tone while a Premier Ball is a solid color).
And bring back seals! If anything that's one good thing BDSP will do, bring back the Seals to let us customize the effects of our Pokemon being sent out to battle. Hopefully after putting all the work in to do that they may decide to keep it...
Only going to touch on this briefly because it's bordering wishlisting, but it would be cool if there were a type of Pokeball that could be customized to a degree. There'd have to be limitations on it, obviously (to prevent people from making obscene designs), but something like choosing from one of a few designs and filling in the colours would be amazing.
I'm walking in with a full team in Dusk Balls. Not because all my Pokémon are from caves, but because it's summer and my sleep schedule is in ruins.
Dusk Balls are also a college player's best friend, which I learned playing XY as a college freshman. Suffice it to say the overwhelming majority of my playtime was at night.
Engineering Student Balls.
Hmm... nah. Like I can see a WAY to do it (for complete freedom probably be like the custom patterns in Animal Crossing (and maybe adding raised bumps/shapes & lines; for semi-freedom pretty much take apart elements of existing balls and let you combine & later them together), but honestly I think just letting us swap Poke Balls, recolor the Balls, & bringing back the seals to affect the sending out effect is enough. That and also releasing some more Pokeballs to add in more designs.
Third versions at least let you catch both, and the recent Legendary Hunts really side step that issue.
Unless you're playing Sun or Ultra Sun. ;)
You can also just change your time to whatever's convenient. I would set the time off by like 12 hours in Crystal when I started games so that I could catch dawn/day mons despite mostly playing in the evenings.
After thinking about it for a while I think I now understand the true significance of BDSP/Legends. In order to understand what I'm getting at, let's go back to the original Gen 4 games.
A lot of people like to say (sometimes disparagingly) that Gen 6 was the beginning of "modern" Pokemon, but I've always thought that Gen 5 was the true start of that era, for it began so many trends that would define the period up to now, from relatively small QoL things like permanent TMs, deprioritization of HMs and speedier gameplay to major design philosophy shifts like a greater emphasis on making compelling human NPCs.
With all that in mind, if Unova was the beginning of a new era, then the original Sinnoh games represented the capstone on the old one, taking that era's design motifs and bringing them to their logical extremes: The scope and stakes of the legendaries are to this day the highest the series has ever seen, Pokemon from all 3 preceding generations got new evolutions, HMs were in abundance, so on and so forth.
So what does this all have to do with BDSP and Legends? Well, I personally think that we are once again witnessing a transition into a new era, and just like 15 years ago the Sinnoh region will serve as the final note for the old one, except this time it'll also be taking the role Gen 5 once did of ushering in the new via Legends. Game Freak has been pretty explicit about that title being not just a one-off experiment, but a microcosm of their vision for the future of the franchise. This is delving into speculation a bit but I think their main takeaway from SWSH's reception was that developing the same way they did on handhelds just doesn't work anymore on home consoles, and with that in mind we can already see the signs of this in what little Legends footage we have, what with its larger scope and improved battle animations. With that in mind it makes sense to have a game like BDSP to wave farewell to the old way of doing things, especially since as I've explained it's a poetic mirror of the role of the first Sinnoh games.
A lot of people like to say (sometimes disparagingly) that Gen 6 was the beginning of "modern" Pokemon, but I've always thought that Gen 5 was the true start of that era, for it began so many trends that would define the period up to now, from relatively small QoL things like permanent TMs, deprioritization of HMs and speedier gameplay to major design philosophy shifts like a greater emphasis on making compelling human NPCs.
With all that in mind, if Unova was the beginning of a new era, then the original Sinnoh games represented the capstone on the old one, taking that era's design motifs and bringing them to their logical extremes: The scope and stakes of the legendaries are to this day the highest the series has ever seen, Pokemon from all 3 preceding generations got new evolutions, HMs were in abundance, so on and so forth.
So what does this all have to do with BDSP and Legends? Well, I personally think that we are once again witnessing a transition into a new era, and just like 15 years ago the Sinnoh region will serve as the final note for the old one, except this time it'll also be taking the role Gen 5 once did of ushering in the new via Legends. Game Freak has been pretty explicit about that title being not just a one-off experiment, but a microcosm of their vision for the future of the franchise. This is delving into speculation a bit but I think their main takeaway from SWSH's reception was that developing the same way they did on handhelds just doesn't work anymore on home consoles, and with that in mind we can already see the signs of this in what little Legends footage we have, what with its larger scope and improved battle animations. With that in mind it makes sense to have a game like BDSP to wave farewell to the old way of doing things, especially since as I've explained it's a poetic mirror of the role of the first Sinnoh games.
I'll be sad if BD/SP really is the end for the Pokémon games I'm used to playing, but Legends looks promising at least.
I hope not. Exploration-based open world is something I want as far away from my favourite franchises as possible.