This is the first time I'm writing a negative review, so I hope I'm not going to hurt anyone's feelings.
This is my 2nd Pokémon game. I started with the 1st generation which was Pokémon FireRed, and now I continue with the 2nd generation. I really wanted to give this franchise another chance, after being disappointed with FireRed.
Firstly, everything takes too much time: the text speed; the animations when you start and finish a fight (yes I disabled the attack animations); opening your inventory and navigating through the menus... Those games are REALLY testing your patience to the absolute limit.
I knew this problem would persist in HeartGold, but just like in the previous game, there are way too many random encounters, and it ruins the pace of the game. You can't walk 2 meters without getting attacked... I understand that they did it so that the player would keep getting experience regularly and wouldn't become under-leveled, but it was extremely annoying regardless.
I hate how you need to keep one or two useless Pokémon with you at all times to have all HMs available (Cut, Rock Smash/Climb, Fly, Surf, etc...). This is such a waste of place, and a bad game design.
The fact that you can't quickly teleport from one city to another makes you waste even more time, especially when you've already gone through several towns, and Professor Elm suddently asks you to come & show him your Togepi...
I did notice that there was a subway in Goldenrod City, but I couldn't use it. I guess it's a feature that becomes available later in the game.
At some point, I was so done with this game that I installed cheats (xp multiplier, fast-forward setting, etc...) but I realised it was already too late because I didn't give a shit anymore, so I stopped the game anyway.
I still played the game for 14 hours, which is incredibly long when you're not enjoying something. So yeah I really tried to give the game a fair chance. But it just didn't click with me despite all my efforts.
To the game's credit, I was playing on an emulator, so I didn't have access to many of the features offered by the game. Whether it's trading Pokémon and battling other players on WiFi; getting some Pokémon that can only evolve by doing trades; sending recordings of my battles; etc... It's frustrating that I can't experience the game to the fullest, with many of its features now inaccessible in 2023... The social aspect of the game would have been really appealing to me.
EDIT: I also just learnt about the Pokéwalker. It's really a shame that I couldn't play the game with that device. It must have been so much fun playing that as a kid, and trading Pokémon with people irl.
I spent like 2 hours playing Voltorb Flip in the Casino, this is the best minigame ever. This was legit more fun than the game itself.
I was able to earn enough tickets to trade a Dratini early in my adventure, and I was really excited to evolve it into Dragonair and Dragonite, but I got tired of the game before I could do it.
Something that frustrates me a lot is that the game seems to have really cool Pokémon & Boss fights in mid/end-game. Pokémon like Alakazam, Gengar, Ninetales, Rapidash, Snorlax, Ho-Oh, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, Mewtwo, etc... But I always get tired of these games before I can get myself a really cool team.
I don't know if I'll try another game in the franchise. Most people were telling me HeartGold is a fan's favorite, and I still didn't enjoy it. So who knows...
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on September 16th & stopped on September 24th 2023]
Playtime: 14 hours
I stopped after defeating the Gym Leader in Ecruteak City and reaching Olivine City.
This is my 2nd Pokémon game. I started with the 1st generation which was Pokémon FireRed, and now I continue with the 2nd generation. I really wanted to give this franchise another chance, after being disappointed with FireRed.
Firstly, everything takes too much time: the text speed; the animations when you start and finish a fight (yes I disabled the attack animations); opening your inventory and navigating through the menus... Those games are REALLY testing your patience to the absolute limit.
I knew this problem would persist in HeartGold, but just like in the previous game, there are way too many random encounters, and it ruins the pace of the game. You can't walk 2 meters without getting attacked... I understand that they did it so that the player would keep getting experience regularly and wouldn't become under-leveled, but it was extremely annoying regardless.
I hate how you need to keep one or two useless Pokémon with you at all times to have all HMs available (Cut, Rock Smash/Climb, Fly, Surf, etc...). This is such a waste of place, and a bad game design.
The fact that you can't quickly teleport from one city to another makes you waste even more time, especially when you've already gone through several towns, and Professor Elm suddently asks you to come & show him your Togepi...
I did notice that there was a subway in Goldenrod City, but I couldn't use it. I guess it's a feature that becomes available later in the game.
At some point, I was so done with this game that I installed cheats (xp multiplier, fast-forward setting, etc...) but I realised it was already too late because I didn't give a shit anymore, so I stopped the game anyway.
I still played the game for 14 hours, which is incredibly long when you're not enjoying something. So yeah I really tried to give the game a fair chance. But it just didn't click with me despite all my efforts.
To the game's credit, I was playing on an emulator, so I didn't have access to many of the features offered by the game. Whether it's trading Pokémon and battling other players on WiFi; getting some Pokémon that can only evolve by doing trades; sending recordings of my battles; etc... It's frustrating that I can't experience the game to the fullest, with many of its features now inaccessible in 2023... The social aspect of the game would have been really appealing to me.
EDIT: I also just learnt about the Pokéwalker. It's really a shame that I couldn't play the game with that device. It must have been so much fun playing that as a kid, and trading Pokémon with people irl.
I spent like 2 hours playing Voltorb Flip in the Casino, this is the best minigame ever. This was legit more fun than the game itself.
I was able to earn enough tickets to trade a Dratini early in my adventure, and I was really excited to evolve it into Dragonair and Dragonite, but I got tired of the game before I could do it.
Something that frustrates me a lot is that the game seems to have really cool Pokémon & Boss fights in mid/end-game. Pokémon like Alakazam, Gengar, Ninetales, Rapidash, Snorlax, Ho-Oh, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, Mewtwo, etc... But I always get tired of these games before I can get myself a really cool team.
I don't know if I'll try another game in the franchise. Most people were telling me HeartGold is a fan's favorite, and I still didn't enjoy it. So who knows...
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on September 16th & stopped on September 24th 2023]
Playtime: 14 hours
I stopped after defeating the Gym Leader in Ecruteak City and reaching Olivine City.
5 Comments
@Maurith Even though the combats aren't deep, complex or exciting, I appreciate the feeling of capturing Pokémon and slowly watching them grow. And fighting the Gym Leaders (the Bosses of those games) was decently fun.
The main issue is just how often you get interrupted by random encounters, and how little experience you get from it.
Winning 10 random encounters will barely reward you with any experience, so it's just a nuisance.
I heard the following generations of Pokémon games are identical and aren't trying to fix any of those issues, so it doesn't make me want to give the franchise another chance, unfortunately..
Thanks for commenting btw!
The main issue is just how often you get interrupted by random encounters, and how little experience you get from it.
Winning 10 random encounters will barely reward you with any experience, so it's just a nuisance.
I heard the following generations of Pokémon games are identical and aren't trying to fix any of those issues, so it doesn't make me want to give the franchise another chance, unfortunately..
Thanks for commenting btw!
HG/SS is definitely my favorite Pokemon duo, but it's fully because of nostalgia and the Pokewalker accessory. It got me into Pokemon, and I'm genuinely starting to believe the common critique of the series; "you either like all of them because you like the community, or else you only like the first one you played and none of the other games will ever hit the same highs because of the nature of the repetitive design and your nostalgia bias." I haven't really enjoyed a mainline Pokemon game since the DS because the artifice of seeing new Pokemon and talking about the game with your friends is really all that's new, save for forgettable minigame mechanics or adding a larger polygon count to the graphics. Unlike other JRPGs, Pokemon is hardly about the characters and their arcs more than just the colorful art direction. I don't dislike that, but it really shows how much it's intended for a young audience as a gateway into other games rather than an IP that grows alongside its playerbase like Zelda has
Also not having the Pokewalker is a HUGE hit to HG/SS' quality, being a kid and being able to have a little device like that was SO cool and no matter how poorly the game itself ages I think that memory will always hold up in comparison to most other games just by nature of how special and unique it was
@Jellyghost Thanks for commenting man, I appreciate it!
I had no idea what was the "Pokéwalker", I checked on Google and it seems so much fun! I would have loved having that when I was a kid.
I tried not to be too harsh in my review because like I said, there were many features of this game inaccessible to me, unfortunately... including the Pokéwalker 😥
I'm kinda mad that I can't experience this game the same way you experienced it
I had no idea what was the "Pokéwalker", I checked on Google and it seems so much fun! I would have loved having that when I was a kid.
I tried not to be too harsh in my review because like I said, there were many features of this game inaccessible to me, unfortunately... including the Pokéwalker 😥
I'm kinda mad that I can't experience this game the same way you experienced it
Maurith
8 months ago