Absolutely the best way to experience the Hoenn region, though this game has it's pushes and pulls when compared to its predecessors on the Game Boy Advance. One of the reasons why I don't love Pokémon Emerald Version is because it takes away most of the contest halls in exchange for Battle Tents. Which seems weird because there's also a Battle Tower, too. Oh, and that thing called the Battle Frontier that people treat like the best thing ever to happen in this series. I like contests! So I was very glad to see how they were enhanced, but I didn't love that you can compete at any level in any hall. The progression in the original versions kind of gave you an extra reason to stick around and return to towns that you might otherwise not find yourself in a whole lot. Push and pull. Some things are better, but some are not quite there. The best thing are the interior environments. Granite Cave with its mural, each gym with its enhancements, walking into that first one in Rustboro and knowing that it's going to be an all-new game. The Cave of Origin's deepest nook being a gorgeous room for the story's climax. A story that actually feels like a true RPG story, with a cohesive plot and arcs and fulfilled characters. The UI on the touch screen using some Game Boy Advance visuals is a perfect little touch, too.
The best lesson to be learned from this game is that it doesn't need to be so spectacular for this series. Fans of Pokémon expect a lot from these games, but playing this installment and seeing them nail a lot of the presentation but still being kind of small-scale just makes me think the direction they're going in with going bigger and grander with every generation is maybe taking things too far. The battles in these games don't need to be crazy. I really like how this game still keeps the little circles where each Pokémon stands within the battle UI. I like how you can't see the trainers, either. That's a change I kind of don't really think about, but, as I played this game, I kept thinking "they could just keep it simple and give themselves less work and maybe just polish the things they didn't get quite right instead of working from scratch with each new console they work with.
It stinks because there's no way they can go backwards in scale, but after seeing that article where some developers toil with trying to make great products within the unfortunate reality of their release schedule, it makes me think, that maybe they should regress a little. They can do a lot of cool things, presentation-wise, while still maintaining this classic feel with their worlds. I don't know. All I know is I really liked my experience with this game, more-so than any attempt at a more open world experience, that's for sure. The only reason this isn't a 4.5/5 is because this game, like every other Pokémon game on the 3DS, runs like shit in some cases. Which, makes me think, if these games were released on more modern hardware, and given a little tweaking in some areas, it would be the best game in the series by far. It's a shame a port like that is near unimaginable in this franchise.
The best lesson to be learned from this game is that it doesn't need to be so spectacular for this series. Fans of Pokémon expect a lot from these games, but playing this installment and seeing them nail a lot of the presentation but still being kind of small-scale just makes me think the direction they're going in with going bigger and grander with every generation is maybe taking things too far. The battles in these games don't need to be crazy. I really like how this game still keeps the little circles where each Pokémon stands within the battle UI. I like how you can't see the trainers, either. That's a change I kind of don't really think about, but, as I played this game, I kept thinking "they could just keep it simple and give themselves less work and maybe just polish the things they didn't get quite right instead of working from scratch with each new console they work with.
It stinks because there's no way they can go backwards in scale, but after seeing that article where some developers toil with trying to make great products within the unfortunate reality of their release schedule, it makes me think, that maybe they should regress a little. They can do a lot of cool things, presentation-wise, while still maintaining this classic feel with their worlds. I don't know. All I know is I really liked my experience with this game, more-so than any attempt at a more open world experience, that's for sure. The only reason this isn't a 4.5/5 is because this game, like every other Pokémon game on the 3DS, runs like shit in some cases. Which, makes me think, if these games were released on more modern hardware, and given a little tweaking in some areas, it would be the best game in the series by far. It's a shame a port like that is near unimaginable in this franchise.