TLDR: Easily the worst Battle Network game. For some reason they made a game drawing on the worst parts of 1-3.

Before replaying this for the first time in over 10 years I would have said BN1 was the worst in the series but now after replaying both I have no clue why I'd think that.

The game somewhat randomizes the tournaments so that it takes three playthroughs to face all the navi's and get all the Souls. This isn't necessarily bad in theory but it made it so 80% of 4 is meaningless bad filler that has you going through areas you've already visited again and again. A third the time its even against generic navi's even though there's enough unique navi's that you could face instead. These scenarios are like the worst parts of 2 and 3, which in my opinion are the Freezeman and Flameman scenarios, over and over again.

As a result of that tournament structure you can only get 3 souls in playthrough one and the other three in the next two playthroughs. The ones you get are also random and you wont know what you'll get until the tournament they're part of. So tough luck if one your interested in is locked until another playthrough. A shame since I actually like the system more then styles from 2 and 3.

There are only a few parts of the game that are relevant to the main plot with puzzles and bosses at the end. Unfortunately the boss at the end of the first two can't be considered a real boss. 1's a bullshit fight where you can't damage him and the others an intro to a new system where you one shot him. Wasting two of the few more traditional parts of the game on that is frustrating as hell especially considering its still like that on the other two playthroughs needed to see everything in the game.

The NG+ system also makes it that you can't get higher level chips from viruses making you feel fairly weak on a first playthrough since your stuck with mostly only the first tier of chips.

Ultimately 4 is easily skippable, just read up on the few important NPC's introduced before 5 and 6.

Also special shout out to the RNG bullshit hell that is Footbomb.

5 gets the series back on track after quality dropped off a cliff with 4. There's still a bit too much backtracking through areas you already explore but its not 4 levels and nothing as bad as the Freezeman or Flameman scenarios in 2 and 3. Getting to play as navi's other then MegaMan is pretty cool and I actually really enjoyed Liberation missions and the challenge of doing them as efficiently as possible for better rewards. I'm glad the Soul system which is the only redeeming thing about 4 got a chance to shine in a more competent game too.

Very simple but addictive. Some items are more overpowered then others but with the kind of game this is and how many weapons you can have at once I don't really have an issue with that.

I've reached the ending added in 1.0. After getting to that point I'm more appreciative of how the simple gameplay loop did not get old to me after over 20 hours which was one of my worries about the game. In fact there's so many unlockables I can still find I have plenty more reason to put dozens of more hours in.

Unlike the other Battle Networks I had only played 6 once as by the time it came out I was more occupied with other consoles. It's a much stronger entry in the series then I remembered.

The cross system does away with the need to sacrifice a chip of the element type of the power you want to use but still buffs that chip type in some way. It preserves the reward for folder building around the ability Souls had while not punishing you if you drew no chips you can sacrifice in the opening. . There's also no turn limit and instead it ends if you take a hit you're weak too. A good change that makes the system easier to use. The only downside is they are too strong if anything and combined with the next topic they make the game very easy, more so then other entries. It's really fun though and aside from being a little too strong its the best power up this series has had.

The bosses, unfortunately, are a weak point. None of them have attacks that are hard to dodge and/or movement patterns/defensive abilities that make hitting them difficult. For the first few bosses that's fine as I wouldn't expect or want that early on but this persists until the end of the game. I found that some crosses charge attacks were so strong I could rely on only those to easily clear any boss without even bothering with chips which left me with little reason to strengthen my folder. The final boss was the only one that gave some level of challenge and that's partly because it had more health then other final bosses. Even then I'd rank it low in terms of final boss difficulty.

Issues with difficulty aside, I really liked everything else about this game. The pacing was the best in the series for the story and there was very little backtracking in the main game. Most crosses being obtained outside the story when you want them really helped in that regard and even though they have you retread old areas they have neat gimmicks and are usually done fairly quick. Other games had some scenarios I'd dread replaying but here there wasn't really any low point.

Story isn't anything I've really cared about in these games but I did feel this one mostly handled setting up later twists well enough and did a good job keeping much of the cast, like minor villains, relevant until the end. An improvement over previous games.

If this just handled boss difficulty a bit better I'd probably hold it above 3 as my favorite in the series.

Surprisingly good for a fan game. Better then many more recent official Pokémon games. The region lacks identity and like many fan games with new Pokémon they made up are very hit or miss (mostly miss IMO). It has a better story then official games but that's a low bar to pass and that's not to say I think it that good, just passable. Its very good in regards to the variety of Pokémon available and although i said before I felt the fakemon were mostly misses there are a few that stand out and the X versions of existing Pokémon tend to consistently be really cool designs.

I have two primary issues with this game aside from usual ones I have with any pokemon game. It's poor handling of it's gimmick (mega evolution) and lack of post game.

For Megas they wasted the ideas potential by locking most to the post game where there's little to do and only having 4 enemies using them in the whole game. The game is easy as is, there was no reason not to give every important trainer after a certain point a mega to make battles more interesting.

The post game is pretty barren. Only three legends to catch, 1 battle facility, and no new routes with new pokemon to catch like the last few games. Oh and a short side story that is ultimately meaningless. Big step down for the series.

Really feels like a third version could have fixed these things like Platinum did for Diamond and Pearl so a shame we never got that.

I played RS and ORAS multiple times but had not played Emerald until now. I expected I'd see it as a straight upgrade to the original and make me resent the remake for ignoring all it content but surprisingly I didn't (aside from the battle frontier).

I actually think the story changes make the pacing worse compared to the originals by adding additional scenarios not in the original. They make the time between gym 6 and 7 and then 7 to 8 annoyingly long.

I also disliked the replacing contest halls with battle tents aside from the one in Lillycove. Those are poor imitations of facilities in the frontier with insulting rewards. Not worth messing with progressing contests throughout the game.

Post game stuff is great at least and so are updates to gym rosters so I can still see this being the best version, it's just not the best to the extent Platinum is the clear best between original gen 4 and their remakes.

I don't think this is the best Pokémon game as it has some core issues dating back to the originals still but its still my favorite. The issues keeping me from considering it the best Pokémon game and a 10/10 is the terrible level curve and locking many gen 2 Pokémon in the post game. Extremely odd design choices and odder not to fix them in the remakes.

The terrible level curve means there are no good grinding spots making grinding even more annoying then it has to be. The Pokémon which trainers have in the end game end up surprisingly low level too. As a result in Kanto most gyms are a joke after having faced the elite 4.

In spite of that the amount of content in these games are still unmatched by any other Pokémon games. Nothing will ever beat hitting the credits only to find you get to go to Kanto and challenge its gyms and getting a final showdown with the MC of RBY. Copy/Pasting the battle frontier from Platinum may be low effort but its a welcome addition.

Also bringing GS up to Gen 4 standards is most welcome as now certain Pokémon can actually take advantage of typing and the best offensive stats thanks to the physical/special split. Hold items have also gotten a lot more interesting and these games make the best use of the bottom screen of the DS out of any Pokémon games.

Aside from the level curve and needed grinding HGSS holds up very well and are still more enjoyable then most recent Pokémon games.