As a kid, I was never really into the Sinnoh games; even though I must have played them a lot, I only really hold any fond memories of RSE and HGSS. That, alongside the fact that I never replayed them much since, meant that they’ve kind of been a huge black hole in my Pokemon experience. I’ve been pretty eager to get to them to live these unlived experiences, and I’m incredibly glad I did.
If there’s one thing that sticks out to me about Sinnoh, it’s an open and unabashed love for nature. Though it’s marred a bit by also being the first to start embracing facets of industry (and no, having the owner of the ironworks thank nature for its existence doesn’t make it any better!)*, I still find the other areas - those much more on the forefront - to completely eclipse those sour spots. Loads of Pokemon gain minor gender differences (including ones not even available outside of transfer!), and new ones have other differences that reflect their ecology; Burmy spinning a new bag from wherever you last battled, and the two divergent Shellos and Gastrodon forms, and even their willingness to give one of the hardest new Pokemon to find *three* signature moves, just because they fit it so well. Past this, you’re actively encouraged to engage with the natural world if you take a moment to do some of the side activities; between making routine trips to honey trees to catch some of the unique Pokemon, growing berries to trade for Accessories, and the amount of small favours you can do for others, Sinnoh both encourages spending time in the nature it loves so dearly, as well as makes itself feel extremely ‘liveable’ (and that’s without even talking about some of the other activities!).
And though I don’t really care about the stories in Pokemon games, the existence of Team Galactic embodies the darker contrast - expansion without regard for nature. They leave a blot on the landscape wherever they operate, be it their buildings in Eterna and Veilstone, or their willingness to detonate a bomb to wreck Lake Acuity. The disrespect of the grunts for all the areas they visit, in calling Twinleaf worthless due to there being ‘nothing there’, or jeering at the Magikarp suffering from the aforementioned bomb they set off. It’s not a particularly biting commentary on anything - though nor does Sinnoh’s love for nature amount to a strong environmentalist message (of course, neither of these would be expected - it’s still a Pokemon game) - but it still ended up unexpectedly compelling because of that clear contrast.
Sinnoh also boasts some of my favourite routes and locales in the series so far. Most routes - especially from Hearthome onwards - have meaningful aesthetic distinctions, and work to create memorable vistas. A personal favourite of mine is Route 212, starting off as a lush yet man-made garden as an offshoot of Hearthome, then slowly transitioning into a wilder wetland and then a swamp, as you travel through paths created by hedges through to a winding, muddy grassland, punctuated with rain and only broken up by a body of water running through the middle. The design of the routes themselves also hits a real stride that feels like a noticeable refinement of Hoenn, with lots of interesting terrain to navigate around and full of alternate routes and secrets to find. It never quite hits the peak of Hoenn’s Route 119, but never feels too far behind.
But some things stop it from reaching its full potential. The level curve is, to put it nicely, atrocious: not only did the diverging path at Hearthome mean they felt the need to have the whole east side of Sinnoh sit at around the same level bracket, but those routes already feel underleveled by the time you get there! While those routes are some of my favourites, the depressing level curve, and resulting boredom, made them unable to feel as ‘adventurous’ as they could have otherwise been. And while I’m somewhat of a defender of HMs - at least as moves, because I don’t think it’s all that bad to spend a single moveslot for one - Sinnoh loves to go completely overboard with how many you need to bring for the lategame areas. Normally you get by just by having Surf and Strength, with Cut or Rock Smash being needed for the earlygame, but Sinnoh launches a massive, Rock Climb-shaped wrench into the works. Not only does this tack on an extra HM you always need to be dragging around during the lategame, but the list of Pokemon that can actually learn it is pretty weird and frankly far too small. I know the funny joke is to drag a Bibarel along as the ultimate HM slave, but actually *having* to do it after three games of having no issues is a pretty horrible feeling (RIP my boxed Azumarill, and also my boxed Palkia who was meant to replace it. Why can’t Palkia learn it anyway?? Like you’re the master of space just use your interdimensional spatial powers to turn the rocks into a set of stairs or something)
Despite some noticeable gripes and shortcomings, Pokemon Pearl is easily the most I’ve been sucked into a Pokemon game in at least the past decade. Sinnoh is a wonderful region, and I’m excited to eventually revisit it through Platinum whenever that might be.
* I think the small-scale industrial elements are supposed to be a celebration of the potential offered to us by nature; at the end of the day, everything we’ve built up as a species comes from the natural world and we should be thankful for that. It’s a nice sentiment to have, but considering every other aspect feels like a celebration of nature itself, I don’t think it’s the best place to say that. Assuming that’s what they were going for, I get it, but it doesn’t work here for me. Also one of those elements is a coal mine so uh yeah
If there’s one thing that sticks out to me about Sinnoh, it’s an open and unabashed love for nature. Though it’s marred a bit by also being the first to start embracing facets of industry (and no, having the owner of the ironworks thank nature for its existence doesn’t make it any better!)*, I still find the other areas - those much more on the forefront - to completely eclipse those sour spots. Loads of Pokemon gain minor gender differences (including ones not even available outside of transfer!), and new ones have other differences that reflect their ecology; Burmy spinning a new bag from wherever you last battled, and the two divergent Shellos and Gastrodon forms, and even their willingness to give one of the hardest new Pokemon to find *three* signature moves, just because they fit it so well. Past this, you’re actively encouraged to engage with the natural world if you take a moment to do some of the side activities; between making routine trips to honey trees to catch some of the unique Pokemon, growing berries to trade for Accessories, and the amount of small favours you can do for others, Sinnoh both encourages spending time in the nature it loves so dearly, as well as makes itself feel extremely ‘liveable’ (and that’s without even talking about some of the other activities!).
And though I don’t really care about the stories in Pokemon games, the existence of Team Galactic embodies the darker contrast - expansion without regard for nature. They leave a blot on the landscape wherever they operate, be it their buildings in Eterna and Veilstone, or their willingness to detonate a bomb to wreck Lake Acuity. The disrespect of the grunts for all the areas they visit, in calling Twinleaf worthless due to there being ‘nothing there’, or jeering at the Magikarp suffering from the aforementioned bomb they set off. It’s not a particularly biting commentary on anything - though nor does Sinnoh’s love for nature amount to a strong environmentalist message (of course, neither of these would be expected - it’s still a Pokemon game) - but it still ended up unexpectedly compelling because of that clear contrast.
Sinnoh also boasts some of my favourite routes and locales in the series so far. Most routes - especially from Hearthome onwards - have meaningful aesthetic distinctions, and work to create memorable vistas. A personal favourite of mine is Route 212, starting off as a lush yet man-made garden as an offshoot of Hearthome, then slowly transitioning into a wilder wetland and then a swamp, as you travel through paths created by hedges through to a winding, muddy grassland, punctuated with rain and only broken up by a body of water running through the middle. The design of the routes themselves also hits a real stride that feels like a noticeable refinement of Hoenn, with lots of interesting terrain to navigate around and full of alternate routes and secrets to find. It never quite hits the peak of Hoenn’s Route 119, but never feels too far behind.
But some things stop it from reaching its full potential. The level curve is, to put it nicely, atrocious: not only did the diverging path at Hearthome mean they felt the need to have the whole east side of Sinnoh sit at around the same level bracket, but those routes already feel underleveled by the time you get there! While those routes are some of my favourites, the depressing level curve, and resulting boredom, made them unable to feel as ‘adventurous’ as they could have otherwise been. And while I’m somewhat of a defender of HMs - at least as moves, because I don’t think it’s all that bad to spend a single moveslot for one - Sinnoh loves to go completely overboard with how many you need to bring for the lategame areas. Normally you get by just by having Surf and Strength, with Cut or Rock Smash being needed for the earlygame, but Sinnoh launches a massive, Rock Climb-shaped wrench into the works. Not only does this tack on an extra HM you always need to be dragging around during the lategame, but the list of Pokemon that can actually learn it is pretty weird and frankly far too small. I know the funny joke is to drag a Bibarel along as the ultimate HM slave, but actually *having* to do it after three games of having no issues is a pretty horrible feeling (RIP my boxed Azumarill, and also my boxed Palkia who was meant to replace it. Why can’t Palkia learn it anyway?? Like you’re the master of space just use your interdimensional spatial powers to turn the rocks into a set of stairs or something)
Despite some noticeable gripes and shortcomings, Pokemon Pearl is easily the most I’ve been sucked into a Pokemon game in at least the past decade. Sinnoh is a wonderful region, and I’m excited to eventually revisit it through Platinum whenever that might be.
* I think the small-scale industrial elements are supposed to be a celebration of the potential offered to us by nature; at the end of the day, everything we’ve built up as a species comes from the natural world and we should be thankful for that. It’s a nice sentiment to have, but considering every other aspect feels like a celebration of nature itself, I don’t think it’s the best place to say that. Assuming that’s what they were going for, I get it, but it doesn’t work here for me. Also one of those elements is a coal mine so uh yeah
GoingHome
9 months ago