Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

[Blake]

I've never regretted getting both versions of a Pokemon game.

I regret it with ORAS.

I'm willing to say that it is the single worst entry in the franchise, because it's almost a port for the majority of the game, and only unique in the 10th and 11th hours + Post game, while retaining many issues of the original games and not including many of Emerald's wonderful upgrades, meaning it's a step back from HGSS.

They even downgraded a lot of areas (Dewford's Cave, Abandoned Ship, New Mauville) and made them appear way too late (New Mauville) for no good reason.

The DexNav is great, but it won't come back, just like the HGSS menu/buttons didn't come back and the VS Seeker only returned once. And they didn't include customizable characters to make Kalos "unique", but it instead makes the game feel lackin when it had very few other buffs.

All the legends from 5 and earlier in the game is neat, but I don't really feel it adds much beyond a lack of shiny lock.

I agree IGN's reasons were a bit silly, but I don't think they scored it wrong. It really isn't that good a game considering its a remake. It would be fine if it was a new game, possibly, but it's not.

And if it was a new game, the HM/Water issues would be even worse. Like, why the hell is rock smash an HM? So you can fit Secret Power? Why not shove, say, confide out and just have an event prevent you from leaving Mauville? It's not like you have to go to Rusturf Tunnel in the remakes, so what the hell is the point of HM rock smash

The extra bits of plot are great, but they still pale next to Gen 5.

For all the good the game tried to do, it shot itself in the foot just as much. Easily my least favorite games in the series, bar RB for simply not aging well.

[~British Soul~]

They even downgraded a lot of areas (Dewford's cave, Abandoned Ship, New Mauville) and made them appear way too late (New Mauville) for no good reason.

I agree. I didn't see the point in making New Mauville being available until much later.

 

And I missed the TM for Ice Beam being available when you got Surf, now you needed Dive to get it.

[Βyakuya]

To give it some credit, ORAS was a game that was a big relief aside from the previous XY. Honestly, I felt that XY was more dull. Aside from the many aesthetics introduced and innovative features to make training/breeding much more efficient, there were a lot of problems with XY. It was by far, the easiest Pokemon game to the combination of the Exp. Share innovation and the availability of many powerful Pokemon (you could get a Bagon in that game before the 2nd gym for Christ's sake). The plot was a major downgrade from Gen 5; There were characters with little memorable personalities or traits, the Champion was the most boring, and the main antagonist was so freaking obvious. Not to mention the little room for further backstory of the main legendaries.

 

The new features such as the Fairy-type introduction and Mega Evolution were not as hyped to the point that there was still little amounts of Fairy-types, and only about 4 people in the game actually used Mega Evolution, and even then it was lacking. The post-game was awful, limiting down to only about 3 towns in the game that are visited, leaving nothing else in Kalos to be explored for. The Maison gets boring, and there are no other daily events worth seeing anywhere else, leaving trainers only to just train and train some more. Overall, despite introducing a lot of innovative features to Pokemon to make it more modern and appealing, it was severely lacking in actual gameplay and it focused more on general aesthetic.

 

ORAS however, was a big relief from the monotony of riding bikes with eggs down a road all f*****g day. Of course, a big thing about the 3rd gen remake is the nostalgic factor, and boy was it worth it. They definitely went out of their way to make the characters, towns, villains, and legendaries much more appealing. In XY, it wasn't as threatening to encounter Xerneas/Yveltal, but in ORAS, going down the Cave of Creation, with the sounds of roars from the bottom and the combination of catastrophes and calls of support from above, it's actually pretty intimidating. Over here in ORAS, they definitely have used the correct way to make Hoenn seem more likable and memorable than ever. There is nothing much else for them to amend the original plot of the 3rd gen to be as legendary as something like the 5th gen, but you gotta hand it that they tried to add some more substance to the design of the characters, the plot, and the overall progression.

 

A general problem I can say about ORAS is the abundance of HMs and outside moves most Pokemon have to use. It's pretty annoying how it's much more important stuff like Rock Smash and Strength is supposed to be used more, yet frankly the only reason why I'd use Rock Smash in the first place is to leave Mauville...and that's it cause by the time you beat the 1rst gym, and you think you'd use the Rock Smash on the boulders in the Rusturd Tunnel, the rocks are gone forever. What a waste of time. Especially when you want to go North of Mauville, and you have to f*****g go back to get a Pokemon that can learn Rock Smash and ultimately waste time and space for a good Pokemon to have Rock Smash. Same s**t in Victory Road with Strength, but the game could have been worse if they date put more of these obstacles anywhere else to block path to a place.

 

Aside from that, and the sad fact that the Dexnav will likely go away next gen, it was a great step for Gamefreak to improve the flaws from what XY had and used the same tricks to make ORAS more appealing. In the end, a lot of people will still like the game because it's very nostalgic, and people have been yearning for this for a long time. Frankly, synchronizing the introduction of Mega Evolution in XY into Hoenn was also pretty unique, as well as other amounts of canonical events. In the end, I could finally ride a bike, hatching eggs, in a region where it's more worth being in.

[Agro]

Someone mentioned Bikes. Let's talk about bikes. Why still make you switch between 2 bikes? Why give you 2 bikes instead of just making them into one bike? I don't understand.

 

Really, when it comes to HMs, I'm just waiting for the day they're like: you know what? Here, have a jetski and some scuba gear. Here, have a jackhammer. Here, have a... okay, I don't know how to get past Strength, but you get the picture. I like having the puzzles involved with HMs, but god forbid I have to make sure to always have 2 Pokémon so that I can use Surf, Dive, Fly, Strength, etc. and not have to worry about showing up in a cave, get to a puzzle and just have nothing.

 

Other thing with Pokémon games in general that I've been thinking over: having grass as an obstacle just isn't... really an obstacle. Shit, the only reason anyone goes into a patch is because they want to A) see what pokemon appear in the route, or B) find a specific pokemon they know is in the route. Otherwise, they just want to avoid them. Why? Not because its challenging and you know they'll whittle your team's health down, but because it's just so damn annoying to have to continuously run into a pokemon that you know you can easily beat or run away from without any issue what-so-ever. Wild Pokémon barely even give out worthwhile EXP after the first few minutes of the game. You can argue that buying 300 Max Repel solves this issue, but that feels more like a band-aid than an actual solution.

 

Idk, I just think Pokémon's got some things they could improve on that've been in the game since Gen 1.

[The Warden]

Actually, once you make it to the Battle Resort by doing a thing over the game, Rydel gives you the bike you don't have. So you can have both bikes now.

[Agro]

Actually, once you make it to the Battle Resort by doing a thing over the game, Rydel gives you the bike you don't have. So you can have both bikes now.

Yes. Then you don't have to worry about going to switch the bikes because now you have two... yeah, still not seeing why there isn't just one bike with 2 gears like 4th gen introduced.

Not to mention you don't even get that second bike until AFTER the Delta event.

[Βyakuya]

I remember about the bikes, and that was also a pain in the ass...but the bike I mostly use in the outer world would be the Acro Bike. In reality the only locations you need to have both at once would be the Safari Zone and the Mirage Spots.

[~British Soul~]

Yes. Then you don't have to worry about going to switch the bikes because now you have two... yeah, still not seeing why there isn't just one bike with 2 gears like 4th gen introduced.

That would've been so much more convenient. Although if I recall you changed gears in DPt using the B button, the same button that you use to hop around on the Acro Bike.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Pokemon has ALWAYS had this problem. Where they get too stuck on an idea and refuse to let it go, even if it was done better by their other games in the past.

It's...really weird, every innovation doesn't seem nearly as impressive when you realize it might just fade away by next gen.

[Blake]

I remember about the bikes, and that was also a pain in the ass...but the bike I mostly use in the outer world would be the Acro Bike. In reality the only locations you need to have both at once would be the Safari Zone and the Mirage Spots.

but the acro bike was awful

 

Like, it's no faster than running. Sure it gives you access to... /1/ route's worth of use + safari zone, but that's really it. It's completely inferior to the Mach Bike in ORAS because the latter isn't remotely hard to control anymore.

 

EDIT: Sorry, 2 routes.

[Βyakuya]

but the acro bike was awful

 

Like, it's no faster than running. Sure it gives you access to... /1/ route's worth of use + safari zone, but that's really it. It's completely inferior to the Mach Bike in ORAS because the latter isn't remotely hard to control anymore.

 

EDIT: Sorry, 2 routes.

 

I really can't keep track of what was more useful in terms of getting through obstacles in ORAS, but the Acro was the first choice I made, and riding around on a wheelie is still cool. But for the general use of it, I guess the Mach Bike is the superior, and it's been improved in control in comparison to previous gens.

[Blake]

See, the bikes were downgraded in a sense.

 

Gen 3 had 4 speeds.

Walk

Run

Acro (regular bike speed + tricks)

Mach (WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)

 

ORAS only has 3.

Walk

Run/Acro

Mach (normal speed)

 

It's a real downgrade because there was an argument for the Mach Bike over Acro in Gen 3, if only because speed despite being hard to control... But ORAS throws that out the window, as the obstacles for Acro are on like 2-3 routes total and aren't worth it bar 1 of those, and Mach bike can do other obstacles as well as being a good speed.

[evilfusion]

I guess I'll weigh in on the value of ORAS.

 

When I first started my AS run, I quickly figured out that for the majority of people, one version will be sufficient. The content was not so exceptional to justify both versions. It's fun, but so was XY. I like a lot of the things ORAS brought, like the DexNav. There's a nostalgia factor that doesn't suck me in because I didn't play Gen III, but I know it's there.

 

Ultimately, I'd say the Hoenn dex is the biggest downside, ignoring the frustration of the HMs, because everyone hates the HMs. Gen V was nice for making HMs almost completely optional. But in XY, there were older Pokemon in addition to the Gen VI Pokemon, so the diversity was nice without being overwhelming. The Hoenn dex is mostly the same as the original. (I did play Emerald)

 

I do feel ORAS' plot, while necessary because of two different versions, is a step back from Emerald's plot, where both Magma and Aqua were active enemies. You meet your enemy team really early, get only a glimpse of the opposite team at Meteor Falls, and then that team drops off the face of the earth until the climax of the story.

 

I feel XY was the weakest entry in terms of plot and villains, because Team Flare was...bland. Following the footsteps of Black/White, with Team Plasma having very grey morality that was just fantastic made Team Flare just...weak and uninteresting. And Lysandre's motives wasn't nearly as appealing or sympathetic like Cyrus and Team Galactic, whose ultimate plan nearly was the same result as Flare's.

 

But I love the Gen VI mechanics. So everything ORAS adds to the pile of great stuff is justification enough, especially the move tutors and legendaries. I got the chance to experience Hoenn with the updated mechanics of Gen VI, when my Emerald run was dampened slightly by using "outdated" mechanics, since I returned to Pokemon during Gen IV and had gotten accustomed to the Physical/Special type splits.

 

ORAS seems more like the Gen VI games with more replay value than XY. I used my X game mostly for all my competitive breeding and such, so I wouldn't dream of restarting it. ORAS is the same, but more options.

[Blake]

TBH, I don't think XY were all that great, either.
 
How I'd rank it all:
 
First off, I'm omitting gens 1 and 2 because... bar Yellow and Crystal, they sucked. And those two don't even hold up well. It's not that they were bad for the time, but they did not age even a little well. They aged badly. In a franchise like this, they not only lacked many improvements, but they're... fledglings, I guess.
 
1. Black/White 2
Killed BW1's Gen 5-only stance, had a slightly weaker plot, but improved encounter rate. Everyone but Drayden had a good character shift from the previous game as well... though fuck Marlon, really.
 
2. Platinum
Does basically everything right. Great curve, great set of pokemon, has the second best plot after the Gen 5 Saga including an even better villain, and it fixed the remaining mechanic/move issues left by DP. The only real issue with it is that the beginning of the game... basically everything until cycling road is slow as hell. I'd say it's less replayable than HGSS, but more solid as a whole.
 
3. HGSS
Probably a controversial one. It retains many of the issues of its predecessor, but it adds a lot to the game as well, unlike ORAS. It gives you encounter updates, the mixed plot/changes of GSC instead of just GS was nice, and the game felt like it was genuinely updated. It didn't feel like a port/ROM Hack, it felt genuinely improved, despite the curve still sucking. It also had a lot of small mechanics that just made it so much more enjoyable to replay, like the way shoes/registered items were handled and the GB Player, late though it was. The game also has a really long playtime to it if you include Kanto, but you aren't forced to, which makes it endearing as it's unique, despite the issues it causes the game as a whole. Has the fastest startup as well, making it the easiest to start going in. There's also just enough plot to keep it going.
 
4. BW1
The encounter rate is so bad and the gen 5 only pokemon thing sucks, as does the design of Lenora's fight among other such things... but the plot is sublime and the mechanics got even more refined from gen 4. It's also really slow. It doesn't really get going until after Brycen...
 
Both HGSS and BW1 have some things that drag them down, and I really feel like they're about equal. I personally put HGSS higher, but I can see arguments either way.
 
5. Emerald
It took almost everything wrong with RS and made it better. The core issues of HMs, the mediocre wild Pokemon list, and the extreme amounts of water are still there, but the plot wasn't half bad and it felt... refined. Like all third versions should. Lack of Phys/Spec hurts it, but is understandable, and it's probably one of the ones with the most replay value.

6. XY
These games did a lot for the franchise. They made it prettier, they introduced customization, they introduced Mega Evolution, they gave us some memorable Pokemon for sure, the diversity was great... and then it flopped. The game itself is slow, the plot is stale, and so much of the game feels so forced, like the Pokeball Factory or the run-ins with your Rivals and Calem/Serena and... ugh. It was just awful, and only the wonderful Wonder Trade really salvages it as a game at all. The amount of new Pokemon is so low that the game grows old even faster than it would have, anyways, and a lot of them are so bland that you don't want to use them, mostly aside from the major players I mentioned earlier. The game lacks a lot of charm, as well, and Tierno's a fucking asshole.

7. FRLG and ORAS
Both of these games have the same issue. No new diversity, mostly a shiny red coat of paint on a broken down truck over a Mew egg, with a needlessly late National Dex, fucked up compatibility with other games in the same gen in one way or another, they have an equally slow start, both have too many HM required areas, both spit on the third (or fourth) version of the game... so on. They feel like they had a separate team for FRLG and ORAS than HGSS. And another issues with ORAS (and i thin FRLG but can't recall), which HGSS did not partake in, is that it did not lower the amount of the path you could choose.

In RS, you could go to Mt. Pyre OR Lilycove OR fight Winona. Not in ORAS, you're stuck at Winona.

In Johto, when you beat Morty, you're free to do as you choose. Sure you now have to beat Chuck before Jasmine, but... That's a really minor one, not shutting Pryce/Lake of Rage off in favor of forcing you to go one way. This wasn't entirely positive, as it left the curve a mess, but it also made it more player friendly and less linear. With the RS example,removing that did nothing but make the game less linear in an excuse to force the rival battle in Lilycove.

The only difference in these two is that FRLG is even more outdated than RS was, due to Emerald. And ORAS helped the backtracking... except the forced one with Wally post-Norman, which is a dick move.

What HGSS lacks in actually fixing some of the gen's core issues, it makes up for in being faster paced, having Silver fleshed out, taking Crystal as an example to mix all three together, and just being all around... enjoyable and replayable, which GSC were for their time. It kept the spirit without keeping it stale, which both FRLG and ORAS did, only slightly mending most issues (pokeballs missing was dumb and thank God FRLG fixed it).

For the original game pairs...
 
Ruby and Sapphire
These games have held up much better than Gen 1/2. They had many issues, but they're still fun games to replay. The very start of the game can be slow, but Dewford onward is totally fine. Only real issue with Dewford is that Flash is still an HM, and that can be looked over considering it was finally canned after this gen. They're really fine overall, it's just that Emerald is a major improvement on them both, as it should be. Probably the best duo in the series, bar HGSS. No reason not to play ORAS, as it removed some of the issues, like gratuitous backtracking.

Diamond and Pearl
These games are kinda baaaad. They're really slow, even moreso than Platinum was, they don't have a lot of character or charm to them (possibly less than XY), and while they did improve the franchise a fucking ton and gave us a good amound of new Pokemon/evolutions... Platinum was just such an improvement, like every other third version. It's not really fair to compare them to the third versions, but these just don't hold up at all, even against RS.

[Flame Dragon]

See, when I rate pokemon games, I do them by Gen and what that Gen did for the franchise. My personal list is
Gen 4
Gen 6
Gen 2
Gen 1
Gen 3
Gen 5

I value the physical/special stupidly high, but the increase in viable moves around the board is also very important. I love Mega evolutions as a game mechanic, and while they had some issues in implementation, as a mechanic I think it insanely good. Fairy, while likely pushed a little too hard, are also a great addition. Steel and Dark was very important to add for that era. After that Gen 1 is where it is because it is the starting line. Looking back now though, it is PLAGUED with issues. After that, when I don't feel like Gen 5 evolved the franchise all that much so I put it last.

As for individual games, honestly, they all kind of blur in my mind. I honestly always enjoy playing through a pokemon game, so even if they have problems I don't really notice it that much.

[Sixty]

Anyone else slam dunk every contest category with Cosplay Pikachu?

[Cin]

The Battle with Wally was fun, Victory Road didn't look as good as the other ones.  The original one was more frustrating. 

 

As for the bikes, not really too bothered to be honest, the only items I tend to get are ones I get to easy or what Linoone kept picking up. 

[~British Soul~]

I found this pretty amusing:

[Agro]

The biggest crime of ORAS is no Mega Flygon.

 

Second one is not letting me get Mega Gallade before the Elite 4. I mean seriously, I had a Gallade before the 3rd Gym expecting to get a Mega Stone at NOTHING.

[The Warden]

The mega stone could've been called Dragonitite.

[evilfusion]

I'm not really concerned about Dragonite. It's not one of the most interesting dragon designs. Salamence, Garchomp, Flygon, etc all have interesting standard designs. I do lament the lack of M-Flygon, but that's because I have a major soft spot for Flygon.

[BehindTheMask]

ORAS wasnt god-tier like everyone expected it to be, but its still good. Better than XY, and below BW2, but its a really great addition to the series.

 

I like all the megas this gen, minus Glalie. Im ashamed no mega-flygon,

 

Soar is a neat addition to the game, but i dont expect it to come back. All the secret spots are fun to explore, but I hate that certain TMs are there.

 

Flying to routes is top tier addtion, no complaints there.

 

Dexnav is straight fire, hopefully it will be back. It made me want to explore areas more and catch more early on to fill it up.

[Astro Dude]

Anyone else slam dunk every contest category with Cosplay Pikachu?

Already won the Cool contests with it.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The biggest crime of ORAS is no Mega Flygon.

 

Second one is not letting me get Mega Gallade before the Elite 4. I mean seriously, I had a Gallade before the 3rd Gym expecting to get a Mega Stone at NOTHING.

Agreed, M-Flygon seemed a given.

As for that, really? They let you get so many of them (from what I heard) and left that out? What others are post?

 

 

I like all the megas this gen, minus Glalie. Im ashamed no mega-flygon,

This is funny to me since I loved M-Glalie. I haven't used it, but when I watched a wifi battle it just looked terrifying and amazing.

 

 

As for Dragonite, it was a bit odd....but honestly, it probably was the most useful/strongest competitively of all the pseudo's without a mega.

[~British Soul~]

The biggest crime of ORAS is no Mega Flygon.

I know right, it was one of the pokemon that deserved a Mega.

 

As for that, really? They let you get so many of them (from what I heard) and left that out? What others are post?

[spoiler=Post E4/Delta episode mega stones]

- Blastoise

- Audino

- Latios/as

- Metagross

- Salamence

- Sharpedo

- Camerupt

[/spoiler]