Hoenn

[Jayrodd]

Now we might be overly familiar with this generation for fan game reasons, let's talk about the root of the era: Hoenn. Gen 3 took a big leap for the series of Pokemon, adding a lot of new mechanics and diversity in the way we see the game. Take some time this week to show what about this region changed how you experience pokemon.

• Discuss aspects of Hoenn that are unique, or done better here than in other regions.
• Explain ideas you liked from the region that could be expanded on in later titles
• Share a memory of something you really liked about Hoenn!

 

[TechSkylander1518]

A lot of great things started with Hoenn! Most obvious is, of course, the introduction of abilities, which has had a fantastic effect on gameplay, but I think another earth-shaking (get it?) development it brought was the PC overhaul-an amazing improvement that fixed so many annoying problems. (Have you ever had to answer a call and be told that you needed to manually switch your PC at the nearest Pokemon Center or risk not being able to catch anymore Pokemon? )

Hoenn also set a lot of interesting precedents in its storyline. This is the first time we had a legendary group that was more deity-like in how it worked-rather than simply existing and being hard to find (more like cryptids IMO), the weather trio is a group of Pokemon that are actually described as being the cause of natural phenomena. I don't think this makes them "more legendary" than others-they're still fantastical monsters with a special story tied to them-but it does shape their story a bit. And speaking of story, this is also the first time a villainous team was entirely dedicated to the pursuit of a legendary for their own specific goals. (Though Team Rocket wanted some legendaries, their goals were just about power, and while they didn't enjoy letting the Pokemon get away, it didn't stop them) It's also the first time we got a villainous team besides Team Rocket, and one with admins that actually got names.

And of course, mentioning the teams and legendaries brings up the concept of duality commonly seen in Hoenn-not only in the major plot, but even in small pieces of the region, like Zangoose and Seviper's rivalry or Wurmple's split evolution. (Side note-it also has Nincada, which has my favorite evolution method of all time) And following with this, we got Double Battles, which really shook up strategies. Heck, sometimes we didn't even battle at all, with Contests introduced.

The only Gen 3 game I played myself was FireRed, but all of Gen 3 is pretty special to me-it's really laid some fantastic groundwork.

 

[Pixel Profligate]

Ooh boy, time to talk about my favorite region.
One thing I think Hoenn easily did the best out of all Pokemon games is the environments and how they seem to flow really, really well. While there are a lot of different environments, they're often broken up by either the more boring type of routes or by things like caves, mountains, or towns. This made the region feel very natural while still giving it access to a wide variety of cool environments.
The Pokemon in the region itself were also very well done, and almost always perfectly fit the environments they are placed in. The Pokemon were interesting, varied, but still mostly natural looking and believable while also having personality and good designs.

One thing I absolutely loved about Hoenn (technically Emerald, but still) is that you aren't forced into any battles against a legendary. None. Yeah, you had to interact with one, but you never once have to fight it because the story forces you into a battle, which is something I think both GameFreak and fangames alike should do a lot more of. Forcing the player to fight a legendary Pokemon makes it kind of lose it's intimidation and makes it feel less special. But, when you have to go out of your way to get it, it feels a lot more satisfying, or at least, I think it does.

And one thing I really remember striking me as awesome when I was a kid was diving for the first time. The sound effect, the music, the colors, it was all awesome. In fact, I really liked the whole "too much water" thing so many people hate. To me, it always made me feel like I was exploring and finding new things. There were no roads or paths in the ocean, so when I'd find something secret, it'd think "woah, that's awesome!" and would just get this warm feeling of accomplishment. Ahh, Hoenn...the memories.

 

[Tomix9tomix]

It's funny that these topic gets brought up right after cities because Hoenn had well designed cities.
However, I missed out on generation 3 but I have played through ORAS so I do know Hoenn

Hoenn's biggest pro for me was its environment, it was completely unique and different compared to Kanto and Johto, it was tropical and had cool underwater sections. To me diving is a really cool idea, and I like how they made a city where you had to dive underneath and come back up again to enter, cool indeed. Although it did add the 3rd water HM which is a bit of a pain but it was still a cool idea.

ORAS is also the first game I completed my national pokedex, so that is pretty cool

 

[Dragonite]

A lot of the time I'm like "meh, Hoenn" and then proceed to list like seven of its cities as my favorite places in Pokémon games so I guess this time I'll skip to the end and say I like Hoenn. It has:

- Sootopolis City
- A lot of Pokémon designs I like (Ralts line, Lati@s, Slackoth, fire chickens, to name a few)
- Pacifidlog
- Fortree
- Mauville, at least in ORAS
- Rocket science
- This, this and this
- A lot to do with weather
- Dive
- The delta episode, also in ORAS

 

[aiyinsi]

HOENN has the best soudtrack of all Pokémon games. In gen 3 and 6.

Emeralds Battle Frontier was the best post game of all Pokémon games. I've played my Emerald Edition for over 400h. (I guess that's more sad than somehing to be proud of though :'D)

 

[Radical Raptr]

Something I found really unique and interesting about Hoenn was how it made the player experience the region - up until that point, the path was sort of linear around the region, but Hoenn started the trend of experiencing the region in different ways, where you started in one area, traveled a bit, to a boat to another part, traveled further, back tracked to the beginning, went further from there. I found the boat ride and the water in general to be a really fun and unique way of directing the attention of the player.

Having two evil teams was also a really interesting way to provide conflict, as they each had similar goals, both in opposition to your own morals, but also in opposition with one anothers, it created a unique dynamic where it wasn't one crazy man's fantasy against a little kid's

 

[Evan]

Something I found really unique and interesting about Hoenn was how it made the player experience the region - up until that point, the path was sort of linear around the region, but Hoenn started the trend of experiencing the region in different ways, where you started in one area, traveled a bit, to a boat to another part, traveled further, back tracked to the beginning, went further from there. I found the boat ride and the water in general to be a really fun and unique way of directing the attention of the player.

Having two evil teams was also a really interesting way to provide conflict, as they each had similar goals, both in opposition to your own morals, but also in opposition with one anothers, it created a unique dynamic where it wasn't one crazy man's fantasy against a little kid's

I agree wholeheartedly with what Raptr said, though I will say previous regions weren't all that linear either. But utilizing the landscape to the advantage of the map-makers [like meteor falls, for instance] to block off areas made it feel natural to explore the region in this weird order. I remember my mind being blown at the Rusturf Tunnel.

In general I'd have to say Hoenn wins the creativity points for pretty much taking the biggest step for pokemon [I consider gens 1-2 'classic pokemon' and gens 3-? to be the newer pokemon]. It introduced abilities and double battles, now core tenants of Pokemon, and it really took a leap in the creative design direction of the creatures and the landscapes. It also took the leap into making the villainous teams more wacky by nature, which fit the atmosphere they created. And, like leilou, I've definitely sunk many many many hours into Emerald's Battle Frontier. Having that in a game as a way to get your competitive battling fix was perfect.

 

[Dr. Pikachu PhD]

The Battle Frontier wins Hoenn huge points in my book. While Gen 3 Hoenn is sadly lacking in way of post-game plot (collect the Regis/Weather Trio, battle Steven Stone, contests, and I think that's it....) the Battle Frontier made up for it. It established a post-game battle facility as a staple in every game that followed, but somehow did it better than all of the others. The Battle Maison and Battle Tree are a little boring/lazy in their design, the World Tournament was cool but simple and less impressive, and Pt/HGSS Battle Frontier is just a rehash of Emerald's that doesn't do anything better.

In comparison each facility at Hoenn's Battle Frontier is unique in design and introduced fun new game mechanics that mix up the way you battle and present a real challenge. You can tell some serious effort was put into designing it. Using rental Pokémon was my personal favorite past time, but I also loved fighting the cool themed trainers in the Battle Pike (plus Pike Queen Lucy is probably my favorite frontier brain). Also, the Battle Pyramid had item limits and themed random Pokémon encounters on each floor, which was unexpected but really interesting. All in all, I have always found it more exciting and engaging than any of the other post-game battle facilities, and it's the only one that I've felt compelled to spend decent amounts of time playing through.

I was also wondering what you all thought about contests and secret bases? I never really did much of either past exploring the basics, but I've seen a lot of hate for contests and I was surprised by how many people were excited to see Super Secret Bases return in ORAS. Features like these are often left out of fangames, I assume because most believe they're not worth the effort.

 

[Presley]

The overall "vibe" of Hoenn is really set apart from the other regions. I really like that it's an island, I don't know the word for it, but it just gives me that nice feel. Additionally, ORAS are probably one of my favorite games. The flying and the Delta event were incredibly enjoyable. Some other things I loved were the secret bases and Dive.