Back in my Delcatty run report, I promised to expand upon my feelings about Gen VI Hoenn. These feelings could be summed up in three words: it's complicated. On one hand, I really love how revamped Hoenn feels like a brand-new region while retaining Gen III's specificities, from the geometric look of rocky areas to the sheer wilderness of the whole region. I absolutely adore the quality-of-life improvements offered by the second screen features — starting with the map, which allowed me to fully undertand at long last the exact layout of the aquatic routes. Speaking of which, the aquatic routes and underwater areas look breathtakingly gorgeous in ORAS — so much so that I explored them all just for the sheer pleasure of it.
On the other hand, I just cannot get over how utterly sluggish these remakes are. I felt like I was walking through mud my whole run: as much as I tried to speed things up, I could never generate that sweet, intoxicating feeling of rush I like to get from my solo runs. I reckon this is due to an unfortunate combination of factors, including the long battle intros, the oversized areas and the many cutscenes and interruptions. This doesn't make the game unpleasant, mind you; just supremely slow. Well, I guess that's a different experience, to be enjoyed for what it is; I'll definitely go for ORAS when I want a chill, mellow solo run.
Another annoying thing is the nerfing of the Zigzagoon line, which makes the Pickup hack much more difficult to pull off than in Ruby/Sapphire. For once, the line now has Gluttony as well as Pickup, forcing you to filter your recruits; for another, levels now affect pickup items and rates. A Zigzagoon/Linoone now cannot reap Rare Candies at all under Lv. 20, and only has a 4% chance of doing so betwen Lv. 20 and 40; compare that to the 10% rate from Lv. 1 in RS, and you'll see why I'm severely miffed. On the other hand, Gen VI gives you the Lucky Egg much more readily, so this compensates that.
I've played both Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire at that point; and I solemnly declare that Alpha Sapphire will be my go-to half of the pair, from now on and for all eternity, for reasons utterly futile yet very important to yours truly. For once, I fancy blue more than red as a colour, and the blue palette during battle reminds me nicely of Ecco the Dolphin; for another, I like Team Aqua's looks and outfits better than Team Magma's; and, last but not least, SHELLY! Gosh, I could stare at her all run long. Thank Arceus GameFreak didn't give her the Samus treatment by changing her original curly red mop into a vanilla blonde ponytail, and went for a whole mass of dark wavy (how suitable) hair instead.
Well, that's it for my thoughts about revamped Hoenn. The fact that I had yet to put ORAS to the test was kinda nagging at me, and I'm glad to have them under my belt at long last. Now I just have to dive senseless into Sword&Shield, and I'll be up to date when it comes to the main series. For now, dear fellow gamers, I'll see you soon with my next Poke-report; in the meantime, keep playing and take care!
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