>>56867481the thing that kills gen 3's chance of being the best pokemon game is that, while the new features were appreciated at the time, prior titles have done more with them. as a new entry in the series it did a ton of work in solidifying the pokemon formula and shaking up the gameplay with things like abilities and double battles. but as a game you actually play, it feels like everything that came after it but without any of the refinements. damn near everything people praise about emerald, i feel is done better in platinum. and platinum would likely be obsolete as well if gen 5 hadn't gone for a soft reboot and removed a bunch of stuff.
(that's in no way a knock on gen 5, by the way. i like that both gen 4 and gen 5 can be enjoyed for different reasons. it's why i think platinum and bw2 share the title of "best pokemon game" rather than there being a single clear winner.)
