I like Barry a lot more because he actually feels like a test of strength at different parts in the game, as a rival should. He has an annoying determination, and even though his entire gimmick is FUCK YEAH IM BARRY'ing his way through everything, it still kinda grew on me. When you meet his dad later on, it puts everything into perspective, and explains why he's so retardedly hyper all the time. He literally just wants to be like his dad, like every child does.
Hop in comparison always felt like a jobber. Purposely made to be easy so he could have his depression arc and then find a new calling as a professor, similarly to how Leon and Sonia were as kids. It's a nice parallel story-wise, but for a rival I didn't feel very rivalled at all. Nor by Bede or Marnie for that matter, so maybe it's just a SwSh being easy problem.
I like Hop's character development arc, but I thought he was pretty garbage as a rival, and he's a ni.
>>47125633Barry's Staravia actually fucking filtered me as a kid, and sometimes still does in Nuzlockes
>>47125541>playing the new games makes you underage 