>>5474772012. Ruby and Sapphire
Credit to Masuda for taking over the franchise after the original autheur left and managing to keep it afloat after Pokemania died. Even while making sacrifices and fundamentally changing the game formula, they made a fun game, so RS will always have my respect. Best environmental storytelling of any Pokémon game, silky smooth 60fps gameplay, genuinely the most impressive region design so far with how interconnected and memorable Hoenn is, top tier monster designs. I am not a fan of the legendaries having a stronger role in the plot and leaning into the super special protagonist tropes, and Ruby and Sapphire lack a lot to do in the postgame, but the fact that this formula has stuck around until the current day is both impressive and sad.
