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Replaying the old Pokemon games, I think I discovered what I liked about them (and what even some of the more recent, even golden age, Pokemon games do to subvert this aspect). One thing that's very cool is that in the older games, the first time you go through an area it's less about what you can catch there and more about whether or not you can survive. Viridian Forest in Gen I and the FRLG remakes is a good example of this- it's extremely long and filled with trainers and bug types that can very easily poison and kill your party members if you're not careful. There's also no easy way to turn back, so you have to make sure you're prepared and when I was a kid, I just barely made it out with one Pokemon alive and it felt extremely satisfying to say I beat it. It forces you to make interesting decisions like sacrificing party members, really thinking about the Pokemon in the area up ahead (in the previous example, you'd want to buy lots of antidotes), and etc.
