>>43201272>>competitive>is it a big thing? you tell me man
play.pokemonshowdown.com>>challenge runsthese can be more fun with a randomizer, which is easy to apply if you have a rom you want to use. it is hard to find a romhack or challenge that balances its difficulty by not making you grind too much, because that makes for a dull time. also, some challenges like nuzlockes are fun to play with friends if you have some that are interested in it. allows for some debate about 'best' strategy and more potential for lore/storyline behind what you're doing. Like you said though, it's hard for the games to feel new and like you're exploring a "new fun area" when you're already played them and the formula for the main games is largely the same.
Although their stories are a bit stupid, I've played light platinum and liquid crystal and felt like both offered a good amount of new area to explore
Another option if the mechanics feel stale are the spin-off games. I highly recommend the mystery dungeon games, either blue or sky (the latter of which is considered the definitive mystery dungeon by a lot of people).
