>>30854189it's all about the atmosphere
can't even chock it up to nostalgia since I never played GSC (or RBY) and only picked up HGSS a couple months ago
the level curve was indeed shit, as was the distribution, but it hardly made it unplayable unless you're a robotic faggot who only plays the game for win farming and dex slogging, the simplistic gen II storyline didn't feel overly tryhard like a lot of the later games, while the aesthetic choices and tack-ons (yeah, followers, fucking sue me) made even mundane shit like grinding less of a chore
I never felt so attached to a team in any other game as I did with my HGSS team, it made things more personal, the game as a whole felt more exciting and happy than the snorefest of gen 6 and even 7, though things are starting to get better
it's maybe a little overhyped and carries a lackluster spec sheet, but it still deserves a lot of the acclaim it gets
