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3. Creating replay value. Gyms can be rechallenged just like the Elite Four, and the Battle Simulator at the Indigo Plateau creates an engaging and convenient way to build up new teams without needing to run the entire gauntlet of the EF over and over. Even after beating all the gyms and the EF I find myself engaged enough to try and catch 'em all, something the vanilla series didn't often inspire in me.
4. Letting me play with my dream team. This came as a result of opening up the world, but should stand as its own point. Since I knew going into this that I would be able to go anywhere I wanted, I mapped out what I wanted my final 6 team to be from the start. Before I collected a single badge I journeyed the world and caught the team I wanted, and this meant that I could raise all of them with equal attention, not waste time on Pokemon I knew I wouldn't use in the long haul, and (again) add something to narrative I wanted to build.
5. Creating an intimate sequel rather than an ambitious one. The original content in the game is very reserved, which is a huge plus in a world filled with ROM hacks that fly off the rails imaginatively. I think it's great that people are doing that, and I even dip my toes into it every once in awhile, but the balance Crystal Clear struck was right where I like it. As a sequel, set a year after the main events of Gen II, there was no new world-threatening crisis to address, or team of criminals that needed defeating, or anything of the sort. Instead, I was made to just feel like another kid in this world who worked his way to the top. Even if it doesn't have that mythic quality of the vanilla games, it's almost *more* immersive because it feels so much more believable. I'm not destined to become the world's biggest badass--I become the world's biggest badass because I worked my ass off for it.
