Routes are a big part of what made the older games great
they are what decides whether gameplay feels like exploration and adventure or having your hand held
BW2's R23 also had music that reused bits from Rowan's theme in the gen4 games, making the last story route of the last DS game reference the first song you hear when you start a new game on the first DS game
some pretty pointless but nice poetry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxvLcwmea2c