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The physical special split ripped the SOUL out of the franchise.
Remember the learnsets in gen 2? And to some extent in gen 3, they were largely very meager. A time when STAB was a privilege and if you wasted your best TM it was tough titties.
You actually had to plan your team well to make it stand out and there was a direct route for you to showcase your skill in this department with the stadium games.
Pokémon types and base stats were meticulously thought out, with some just not cut from the same cloth. That was intended.
Now everything has to be viable in competitive play to some extent. They balance competitive well, and it can be fun don’t get me wrong, but I do miss the days when you couldn’t just easily give your whole team a 60 bp move for free before the first gym, and you couldn’t rely on STAB above 40 bp until late game with every Pokémon choice.
It forces more creativity where with Pokémon now, it’s all about the story they set out for you like a little hallway running simulator/ kid’s storybook adventure.
I do enjoy the newer games, but in a different way. And they’re not SOUL. They’ll never be SOUL again.
