>>58869860I haven't really played since 2004/2005, but the impression I get from them is that they have that sort of Gen III smell to them where you have to put in a bit more work into every Pokémon or mechanic to actually experience them, like Poké Blocks in the Hoenn Safari Zone, and even you're left wondering just what it is you're doing. It's the kind of place that feels interesting to visit because you feel like there's all this stuff you're not taking advantage of, like there's more to the islands than meets the eye. But I also think that it has the same feeling of Gen II Pokémon in Gen III. They're there, but they're sparse and getting one feels like you have to put in a lot more work than any Gen I Pokémon, and even then certain Gen I Pokémon are harder to find now because of now being version-exclusives. Everything feels like it has an asterisk or some amount of greater effort you have to make, like the Espeon/Umbreon thing, or all the Gen II trade evolutions (Politoed, Slowking, Steelix, Scizor, Kingdra, Porygon2), some of which requires a version-exclusive Pokémon (Scyther, Slowpoke). The other friendship evolutions like Crobat and Blissey can't be obtained until the National Pokédex, and even then getting Blissey requires getting Chansey and getting high friendship, that's already a big ask. The only Gen III Pokémon naturally in the game are Azurill (Marill line is exclusive to FR), Wynaut (Wobbuffet is the single Gen II Pokémon naturally in Kanto in Cerulean Cave, which now requires more effort to reach), and Deoxys (Birth Island event). The ability to trade with RSE requires this whole post-game quest and requires those games to be in their post-games. It's the same sort of feeling you get when Mystery Gift was tied to a specific phrase you had to look up and input somewhere to even get access to. It fascinates you, but is it really worth the hassle?
