>>58267305I'm biting.
>a few trips back and forthIt's one long trip back, you didn't play the game. Other games do it too but even one backtrack was unnecessarily long and boring in GSC and HGSS.
Overall Johto's "nonlinearity" is literally a circle after the 3rd gym and going back and forth in a linear path after the 4th gym. You'll probably fly to Radio Tower and back to Mahogany. It doesn't get much lazier and uninspiring than that.
>Hoenn: Littleroot->Oldale->Petalburg->RustburoYou're forgetting a whole ass route you can do before the first gym. Let's also not forget all the branching routes and areas Sinnoh had at the same point. Petalburg Woods + connecting routes and Ravaged Path + Oreburgh Gate + Oreburgh Mine are all more substantial than shitty, linear Sprout Tower.
>fillerWhy would Jagged Pass and Team Magma/Aqua story progression be filler, but somehow empty areas like Ilex Forest and Mt. Mortar aren't?
>linear theme parkI can't hear you after I skipped Dewford, did the Trick House, explored west of Mauville, and looped back to Rustboro after Meteor Falls. Or how I could immediately loop back to Oreburgh after getting the Explorer's Kit in Eterna City and digging up some fossils. Or are the Trick House and the Underground filler to you?
