>>18354747I dunno, maybe 'beyond saving' is a little harsh but it's definitely my least favorite of the six.
The evil teams were a buncha bullshit - they were the only evil team to actually accomplish what they set out to do, but they were simultaneously those with the stupidest goal and they couldn't even exploit their victory the way they wanted to.
- The Pokemon weren't awful, but I can count the evolutionary families I actually like on one hand, and that works out pretty poorly considering how many new ones were added.
- I'm also not a huge fan of the weather gimmicks of the gen (the weather gimmick pokemon didn't even get a sandstorm forme even though there's naturally-occuring ones in the game, what kinda shit is that?) and the version legendaries essentially being roaming in Emerald, they were kind of a pain in the ass to track down.
- The region itself is pretty bland and boring. In some thread yesterday someone pointed out how feature-rich and well-designed one route in particular was and I agreed with that, but overall the routes are generally pretty boring and a pain to traverse, especially the water - you know, the entire eastern half of the region.
- The gym leaders were also pretty bland, although that comes down solely to opinion. I couldn't name all eight off the top of my head and the only ones I really like were Wallace (who isn't even a leader in Emerald) and Tate & Lisa.
I still enjoy it now and again but it's my least favorite for sure.
