>>45015970All right, let's dissect all these. I don't even care if it's bait, let's just go at it:
>NPC trainers bad, battle onlineNot only is online not guaranteed to be a challenge, but it's not an excuse for less content provided in the game itself.
>Open world is inherently better for explorationNo it isn't.
>EncountersThat's a difference between generations of the game, not dungeons vs wild area.
>HMsDon't exist anymore. But even the Wild Area isn't completely accessible from the start, due to you not having access to the bike upgrade until you've finished six gyms.
>Large variety of encounters that fit environments vs "repetitive encounters"It's almost like those repetitive encounters happen in caves or something, which is the habitat for those Pokemon. The Wild Area does, to a notable extent, throw a bunch of Pokemon into an area together even if they don't all actually belong in the environment. Sometimes it's good and thematically on-point, and sometimes it's not.
>No meaningful rewards for exploring/Rewards you with rare Pokemon, useful items, etcThis is another argument partially built on the difference between generations, not types of content. However, a lot of Wild Area items are just junk fodder. Additionally, many dungeons have rare Pokemon in specific areas of them, including Legendary Pokemon sometimes.
>Every area looks the sameMost of the Wild Area looks pretty same-y in the base game, which isn't aided by the fact that you can see a lot of it from wherever you happen to be standing. There are a ton of subsections, but standing on the north side of the lake is pretty much like standing on the west side of the lake, just with a slight difference in number of trees.
>Fun side questsIt's definitely bait if you're suggesting that finding all the Diglett is anything more than tedious. What could be a fun scavenger hunt quickly becomes tiresome once you're scrounging around looking for that last one or two that you missed in an area.
