>>46016630Sure, but you're missing the point where it's the exception and not the rule.
Sinnoh had those Psyducks as a non-HM roadblock. Do you remember how they moved? The player still had to give them the secretpotion.
Kalos had that event where the stone researcher was blocking off the exit to Shalour, but it wasn't until the player gets a stone from Tierno and has it examined that they move and you are able to get a free item by chucking it at the dude.
>b-b-but Unova!I can't think of an instance in Unova, but that doesn't excuse Alola or Galar at all.
What you don't seem to be getting is that all of those were at the player's agency. Alola and Galar not only have similar roadblocks, but they also have markers on the map telling you exactly where to go at every moment. When you constantly have something like that screaming at you in the face, are those types of NPC roadblocks really necessary? Do we really need a person blocking off the entrance to a one-off hotel with Stoutland and then leaving for no reason when we have a marker telling us where we need to go anyway?
That's why it's so much worse in Alola and Galar. I don't think anyone is defending it in past games, but there's a fundamental difference in the gameplay loop that Gens 7+ have that Gen 6- handled better.
