>>48426710There is absolutely NO point in having obstacles if you have a "remove obstacle" button at your beck and leisure at all points in a game. Like let's say you have a Cut tree in the game, but you have Cut at all times. All you have to do is interact with the tree to remove it.
What is the point of putting that Cut tree there? After the point where you become able to use the HM, obstacles are no longer just ways of gating the player, they become utterly redundant. Why include it? Why not just put the item or reward right in front of the player? The obstacle is just filler after all. Like there was a point to having those obstacles when HMs weren't omnipresent. Players who made sacrifices in their team or built their team more about exploration and navigation would be rewarded, while players who didn't want to backtrack did not get rewarded. It made team composition matter more (in a series where most battles can be won by mashing A) and made me feel like my play style was unique. Now no matter what, everyone will be getting the exact same rewards as me, my play style doesn't matter anymore. Player expression is now tied to the clothes they wear, a completely aesthetic element that has no bearing whatsoever on anything that matters in the game.
