>>50376307I'm a 19 year old zoomer.
I started with SoulSilver, Diamond, then Black. Those three games were primarily my childhood. Growing up, I also played Black 2, X, AS etc. but I'd consider them outside my "childhood" range.
I never played Gen 2 until 2018 when I was looking around a retro game shop and saw a GBC with Gold and thought "why not?". I played the shit out of it as a 15-16 year old, and now I've bought Crystal and am also playing the shit out of it, breeding, glitching, shiny hunting, rematching, etc.
So, I think it's safe to say I have a pretty objective view of this franchise. Gen 2 is indeed the peak of Pokémon. Not even HGSS live up to the originals. Playing through Crystal is just the definition of pure bliss. You can feel the effort and soul put into the game with every single pixel.
Your superficial nitpicks such as "muh level curve" "muh distribution" etc. will never catch on with normies, because normies don't care about your autistic obsession with analysing numbers. Normies care about a fun, comfy, and to-the-point game experience. And that is exactly what the Johto games deliver. That is why GSC/HGSS have remained the most beloved games in the franchise all this time. You didn't grow up with them. That is why GSC/HGSS are "overrated" to you. Thankfully, I was willing to give them a chance, and I'm glad I did.
To the outside world, HGSS and GSC are the best and most important games of the Pokémon franchise, and that can NEVER be changed. Sorry.
