>>51741471nta but he's right, Gen 3 is when the plot goes from "random kid on an adventure" to "child savior second coming of jesus with a wacky and colorful cast and a plot revolving around the box legend,"
Gens 1 and 2, the legendries have no stake in the story, they're cool urban myths you need to seek out yourself, Crystal places more emphasis on Suicune but you never actually need to seek him out, nor do you need to for Ho-Oh or Lugia.
Then starting in Gen 3 (where Masuda takes over), suddenly the stories are all about legendaries that shaped the whole world or are literally god, and how the evil team wants to use them, then you the player save the whole world and are also the champion and also the best trainer ever. Cue forced legend encounter and characters who are supposed to be stronger than you turning into your cheerleaders.
Then outside the plot, the postgame goes from "here's a whole new region to explore bucko! Go take on all these new gyms and maybe find a secret boss at the end ;)" to "here's a battle tower and some routes lmao".
The change is most pointed in HGSS where they added this whole plot with the Kimono girls showering you with praise the whole game, making you feel extra special for hating an egg or showing someone out of a forest, culminating in a forced encounter with the box legend for no real reason. No idea what it is with Masuda and needing to turn these games into an even bigger power fantasy but it sucks.
