Note: Also posted at Superfluous Rex, an awesome community blog that you should check out!
I am a guest writer there, when I actually write things (*ノдノ)
So the internet is all
a-quiver, they've finally done it!
![Nintendo has released the tentative cover art for the rebooted Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02903/pokemon_2903965b.jpg)
HOENN REMAKES! ;A;
It's ridiculous to ask
who else is excited, but there's always those who'd prefer a new
region over a remake. I can't wait! I think it's a great
chance for those new to Pokemon to experience a bit of the series'
history (some kids playing Pokemon now didn't play these first time
around and that makes me feel very
old...) and for veterans it's a chance to indulge in a bit of
nostalgia!
They've waited long enough. Also Groudon looks like fsjal
I'd like to think it
was only a matter of time before it was announced really. There were
several less than subtle hints littered through X and Y, but with
Game Freak you can never be sure if these were just fanservice
one-liners. It's great to see that they'll be full games too, I
thought they may have been DLC. With X and Y being the only other
Pokemon games on the 3DS thus far, I'm intrigued to see how Hoenn
will link with Kalos, much like Unova and Sinnoh with Johto with the
Heart Gold/Soul Silver releases. With the 'far off region' mentioned
in the Strange Souvenir description, one can't help but wonder if it means Hoenn. I
wonder if Volcanion is from Hoenn?! I mean Hoenn is water dominated
but with the active Mt Chimney, it could be...
You came to the wrong neighbourhood, Volcanion.
I can't wait for word
on Contests!! Hoenn was the origin (and in my opinion the best
generation) for Pokemon contests! :D I spent way too much time with
Pokeblocks as a kid. I really hope they bring the original format
back, as much as I like dressing my Pokemon up, I couldn't really
warm to Pokemon Musical, or Poffin spinning (my poor DS screen! D: )
![](http://2e130c55e0c2763c8a20-c7a4d0feffd26319b59c92c4aecae366.r18.cf1.rackcdn.com/8a88f8b315b1be05daaa3890c7b394e2742b128c.jpg)
Not going to lie, my real room pretty much looks like this anyway.
I hope that secret
bases will return! I loved these back in the day, and spent so long
making my perfect den. The only problem was, well, being in the UK,
there wasn't really anyone else I knew to share bases with.
StreetPass is the perfect way to share bases and battles! The closest
we've had with the WiFi generation is Diamond and Pearl's
Underground, which I loved, but again unless you were at events it
was rare to encounter another digging for fossils (and getting
another goddamn green shard!).
A lot of people
complained when the original Ruby and Sapphire were released because
of the water-dominated map. I loved the geography of Hoenn! I love
the city central regions like Kalos and Kanto, but it's nice to see a
bit of variation in settings. Although Unova wasn't my favourite
generation, I did love the difference in locations, it really made
you feel like you were travelling on a real journey with your
friends, rather than just visiting cities.
Anyway with Hoenn, I
loved the variety; the desert, Lavaridge town and Mt Chimney, the
ethereal Meteor Falls and the spooky Mt Pyre. Even the watery lands
were different, Pacifidlog town is reminiscent of the Philippines,
Sootopolis was a strange town carved into a crater, and Slateport, ah
Slateport, my favourite town <3 I've always had a soft spot for
the coastal towns, and Slateport had gorgeous music.
How cute is this song?
I also feel like Hoenn
is where the whole dramatic side of Pokemon started too. Johto was
rich in lore and history, but Hoenn was the first cinematic entry in
the series. I remember playing Sapphire all those years ago, and
panicking when Kyogre caused the worldwide deluge! It was
surprisingly tense for a gameboy advance title, I can't wait to see
how the 3DS handles it. Groudon's drought terrified me too, for the
record. The bleached screen and lack of music was actually pretty
unsettling.
See? You can hear the heatstroke.
[Sun intensifies]
Of course, the music
too. Besides the horrible drought music above, Hoenn had some wonderful town tunes. I've already mentioned
Slateport but Rustboro had a really pleasant tune too. As always, I
look forward to the remixes with the 3DS sound! Maybe not the drought music though
![](http://nintendo3dsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/megalatios.png)
I guess this is where the Mega-Lati reveal fits in. I wonder what other legendaries we'll see, will the Regis get their own Mega forms? I hope not, they're terrifying enough.
;___;
If Mega Evolution does carry over, I wonder what we'll see? We've already had Mega Absol, Aggron, Gardevoir and Manectric, how about a Mega for Metagross? Slaking? Milotic?
I just wanted an excuse to show these adorable monstrosities off
And that's without mentioning the returning faces! I really liked Wally. It was a bit weird that he was sick (what was the deal with that, anyway?) but I loved his Gardevoir (not the way the rest of the internet does). Wallace was fabulous, having a [spoiler?] Gym Leader Dad was pretty awesome, even Archie and Maxie were kind of cool in a goofy villain way. (I always wanted a Team Magma uniform though I thought Aqua were the better crew.) And Steven Stone is still a total babe.
![](http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/vp/image/1368/20/1368204580895.png)
Dashing, rich, and a geology professor! Swoon.
[Unable to trace original artist ;__;]
So what next, Diamond
and Pearl remakes? (I'd actually welcome this! They're very
underrated.) In all seriousness, I look forward to the slow trickle
of news that will sustain me til November. Will Absol be able to Mega
Evolve in it's native land? Will that space station finally give word
on Jirachi? Will we get Deoxys again? Will it get a new form?! ((#゚Д゚)ノ
Deoxys is one of my favourite Pokemon!
What are you looking
forward to most? Will you choose Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire? Based off your original GBA choice, or trying something new? Is it too soon to say? Argh!
Sapphire for myself!
ReplyDeleteNot gonna lie, I'll be buying both! First world problems: bought a second 3DS so I could trade Pokemon with myself :/
DeleteHoenn, where to start from? If there is a Pokémon generation that has a special place in my heart it´s this one. It was the second game I got after I upgraded to a Game Boy Advance and it almost never got out of the slot (Golden Sun 1&2 were the other ones)
ReplyDeleteWhile I didn't get everything there was to obtain, I felt good about myself getting all four Coolness Ribbons on my Blaziken. Little me always wanted to have a team with Blaziken, Mewtwo, Blastoise, Lugia, Kyogre and Salamence.
I need to mention the contests: they were hard and when you failed they made you try even harder setting up better attack combinations, using the right Pokéblock. I agree with you in that they have not gotten contests as right as in this generation. It was also really interesting that they actually made Feebas evolve with this mechanic.
Now that I've touched on Feebas I have to mention all the cryptic stuff the game put you through as a 12 year old. First, the fact that Feebas only appeared in three squares of the water area of the route it appeared in was retarded, I never actually caught one. Second, the braile to open the Regi chambers, my young brain had no idea what I was looking at; it actually took me two or three more years to realize what was going on (then again, I may not have been the brightest 12 year old). Third, the freaking sky pillar and those breaking tiles, I still hate it, it's nowhere near intuitive that you have to use the Mach Bike to get through them, the music was nice though, at least when you were not on the bike, that tune change has always been anticlimactic.
Moving on, how awesome was the build-up to Kyogre's/Groudon's flood/drought? you've already mentioned this but damn, that was a nice way to prepare you for what was yet to come. Also, this part in the Pokémon Adventure manga is amazing, if you've ever read it you'll know what Im talking about, if not you should read it, it's a great arc, Ruby and Sapphire are both great characters.
Then, after you get through this, you meet your mentor/ cool guy Steven Stone as the Pokémon League Champion, I think that this reveal is on pair with the one that Green beat you to defeat the Elite Four, because while the whole game Green has been bugging you to become stronger, so does Steven but in a less aggressive manner and you, as a player, know that in order to defeat them you need to be on the top of your game.
The idea of Deoxys getting a new form is interesting, though I'm not sure what's left. Cannon form? Space Shuttle form? And while still soon for a Diamond and Pearl remake, they'd be welcomed, it's the most challenging generation for sure and the characters are super fun. I also have a soft spot for all three starters, I think they are the best trio Game Freak has ever done.
I think I just wrote too much and I apologize for just going on and on. I love this generation, it's not my favorite but it's the one that gave me so much memories. Alpha Sapphire for me, hands down, what about you? Have you decided yet?
P.S. I don't know if you remember me but I was also a commenter in one of your old posts who said that I'd come back to thank you or complain after you recommended me to go to a Distant Worlds concert. I'm back to thank you for convincing me to go. It was one the most enjoyable experiences I've had and don't regret going one bit. In the future, I'll try to stop by your blog more often. I really like the way you write and I find it nice to talk about stuff I'm interested in with someone who knows as much as you do about them. Wherever you are, have a nice day.
P.S.2 I actually had to cut some things I wrote, did you know there is a character limit on comments? Now I do :D
Of course I remember you :D I was actually wondering what happened, if you enjoyed the concert, if you even went - anyway I'm really happy you went and enjoyed it! :D It's a great feeling that I've let somebody on to something so magical :) I can't wait for the next one, I'll guess you're the same!
DeleteDon't apologise, this is exactly the kind of response I was hoping for! :D I started this blog to rant about stuff I like, and it's always great when someone replies with their enthusiasm too. Finding pokemaniacs in real life can be difficult!
Argh, as excited as I am for the remakes, you've reminded me of some annoying parts too! I guess I'd just blocked them from memory, but Feebas.... God, Feebas. That was ridiculous! Even when I found out what to do, it still took an age to find one! You'd scour that damn route square by square, always fishing about 5 or 6 times per square to make sure you'd exhausted the chance for one to appear (I can't remember if they were common or rare when you actually found the squares they were in)... THEN all the pokeblocks, with some berries which were hard to find and cultivate... It'd be worth it when you finally got a Milotic, but I've take the GTS for granted in getting Feebas/Milotic in recent generations!
And the braille Regis! I had no idea either! Wasn't one like, you had to skirt the outside of the room about three times? Or require specific items? Or use Dive inside? I can't remember, but I recall it being pretty strange in requirements. It was an interesting touch and gave a mysterious quality to the trio, but I found it a bit strange that they used braille when partially sighted people wouldn't be able to translate/read/feel the words to begin with, if that makes sense :/ It was cool, no doubt, but one of those weird retro gaming moments where you'd only manage to work things out by chance or guesswork.
Also I've read the Pokemon Adventures manga in an odd order, Kanto, Sinnoh, then Johto, I do have the Ruby/Sapphire volumes but I've not got around to reading them! They're next on my list though to help tide me over 'til November :) I love how the manga gives a bit more meat to the Pokemon world, it's surprisingly dark in places, but it's interesting seeing a bit more interaction with the world and it's characters, even pokemon nature!
Also I'll be buying both Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire probably, I trade Pokemon with myself to make them evolve (first world problems, buying a second 3DS to help complete the 'dex...), plus the fact that you can still only have one save file per game is kind of annoying when you want to start a new adventure but have grown attached to your old team! I have about 4 copies of Heartgold/Soulsilver for this reason :(
If this hasn't cut any text off, I'll be surprised! I didn't even know there was a limit, seems silly for a blog page - it should encourage discussion!
Yup! Now I'm anxiously waiting for the time when Distant Worlds returns, it was amazing, specially A la Flamenco!, I love that song :D. Also, the Chocobo medley was super fun and the opera interpration actually got me tense, as in, my back started to hurt. Great stuff.
DeleteIndeed, Pokemaniacs are hard to come by, the one person I can talk about it in "real life" is my best friend.
Feebas was rare, even in the squares it appeared, that's why it left a scar so big in my heart when I could never catch it, that elusive bastard.
The Regis were worst though, I remember that some guy told you something about Wailord and Relicanth. To open the chambers you had to infer from that guy that you had to put one in your first slot and the other on the last slot then do whatever the braille said with them in the spaces. There was also one that made you use Dig or Cut inside the cave, maybe both. I don't remember Dive being necessary but it wouldn't surprise me, I mean, if they already made you decipher all of that, why wouldn't they make you use another non.intuitive move, like Dive, inside a cave?
The manga is an amazing "extended universe" to the games, I love how all the major characters get their share of development and there's not one dex holder who is a drag to read. Kanto is good and the Yellow epilogue combined with the Fire Red and Leaf Green ark plus the Emerald epilogue for that one makes it, personally, the most enjoyable storyline the manga has. Though I do love how Sinnoh was its own thing and the trio of Dia, Pearl and Miss Berlitz allows the story to have a lot of interesting character interactions. I think the dark parts are what, for me, makes it better than the anime, or even the games (storywise, except for Black & White, I think there is no way for Pokémon to get a better storyline than that, haven't read those volumes though, so it could be better in the manga).
I'm kind of jealous that you'll be getting both, back then I did get both Ruby & Sapphire but now I'm pretty sure it's not worth it. Though, I'm also sure that that feeling comes from the bittersweet taste that Black&White 2 and X&Y left in my mouth. The sequels could have been awesome but I'm not sure what made them go back to sucky storytelling, specially after what they accomplished with Black & White. As for X&Y, the moment I heard the word Mega-Evolution was the moment I knew I wouldn't like the direction Game Freak decided to take. It just seemed wrong, you already had to work hard to get your favorite Pokémon but now it didn't matter because they could get an enhanced version of it or, in the case that specific one didn't get a Mega, it would just get outclassed by the new overpowered formes.
The thing of the one save slot is indeed a problem, that's why I got a Pearl and a Diamond version and am thinking of aquiring a Black version. Though what I always did was to choose a version and get all my accumulated Pokemon there and restart other versions as Nuzlocke challenges, the only one I ever finished was SoulSilver.
I hope I don't have cut anything this time :D
Hey Luce!
ReplyDeleteI know I rose from the dead (sorta) and I was just going to cover this along with great Nintendo titles that are slated to be released this year. Now onto my review of your blog.
I really enjoyed reading this especially when you described how one place reminded you of the Philippines. Great observation! I never played Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond, Pearl, Emerald, and Platinum during their times of release but I finally get that chance to return to Hoenn this fall. I enjoyed X and Y as I'm certain you have. But I look forward to this journeyt I missed out on for years.
Oh and about the dream of a Mega-Metagross, well your dream will come true! But I'm sure you already know that. :D
Anywho, I look forward to more posts and I hope you continue to read mine. There's a Pokemon Showdown replay I posted and i hope you love it. See you around!
- Stardust Saber
I'm glad you seized the brief moment of brightness!
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