What's your favorite Hoenn location?

>>57993678 (OP)
ur mom

>>57993678 (OP)
Tie between /comfy/ Dewford and Shoal Cave
Also what's up with that random mountain between route 118 and 134?

>>57993678 (OP)
verdanturf town and may tits

>>57993678 (OP)
THE ALMIGHTY OLDAAAAAAAAAAAAALE

>>57993705
The empty town you pass by on your way to the actual content? Why?

>>57993974
It's perfection. We don't need anything else. Pokémon should've stopped here.

>>57993678 (OP)
Mauville City or Cycling Road. I like the Mach Bike.

I would also go to the Battle Factory just to listen to the music.

Route 119 and Sootopolis for me. Rustboro is also pretty cozy.

the funny pig volcano

>>57994017
Didn't think of attaching a pic at first, but I really like this one

>>57993678 (OP)
The entire region is extremely comfy, but my favorite place is Lilycove City.

Hang out down in the deep-sea chasm and enjoy the crushing atmosphere.
https://youtu.be/Z9vqvfxoRBg

>>57993678 (OP)
Mauville and the surrounding routes. That's where I tried catching Latias without a master ball cause I didn't pick it up in the Aqua base. Also everyone I knew placed their secret bases on those routes I ended up going there for everything.

>>57993678 (OP)
Why not doing this instead?

>>57993678 (OP)
obv

route 1 because i love me some goon and noone

I love that so many people draw specific areas in Hoenn.

>>57994549
RBY and GSC were limited by their tilesets making all but a few areas visually similar, RSE had incredibly distinct locations and even basic routes almost all had something to make them stand out. Different rock colors, different grass types, sand, ash, weather. Cities had big architectural or layout quirks, Sootopolis is the obvious standout but Rustboro, Slateport, Pacifidlog are all super memorable. And then all of it was bundled together into the ever-popular theme of "tropical island vacation" to keep the region from feeling disjointed.
There's just a lot of material to work with and it all feels natural to expand on.

>>57993678 (OP)
call me basic but
>seeing the pouring rain in the series for the first time
>the cool thunder and lightning
>imagining the smell of petrichor
>the wild nature feeling and overgrown grass, mud and wild rivers
>the fucking MUSIC
>wild Linoone calling
>finding rare Feebas
>cozy Fortree straight after

this plus route 120 are the greatest in the series

>>57993678 (OP)

>>57993678 (OP)
This part

>>57993678 (OP)
Tough decision.
The southern half of Route 104 always springs to mind when I hear this question.
But I also like Routes 110, 113, 118, 119, 120, 121, Rustboro, Dewford, Fortree, Lilycove
Fuck it's such a great region.

>>57994772
NTA but I never thought about it until you said this. The power boost of the GBA did a lot of favors for Gen 3 huh?
For whatever reason I don't feel like Sinnoh or Unova captured the same magic despite having even more power with the DS. Any idea why that might be?
Could it be that the that the limitations of the GBA forced creativity? Or is my nostalgia just making me biased?

>>57993678 (OP)
Shoal Cave.

>>57993678 (OP)
Not entirely sure. Hoenn has a lot of uptime in trainer battles, long routes, and optional sidepaths. I think the place that always gets me reminiscing is Mauville and the routes next to it.

>>57995570
I'll be the first to admit being blinded by nostalgia, but a lot of Sinnoh's routes fall into the green forest path template. It has the snow at the north that's both visually striking and mechanically memorable (opinions may vary on if that memorability is positive or negative), it has that little section of swamp, and uh, the fog route? The highway overpass that blocks your view of the Gible cave? The cities themselves were all even more distinct than Hoenns, but going between them was usually green path with grass, sometimes dipping in and out of Mt Coronet's caves. It didn't feel as adventure-esque as Hoenn did to me at the time. Unova I have even less memory of, mostly the inexplicable desert right next to the coast, the big city (which was admittedly cool), and the tower that used a song from Chrono Trigger.
Your image is instantly recognizable as the little route west of Petalburg where you get to go "wow" at the GBA rendering footprints in the sand, there just don't seem to be nearly as many spots like that for later gens.

>>57993678 (OP)
Route 119 is legendary

I don't even know where to get started
Almost every place is unique

>>57995570
Hoenn has some of the most unique areas in any Pokemon region. A lot of the areas stand out simply because they had new, fresh ideas that they couldn't do reasonably on the GB/GBC. Like Route 110 going under the bike path you can't initially access, Route 113 where all the grass is covered in ash you can change by running through, changing weather on Route 119, fog appearing as you go up Mt. Pyre. There are some cases with forced creativity which is great, too. I always think about Route 111, where they want desert-based encounters, which means they can't add grass anywhere else on the route. They still did an excellent job at making the run up from Mauville feel like it transitions into a more rocky environment, and more than just a hallway from A to B.

I can't really think of times Sinnoh does this very well. I think it unfortunately suffers from being on a new console and Game Freak approached it like a beta test to learn it's ins and outs. I do think as games become more and more detailed, it leaves less room for the imagination, which might be why Unova doesn't jump out at you the same way Hoenn does, despite probably having more detailed, interesting routes. Like... Sootopolis doesn't look like >>57994549 but it damn well does in my mind.

>>57993678 (OP)
None.

Is this the most forgettable section of Hoenn? One-way, generic tileset, you never once actually need to come here, no items of note, no unique pokemon.

>>57997183
Best music, though.

>>57993691
>Also what's up with that random mountain between route 118 and 134?

It just appears in the artworks, there's nothing there and it's not accessible (I forgot if it's a legendary spot in ORAS) but it just appears in both the og and remake artworks. Both times it has vegetation and it's not naked rock like OP though

>>57997183
you get giga drain there

>>57997183
I can’t forget this place because it’s walled off when you first see it, so when you finally get there it feels like you’re finding the last place of a puzzle. Also it has a bunch of berry spots.

>>57995993
I think I’d need to replay Sinnoh to double-check. I’ve been replaying some older games to see if my opinions of them have changed.

>>57997250
>I forgot if it's a legendary spot in ORAS
It is, it's where you find Zekrom/Reshiram.

>>57995606
>>57995993
I think another problem with Unova and the regions that followed is that that’s when the games started introducing very hand-holdy NPC characters that kill the sense of adventure.
Like Gens 1-4 were fairly linear in the way most JRPGs are. But they kept the illusion that you were going the direction you were because YOU wanted to by tantalizing you with glimpses of explorable places blocked by a natural obstacle. It captured your curiosity and made it so that when you got the means to bypass that obstacle your first instinct was to immediately go there to see what was being hidden from you. Sometimes an NPC’s dialogue might point you in a direction but it was always phrased like an idle suggestion or offhand comment so it ultimately it felt like you made the choice.
In Unova and especially in Kalos onwards they started introducing friend characters who would say “We’re going to <place>! Come with us!” and then you’re inexplicably obligated to follow them. There’s no discovery, you’re told explicitly what’s ahead, how to get there and what you’re going to do when you get there. It never once feels like you’re doing because you chose to, but rather you’re getting dragged along on someone else’s adventure. Sun and Moon was especially bad about this with the way Lillie hijacked the plot at every opportunity.
I feel like all that probably does a lot to diminish the sense of excitement of exploration and memorability of finding new places.

>>57995157
That area was peak soul. Especially if you had Groudon show up there.

>>57994169
This really would fix my problems with this shit ass region. You can at least keep Ever Grande City, but this is the objectively fun part of Hoenn

>>57993678 (OP)
I never thought about it until now but the Battle Frontier looks super soulless when compared to the other cities in Hoenn.

>>57997874
Couldn’t have said it better myself. The constant NPC intervention has really screwed up exploration of new regions. I find myself off balance and things aren’t as organic when I have to mash A to get through those interactions.

>>57997874
I always felt that in the back of my mind but never really put it into words. I've always thought the "dancing here for no reason" guys in Unova is just stupid. Even some Sinnoh NPCs are guilty of blocking a path for seemingly no reason. I never consciously made the connection that these kind of roadblocks, and by extension the handholding and railroading experienced in some of the later games, has a direct impact on my ability to actually enjoy exploring new areas. They don't feel like new, fresh or unique areas, not because they aren't, but because you're being told "this place is next."

Going north from Mauville City - I need Rock Smash
Going west from Celadon City - I need a bike
Going west from Jubilife City - I need Surf
Going west from Violet City - Weird ass tree lookin thing

The game tells you "hey, come back later" without spelling it out for you. I swear, the best thing they could do for this franchise is to stick the player in their own house, have them choose a starter Pokemon, give them some balls and starting items, and THAT'S IT. No guidance, no mom telling you to go somewhere, no professor telling you to take on the gym challenge or collect every Pokemon, just you, your Pokemon, and the world for you to explore and do those things if you so choose.

>>57998032
I mean, I kind of liked the dancing men for the way they leaned on the fourth wall and even Gens 1-3 weren’t above blocking you with Team Rocket/Magma/Aqua grunts forming a human wall. (Although those did make effective shorthand for “find out what their operation is and kick their asses if you want them to leave”.

But I’m more just talking about the “friend” characters that would ambush you every five steps to give you an exposition dump and force you to follow them around the region.
But I 100% in agreement with your sentiment that less guidance=better. Maybe some occasional nudges in a direction for the kiddies but total freedom to give them the finger and go a completely different direction if you want.
Like how in Elder Scrolls the characters expect you to be laser focused on the main questline but in reality you can fuck off, do something completely different and the game will even encourage it.