Gen III Review

Pokèmon Ruby/ Sapphire and Emerald or known more as gen III is probably one of the most misunderstood of the generations. The first one to depart form the familiarity of the previous two and decided to explore a whole new world. Fan could argue either way but here is my take.

*Just a note: I only played Sapphire and Emerald in this generation. I picked Sapphire because well its my birthstone and i like blue.

They took a chance, a lot of players from the previous generations were starting to age out of the game, so pokèmon had to take a chance and try to get new players. By almost essentially starting over with Ruby and Sapphire they allowed new players to come into the game, and not feel lost. This generation implemented lots of changes and removed a few changes as well so let me get right into it.

Likes:

Hoenn: there is just so much to this region, oceans to explore, volcanoes run around. i can’t tell you how much fun i had playing in the ash covered leaves, i would run around in there just for fun some days. This region is beautiful and the enhanced capabilities of the advanced the graphics really helped showcase how pretty Pokèmon could be.

Dive: Yes this is an Hm move i really enjoyed and made sense to have it in game. Ruby Sapphire and Emerald are all about the battle of water and land. Dive gave players for the first time a chance to explore the underwater world of Pokèmon, its a move i really appropriated having and was a little sadden to see it removed in other gens. when it returned in Black and White it seemed more of an after thought then anything else. Dive’s power is essentially the same in mind as dive or fly. it takes the critter to safety for one turn then hits the following turn.

Villains: The battle between elements here is done very well, you essentially picking sides with the color you picked. it was nice to see a villain’s with a motivation besides money, and power, even if it is sort of a stupid reason.

Legendary: I am a big fan of almost all the legendaries in this game, (Except the regi’s) I really can’t say much about groudon only because i played sapphire, and emerald. but the others Kyogre, Rayquaza.

New Pokèmon: There are A Lot of good pokèmon in this game, some won’t make my top list but doesn’t mean i didn’t like them. in a way i think it was smart to make new and old players alike to start from scratch here, it really gives players a chance to get to know each one of these new guys, before going back to old favorites. there can be such a thing as too many choices some times and i think this game allowed players to slowly get to know and love the new guys…maybe as much if not more there old favorites.

Abilities: this is the first time abilities comes into play in this game, like the generation before which added held items, this one includes abilities. This makes a lot of sense for the first time taking ghost pokèmon that had been vulnerable to ground moves finally getting an ability to levitate.  abilities is something that was sorely needed and i glad was added.

Starting over: In  a lot of ways this was a starting over point or even the first time that people played pokèmon. While it always has been easy for the game to bring in new players, i think the fact that we are starting off in a new region, with new pokèmon gives players new to the franchise a chance to ease into the game who at this point had about 370 different creatures in it. Yes with Gen three we would eventually see a remake of green and red to appease the older fans and ruby and sapphire was to bring in newer fans. Also starting over gives players a fair chance to get to know the new guys.

Berries: I like the planting and growing of berries, i don’t know why i just do.

Dislikes.

Contest: i really dislike the contests dressing up your pokèmon making them food to make them pretty all of it seemed like a pointless waste of time to me. give me back my slot machines!

back sliding: Yes i did notice the loss of the day night system and the week day events. While i was happy to see the loss day specific events the lost of day and night made little sense and would return in gen VI.

Internal battery: Ok this is more of a hardware issue. this is the only game where i have to replace the batteries in the actual game! Granted its loss only really effects berries which really cant travel over to other gens, still i don’t want to have to take apart my game just to go back and play it. Especially if the repair requires super glue. i am terrified of the stuff, won’t touch it.

Two bikes: I am soooo glad this was only here because it was overly complicated to keep track of which bike did what, why and ug.

Secret Bases: While maybe now a cool idea with more and more player interaction all over the world, i found little reason to have this in this game. I think in this case its a good idea…wrong gen to implement it in. But imagine how fun it would be to have this now with the capabilities of X-Y and global links!

No link to the past: while i understand the upgrade to the games jumping from system to system was necessary doesn’t make it any less disheartening to loose your older pokèmon for ever when you jumped to this game. i think this is also something Nintendo and game freak have acknowledge because fans were pissed off about this. However in all future games there has been a way to bring your critters over to the next generation. Currently waiting in black and black 2 is my kyogre waiting for be transported into his new home in X-Y.

My Top 6 favorites and least favorites.

i will be cheating here a bit because there are so many guys i like in this game. so bere that in mind. We will start with this dislike group.

6: spinda: This isn’t bad i just completly forgot it was there up until recently. not a great sign.

5:Feebas: if you spent as much time catching this jerk as i did, you would hate it too.

4: Volbet and illumois: i just don’t understand, Why.

3Plusal and minum: No! No game no! Bad game. There was a good chance to give us goof electric pokèmon in this game, instead you gave us this? Why, why unleash these two upon the world?

2: Ludicolo: Words cannot even express the trouble this one gave my in pokèmon XD. I still loathe it as a result.

1The Regis. These three jerks, not a single one of them was easy to catch, i would have them down to 1 hp and paralyzed with there stats reduced to nothing and they still would not go into the freaking pokèball!! Dusk balls were not around yet so it was up to my timer balls, which honestly after 40+ turns would be about as effective as a master ball but nooooo. Recently while playing Black 2 i discovered i would once again get the privilege of catching them again. i refused they had been ported from sapphire and emerald i will not put myself though that unless absolutely necessary. Freaking pain in the ass pokèmon.

Fumes a little bit…

Ok now we got the guys who pissed me off to no end lets move on to the likes.

6: Torchic Family: This one changed a lot of me, first fire starter i have ever picked. To this day a choice i do not regret. This family is super powerful to this day and is super popular. I would dare say it is second behind charizard to most Pokèmon fans in terms of starters, and rightly deserved its mega evolution. (not pictured because its not part of gen III)

5: Gardevoir: Thanks To pokèmon X-Y i got reminded how good this pokèmon was…Is.

4: Metagross: This guy you get end of game and takes a while to level, but it is powerful and worth your time. I think now with the passing of time some people have forgotten this powerhouse, but i never have. He now waits for the transporter to rejoin me, and who knows maybe somewhere down the line he will see a mega form as well…i can think of nothing else that deserves it more.

3: Sharpedo and Wailord: i just can’t separate these two: Sharpedo water dark and a tough water Pokèmon to have on your team.  Then there is the Hm Knowing Wailord who can learn all water moves and strength just makes it too valuable not to have on your team. It was always hard to choose between them then, and still is today, so they can share number three.

2: All Dragons in this game: i know i know this is cheating but it is true, there isn’t a dragon they added this generation i did not come to like or adore. i used them all and to be honest would use them all again in a heart beat.

1:Kyogre: This is it, this is the water pokèmon who unseated Lapras for me. Its ability drizzle made it rain, allowing it to use thunder and not miss, and that’s not all. Like all legends it has an impressive move pool,  it is also so damn pretty. Years ago a friend of mine got me this guy as a stuffed critter, to this day i adore it. honestly if it wasn’t for lugia’s song it might be number one on my legends list too because i just like this guys so much.

All In All Gen III had its flaws, but certainly does not deserve the hatred it has received, yes it left a lot in the past, but you can also look at it this way. This was the start of Pokèmon’s march towards better quality games, games that not only relies on the catching them all aspect but helped develop in depth worlds were players could get lost in. In a way Kyogre my top pick for power and beauty seems appropriate because that is what Pokèmon marched to with the advanced generation. Beauty and power.

With all the hints dropped in X-Y one can only hope that Ruby and my birthstone sapphire will soon see a remake, because i can only imagine what they can do next .

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