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Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people lov

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Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

Here's an interesting question for y'all. Do you guys think ORAS may have turned out differently if they were remade in Gen 5 instead of Gen 6? I know that there were quite a few people that were really wanting/expecting R/S/E remakes in Gen 5.
I wanted Hoenn remakes in Gen5, but then the story wouldn't have been improved as ORAS. Mega Evolutions plays a huge role in the plot, and without that I don't know how they could have recreate the story without making it a carbon copy of RS(E)

As far as content goes, it's possible that there might have been actual post game content, but it's difficult to say for sure.

Not sure about that either - B2W2 had the most expansive post-game content (the only thing it was missing was Battle Facilities, but there was the PWT for fanservice) so I don't know how they could have released an RSE remake without overlapping contents with B2W2. ORAS basically has the same battle facility as XY, which is exactly what people are complaining about (being the same stuff AND having no Battle Frontier) Personally, I would have been disappointed if there was yet another Join Avenue in Gen5!RSE remakes, no matter how useful they are. It's possible they could have brought back the Battle Frontier then - but if they couldn't do it in Gen 6 with better technology than Gen 5, I doubt there would have been any Battle Facilities aside from the Battle Tower variants. Also, there would be less post-game content since there would have been no Delta Episode.

Speaking of post-game contents, the lack of NPC rematches really hurt. I like how the Elite Four have Mega Evolutions and an improved team and all, but it's not the same as going over the map daily to search NPCs and challenge them. I'd battle the Shadow Triad every month just to listen to the VS! Team Plasma battle theme - the fact they allowed certain villains to remain as optional opponents was something I was glad for. I want to hear the Aqua/Magma battle themes again, too, but there's none of them... I'd battle N monthly because of his seasonal teams and his theme music. Same goes for Colress and Hugh. Wally is pretty much the only rematchable story NPC that's not part of the League, so I find it really disappointing. Zinnia leaving wasn't a good thing, either. You can battle Emma on certain days, so why couldn't they have done that with Zinnia? I was initially very stubborn with the fact Steven has to (and must) be the champion, but if I had known there were so little story NPCs available for rematches, I would have voted for him to step down for daily or weekly rematches in Meteor Falls (besides, that place has a gorgeous battle background) They hinted that ORAS is a prequel to Emerald, but I would have loved the Match Call function available for gym leader rematches, too.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

Not sure about that either - B2W2 had the most expansive post-game content (the only thing it was missing was Battle Facilities, but there was the PWT for fanservice) so I don't know how they could have released an RSE remake without overlapping contents with B2W2. ORAS basically has the same battle facility as XY, which is exactly what people are complaining about (being the same stuff AND having no Battle Frontier) Personally, I would have been disappointed if there was yet another Join Avenue in Gen5!RSE remakes, no matter how useful they are. It's possible they could have brought back the Battle Frontier then - but if they couldn't do it in Gen 6 with better technology than Gen 5, I doubt there would have been any Battle Facilities aside from the Battle Tower variants. Also, there would be less post-game content since there would have been no Delta Episode.

Well one thing I think 5th gen would've improved was giving Hoenn actual post game areas. They probably wouldn't have done the Mirage Spots because there would've been less legendaries that needed distributing in 5th gen (the 1st gen and 2nd gen legendaries and the 3rd and 4th gen mascots), they probably would've done an actual post game island chain. Aside from that though, IDK if they would've included much post game content.

Speaking of post-game contents, the lack of NPC rematches really hurt. I like how the Elite Four have Mega Evolutions and an improved team and all, but it's not the same as going over the map daily to search NPCs and challenge them. I'd battle the Shadow Triad every month just to listen to the VS! Team Plasma battle theme - the fact they allowed certain villains to remain as optional opponents was something I was glad for. I want to hear the Aqua/Magma battle themes again, too, but there's none of them... I'd battle N monthly because of his seasonal teams and his theme music. Same goes for Colress and Hugh. Wally is pretty much the only rematchable story NPC that's not part of the League, so I find it really disappointing. Zinnia leaving wasn't a good thing, either. You can battle Emma on certain days, so why couldn't they have done that with Zinnia? I was initially very stubborn with the fact Steven has to (and must) be the champion, but if I had known there were so little story NPCs available for rematches, I would have voted for him to step down for daily or weekly rematches in Meteor Falls (besides, that place has a gorgeous battle background) They hinted that ORAS is a prequel to Emerald, but I would have loved the Match Call function available for gym leader rematches, too.

Frankly, Trainer's Eyes is better than any kind of rematching options we had in Unova and Kalos.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

Frankly, Trainer's Eyes is better than any kind of rematching options we had in Unova and Kalos.

Gen6 Trainer's Eyes is just a more convenient version of the VS Seeker. Story NPCs are more fun to rematch because along with additional pokemon, they're given extra dialogues. The Ace Trainers and Rangers might be a good challenge, but rebattling Rich Boys who have only one Linoone feels...pointless.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

One of my biggest disappointments with ORAS was the lack of character customization. Customization was, at least to me, one of the biggest improvements of Gen VI - no longer would you always be battling against (or, if in the Maison, alongside) a clone of yourself - you could make your character look somewhat unique, differentiating yourself from your enemies/allies.

Add to that a disappointing amount of post-game training (I'm rather sick of the Elite 4 - I had grown rather used to being able to alternate between Elite 4 and Battle Chateaux to keep me interested), and those are my two complaints that I feel this article missed.

Overall, a good article. I feel it hit the nail right on the head.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

I thought you could also get a Dawn Stone before the Elite Four by defeating Wally who battles with a Mega Gallade and gives you the Dawn Stone just before you get to the Pokémon League for the first time.
I didn't feel that should count, as it is literally right before the E4. Would you want to use a Kirlia all the way up to the E4?

Actually, HGSS did that with the Ecruteak City/Cianwood City theme.

Anyway, great review, I agree with pretty much everything you said. Although one thing that bothers me that you didn't mention was the regional dex. A lot of the older regions have some significant variety problems (in Hoenn's case, it's that there isn't enough Ice, Ghost, and to a lesser degree Dragon and Fire types in the dex and they could use some more Water types to fill the massive amount of Water routes and make them more varied) and I'd really wish they'd start updating the regional dexes in the remakes more than just tossing in a handful of cross gen evos, I'd like to see something more like what we get in Platinum or BW2.
Those were some great remixes. Really added to the atmosphere of the towns.

The dex update is a very good point and I had not considered it. It's something they fixed in Platinum, you'd think they would pay more attention to issues like that when making games these days.

I'm actually glad ORAS doesn't have a single Sky Battle. I'm going to put my opinion as honest and as blunt as possible: Sky Battles are without a doubt the worst feature GF has ever created. It was poorly thought out and poorly executed and i hope it never, ever returns in any future game.
As I said, they were very poorly implemented, but the idea of fighting with a Fire, Rock, or Ground-type underwater is ridiculous. Especially given the Divers are not forced encounters. BUT, I admit, fighting Water-types with Water-types would be harder than Flying vs Flying. A lot of people dislike Sky Battles, but they didn't bother me, namely due to them being optional.

One thing that did really bother me was certain areas such as the soar feature or the music. It sounded like you were just trying to find things to complain about specifically with soaring. Everyone wanted the soar feature included (or at least almost) and you treat it like a bad thing because of the animations. It takes 5 seconds to do and isn't a big of a deal. Sure you don't have to like it, but it seemed like you were just making it sound bad cause of it, considering almost every HM if not all HMs have an animation that go with it, with fly itself probably taking up the most animation time.

I really don't want to make this a rant on your review, cause it was really well explained. As I said, places like mauville were changed to much, delta episode taking too long. etc. As you said you are not really a fan of remakes and that's fine.
The soaring animation gets really old. I used it in place of Fly throughout the end of the game, and the Delta Episode. I just got tired of waiting for that stupid animation over and over. I get it, we're mega evolving, can I go now? But if it didn't bother you, that's fine. The HM animations are very short, so they don't really get in the way. Soaring animation is about 3-5 times longer.

You don't sound like a rant, so don't worry. But I never said I don't like remakes. I love remakes. I loved FRLG and HGSS. I just didn't love ORAS.

Despite me disagreeing with the majority of what was in the article, I found the article interesting at many points. The writing style here is definitely great as most of the key points are backed up with some evidence, even if I am on the other side of the coin to say in the least.
Well, I did say my article would "make the haters hate and the fans fawn even more" and it sounds like I was right. I found issues, you found perfection, and no one is wrong either respect.

As somebody who played Emerald exclusively, I am disappoint to constantly hear how ORAS incorporate virtually no Emerald elements. Wattson without a single Hoenn native Pokemon is a crime against Pokemanity. Plus, I generally like Manectric's design, so to see him without his everywhere-but-Ruby-Sapphire-signature-Pokemon is just not the same at all.
It is very baffling why they did that. Let's not forget, Tate and Liza having two Pokémon that can be removed in one attack, battle over.

Here's an interesting question for y'all. Do you guys think ORAS may have turned out differently if they were remade in Gen 5 instead of Gen 6? I know that there were quite a few people that were really wanting/expecting R/S/E remakes in Gen 5.
Given ORAS heavily features Mega Evolutions, it would have had to be completely different. But beyond that, Hoenn is a very pretty region with a lot of scenery, and I just don't know if Gen V could ahve recreated that properly. Yes, Gen V does actually look pretty good at times, but nothing like Gen VI can pull off.

My only problem with ORAS is the easiness and handholding. I don't need to be teleported across the region to get to where I need to go, May. I can travel myself.
Something that really annoyed me, and I forgot to mention, was after you beat Norman, Wally teleports you over to Mauville, with no option to turn it down. Seriously Game Freak? We just got Surf, and I wanted to Surf down Route 105 to do some exploring, but I had to backtrack myself all the way to Petalburgh all because you didn't want to include a "yes/no" option. That really annoyed me.

One of my biggest disappointments with ORAS was the lack of character customization. Customization was, at least to me, one of the biggest improvements of Gen VI - no longer would you always be battling against (or, if in the Maison, alongside) a clone of yourself - you could make your character look somewhat unique, differentiating yourself from your enemies/allies.
I'm really mad at myself for leaving out the trainer customization. I understand their reasoning behind it (Brendan and May both have set designs), but they could have at least let us choose hair and skin color, as well as general outfit colors. Would it have broken the game to have a blue shirt, instead of a red one? But I guess a little diversity was just too much to ask for.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

I honestly wish this review wasn't so biased. Reviews should never be biased imho. My major complaints with this "review" is that you just come off as someone bashing this game while failing to give praise to what it does do. For example how can you say that FRLG was a better remake because of a new "half region". That is stretching beyond belief. The Sevii Islands are not that big and while the extra plot was great Delta Emerald's plot is arguably better. You said that it stuck too close to the source material and because YOU didn't like the source material you make it seem like ORAS is bad. It isn't. Visually it is much better than X/Y, it introduced new megas, added so much more convenience and added more characterization and story elements. All you're doing is bashing and the biggest joke about it is that you claim that FRLG is better than ORAS. Smfh
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

One of my biggest disappointments with ORAS was the lack of character customization. Customization was, at least to me, one of the biggest improvements of Gen VI - no longer would you always be battling against (or, if in the Maison, alongside) a clone of yourself - you could make your character look somewhat unique, differentiating yourself from your enemies/allies.
I'm really mad at myself for leaving out the trainer customization. I understand their reasoning behind it (Brendan and May both have set designs), but they could have at least let us choose hair and skin color, as well as general outfit colors. Would it have broken the game to have a blue shirt, instead of a red one? But I guess a little diversity was just too much to ask for.

I also wish they had allowed some character customization. To be honest this is probably the only feature that I missed in ORAS that came from X/Y, althrough I understand your point about May/Brendan having their own looks.

Overall I enjoyed your review and found it to be honest and straightforward. I'm in the same boat as you with not enjoying Ruby/Sapphire, but I actually enjoyed ORAS because for the first time I was able to tough it out and finish the main story in Hoenn. This is probably due to the (ridiculous) Exp Share so I didn't have to grind for hours upon hours before the E4.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

Great review, I found myself agreeing with most of your points, particularly on the fact that it does little to improve on the base games aside from a couple features. The lack of Emerald features in particular really disappointed me as that was a game that I enjoyed a lot in the past and it added so much to improve on the originals that it bothered me how much that they were ignored.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

Then they shouldn't claim it as a review. THAT doesn't make sense.
A review, in and of itself, is an opinion. It is a sharing of opinions about a topic.
Also, I did say that I do not think they're bad games at all. I was just disappointed with them. Me, my opinion, I was disappointed.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

Then they shouldn't claim it as a review. THAT doesn't make sense.
A review, in and of itself, is an opinion. It is a sharing of opinions about a topic.
Also, I did say that I do not think they're bad games at all. I was just disappointed with them. Me, my opinion, I was disappointed.

Yes a review is an opinion. I agree, BUT biased "reviews" aren't reviews. They are merely just opinions. There's a difference. Reviews are fair and without bias.
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

I'm definitely with you on the disappointments, and the review in general, but I'm not sure I would recommend Emerald over ORAS. Now there are a few things in the main game that I would say Emerald did better, primarily Team Magma VS Team Aqua. I think the conflict was better illustrated since both teams were at large, they had their own unique hideouts, and even Kyogre/Groudon's resting places corresponded with them. There's also the Gym Leader battles, giving a few of them better teams. Namely Wattson and the twins. The lack of Manectric in ORAS is completely absurd, and Tate/Liza are only packing 1 Pokemon each at the 7th Gym. The Safari Zone is another thing that I preferred, since the post-game expansion feels a-lot more substantial, and its not as convoluted to traverse.

But when it comes to replay value...Even with ORAS's surprising lack of content, I think I'd still point someone in its direction sooner than Emerald. Mostly because of how dated Emerald is. There's more to do with the old Frontier, but as much as I love it, I don't really want to put up with it in Generation 3 at this point. Its just too limiting. Finite TMs, overpriced tutor moves, you earn less BP on average, movepools are generally shallow, there's nowhere to grind past the 40s, and all I have to EV train is the Macho Brace. lol. I mean we all wanted it back so they could put it on better hardware xD Maybe make stuff like the Palace less vague, and fine tune the rules in general. But as it is, I would still sooner take on Maison Battles, or play with others online in ORAS. Raising Pokemon for that is the best that its ever been between DexNav hunts, horde training, and other improvements that we've gotten over the years, and that all helps to make it more re-playable to me.
 
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Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

But when it comes to replay value...Even with ORAS's surprising lack of content, I think I'd still point someone in its direction sooner than Emerald. Mostly because of how dated Emerald is. There's more to do with the old Frontier, but as much as I love it, I don't really want to put up with it in Generation 3 at this point. Its just too limiting. Finite TMs, overpriced tutor moves, you earn less BP on average, movepools are generally shallow, there's nowhere to grind past the 40s, and all I have to EV train is the Macho Brace. lol. I mean we all wanted it back so they could put it on better hardware xD Maybe make stuff like the Palace less vague, and fine tune the rules in general. But as it is, I would still sooner take on Maison Battles, or play with others online in ORAS. Raising Pokemon for that is the best that its ever been between DexNav hunts, horde training, and other improvements that we've gotten over the years, and that all helps to make it more re-playable to me.
You definitely make some good points here, but I will clarify, I said Emerald is the better experience, but I too would recommend ORAS to a new player of Hoenn. They won't know what has been left out, and the additions to the game work better for new players. The review came from me, a seasoned player. I've been in it since Gen I, so finite TMs and a lack of Physical Dark-type are things I can work with. But to all-new players, I don't usually recommend anything prior to Gen IV. The splitting of individual moves into physical and special based attacks alone makes older games much harder to get into (but not impossible).
 
Re: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: A retrospective review: A close look at why people

If you want to enjoy Emerald's Battle Frontier with updated mechanics, there are hacks that serve that purpose.
 
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