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Your Favorite Victory Road?

What's your favorite Victory Road?

  • Kanto (Gen I/III/VII)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kanto (Gen II/IV)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hoenn

    Votes: 2 13.3%
  • Sinnoh

    Votes: 1 6.7%
  • Unova (B/W)

    Votes: 2 13.3%
  • Unova (B2/W2)

    Votes: 4 26.7%
  • Kalos

    Votes: 4 26.7%
  • Alola

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • Total voters
    15
The Hoenn Victory Road had the best music so I'll go with that one although the one from Sinnoh had a catchy theme too. :D
 
I voted for Kalos' Victory Road because I loved the scenery. It really makes you feel like you're climbing a mountain.

I also really like the B2W2 Victory Road (the way it's situated amongst the ruins of N's Castle is super cool) and Mount Lanakila ("lanakila" is Hawaiin for "victory"!).

I was never a huge fan of the earlier Victory Roads, although I did actually quite like how Gold and Silver's one had no trainers. It makes the place feel more remote and menacing. Silver was my first game, so I was actually surprised when I discovered that other Victory Roads had trainers.

Black and White's Victory Road really impressed me at the time, being the first to feature outdoor areas, but it's still a little on the dull side compared to its successors.

My least favourite Victory Road would have to be the one in the Kanto games, because it completely spoiled my initial experience of LeafGreen. I got stuck at Indigo Plateau, because there was a barrier in Victory Road I couldn't remove from the Indigo Plateau side, and I'd missed the Fly HM earlier in the game. I ended up starting a new game in frustration.
 
I will say though that I really do love Vast Poni Canyon, which functions as the de facto "Victory Road" for SM in terms of substance. In fact, even with USUM's glossed-up Mount Lanakila taken into account, I still prefer VPC. The music is fantastic, the visuals are very lovely and unique, and the layout itself is pretty satisfyingly complex - it is, sadly, the only good dungeon in the entire Alola region. Were I to "count" it as a Victory Road, I would probably rank it as high as #3 on my list.

since there is also the thing that you can acces it before the third grand trial in USUM

I mean, I wouldn't say you can access it in any meaningful way - you can only go this far in, which to me feels more like the equivalent of being able to go here or here early on in previous games.

Plus, this access is pretty blatantly just an excuse to let players get a Crabominable at a more reasonable point in the game. ;)
 
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I will say though that I really do love Vast Poni Canyon, which functions as the de facto "Victory Road" for SM in terms of substance. In fact, even with USUM's glossed-up Mount Lanakila taken into account, I still prefer VPC. The music is fantastic, the visuals are very lovely and unique, and the layout itself is pretty satisfyingly complex - it is, sadly, the only good dungeon in the entire Alola region. Were I to "count" it as a Victory Road, I would probably rank it as high as #3 on my list.

Funnily enough, I was actually going to suggest that Vast Poni Canyon might be Alola's true Victory Road, until I realised "lanakila" means "victory". In Sun and Moon, Vast Poni Canyon functions a lot more like a Victory Road that Mount Lanakila does. It even has a straight path at the end where you must battle several trainers in a row, just like in some of the Victory Roads (incidentally, Galar's Route 10 has one of these as well).

I really like how Sun and Moon's story is structured, with the climax occuring after the big final dungeon, and the Pokemon League challenge following almost immediately after that. Turning Mount Lanakila into a full Victory Road in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon made sense, however, because of the Fairy Trial and Grand Trial that happen after the climax.

I really like Vast Poni Canyon's layout design, but I find it a bit drab visually, compared to other environments in Alola which are usually very colourful. I always looked forward to reaching this area on my Moon playthroughs, because then I could finally catch a Midday Lycanroc!
 
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but I find it a bit drab visually, compared to other environments in Alola which are usually very colourful.

I can see what you mean, but I think it just scans differently for me - both in the sense that I think the colorful sediment layers are really pretty and something we hadn't ever seen in a Pokémon game before, as well as in the sense that I really do like the rest of Alola's environments, but so many of them have that sandy/tropical beach feel that for me, the canyon was a nice break from it all.

I also like how, from the cliffsides, you can see the Altar getting closer as you go along. First it's way off in the distance, but then when you reach the bridge that Mina's on, it's larger and more visible. To me it's a subtle way of creating more of a sense of navigating a 3D space.
 
(I added Galar to the poll)

Kanto - Not too different from Rock Tunnel. 2/5
Johto - .. Getting through Union Cave is probably tougher. 1/5
Hoenn - Fairy decent. Feels more like a good test of a trainer 3.5/5
Sinnoh - Eh. Nothing special. 2/5
Unova B/W - Again, nothing too interesting. By the numbers Victory Road. 2/5
Unova B2W2 - Much better. Really nice design, interesting location. 4/5
Kalos - Improves on B2W2s Victory Road. Gold standard for Victory Roads going forward. 5/5
Alola - I had to look it up on YouTube, because I've completely forgotten how it looked. Turns out it's a bunch of elevators. 1.5/5
Galar - It's a bloody route. 1/5
 
Fixed. I assumed you made the thread before Sword & Shield came out.

I'd definitely say Route 10 is analogous to victory road in the other games. It's the final stretch in a game before landing in the location with the Champion.
 
I actually like Route 10 a lot more than any of the Victory Roads prior to B2W2. It might be much too short, but it's very atmospheric. I love when the snow clears at the end to reveal Wyndon. I actually just discovered, while looking at a map of the route, that there's a little alcove at the end containing an item - I never noticed that because I was always excitedly sprinting down the slope to Wyndon at that point!

In a way, it's a shame that Sword and Shield didn't receive a traditional enhanced version, because then we might have seen Route 10 and other areas expanded upon, like Mount Lanakila was.

This is how I'd rank all the Victory Roads, plus Vast Poni Canyon and Route 10. I'm taking into account only the most recent iteration of each one, here - Hoenn's Victory Road and Mount Lanakila have both received significant upgrades.

1. Kalos
2. Alola - Mount Lanakila
3. Unova - two years later
4. Alola - Vast Poni Canyon
5. Galar - Route 10
6. Unova - original
7. Hoenn
8. Kanto - three years later
9. Sinnoh
10. Kanto - original
 
Visually, my favourite are the ones in Kalos, Unova (B2/W2), and Hoenn (OR/AS). The former two really make you want to explore them thanks to the various types of terrain and their ruins, and OR/AS added some gorgeous new areas to Hoenn's otherwise rather bland-looking Victory Road.

When it comes to the actual dungeon design, I think the Hoenn, Sinnoh and Kalos ones are the most challenging ones due to their layout, although I think they're all really well made (aside from the Kanto and Alola ones) and some of the best dungeons in the entire series.

Music-wise, the Hoenn one easily wins this competition in my opinion, it's a great theme that truly encapsulates the Victory Road atmosphere. Kalos and Sinnoh have great themes too.

Overall, my ranking would be:
Kalos
Hoenn (OR/AS)
Unova (B2/W2)
Sinnoh
Unova (B/W)
Kanto

Alola

And a sad little "Shame on you!" to Sword/Shield.
 
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