Hoenn Region Discussion Thread

[Bguy7]

They are more linear and easier to solve.

I guess Game Freak didn't want people having strong enough 'mons but getting held up by puzzles.

Personally, I always loved the puzzles before a gym. It was one of the only non-battle challenges in the entire game.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Speaking of this gym becoming easier, it seemed to me like all of the gym puzzles were easier than they used to be. Did anyone else get this feeling or was it just me? I've actually been very disappointed in gym puzzles recently. Since Unova, the puzzles have been more of walking in a straight path, solving some minor challenge and fighting trainers. The challenge these days seem to come more from having to fight all of the trainers rather than solving a puzzle. For example, the Dewford Gym, they changed from a maze in the dark to walking down an essentially straight path, fighting trainers in your way.

That's the series in general. The difficulty went down noticeably in 5th gen in more ways than one.

 

[Emperor Empoleon]

The one that really stuck out to me was Wallace's Gym. Probably because of how difficult that last section was originally. Those new platforms where you can walk without worrying about breaking one of the ice tiles were a little disappointing to see...

 

[Bguy7]

That's the series in general. The difficulty went down noticeably in 5th gen in more ways than one.

Good point...

 

[Krishnath]

That's the series in general. The difficulty went down noticeably in 5th gen in more ways than one.

To be fair, many of the earlier installments in the franchise could get exceptionally grindy in spots.

 

[NotABeginningTrainer]

Ah, but that would put people with certain cerebral disabilities at a major disadvantage. Myself included. Granted, we could always look up the answers online, but still. Nah, logic based puzzles would be a better idea than math problems. The one in Wattson's gym is a simple one, but more complicated ones would be fine. Math, not so much.

This wouldn't be the first time gyms forced math on you. In DP, Fantina's gym had you solve addition/subtraction problems to progress. Of course, you could just guess at the doors and end up facing more trainers, but it was still included. I realize that this is a different level than calculating voltage and resistance, but still...

 

[Krishnath]

This wouldn't be the first time gyms forced math on you. In DP, Fantina's gym had you solve addition/subtraction problems to progress. Of course, you could just guess at the doors and end up facing more trainers, but it was still included. I realize that this is a different level than calculating voltage and resistance, but still...

I cheated there as well. My brain doesn't do math and has trouble retaining numerical values. Which is ironic considering I understand Quantum Physic and Multidimensional Theory. >.<

 

[Kataphrut]

To be fair, many of the earlier installments in the franchise could get exceptionally grindy in spots.

That's the challenge with these games. In the pre-6th gen games, trying to raise a team of 6 meant you were generally underlevelled by the time you hit Victory Road. I preferred that, since you had to be a bit more strategic. Now, you're generally on par, if not overlevelled the whole way through and it only gets worse with the Exp Share. I didn't use it at all throughout AS and I still found the gyms too easy.

I somehow managed to get my whole team infected with Pokerus shortly after the Lisa & Tate gym, and I was like "No! Anything but that!"

 

[HM02gon]

That's the challenge with these games. In the pre-6th gen games, trying to raise a team of 6 meant you were generally underlevelled by the time you hit Victory Road. I preferred that, since you had to be a bit more strategic. Now, you're generally on par, if not overlevelled the whole way through and it only gets worse with the Exp Share. I didn't use it at all throughout AS and I still found the gyms too easy.

I somehow managed to get my whole team infected with Pokerus shortly after the Lisa & Tate gym, and I was like "No! Anything but that!"

I used the XP share at certain points in the story, like when my team was under leveled. Even so, by the time I beat the game my team was at the exact same levels as Steven's team. IMO the Xp share really is only useful for leveling up and evolving Pokemon to fill the dex.

 

[Alexander18]

I prefer to use the X/Y version of Exp Share as it is more convenient and can train and evolve my party. I don't like the fact that you can use Trainer Eyes to rematch trainers but not gym leaders, one of the con of those games and bad choice of Game Freaks part. Not to mention you can only get one Hoenn Fossil since the desert underpass doesn't exist for you to get the other one you didn't pick at the desert.

 

[Phillies]

That's the challenge with these games. In the pre-6th gen games, trying to raise a team of 6 meant you were generally underlevelled by the time you hit Victory Road. I preferred that, since you had to be a bit more strategic. Now, you're generally on par, if not overlevelled the whole way through and it only gets worse with the Exp Share. I didn't use it at all throughout AS and I still found the gyms too easy.

I somehow managed to get my whole team infected with Pokerus shortly after the Lisa & Tate gym, and I was like "No! Anything but that!"

You could always try to raise more pokemon. That's what I do. Instead of 6 pokemon try 8 or more.

 

[Emperor Empoleon]

I didn't really use it during the main game, but its helpful for getting everyone on the same page in terms of levels every so often.

Grinding in old Hoenn by comparison was maddening...Not GS levels of tedium, but still.

 

[Tuxedo_Masquerain]

I've been wondering, does ORAS take place before the 3rd generation? I'm at the battle resort, and apparently the battle tower is under construction, while in Emerald, it's not.

 

[sheepgoesmeep]

It covers the same events, so it's set at the same time, but it's heavily implied to be an alternate universe, so there's bound to be some differences from the original Gen 3. Plus the Battle Frontier wasn't in Ruby or Sapphire.

 

[BCVM22]

I've been wondering, does ORAS take place before the 3rd generation? I'm at the battle resort, and apparently the battle tower is under construction, while in Emerald, it's not.

Assuming one doesn't put too much stock in the one line about alternate universes, OR/AS completely take the place of R/S/E in what passes for continuity, as FR/LG did for the original Red/Green/Blue and as HG/SS did for the original Gold/Silver.

They certainly don't take place "before" Generation III, at any rate; some version of "instead of" is more accurate, but a tight and coherent timeline has never been one of the franchise's major concerns. It's best to just not worry about it too much.

 

[Firebrand]

Did that weird shadowy patch in the northeast of the pre-release region map ever come to anything? I don't recall anything in the playthrough matching up to that, and it looked pretty different from the other clouds. Was it supposed to be implied to be the asteroid from the Delta Episode?

 

[Bguy7]

Did that weird shadowy patch in the northeast of the pre-release region map ever come to anything? I don't recall anything in the playthrough matching up to that, and it looked pretty different from the other clouds. Was it supposed to be implied to be the asteroid from the Delta Episode?

It's were you find Toradus/Thunderus/Landorus when soaring in the sky.

 

[imran3]

Hmm.. since y'all are talking about Electric type gyms, why not I make a sinister one :evil:

This puzzle will feature electric circuits. There will be, idk 3 levels? You will have to step on a switch in the middle of each level to power the elevator. You will get a key/legend from Clyde for those who haven't read electricity yet. The later floors will probably include resistors, diodes, other elevators leading to Trainers, etc. No maths here, just read the guide and apply your logic and learn about circuits. Resistors shorten the path which would cause you to maybe battling Trainers, which would shut off the resistors. Diodes are one-way paths. Need some suggestions.

 

[NotABeginningTrainer]

Hmm.. since y'all are talking about Electric type gyms, why not I make a sinister one :evil:

This puzzle will feature electric circuits. There will be, idk 3 levels? You will have to step on a switch in the middle of each level to power the elevator. You will get a key/legend from Clyde for those who haven't read electricity yet. The later floors will probably include resistors, diodes, other elevators leading to Trainers, etc. No maths here, just read the guide and apply your logic and learn about circuits. Resistors shorten the path which would cause you to maybe battling Trainers, which would shut off the resistors. Diodes are one-way paths. Need some suggestions.

I think this would be pretty cool. They could have a schematic at the beginning of each floor to tell you where to go. And the worst that could happen is the kids end up guessing and battling all the trainers. I don't think they would make it too complicated.

 

[Icarus Frond]

I really appreciated how the Pokemon encounter rate while Surfing was drastically reduced. I think Surfing became much faster too! It made water travel much less painful!