Hoenn Region Discussion Thread

[Mega Altaria]

Well, around the time ORAS was going to be released and way before, I heard that lot of people complained about Hoenn having 'too much water'. Because of this, I welcomed the introduction of Sharpedo as the fastest surfer Pokemon to reduce the time to get from one place to another on water, particularly on the eastern water routes. Now, it's a vital team member of my Omega Ruby.

 

[Bguy7]

Well, around the time ORAS was going to be released and way before, I heard that lot of people complained about Hoenn having 'too much water'. Because of this, I welcomed the introduction of Sharpedo as the fastest surfer Pokemon to reduce the time to get from one place to another on water, particularly on the eastern water routes. Now, it's a vital team member of my Omega Ruby.

People who complained about there being too much water were just whining about nothing. I honestly never understood what the big deal was.

 

[Taodragon]

People who complained about there being too much water were just whining about nothing. I honestly never understood what the big deal was.

The issue was it could be monotonous, you are seeing the same Pokémon, fighting the same trainers with similar teams to each other (thankfully, ORAS added Ace Trainers), with little variety in the environment while you're traveling on it. It's not very appealing when you're traveling to the next city or area and they could've mixed it up so it didn't seem like too much of the same.

 

[Bguy7]

The issue was it could be monotonous, you are seeing the same Pokémon, fighting the same trainers with similar teams to each other (thankfully, ORAS added Ace Trainers), with little variety in the environment while you're traveling on it. It's not very appealing when you're traveling to the next city or area and they could've mixed it up so it didn't seem like too much of the same.

I don't know, I never felt like that in Omega Ruby or even back in Emerald. I've always felt like Hoenn's water routes helped to make it unique, and part of the reason it's my favorite region.

 

[cryuel]

I don't know, I never felt like that in Omega Ruby or even back in Emerald. I've always felt like Hoenn's water routes helped to make it unique, and part of the reason it's my favorite region.

I personally always hated surfing - especially swimmers who stop you all the time on the way - but I agree, the water made Hoenn very unique and in particular the dark diving patches added so much vibrance to the region. A bit of the magic was taken away though when they modified the Mirage Island where back in the day you had to check every day to see if it was there and by virtue had to surf the beautiful waters of Hoenn (not that this kind of a tedious RNG mechanic was "fun").
The secret base islands added in clever use of some of the water areas in ORAS though, I thought.

 

[NotABeginningTrainer]

Honestly, I've never found surfing to be as tedious as some people claim. The encounter rate really isn't very high compared to other wild pokemon areas. I would rather surf than go cave diving any day. Anyone else agree?

 

[Excitable Boy]

do people not use Super Repels or what

 

[Emperor Empoleon]

Surfing itself is a-lot better in ORAS than it was before, but the countless Wingulls and Tentacools is still kind of a bother.

Like, you'd think the region known for all its water would have a-lot more diversity than that.

 

[Lorde]

Honestly, I've never found surfing to be as tedious as some people claim.

Surfing doesn't bother me per se: I simply avoid doing so in Hoenn's sea routes most of the time because there aren't that many places that I'd want to visit that I can't simply Fly to.

 

[Alexander18]

Although running into water types can be a bother, I never use a repel in case of an I encounter a shiny. So I don't really have an issue with surfing a part from wild encounters. What I enjoy is that we can travel through land, ocean and sky in the Hoenn region. The Sky Piller's music was pretty cool when you go inside. You can go to space temporarily with Rayquaza near the end of Delta Episode which is another cool feature. I prefer Mirage spots in ORAS to Mirage Island in the originals because I never found Mirage Island in Ruby/Emerald. The Mirage spots are better especially with more pokemon than just Wynaut which is now only obtainable by egg.

 

[SOLARISENSHI]

I would definitely say that because of all the information and we're getting and not getting about the Sun and Moon that having a tropical region just in general is very fun to play through I'm willing to bet the Sun and Moon take place in an independent tropical region based on real life places like Hawaii and Singapore but it'll get its own name and the aquarium it's just one aspect aside from that ,Pokemon Sapphire was the first game I really dedicated myself to and played every dayI still remember the first day I popped it into my Gameboy Advance my mom came home with groceries and a copy of sapphire looking back on it I shouldn't have your check but the game was are the refreshing compared to what came before like I said I was hooked up late everyday and couldn't stop until I had every single Pokemon every item every shiny Pokemon I still remember the old school action replay it's really had to turn it off turn it on you flip the switch it was annoying and a bit confusing but I had the Hoenn Dex complete within that first month that I bought it well my mom bought it

I'm really glad this topic was brought up Pokemon Sapphire for the Gameboy Advance was the first game I really dedicated myself to playing through getting everything and going to every friend who had a copy of sapphire or Ruby and really getting into competitive battlesI think back then Sky Pillar was a lot more fun and I really felt like more of an achievement when you got Rayquaza. I think these days people are banking on Pokemon Sun and Moon to have the tropical region and I guess all the sketches in the teaser trailer for it really enforce that especially the yellow fire trucks and when zoomed in and you can actually see a Hawaiian license plate so I would say regardless of what the region is called how it's played out it's going to be another tropical region will be as fun as hoenn??? but I think if it's going to be tropical why not add a surfboard that was a scratched idea for the first generation we've already had bikes skates and of course the classic running and there was the Mini-Game of surfing Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow but I would rather the surfing be a Mainstay of the game and not have to depend on the surf as far as Pokemon who can learn the HM

 

[The Living Daylights]

Yeah, I never understood the complaints about surfing. The swimmers are the same as the trainers on land who challenge you, and if you don't want wild encounters, just use a Max Repel. The music is pretty nice too - the only drawbacks I can think of is not being able to move as fast as on land (you can't have aqua bikes), the lack of underwater secret bases and the annoying currents that move you around. But none of these are major problems.

I also don't think it's the surfing that makes Hoenn unique (you Surf in every region) but the diving. It's the only region with those extensive diving spots and underwater locations, and the only region where Dive was an actual HM. Surf is a key HM in every generation.

I have to say, though, it's no longer as much of an achievement to get through the "hard locations" anymore. In RSE, Sky Pillar had all the cracks and was a pain to get through, but it was very rewarding at the end when you got the face Rayquaza. In ORAS, Sky Pillar wasn't challenging to get through at all, and Rayquaza of course, is a required catch, so they increased the rate to 45. On the other hand, we did get a very nice history story as we progressed through the Sky Pillar in ORAS, whereas in the original Ruby and Sapphire, Rayquaza had no relevance to the story whatsoever (in Emerald, it gets more of a backstory, but there isn't enough on it stopping Groudon and Kyogre).
Similarly, the original Mirage Island was an absolute pest and a pain to get to. I'm actually thankful that the new Mirage Islands are so much easier to get to and aren't pretty much luck-based, but of course it isn't much of an achievement anymore when you get to one.

On a side note, I miss roaming Legendary Pokemon. The absence of it in ORAS is a bit noticeable, to me.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Yeah, I never understood the complaints about surfing. The swimmers are the same as the trainers on land who challenge you, and if you don't want wild encounters, just use a Max Repel. The music is pretty nice too - the only drawbacks I can think of is not being able to move as fast as on land (you can't have aqua bikes), the lack of underwater secret bases and the annoying currents that move you around. But none of these are major problems.

I also don't think it's the surfing that makes Hoenn unique (you Surf in every region) but the diving. It's the only region with those extensive diving spots and underwater locations, and the only region where Dive was an actual HM. Surf is a key HM in every generation.

I have to say, though, it's no longer as much of an achievement to get through the "hard locations" anymore. In RSE, Sky Pillar had all the cracks and was a pain to get through, but it was very rewarding at the end when you got the face Rayquaza. In ORAS, Sky Pillar wasn't challenging to get through at all, and Rayquaza of course, is a required catch, so they increased the rate to 45. On the other hand, we did get a very nice history story as we progressed through the Sky Pillar in ORAS, whereas in the original Ruby and Sapphire, Rayquaza had no relevance to the story whatsoever (in Emerald, it gets more of a backstory, but there isn't enough on it stopping Groudon and Kyogre).
Similarly, the original Mirage Island was an absolute pest and a pain to get to. I'm actually thankful that the new Mirage Islands are so much easier to get to and aren't pretty much luck-based, but of course it isn't much of an achievement anymore when you get to one.

On a side note, I miss roaming Legendary Pokemon. The absence of it in ORAS is a bit noticeable, to me.

Dive was an HM in BW/BW2. You could only dive at the Abyssal Ruins.