Hoenn region locations: ORAS vs RSE

[Boss1991]

I actually saw this for months just cuz Emerald's locations got scrapped even tho it seemed obvious to me that these games would focus on RS elements. ^^;

Exactly. ORAS included the Emerald elements they thought should be included, but left out the ones they found redundant. And that decission enraged some nostalgia purists.

Personally, I am glad ORAS was brave to change and improve over the originals.

 

[Gillachu]

Still sucks that places like the Frontier got left out of OR/AS though. That placed was awesome in Emerald...

 

[Boss1991]

Still sucks that places like the Frontier got left out of OR/AS though. That placed was awesome in Emerald...

Umm, no. You are talking about the features on the island. The Frontier island is still there, it's the Battle Resort.

If you remember where the Battle Tower was in the original Ruby and Sapphire, and where the Battle Frontier was in Emerald, you will see ORAS actually uses Emerald's big Island, not the tiny square of land from Ruby and Sapphire.

 

[Gillachu]

Umm, no. You are talking about the features on the island. The Frontier island is still there, it's the Battle Resort.

If you remember where the Battle Tower was in the original Ruby and Sapphire, and where the Battle Frontier was in Emerald, you will see ORAS actually uses Emerald's big Island, not the tiny square of land from Ruby and Sapphire.

The islands are in the same place but they're vastly different. Apples =/= oranges.

 

[Boss1991]

The islands are in the same place but they're vastly different. Apples =/= oranges.

It is clearly stated that the Battle Frontier project has started on the Battle Resort, so it is the same place. Story wise, both are apples

 

[Alexander18]

Exactly. ORAS included the Emerald elements they thought should be included, but left out the ones they found redundant. And that decission enraged some nostalgia purists.

Personally, I am glad ORAS was brave to change and improve over the originals.

I still prefer the Emerald elements but I get why they kept it more to the originals. I miss areas like Mirage Tower, Trainer Hill, Desert Underpass, Marine Cave and Terra Cave along with the Battle Frontier and Artisan Cave. I am fine with Mirage Island being replaced though as I have never encounter into the originals and was too difficult. Mirage Spots were small and random but fun to explore.

 

[LizardonX]

Marine and terra cave is just a random cave with Groudon/Kyogre in it, nothing else.

The use of the desert underpass was to provide a long stretch for egg hatching which the battle resort does better.

Trainer hill was replaced by the Maison.

Since this was Omega Ruby/Alpha sapphire and not Delta emerald there is no reason to put in the emerald only Mirage tower.

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

Still sucks that places like the Frontier got left out of OR/AS though. That placed was awesome in Emerald...

I liked that place too, but Hoenn in Or/As has the Battle Resort at least which is something. The only Emerald place that I would've liked to see in these games was Faraway Island.

 

[Mega Altaria]

Marine and terra cave is just a random cave with Groudon/Kyogre in it, nothing else.

I really enjoyed exploring those caves because they allowed me to catch the entire Weather Trio in one game. Not too disappointed that it got left out of ORAS, at least it still remade the stuff in Cave of Origin (Kyogre/Groudon's location in RS/ORAS) quite well, adding a nice cutscene.

Trainer hill was replaced by the Maison.

In fact Trainer Hill was replaced by a rock wall, which was literally nothing. The Battle Tower got replaced, but at the Battle Resort, it states that the Tower hasn't been built yet because it states that the Battle Frontier project has just started.

 

[Flamer]

Aside from the Battle Frontier, (which has already been discussed to death), I honestly didn't notice any of the missing locations from Emerald or RS. I did enjoy running into the Marine and Terra caves back in the day, (so much so that I didn't actually catch Kyogre or Groudon so that the weather effects would carry on appearing), but given ORAS followed the story from RS their absence wasn't noticeable.

On the other hand a lot of the new locations really brought a extra lease of life to the region. The new Mirage Spot Islands are infinitely better than the original Mirage Island. Even Mauville's expansion adds a sense of grandeur to Hoenn's 'capital'. I'm not overly keen on the shopping mall design, but it does start to feel more like a liveable, somewhat futuristic city when you get access to Mauville Hills. The increase in secret base locations, and handy little concentrated areas of them are a welcome addition too.

 

[candichan]

Call me old-fashioned, but I liked the feel of RSE. The oldschool graphics, the sprites... (gosh, I miss sprite animation) and the way it just made Hoenn seem...bigger? I know Hoenn was never intended to be a particularly big region, it being an island community and all, but the way RSE were designed, it SEEMED bigger. And it just felt like there was more to explore.

I feel like Soaring took away from that. (I want to clarify here though that I don't dislike the concept of Soaring itself.) And I feel like there was less mystery. Though that was due in part to all the spoilers in the promos, too.

ORAS is fresh to death, and brings a lot of new things to the table (like Arrun and Lisia), as well as breathing a little more life into older things (like the contests-I particularly enjoyed the revamp on them), but it's just so different than the originals that in a way they don't even feel like the same thing. It feels like two separate games that happen to be based in the same region rather than one game being a remake of the first.

I'm not really complaining, per say, because I immensely enjoy both. But my rose-colored glasses make me a little more biased in favor of RSE...guess that's the power of nostalgia.

 

[Wulava]

Call me old-fashioned, but I liked the feel of RSE. The oldschool graphics, the sprites... (gosh, I miss sprite animation) and the way it just made Hoenn seem...bigger? I know Hoenn was never intended to be a particularly big region, it being an island community and all, but the way RSE were designed, it SEEMED bigger. And it just felt like there was more to explore.

I feel like Soaring took away from that. (I want to clarify here though that I don't dislike the concept of Soaring itself.) And I feel like there was less mystery. Though that was due in part to all the spoilers in the promos, too.

ORAS is fresh to death, and brings a lot of new things to the table (like Arrun and Lisia), as well as breathing a little more life into older things (like the contests-I particularly enjoyed the revamp on them), but it's just so different than the originals that in a way they don't even feel like the same thing. It feels like two separate games that happen to be based in the same region rather than one game being a remake of the first.

I'm not really complaining, per say, because I immensely enjoy both. But my rose-colored glasses make me a little more biased in favor of RSE...guess that's the power of nostalgia.

Well, you can't really compare a sprite-based game with a 3D one. The gameplay experience is obviously going to be different.

 

[crystalphoenix88]

I really like Mauville City in ORAS. It was just another generic City/Town in RSE, but its shopping mall + apartment complex (I guess you'd call it a "lifestyle center") design in ORAS is unique not only in Hoenn, but the entire Pokémon world. I definitely have some real-world mall-related Pokémon memories (going there to get new cards, buy game guides, etc.), so those come to mind as I stroll through Mauville's halls. I like Lumiose City as well, but I think Mauville is way easier to navigate, since it doesn't have all of those alleys and plazas and avenues and boulevards...just a 3-story rectangle with a plaza in the middle.

I think Sea Mauville is a really nice upgrade/replacement for the Abandoned Ship too. Not only is it much more interesting visually, but it also ties into the story and major characters, making it extra fun to explore. Just like Mauville City, they took a location that I'd consider pretty unremarkable in RSE and gave it qualities to stand out. I approve.

The reduction in Trick House puzzles is a bit odd and disappointing - not enough to really taint my impression of ORAS Hoenn, but I think it made more sense in the originals when there was a new puzzle after each badge (and the final one once you're the Champ.)

Can't comment on the Emerald-exclusive locations, since I've never played it.

 

[HollowGengar]

I played the original ruby sapphire games tons of times and dont remember a desert underpass.

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

I played the original ruby sapphire games tons of times and dont remember a desert underpass.

That's because it was exclusive to Emerald version.

 

[jireh the provider]

So, as a really late buyer of Omega Ruby, the Gambling Cafe at Mauville is dead. GG. I do not exactly know how to respond to this.

 

[The Living Daylights]

The new Mauville City is better, and Sea Mauville > Abandoned Ship. The ability to Soar and the Soar-exclusive places are also nice. However, I do miss the Emerald-exclusive stuff - the Mirage Tower, Desert Underpass, and particularly the Battle Frontier. Also, I really liked the concept of Marine Cave and Terra Cave where you had to explore routes affected by weather phenomena to find Groudon or Kyogre. That said, I played Sapphire the most of the original RSE games, so I don't have overwhelming memories in any of those Emerald-exclusive places. The reduction of levels in the Trick House is slightly disappointing, though. I think Mt Pyre was also bigger in the originals. I remember spending forever in Sapphire there trying to get a Duskull.