Most annoying regional layouts in any game?

[NovaBrunswick]

I actually liked this trail, it was pretty and unique. Its true that it didnt have wild Pokemon or npc's, but it added more scenery to the region

Apart from the Spearow that attack you, Lillie and Nebby at the beginning, though I'm pretty sure Spearow isn't native to Alola at all. (It was most likely just put in as a reference to the very first episode of the anime, where Ash was attacked by a flock of Spearow.)

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Apart from the Spearow that attack you, Lillie and Nebby at the beginning, though I'm pretty sure Spearow isn't native to Alola at all. (It was most likely just put in as a reference to the very first episode of the anime, where Ash was attacked by a flock of Spearow.)

Define "native to Alola". It's definitely in the Alola Dex, so by that definition it is "native", but otherwise IDK what you mean by "native".

At any rate, the bridge is the only part of it that serves any concrete purpose in the game. The path up is just pointless scenery.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Apart from the Spearow that attack you, Lillie and Nebby at the beginning, though I'm pretty sure Spearow isn't native to Alola at all. (It was most likely just put in as a reference to the very first episode of the anime, where Ash was attacked by a flock of Spearow.)

Pokémon originally found in other regions can still be considered native to another. Several of them don’t seem to be reliant on a specific condition of a region such as climate. Pikachu are found in every region except Unova in area full of plants such as trees or bushes yet they were first seen in Kanto. Corphish is an escaped exotic house pet from an unidentified region yet are considered to be native to Hoenn, Alola (USUM only), and Galar. And Exeggcutor is now considered to be native to Alola but it was native to Kanto for nearly two decades.

 

[NovaBrunswick]

Corphish is an escaped exotic house pet from an unidentified region yet are considered to be native to Hoenn, Alola (USUM only), and Galar.

Yungoos and Gumshoos are also not originally native to Alola, being imported from another region in an attempt to deal with the Rattata problem. Cufant and Copperajah were imported into Galar from another faraway region (possibly based on India, given Britain's history with it) a long time ago.

And Exeggcutor is now considered to be native to Alola but it was native to Kanto for nearly two decades.

The people of Alola also claim that Exeggutor's Alolan form is its "true" form, meaning that Kanto Exeggutor is probably a regional variant in its own right.

 

[Pokefan_1987]

The people of Alola also claim that Exeggutor's Alolan form is its "true" form, meaning that Kanto Exeggutor is probably a regional variant in its own right.

That's most likely since a bad retcon attempt. Kanto Exeggutor is short and stubby, but if the retcon means that the Kantonian variant's are from Alola but the lack of strong sunlight makes them grow less.

It's equally weird since you can use ultra wormholes in the alola games to avoid getting a alolan raichu (if you arent transferring) otherwise pikachu becomes the alolan variant. It weird that pikachu itself doesn't have a "Alolan Pikachu" design at this point.

 

[jaden767]

I have a bone to pick with all of them really but Unova and Johto are the main ones I dislike. Unova because in Black and White the path you take is predictable and there's basically no chance to deviate from it unlike in some older regions.

And Johto because it's the opposite extreme and I always hated the way they set up Olivine and Cianwood especially. It was confusing as a kid figuring out what you had to do first.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

I have a bone to pick with all of them really but Unova and Johto are the main ones I dislike. Unova because in Black and White the path you take is predictable and there's basically no chance to deviate from it unlike in some older regions.

That's pretty much every region from Unova on, the modern regions are all super linear and predictable.

 

[RedBlastoise]

I will say Alola because of how many areas had to be accessed in a certain order mainly because of how the games would hold your hand through a lot of the main plot. Also I didn't like how you had to either use ferries or fly to different islands before USUM gave us the Mantine surf game.

Sinnoh kind of grinds me gears too because its layout is confusing like in Diamond and Pearl since you get to Hearthome early in the game but have to make a long detour before fighting Fantina. Thank goodness Platinum fixed that.

 

[NovaBrunswick]

It's equally weird since you can use ultra wormholes in the alola games to avoid getting a alolan raichu (if you arent transferring) otherwise pikachu becomes the alolan variant. It weird that pikachu itself doesn't have a "Alolan Pikachu" design at this point.

Only in US/UM though. If you want a Kantonian Raichu in vanilla S/M, you'd probably have to catch one in an Ultra Wormhole and trade it back from US/UM.

And Johto because it's the opposite extreme and I always hated the way they set up Olivine and Cianwood especially. It was confusing as a kid figuring out what you had to do first.

I'm pretty sure many people, when they first played the Johto games, thought they had to battle Jasmine after defeating Morty, since Olivine comes right after Ecruteak on your Johto journey. Imagine their horror when they found out you had to Surf all the way across the sea to Cianwood (and navigate treacherous whirlpools and run away from a gazillion Tentacools in the process). At least Chuck's wife gives you the HM for Fly after you defeat her husband so you don't have to repeat that process again going back to Olivine.

Sinnoh kind of grinds me gears too because its layout is confusing like in Diamond and Pearl since you get to Hearthome early in the game but have to make a long detour before fighting Fantina. Thank goodness Platinum fixed that.

Hoenn has a similar situation: Petalburg is the next big city after you come out from Littleroot, but you can't battle Norman until well halfway into the game, because you're not strong enough yet. That means you have to backtrack all the way from Lavaridge once you get your Heat Badge.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Sinnoh kind of grinds me gears too because its layout is confusing like in Diamond and Pearl since you get to Hearthome early in the game but have to make a long detour before fighting Fantina. Thank goodness Platinum fixed that.

Just curious, what do you find confusing about Sinnoh's layout? I never really had any issues with the layout, the only issue I had was I didn't know that Strength was in Lost Tower, but that's more of an issue with the NPCs not signaling where to go, not with the actual layout.

Hoenn has a similar situation: Petalburg is the next big city after you come out from Littleroot, but you can't battle Norman until well halfway into the game, because you're not strong enough yet. That means you have to backtrack all the way from Lavaridge once you get your Heat Badge.

Every region up until Unova had one instance where you had to backtrack to a previously visited city for a gym battle. In Kanto, it was going back to Viridian to fight Giovanni after you have the first 7 badge. In Johto, it was going back to Olivine to fight Jasmine after you got the SecretPotion in Cianwood. Hoenn was fighting Norman after Lavaridge. And Sinnoh was backtracking to Hearthome in DP after Celestic Town.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Just curious, what do you find confusing about Sinnoh's layout? I never really had any issues with the layout, the only issue I had was I didn't know that Strength was in Lost Tower, but that's more of an issue with the NPCs not signaling where to go, not with the actual layout.



Every region up until Unova had one instance where you had to backtrack to a previously visited city for a gym battle. In Kanto, it was going back to Viridian to fight Giovanni after you have the first 7 badge. In Johto, it was going back to Olivine to fight Jasmine after you got the SecretPotion in Cianwood. Hoenn was fighting Norman after Lavaridge. And Sinnoh was backtracking to Hearthome in DP after Celestic Town.

BW2 sort of did this with you needing to go to Floccesy Town and Ranch before going back to Aspertia for the Badge.

 

[janejane6178]

I actually like backtracking, it feels less linear that way.
Thats why I love Hoenn so much

 

[Pokefan_1987]

Just curious, what do you find confusing about Sinnoh's layout? I never really had any issues with the layout, the only issue I had was I didn't know that Strength was in Lost Tower, but that's more of an issue with the NPCs not signaling where to go, not with the actual layout.

The whole mountain region in sinnoh. It's really tough without a guide and i don't want to get started on carrying the right mules for the dreaded Distortion World. Just attempting to find Victory Road is pretty bad maze in Sinnoh.

Right behind in 2nd is Sinnoh's snow area before Snowpoint City. It's a slog to get through. With blinding snow graphics better hope you remembered plenty of repels. No bike a in deep snow and the painfully sluggish Gen 4 game engine means its gonna slow down HARD.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

The whole mountain region in sinnoh. It's really tough without a guide and i don't want to get started on carrying the right mules for the dreaded Distortion World. Just attempting to find Victory Road is pretty bad maze in Sinnoh.

Yeah, I don't get this. I have never spent more than about a minute trying to figure out where to go in an area, and I actually appreciate the more puzzling map design because it's an actual challenge to explore as opposed to glorified hallway simulators of regions like Unova, Kalos, and Alola.

I discussed this on a previous page, but we really should divorce the HM problems from the areas' actual design. Having to carry around an HM slave is a problem with the mechanic itself forcing you to have certain moves/Pokemon on your team, not the use of them in the map design. Think about if you had Poke Ride or Secret Techniques or whatever and you tried to get through Mt. Coronet, would you still have trouble with it? And if so, why?

Right behind in 2nd is Sinnoh's snow area before Snowpoint City. It's a slog to get through. With blinding snow graphics better hope you remembered plenty of repels. No bike a in deep snow and the painfully sluggish Gen 4 game engine means its gonna slow down HARD.

That's not really confusing as much as tedious, for the most part you get through Rt. 217 just by heading forward and most of that route is optional. You do need to enter this one Hiker's cabin to get Rock Climb IIRC, and I don't like that (DP especially had a problem where the HMs themselves were hidden in difficult to find locations, I myself had more problems with Strength because they didn't do a good job of signaling that Lost Tower was a mandatory area instead of an optional dungeon).

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

My issue with the route that had the blinding snowstorm was that you needed to get to that one area with the patch of grass that held the Ice Rock and it’s so easy to walk past. I spent hours during my first play through of Pt trying to find all the Pokémon found on that route and to evolve Eevee into Glaceon.

 

[janejane6178]

Yeah, I don't get this. I have never spent more than about a minute trying to figure out where to go in an area, and I actually appreciate the more puzzling map design because it's an actual challenge to explore as opposed to glorified hallway simulators of regions like Unova, Kalos, and Alola.

I discussed this on a previous page, but we really should divorce the HM problems from the areas' actual design. Having to carry around an HM slave is a problem with the mechanic itself forcing you to have certain moves/Pokemon on your team, not the use of them in the map design. Think about if you had Poke Ride or Secret Techniques or whatever and you tried to get through Mt. Coronet, would you still have trouble with it? And if so, why?



That's not really confusing as much as tedious, for the most part you get through Rt. 217 just by heading forward and most of that route is optional. You do need to enter this one Hiker's cabin to get Rock Climb IIRC, and I don't like that (DP especially had a problem where the HMs themselves were hidden in difficult to find locations, I myself had more problems with Strength because they didn't do a good job of signaling that Lost Tower was a mandatory area instead of an optional dungeon).

Kalos is not hallway.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Kalos is not hallway.

I mean "hallway" is an exaggeration, but the path through the region is completely linear and the area designs are incredibly simplified to the point where they insult my intelligence. It pretty much feels like the only way to go is forward almost the entire game, that's where the "hallway" phrase comes from.

 

[janejane6178]

I mean "hallway" is an exaggeration, but the path through the region is completely linear and the area designs are incredibly simplified to the point where they insult my intelligence. It pretty much feels like the only way to go is forward almost the entire game, that's where the "hallway" phrase comes from.

Its true for Alola and Galar but not for Kalos

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Its true for Alola and Galar but not for Kalos

Nah, it's true for Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar. All of them force you to follow a linear path through the region, and many of the routes and dungeons are also simplistic paths with little to no opportunities to branch off.

If you're looking at Kalos in particular, the general region design involves a straight shot to Lumiose, following a clockwise path through Coastal Kalos, then another clockwise path through Mountain Kalos. No real backtracking (you do technically backtrack to Lumiose, but only because the Coastal Kalos loop dumps you off there and not because you actively need to return there), very few optional areas, very little complexity in the map design. Kalos is most certainly not in immune to the same kinds of criticisms you see for modern regions like Alola and Galar.

 

[janejane6178]

Nah, it's true for Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar. All of them force you to follow a linear path through the region, and many of the routes and dungeons are also simplistic paths with little to no opportunities to branch off.

If you're looking at Kalos in particular, the general region design involves a straight shot to Lumiose, following a clockwise path through Coastal Kalos, then another clockwise path through Mountain Kalos. No real backtracking (you do technically backtrack to Lumiose, but only because the Coastal Kalos loop dumps you off there and not because you actively need to return there), very few optional areas, very little complexity in the map design. Kalos is most certainly not in immune to the same kinds of criticisms you see for modern regions like Alola and Galar.

I dont think u can compare Kalos to Galar where the routes of Kalos were very diverse and it had big caves. Where the routes of Galar were reallyyy narrow and it didnt have even one place to stop u on the way, like the power planes In Kalos or that mine u first encountered TF etc. I agree Kalos is limear but its routes and caves r not narrow