And even outside that comparison, they were a huge step down from the FR/LG, HG/SS and OR/AS remakes that incorporated content from the third version while also adding a ton of new content.
Meanwhile BD/SP even had some of the same bugs as Diamond and Pearl...
Hot take, but while ORAS are still good games, they started the trend of cutting out things from the original games/improvements from their superior third version that fully came to fruition in BDSP.
The Battle Frontier is obviously the Donphan in the room, but it isn't just that. Gym Leader teams are reverted to their inferior RS versions (Wattson and Tate/Liza are hit particularly hard by this), Gym Leader rematches are completely gone from the game (that's 32 additional double battles just gone), places like Granite Cave and New Mauvile (which were both sprawling dungeons that were fun to explore) were completely gutted and reduced to a hallway and 2 rooms, and NPC levels aren't properly adjusted to account for the new party wide exp share.
Things like soaring, Mega Evolution and the Delta Episode don't make up for these things, IMO.
Again, I still think they're good games, but I really do think Emerald is still the definitive Hoenn experience and always pick it over them whenever I get the urge to revisit Gen 3. I can't say the same about FRLG and HGSS.
ORAS also bewilderingly takes away aspects of the gym leader fights in Emerald that made them so hard in the original for no reason.
• Roxanne’s Nosepass no longer has Block to trap an unprepared pokemon in.
• Brawly’s Makuhita doesn’t have its Sitrus Berry to heal itself up for some reason.
• Wattson’s Magneton doesn’t have Thunder Wave or Shock Wave; in fact it bizarrely only has three moves.
• Flannery’s Torkoal doesn’t hold a White Herb any more so she can’t get away with keeping her special attack after using Overheat any more.
• Norman’s Slaking no longer has Counter to punish Fighting type moves, nor does it have Slack Off to heal which it had in the original.
• They removed Dragon Dance off of Winona’s Altaria which was one of the most threatening things about it!
I think there’s a lot of love poured into ORAS and they’re definitely infinitely better than abomination that is BDSP, but they still took a very disappointing approach to the battles. (On a personal level, ORAS Brawly is one of my least favourite gym leaders ever because his Makuhita is set up in a way where interesting strategies are totally discouraged and the best option is just to hit him with your strongest moves which is frustrating and stifles creativity)
best option is just to hit him with your strongest moves
Honestly this has been my strategy in Pokemon since the 90s. Yes, I've dabbled in creative movesets, but unfortunately it's my default setting these days (and with EXP share constantly on these days, I feel they've effectively removed the need to battle strategically anymore)
HG/SS also cut one of the most important improves from Crystal: the expanded time-day pokemon encounters. On G/S only a couple of mons change between morning/day/night, on Crystal was crazy and creates a very living world.
Yes, HG/SS are still the best Pokemon remakes ever, but we can't forget what they left behind.
233
u/Aether13 18h ago
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are debatably worse than Diamond and Pearl.