"A moment to appreciate Johto/Sinnoh and their rewarding exploration factor."

I know many people love Hoenn. Especially when GBA was one of the most nostalgic Era of Pokémon. And there's no problem with that, this Era had good games.But I don't particularly consider Hoenn games the best... The region has no bad features, but weak compared to its predecessor (Johto).Pokémon isn't exactly the most exemplary of all JRPGs, and most of its regions are linear and with little incentive for exploration. Hoenn and other regions only give you an item if you decide to explore an optional cave fork (If that fork exists in the first place).But Johto and Sinnoh are a little more impressive than that. In fact, I really praise Johto's exploration factor. Most caves have optional forks that encourage you to be curious about what have there. Encouraging you to go back there later and exploring further. And if you do that, you're rewarded with great, unexpected things like Lapras, a secret grass where you can only find Natu and Smeargle there, and the rest of the Unown puzzles. It's different from most regions where you would probably only find a TM or another item.HeartGold/SoulSilver has all the right things that its original versions did for exploration, but with so much more now. Not only it have a Battle Frontier (which it also has on Emerald) but it has an unbelievably large amount of extras to do post-game. This makes me consider HG/SS possibly the best and most complete Pokémon game.My second favorite region is Sinnoh precisely because it has the second best exploration of the franchise. It's not like Johto, but it's worthy of praise. In-game events like Rotom are well designed and I would like to see more of this. Of course, some are unnecessarily difficult like Spiritomb, but still I praise the intention. But of course, even Platinum doesn't have the same amount of extras compared to HG/SS or B2/W2. That's why my biggest dream would be Morimoto directing the D/P remake, but unfortunately it's unlikely to happen.Unova and Hoenn are pretty fun, but pretty linear (Especially Unova) and there's hardly anything interesting to explore the caves. Probably only the legendary Pokemons. I think the only highlight of Hoenn's exploration was actually the quest to open the Regis locations, as it requires two specific Pokémon, braille knowledge and the location is well hidden. There's also the Bagons area, but I missed more interactivity in the overworld such as Lapras, Unown puzzles and even Rotom TV.That's why I wish Pokémon had more Johto-like or at least Sinnoh-like regions. The Union Cave design is probably the coolest cave in the whole franchise exploration-wise. It's simple, but it's more complex and rewarding than anything you see in others regions even nowdays. But of course, I also consider Mt. Coronet one of the most magical and mysterious places in the Pokémon World, but could be more secrets inside it (Although the Arceus event compensates very well this. Too bad it's never officially distributed). via /r/pokemon https://ift.tt/3eqsP3S