Pokemon Third Gen Review | Culture of Gaming

Pokemon Third Gen Retrospective

I feel like I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this, but I actually didn’t enjoy the third generation of Pokemon as much as other games in the series. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great game, and certainly has some improvements. Most notably: new concepts, more in-depth characters, and new game mechanics. However, as much as the game has improved, it has some new flaws to go along with it. As someone that enjoys story above all else, it pains me to see a game come so far but underperform with its story. So let us take a look into one of my least favorite Pokemon generations.

Story

We start off with a decent backstory for the main character. You have just moved to Littlefoot Town, in the Hoenn region. Your father, Norman, has become the gym leader of the Petalburg Gym. You start your journey when you save Professor Birch, a friend of your fathers. As thanks, Birch lets you keep the Pokemon you used to save him. We get a good introduction and relationship to the Pokemon world, and it’s realistic. You are given a reason to go on the journey, which is a vast improvement over the previous games. This generation has perfected the humanistic and realism of the real world, bringing the game to life. Now, as for the reasons why I did not like the story.

Another good character was Professor Birch. Firstly, he is actually shown doing his job. You find him out in the fields where you have to save him from some Poocheynas. The way he talks, you know that he loves Pokemon. The best thing about him, he doesn’t give you the Pokedex so you can do his job for him. It’s for your own benefit…sort of. It’s not really expressly clear, but I viewed it that way.

The only downside that I found with the characters was that the rivals were too kind. I know that sounds weird, but honestly they really were almost to kind and relatable to even be called ‘rivals’. Wally is always considerate of you and sees beating you as a goal for himself. Your other rival, who varies depending on the gender you choose in the game, is kind and helps you often. If anything, these are allies or friends, not rivals.

Gameplay

Competitive Pokemon probably got the biggest update with the third gen. Abilities, natures, and the revamp of IVs and EVs brought welcomed change. Abilties are the passive triats that each Pokemon got that can give a little edge in battle. Natures were the personalities that the Pokemon had, and some had bonuses and minuses to certain stats. It was an interesting addition that I really enjoyed.

The third gen games also introduced double battles, where two Pokemon could be on either side of the field at one time. This allowed for a total of four players, with one Pokemon each.

The last major addition to the game was probably Pokemon Contests. It’s basically a modeling side game. There are categories which your Pokemon can enter, which include Beauty, Cuteness, Cleverness, or Toughness. I personally didn’t connect with contests, but I still think it’s a solid addition for those that like forming a deeper bond with their Pokemon.

Despite these additions to the game, I once again found the gameplay repetitive. That said, it was not as much as a grind as the second gen games were.

Art and Music

The art, to no surprise, has improved yet again. The shading and texture give depth to the game despite it still looking quite pixilated. It makes it easier to immerse into the game. The colour is more defined and diverse which is vast improvement from the previous games.

The music on the other hand has obviously advanced from the previous games, but it turned quite stale for me. The previous two generations had music that supported its format, it helped bring out the game. The music in the third generation games, has lost that, and has become more stand alone. I was often more annoyed with the soundstrack than anything. Don’t get me wrong, the music itself isn’t terrible, it just doesn’t seem fit the game as much as I would have liked.

Conclusion

Pokemon has come a long way from where it started, and with new additions comes a lot of faults as well. Overall the characters are easy to relate to, but the story could have been better. The gameplay has new additions and the art has improved, but the music seems to have lost it’s ties to the game.

There’s not much that I can say, except that you should try it out for yourself, or if you have played it before you should go back and give it another go. Let us know what you think of Gen 3 in the comments below!

Check out Joel’s review of Pokemon Gen 2 Here!