I agree with every single thing you said. Every. Single. Thing.
Generation 4 is my least favorite for a number of reasons but mainly because of the Sinnoh mythology. I mean, this generation was legendary obsessed! All this creation myth/ metaphysical time/space/spiritual crap was way too far removed from what I've come to associate with Pokemon. And it even made it's way into HG/SS, which was even more insulting. IMHO, Generation 5 was a defenite step-up for dropping all that nonsense.
On the other hand, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the Team Galactic storyline of the Generation 4 games, especially in Platinum, even if their plans revovled around the abovementioned stuff. Cyrus was arguably the best Big Bad the games has ever had.
I didn't have anysort of problem with the space/time stuff. I think there were a few to many legendary pokemon (heatran had absolutely no reason to be in the game), but really the mythology of it was fine to me.
Honestly, I didn't like Sinnoh too much. Didn't stop me racking up over 200 hours on my Platinum gamecard, though >_>
Gen 3 is my favorite generation, simply for the music and the sheer speed. The 3rd generation was the fastest set of games in the series, running at 30 fps while the other's ran at 15. Or something like that. I don't know the exact figure, but it did run pretty fast compared to Gens I, II and IV.
While Gen 4 might just be one of my lesser liked regions, it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Pal Park's pretty cool, as is the Battle Frontier. And I gotta admit, I loved some of the pokemon.
Good review.
Why is Gen 2 your least favourite?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8yAjWvAqyM
I think the reviewer mentioned before that Generation 2 had a difficulty drop.
On that note, I personally think Generation 2 compensates for it, making it very easy for a player to improve and reach level 100. In Generation 2 there was no wake up call boss (bar Whitney and Morty), because they built the player up for each opponent. By the time you reach Red (whose Pokemon are in the 70s) your Pokemon should be ready for what he throws at you.
I would like Generation 1and 2 more if it weren't for the nostalgic adult players praising them as the best and bashing the generations (3 and 4) that 'I grew up playing. Geez, I like all the generations, but this is just ridiculous.
"You know I'm just kidding."
3 and 4 are my favourites too.
I absolutely loved Gen 3. Well, when Emerald is your first Pokemon game... :P
I liked Gen 4. I liked the legendaries. I liked the Pokemon.
All I didn't like was the weak battles(save for Cynthia, but I still beat her with relative ease when my age was still single digit), and the long saving times,
HG's even my top favorite game, albeit with OR a VERY close second.
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Pokémon Platinum (Generation 4) (DS)
Gen 3 and 4 are the most polarizing of the series. Gen 1 and 2 are loved by people who grew up with Pokemon everywhere, while Gen 5 is hailed for being a revolution for the series (which it definitely wasn't) and bringing back many fans who heard something or the other like that. Call me a hipster, but Gen 3 and 4 are my favourites, with Gen 1, 5 and 2 behind in that order.
First off, I'm mainly reviewing Platinum because its the definitive version, as it fixed everything wrong with Diamond/Pearl. Few Fire-types? Fixed. 151 pre-Elite 4, regional 'mons not enough for you? Bam, now there are 210. Pokémon/trainers encounter animation too slow? Now faster.
Sinnoh was a great region, second only to Hoenn in diversity. The atmosphere was awesome and it gave me the biggest 'feeling of adventure' of the Pokémon games. It had some really cool ideas, like a city focused on solar energy and a huge mountain range dividing the region, and three lakes of legend. The Sinnoh mythology was intricate and it was great how each legendary played a role in it.
The huge change this generation was the Physical/Special split. Moves are no longer categorized Phy/Spe wise depending on type, but rather on their nature. This means I can actually use Gyarados as a Water-type with moves like Waterfall being physical, as opposed to all Water moves being Special and Gyarados being limited by that due to low Sp. Atk. I can't stress how great this feature is.
Kanto and Johto have memorable 8-bit sound (FR/LG had a great soundfont but HG/SS was okay) and Hoenn has catchy and epic trumpet music limited slightly only by GBA sound quality. But Sinnoh has that sexy piano. The music is diverse as it ranges from adventurous (Route 205) to soothing (Route 209) and even jazzy (228)! Day/Night music is great and they sound distinctly different, unlike Black/White where the seasonal change in music is limited to things like simply adding some Christmas chimes in Winter, etc.
The difficulty, battle-wise, is higher than previous games (see entry on Sequel Difficulty Spike for details) and this is fantastic! More and more trainers/gym leaders/Elite 4 members had a diverse party and gave moves to their Pokemon which countered their weaknesses. It honestly made the game much more fun, as (lack of) difficulty was one of the reasons that spoiled Johto games for me.
Questions are welcome.