#33 - Pokemon Emerald

In the beginning, Pokemon was a game that you really got into as a kid because it looked so kidlicious. You quickly lined up your parents' money, ready for generation 2. Then you got tired of them a bit into the second generation and most likely skipped the third generation because it was either getting too stagnant or "it's gay". Then the fourth generation came and you got back into it, and it got stronger with the fifth generation. While the franchise's popularity will never reach the height it did when it first came about, it's still going on really strongly and there's nothing stopping them, save for cancelling the series.

Would you believe that the generation you most likely skipped is by far the best one?

Not only was it a time when the anime was actually good for a change (not great, but take what you can get), but it was a time when the games really added shit that changed the game... as did the generation 4 games, but generation 3 was the biggest step up and actually playing Emerald is a lot more fun and exciting than Platinum. While the basic principle of capturing and levelling up Pokemon is the same, raising them is a bit different due to a brand new addition known as natures. Now, Pokemon of the same species can be marginally different without the aid of steroids! Not to mention the plethora of new holdable healing items (which was there in the second generation, but now is when they really became more than just a few basic items here and there), IVs or individual values which further separates each of an individual species of Pokemon from one another once they hit level 100, and much more that really gives the game weight to stand on in comparison to other JRPGs. Oh, and the adventure was fun. Never mind that we're given new mechanics, but they're all used well to give us quite an adventure around the Hoenn region.

Summary - It adds so much to what was a relatively simple JRPG, and it makes for an excellent game to play through.
Rating - 9/10

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