I think it's important to note that during the clash between Groudon and Kyogre at Sootopolis, the weather is constantly shifting from rain to harsh sunlight. If you run into Pokemon during this clash, I do believe it shows up as rain, but I that's less of Kyogre being in control and more of the how it wouldn't be as easy to flip-flop the weather from a development standpoint. That being said, however, I would like to see Groudon have more terrain around it during the clash. So many people joke about the fight appearing one-sided that I think the creator of the land should have a bit more land to stand on and around, like boulders jutting out of the water, small pools of lava emerging, something to sell the point that Groudon isn't the weaker of the two.
The weather doesn’t necessarily have to flip flop mid battle. Just make it so that the start of each battle randomly chooses either Rain or Harsh Sunlight that way it feels like an actual tug of war rather than Kyogre being the one in control.
The orbs aren't the wrong way around in original Gen III. It's a detail that gets lost in subsequent generations, when HGSS introduces a Jade Orb for Rayquaza and ORAS switches them to the way people _think_ the Orbs are supposed to go. It's also hard to actually spot in the games themselves, because the Orbs _aren't meant to match the colour of the Pokemon's skin._ They're meant to match the glowing markings on them. The problem is that Groudon's only glow blue on the title screen of Ruby and otherwise they're black, as opposed to Kyogre's always being red. And that's not me clutching at straws. The concurrent anime season depicts the two Legendaries using their respective orbs to take control of other beings to aid them. Kyogre uses the Red Orb to possess Archie, and Groudon uses the Blue Orb to possess Pikachu. When that happens, the patterns of each Pokemon's markings appear on the Orbs, and then on the bodies of their hosts. And in the games themselves, the Orbs _do exactly what they're supposed to do._ The Red Orb _does_ awaken Kyogre, and the Blue Orb _does_ awaken Groudon. Archie and Maxie's shared problem isn't that they're idiots who took the wrong orbs and pissed off the Legendaries, it's that they were arrogant enough to believe that they could control Kyogre and Groudon at all. By contrast, when the player presents the other Orb in Ruby/Sapphire, _that's_ when the Pokemon react to the wrong Orbs, by becoming hostile and attacking the player. Groudon and Kyogre aren't doing what they do because they're angry and lashing out, they're just so cataclysmically powerful that them merely existing is enough to cause natural disasters. After being awakened they're literally just vibing. It's not until they see each other in Emerald, and their opposite number's Orb in R/S, that they become violent.
Actually, it was wrong in ruby and sapphire. The wrong colored orb angered it, and then you brought the right colored orb to the cave of origin, and those orbs did what they were intended to do. In emerald, you could be right. The orbs were not needed to fight them. The only time they were used were when the "wrong ones" made them mad, but nothing says they weren't the right ones and all they were designed to do is wake them up.
I think adding Torkoal to some of the magma grunts would give them more fire type hoenn representation. Not too many though since it's Flannery's ace. Super glad you added Courtney back but if may suggest something I believe all the admins should have unique over wolrd sprites. Seeing Maxie fight you with a regular grunt in the Space Center always felt offputting. As a kid I never really thought of them as someone important because of how they look the same as a grunt. Another cool thing would be to make Archie and the Aqua grunts jump out of water in Meteor Falls. I think that would be hilarious.
@@kryzethx I understand not giving the admins and Maxie Torkoal but I think a few grunts having it would be fine. But also Altaria is Winnonas Ace but Drake and Wally use it. So i think its fine.
@@Silburific Yeah they’re counterparts due to them being previously version exclusive 2 stage canid Pokémon that evolve with Fire Stones. The only problem is that they don’t have the same base stat total so they’re not really “balanced” like Huntail and Gorebyss. Arcanine is almost always better (at least until Ninetales gets Drought in later gens).
@artistfloor9 ninetales is also arguably better in gen 1 due to the special stat being 1 stat. Ninetales had 20 more special and 5 more speed. Starting in gen 2 with the special split, ninetales lost 20 in special attack, and arcanine gained 20 in it, making arcanine better
Alpha Sapphire cleaned up Team Aqua's rather strange motivation by changing their objectives from wanting to create more ocean for water pokemon in a region thats mostly water to wanting to create a biblical grade catastrophe to reset civilization and return to harmony with nature while Magma's objective to increase the landmass for human prosperity in the modern paradigm was already solid Edit: the diametric opposition of seeking improved conditions by turning back the clock and rushing headlong into the future are a big part of what make that feel like a real ideological conflict that can have two former friends from the same old team at each other's throats leading separate opposing factions
I suppose I see your point. As Water Pokémon are the most abundant type, they aren't exactly under-represented. The existence of land doesn't harm biodiversity, it just created biomes for freshwater species to flourish. The only motivation that makes sense for ORAS' Archie is that limiting the human impact in the environment would help Pokémon flourish. Even then it's not perfect since Hoenn's cities run rather clean, even New Mauville with its Infinity engine. Maybe Smith is right to keep it simple here
Also to add, Archie thought it would be a thematical end to this world when Kyogre was awakened. It would bring about a new world where nature is in harmony, but the current world will have to be destroyed for such a new world. And I think it works far better, even tho Maxie’s goals aren’t quite as thematically sound (still works that he thought Groudon would usher in a new beginning or era but it would mean destroying this one)
I always saw Wallace as “the keeper of the Cave of Origin” so him not knowing about Rayquaza or the Spear Pillar was always odd to me in base Emerald. From a story standpoint it makes more sense for Wallace to step away from being a gym leader to pursue his contest career rather than becoming the champion. It would be really cool to continue to have Juan as the gym leader, but because you are the trainer that saves the world, have Wallace come back to challenge you either as the gym leader or even alongside Juan. It might be interesting to build off the Liza and Tate fight by having another double battle, while water is typically a very challenging team to deal with in doubles. Great rom hack this is coming along great! Edit: fixed a spelling error
I think the "boss fight" at Mt Pyre should be Matt and Courtney teaming up to prevent the player. Big "enemy of my enemy" vibes, neither of us can afford you stopping our boss.
I do love me some rival teamups. Half the reason the Gen 4 Lance/Clair fight is so awesome. (On that related note - it'd be nice to have more /Wally content so those guys are more present too.)
@@HeraldBFC Well, Smith already talked about the awkwardness of Wally waltzing in Victory Road out of nowhere, meanwhile Brandon/May disappear after an OPTIONAL fight in Lilycove City, especially since they never fully evolved their starter (this might be corrected in ORAS, but I'm not sure, additionally you get apost-credit-fight against a mega-evolving starter). So if Smith already changed parts of the main storyline, he might as well have plans for Brandon/May and Wally 😉
I am so thrilled because I never got to play Pokémon Emerald when I was a kid. I even wrote a letter to Pokémon asking for the game, and they actually replied! Unfortunately, they told me to get a job, but as a kid, the only job I could get was a lemonade stand. By the time I saved up enough money, I couldn't find the game, so I ended up buying Pokémon Diamond instead. (I was terrible at saving money as a kid!) Now, I'm really excited about the opportunity to finally get to play Pokémon Emerald again. I can't wait to face Team Aqua! Keep up the great work! 20:36
I played diamond after emerald and I remember nearly nothing about diamond (it also didn't help with my experience that my mom lost my sapphire and emerald games and Diamond had an incentive to slot them in the ds). But yeah diamond was the disappointment of my life (ok I had a few bigger disappointments after that, let's say it was my very first disappointment). But I feel you I also wanted to play gen 1 and 2 and couldn't, Emerald is better though.
Oh no, that would be terrible to lose them. I had Diamond and loved it because it was my action replay game for a while, but then I got Platinum and enjoyed it more!
@@Xeno_Solarus they did give me a chunky Pikachu card and Persian, which I was like woah! I should’ve mailed money when I couldn’t find it and said please may I have a copy!
Minor change but when the “climax” is happening, can it rain everywhere in Hoenn? Not just in the one spot where Kyogre and Groudon and fighting. Flying anywhere and hearing the cheery music with a bright sunny sky can be jarring given the “world ending” feeling their feud has. Maybe a slight dialogue change too for some people like mom telling you to be careful?
@@BRY0NZ That would require programming in an entirely new weather condition. Fog wasn't introduced until Gen 4, and it's entirely unfun mechanically anyway.
I think alternatively, have Archie's Crobat be swapped for a Tentacruel with Giga Drain. Tentacruel has great Speed and with Giga Drain in its movepool, any player that sends Swampert out to fight it will have a (very) bad day. As a bonus, if the player tries a workaround with Cradily to counter with its own Giga Drain, they'll just simply lose HP instead of restoring it because Archie's (hypothetical) Tentacruel could have Liquid Ooze as a countermeasure for draining moves. As for the Aqua admins, I'd suggest letting them have Pelipper on their teams in place of Golbat / Crobat, as Pelipper fits their Water-type theme, plus Pelipper's high Defense would make it a good choice for Stockpile. Matt's Pelipper could also use Spit Up, whilst Shelley's would have Swallow to clarify they have different strategies. Plus, it would be a symbolic throwback to the Aqua Grunt from Rustboro attempting to steal Peeko the Wingull. Also, nice allowing Courtney back into the game and giving her Ninetales from the manga. Alternatively, she and Tabitha could have Torkoals on their teams as a throwback to the manga. Yes, I know Flannery already has a Torkoal as her ace, but Torkoal's Defense seems too good (to me) to be used by just Flannery.
@ilikeutubeful wingull doesn't have the air of menace that most there pokemon have. But seagulls do fit the pirate theme better than bats. So I can see both ways
Honestly, I like the changes you made especially having them clash at mount pyre. But maybe add an early introduction for team magma because otherwise team aqua gets the two events in petalberg woods and Rustburo, but also the museum before magmas introduction. I like your expansion for the team magma teams with addition of the ground, rock, and grass types because the land is made up of more than fire types, so it completely makes sense. And you know it’s so weird because in the anime team magma had houndoom so Maxie having one is a really good call. Anyway, I can’t wait to play it and enjoy this game. It’ll be interesting to see all the changes. You guys have put into the game especially looking forward to learning the learnsets, new Pokémon in their locations. Anyway, just make sure you guys are having fun with it and remember have a beautiful time.
The Devon goods is vague enough that a magma member could be trying to steal it. It could be a scientific thing that fits magma more, while the slateport city events fit the aquas more. That way they're both introduced relatively early.
Here are 2 things I'd like to see improved in Emerald Legacy in terms of the villains: 1: Have the 2 grunts you see at the museum double battle you. It makes more sense for them to go after you at the same time. 2: Have Team Magma members, as well as Maxie himself be going through the Sea Floor Cavern, trying to find Archie, but being held up by all the grunts there.
While I do love idea 2 a lot, I believe there is only one submarine so I don't think they would be able to join you. That said, another sub can always be added
So glad you brought up the Isahaya Bay inspo that the central conflict is based on. It really ties story elements together and makes the changes feel more grounded than just "dialog bad - make them cool and make more sense"! Love the changes you made all around! So excited to try playing my favorite pokemon game with these updates :)
Not so much to do with story, but I could never get over the fact that Maxie, the leader of an entire evil team, has a Zubat (not Golbat or Crobat) on top of Mt. Chimney
You could take some inspiration from the card game! Ex Team Magma vs Team Aqua was a blast on 2004! There's Aron, Lairon, Aggron, Houndour, Houndoom, Numel, Camerupt, Rhyhorn, Rhydon, Torkoal, Baltoy and Claydol on the Magma Side and Spheal, Sealeo, Walrein, Carvanha, Sharpedo, Electrike, Manectric, Corphish, Crawdaunt, Chinchou, Lanturn, Cacnea and Cacturne on the Aqua side! They even featured Zangoose and Seviper (with the same logic of this video) and of course, they both get Poochyena and Mightyena lol.
I always thought it was a wasted opportunity to not have a double battle against both of the villain team leaders, teaming up to try and stop you in the midgame, either right before or inside the orb-tower
I think it’s a cool idea, but I don’t think it would work for 2 reasons: 1. It doesn’t feel in character to me for them to even think about teaming up against the player character and 2. I don’t think it really fits in the game. At Mt. Pyre, there too busy dealing with each other, and making a totally new event rubs me the wrong way
@Casterisk45510 yeah I hear that. Definitely could be a stretch, but I think it could be done in the vein of "I know we don't agree, but this kid has been fucking us BOTH up, let's try and work together this once to get the orbs/stop this kid from stopping us" sortve like they are at a point where they're willing to let either side get their orb, as long as they themselves are the first ones to use their respective orb. The main problem being the player character always turning up and ruining their plans, so I think it could work if done right. I do see how adding a new event/battle would be off-putting
@Casterisk45510 or also, it could even be an end-game event that's only available after beating the story/elite 4. Maybe they've settled down somewhat and come to their senses, and want one last rematch against the player, for whatever reason.
@SmithPlaysPokemon I really admire when you adjust something like the story you always seem to tweek it and never change it drastically. I only played Emerald once about 12 years ago so even if I did not watch this video and went in EL blind I dont think I would have noticed that the story was changed a little. Everything just blends in so well, keep up the great work Team Legacy!!!
Reminds me of team rocket and how or why they don't have all of the gambling pokemon. Seriously they control both cities that have gambling and don't take the pokemon with them. Dratini abra Porygon they would have been better overall having teleport mons or futuristic ones
@@EarthboundmikeHonestly giving the early grunts the basic mons is fine. Later ones EVOS to show it's the same ones and the game corner grunts get those mons with bad moves as they just obtained them. Showing them as a team of messy mons
Because the stolen rare Pokémon go to the boss, he and the executives get the strong stuff, everyone else is stuck with common Zubat and Rattata. It shows how greedy Giovanni is.
@Earthboundmike I actually liked the diversity team rocket had in gen 1 vs gen 2. They both share lines from zubat, ekans, grimer, koffing, and rattata. But in gen 1, outside of admins who use dark types, they only have the oddish line. Gen 1 had lines from drowzee, machop, sandshrew, and cubone. Not counting scientists and jugglers. At least there's ground, fighting, psychic, and normal to break up the poison theme
@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 He keeps implying that team Magma is a fire themed team. I'm saying I'm pretty sure they are supposed to be ground themed. Keyword SUPPOSED. The fact that most of the ground types they use are also fire type is why there is confusion.
I like the Blue Orb been associated with Groudon and the Red Orb to Kyogre, because it show how opposite could also be complementary. But then we should not portray them as the wrong orb, but more like how Ruby Omega/Sapphire Alpha used them (to calm the legendary after the "correct" Orb awaken and enrage them). Also I think both teams could have proper motivations if we allow them to not be cartoonish villains. For Magma we actually don't need to go too far from the game, they want to create polder (land reclamation) for humans (and terrestrial Pokémon). And for Aqua I think we can rebrand them as environmental activists, like Sea Sheperds (both have pirate vibe) and Hoenn had even an "environmental" tragedy (either Abandoned Ship or Sea Mauville).
I also had a similar idea, that mankind is polluting and destroying the oceans and so Aqua want to awaken Kyogre not to expand the oceans but simply to be a kind of guardian deity instead.
I REALLY like the changes. I would love to see more of the teams. What are they doing with the Regis? Maybe they join together and the player can race them to solve the Regi riddles. Another idea would be: What would a team based on Rayquaza look like? Is Wynona as a flying gym leader involved? I love Hoenn! It's the best region. There should be a LOT of postgame! Do the evil teams try to fix the landscape with human labor? Can you see them dig away on beaches or blockade rivers? Will this change the physical layout of the region?
Clamperl line love!!! I'm so happy seeing Huntail and Gorebyss see the light of day. Since it's always seemed like a kind of special pokemon to me, between it in the anime and its unique evolution gimmick (honestly always gave me vibes similar to castform), I wonder if it could be given a small moment with the aqua admins? Like, if there could either be a gift or they tell you about this rare pokemon and where it's found. Does something like that sound cool to anyone else?
@@timothyruud4470 yes! It sounds very cool. Id like for them (gorebyss & huntail) to be found both in the wild on the seafloor in certain dive spot areas…and maybe you fish for em with a super rod over a dive spot. Also the hoenn map has a lot of black spots I’d love to fill an expand the Hoenn map. An often it kind of leaves me wondering where the rest of hoenn is, or at least what the game is possibly missing out with the map. I’d love for there to be a romhack that tried to fill out the area be fucking amazing though. I can see many places where ruins or hidden cities could go. Another idea is literally have it all just forest but the trees are spaced out enough and randomly where you could walk through it all, and find Pokemon dens and such.
So stoked to see what you have cooking for post-game with Archie and Maxie! Maybe a double battle where their team somehow compliments each other instead of at opposition? Not sure how that would work, but maybe they drop the "weather team" gimmick and instead focus on coverage for each other (ex: Maxie's team covers the grass, Electric and psychic weaknesses of Archie's Sharpedo and Machamp, but Archie covers Maxie's weaknesses to water with Electrode, Grass with Crobat, etc. There's a lot to work with there, but you get the idea! Excited to see what comes of this!
I feel like some of the Aqua Grunts you fight should have Clamperl too, it makes sense since you're giving the Admins the evolutions. Some of the Grunts could use it
@JayClearman411 thing is, if the evolutions are going to the Admins, it makes a certain amount of sense for grunts to be given pokemon the higher-ups are familiar with and could "easily acquire"
@@Shalakor I guess…I still think Qwilfish and Cloyster suit team aqua more but I would NOT be mad if a few grunts had a clamperl. It’d be cool if they were holding Deep Sea Fang and Scale respectively though. I like the fact that they have their own stat enhancing items. I only wish that the effects of those items translated to there evolutions. Besides that I’d want to see them without the same old water gun clamp an iron defense. If they do show up on 1-2 grunts teams I think they should have actual creditable moves like bubble beam frustration, water pulse or toxic u know something actually threatening. I also think Seadra is a good bet. It doesn’t show up very often at all.
Emerald was the pokemon game that i played to death growing up. And what yall are doing is breathing new life into something from my childhood. I look forward to whatever else you do to improve on something already great.
i think adding actual connections between team aqua and magma really brings this all together but more than that, the reflection after just feels like a great send off it doesn't feel so "whelp, we're done here!" like they didn't know how to end it xD at least to me, that is i still absolutely love gen 3, and it's by far my favourite. that being said, i agree with you that it isn't free from criticism. i think if you truely love something that you should be able to criticise it but still love it despite, or sometimes even FOR those "issues". also one last thing, i nyever actually knew their conflict was based on a real thing! that's definitely an awesome thing to learn today ^ω^ great video and can't wait to play the finished rom hack! ♡
Adding Seviper and Zangoose to these teams is so smart and cool that I had to pause the video and yell "Oh HELL YEAH" and then write this comment. Genius. Perfect. So perfect I can't believe that Nintendo didn't do that themselves, and I can't believe that thought never occurred to me. Go get it Smith.
I think the changes are really cool, including a lot more lines already helped in other Legacy games to spice up the trainer and make it feel more natural to get to know the Pokemon of the region rather than just Dex hunt them. That being said, I really think both leaders need a post-game episode. I agree the send kff in Sudopolis is abrupt, I hope your dialogue fix aids that but more might be needed. Now if I understood correctly they never got a legendary under control... Maybe in the post that could change. With them redeeming themselves and Archie taking to the guardian of the sea (Lugia) and Maxie Ho-oH as counterpart unleashing them in a double battle onto the player (and afterwards unlocking them for capture somewhere). Not a fight with evil intent, but to show their "appreciation for balance". I think this could (at least for Lugia) also canonically tie in, as when it was disturbed (2nd movie) the weather was also heavily affected which is a theme in Hoenn.
THANK YOU for changing these teams!! My one thing is I don't think Magma grunts should use the Aron/Aggron line since that's what Steven uses and it doesn't quite fit their ground/fire/earth theme. But grass additions is a pretty great inclusion since that's why Maxie wants to expand the land.
I really like the parallel of Aqua having electric for a secondary type while Magma gets grass, feels like they're actually playing into the strenths of their weathers. Also, interesting choice not to commit to the revamped team aqua/magma identities from ORAS, I think I still like those a bit more as they show some conflicting ethos in what's good for the world (progress v. nature), but bringing this conflict closer to a real world conflict I knew nothing about is quite fascinating!
We are eating good today! Thanks Smith! : D I love the changes! My idea for the postgame would be to have tate and lize tied into a storyline with Deoxys and or Jarachi at the Mossdeep Space center.
Is it bad that i always thought that Emerald should've given us a double battle with the 2 Evil Team Leaders? Like- imagine a scenario where Maxie & Archie talk & go *"This brat has been in our case for a good while, so how about we put our differences to the side so we can take them out once and for all?"* For a game that introduced Double Battles, with Emerald adding a lot more of them in the story, it always bothered me that we never had that for Archie & Maxie
Love all the changes! I think this really does a whole lot for the game, as this addresses some of the areas where I felt it was the weakest and least interesting. Even as a kid I got sick of battling a million poochyena and zubat. For postgame content, I'm not sure if you're planning on doing anything with the Battle Frontier, but I think it would be neat if you could have the chance to see story-significant characters show up at the facilities from time to time where appropriate, similar to the Pokemon World Tournament but maybe also including the team leaders, Wally, Cooltrainer Vito, that kinda thing? And maybe giving a little more incentive to do Contests, like if there was a prize pool or something. Maybe rare berries and evolution items?
I think while "sunny" and "rain" as weather is the go to for the teams, there should also be some instances where "sandstorm" or "hail" should be the focus of some trainers, especially with the changes like special defense boosts for rock and how blizzard would always hit etc.
Steven and Glacia would benefit. Otherwise, it might just be battle frontier trainers. What if post game Steven swapped Aggron for a Tyranitar lead? He is the super boss after all, so if anyone would get him, it would be the rock type trainer who already showed can run pseudos. Plus it explains how he knows so much about what weather setting abilities would do when he's involved with the story's climax
I’m my opinion, you could have added more grass types to team magma grunts, like the bellsprout line or the hoppip line. This could further strengthen the idea of plants benefiting from the sunlight because of photosynthesis. You could also try fitting in Torkoal to some teams as well, since it can be caught in the magma hide out. Other than that, this seems super fun to play. Can’t wait for the release.
When i was a kid, i always thought archie and maxie created team magma to expand and help civilization, but when Maxie started deciding they should expand the land so everyone could have theirs, maxie betrayed and created team aqua as a sort of way to balance it out
So team aqua was formed as a response to team magma's radical ideals. And then archie overcorrected so far that he was equally radical on the other side
Subbed! Im extremely excited for this, loved Crystal Legacy hard mode. I fully agree with your criticisms of OG Emerald, the Magma/Aqua trainer slogs were BAD. Will be watching the progress on this! Also would love to get that physical copy for my GBA SP, not gonna lie!
I think for post game, you should give them a send-off like in the Battle Frontier like how ORAS did at their disappointing post-game island. They should then go back to their bases and try to work to actually help Hoenn instead of being so engrossed in their ideologies that they cannot help but cause problems. They should also give you their Mach Call number so you can rebattle them like the gym leaders
@@michofpie for the postgame I’d like access to the altering cave, naval rock,faraway island,mirage island cool but I like the mirage spots thing that was cool it kind of reminded me of hidden grottos which was an excellent concept imo an should have never went away!!! birth island would be cool too.maybe we can have a mirage mt battle where you can battle 50 trainers in a row an get a jirachi.
I watched your live playthrough and was super impressed by how difficult and still fun each of the admin and boss fights were. Congrats on making the game SOO much better!
I love the new additions made to each team. They got so repetitive to fight because of just how many Mons were overlapping with each other. My only gripe is the change to which orb gets taken being changed. ORAS showed what happens if they take the correct orb and it’s not good for anyone. Personally, I feel like you could make it so that they grabbed the opposite orb because each team was in a desperate rush to play keep away from the other. Maxie taking the blue orb because you just showed up alongside Archie, he quickly takes the blue orb to get it away from Aqua but Archie does the same with the red orb, they both flee and have to work with what they have.
For the post game I think it would be hilarious to have a single NPC referencing Team Sky. But all seriousness, if you're planning on making all lines catchable in post-game, some kind of storyline referencing the Delta Episode would be a cool addition. Maybe something interesting for Mew and the Eon Ticket too, but I don't know what.
I didn't watch the part with the team changes for spoiler reasons, but I did really like your changes to the story, and I think it really improves the flow overall!
Hey, our leader may not be the brightest, but he means well (even if he didn't realize our organization is apart of the good guys until a couple of years later).
This my response for the giveaway: I love how drastically you've changed the evil teams while also still making them feel like team aqua and magma, one thing I would really love to see is archie and maxie show that "enemies to lovers" story a little bit at the post game or something.
12:14 I really love the detail in the footage shown where Archie energetically steps forward to emphasize his dialogue and Maxie stays firmly planted. What a fantastic piece of characterization, excellent detail.
I really like the changes to the teams, diversity will make this section much more fun to play through. For post-game content I always really liked how emerald introduced a reward for completing the hoenn pokedex in the form of a gen 2 starter of your choice, I think playing around with that concept or building some story elements into the task of completing the regional (or even on a larger scale national) pokedex with the dangling carrot of a an otherwise unobtainable starter would make for a much more engaging post-game I could even see incentivising the battle tower with similar rewards like the tickets to get the gen 2 legendaries, deoxis and jirachi being really cool and could compell players to give this game more hours beyond the elite 4's completion
Missed opportunity to use the Muk and Weezing that were added to Archie and Maxie's final battle teams in ORAS But these new additions still work very well
I love the Rain and Sun team setups, maybe adding a Drought Pokemon during the Magma double battle would make it very strong. Can't say the same about Drizzle, because it also gives Thunder that 100% accuracy. Could in theory throw in a Lightning Rod Pokemon, but that might be a bit too gimmicky.
This was the perfect video for me. I’m in the working stages of planning out an Emerald based game for my ever first time running Pokemon Tabletop Adventures in the future (in the style of Gen6 with Mega-Evolutions). I have been meaning to figure out how to make is better and this video and the game you are making really help me see what can be done to make Emerald way better and improve on all aspects of what the game could’ve been. I would love to see it when it comes out and I would love to take inspiration from this to help me with my project.
I still feel kind of weird about changing the orb colors. It's such an iconic part of the game that they grab the wrong color and it feels out of line with how you described this legacy title working: making things feel familiar and focusing on the most iconic parts.
I honestly couldn’t care less about that just because in the remakes, they grab the right orb and I always found it kind of stupid that they’d grab the wrong orb when it’s just that obvious
But in the remakes you learn that if they had grabbed the correct orbs, they would have triggered primal reversion. So I’m also kinda iffy on emerald legacy making that change since if they can’t also emulate the reversion somehow
Sorry but them grabbing the wrong colored orbs always felt super incompetent, the remakes made it so these guys had actual sight and grabbed the right ones from the getgo and not knowing how to control them. They legit lose all their menace in the originals when they fail something a kindergartner could easily tell apart lol
He has done changes like this before as well... Remember how in Crystal Legacy - He made Giovanni literally appear and advised the TR executive to disband... Changing the orb is a very small change compared to that...
@@iRule37 In Ruby and Sapphire, the player keeps the correct Orb and Primal Reversion still doesn't happen when they fight/catch them. Gen 3 Hoenn and Gen 6 Hoenn canonically take place in separate universes, so maybe Primal Reversion just isn't a thing in this one.
A splendid job fixing the issues with the two teams. Adding Courtney is always wonderful to see which makes the game a perfect one already. A minor thought could be to add Kekleon to maybe a Magma grunt as it's ability to adapt aligns quite well with Magma having a more diverse type spread now.
I don't agree with the "they used the wrong orb" theory. After all, Groudon's shown to have blue energy under his armor, as best shown in the Ruby Version title screen _and_ their iconic confrontation scene in Emerald Version. Kyogre, likewise, has red energy. What helps sell this idea that the teams used the correct orbs is that the Legendaries then proceed to reshape the world to the Teams' respective wishes, while holding the same colored orb caused them to attack you on sight. Edit: actually, it's better than I thought. This is subtly showing the need for balance between them, as even these titans of extremes still need a little bit of the other to function.
Then for me that improves the idea of them getting the orbs that match the colors of their respective legendaries. It would make sense that they would've mistaken the orbs at first, and also show that in that part of the story they didn't understood the concept of balance and how each opposing force of nature needs a part from each other to co-exists, thus breaking said balance and almost ending the world. Also I think Groudon and Kyogre having blue and red lines in the intro is more an aesthetic choice rather than a plot one, but it would perfectly forshadow the twist that the correct order of the orbs was reversed
It is SO exciting to see the story changes. I usually never finish a full gen three run bc I just get border of mashing through a kinda lackluster story. I’m also super excited to see the team change ups bc Jesus do they drag on in the base game
Looks good! Would be interesting if post-game Maxie and Archie used Sand and Hail teams to show them becoming more flexible in their thinking. Once the National Dex is unlocked, Maxie gains access to Sandstream Tyranitar and Archie gains access to Lapras, Dewgong, and Cloyster.
Thank you so much for your patches of Pokemon, they're amazing to play ! You said you only planned on doing the first 3 generations, but I still hope you'll do the same for Platinum, that would be so wonderful for an oldie like me who stopped at Gen 4. But really, thanks to you and your team for what you've already done for us :)
I know your hands are kinda tied here, but one of my biggest issues with Emerald is the extreme density of Aqua/Magma beats in the back half. After Foretree City it's 6 team encounters almost in a row. I would greatly appreciate something to give some breathing room between team encounters.
Removing half of the battles by removing unnecessary grunts may help these sections go by faster. Stopping every 4 steps to fight more poochyenas and zubats definitely make it feel much longer than they actually are. So getting in and out in half the time would help make it feel better, without just removing sections of the game or adding something as filler.
@@Alienldr 1st of all, excellent idea. I wholeheartedly agree. 2nd, i guess what I meant by adding something between wasn't adding new content, but rather incentivising players to fully explore the many areas already available. There's a lot of optional routes and areas that you can spend a lot of time exploring, but there's no reason to go to any of them except for it's own sake
@@solanceDarkMOW I Get it. Me personally, I’d like for there to be more far out of the way areas accessible like above the waterfall by the weather institute. I want more of those kind of secret areas. For more places to be enhanced and expanded for their to be more of the map filled in… there are huge gaps in the map. Would be super amazing though. I can see many places where ruins or hidden cities could go. Another idea is literally have it all just be a wild untamed wilderness with no direct path just forest, jungle, an swampland but the trees are spaced out enough and randomly where you could walk through it all, and find Grottos, dens and such. Maybe access to grooves With super rare berries not normally obtained ingame. Like salac petaya berries etc.. Id like part of the Postgame to be exploration still and
As someone who has played through this game probably hundreds of times at this point, this is by far the best looking fix to the game I’ve ever seen. Nothing too extreme or out of place, just adding in elements of the game that existed but had no usage (like Gorebyss and Huntail because seriously how are they not in the game to begin with) makes this feel like the perfect way to experience this gem of a game Also there’s nothing I love more than seeing elements of Ruby and Sapphire that were wrongly dropped come back in an organic way that can give people a full Gen 3 experience Thank you and your team so much for making this and I hope you guys are having as much fun with it as we will have playing it! P. S. I will be giving all of my friends who haven’t played emerald before this version and not even telling them it’s not the original
You said you wanted to make archie a rain dance tea but you haven't given him a rain setter, I would say replace machamp with electrode so you can get a rain dance up fast. Both pokemon overlap with matt so I don't see an issue swapping them
On the topic of storyline changes, can we talk about the exclusive abilities of the legendary Pokemon? Groudon summons a drought, a devastating weather occurrence that can last months or years that slowly torments the land and its inhabitants by killing off plant life and the people and animals that rely on those plants as a source of food, not to mention the lack of water to sustain animal life. Meanwhile Kyogre summons a drizzle, a pleasant calm rain. Changing the name of drizzle to something like Torrential Downpour, Flash Flood, Endless Storm, Tsunami, or Deluge would be a miniscule change that would do wonders and rectify an issue I've had with the story since I was 9.
Ironic, since the one with the calm sounding ability was the one who, immediately upon waking up, bolted to Sootopolis to pick a fight. Groudon was so calm and peaceful after waking up that you couldn't find him. No one was bothered by him as he minded his own business. Lol
I hope there's a postgame double battle where each pair of opposing members of aqua and magma fight against you together (Tabitha & Matt, Courtney & Shelly, Archie & Maxie). That or you pair up with one admin/leader to battle against the other. There's a lot of cool opportunities to show how they've each changed by doing this! 😊
Take a shot every time Smith says any of "Poochyena, Zubat, Numel, Carvanha". I reccomend using water as a substitute for alcohol, unless you want to die.
In Oras there was lore about the two Team leaders being friends on the Sea Mavile. Maybe the Gen 3, take on this has them go back to the abandoned ship and New Mavile to try and get something the other left behind as a means of making amends. (Archie goes to New Mavile, and Maxie goes to the abandoned ship. When they reunited they , drop lore about the wish they made on the Pokemon Jirachi, and how sad they feel about pushing the other away. Maybe Archie teams up with the Oceanic Museum and Mr. Briney to start a water pokemon conservation association, and Maxie teams up with Prof. Cosmo and the weather institute to advance science in a way helpful to people and Pokemon. Lastly I love Shipping, and maybe we can introduce a subplot where Matt wants to be Archie's Bro forever and always, and Courtney is at odds with herself over her feelings for boss.
Looks great! Post game ideas = incorporate event legendaries, double battle with a partner, old man briney side quest, gen 1 + 2 swarms, battle frontier completion unlocks new area
@@Thony-b8k Indeed I want new areas too. when you put hoenn route’s together in 1 map I’m often left wondering where the rest of hoenn is, or at least what the game is possibly missing out of the map. Perhaps the postgame can fill out some of the in-between-route areas of hoenn. Because from what I’m seeing they’re needs to be a lot more awareness of their map space. I’d like some more hidden berry plots by fallarbor Town since it’s supposed to be farming community maybe a grove kind of like the berry forest in firered where berries can be picked up off the ground over an over perpetually depending on your footsteps. An id like it concealed an blocked off by a Sudowoodo! If possible…maybe a snorlax I’d also like the area around the berry master house to be opened up like it was in omega ruby with way more berry plots available. Or have a lush hidden pathway leading into a glade area that opened up into a garden where you can find wild tangela eggecutor weepingbell Slakoth Mankey Eevee. If you bring CUT you can keep going into a lush bush-like area where eventually you’ll discover a narrow path to fortree city that may or may not be obstructed by a kecleon. Maybe you see another side of fortree city sort unlocked. An example, The gap in the upper left can be partial accounted for by Mount Chimney..I’ve often thought about filling up the space with realistic terrain (like completing the outline of mountains, coastlines, ecc)? Also near mount pyre since it's just empty space. I wonder what laRousse city would've looked like if it was in the game, I'm pretty sure it would be in the middle of the map on that peninsula near mount pyre We could Fill in the countryside of petalburg city partially by expanding petalburg woods..make the area behind an beside the gym traversable wilderness. I’d very much enjoy using the map to expand an enhance hoenn areas. I mean has a romhack ever tried to fill the map out. It Would be marvelous though. I can see many places where ruins or hidden city could go. Another idea is literally have it all just forest, jungle but the trees are spaced out enough and randomly where you could walk through it all, and find a celebi and or hidden grottos an such. I’d also like more lslands an coves in the water after the kyogre an groundon clash.
I think they've already done the back and forth on this. It kinda dragged Electabuzz into Aqua, and then Jynx was awkardly hanging on the sidelines. Slugma and Numel lines don't carry as much baggage.
Do people not realise team magma is meant to be ground, not fire? Groudon is ground, they want to increase the land, and Numel camerupt are a ground type. I think the idea of magma = hot has destabilised the identity of land vs sea. Doesn’t affect anything here but drives me insane when people talk about fire with maxie and his grunts.
I like the addition of the Matt and Archie fight. Gives the Mt Pyre section more teeth and more oomph. I am surprised that the final Maxie fight gives Camerupt Heat Wave over Eruption. That's the joint signature move of Camerupt, hits multiple enemies in double battles and has more power initially.
@@nesradub360 Thematically Magma's aim is more land which includes fertile. Not a solid excuse but it's plausible IMO. Practically you'd want SOME realistic way to say these 2 teams are rivals when considering their respective main typings Aqua should be steamrolling Magma. It's a tiny thing to balance the odds.
Smith these changes are incredible. I’ve been playing a vanilla file recently that feels SO slow in the mid game with the repetitive aqua/magma battles. Loved Crystal and Yellow Legacy as well man. Keep up the good work!
Crazy idea for the post game: a double battle between you vs Max AND Archer, like a way to show that they put they diferences aside and are willing to cooperate
@@lucasms23 My crazy idea for the postgame would be All 4 of Deoxy's formes are available at some point in the game. i think we should have new secret areas in hoenn where celebi and legendary dogs would be available. We add new features like hidden grottos. Fill in the hoenn map a bit there’s a lot to be done in terms of filling it in.. they are huge gaps an spaces between places. it looks really spacious and empty when you put the game map over accessible routes. there’s lots of potential if we fill in certain in between spots..maybe we can have access to miles of “wild area” where mysterious groves,swamps are where we find wild pkmn at very High levels in the water LOL just kidding.. or just open the world up to miles of Uninhabited wildernesses forests,jungle rainforests maybe a canyon or plateau. With nothing but wild crazy level pkmn. With super long grass an access to super rare berries.
@@lucasms23 I wanna see new secret areas introduced in the postgame. To fill in the map. Cuz it’s a lot of empty spaces left vacant. I’d like access to the wilderness in the shapes of forests grooves, canyons, plateaus that sort of things. Patrolled by pkmn rangers. Wild pkmn levels 60-70 It could be a sort of survival zone..we could have it be a tropic rainforest that’s so overgrown that you need the HM Flash & Cut to get through it. We could have a pkmn ranger at the start of it to warn you to turnback..tell you that this area is filled with terribly tough pkmn. You find wild Persian exeggutor weepinbell Furret tangela Lickitung 1% chance of finding Snorlax in certain areas there sudowoodo an kecleon obstructing your way an at the end celebi! Maybe these places could be an areas where outcasts/abandoned pkmn are said to be left when abandoned..so there angry when they met you they start the battle with message saying Vigoroth is angry/enraged an then it’s Attack stat shoots up. Or pkmn way fled..like in the safari zone.
Emerald my GOAT. I tend to use so many weak Pokemon that I really liked in my playthroughs, Gorebyss, Beautifly, Altaria. I’m hyped to see how it goes with them being useful!
This may be me not fully understanding what was said, but I don't understand why Maxie would try to stop Archie after awakening Groundon and nothing happens. In the proposed changes it sounds like Goundon wakes up but just sits there. Why would Maxie panic. Wouldn't he assume that becasue his plan was useless his rival's plan would have the same result. From the way the story is presented the danger only comes from Groudon and Kyogore clashing. All Maxie sees is Groudon sitting there. Why does he go to Mossdeep? I think having Groudon disappear and Maxie assume that it's hunting Kyogore to finish the ancient feud would give him motivation to go after Archie to both locate Groudon to try and finish his plan as well as prevent the two legends from putting Hoenn at risk.
I think the idea is that, since Groudon is just sitting there, Kyogre has not been awoken by Archie yet. However, since Maxie and Archie are on Mt. Pyre at the same time, Maxie knows that Archie has the other orb and he realizes that it’s only a matter of time before Archie gets to Kyogre. I’m guessing some dialogue is probably needed in the Magma hideout to get Maxie to realize this.
@@CyberDrewan Yeah, the way it was described in the video felt like Maxie's motive lacked reason and that in turn made the situation feel not as fleshed out as they wanted. I think seeing Groudon leave the cavern would give some more urgency to the situation. And if they really wanted to hammer home the gravity of the situation, they could have the harsh sunlight occasionally pop up in random routes to show Groudon's movements. Then when Kyogore is awake, the heavy rain can start affecting the world too. Then it feels like these ledgends have real impact and threat rather than story beat happens, world remains relatively the same, next story beat.
First off, I like the additional lines added for each team & extra attention to the forgotten Clamperl duo is stellar. For the post game, I know there's a lot to throw in due to Latias & Latios, but we NEED to see a double battle with Maxie & Archie. Challenging the player for a final validation before catching Groudon & Kyogre can be the true conclusion for the leaders as the final test of the legendaries.
It's meant to convey that Steven is recoiling in shock by how unbelievably insane (and, frankly, out of character) Maxie's whole "I'm going to nuke the volcano" plan is.
I love bringing the two teams to meet each other more, they felt fairly disjointed before. It’d be nice to see the leaders again right before catching their legendary for ourselves, as a final upgraded battle
Mr. SmithPlays, I know this is going to sound really daunting, but I think giving us a bigger reward and or fight after we completely Gold Symbol the Battle Frontier would be fantastic. Maybe an anime-only character could fight us in the Battle Frontier. Maybe you could put your Rival in the Battle Frontier for a daily battle, or maybe have Wally as the super secret superboss HARDER than Steven.
On the storyline bit, its just because Pokemon games always go with incredibly simplistic writing (barring gen 9 and arguably B2W2), like if these legacy mods continue you'll have a LOT of work to do on that front, even in games like Plat and BW which are better regarded in that sense.
A few people are arguing about the orb colors. I like that they grabbed the correct ones this time. Sure, it doesnt match rs or oras, but this game is supposed to stand on its own. Even in base emerald, the correct color never proved to control or engage with the legendary. They simply fought you. So its ok that the team leaders were smart enough to grab the correct colored orb, and then all it does is awaken them. Not control them. Ruby and sapphire never happened so there's no contradiction based on previous material, and primal reversion isn't a thing so we shouldn't have to consider gen 6. We need to think how the developers should have at gen 3. If it bothers people that much, then the logic for grabbing the wrong orb can be "we thought it would weaken it enough to control them." But imo, both versions work equally as well, as long as there is text to give context.
What about a post game double battle with both leaders? Or battle frontier where they show up sometimes in the doubles format, or individually in singles. Bonus points if they adjust their teams to benefit from the opposite weather, like Aqua's seviper learning flamethrower for sun, and magma's zangoose learning thunder for rain, to show they are accepting a balance of both ideals. Maybe not those pokemon specifically, but along the same line. I also like the synergy of a double intimidate lead, and Crobat dodging Earthquakes while it takes out swampert to protect camerupt. And more doubles moves like rock slide, earthquake, explosion, surf, helping hand, dive/dig and protect to avoid earthquake and explosion, etc. There's some room to make a good doubles team with those 2.
Next you'll tell me team galactic on the platinum legacy don't use space pokemon like clafairy. The shock. But yeah seriously. So many good fire ground and water types they could have used. Literally every aqua member should have a Mon with surf at minimum
Hey Smith! Excited to see the progress made in the project! My favorite changes are definitely the story beats as well as adding more resistance to Swampert. Since I was a kid, Mudkip has always been my favorite starter and still is my favorite Pokemon! But returning to RSE as an adult, I always got a little bored stomping everything into the ground with him, which incentivized me to try the other two awesome starters. I lost my childhood copy of Emerald ironically in a flood (curse you Team Aqua and Kyogre! 🤣) and would love for this upgraded version to be my fiancé's first experience of the Hoenn region and my personal favorite gen of Pokemon!
Love the changes! I feel like an optional post game fight with each of the team's leaders would be really cool, putting them at the same or a little weaker than post-game Steven. Maxie should be hanging around at the top of Mt. Chimney and Archie should be either at the museum in slateport or on top of mt. pyre. They'd be pondering how to achieve the root of their ideals (being how to help/save people) without going so extreme like before. I like the locations that i mentioned previously, since they are all places that I would never bother to return to in a normal playthrough, which also makes the locations feel a little bit more special.
the changes rock. The postgame could include the delta episode, but also how Maxie and Archie want to exploit Deoxys for their ideals/truths. This may lead to a setup for Black/White legacy
I think you did a really good job of balancing the two different teams so now they both equally feel important to the plot. Also Adding More Pokemon to each teams roster really helps so they’re not all stuck with the same 4 lines
Mentioned the post game involving the two groups. It be interesting if they are involved with the regi trio. Ice is water and steel and rock are related to earth "magma". They can even aid in the quest.
@@deathechovii my idea of the postgame is to open up some of the water routes an gain access to rarer pkmn. Like maybe he could move a few block of water spots and introduce kanto pkmn there like dewgong lapras mantine etc the river by fortree and by oldale town..could give you access to wooper dratini poliwags mudkip Part of what made traversing the oceans so mind nullingly boring.. just a constant rotation of wingull wailmer tentacool.. smh more interesting and varied spawns. Would be very much appreciated. It's all wailmer, wingulls and tentacool for all the sea routes, which is like the last 1/4 of the game. Lord knows the series has enough water pokemon to draw from. Gen 3 only has 4 or 5 Slots for water encounters while grass has like, 15. So they waste a slot on Wingull and Tentacool, and then make Sharpedo and Walter locked behind ocean fishing. No wild sharpedo, wailord, So they waste a slot on Wingull and Tentacool, and then make Sharpedo and Walter locked behind ocean fishing. the concept was actually quite good it was IMO just a problem in execution. I mainly just wish they actually utilized the water environments instead of making them all the same with the exact same Pokémon Dive had so much unutilized potential given how diverse Earth's oceans are along the coast it makes no sense for everything to be just Clamperl Chinchou and Relicanth. There are so many different variations of reefs and algal forests/meadows IRL so why is everything just those 3 encounters with fairly bland/monotonous topography outside of Sootopolis. Its particularly jarring that Horsea is a fishing encounter rather than found living in the seaweed since that is where seahorses and their relatives are specially adapted to live. They physiologically can't be fished up with a rod like they are in Pokémon as their food is tiny. Its like trying to bait a lion with cabbage in the Andes doomed from the start. Given the number of aquatic Pokémon that were unused in Hoenn: Shellder, Cloyster, Krabby, Kingler, Dratini, Dragonair, Qwilfish Remoraid, Octillery, Mantine etc..
I know it wouldn't work for story reasons, but I think it would be to have the villain teams involved in the Regi hunt. Having Maxie catch Regirock and to have Archie catch Regice would be interesting. The motivation could be to have sub legendary Pokémon that could give them some possible leverage if they feel Rayquaza could ruin their plans. The Regi choices are such because rock is another form of earth that could be aligned with Team Magma, and ice is a state of water that could align with Team Aqua. Registeel would be the player's counter to then free the other Regis and then catch them in the post-game. I know it would be a stupid amount of work to add, but it is something I thought might interest you.
It would be cool to see Archie and Maxie working together on humanitarian efforts in the postgame. Stuff like bringing supplies to parts of Slateport that flooded from the battle, or working to get water supply lines to make farmlands near the desert. You could tie Groudon and Kyogre into the postgame that way too, like having the player fight them to stop continued damage.
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Something that bothers me; the two grunts at the museum don’t double battle you. It’s the perfect opportunity to do so!
PLS this kinda of minor stuff is what i live for :')
Great take man
Agreed! Wouldn't surprise me if they had originally planned on it but forgot to edit the code so it triggers a double battle.
Please boost this. I really hope he fixes this.
I 149th this
The game avoids forced tag battles when you only have 1 Pokémon.
I guess they can add a check and do either.
I think it's important to note that during the clash between Groudon and Kyogre at Sootopolis, the weather is constantly shifting from rain to harsh sunlight. If you run into Pokemon during this clash, I do believe it shows up as rain, but I that's less of Kyogre being in control and more of the how it wouldn't be as easy to flip-flop the weather from a development standpoint. That being said, however, I would like to see Groudon have more terrain around it during the clash. So many people joke about the fight appearing one-sided that I think the creator of the land should have a bit more land to stand on and around, like boulders jutting out of the water, small pools of lava emerging, something to sell the point that Groudon isn't the weaker of the two.
@@tedscheett9420 Maybe reorient the scene so Groudon is standing in front of the gym on a new penninsula of land confronting the arriving Kyogre?
The way I see it, Kyogre is surrounded. What's under the ocean? That's right, more earth. :)
The weather doesn’t necessarily have to flip flop mid battle. Just make it so that the start of each battle randomly chooses either Rain or Harsh Sunlight that way it feels like an actual tug of war rather than Kyogre being the one in control.
@@tedscheett9420 maybe have whirlpools show up in the overworld in the sea and lots of puddles on land in the rainy areas
The orbs aren't the wrong way around in original Gen III.
It's a detail that gets lost in subsequent generations, when HGSS introduces a Jade Orb for Rayquaza and ORAS switches them to the way people _think_ the Orbs are supposed to go. It's also hard to actually spot in the games themselves, because the Orbs _aren't meant to match the colour of the Pokemon's skin._ They're meant to match the glowing markings on them. The problem is that Groudon's only glow blue on the title screen of Ruby and otherwise they're black, as opposed to Kyogre's always being red.
And that's not me clutching at straws. The concurrent anime season depicts the two Legendaries using their respective orbs to take control of other beings to aid them. Kyogre uses the Red Orb to possess Archie, and Groudon uses the Blue Orb to possess Pikachu. When that happens, the patterns of each Pokemon's markings appear on the Orbs, and then on the bodies of their hosts.
And in the games themselves, the Orbs _do exactly what they're supposed to do._ The Red Orb _does_ awaken Kyogre, and the Blue Orb _does_ awaken Groudon. Archie and Maxie's shared problem isn't that they're idiots who took the wrong orbs and pissed off the Legendaries, it's that they were arrogant enough to believe that they could control Kyogre and Groudon at all. By contrast, when the player presents the other Orb in Ruby/Sapphire, _that's_ when the Pokemon react to the wrong Orbs, by becoming hostile and attacking the player.
Groudon and Kyogre aren't doing what they do because they're angry and lashing out, they're just so cataclysmically powerful that them merely existing is enough to cause natural disasters. After being awakened they're literally just vibing. It's not until they see each other in Emerald, and their opposite number's Orb in R/S, that they become violent.
Thanks for this, well explained :)
This could be true but they haven't made it obvious enough so it still needs work. Surely easier to switch it to red orb red Pokémon etc.
I'm glad someone liked the "wrong color" orb. It also ties the two legendaries together and shows how they are connected.
Actually, it was wrong in ruby and sapphire. The wrong colored orb angered it, and then you brought the right colored orb to the cave of origin, and those orbs did what they were intended to do.
In emerald, you could be right. The orbs were not needed to fight them. The only time they were used were when the "wrong ones" made them mad, but nothing says they weren't the right ones and all they were designed to do is wake them up.
That's just your theory. Don't try to pass it off as fact. Also, Groudon's lines are black, not blue.
I think adding Torkoal to some of the magma grunts would give them more fire type hoenn representation. Not too many though since it's Flannery's ace.
Super glad you added Courtney back but if may suggest something I believe all the admins should have unique over wolrd sprites. Seeing Maxie fight you with a regular grunt in the Space Center always felt offputting. As a kid I never really thought of them as someone important because of how they look the same as a grunt.
Another cool thing would be to make Archie and the Aqua grunts jump out of water in Meteor Falls. I think that would be hilarious.
Torkoal has high base stats it might be a bit strong
@@SoulBoundSagaDXnot for the space center
I think Flannery is exactly the reason why he didn't do add Torkoal to other teams; it's important to keep aces unique.
@@kryzethx I understand not giving the admins and Maxie Torkoal but I think a few grunts having it would be fine. But also Altaria is Winnonas Ace but Drake and Wally use it. So i think its fine.
@@kryzethx After you fight Flannery I think it's fine
Matt and Shelly not having huntail and gorebyss respectively in base is criminal
i feel like Tabatha should have a Magmar to go along with Courtney's Ninetales. just to have a Team Magma equivalent
@@strider_hiryu850Isn't Arcanine the equivilant of Ninetails? Magmar is part of the trio with Electabuzz and Jynx, right?
@@Silburific Absolutely right sir
@@Silburific Yeah they’re counterparts due to them being previously version exclusive 2 stage canid Pokémon that evolve with Fire Stones. The only problem is that they don’t have the same base stat total so they’re not really “balanced” like Huntail and Gorebyss. Arcanine is almost always better (at least until Ninetales gets Drought in later gens).
@artistfloor9 ninetales is also arguably better in gen 1 due to the special stat being 1 stat. Ninetales had 20 more special and 5 more speed. Starting in gen 2 with the special split, ninetales lost 20 in special attack, and arcanine gained 20 in it, making arcanine better
You only get to battle Archie once but you fight Maxie 3 times. Archie should fight you at the museum to make up for it!
Alpha Sapphire cleaned up Team Aqua's rather strange motivation by changing their objectives from wanting to create more ocean for water pokemon in a region thats mostly water to wanting to create a biblical grade catastrophe to reset civilization and return to harmony with nature while Magma's objective to increase the landmass for human prosperity in the modern paradigm was already solid
Edit: the diametric opposition of seeking improved conditions by turning back the clock and rushing headlong into the future are a big part of what make that feel like a real ideological conflict that can have two former friends from the same old team at each other's throats leading separate opposing factions
Excellent and elegantly put 🙏
I suppose I see your point. As Water Pokémon are the most abundant type, they aren't exactly under-represented. The existence of land doesn't harm biodiversity, it just created biomes for freshwater species to flourish. The only motivation that makes sense for ORAS' Archie is that limiting the human impact in the environment would help Pokémon flourish. Even then it's not perfect since Hoenn's cities run rather clean, even New Mauville with its Infinity engine. Maybe Smith is right to keep it simple here
Also to add, Archie thought it would be a thematical end to this world when Kyogre was awakened. It would bring about a new world where nature is in harmony, but the current world will have to be destroyed for such a new world. And I think it works far better, even tho Maxie’s goals aren’t quite as thematically sound (still works that he thought Groudon would usher in a new beginning or era but it would mean destroying this one)
One thing I do have a problem with in the AS motive is that it's just Lysandre again but with a flood instead of a laser
@@BuzzPrincess12tbf if i were to redo any pokemon character and make them better it'd probably be lysandre
I always saw Wallace as “the keeper of the Cave of Origin” so him not knowing about Rayquaza or the Spear Pillar was always odd to me in base Emerald.
From a story standpoint it makes more sense for Wallace to step away from being a gym leader to pursue his contest career rather than becoming the champion.
It would be really cool to continue to have Juan as the gym leader, but because you are the trainer that saves the world, have Wallace come back to challenge you either as the gym leader or even alongside Juan.
It might be interesting to build off the Liza and Tate fight by having another double battle, while water is typically a very challenging team to deal with in doubles.
Great rom hack this is coming along great!
Edit: fixed a spelling error
I think the "boss fight" at Mt Pyre should be Matt and Courtney teaming up to prevent the player. Big "enemy of my enemy" vibes, neither of us can afford you stopping our boss.
I really love this idea.
That'd be pretty cool.
I do love me some rival teamups. Half the reason the Gen 4 Lance/Clair fight is so awesome.
(On that related note - it'd be nice to have more /Wally content so those guys are more present too.)
@@HeraldBFC Well, Smith already talked about the awkwardness of Wally waltzing in Victory Road out of nowhere, meanwhile Brandon/May disappear after an OPTIONAL fight in Lilycove City, especially since they never fully evolved their starter (this might be corrected in ORAS, but I'm not sure, additionally you get apost-credit-fight against a mega-evolving starter). So if Smith already changed parts of the main storyline, he might as well have plans for Brandon/May and Wally 😉
I love this
I am so thrilled because I never got to play Pokémon Emerald when I was a kid. I even wrote a letter to Pokémon asking for the game, and they actually replied! Unfortunately, they told me to get a job, but as a kid, the only job I could get was a lemonade stand. By the time I saved up enough money, I couldn't find the game, so I ended up buying Pokémon Diamond instead. (I was terrible at saving money as a kid!) Now, I'm really excited about the opportunity to finally get to play Pokémon Emerald again. I can't wait to face Team Aqua! Keep up the great work! 20:36
I played diamond after emerald and I remember nearly nothing about diamond (it also didn't help with my experience that my mom lost my sapphire and emerald games and Diamond had an incentive to slot them in the ds). But yeah diamond was the disappointment of my life (ok I had a few bigger disappointments after that, let's say it was my very first disappointment). But I feel you I also wanted to play gen 1 and 2 and couldn't, Emerald is better though.
Oh no, that would be terrible to lose them. I had Diamond and loved it because it was my action replay game for a while, but then I got Platinum and enjoyed it more!
I love the idea of
"Please Game Freak, I humbly wish to play Pokemon Emerald", and some GF Executive replies with "Get a job, kid".
@@Xeno_Solarus they did give me a chunky Pikachu card and Persian, which I was like woah! I should’ve mailed money when I couldn’t find it and said please may I have a copy!
Minor change but when the “climax” is happening, can it rain everywhere in Hoenn? Not just in the one spot where Kyogre and Groudon and fighting.
Flying anywhere and hearing the cheery music with a bright sunny sky can be jarring given the “world ending” feeling their feud has. Maybe a slight dialogue change too for some people like mom telling you to be careful?
This right here. Immersion 101.
Another thought, make each region randomly have rain or sunlight???
oh, what about mist/fog? The sunny day evaporates the rain, causing massive sea fogs to roll across Heonn
@@BRY0NZ That would require programming in an entirely new weather condition. Fog wasn't introduced until Gen 4, and it's entirely unfun mechanically anyway.
@@Dudeman23rdthere's actually fog in the cave of origin. It doesn't effect battle at all. So the visual already exists in the game
I think alternatively, have Archie's Crobat be swapped for a Tentacruel with Giga Drain. Tentacruel has great Speed and with Giga Drain in its movepool, any player that sends Swampert out to fight it will have a (very) bad day. As a bonus, if the player tries a workaround with Cradily to counter with its own Giga Drain, they'll just simply lose HP instead of restoring it because Archie's (hypothetical) Tentacruel could have Liquid Ooze as a countermeasure for draining moves.
As for the Aqua admins, I'd suggest letting them have Pelipper on their teams in place of Golbat / Crobat, as Pelipper fits their Water-type theme, plus Pelipper's high Defense would make it a good choice for Stockpile. Matt's Pelipper could also use Spit Up, whilst Shelley's would have Swallow to clarify they have different strategies. Plus, it would be a symbolic throwback to the Aqua Grunt from Rustboro attempting to steal Peeko the Wingull.
Also, nice allowing Courtney back into the game and giving her Ninetales from the manga. Alternatively, she and Tabitha could have Torkoals on their teams as a throwback to the manga. Yes, I know Flannery already has a Torkoal as her ace, but Torkoal's Defense seems too good (to me) to be used by just Flannery.
@ilikeutubeful wingull doesn't have the air of menace that most there pokemon have. But seagulls do fit the pirate theme better than bats. So I can see both ways
They should have made the teams weather themed, like, pelipper to set the rain and swift swim pokemon.
Magma could have sunny day and chlorophyll
Courtney not being in Emerald was by faf the biggest sin of that game. Thanks for rectifying this. Already 10/10 for that alone.
I knew this would be a small add that Ruby fans love :)
@@smithplayspokemonadd delta episode
@@tnoor836No point considering your can catch Rayquaza before the post-game
@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 make it non catchable 😂😂
Honestly, I like the changes you made especially having them clash at mount pyre. But maybe add an early introduction for team magma because otherwise team aqua gets the two events in petalberg woods and Rustburo, but also the museum before magmas introduction.
I like your expansion for the team magma teams with addition of the ground, rock, and grass types because the land is made up of more than fire types, so it completely makes sense. And you know it’s so weird because in the anime team magma had houndoom so Maxie having one is a really good call.
Anyway, I can’t wait to play it and enjoy this game. It’ll be interesting to see all the changes. You guys have put into the game especially looking forward to learning the learnsets, new Pokémon in their locations.
Anyway, just make sure you guys are having fun with it and remember have a beautiful time.
The Devon goods is vague enough that a magma member could be trying to steal it. It could be a scientific thing that fits magma more, while the slateport city events fit the aquas more. That way they're both introduced relatively early.
@@Alienldr I second this
Here are 2 things I'd like to see improved in Emerald Legacy in terms of the villains:
1: Have the 2 grunts you see at the museum double battle you. It makes more sense for them to go after you at the same time.
2: Have Team Magma members, as well as Maxie himself be going through the Sea Floor Cavern, trying to find Archie, but being held up by all the grunts there.
While I do love idea 2 a lot, I believe there is only one submarine so I don't think they would be able to join you. That said, another sub can always be added
@@EloyGray Exactly.
So glad you brought up the Isahaya Bay inspo that the central conflict is based on. It really ties story elements together and makes the changes feel more grounded than just "dialog bad - make them cool and make more sense"! Love the changes you made all around! So excited to try playing my favorite pokemon game with these updates :)
Not so much to do with story, but I could never get over the fact that Maxie, the leader of an entire evil team, has a Zubat (not Golbat or Crobat) on top of Mt. Chimney
He doesn't have zubat wtf
@@inactiveacc-y8n He does in base emerald.
Yeah, it's really weird that Emerald made the Gym Leaders harder compared to Ruby and Sapphire, but unevolved Maxie's Golbat.
You could take some inspiration from the card game! Ex Team Magma vs Team Aqua was a blast on 2004!
There's Aron, Lairon, Aggron, Houndour, Houndoom, Numel, Camerupt, Rhyhorn, Rhydon, Torkoal, Baltoy and Claydol on the Magma Side and Spheal, Sealeo, Walrein, Carvanha, Sharpedo, Electrike, Manectric, Corphish, Crawdaunt, Chinchou, Lanturn, Cacnea and Cacturne on the Aqua side!
They even featured Zangoose and Seviper (with the same logic of this video) and of course, they both get Poochyena and Mightyena lol.
I always thought it was a wasted opportunity to not have a double battle against both of the villain team leaders, teaming up to try and stop you in the midgame, either right before or inside the orb-tower
I think it’s a cool idea, but I don’t think it would work for 2 reasons:
1. It doesn’t feel in character to me for them to even think about teaming up against the player character and
2. I don’t think it really fits in the game. At Mt. Pyre, there too busy dealing with each other, and making a totally new event rubs me the wrong way
@Casterisk45510 yeah I hear that. Definitely could be a stretch, but I think it could be done in the vein of "I know we don't agree, but this kid has been fucking us BOTH up, let's try and work together this once to get the orbs/stop this kid from stopping us" sortve like they are at a point where they're willing to let either side get their orb, as long as they themselves are the first ones to use their respective orb. The main problem being the player character always turning up and ruining their plans, so I think it could work if done right.
I do see how adding a new event/battle would be off-putting
@Casterisk45510 or also, it could even be an end-game event that's only available after beating the story/elite 4. Maybe they've settled down somewhat and come to their senses, and want one last rematch against the player, for whatever reason.
I think it would be cool as a post game fight
Could be awesome as a post-game requirement to catch Rayquaza.
@SmithPlaysPokemon I really admire when you adjust something like the story you always seem to tweek it and never change it drastically. I only played Emerald once about 12 years ago so even if I did not watch this video and went in EL blind I dont think I would have noticed that the story was changed a little. Everything just blends in so well, keep up the great work Team Legacy!!!
Reminds me of team rocket and how or why they don't have all of the gambling pokemon.
Seriously they control both cities that have gambling and don't take the pokemon with them. Dratini abra Porygon they would have been better overall having teleport mons or futuristic ones
Team Rocket should have had a much wider range of pokemon considering they were allegedly stealing lots of them.
@@EarthboundmikeHonestly giving the early grunts the basic mons is fine. Later ones EVOS to show it's the same ones and the game corner grunts get those mons with bad moves as they just obtained them. Showing them as a team of messy mons
Because the stolen rare Pokémon go to the boss, he and the executives get the strong stuff, everyone else is stuck with common Zubat and Rattata. It shows how greedy Giovanni is.
I believe a Team Rocket scientist uses Porygon in Johto, as does Gideon in FireRed and LeafGreen.
@Earthboundmike I actually liked the diversity team rocket had in gen 1 vs gen 2.
They both share lines from zubat, ekans, grimer, koffing, and rattata. But in gen 1, outside of admins who use dark types, they only have the oddish line. Gen 1 had lines from drowzee, machop, sandshrew, and cubone. Not counting scientists and jugglers. At least there's ground, fighting, psychic, and normal to break up the poison theme
I think Team Magma was always supposed to be a ground themed team, not fire themed.
Yeah but then they didn't give them any Rock, Ground, or Steel Types either
Both is fine.
@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 He keeps implying that team Magma is a fire themed team. I'm saying I'm pretty sure they are supposed to be ground themed. Keyword SUPPOSED. The fact that most of the ground types they use are also fire type is why there is confusion.
I like the Blue Orb been associated with Groudon and the Red Orb to Kyogre, because it show how opposite could also be complementary. But then we should not portray them as the wrong orb, but more like how Ruby Omega/Sapphire Alpha used them (to calm the legendary after the "correct" Orb awaken and enrage them).
Also I think both teams could have proper motivations if we allow them to not be cartoonish villains.
For Magma we actually don't need to go too far from the game, they want to create polder (land reclamation) for humans (and terrestrial Pokémon).
And for Aqua I think we can rebrand them as environmental activists, like Sea Sheperds (both have pirate vibe) and Hoenn had even an "environmental" tragedy (either Abandoned Ship or Sea Mauville).
I also had a similar idea, that mankind is polluting and destroying the oceans and so Aqua want to awaken Kyogre not to expand the oceans but simply to be a kind of guardian deity instead.
I REALLY like the changes. I would love to see more of the teams. What are they doing with the Regis? Maybe they join together and the player can race them to solve the Regi riddles. Another idea would be: What would a team based on Rayquaza look like? Is Wynona as a flying gym leader involved? I love Hoenn! It's the best region. There should be a LOT of postgame! Do the evil teams try to fix the landscape with human labor? Can you see them dig away on beaches or blockade rivers? Will this change the physical layout of the region?
Clamperl line love!!! I'm so happy seeing Huntail and Gorebyss see the light of day. Since it's always seemed like a kind of special pokemon to me, between it in the anime and its unique evolution gimmick (honestly always gave me vibes similar to castform), I wonder if it could be given a small moment with the aqua admins? Like, if there could either be a gift or they tell you about this rare pokemon and where it's found. Does something like that sound cool to anyone else?
@@timothyruud4470 yes! It sounds very cool. Id like for them (gorebyss & huntail) to be found both in the wild on the seafloor in certain dive spot areas…and maybe you fish for em with a super rod over a dive spot.
Also the hoenn map has a lot of black spots I’d love to fill an expand the Hoenn map. An often it kind of leaves me wondering where the rest of hoenn is, or at least what the game is possibly missing out with the map.
I’d love for there to be a romhack that tried to fill out the area be fucking amazing though. I can see many places where ruins or hidden cities could go. Another idea is literally have it all just forest but the trees are spaced out enough and randomly where you could walk through it all, and find Pokemon dens and such.
So stoked to see what you have cooking for post-game with Archie and Maxie! Maybe a double battle where their team somehow compliments each other instead of at opposition? Not sure how that would work, but maybe they drop the "weather team" gimmick and instead focus on coverage for each other (ex: Maxie's team covers the grass, Electric and psychic weaknesses of Archie's Sharpedo and Machamp, but Archie covers Maxie's weaknesses to water with Electrode, Grass with Crobat, etc.
There's a lot to work with there, but you get the idea! Excited to see what comes of this!
I feel like some of the Aqua Grunts you fight should have Clamperl too, it makes sense since you're giving the Admins the evolutions. Some of the Grunts could use it
Na I prefer some of them have Cloyster…instead just clamperl since it looks more menacing. I like qwilfish too for that.
@JayClearman411 thing is, if the evolutions are going to the Admins, it makes a certain amount of sense for grunts to be given pokemon the higher-ups are familiar with and could "easily acquire"
Plus, since they need evo items, could still show up in later areas unevolved. Just like one or two Clamperl grunts, maybe?
@@Shalakor I guess…I still think Qwilfish and Cloyster suit team aqua more but I would NOT be mad if a few grunts had a clamperl. It’d be cool if they were holding Deep Sea Fang and Scale respectively though. I like the fact that they have their own stat enhancing items.
I only wish that the effects of those items translated to there evolutions. Besides that I’d want to see them without the same old water gun clamp an iron defense. If they do show up on 1-2 grunts teams I think they should have actual creditable moves like
bubble beam frustration, water pulse or toxic u know something actually threatening. I also think Seadra is a good bet. It doesn’t show up very often at all.
@@JayClearman411 The first sin of Emerald Legacy is, unfortunately, adding Water types. 7.8/10 Too much water.
I love the adding of Houndoom Sneasal & Murkrow. Still love how you swapped dark to physics & ghost to special!
Emerald was the pokemon game that i played to death growing up. And what yall are doing is breathing new life into something from my childhood. I look forward to whatever else you do to improve on something already great.
i think adding actual connections between team aqua and magma really brings this all together
but more than that, the reflection after just feels like a great send off
it doesn't feel so "whelp, we're done here!" like they didn't know how to end it xD
at least to me, that is
i still absolutely love gen 3, and it's by far my favourite. that being said, i agree with you that it isn't free from criticism. i think if you truely love something that you should be able to criticise it but still love it despite, or sometimes even FOR those "issues".
also one last thing, i nyever actually knew their conflict was based on a real thing! that's definitely an awesome thing to learn today ^ω^
great video and can't wait to play the finished rom hack! ♡
Adding Seviper and Zangoose to these teams is so smart and cool that I had to pause the video and yell "Oh HELL YEAH" and then write this comment. Genius. Perfect. So perfect I can't believe that Nintendo didn't do that themselves, and I can't believe that thought never occurred to me. Go get it Smith.
They have those two in the TCG
I think the changes are really cool, including a lot more lines already helped in other Legacy games to spice up the trainer and make it feel more natural to get to know the Pokemon of the region rather than just Dex hunt them.
That being said, I really think both leaders need a post-game episode. I agree the send kff in Sudopolis is abrupt, I hope your dialogue fix aids that but more might be needed.
Now if I understood correctly they never got a legendary under control... Maybe in the post that could change. With them redeeming themselves and Archie taking to the guardian of the sea (Lugia) and Maxie Ho-oH as counterpart unleashing them in a double battle onto the player (and afterwards unlocking them for capture somewhere). Not a fight with evil intent, but to show their "appreciation for balance".
I think this could (at least for Lugia) also canonically tie in, as when it was disturbed (2nd movie) the weather was also heavily affected which is a theme in Hoenn.
So basically Kaizo Emerald Team Builds only without Perma Weather and Legendaries on their teams Perfect
THANK YOU for changing these teams!! My one thing is I don't think Magma grunts should use the Aron/Aggron line since that's what Steven uses and it doesn't quite fit their ground/fire/earth theme. But grass additions is a pretty great inclusion since that's why Maxie wants to expand the land.
I really like the parallel of Aqua having electric for a secondary type while Magma gets grass, feels like they're actually playing into the strenths of their weathers.
Also, interesting choice not to commit to the revamped team aqua/magma identities from ORAS, I think I still like those a bit more as they show some conflicting ethos in what's good for the world (progress v. nature), but bringing this conflict closer to a real world conflict I knew nothing about is quite fascinating!
We are eating good today!
Thanks Smith! : D
I love the changes!
My idea for the postgame would be to have tate and lize tied into a storyline with Deoxys and or Jarachi at the Mossdeep Space center.
Is it bad that i always thought that Emerald should've given us a double battle with the 2 Evil Team Leaders?
Like- imagine a scenario where Maxie & Archie talk & go *"This brat has been in our case for a good while, so how about we put our differences to the side so we can take them out once and for all?"*
For a game that introduced Double Battles, with Emerald adding a lot more of them in the story, it always bothered me that we never had that for Archie & Maxie
could be a post game battle
Love all the changes! I think this really does a whole lot for the game, as this addresses some of the areas where I felt it was the weakest and least interesting. Even as a kid I got sick of battling a million poochyena and zubat.
For postgame content, I'm not sure if you're planning on doing anything with the Battle Frontier, but I think it would be neat if you could have the chance to see story-significant characters show up at the facilities from time to time where appropriate, similar to the Pokemon World Tournament but maybe also including the team leaders, Wally, Cooltrainer Vito, that kinda thing? And maybe giving a little more incentive to do Contests, like if there was a prize pool or something. Maybe rare berries and evolution items?
I think while "sunny" and "rain" as weather is the go to for the teams, there should also be some instances where "sandstorm" or "hail" should be the focus of some trainers, especially with the changes like special defense boosts for rock and how blizzard would always hit etc.
Steven and Glacia would benefit. Otherwise, it might just be battle frontier trainers.
What if post game Steven swapped Aggron for a Tyranitar lead? He is the super boss after all, so if anyone would get him, it would be the rock type trainer who already showed can run pseudos. Plus it explains how he knows so much about what weather setting abilities would do when he's involved with the story's climax
Inclement Emerald did something like this, also for Team Magma and Aqua. Tabitha has a sandstorm team, and Shelly has a hail team.
I’m my opinion, you could have added more grass types to team magma grunts, like the bellsprout line or the hoppip line. This could further strengthen the idea of plants benefiting from the sunlight because of photosynthesis. You could also try fitting in Torkoal to some teams as well, since it can be caught in the magma hide out. Other than that, this seems super fun to play. Can’t wait for the release.
When i was a kid, i always thought archie and maxie created team magma to expand and help civilization, but when Maxie started deciding they should expand the land so everyone could have theirs, maxie betrayed and created team aqua as a sort of way to balance it out
So team aqua was formed as a response to team magma's radical ideals. And then archie overcorrected so far that he was equally radical on the other side
Subbed! Im extremely excited for this, loved Crystal Legacy hard mode. I fully agree with your criticisms of OG Emerald, the Magma/Aqua trainer slogs were BAD. Will be watching the progress on this!
Also would love to get that physical copy for my GBA SP, not gonna lie!
I think for post game, you should give them a send-off like in the Battle Frontier like how ORAS did at their disappointing post-game island. They should then go back to their bases and try to work to actually help Hoenn instead of being so engrossed in their ideologies that they cannot help but cause problems. They should also give you their Mach Call number so you can rebattle them like the gym leaders
ORAS handled the Delta Episode so well as a sendoff, especially for Courtney and Matt getting centerfocus as antagonists
@@michofpie for the postgame I’d like access to the altering cave, naval rock,faraway island,mirage island cool but I like the mirage spots thing that was cool it kind of reminded me of hidden grottos which was an excellent concept imo an should have never went away!!!
birth island would be cool too.maybe we can have a mirage mt battle where you can battle 50 trainers in a row an get a jirachi.
I watched your live playthrough and was super impressed by how difficult and still fun each of the admin and boss fights were. Congrats on making the game SOO much better!
I love the new additions made to each team. They got so repetitive to fight because of just how many Mons were overlapping with each other.
My only gripe is the change to which orb gets taken being changed. ORAS showed what happens if they take the correct orb and it’s not good for anyone.
Personally, I feel like you could make it so that they grabbed the opposite orb because each team was in a desperate rush to play keep away from the other.
Maxie taking the blue orb because you just showed up alongside Archie, he quickly takes the blue orb to get it away from Aqua but Archie does the same with the red orb, they both flee and have to work with what they have.
I’m just happy Courtney is in this game. She may have been in Emerald but you never battle her. Looking forward to playing this!
For the post game I think it would be hilarious to have a single NPC referencing Team Sky.
But all seriousness, if you're planning on making all lines catchable in post-game, some kind of storyline referencing the Delta Episode would be a cool addition. Maybe something interesting for Mew and the Eon Ticket too, but I don't know what.
I didn't watch the part with the team changes for spoiler reasons, but I did really like your changes to the story, and I think it really improves the flow overall!
Blink twice if you're not held hostage by team sky
SKY
TEAM SKYYY!!!
*blink blink*
Hostage? Who needs being held hostage by the glory of TEAM SKY!!!
Hey, our leader may not be the brightest, but he means well (even if he didn't realize our organization is apart of the good guys until a couple of years later).
This my response for the giveaway: I love how drastically you've changed the evil teams while also still making them feel like team aqua and magma, one thing I would really love to see is archie and maxie show that "enemies to lovers" story a little bit at the post game or something.
12:14 I really love the detail in the footage shown where Archie energetically steps forward to emphasize his dialogue and Maxie stays firmly planted. What a fantastic piece of characterization, excellent detail.
It's subtle, but character acting like that does a lot
I really like the changes to the teams, diversity will make this section much more fun to play through.
For post-game content I always really liked how emerald introduced a reward for completing the hoenn pokedex in the form of a gen 2 starter of your choice, I think playing around with that concept or building some story elements into the task of completing the regional (or even on a larger scale national) pokedex with the dangling carrot of a an otherwise unobtainable starter would make for a much more engaging post-game
I could even see incentivising the battle tower with similar rewards like the tickets to get the gen 2 legendaries, deoxis and jirachi being really cool and could compell players to give this game more hours beyond the elite 4's completion
Missed opportunity to use the Muk and Weezing that were added to Archie and Maxie's final battle teams in ORAS
But these new additions still work very well
I love the Rain and Sun team setups, maybe adding a Drought Pokemon during the Magma double battle would make it very strong. Can't say the same about Drizzle, because it also gives Thunder that 100% accuracy. Could in theory throw in a Lightning Rod Pokemon, but that might be a bit too gimmicky.
A double battle against maxie and archie in the post game would be amazing, the fire and water dynamic could be pretty interesting
This was the perfect video for me. I’m in the working stages of planning out an Emerald based game for my ever first time running Pokemon Tabletop Adventures in the future (in the style of Gen6 with Mega-Evolutions). I have been meaning to figure out how to make is better and this video and the game you are making really help me see what can be done to make Emerald way better and improve on all aspects of what the game could’ve been. I would love to see it when it comes out and I would love to take inspiration from this to help me with my project.
I still feel kind of weird about changing the orb colors. It's such an iconic part of the game that they grab the wrong color and it feels out of line with how you described this legacy title working: making things feel familiar and focusing on the most iconic parts.
I honestly couldn’t care less about that just because in the remakes, they grab the right orb and I always found it kind of stupid that they’d grab the wrong orb when it’s just that obvious
But in the remakes you learn that if they had grabbed the correct orbs, they would have triggered primal reversion. So I’m also kinda iffy on emerald legacy making that change since if they can’t also emulate the reversion somehow
Sorry but them grabbing the wrong colored orbs always felt super incompetent, the remakes made it so these guys had actual sight and grabbed the right ones from the getgo and not knowing how to control them.
They legit lose all their menace in the originals when they fail something a kindergartner could easily tell apart lol
He has done changes like this before as well... Remember how in Crystal Legacy - He made Giovanni literally appear and advised the TR executive to disband...
Changing the orb is a very small change compared to that...
@@iRule37 In Ruby and Sapphire, the player keeps the correct Orb and Primal Reversion still doesn't happen when they fight/catch them. Gen 3 Hoenn and Gen 6 Hoenn canonically take place in separate universes, so maybe Primal Reversion just isn't a thing in this one.
A splendid job fixing the issues with the two teams. Adding Courtney is always wonderful to see which makes the game a perfect one already. A minor thought could be to add Kekleon to maybe a Magma grunt as it's ability to adapt aligns quite well with Magma having a more diverse type spread now.
I don't agree with the "they used the wrong orb" theory. After all, Groudon's shown to have blue energy under his armor, as best shown in the Ruby Version title screen _and_ their iconic confrontation scene in Emerald Version. Kyogre, likewise, has red energy. What helps sell this idea that the teams used the correct orbs is that the Legendaries then proceed to reshape the world to the Teams' respective wishes, while holding the same colored orb caused them to attack you on sight.
Edit: actually, it's better than I thought. This is subtly showing the need for balance between them, as even these titans of extremes still need a little bit of the other to function.
Then for me that improves the idea of them getting the orbs that match the colors of their respective legendaries. It would make sense that they would've mistaken the orbs at first, and also show that in that part of the story they didn't understood the concept of balance and how each opposing force of nature needs a part from each other to co-exists, thus breaking said balance and almost ending the world.
Also I think Groudon and Kyogre having blue and red lines in the intro is more an aesthetic choice rather than a plot one, but it would perfectly forshadow the twist that the correct order of the orbs was reversed
It is SO exciting to see the story changes. I usually never finish a full gen three run bc I just get border of mashing through a kinda lackluster story. I’m also super excited to see the team change ups bc Jesus do they drag on in the base game
Looks good! Would be interesting if post-game Maxie and Archie used Sand and Hail teams to show them becoming more flexible in their thinking. Once the National Dex is unlocked, Maxie gains access to Sandstream Tyranitar and Archie gains access to Lapras, Dewgong, and Cloyster.
Thank you so much for your patches of Pokemon, they're amazing to play ! You said you only planned on doing the first 3 generations, but I still hope you'll do the same for Platinum, that would be so wonderful for an oldie like me who stopped at Gen 4.
But really, thanks to you and your team for what you've already done for us :)
I know your hands are kinda tied here, but one of my biggest issues with Emerald is the extreme density of Aqua/Magma beats in the back half. After Foretree City it's 6 team encounters almost in a row. I would greatly appreciate something to give some breathing room between team encounters.
Removing half of the battles by removing unnecessary grunts may help these sections go by faster. Stopping every 4 steps to fight more poochyenas and zubats definitely make it feel much longer than they actually are. So getting in and out in half the time would help make it feel better, without just removing sections of the game or adding something as filler.
@@Alienldr 1st of all, excellent idea. I wholeheartedly agree.
2nd, i guess what I meant by adding something between wasn't adding new content, but rather incentivising players to fully explore the many areas already available. There's a lot of optional routes and areas that you can spend a lot of time exploring, but there's no reason to go to any of them except for it's own sake
@@solanceDarkMOW I Get it. Me personally, I’d like for there to be more far out of the way areas accessible like above the waterfall by the weather institute.
I want more of those kind of secret areas. For more places to be enhanced and expanded for their to be more of the map filled in… there are huge gaps in the map.
Would be super amazing though. I can see many places where ruins or hidden cities could go. Another idea is literally have it all just be a wild untamed wilderness with no direct path just forest, jungle, an swampland but the trees are spaced out enough and randomly where you could walk through it all, and find Grottos, dens and such.
Maybe access to grooves With super rare berries not normally obtained ingame. Like salac petaya berries etc..
Id like part of the Postgame to be exploration still and
As someone who has played through this game probably hundreds of times at this point, this is by far the best looking fix to the game I’ve ever seen. Nothing too extreme or out of place, just adding in elements of the game that existed but had no usage (like Gorebyss and Huntail because seriously how are they not in the game to begin with) makes this feel like the perfect way to experience this gem of a game
Also there’s nothing I love more than seeing elements of Ruby and Sapphire that were wrongly dropped come back in an organic way that can give people a full Gen 3 experience
Thank you and your team so much for making this and I hope you guys are having as much fun with it as we will have playing it!
P. S. I will be giving all of my friends who haven’t played emerald before this version and not even telling them it’s not the original
At least now we won't be fighting Poochyena's/Mightyena's and Numel's/Carvanha's non stop anymore.
You said you wanted to make archie a rain dance tea but you haven't given him a rain setter, I would say replace machamp with electrode so you can get a rain dance up fast. Both pokemon overlap with matt so I don't see an issue swapping them
On the topic of storyline changes, can we talk about the exclusive abilities of the legendary Pokemon? Groudon summons a drought, a devastating weather occurrence that can last months or years that slowly torments the land and its inhabitants by killing off plant life and the people and animals that rely on those plants as a source of food, not to mention the lack of water to sustain animal life.
Meanwhile Kyogre summons a drizzle, a pleasant calm rain.
Changing the name of drizzle to something like Torrential Downpour, Flash Flood, Endless Storm, Tsunami, or Deluge would be a miniscule change that would do wonders and rectify an issue I've had with the story since I was 9.
Storm Surge is the term for coastal flooding caused by a storm, I think that would work best.
Ironic, since the one with the calm sounding ability was the one who, immediately upon waking up, bolted to Sootopolis to pick a fight.
Groudon was so calm and peaceful after waking up that you couldn't find him. No one was bothered by him as he minded his own business. Lol
Deluge would be very fitting.
I hope there's a postgame double battle where each pair of opposing members of aqua and magma fight against you together (Tabitha & Matt, Courtney & Shelly, Archie & Maxie). That or you pair up with one admin/leader to battle against the other. There's a lot of cool opportunities to show how they've each changed by doing this! 😊
Take a shot every time Smith says any of "Poochyena, Zubat, Numel, Carvanha". I reccomend using water as a substitute for alcohol, unless you want to die.
7.8/10 ...too much water...
Or if you're Team Magma, shots of... Sand?
@@dlake1224 Revenge of the Sand :P
@@dlake1224 Darude: "Oh yeah! This is MY kind of jam!" 😎
Great idea. I was so tired of the repetitive 1 gen Pokémon in the level 30s. I’ve been waiting for updates on your progress! We really appreciate it 🎉
In Oras there was lore about the two Team leaders being friends on the Sea Mavile. Maybe the Gen 3, take on this has them go back to the abandoned ship and New Mavile to try and get something the other left behind as a means of making amends. (Archie goes to New Mavile, and Maxie goes to the abandoned ship. When they reunited they , drop lore about the wish they made on the Pokemon Jirachi, and how sad they feel about pushing the other away. Maybe Archie teams up with the Oceanic Museum and Mr. Briney to start a water pokemon conservation association, and Maxie teams up with Prof. Cosmo and the weather institute to advance science in a way helpful to people and Pokemon. Lastly I love Shipping, and maybe we can introduce a subplot where Matt wants to be Archie's Bro forever and always, and Courtney is at odds with herself over her feelings for boss.
Looks great! Post game ideas = incorporate event legendaries, double battle with a partner, old man briney side quest, gen 1 + 2 swarms, battle frontier completion unlocks new area
@@Thony-b8k what do you mean; by new area exactly? I agree with most of that though.
@@JayClearman411 I'm referring to another island or hidden section of battle frontier, definitely not a new region
@@Thony-b8k Indeed I want new areas too. when you put hoenn route’s together in 1 map I’m often left wondering where the rest of hoenn is, or at least what the game is possibly missing out of the map. Perhaps the postgame can fill out some of the in-between-route areas of hoenn. Because from what I’m seeing they’re needs to be a lot more awareness of their map space. I’d like some more hidden berry plots by fallarbor Town since it’s supposed to be farming community maybe a grove kind of like the berry forest in firered where berries can be picked up off the ground over an over perpetually depending on your footsteps. An id like it concealed an blocked off by a Sudowoodo! If possible…maybe a snorlax
I’d also like the area around the berry master house to be opened up like it was in omega ruby with way more berry plots available.
Or have a lush hidden pathway leading into a glade area that opened up into a garden where you can find wild tangela eggecutor weepingbell Slakoth Mankey Eevee. If you bring CUT you can keep going into a lush bush-like area where eventually you’ll discover a narrow path to fortree city that may or may not be obstructed by a kecleon.
Maybe you see another side of fortree city sort unlocked.
An example, The gap in the upper left can be partial accounted for by Mount Chimney..I’ve often thought about filling up the space with realistic terrain (like completing the outline of mountains, coastlines, ecc)?
Also near mount pyre since it's just empty space. I wonder what laRousse city would've looked like if it was in the game, I'm pretty sure it would be in the middle of the map on that peninsula near mount pyre
We could Fill in the countryside of petalburg city partially by expanding petalburg woods..make the area behind an beside the gym traversable wilderness.
I’d very much enjoy using the map to expand an enhance hoenn areas. I mean has a romhack ever tried to fill the map out.
It Would be marvelous though. I can see many places where ruins or hidden city could go. Another idea is literally have it all just forest, jungle but the trees are spaced out enough and randomly where you could walk through it all, and find a celebi and or hidden grottos an such.
I’d also like more lslands an coves in the water after the kyogre an groundon clash.
One thing I would add whether it’s for Maxie or Tabitha is having one of them use a Magmar. Since they’re team Magma
I think they've already done the back and forth on this. It kinda dragged Electabuzz into Aqua, and then Jynx was awkardly hanging on the sidelines. Slugma and Numel lines don't carry as much baggage.
Magmar is not in Hoenn. Also if Team Magma would use Magmar what would Team Aqua use?
You guys are absolutely killing it
Can't wait to nuzlocke this game
Do people not realise team magma is meant to be ground, not fire? Groudon is ground, they want to increase the land, and Numel camerupt are a ground type. I think the idea of magma = hot has destabilised the identity of land vs sea. Doesn’t affect anything here but drives me insane when people talk about fire with maxie and his grunts.
I like the addition of the Matt and Archie fight. Gives the Mt Pyre section more teeth and more oomph.
I am surprised that the final Maxie fight gives Camerupt Heat Wave over Eruption. That's the joint signature move of Camerupt, hits multiple enemies in double battles and has more power initially.
7:55 actually I only played emerald and I learned in this video that the story is different in ruby and sapphire
Those changes seem so on point!
I can't wait to see the plan for the postgame and I wish I could play this ROM already.
Rock and Ground (and also Steel) make sense, but I'm not sure I agree with Magma using Grass types...
The lungfish menace is too stronk for Giga Drain Crobat to handle on its own. Plus, Cacnea line says scorched earth to me, at least.
The land is comprised of all of rock ground and grass so it makes sense
@@nesradub360 Thematically Magma's aim is more land which includes fertile. Not a solid excuse but it's plausible IMO.
Practically you'd want SOME realistic way to say these 2 teams are rivals when considering their respective main typings Aqua should be steamrolling Magma.
It's a tiny thing to balance the odds.
Smith these changes are incredible. I’ve been playing a vanilla file recently that feels SO slow in the mid game with the repetitive aqua/magma battles. Loved Crystal and Yellow Legacy as well man. Keep up the good work!
Crazy idea for the post game: a double battle between you vs Max AND Archer, like a way to show that they put they diferences aside and are willing to cooperate
@@lucasms23 My crazy idea for the postgame would be All 4 of Deoxy's formes are available at some point in the game. i think we should have new secret areas in hoenn where celebi and legendary dogs would be available.
We add new features like hidden grottos. Fill in the hoenn map a bit there’s a lot to be done in terms of filling it in.. they are huge gaps an spaces between places.
it looks really spacious and empty when you put the game map over accessible routes. there’s lots of potential if we fill in certain in between spots..maybe we can have access to miles of “wild area” where mysterious groves,swamps are where we find wild pkmn at very High levels in the water LOL just kidding.. or just open the world up to miles of Uninhabited wildernesses forests,jungle rainforests maybe a canyon or plateau. With nothing but wild crazy level pkmn. With super long grass an access to super rare berries.
@@lucasms23 I wanna see new secret areas introduced in the postgame. To fill in the map. Cuz it’s a lot of empty spaces left vacant. I’d like access to the wilderness in the shapes of forests grooves, canyons, plateaus that sort of things. Patrolled by pkmn rangers. Wild pkmn levels 60-70
It could be a sort of survival zone..we could have it be a tropic rainforest that’s so overgrown that you need the HM Flash & Cut to get through it. We could have a pkmn ranger at the start of it to warn you to turnback..tell you that this area is filled with terribly tough pkmn. You find wild Persian exeggutor weepinbell Furret tangela Lickitung 1% chance of finding Snorlax in certain areas there sudowoodo an kecleon obstructing your way an at the end celebi!
Maybe these places could be an areas where outcasts/abandoned pkmn are said to be left when abandoned..so there angry when they met you they start the battle with message saying Vigoroth is angry/enraged an then it’s Attack stat shoots up. Or pkmn way fled..like in the safari zone.
That would be awsome. Maybe include Jirachi into that story.
Emerald my GOAT. I tend to use so many weak Pokemon that I really liked in my playthroughs, Gorebyss, Beautifly, Altaria. I’m hyped to see how it goes with them being useful!
This may be me not fully understanding what was said, but I don't understand why Maxie would try to stop Archie after awakening Groundon and nothing happens. In the proposed changes it sounds like Goundon wakes up but just sits there. Why would Maxie panic. Wouldn't he assume that becasue his plan was useless his rival's plan would have the same result.
From the way the story is presented the danger only comes from Groudon and Kyogore clashing. All Maxie sees is Groudon sitting there. Why does he go to Mossdeep?
I think having Groudon disappear and Maxie assume that it's hunting Kyogore to finish the ancient feud would give him motivation to go after Archie to both locate Groudon to try and finish his plan as well as prevent the two legends from putting Hoenn at risk.
I think the idea is that, since Groudon is just sitting there, Kyogre has not been awoken by Archie yet. However, since Maxie and Archie are on Mt. Pyre at the same time, Maxie knows that Archie has the other orb and he realizes that it’s only a matter of time before Archie gets to Kyogre. I’m guessing some dialogue is probably needed in the Magma hideout to get Maxie to realize this.
@@CyberDrewan Yeah, the way it was described in the video felt like Maxie's motive lacked reason and that in turn made the situation feel not as fleshed out as they wanted. I think seeing Groudon leave the cavern would give some more urgency to the situation. And if they really wanted to hammer home the gravity of the situation, they could have the harsh sunlight occasionally pop up in random routes to show Groudon's movements. Then when Kyogore is awake, the heavy rain can start affecting the world too. Then it feels like these ledgends have real impact and threat rather than story beat happens, world remains relatively the same, next story beat.
First off, I like the additional lines added for each team & extra attention to the forgotten Clamperl duo is stellar.
For the post game, I know there's a lot to throw in due to Latias & Latios, but we NEED to see a double battle with Maxie & Archie. Challenging the player for a final validation before catching Groudon & Kyogre can be the true conclusion for the leaders as the final test of the legendaries.
6:27 I’ve always been confused by this. Does Steven get slapped 2 tiles back? 😭
It's meant to convey that Steven is recoiling in shock by how unbelievably insane (and, frankly, out of character) Maxie's whole "I'm going to nuke the volcano" plan is.
@@TheAzulmagia ok that makes more sense lol
I love bringing the two teams to meet each other more, they felt fairly disjointed before. It’d be nice to see the leaders again right before catching their legendary for ourselves, as a final upgraded battle
Mr. SmithPlays, I know this is going to sound really daunting, but I think giving us a bigger reward and or fight after we completely Gold Symbol the Battle Frontier would be fantastic. Maybe an anime-only character could fight us in the Battle Frontier. Maybe you could put your Rival in the Battle Frontier for a daily battle, or maybe have Wally as the super secret superboss HARDER than Steven.
On the storyline bit, its just because Pokemon games always go with incredibly simplistic writing (barring gen 9 and arguably B2W2), like if these legacy mods continue you'll have a LOT of work to do on that front, even in games like Plat and BW which are better regarded in that sense.
A few people are arguing about the orb colors. I like that they grabbed the correct ones this time. Sure, it doesnt match rs or oras, but this game is supposed to stand on its own. Even in base emerald, the correct color never proved to control or engage with the legendary. They simply fought you. So its ok that the team leaders were smart enough to grab the correct colored orb, and then all it does is awaken them. Not control them. Ruby and sapphire never happened so there's no contradiction based on previous material, and primal reversion isn't a thing so we shouldn't have to consider gen 6. We need to think how the developers should have at gen 3.
If it bothers people that much, then the logic for grabbing the wrong orb can be "we thought it would weaken it enough to control them." But imo, both versions work equally as well, as long as there is text to give context.
What about a post game double battle with both leaders? Or battle frontier where they show up sometimes in the doubles format, or individually in singles. Bonus points if they adjust their teams to benefit from the opposite weather, like Aqua's seviper learning flamethrower for sun, and magma's zangoose learning thunder for rain, to show they are accepting a balance of both ideals. Maybe not those pokemon specifically, but along the same line.
I also like the synergy of a double intimidate lead, and Crobat dodging Earthquakes while it takes out swampert to protect camerupt. And more doubles moves like rock slide, earthquake, explosion, surf, helping hand, dive/dig and protect to avoid earthquake and explosion, etc. There's some room to make a good doubles team with those 2.
@@Alienldr for the postgame I wanna see Archie with crawdaunt or Walrein high 60 is what I like to see Maxie 2 Houndooms.
Next you'll tell me team galactic on the platinum legacy don't use space pokemon like clafairy. The shock.
But yeah seriously. So many good fire ground and water types they could have used. Literally every aqua member should have a Mon with surf at minimum
Platinum Legacy would have Team Galactic, not Plasma...
galactic*
Hey Smith! Excited to see the progress made in the project! My favorite changes are definitely the story beats as well as adding more resistance to Swampert. Since I was a kid, Mudkip has always been my favorite starter and still is my favorite Pokemon! But returning to RSE as an adult, I always got a little bored stomping everything into the ground with him, which incentivized me to try the other two awesome starters. I lost my childhood copy of Emerald ironically in a flood (curse you Team Aqua and Kyogre! 🤣) and would love for this upgraded version to be my fiancé's first experience of the Hoenn region and my personal favorite gen of Pokemon!
Fun fact: no one has fully watched this video yet
I have now!
12:31 I was about to go on a whole infodump tangent about the Isahaya Bay Reclamation project, but thankfully y'all are on top of things
Love the changes! I feel like an optional post game fight with each of the team's leaders would be really cool, putting them at the same or a little weaker than post-game Steven. Maxie should be hanging around at the top of Mt. Chimney and Archie should be either at the museum in slateport or on top of mt. pyre. They'd be pondering how to achieve the root of their ideals (being how to help/save people) without going so extreme like before. I like the locations that i mentioned previously, since they are all places that I would never bother to return to in a normal playthrough, which also makes the locations feel a little bit more special.
the changes rock. The postgame could include the delta episode, but also how Maxie and Archie want to exploit Deoxys for their ideals/truths. This may lead to a setup for Black/White legacy
I think you did a really good job of balancing the two different teams so now they both equally feel important to the plot. Also Adding More Pokemon to each teams roster really helps so they’re not all stuck with the same 4 lines
Mentioned the post game involving the two groups. It be interesting if they are involved with the regi trio. Ice is water and steel and rock are related to earth "magma". They can even aid in the quest.
@@deathechovii my idea of the postgame is to open up some of the water routes an gain access to rarer pkmn. Like maybe he could move a few block of water spots and introduce kanto pkmn there like dewgong lapras mantine etc the river by fortree and by oldale town..could give you access to wooper dratini poliwags mudkip
Part of what made traversing the oceans so mind nullingly boring.. just a constant rotation of wingull wailmer tentacool.. smh more interesting and varied spawns. Would be very much appreciated. It's all wailmer, wingulls and tentacool for all the sea routes, which is like the last 1/4 of the game. Lord knows the series has enough water pokemon to draw from.
Gen 3 only has 4 or 5 Slots for water encounters while grass has like, 15.
So they waste a slot on Wingull and Tentacool, and then make Sharpedo and Walter locked behind ocean fishing.
No wild sharpedo, wailord, So they waste a slot on Wingull and Tentacool, and then make Sharpedo and Walter locked behind ocean fishing. the concept was actually quite good it was IMO just a problem in execution. I mainly just wish they actually utilized the water environments instead of making them all the same with the exact same Pokémon Dive had so much unutilized potential given how diverse Earth's oceans are along the coast it makes no sense for everything to be just Clamperl Chinchou and Relicanth.
There are so many different variations of reefs and algal forests/meadows IRL so why is everything just those 3 encounters with fairly bland/monotonous topography outside of Sootopolis. Its particularly jarring that Horsea is a fishing encounter rather than found living in the seaweed since that is where seahorses and their relatives are specially adapted to live. They physiologically can't be fished up with a rod like they are in Pokémon as their food is tiny. Its like trying to bait a lion with cabbage in the Andes doomed from the start. Given the number of aquatic Pokémon that were unused in Hoenn: Shellder, Cloyster, Krabby, Kingler, Dratini, Dragonair, Qwilfish Remoraid, Octillery, Mantine etc..
I know it wouldn't work for story reasons, but I think it would be to have the villain teams involved in the Regi hunt. Having Maxie catch Regirock and to have Archie catch Regice would be interesting. The motivation could be to have sub legendary Pokémon that could give them some possible leverage if they feel Rayquaza could ruin their plans. The Regi choices are such because rock is another form of earth that could be aligned with Team Magma, and ice is a state of water that could align with Team Aqua. Registeel would be the player's counter to then free the other Regis and then catch them in the post-game. I know it would be a stupid amount of work to add, but it is something I thought might interest you.
It would be cool to see Archie and Maxie working together on humanitarian efforts in the postgame. Stuff like bringing supplies to parts of Slateport that flooded from the battle, or working to get water supply lines to make farmlands near the desert. You could tie Groudon and Kyogre into the postgame that way too, like having the player fight them to stop continued damage.