I decided to play this game again for the 10th anniversary, and I feel I have a lot of nostalgia with this game, so my review might be a little softer than normal, but I feel like that can't really be helped with how many times I've replayed this. I don't think I have it in my heart to call this game mid, but I wouldn't exactly say it's anything crazy even in it's own series. I think this game is just serviceable, I do agree that a third version (Pokémon Z) would've made this game so much better because the main problem is that the potential for something great is there, but it isn't used properly. The game is one of, if not the easiest in the series, the new Pokémon are minimal and not many are interesting, the story is very underwhelming, and has what I believe to be the worst rivals yet. Despite all of that, I don't really dislike this game. I find that playing this now years later that it's not as entertaining as it was as a kid, but it's a solid, polished game that still brings back good memories and provides enough for me so still enjoy it now. The aesthetic of the region is what I love most about it, from the unique route themes to the character customization, which is still one of the best so far. I played it as a randomizer in this run because I wanted to spice things up as I've played this at least more than seven times, and I managed to get some pretty good Pokémon from it. My final team was:
- Mothership (Magnezone)
- Dumbledurr (Conkledurr)
- Sonic (Sandslash)
- Gumdrop (Goodra)
- Barack Obama (Abomasnow)
- Gigabyte (Gigalith)
Overall, I would say while this game is very simplistic and lacking in areas, I think it's still a pretty fun game to revisit every once in a while.