Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Review

Primal powers make their grand return.

Console: Nintendo 3DS

As I´ve talked about before, the 6th generation of Pokémon is my favourite. Pokémon X & Y brought me back to Pokémon and gaming as a whole. Still, another strong reason for this love is these games: Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, the long-awaited remakes of the GBA's Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire. These remakes brought back the games I started my Pokémon journey with. Well, I started with these games' third version, Emerald, but it's essentially the same thing.

I really liked X & Y, so when Game Freak followed up with remakes of Generation III in the same style, I was excited! While I might not have played it as much as X & Y (a tough record to beat), I still played my copy of Omega Ruby so much that you can see the wear and tear on the game card. It makes me a bit fearful about the future of that game card, but I digress.

Without further ado, let's dive into these remakes and why they’re among my favourite Pokémon games.

As always, you're a 10-year-old kid who sets out on their Pokémon journey to catch them all and become the best there ever was.

This time, you're the child of a Gym Leader, Norman, and have just moved from Johto to the equatorial Hoenn. Shortly after unpacking, you run into your father's old friend Prof. Birch under attack by a Zigzagoon. As thanks, he allows you to keep the Pokémon you grabbed from his bag to fight the Pokémon, gives you a Pokédex, and sends you on your journey. Soon, you encounter Team Aqua or Team Magma (depending on the version) whose nefarious plans are quickly coming to fruition...

What’s interesting about the narrative, looking back at it through this remake lens, is that Ruby & Sapphire is where the traditional Pokémon story found its footing. Became more involved. It's where the evil team(s) of the region focusing on the box-art legendary Pokémon to achieve their world-threatening goals started. 

More unique to it: we also finally have a dad! This not only adds novelty but also gives the player more motivation to beat the Gym Leaders: to reach their dad and see if they can beat him. Combine this with the two evil teams, which also differentiate the two versions more, and you get a narrative that is a nice change of pace.

Also interesting to me are the story changes these remakes make. Those fall into two camps: everything Mega Evolution-related and all the other things. The first is easy to explain. Mega Evolution is Gen VI's big gimmick, so it’s only got that it got integrated into this remake. I just wish it wasn't as clunky. It amounts to nothing more than a five-minute detour with Steven Stone and Latios/Latias. It’s nice that it’s here, but couldn’t it have been integrated into the story more smoothly? Connect it more concretely to Primal Reversion, maybe?

A mystery that this game doesn't even attempt to uncover, sadly. 

The second category includes everything else, but I want to highlight the redesigns. Every character and even some locations have undergone a thorough overhaul. For instance, the Team Aqua and Magma admins went from barely unique designs with no personality to unique designs and distinct personalities. Courtney is now a very emotionally reserved girl with a computer-like speech pattern. Things like these make the dialogue more colourful and fun.

Upping each character’s involvement in the plot, making them pop up more, was also a good way to make these characters, and by extension the journey, more memorable. Giving your rival more to do, who infamously didn’t even evolve their starter all the way, with more encounters and a post-credit battle was a good choice too. It’s now a beautiful little moment in which you reflect on the journey you just undertook.

Lastly, we have the Delta Episode, an epilogue unique to these remakes that, let’s be honest, is one big fan-pleaser. Why do I say this? It’s all about that rumour/wish that people had back in the day that the Mossdeep Space Center would bring you to space. Here, you finally do go to space! It’s a cool bonus that gives these remakes some unique content and a chance to catch up until than event exclusive Deoxys.

Like I said, not just the characters but also some of the region has gotten a redesign. Most notably, and maybe the only noticeable one now that I think of it, is Mauville City. Or ‘Mallville’ City as is probably more appropriate. Gone is the regular town and in its place now is essentially a giant mall with people living in it.

I don’t really see the point of this change, but it does make the city a lot more of an attraction. It gives the game another big locale, and changes like this make remakes feel more substantial and different. Not something like Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, where the game is not much more than a 3D reskin of the originals. In contrast, the lack of trainer customization, only one game after it was introduced to the series, is felt.

Come to think of it, Hoenn has quite a few locales these games play up. With the move to 3D, the camera has become a lot more dynamic. Even more than in X & Y, we have instances of the camera zooming out and changing positions to show off the scenery or action for some dynamic moments that are the real highlight of this 3D upgrade.

Moments like this make, made possible by the 3D graphics and the camera work, are memorable moments in this game. 

Based on the southernmost part of Japan, the Kyūshū region, Hoenn has a warm and humid climate compared to the mild climates of Kanto and Johto. We don’t have any snowy mountaintops or the like. Instead, we have jungle areas, lots of rain, and even more water. That makes Hoenn stand out compared to the other regions, even beyond its trumpets. The instrument is a bit less prominent with the more orchestral twang in these new compositions but makes up for this loss with some excellent new tracks, with Wally's new battle theme as the highlight.

Circling back to the geography of Hoenn, lots of the region is covered in water. That ‘Too much water’ quote from IGN’s review of these games has gone down in infamy, and while I also laugh at it, there is a core of truth to it. There is a lot of sea, ponds and other bodies of water. 

You’ll need a hefty amount of HMs to get around the region, from Surf and Dive to Strength and Rock Smash, but I honestly don’t think it’s as bad as people have made it out to be. There are some core moments in which you need HMs to progress the story, but those aren’t as plentiful or long as you might think or remember. With the very nifty new soaring mechanic, which allows you to genuinely fly in Hoenn's sky, the ‘Fly’ HM becomes unnecessary to have a Pokémon in your party all the time.

Gameplay-wise: it’s Pokémon. The more Pokémon games I review, the less I feel I need to talk about it. You catch Pokémon that you battle with to become the best there ever was, yadee, yada. Instead, I’m going to focus on what’s different here. What was newly introduced with Ruby & Sapphire back in the day and the stuff that has been grandfathered into these remakes since then.

Let’s start off with what the originals brought to the table, beginning with double battles. I like them. It’s a different game but with the same rules. It’s still battling, but there are other things you have to take into account, such as which Pokémon to attack and what two Pokémon complement each other. How you can cover their weaknesses, for example. Long story short: I feel double battles are more strategic, and I wish the story had more such battles than the dozen or so it now has.

The other new thing Ruby & Sapphire brought besides double battles is contests. Beauty pageants for your Pokémon where you compete for Ribbons and other prizes. I don’t care much for them. It’s neat that Game Freak included a non-battle-focused thing to do with your Pokémon, but my problem with contests is that they’re so vague and complicated.

Each contest consists of two rounds where you’re judged based on your appeal, but in round two especially, it’s very unclear how the point system works. Yes, there is a system of combos and such in place based on the kind of move you use and in what order, but it is not explained in-game. What is here and is understandable is nothing more than a small distraction.

Now, what has come on top of that? All the stuff that the games before them, X & Y, introduced with one more addition I want to highlight that’s all its own. The Fairy type alone changes up the strategies since there’s a different type chart to work with. It also means that Steven's signature Pokémon, even with its spiffy new Mega, is now weak to Ghost and Dark types, so be sure to keep that in mind if you find yourself struggling!

Not that I think you will find yourself struggling thanks to those other two things: the Mega Evolutions and the Exp. Share. Both make the experience a lot easier than it used to be. Mega Evolution is the first in a now long line of battle gimmicks. It’s a fun one, evolving one of the 46 eligible Pokémon mid-battle for a new look and sometimes even new typings and abilities that can change up their entire playstyle.

This is a lot of fun to do, especially with a personal favorite Pokémon of mine: Gallade, but it’s also clearly unbalanced. They’re so powerful that in the game itself, Mega Evolving is nine out of ten times more or less an ‘instant-win’ button. It doesn’t take away from the fun, but it does take away from the tension of the fights, especially now that you can’t go online anymore to battle. It used to be very easy with the PSS tool, which made battling and trading a breeze, but alas, it’s no more.

The awesomness that is Mega Gallade about to strike down a Shiftry.

The reworked Exp. Share is also here to make the experience more of a breeze. It’s now a key item that gives experience to all Pokémon in your party if you turn it on. This means less grinding to get Pokémon up to level but also leads to Pokémon you have in your party a lot, like your starter, quickly over-leveling. You can turn it off, which is so very much appreciated, but even then, I found the experience to be easier than it used to be. Balancing, I guess.

That highlight? The Dexnav. An app in the upgraded version of the PokéNav, now making use of the 3DS’ touchscreen. The latter has many applications, such as showing in-universe news broadcasts, but the best feature is that Dexnav. A radar that allows you to search for specific Pokémon, and the more you encounter, the higher the chance it has egg moves, hidden abilities, or is even Shiny.

Last and, to me honestly, least, I think I do need to mention the absence of the Battle Frontier. I just said ‘least’ because, little secret, I never cared for the Battle Frontier. Introduced in Ruby & Sapphire's third version Emerald, it was a post-game island filled with all different kinds of battle institutes. From ones where you rent Pokémon to one in which you fight in a three-round setup.

Many liked these challenges, but I did not. I did try them all but I only managed to get one Frontier Symbol because I just didn’t care about going for it in the other facilities. I thus don’t miss it at all. In its place is X & Y’s Battle Maison. While I like the Maison and spent not an insignificant time there back in the day, the fact that it’s just a carbon copy of what was in X & Y instead of something new is disappointing.

Conclusion

Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire capture what made the originals what they were while also updating them for the 'modern' age. They do what I think a Pokémon remake should always strive for. To not just be a more modern-looking game but one that deepens the experience with new features. From more colourful characters with distinct personalities to new Mega Evolutions, to an entirely new epilogue. Yes, there are still some old issues that persist and some corners cut, but these games are a worthy update to the GBA originals, good Pokémon games, and the best way to experience Hoenn.

I found them to be my favourite Pokémon games for a while after they were released. They were the remakes of my first Pokémon generation, now with spiffy 3D, the neat Fairy type, and the kick-ass Mega Evolutions. Over time, that hype died down, and I think I might have journeyed to Hoenn one too many times in a 'the road most walked cannot surprise you' type of way, but I’m still very fond of them to this day. I might not play them again for a few years, but I just know I will bust them out again one day.