>actually quite a few expansive routes >plays well with

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>>30310774
I hated how "on rails" the islands are set up but they do look 10x better then anything in X and Y. It was almost like an amusement park of biomes. Poni island and Mount Lanakila were rushed, Poni island was way too small, i enjoyed the idea of the island being all nature with almost no civilization but it's just small. Lanakila should of been the last trial which lead you to the Pokemon league but they fucked that up too.

>>30310848
To be fair though, half of Poni Island is locked until you become Champion, so it's a bit more expansive. Still the smallest island though

>>30310887
Yeah I was talking about the island as a whole. Could of been a good opportunity to go crazy with the canyon desert theme, maybe some actual water areas but oh well

>>30310941
On the bright side the Vast Poni Canyon is awesome, and has a awesome soundtrack. While small I also dig those geysers and desolate look of Poni Breaker Coast

Feels really weird seeing routes in a pokemon game that aren't more or less just straight corridors in a single direction

>>30310774
>Best jungle
I like the music, but it's four tiny screens. I'd rather it be a whole route and fully explorable. Hoenn's jungle beats it out because of that.

>Best Desert
Nah. I'd say only Kalos' desert is worse, and it's because of the wind. It's a maze of same-y screens with like two pokemon, there's nothing at all interesting there.

>>30310774
>Quite a few expansive routes
I wouldn't really say that. They're very direct paths in a circle around each island, with a few small branching paths for items or random tiny areas.
>Plays well with uneven terrain
I will say that this has been the best looking region, it actually looks like a game made in the current generation. Vast Poni Canion in particular was really lovely.
>Best Jungle
Eh, I dunno. It would've been better if you actually had to traverse your way through a difficult jungle, rather than walk along paths and find random items, while barely having to leave said path.
>Best desert
I mean, I guess, but the deserts were never that good. Nothing really stood out as being particularly amazing. I prefer Unova's desert, what with the Volcarona temple and such.
>Mount Lanakila
That was a fucking pile of shit. I mean, it looks huge on the map, and you expect it to be some huge dungeon leading up to a nice mountaintop village, but in reality it's just a short as fuck little cave leading to a single pokemon center and the E4. It's easily the single worst "Victory Road" in any Pokemon game.
>Several biomes and environments that make for a cohesive region
I suppose, but I was kinda disappointed that there wasn't more exploring, especially in the water. The water areas felt so fucking rigid, the only surfing part where you do more than go from one shore to another is at Melemele island once you get Sharpedo.
>Lots of neat special locations
They look nice, but again, it feels like they don't really do much with them.
>Feels natural with tons of crossroads and alternate paths
I suppose, but as you said, during the game they make it linear as fuck, which kinda ruins the chance of the region seeming very fluid and open.

Overall, I'd say it's alright; certainly better than Kalos, but frankly, I can't imagine something bad enough to be worse than Kalos. I feel like it would've been better if the islands were larger, but fewer.

>>30310774
>best desert
Fucking no

>>30311387
Hoenn doesn't even have a jungle though. The routes to Fortree are very nice but they don't really feel jungle-esque

>>30310774
Black sand beach? Where?

>>30311710
near the megamart that bulu wrecked

>>30310774
>live on an archipelago
>less traversable water than Hoenn

>>30311738
Water routes are boring. It's the same shit everytime, a collection of water tiles and a bunch of rocks.

I wish Diving was back, though

>>30311738
Blame ign.

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Hawaiifag here. Quite liked it. I would've liked more, but I always like more. Might've helped that I could I.D. most of the places.

>>30310774
I liked the map overall. However, I was disappointed with all the sections you skip in transitioning between routes on the third island. The first two islands were really well interconnected, but then the third one jumps cuts you a lot and made the island feel a lot smaller than it looked like on artwork and the map. Also, the power plant and recycing center were just sort of there without anything particularly interesting.

>>30312094
I don't see why they didn't make a diving ride instead of Sharpedo or Mudsdale. They could have used diving to get around rocks blocking parts of the water. Mudsdale on the other hand was totally pointless. There's nowhere prior to where you get it where you could use its ability and you're blocked from going down that path earlier anyway.

>>30312590
There's a shortcut to skip all the mudsdale sections too, you just have more grass in the way.

>>30312719
Mudsdale was definitely thrown in as a ride poke because they already had an over world model for Hapu

>>30312364
Does Konikoni City represent any place in particular?

Is there a random Chinatown on Maui somewhere?

>>30312719
I think some sections of Vast poni Canyon require Mudsdale

>>30312833
Lots of Chinese in general. The big Chinatown is on Oahu. Nothing in particular on Maui, but they're there. They did swap a few locations around for probably aesthetic reasons.

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>Time for the Kiawe's trial
>Aw yeah, time for a cool volcano cavern dungeon
>Just a straight teleport to the trial site
>mfw
God what a fucking disappointment. I fucking love volcanoes and the like, and this is Hawaii for fucks sake, at least give us a full route or dungeon or something.

>>30310774
The routes weren't expansive, the jungle was tiny and Unova has the best desert. Also the towns aren't very good

Alola was still a good enough region though. Just not the best. Anything is better than Kalos.

>>30313515
>Alola
>expansive dungeon

>>30312860
But that still came after it's introduction. It was less a puzzle mechanic and more a tedium mechanic.

>>30312534
>However, I was disappointed with all the sections you skip in transitioning between routes on the third island

Yeah that was weird. I tend to look at the map on my Rotom Dex whenever I exit an area and enter another one and sometimes it shows my character just flat-out skipping a section of the map. It only happens on the third island too, but thankfully those instances are pretty few and far between so it doesn't bother me too much.

It's amazing how Alola still manages to be one of my favorite regions in the series in spite of how underutilized it was at times. Makes you wonder how much better it could have been if every single spot on the map was actually traversable.

>>30310774
Agreed. I liked how some of the routes had entire sections that were completely optional and out of the way, some of which I didn't even know existed until I went back through them during the post-game. There's certainly a lot of attention to detail going on in this region, even if a few places should have been more explorable than they were.

Stars has the potential to make Alola the undisputed champion of regions.

>>30315073
>tfw you didn't realise you could get to kale'a bay from melemele meadow until after you completed the fourth trial

>>30315073
Alola would be an amazing region if fully realised. As it stands now the things I didnt like disappointed me too much to make this on the level of my current favourites

honestly, i liked SM a lot, but I thought the map was one of the weakest parts

i don't like how tiny each actual map was - there was way too many 'transitions' between routes. i always liked how seamless the transitions were in old games but in this it felt like you were entering a new map all the time

>>30315380
This. Removing gates doesnt mean much if the transitions are still there, and just makes things feel more disconnected. Didnt help that many transitions skipped some land. Like the bridge to Hano Grand Resort.

Like Slateport City in ORAS

Plus, there were a tonne of locations, but many of them werent very big. Like you'd go into a new beach and its actually just a small strip of land

I'm only on the third island, but I love how many conventions it's breaking design wise. Actually feels like a living, breathing region to me. I also love the scarcity of urban areas this time around, feels more realistic. Only thing I dislike so far is how your house is literally the only one in the outskirts of the huge city.

>>30310774
Very shallow. At least it's not obvious that Alola is entirely circular, but it's still very linear and not deep enough.

>>30315598
What conventions is it breaking? I'm curious what you think because it feels pretty normal to me.

I wonder because plenty of other regions felt like living breathing regions too. And also not sure how less urban areas is realistic.

>>30315073
>I liked how some of the routes had entire sections that were completely optional and out of the way

This.

I'm playing the game right now and going back through every island. Almost EVERY route in the region either has a bunch branching paths or huge chunks of map space that can be easily missed if you don't take the time to explore the area.

Route 7 and 8 both have optional water areas that even contain their own mini islands. Route 17 has a big cliff off the beaten path that takes up about half the route. Route 12 has a secluded shore and a whole power plant area that you wouldn't even know about if you just rushed towards Route 13. There are other examples, but those are some of the biggest ones.

>>30313515
The game does the same thing with the electric trial. In both you can travel down the mountain partially but it's out of the way.

>>30315156
I don't think most people realized it. The pathway that leads to Kala'e Bay is probably one of the most well-hidden areas there is.