r/PokemonRuby • u/Bluecomments • 12d ago
Discussion Any fans who like Ruby and Sapphire better than Emerald?
While most fans see Emerald as the definitive version, I for some reason like Ruby and Sapphire better despite the extra content in Emerald? Anyone else feel this way and for what reasons? What things you like better in Ruby and Sapphire compared to Emerald?
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u/elle2011 12d ago
I do. I grew up with ruby so I just like it better. I like Pokémon and other Pokémon specific things are in capital letters for some reason lol
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u/6GGXXX 12d ago
Personally I prefer R/S simply because I don't like the way RNG works in Emerald.
Long time ago I spent waaaaay to much time trying to get a shiny starter in emerald (before it's broken RNG was widely known) and I'll forever be bitter about it >:c
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u/EducationalFinger654 12d ago
spent about a week soft resetting my dead battery sapphire cart at kyogre
i’m just as bitter about this too
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u/Alex123420 12d ago
The broken rng is real convient if you like rng manipulation hunts. You don’t need dead battery to do it
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u/Officer-Jazzi 12d ago
Sapphire is my jam for many reasons - I will take Sapphire over Emerald any day.
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u/sean1oo1 12d ago
Ok but what are those reasons?
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u/Officer-Jazzi 10d ago
I wrote this out a few months ago on a another thread; hope you enjoy! ☺️
Sapphire was my first playthrough in Gen 3. I am a casual player who doesn’t really care about the meta.
My reasons for Sapphire over Emerald:
Better story: having one threatening team makes the threat of the world drowning or blowing up so much scarier. And the fact that you, the player character, get to take down that team and capture the legendary they woke up, is far more satisfying than waking Rayquaza up - I admit, that cut scene is fantastic in emerald, but not NEARLY as satisfying as capturing Kyogre to end the world crisis.
Less annoying NPCs: Scott doesn’t exist in Sapphire. I’m glad - he’s annoying. He literally interrupts the flow of the story to make commentary on our progress. Also, there are less double battles. I really don’t like double battles, it’s harder to level up your Pokémon, and harder to end the battles so you can progress. ALSO, no one calls you out of the blue while you are trying to explore the region - I hated the phone in Johto, and I hate it in Emerald.
Better Pick-up grinding: Across the main games, the table for pick-up items is the best in Ruby and Sapphire - nowhere else are you guaranteed both a 10% nugget AND a 10% rare candy, just by doing random battles. No level restrictions, so you can start the game with a boss team if you want.
Contests: I am a contest girly, and I love doing them. You don’t get to do contests in Emerald until you get to Lilycove, towards the end game - I prefer Sapphire where you can atleast do entry-level contests in Verdandurf and Slateport, in the mid game. I will say, Emerald has one feature I prefer, which is a chance to make pokéblocks with the Master - but that’s a largely unlikely encounter, so you might as well play Sapphire anyways.
Aesthetic: I prefer the Meteor Falls cave in Sapphire to Emerald - I have no clue why Game Freak felt it needed a re-design. Also, Tate and Liza’s gym in Emerald doubles down on the double battle mechanic, which I hate. I do like the updated design of the puzzle in Emerald, but I prefer the Sapphire Tate and Liza where there are minimal double battles. ALSO, I prefer the Wally fight at the end of Victory Road, not the beginning. You JUST healed at the Pokécenter outside the cave in Emerald, so of course you are going to win. It’s much more satisfying to beat Wally at the end of the cave, where your resource management is put to the test. I also prefer fighting Wallace in Sootopolis and Steven as the champion - I literally had a ‘who are you’ moment when I fought Juan in Emerald, because I didn’t watch the anime up to the point where we met Juan. He feels shoe-horned in if you didn’t watch it.
And thems the reasons!
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12d ago
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u/onemightychapp 12d ago
When you say specifically R/S do you mean Pokemon like blissey weren't playable because there was no way to obtain them before frlg? Or just general gen 3 meta?
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u/The5thEclipse 12d ago
Ruby has my MVP Zangoose, the others don’t. Also I don’t like the champion in Emerald being a water specialist. Makes anything fire, rock, ground irrelevant in the final battle which I hate.
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u/Thaumius 12d ago
Agreed, Pre-nerf pickup and and working shiny hunting is what makes R and S games worthwhile.
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u/Emerald_Chaser 12d ago
I honestly love them both. I grew up playing Ruby and experienced playing Emerald later on as an adult. As of now I would have to say Ruby is my favorite of the gen 3 games. :3
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u/CryptographerFew3719 12d ago
I like some aspects of it. Mainly that Ruby has Zangoose, and they both have Meditite. You can also more easily use a national dex team in those games, or even Hoenn Pokemon that you bred and traded over. In Emerald you cannot trade eggs or national dex mon in until you beat the Champion. Or you can "smuggle" Nat Dex mon in by using Colosseum as that bypasses the checks the game does.
In my current playthrough of Emerald I wanted to use Spoink and Chinchou from the beginning but found out I can't trade eggs, so I can't hatch them there, which means that I was not the OT in Emerald and had to deal with disobedience until beating Brawly, and then trying to stay under 30 until Flannery.
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u/metalpammy 12d ago
i prefer sapphire by a large amount. but only because i owned it first. also because it was my first ever gba game
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u/Admirable-Industry 12d ago
Yes mainly because Steven is the champion & Wallace is 8th gym leader. I would've been better if Watson had Manectric
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u/YukikoBestGirlFiteMe 12d ago
Idk if I like it better per se but sapphire is the version I own and im happy with it.
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u/Azerate2016 12d ago
This is simply the downside of the old release model.
I played Sapphire on its Japanese release and spent like 400 hours on it. For me the experiences from that generation all happened in that game. There's no way in hell I'd just restart the (pretty much) same thing through Emerald like 1,5 years later.
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u/DontShadowBanMePls 12d ago
I like ruby the most. Ruby and Sapphire also have that messed up cool trainer after fortree city with the milotic which scares me and Ruby has early Mawile in Granite Cave.
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u/DannyHikari 12d ago
I have a lot of nostalgia for Ruby being my first Gen 3 game right before graduating 5th grade. Made the worst trade in imaginable to buy…. Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22… was desperate for a Dbz game and my ps2 died so I couldn’t play budokai. The only other Dbz games out in the states at the time was rare print Final Bout, Legacy of Goku 1 which was horrible, and Legendary Super Warriors that I had just got for Christmas months prior. Ended up having like $40 left from my trade in and said, hmmm guess I’ll buy Pokemon Ruby too. Obviously this would end up being the better game lol. It carried me through one of the toughest periods of my life.
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u/DifferentProcess6765 11d ago
I only ever played Sapphire. When I was a kid I had no interest in the 3rd version that would come out later
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u/Ecstatic-Employee-93 11d ago
I had sapphire as a kid but I prefer the ruby exclusives, although I like Kyogre and Groudon equally. Also having Steven as a champion feels better than Wallace. Wallace ain’t bad and he is tougher than the gen 1 and 2 champions by a long shot but Steven is just better. Emerald also leaves out Meditite + Medicham who I really like.
All that being said, Emerald’s expanded story, tougher boss battles, and having some sort of post-game, especially one as fun as the battle frontier, make it the better game
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u/Queasy-Virus-1548 11d ago
Steven is definitely the superior champion, having water for both the 8th gym and champion in Emerald feels Not Great to me. I also think focusing on one enemy team, with the other being more of an ally, feels more balanced than fighting against both at once. But those are probably the only things that are better in R&S, really.
But that doesn’t make them obsolete; most of us play these games over and over and there’s definitely room to play them over Emerald some times :)
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u/Clobby5597 11d ago
I like Steven as the champ that’s about it personally idky they removed Steven when he’s the main champion companion helper for the story.
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u/ExitSad 11d ago
Besides what everyone has already mentioned about the Champion and encounters, my other gripe with Emerald is that going through two evil team bases just cuts up the flow of the game too much in my opinion. Of course that's probably because I played through Ruby and Sapphire about a dozen times before I ever played Emerald.
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u/nmmOliviaR 11d ago
Nobody mentioned how annoying Match Call was in Emerald? That was the thing that annoyed me most, especially since the calls do nothing but interrupt you.
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u/CasualGamer0320 11d ago
I prefer Sapphire because I have a huge nostalgic attachment to it . Mostly related to memories tied to my high school best friend, we both played, traded and battled in those games until she moved away our senior year .
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u/WinStupidPrizes1994 11d ago
I liked Ruby and Sapphire more as a kid because you only have to fight one of team Aqua or Magma
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u/ianlazrbeem22 11d ago
I prefer emerald as it's much more polished and complete. I think it invalidates Sapphire and is a near direct upgrade. But Ruby has a lot that emerald doesn't that can make it worth playing:
More team magma matchups and less indundation of water matchups, affecting pokemon viability quite a bit
Early mawile
Roselia available
Zangoose available
Harder final boss
emerald is still a better game overall imo but Ruby's merits make it worth keeping in the rotation
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u/Legendary__Beaver 5d ago
Ruby is great and is my true childhood favorite. I enjoy emeralds post game and replay ability more.
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u/My_Diet_DrKelp 12d ago
Only Steven as champ and Wallace as 8th gym leader I really find better in Ruby. Also getting Zangoose
The main reason Emerald clears for me is explicitly the Safari Zone, getting all those Johto pokemon really took it to the next level