More Alpha Sapphire! It's not that I haven't been playing, it's just that there's a lot of routes around Fortree and Lilycove and I'm just taking my time, looking at the sights, grinding up my team and whatnot. Really a lot of what's happened, volume-wise, is just battles and capture attempts.
Anyway, the last time I left off in here was when I reached Fortree City, which is actually still quite as spartan as it was in generation three. The treehouses and the wooden bridges that move when you walk on them are still around and are prettied up, but otherwise it's just mostly the same. I say mostly because I cannot remember if the Secret Base Guild was around last time... and if it were, Aarune or whatever that cowboy's name is certainly wasn't hanging around. I haven't really given the Secret Base much thought, though between Fortree and Lilycove, I've stocked up on a couple of fancy dolls and whatnot.
As always, Steven's got a couple of additional scenes, including this obvious 'hmm, let me move to the next route and you should follow me to progress'. The whole Devon Scope and invisible Kecleon thing is still around (though sadly despite the enhanced graphics Kecleon's supposedly unchangeable middle-stripe is still invisible) and my character actually holds the Devon Scope as an actual, physical device, which I thought was freaking hilarious!
Also Steven's got some additional dialogues, and he mentions the Meteorite I have in my inventory, seeming to hint at something. He gives me a Swampertite, though, which is oh hell yes. Swampert can bulk up and make his Armstrong nickname make so much more sense! I'm a big fan of Mega Swampert. Hell, I think all the Hoenn starters got pretty great-looking Mega Evolutions, even with Sceptile's weird Christmas tree missile thing.
Also, to note is that Scott is completely missing. I know that this is a remake of Ruby and Sapphire, and follows their plotlines to a T... but it makes me wonder, since Heart Gold and Soul Silver had the additional Suicune plotlines from Crystal imported over. So are we getting Delta Emerald or something along those lines in the future? PLEASE?
Exploring around the post-Fortree route, I enter the Scorched Slab... which used to be this hidden cave accessed only if you surf across a pool. Used to be there was a single TM (Sunny Day here, and I believe the same back in RSE) here but now it's a full-fledged cave that stretches two floors down. There are your usual complements of Zubats, Golbats and hidden items in rocks, but nothing too particular. I suspect a post-game legendary is hidden here. Heatran, maybe, judging from the name? A Volcarona? Or the still-officially-unrevealed Volcanion?
The Fortree Gym is still the same as it was in Ruby/Sapphire, with those weird spinning panel things, though as with everything else it's been prettied up. It looks more like a wood/log-themed gym aesthetically compared to the Trick House looking thing back in RSE. I thought the puzzle felt a lot easier than it was in generation 3, but I might just be confusing it with Emerald, which I'm sure revised the puzzles to be harder. Winona is also mostly identical to her generation 3 counterpart, which is a bit surprising since practically every other gym leader I've met so far has gotten updated appearances. She's got some extra dialogue just looking away and generally being sort of air-headed, but my Mega Swampert's Rock Slide simply wiped out the entire gym without any effort whatsoever.
Swampert also learned Earthquake, which is like the ultimate ground physical attack and the best thing that could happen to Swampert.
After the Fortree Gym, I returned to the Berry Master's house and ravaged the berries I've planted and started giving all the blue pokeblocks in my inventory to Mimi the modest Feebas. I do like how I immediately get some pokeblocks straight off the bat, including some pokeblock-plus, however the hell I could make those. Absolutely happy that they have simplified the pokeblock making minigame into us just placing the berries into a blender and the pokeblocks just pop out instead of that stupid minigame which, ten years after the fact, I still have no idea how it works.
So Mimi transformed into a beautiful, beautiful level 26 Milotic with Splash and Tackle, and coincidentally the first battle that Milotic took place in is against the only trainer in this game who uses a Milotic on this rainy route.
I'm so happy! I've never managed to obtain a Milotic via its original method in the generation 3 game, so this is a bit of a childhood goal accomplished.
Lilycove City! As everything else that's not Mauville (I should check out New Mauville), Lilycove is still pretty faithful to its original incarnation, but prettied up a bit. The rival battle with May is still around... and surprisingly, she has a Sceptile! Back in RSE, May only had a Grovyle in her last battle, which is kind of pathetic. May's four pokemon has been evolved to their final forms. She's still pretty weak compared to other rivals and my Mega Swampert basically wiped out everything in her arsenal, but it's nice to see her have that final stage and everything.
What is there in Lilycove? The big mega-mart is still there, and Team Aqua grunts are still hanging around the town being shift (and apparently having stolen other people's pokemon). There's a Lisia/Ali fanclub which I'm sure is a brand-new addition, and there's a Roselia there that's apparently holding up a fan-art of Ali, which I thought is adorable. Also, the Wailmer in the Lilycove beach are actually Wailmers, so it's nice. The Lilycove Hotel is quite pretty, though there isn't anyone staying there thanks to the Aqua invasion and I'm shooed out by the kitchen. It looks extremely Japanese, which is appropriate.
The Art Museum is kind of expanded as well, a la the one in Kalos, but the second floor is inaccessible (they have plaaaans for it). On the first floor there are funny stuff like a Shroomish sculpture, which is funny, a gorgeous little Giratina church-window-mosaic art thing, and an Arceus painting. Also other generic stuff, but these are the ones that stand out. In the big mega-mart, there's this crazy dude in purple with a superman cape, and all these Hoenn Power Rangers things are over the place, including a little 'stick your head in this and photograph yourself' thing on the rooftop. Wonder what all this power rangers thing will end up amounting to.
I took a peek into the Aqua Hideout and I love what they've done into the place! It's still a cave, yes, but it's got chains and leaves and whatnot all over it, making it really look like a pirate's hideout which is awesome.
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