Why Kanto is Commonly Hated

The Pokemon series has been going for over 20 years, and yet the region that started it all has garnered some hate from Pokemon fans. But what's the reason for the vitriol?

It all comes down to how frequently the region is used and referenced. Whether you have a Game Boy Advance, 3DS, or Switch, you have a way to play Kanto. It's appeared in Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Let's Go Pikachu, and Let's Go Eevee. And with the frequent appearances, there are a few reasons why it's gotten old.

1. It hasn't been redesigned. Whether you're playing Pokemon Red or Let's Go Pikachu, the Kanto region hasn't seen any improvements or changes in terms of building placement, route length, or terrain smoothing. It's always grid-based, always grassy, and always boring.

2. Game Freak won't shut up about it. Despite Sun and Moon having nothing to do with Kanto, it's still brought up frequently by NPCs. Pokemon from Kanto also tend to get special treatment, especially Pikachu. This means that even when a Pokemon game has nothing even slightly to do with the Kanto region, no matter what game you're playing, you're reminded of Kanto.

While Kanto has been hated for awhile, it started being despised mostly during generation 7 (Sun and Moon). The player is from Kanto, some Pokemon like Meowth and Raichu (but not Pikachu or Pichu) have new Alola specific designs, which brings Kanto into the picture, the professor is obviously based on professor Oak, Red and Blue (the trainers) show up in the post-game.

It's like being in a car with a child that keeps talking about wanting to be home. They won't shut up about it and it gets irritating. You try to tune them out, but any possible distraction is another reminder. And that's one reason why Sun and Moon are almost my least favorite Pokemon games. They want desperately to be somewhere else, but they're forced to be the Alola region.

And it's a shame the Alola region is so obsessed with the Kanto region, because Alola is far more interesting than Kanto. Kanto has static camera angles, flat surfaces, and no curved routes. Every wall in Kanto is flat. There's no variety to be seen anywhere. Let's Go was a great opportunity to breathe new life into Kanto, but it failed, and only made people hate it more. They didn't update anything. If they did then people would be mad because their nostalgia would be ruined! Is that it? Is Game Freak afraid to fix Kanto because its flaws are nostalgic?

Whatever the reason may be, can we please go a few generations without the constant gen 1 pandering?