it's also not gen 4's fault that it had to salvage underwhelming single-stage species from the previous games.
My unpopular opinion is that gen4 cross evos are, overall, a net negative.
- As far as battling, i think they're a mixed bag. They're often better, sure, but often not in ways that are fun.
(List of cross-evo Pokemon: Magnezone, Lickilicky, Rhyperior, Happiny, Tangrowth, Mime Jr., Electivire, Magmortar, Leafeon, Glaceon, Porygon-Z, Munchlax, Togekiss, Bonsly, Ambipom, Yanmega, Honchkrow, Mismagius, Gliscor, Weavile, Mantyke, Gallade, Probopass, Budew, Dusknoir, Chingling, Froslass)
1.
Some of them just aren't better.
Notable offenders: Leafeon, Glaceon, and the 7 baby Pokemon.
Notable successes: Froslass, Yanmega, Lickilicky.
2. Many original guys are / would be fine in-game, reducing the need.
Notable offenders: Rhyperior, Magnezone, Porygon-Z.
Notable successes: Ambipom, Froslass, Yanmega.
3. Evolution methods made them annoying to utilize. (ant sniped me here!)
This is surprisingly applicable to like every Pokemon here. Trade evolutions are the most prominent reason, but evolutionary stones can be debatably a pain depending on the specific game and Pokemon context. For those requiring a certain move, they often get it unnecessarily late–like level 32 for Aipom and the terrible Double Hit, 33 for Yanma and Ancient Power, and originally level 33 for Tangela and Ancient Power (24 now). Even the location-based ones have fiascos. "Vast Poni Canyon" ring a bell?
Notable offenders: Yes
4. Competitive buffs were often unfun.
Moving past the idea that not all Pokemon can or should be "competitively viable" (meaning of which varies from person to person), and having some worse ones is valuable for reducing power creep and role creep, a lot of cross-evos are boring or annoying competitively. Some have bothersome abilities (though do remember Tangrowth's Regenerator was Gen V), some are noob traps, and some are just terrible.
Notable offenders: Togekiss, Ambipom, Probopass.
Notable successes: Honchkrow, Mismagius, Yanmega.
- Design and concept wise, I think the cross-evos are generally downgrades, with exceptions. Their concepts are often shallower than the original concepts and unfaithful to them, or, swinging to the other extreme, painfully uninventive.
1. Humanization in design
This is something later generations get solid flak for, but Gen 4 not so much. I think Gen 4 is more guilty here than later generations, actually. While a Pokemon like Meowscarada is obviously much more human-like than Torterra, Meowscarada does use that likeness for personality and flair that would be harder to justify on a more animalistic Pokemon. Some middle-generation Pokemon face the worst of both worlds: they are decidedly more human-like than their priors, but not in a way used to characterize the Pokemon like Meowscarada, simultaneously lacking that and any animalistic charm or wonder.
Notable offenders: Electivire, Probopass, Ambipom
(There's a separate class of more subtly humanized Pokemon: e.g. Mismagius's hat, Honchkrow's exaggerated hat, Rhyperior's armor.)
Notable exceptions: There are plenty of cross-gen that
maintain their level of humanness, which is good I suppose, but I can't think of any that meaningfully
decrease it, so I'll leave this blank.
2. The old Pokemon's concept but, just, again
Notable offenders: Lickilicky, Tangrowth, Leafeon, Glaceon (but not Sylveon!)
Notable exceptions: Gallade, Porygon-Z, Magnezone
3. Shallowness / subtlety
To illustrate my critique by example, I will now describe the concepts behind two Pokemon to the best of my ability.
Murkrow is an odd character. It obsesses over shiny things and can be a bit of a nuisance, as real birds sometimes are. But it causes problems a bit more on purpose than that. It's a mischievous scamp, but also vaguely sinister. If you ever see it, it will try to get you lost in the mountains. Superstitious people think it's a sign of bad luck, which makes some sense from its shady appearance and behavior.
Honchkrow acts all big, but it makes its disposable Murkrow henchmen do the dirty work, and it is really mean if they fail. In other words, it's a stereotypical villainous boss. Also it's a mafia boss, but it doesn't do much mafia-specific. It has goons, but so do all villainous bosses. I guess it's only active at night, which is kind of like organized crime wanting to remain beneath notice, but maybe that's just inherited from Murkrow?
Maybe you think being a mafia boss is cooler than what Murkrow has going on. Sure, that's your prerogative. But Murkrow does have a richer, more cohesive concept that naturally flows into itself, while Honchkrow is conceptually more clumsy.
Notable offenders: Honchkrow, Rhyperior, Dusknoir
Notable successes: Froslass, Yanmega, Mismagius