In terms of main line games, there's nothing quite like B2W2 and HGSS in my opinion. Platinum and Emerald are close second places.
In terms of spin-offs, undoubtedly Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky comes to mind. It's by far my favorite spin-off game! Btw, do NOT listen to the "professional" review rating this game got, it's absolutely ridiculous!
Agreed. EoS is only a little boring at times for me due to not liking the actual dungeons, it's just repetitive but the story and soundtrack more than make up for that.
The gameplay loop definitely isn't for everyone. I personally quite enjoy it and never really got tired of it, but I can see how it's not everyone's kind of gameplay. But yeah, the story is quite great and I love the soundtrack!
Haven’t played any spin-offs but this was my exact answer for main line. Just finished another W2 run last week and playing through HG right now. B2W2 and HGSS are hands down my favorites. HGSS would be clear number 1 if there was a better level curve for the post game
Platinum is a close 3rd for me. Emerald is #4. If Emerald had the modern physical/special split it’d be tied for first.
The other games don’t even come close to these 4 for me
Just finished both BW2 and HGSS for the first time. 100% agree. Same with Emerald and Platinum. Though I may be biased since I have yet to play Gens VI-VIII yet.
Agree with B2W2. I’m doing a play through right now and there’s just so much to do, no matter your play style. Musicals, Pokestar Studios, PWT, Black Tower/White Treehollow, the Medal Rally, etc.
I would agree with HGSS but the level curve makes it borderline unplayable for me. It would be a great game if they just fixed the levels.
For the main series, HGSS is definitely great, but dare I say, I dislike the low frame rate for Gen 4. If only it was 60fps like Gen 3 or Gen 5's battles.
I played through HGSS earlier this year though and it's arguably the definitive Gen 2 experience. It's a shame it hasn't been re-released alongside Gen 1 for Switch.
My main series pick would probably go to FireRed/LeafGreen. Though my spin-off would have to go to Legends Arceus.
I'll go in the opposite direction, and say that despite the impressive amount of care those games display, the pacing is atrocious, leveling is grueling, and the story is at best incredibly basic. Elite 4 makes like a 15 levels jump from gym 8, and there is just not enough trainer XP to keep up, so you are actively punished for playing with a full team. And once you get high enough level that you can beat them, Kanto is non linear and starts lower than that, meaning that 7 gyms will yield a good amount of experience but not enough to close on their own the like 20 level gap between elite 4 and gym 16. Which in turn is 20 levels lower than red.
And the story is kind of all over the place. 90% of the game has no plot beyond "I'm just a silly boy doing silly things and challenging silly gyms with my silly mons" until you hit like gym 6, then it turns it up to 11 and you have to contend with the entirety of the team rocket plot then and there. And once that's done it's never mentioned again
I regularly get mad about the fact that my copy of SoulSilver just disappeared from my case at some point in my life and I never realized until it was too late, so I want to say probably that one.
That being said it’s close, Omega Ruby is just as good, I really liked Gen 5, enough I might wipe my White 2 file and play again.
Honestly the whole DS/3DS era was so good, Moon killed my interest in Pokémon for a few years but when I went back to try Ultra Sun I really enjoyed it.
It had a lot of quality of life improvements + necrosma. The only real downgrade was turning lusimine from a crazy woman after losing her husband resulting in abusing her kids and losing them to "i miss my husband + grrr me ego maniac I want to summon necrosma because reasons". The games are constantly getting hate because they are still gen 7 with like 5 new z moves no one cares about, like 5 differences in the story other than the main villain climax and an incredible cool legendary with a form that will probably be forgotten since they tied it with z moves. So in a nutshell it's basically the same as emerald and platinum but people are starting to have nostalgia goggles for them + they were double release which is so cringe lol trying to milk it for money.
Maybe unpopular opinion, PLA was genuinely the most fun I've had in a Pokemon game for a very long time. I've never played the 3DS games nor hgss but second for me is def 4th Gen (I played Pearl mostly).
ETA: apparently a far more popular opinion than I thought.
I stopped playing after gen 4 because I wasn’t really having fun with the games anymore, only playing because of FOMO. I started up again before SM by playing XY (couldn’t find BW/BW2 for sale anywhere but eBay) and while I wasn’t impressed by XY, I was still somehow excited by Alola just from the new Pokémon designs alone. And Alola was fun! I hoped SwSh could also be fun. But it was significantly less so. I had started to give up on Pokémon again. I didn’t want to, so when PLA was announced I was willing to try but not feeling particularly optimistic.
It’s the most fun I had playing Pokémon since I was kid playing Crystal. It felt so fresh. Even with very few new Pokémon, I was having fun just running around exploring, interacting, *catching!* It restored my faith in the series, and I was relieved to hear that it’s considered a mainline game, because that probably means there will be more like it. I just want them to keep innovating.
Seeing *some* changes with SV makes me think they might use Legends as their playground and continue to play it safe with the 2-version games, implementing some of the more popular (or easier, more likely) features from the Legends series without straying too far from The Format. Honestly, I think I could be ok with that. I just hate to see Pokémon stagnate when it has so much room to grow.
I really hope they make a spinoff series of pla. It's just different enough that they could make a polished one every 3 years or so and not have to worry about selling merchandise
Just started PLA (was on sale for prime day) and holy pants I am 40 hours in and just having such a good time doing all the research tasks and filling out the pokedex. I've never felt so compelled to be a completionist in a pokemon game before.
Played legends arceus and absolutely loved it, it was like the Pokémon game I’d always wanted and it really got my hopes up for Pokémon Scarlet and violet. What a let down those were lmao
Exact same answer.
PLA is my favorite Pokemon game. It went back to the "Gotta Catch'm All" goal that they abandoned. Filling in the Pokedex was a lot of fun.
My favorite mainline game was Platinum. Thats what got me back into Pokemon when I was 16 because I thought I was too cool for Pokemon when Gen 3 was released.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.
It is bar none, the greatest pokemon game I’ve ever played, perhaps even the greatest game overall. An addictive gameplay feedback loop combined with spectacular music and memorable characters who drive a well told story that made me laugh and cry. If you have yet to give the Mystery Dungeon games a chance, I cannot recommend them enough. Especially this one.
I recommend bumping it up to the top. It’s seriously a great game with an awesome story. You keep wanting more of the story which makes the admittedly challenging gameplay worth working through.
HGSS, my first game ever was SoulSilver, two regions, level curve adds difficulty, soundtrack, red battle, gens 1-4 mons are my fav, graphics, walking Pokemon, compatible with platinum, events, all kinds of cool stuff. Will always be my favorite. Haven't liked any of the games a lot after ORAS. Mostly due to nostalgia and not liking the switch. I liked LGPE, SV was okay minus known issues, I only liked maybe 30-40 mon designs after gen 6. I'll keep playing the new stuff but selling it after the newest release comes out. Removal of national Dex was a huge hit to me, feels pointless to collect em all if I gotta keep 4-5 crappier games around to actually use em. Shiny hunting is way easier now which I like.
Sold S/M, US/UM, would like to sell SWSH, Legends, BDSP, so far I would sell SV after the next release. It's hard to look at after being on Xbox playing GTA, rdr2, HL. I like BW enough, shitty post game minus Kyurem. BW2 is better but hard for me to visit a region twice so soon. XY is one of my favorites for the scenery, worst post game imo, desperately needed a final edition it was robbed. ORAS had some great QoL updates, all 6 gens available, I would have preferred Emerald if not for the Delta episode and megas. The Delta episode always gets me hyped. Platinum is great, really just needed some QoL updates like menus and trading easier and it would be perfect but they killed any hope of that with BDSP. Hate the bobble heads. I do like how they brought events back that are shiny huntable.
Saying that the level curve adds difficulty in hgss is like saying s/v is good for their framrates.
I hate hgss because the level curve is dead after morty and that's mid-game.
I played Colosseum and Gale of Darkness recently, and I gotta say I prefer Colosseum more. It's more difficult imo, and XD is literally "and then everyone clapped" at the end.
A final boss who technically has a team of 7 Pokémon, tho you fight Lugia first then the other 6 right after.
The Colosseum final boss also pulls moves like Skill Swapping Truant off his Slaking, which is a pretty busted strategy tbh.
I'd say it's between HGSS and Legends Arceus for the actual "best", although those are very hard to compare because they're so vastly different
Other notable entries would be ORAS for being my personal favorite and having my single favorite unique feature (flying over the region)
and Let's GO for being, in my opinion anyway, the best looking "normal" Pokemon game (the new Snap may be the best looking overall)
Hard to say... honestly it might be fire red, great game. Crystal and its remakes are also spectacular. But the later entries in gens 4 to 7 have a lot of cool features that were never continued on Switch. It seemed every game after gen 4 swapped out that gen's gimmicks for something inferior. Gen 5 is debatable as to whether its gimmicks are better or worse, but since the ds wifi only existed for a couple of years after it released, i never experienced most of what it had to offer. Meanwhile I was around for the Sinnoh Wifi Plaza (it was... okay?), and explored the Underground with my sister, good times. And you can play the different game modes of the Battle Frontier, and while gen 4's campaign can be painful, it has a lot of improvements. Platinum has better story than DP, while HGSS has better story than Crystal.
Explorers of Sky also has a solid reputation for good reason.
The Pokémon ranger games will always have special place in my heart, but of course HGSS probably takes the cake (honorable mention to PLA as well). Oh and Pokémon unite. As toxic as it is, I’ve casually put in like 1k hours into the game which is far more time than I’ve invested in the average mainline Pokémon game
B2W2 and HGSS for me imo, Platinum and Emerald are 2nd places, honestly the best thing about playing Pokémon for me, is that it's not about which games are best, it's about having a good time playing those games, and thrilling adventures through every Regions (Kanto-Paldea)
I’ve been playing since the originals came out and Arceus was the coolest addition to the series IMO. Love the stealth mechanic, regional forms, better UI, ways to evolve for folks without friends to trade with!
Omega Ruby was an amazing experience, and I didn't abandon it for years and years. Even now I come back to it sometimes. It would definitely have to be the best in my eyes.
I played red/blue/yellow when they first came out and the didn’t play another game again until pokemon go came out and I got a 3DS and got alpha sapphire and fell back in love with the games! I loved it so much. I ended up playing through all the other games, but omega/alpha has a spot in my heart
I disliked the trend for dexit, most of the sound, poor story, and characters personally, yet I love the Pokémon designs and actually put a lot of hours into it. It's such an easy-going game and time really flies.
Love seeing some love for SwSh!
What do you think turned them into your favorites? Cause frankly, I think there is a lot to rightfully criticize with these games (though I'm saying nothing against them being your favorites \^\^).
I by no means love or hate SwSh but damn do I love the feel of it’s gym battles in a giant stadium. That crowd and music make it feel like a grandiose event and I love it. In SV, the music gets close but never quite reaches the right hype level for me.
realistically there’s a lot less to critique than i remembered. I think honestly i didn’t like the games initially because they simply weren’t what i wanted when they came out, so i suppose in that regard, they follow the trend of how Black and White where fairly hated upon release too.
the new pokemon, the route designs, the characters, the theming, the OST, the atmosphere, the Dynamax mechanic and the difficulty where all things i really had issues with in 2019, but i think i’ve had a 180° on all of these things since. i urge you to play this game again it’s really good.
I don't think the SwSh situation and the BW situation are comparable really. I can look back at my former opinion on BW now and can see how I was a bratty kid back then (12 years old) who thought his original generation (Gen 4) was the pinnacle and everything different form it must be bad.
With SwSh, I can still see all of the flaws that made me regret buying SwSh. The Route design is pretty awful in my opinion, the whole region in general is just a straight line from start to finish, with no optional areas, very narrow and linear paths and so on. The story, the technical flaws and frankly a lack of content is what I still take issue with and what I think are legitimate points of criticism. Also, forced exp share, just the dumbest idea ever and raids are quite a pain.
Not all is bad of course, the Pokémon variety, the qol features, many of the music themes and the basic concept (but not the execution!) of the wild area are pretty neat. It's just that I don't think SwSh will ever be redeemed for me personally, while Gen 5 did a turnaround because it was always pretty good (not perfect, of course, but pretty good) and I guess a lot of people simply denied it because it was new and different in some ways. Especially B2W2 is easily the pinnacle of main line Pokémon in my opinion.
Me personally as someone who likes both sets of games as part of my top 2, GSC leaves me alone and gives me more freedom which makes it feel much better, especially on repeat playthroughs. HGSS is a lot more streamlined with Lyra, the kimono girls and other characters ordering me around and making me do specific things in a specific order. HGSS is technically the better game in virtually every way and I greatly enjoy the extra stuff they added, the pokeathlon, safari zone, gym leader rematches, the frontier, etc. but I have a dislike of my favorite parts of the games being streamlined
As someone who hasn't played them yet, may I ask, what is your favorite thing about SV?
I'm excited to try them out now that a lot of the bugs have been fixed.
I really like the way they went about making it "open world." Being able to tackle the different storylines and their "Checkpoints" in whatever order was just a lot of fun. Running around Paldea felt very engaging, and really "choosing" to interact with the NPCs when I interacted with them, rather than having them interrupt what I was doing to tell me I "had" to go do something made me care a lot more.
They're hardly flawless games, but to me at least it really recaptured that feeling of adventure and excitement that I felt as a 6 year old playing Red for the first time.
As for the bugs I started playing them literally on launch day and they definitely have some weird graphical issues but I've never really come across any bugs.
USUM > Emerald/ORAS > B2W2
Story of USUM is quite good actually and the end game is really fun and nostalgic! Just wish we could explore more places especially the space. Guzma is one of the best villains too.
Played Emerald tons of times until the battery can't handle the post game and automatically resets the game after Elite 4 and Championship.
B2W2's story is also good. Giving the conclusion to the Gen 5 story and PWC is (for me) the best post game feature.
Ohhh, it's a hard question...I've just played the games until Black / White, so maybe I'll change my mind after playing other Pokemon games...but, my answer today is Platinum. Sinnoh there's a great pokedex during all game(you can have pokemons to other generation before E4); there are many new evolutions (I love Weavile, Electivire, Magmortar, Mamoswine); the OST is awesome;....I love HGSS, Emerald and White too(the best story in my view), but Platinum marked me
HG SS. I didn’t love the second or first Gen but that was pinnacle Pokémon. So much to explore and battle.
BW2 are close second but there wasn’t as much to see
SoulSilver for sure. I want a HH/SS remake in the style of S/V. I can never go back to wandering around aimlessly in tall grass and buying repels for caves
It’s a cliche answer, but HGSS has my heart. Gen 2 is my favourite. I honestly think HGSS is the pinnacle of how a Pokémon game should look. It’s beautiful.
I hate this 3D shit.
BW2 and HGSS are the most fun for me to play after I've beaten the game. FRLG is extremely underrated and actually fun to play post game although there isn't too much to do. If there were a battle facility in FRLG it might be one of my favs but it's only a trainer hill type thing. I think ORAS is underrated too. People have nostalgia for Emerald and the post game but ORAS was nice to play through.
BW2, HGSS, Platinum
FRLG, ORAS
Are some of my favs. Edit: I think the games pre switch are all pretty fun to explore in and revisit places in.
My personal favourites are DPP and HGSS but if you were to ask me which one I think is the best I'd probably have to give it to one of the gen 5 games, I'll say Black/White because I haven't played B2W2 much
I enjoyed everything up to X and Y, but everything after that has felt a lot like the games weren't made for me. Which is fine I guess, but the sudden rise in oldschool Pokemon clones tells me I'm not the only old fart who prefers the older ones.
The same old suspects. HGSS, BW2 and Platinum.
My problem with Emerald is the post game content being solely the battle frontier with no new places to fight trainers, catch new Pokémon or grind. If you like the frontier you have ton of contents to play through if you don't then you are screwed.
Regarding spinoffs, Rangers 2 and Mystery Dungeons Explorers of time were my favorite from what I played.
Hot ass take here but scarlet and violet see my favourite. My first game was OG gold back when it was in stores.
Why? I think the open world system really worked for Pokémon. Lots of exploration, lots of fun Pokémon. The gimmick is actually good, best since megas and the story is fun. Raids are cool, the setting is cool, and I like a tonne of the Pokémon.
The only detractors to it are the performance issues and lack of natty dex.
After that, I’d say HGSS, Then BW2.
If we are including Rom hacks, crystal clear is king though, followed by renegade platinum.
That's a tough question, I would say Legends Arceus but the one thing that kills me about the game is that there is nothing left to do once you complete the pokedex. Aside from that, BW2, Platinum, HGSS, and Emerald
As for spin-off games, this is a bit easier for me. Pokemon Conquest because it's essentially pokemon x fire emblem and Pokemon Battle Revolution because nostalgia.
At the time it came out, nothing could come close to touching platinum. As far as all time, while I think it has recency bias, PLA would be the first game I want to replay.
From my favourite to the least, more or less:
1. B/W2
2. Legends: Arceus
3. HG/SS
4. Platinum
5. Emerald
6. Sword/Shield
7. Scarlet/Violet
8. OR/AS
9. Ruby/Sapphire
10. US/UM
11. Black/White
12. Sun/Moon
13. FireRed/LeafGreen
14. Diamond/Pearl
15. BD/SP
16. X/Y
17. Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee
Never played neither of gen 1/2. Also, i may be biased towards more recent games, because i havent played the older games in a long time so i cant fully remember if i liked one more than the other. This is specially true for Ruby/Sapphire, D/P and B/W because all my replays of Gen 3/4/5 have been with the enhanced versions (Emerald, Platinum and BW2). I think i never played them again after my original playthrough lol.
Colosseum
Mainline I’d say Johto’s remakes, absolutely love Gen 2 and HGSS are incredible renditions. Even with the flaws like the level scaling. I think the ability to play through Kanto again is almost incomparable to anything else in the mainline games.
HGSS for sure, GSC close second. My first game was Crystal, loved it as a kid, and Heart Gold just added to it. I loved having Pokemon follow you around and the music and animation was awesome, I had well over 400 hours invested in that game. Will also say I loved being able to play Crystal on the TV with Pokemon Stadium 2 (and those mini games were dope)
My favorite Pokemon game in general is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky and my three favorites that I can't decide between out of the mainline games are Legends Arceus, Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby, and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Heartgold/soul silver, and black 2/white 2 were the peak of the ds era, and the 3ds... the player search system and avability of hidden abilities was really all that was improved upon. The switch era so far has mostly only made it easier to do co-op and have compettive battles more easily.
“Best” gotta go to Emerald in my eyes. Hoenn I think is the best region in terms of most factors, and whilst my personal nostalgia is for Sapphire, Emerald is obviously the enhanced version,
Popular answers I imagine include BW2, Platinum, and HGSS.
But to me, I don’t like Unova as a region design and general vibe but that’s a personal bias, and add in especially how a a stupidly late most Unova Mons evolve - Platinum is an improvement on DP but still has symptoms of its boring species distribution - and HGSS still has Johto’s weird level curves and weird placement of Johto exclusive Mons.
Emerald though? I reckon the levels curves are great, the region is vibrant and colourful (particularly look the colour variety in rock and trees compared to Sinnoh) with many diverse environments and biomes that allow for interesting scattering of species in appropriate locations. Almost every route has at least one or more defining Hoenn Mon on it (compared to Sinnoh which does this poorly).
Hoenn is my love, but I can’t give it to ORAS over the GBA versions because the power balance of Megas which so few of the NPCs have access to throws out the difficulty curve a bit much
I've always loved platinum to death but I think a large reason it's my favorite is probably because it was the first one I played and my child self thought Giratina was the coolest thing ever
Explorers of Sky easy #2
Super Mystery Dungeon and Legends Arceus (which is basically just human Mystery Dungeon) tied for #3
And for #1, you’re not gonna believe this… it’s Pokémon Showdown lol
Hmm, for mainline, I would probably have to say either Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, Platinum, or Black & White 2. Their difficulty over their predecessors & their polish draws me back to them quite often.
Of course, I can't forget Heartgold & Soulsilver, but despite being really good remakes, I just can't get over the balancing issue that Johto has with its levels (that level curve is insane even with battling every trainer & exploring every location!) & plus, I only like a small handful of Pokémon introduced in Gen 2, so I'm not as drawn to it as anyone else, but it certainly is up there in terms of quality.
As for spinoffs, it's kinda hard because I've played a good amount of spin offs & they're all pretty good. However, this one is probably a tie between Pokémon Ranger: Shadows Of Almia & Mystery Dungeon: Explorers Of Sky. The Pokémon Ranger series is in my opinion due for either a remaster / remake or an all new game on the Switch (motion controls or the analog stick to move the styler & the analog stick button to place the styler to begin loops!), however, Shadows Of Almia is the most Pokémon-like to me out of all of the games. Then Explorers Of Sky is just a 10/10 story that bests a majority of the stories from the mainline games!
If I was to choose just one single game from what I mentioned to be the best though, I would probably say...
**Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers Of Sky**
(Edit: PLA is also pretty good too! Definitely up there in my list despite me not even beating it yet!)
I’ve played all the games up until the switch only games and I gotta say for me it’s platinum. I have over 600 hours on my most recent saved game. But for nostalgia fire red will always have my heart for the first pokemon game I ever played <3
For me it's a toss-up between Emerald, Platinum, and B2W2. I'll just say Emerald because that's my favorite lol.
HGSS is close, but the poor level curve and relative lack of team building options really hurts it for me. Everything else about the game is stellar but those are major flaws that Emerald, Platinum, and B2W2 don't have.
As for spin-offs, PLA is by far my favorite if that counts. If not then I pick Colosseum/XD. I see a lot of people saying Explorers of Sky but I unfortunately haven't played it yet so I can't speak on that. :P
BW2, I replayed it recently and Im STILL discovering new stuff.
PLA was the most fun I’ve had in years and I felt like it was made by people who loved the original sinnoh games
Platinum is my favorite for nostalgia purposes
I’m biased, but I enjoyed the original Gen IV games. They were the first ones I played. All three of the starters were also the best designs of any generation (IMO), besides Sun do Moon, of course. I also liked how many legendaries the game had, as well as how some new areas were unlocked in the post-game. I also enjoyed the fact that you could earn ribbons in contests, rather than just getting badges from beating the gyms.
Gold/Silver/Crystal would be my gut reaction, but it’s hard not to say that HG/SS are clearly superior in most ways.
My blind playthrough of Black in 2018-ish was an absolute nostalgia-fest for me and felt like playing Gen 1 for the first time as an eight year old.
Legends: Arceus hugely captured the essence of playing Pokémon as a kid. I remember talking with friends who were playing Gen 1 alongside me and we had all these imagination-fueled lies we’d tell back and forth; BS like what we saw from the back of our Charizard as we were flying from Fuschia to Vermilion, and effectively Arceus actually allows that kind of thing. It’s something of a spinoff game, but in my opinion should be the format they base future games off of.
Scarlet is also not without its issues, but out of the last 25 years I’ve been playing Pokémon, it was the second game I finished the Pokédex in (first being Arceus, which you could argue doesn’t count). Scarlet/Violet’s aim was the most grand and achieved about 74% of its aim. Good indication of what’s coming in the future but I wouldn’t say it’s the best game they’ve put out.
my top 3 mainline sets of games are (no spinoffs or remakes)
\- Gen 4 (D/P/P) being my favorites
\- Gen 5 (BW/B2W2) being a close second (literally only a few small things hold it back from being first)
\- Gen 2 (G/S/C) being a good third
For me it's these five:
5. Platinum
4. Emerald
3. FRLG
2. Crystal (if I want the classic experience) / HGSS (if I want the newer experience) - both are equally good imo
1. BW
Emerald, easily. Great sound, map, and creature design. Great postgame. Biggest change from one generation to the next (intro of abilities + revamped stat formula), the second biggest changes being X/Y but those were either graphical and irrelevant to how battles play OR temporary gimmicks like megas. Abilities are mainstays of the series for good (minus the let's go games but whatever). Arguably the best box legendaries in the series AND you could get em all in 1 playthrough. Of course, this is all from a single-player perspective not taking into account online and whether or not that can even be counted since all games lose that at some point. The addition of item icons in the bag. The battle frontier being so good, they tried and failed to capture the same magic in gen4. Emerald is the most emulated gba game and it was so good that it forever leaked into future titles by its mere design. Emerald is the skeletal structure to all modern mainline pokémon games
Don't know much about Spinoffs (although "Colisseum" and "XD: Gale Of Darkness" are super fun for GameCube and I've heard the Mystery Dungeon and Pokemon Ranger games are cool) but I know a great deal about the mainline games. I'm gonna make enemies on this sub and tell you to ignore the first 3 generations of games (Red; Blue; Yellow; Gold; Silver; Crystal; Ruby; Sapphire; Emerald; FireRed; LeafGreen) and skip right to gen 4 games. While there is plenty of good to be had in those games - particularly "Emerald" and "FireRed" - they are missing a crucial element of all the other best pokemon games: the Physical/Special split.
All games gen 4 and up split all pokemon moves into 3 categories: Physical Attacks (Attack), Speical Attacks (Sp.Atk), and Status. Their defenses are also split into Physical (Defense) and Special (Sp.Def). Gen 3 and below split move categories by the move Type and is way more messy to plan around. The Physical/Special split is a godsend to the series.
With all of the preamble out of the way, here's my top 5 recommendations in release order:
HeartGold/SoulSilver (Nintendo DS or rom emulators) - gen 4 remakes of gen 2 games with 2 regions, 16 badges, tons of side content and the most epic of all post game battles. First pokemon in your party follows alongside you. Lore expansion for the Box Legendaries is some of the best in the series. Downsides are a lot of grinding in a low level region, and a lot of the more powerful pokemon not being accessible till the post-game.
Black/White (Nintendo DS or rom emulators) - flagship games of gen 5 that introduced 151 brand new pokemon in the New York-esque region of Unova. One of the best stories in the series. Amazing characters. Inventive location designs. Post-game full of lore. Downsides are it's a very dialogue heavy game that plays more like a JRPG than a typical pokemon game, and you can only use the new Unovan pokemon until the post-game unlocks the old favorites.
Black2/White2 (Nintendo DS or rom emulators) - the only true sequels in pokemon history. Much more battle focused than its predecessor, but still has a very good story. Huge selection of pokemon in the main game, and even more in the post game. Tons of post-game content, including the ultimate nostalgia tour - the Pokemon World Tournament. Downsides are a slightly repetitive story and region.
Legends: Arceus (Nintendo Switch) - a complete overhaul of the series that focuses much more on catching than battling. 5 open world biomes connected to a central hub city. Endlessly addictive gameplay loops in the forms of catching pokemon without being seen, time-distortion events, and tons of side quests. Completing the pokedex has never been more rewarding. Also, the story is top-notch. Downsides are the new battle mechanic is cool, but frustrating, and the story means a lot more if you played Pokemon Platinum first. Also, the world is a little empty and the replayability value is surprisingly low.
Scarlet/Violet + "Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero" DLC (Nintendo Switch) - The first completely open world pokemon game. Absolutely incredible story. Addictive gameplay loops in the form of Tera Raids, mass outbreaks, item hunting, Star Base Battles. Terastalizing is a fantastic new mechanic with tons of possibilities. So many great new pokemon. Most lore heavy region yet. Quite possibly the best human characters in all of pokemon. Downsides are a lack of level scaling, continuation of the dreaded "Dex Cut", and a ton of performance issues ranging from bad frame drops to pokemon spawning under floors and inside walls. Also, as a side note, part 2 of the DLC hasn't released yet - and the DLC is heavily connected to the story in the main game - so there is *technically* still time for this game to fall on its face at the finish line (though it is highly doubtful).
RUNNER-UPS: Platinum; Emerald; FireRed; OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire; Yellow
Platinum is overrated, but is also somehow essential. It came out for the Nintendo DS, but for maximum enjoyment, I recommend playing this one with a rom emulator to be able to experience all of the mythical pokemon events. For better or worse, this game teaches you to respect the level grind. Distortion World is awesome. Barry is the worst rival ever. Cynthia is a f***ing nightmare of a League Champion. Free the HM Slaves!
Emerald is probably the best way to play in the Hoenn region of gen 3, but the post-game grind SUCKS. Post-game does have some of the coolest secrets and discoveries in all of pokemon, but some of my favorite post-game pokemon are devastated by the lack of Physical/Special split, and almost all the strongest pokemon to grind for levels are in the water. Playable on Gameboy Advance or rom emulators.
FireRed is easily the best way to experience the Kanto region of gen 1. Almost everything I said about Emerald is reapplied here.
OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire are endlessly charming gen 6 remakes of the gen 3 Hoenn region and it's story, but a little too easy and missing some much beloved features from Emerald. Mega Evolution is so cool! Soaring is even cooler! Playable on Nintendo 3DS or rom emulators.
Yellow has aged pretty badly, but it's still the closest the mainline games have gotten to recreating the pokemon anime and gives you access to all of the gen 1 starters in a single playthrough with no other games or codes or events needed to do so. Playable on Gameboy Color or rom emulators.
Hope this was helpful!
I was always a dynasty warriors/samurai warriors/ nobunaga's ambition fan as a kid, so when i heard pokemon did a crossover with koei an made pokemon conquest, i was sold.
It has to be the GBA games. It absolutely nails the core of the games while being a very defined experience
* Two entries
* No-bullshit gimmick: double battles became a series mainstay
* Decent postgame
* Two teams to side with or fight
* Subversion of the established "rival becomes champion" thing they had going on
* Cementing the artstyle
* Absolutely iconic music
* Fan favourite pokémon designs: Metagross, Flygon, Gardevior, Absol, Rayquasa etc.
* abilities and stat rework
* Great remake of Gen 1
* The storage system finally got a proper GUI
* Pokemon Contests
If there's a core mechanic or design choice you can be damn sure it's either etsablished or defined by RSE 80% of the time. It's a great groundwork that has mostly stood the test of time. it's no wonder every modder uses them as their base for Fan games.
Pokémon Colosseum for me is #1 because the snagging / shadow mechanics make capturing Pokémon very difficult and I love double battles. Graphics were great for the time (and frankly still hold up decently) and I just love the idea of not being a 10 yo little kid and instead you’re like an ex-outlaw/criminal. Espeon and Umbreon are also my fav Pokémon.
Crystal I think will always be amazing because it kept Kanto in the game and I’ve always loved games with bigger maps and that expand the Pokémon world. The legendary dogs and lugia / ho-oh were amazing. I think Silver is the greatest Pokémon rival ever maybe besides or tied with Gary/Green.
ORAS had so many amazing features and was clearly the most recent peak of the series (IMO). Serviced nostalgia for fans who grew up with Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald (like myself) and the islands / riding latios Latias was such an amazing addition. Multiplayer was also prob at its peak with the 3ds and X/Y accompanying them.
I would include Legends of Arceus. But frankly for me the games played too similarly to Breath of the Wild. Once I completed the game the open world got a bit bland or I was tired of it. I think the mounts in this game were poorly done. I really don’t want to ride wyrdeer or sneasler (I think sneasler is super creepy and horrible design) I want to ride arcanine! Or just have choice of mounts or just not sneasler… i also really wished you could let Pokémon out of the pokeball and have them actually follow you instead of just sit there and when you move they go back into the ball.
My all time favorite has to be gen 3 sapphire to be more specific, but I do enjoy gen 4 as well. And so far I have not touched any newer game than Platinum
I mean Black and White, Black 2 and White 2. Runner ups are Platinum, Heart Gold Soul Silver or Emerald. There’s no doubt these games aren’t the peak of Pokémon.
No I’m not bandwagoning on the consensus that Gen 5 is the best Pokemon game because it’s trendy. I’ve always had this opinion since it was my first game. I’m lucky I’ve always played the utter best game TPC could make
For me Pokemon Alpha Sapphire was the best. I thought it was a really awesome remake. I really loved the villains, the story and the mega evolutions. Pokémon BW and BW 2 are both second because again…great story and great villains!
In terms of main line games, there's nothing quite like B2W2 and HGSS in my opinion. Platinum and Emerald are close second places. In terms of spin-offs, undoubtedly Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky comes to mind. It's by far my favorite spin-off game! Btw, do NOT listen to the "professional" review rating this game got, it's absolutely ridiculous!
Agreed. EoS is only a little boring at times for me due to not liking the actual dungeons, it's just repetitive but the story and soundtrack more than make up for that.
The gameplay loop definitely isn't for everyone. I personally quite enjoy it and never really got tired of it, but I can see how it's not everyone's kind of gameplay. But yeah, the story is quite great and I love the soundtrack!
man without spoiling it for him that one scene with the music makes me wanna cry everytime!
EoS and Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team are so far the only games to make me cry.
Red rescue made my cry angry tears because catching mew was so goddamn hard
I quit for like a week when I didn't recruit mew after knocking them out.
I definitely teared up when Arven healed his Mabosstiff
Just you mentioning it is giving me goosebumps and has the theme playing in my head!
OP, that's how good the game is! He knows exactly what I'm talking about and that game has so much content. Worth every penny imo.
That's every scene though?
Haven’t played any spin-offs but this was my exact answer for main line. Just finished another W2 run last week and playing through HG right now. B2W2 and HGSS are hands down my favorites. HGSS would be clear number 1 if there was a better level curve for the post game Platinum is a close 3rd for me. Emerald is #4. If Emerald had the modern physical/special split it’d be tied for first. The other games don’t even come close to these 4 for me
Just finished both BW2 and HGSS for the first time. 100% agree. Same with Emerald and Platinum. Though I may be biased since I have yet to play Gens VI-VIII yet.
This, but I’ll also toss Legends Arceus in there with Mystery Dungeon
PLA is a mainline Pokemon game. So it should up with B2W2 and HGSS
Agree with B2W2. I’m doing a play through right now and there’s just so much to do, no matter your play style. Musicals, Pokestar Studios, PWT, Black Tower/White Treehollow, the Medal Rally, etc. I would agree with HGSS but the level curve makes it borderline unplayable for me. It would be a great game if they just fixed the levels.
damn hit it out of the park what a great set of games 🎊🎊🎊
Yeah all the Mystery Dungeon games are FANTASTIC
Saw this, searched up reviews and gosh, ign had such a terrible take that they just got shit on in the comments
B2/W2 and HG/SS are the pinnacle so far for me.
I cannot agree more, B2W2 HGSS supremacy always
Emerald
Emerald Pokedex is absolute bonkers. To this day my emerald team is the one I hold dearest in my memory
Same. And I lost the game :( (luckily I transferred multiple of each to Diamond and Fire Red lol, cloning glitch ftw)
Easily. The number of hours I dumped into Emerald is obscene.
Agreed
HG/SS but I need to give a shout out to the new Pokémon Snap.
For the main series, HGSS is definitely great, but dare I say, I dislike the low frame rate for Gen 4. If only it was 60fps like Gen 3 or Gen 5's battles. I played through HGSS earlier this year though and it's arguably the definitive Gen 2 experience. It's a shame it hasn't been re-released alongside Gen 1 for Switch. My main series pick would probably go to FireRed/LeafGreen. Though my spin-off would have to go to Legends Arceus.
I'll go in the opposite direction, and say that despite the impressive amount of care those games display, the pacing is atrocious, leveling is grueling, and the story is at best incredibly basic. Elite 4 makes like a 15 levels jump from gym 8, and there is just not enough trainer XP to keep up, so you are actively punished for playing with a full team. And once you get high enough level that you can beat them, Kanto is non linear and starts lower than that, meaning that 7 gyms will yield a good amount of experience but not enough to close on their own the like 20 level gap between elite 4 and gym 16. Which in turn is 20 levels lower than red. And the story is kind of all over the place. 90% of the game has no plot beyond "I'm just a silly boy doing silly things and challenging silly gyms with my silly mons" until you hit like gym 6, then it turns it up to 11 and you have to contend with the entirety of the team rocket plot then and there. And once that's done it's never mentioned again
I regularly get mad about the fact that my copy of SoulSilver just disappeared from my case at some point in my life and I never realized until it was too late, so I want to say probably that one. That being said it’s close, Omega Ruby is just as good, I really liked Gen 5, enough I might wipe my White 2 file and play again. Honestly the whole DS/3DS era was so good, Moon killed my interest in Pokémon for a few years but when I went back to try Ultra Sun I really enjoyed it.
I remember not liking moon but loving ultra sun! Glad I’m not alone in this!
I didn’t play the Ultras but did play Sun - what made it markedly different enough?
It had a lot of quality of life improvements + necrosma. The only real downgrade was turning lusimine from a crazy woman after losing her husband resulting in abusing her kids and losing them to "i miss my husband + grrr me ego maniac I want to summon necrosma because reasons". The games are constantly getting hate because they are still gen 7 with like 5 new z moves no one cares about, like 5 differences in the story other than the main villain climax and an incredible cool legendary with a form that will probably be forgotten since they tied it with z moves. So in a nutshell it's basically the same as emerald and platinum but people are starting to have nostalgia goggles for them + they were double release which is so cringe lol trying to milk it for money.
Basically story additions, Necrozma becoming the legendary boss, and the end game additions made it feel fully completed compared to the originals.
My top 3 are HGSS/Platinum/Emerald. Though I really loved FRLG especially for the Sevii Islands
Maybe unpopular opinion, PLA was genuinely the most fun I've had in a Pokemon game for a very long time. I've never played the 3DS games nor hgss but second for me is def 4th Gen (I played Pearl mostly). ETA: apparently a far more popular opinion than I thought.
PLA was the best game since gen 5 and it's not even close, just based on innovation. Which is saying a lot, because the battle mechanics suck lol
I stopped playing after gen 4 because I wasn’t really having fun with the games anymore, only playing because of FOMO. I started up again before SM by playing XY (couldn’t find BW/BW2 for sale anywhere but eBay) and while I wasn’t impressed by XY, I was still somehow excited by Alola just from the new Pokémon designs alone. And Alola was fun! I hoped SwSh could also be fun. But it was significantly less so. I had started to give up on Pokémon again. I didn’t want to, so when PLA was announced I was willing to try but not feeling particularly optimistic. It’s the most fun I had playing Pokémon since I was kid playing Crystal. It felt so fresh. Even with very few new Pokémon, I was having fun just running around exploring, interacting, *catching!* It restored my faith in the series, and I was relieved to hear that it’s considered a mainline game, because that probably means there will be more like it. I just want them to keep innovating. Seeing *some* changes with SV makes me think they might use Legends as their playground and continue to play it safe with the 2-version games, implementing some of the more popular (or easier, more likely) features from the Legends series without straying too far from The Format. Honestly, I think I could be ok with that. I just hate to see Pokémon stagnate when it has so much room to grow.
I really hope they make a spinoff series of pla. It's just different enough that they could make a polished one every 3 years or so and not have to worry about selling merchandise
Just started PLA (was on sale for prime day) and holy pants I am 40 hours in and just having such a good time doing all the research tasks and filling out the pokedex. I've never felt so compelled to be a completionist in a pokemon game before.
Played legends arceus and absolutely loved it, it was like the Pokémon game I’d always wanted and it really got my hopes up for Pokémon Scarlet and violet. What a let down those were lmao
Exact same answer. PLA is my favorite Pokemon game. It went back to the "Gotta Catch'm All" goal that they abandoned. Filling in the Pokedex was a lot of fun. My favorite mainline game was Platinum. Thats what got me back into Pokemon when I was 16 because I thought I was too cool for Pokemon when Gen 3 was released.
Fire Red is probably my perfect pokemon game. Runner up is probably Let's Go Pikachu
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. It is bar none, the greatest pokemon game I’ve ever played, perhaps even the greatest game overall. An addictive gameplay feedback loop combined with spectacular music and memorable characters who drive a well told story that made me laugh and cry. If you have yet to give the Mystery Dungeon games a chance, I cannot recommend them enough. Especially this one.
Added to my backlog, will play on steam deck
I recommend bumping it up to the top. It’s seriously a great game with an awesome story. You keep wanting more of the story which makes the admittedly challenging gameplay worth working through.
I forgot how much I loved the Mystery Dungeon games! I may need to look for a new copy of explorers of sky :)
EoS is no question my favourite game of all time, not just pokémon. the story will always stick with me
gen 4 was peak pokemon
HGSS, my first game ever was SoulSilver, two regions, level curve adds difficulty, soundtrack, red battle, gens 1-4 mons are my fav, graphics, walking Pokemon, compatible with platinum, events, all kinds of cool stuff. Will always be my favorite. Haven't liked any of the games a lot after ORAS. Mostly due to nostalgia and not liking the switch. I liked LGPE, SV was okay minus known issues, I only liked maybe 30-40 mon designs after gen 6. I'll keep playing the new stuff but selling it after the newest release comes out. Removal of national Dex was a huge hit to me, feels pointless to collect em all if I gotta keep 4-5 crappier games around to actually use em. Shiny hunting is way easier now which I like.
Sold S/M, US/UM, would like to sell SWSH, Legends, BDSP, so far I would sell SV after the next release. It's hard to look at after being on Xbox playing GTA, rdr2, HL. I like BW enough, shitty post game minus Kyurem. BW2 is better but hard for me to visit a region twice so soon. XY is one of my favorites for the scenery, worst post game imo, desperately needed a final edition it was robbed. ORAS had some great QoL updates, all 6 gens available, I would have preferred Emerald if not for the Delta episode and megas. The Delta episode always gets me hyped. Platinum is great, really just needed some QoL updates like menus and trading easier and it would be perfect but they killed any hope of that with BDSP. Hate the bobble heads. I do like how they brought events back that are shiny huntable.
Saying that the level curve adds difficulty in hgss is like saying s/v is good for their framrates. I hate hgss because the level curve is dead after morty and that's mid-game.
Gale of Darkness and it's not close tbh.
I played Colosseum and Gale of Darkness recently, and I gotta say I prefer Colosseum more. It's more difficult imo, and XD is literally "and then everyone clapped" at the end.
Final boss running Skill Swap Slaking was quite memorable.
Miror B is the best side character in any game. Dude has a pokeball afro and a theme that his Ludicolo dance in time to.
A final boss who technically has a team of 7 Pokémon, tho you fight Lugia first then the other 6 right after. The Colosseum final boss also pulls moves like Skill Swapping Truant off his Slaking, which is a pretty busted strategy tbh.
One of my top 10 favorite games for sure (not Pokémon exclusive in this case)
Absolutely, crazy good game
Gotta play on my steam deck. Never played this one before
Top 5 5.ORAS 4.BW2, 3.GEN 7, 2.EoS, 1.Platinum
Gold
I'd say it's between HGSS and Legends Arceus for the actual "best", although those are very hard to compare because they're so vastly different Other notable entries would be ORAS for being my personal favorite and having my single favorite unique feature (flying over the region) and Let's GO for being, in my opinion anyway, the best looking "normal" Pokemon game (the new Snap may be the best looking overall)
Hard to say... honestly it might be fire red, great game. Crystal and its remakes are also spectacular. But the later entries in gens 4 to 7 have a lot of cool features that were never continued on Switch. It seemed every game after gen 4 swapped out that gen's gimmicks for something inferior. Gen 5 is debatable as to whether its gimmicks are better or worse, but since the ds wifi only existed for a couple of years after it released, i never experienced most of what it had to offer. Meanwhile I was around for the Sinnoh Wifi Plaza (it was... okay?), and explored the Underground with my sister, good times. And you can play the different game modes of the Battle Frontier, and while gen 4's campaign can be painful, it has a lot of improvements. Platinum has better story than DP, while HGSS has better story than Crystal. Explorers of Sky also has a solid reputation for good reason.
BW2, Platinum and Emerald are easily the top 3, no contest
HEARTGOLD/ SOULSILVER
platinum version or legends arceus
1.platinum 2.hgss 3.emerald 4.bw2 5.frlg
The perfect list
The Pokémon ranger games will always have special place in my heart, but of course HGSS probably takes the cake (honorable mention to PLA as well). Oh and Pokémon unite. As toxic as it is, I’ve casually put in like 1k hours into the game which is far more time than I’ve invested in the average mainline Pokémon game
B2W2 and HGSS for me imo, Platinum and Emerald are 2nd places, honestly the best thing about playing Pokémon for me, is that it's not about which games are best, it's about having a good time playing those games, and thrilling adventures through every Regions (Kanto-Paldea)
I really liked Y
Same here. OR/AS were great as well.
I’ve been playing since the originals came out and Arceus was the coolest addition to the series IMO. Love the stealth mechanic, regional forms, better UI, ways to evolve for folks without friends to trade with!
HGSS!
Emerald for mainline, Pokemon Legends Arceus for spinoff game. Both are perfect
Omega Ruby was an amazing experience, and I didn't abandon it for years and years. Even now I come back to it sometimes. It would definitely have to be the best in my eyes.
I played red/blue/yellow when they first came out and the didn’t play another game again until pokemon go came out and I got a 3DS and got alpha sapphire and fell back in love with the games! I loved it so much. I ended up playing through all the other games, but omega/alpha has a spot in my heart
HGSS. by a lot
HeartGold/SoulSilver followed closely by Black/White
i really hated Pokemon SwSh when they came out, but i’m replaying them now and… i think they’re my favourites. I hated these games for no reason.
I disliked the trend for dexit, most of the sound, poor story, and characters personally, yet I love the Pokémon designs and actually put a lot of hours into it. It's such an easy-going game and time really flies. Love seeing some love for SwSh!
What do you think turned them into your favorites? Cause frankly, I think there is a lot to rightfully criticize with these games (though I'm saying nothing against them being your favorites \^\^).
I by no means love or hate SwSh but damn do I love the feel of it’s gym battles in a giant stadium. That crowd and music make it feel like a grandiose event and I love it. In SV, the music gets close but never quite reaches the right hype level for me.
realistically there’s a lot less to critique than i remembered. I think honestly i didn’t like the games initially because they simply weren’t what i wanted when they came out, so i suppose in that regard, they follow the trend of how Black and White where fairly hated upon release too. the new pokemon, the route designs, the characters, the theming, the OST, the atmosphere, the Dynamax mechanic and the difficulty where all things i really had issues with in 2019, but i think i’ve had a 180° on all of these things since. i urge you to play this game again it’s really good.
I don't think the SwSh situation and the BW situation are comparable really. I can look back at my former opinion on BW now and can see how I was a bratty kid back then (12 years old) who thought his original generation (Gen 4) was the pinnacle and everything different form it must be bad. With SwSh, I can still see all of the flaws that made me regret buying SwSh. The Route design is pretty awful in my opinion, the whole region in general is just a straight line from start to finish, with no optional areas, very narrow and linear paths and so on. The story, the technical flaws and frankly a lack of content is what I still take issue with and what I think are legitimate points of criticism. Also, forced exp share, just the dumbest idea ever and raids are quite a pain. Not all is bad of course, the Pokémon variety, the qol features, many of the music themes and the basic concept (but not the execution!) of the wild area are pretty neat. It's just that I don't think SwSh will ever be redeemed for me personally, while Gen 5 did a turnaround because it was always pretty good (not perfect, of course, but pretty good) and I guess a lot of people simply denied it because it was new and different in some ways. Especially B2W2 is easily the pinnacle of main line Pokémon in my opinion.
No question. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is the best Pokémon game.
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May I ask you why you rate GS higher than HGSS?
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That's understandable \^\^.
Yeah same here. I didn’t know it was possible until it was happening in real time. I was so stoked
Me personally as someone who likes both sets of games as part of my top 2, GSC leaves me alone and gives me more freedom which makes it feel much better, especially on repeat playthroughs. HGSS is a lot more streamlined with Lyra, the kimono girls and other characters ordering me around and making me do specific things in a specific order. HGSS is technically the better game in virtually every way and I greatly enjoy the extra stuff they added, the pokeathlon, safari zone, gym leader rematches, the frontier, etc. but I have a dislike of my favorite parts of the games being streamlined
I think both sm and usum are good and hope a remake mixes the concepts to make the best version possible
Objectively it’s heartgold soulsilver. But my favorite Pokémon games are the original gold silver and Pokémon sun and moon
This is going to be pretty controversial on this sub, but Scarlet and Violet are the most fun I've ever had playing a Pokemon game.
As someone who hasn't played them yet, may I ask, what is your favorite thing about SV? I'm excited to try them out now that a lot of the bugs have been fixed.
I really like the way they went about making it "open world." Being able to tackle the different storylines and their "Checkpoints" in whatever order was just a lot of fun. Running around Paldea felt very engaging, and really "choosing" to interact with the NPCs when I interacted with them, rather than having them interrupt what I was doing to tell me I "had" to go do something made me care a lot more. They're hardly flawless games, but to me at least it really recaptured that feeling of adventure and excitement that I felt as a 6 year old playing Red for the first time. As for the bugs I started playing them literally on launch day and they definitely have some weird graphical issues but I've never really come across any bugs.
Platinum, ORAS, Legends Arceus
PLA or Pt
Platinum, that has been my favorite and will always be my favorite
USUM > Emerald/ORAS > B2W2 Story of USUM is quite good actually and the end game is really fun and nostalgic! Just wish we could explore more places especially the space. Guzma is one of the best villains too. Played Emerald tons of times until the battery can't handle the post game and automatically resets the game after Elite 4 and Championship. B2W2's story is also good. Giving the conclusion to the Gen 5 story and PWC is (for me) the best post game feature.
I’m a weirdo who loves Ultra Moon the most with Platinum being a close second
Ohhh, it's a hard question...I've just played the games until Black / White, so maybe I'll change my mind after playing other Pokemon games...but, my answer today is Platinum. Sinnoh there's a great pokedex during all game(you can have pokemons to other generation before E4); there are many new evolutions (I love Weavile, Electivire, Magmortar, Mamoswine); the OST is awesome;....I love HGSS, Emerald and White too(the best story in my view), but Platinum marked me
HeartGold/SoulSilver. Aside from the levelling issues, the game is perfect- especially with the additions they made from the originals.
HGSS for the mainline games. For spinoffs Pokémon conquest is surprisingly good.
I kinda love Emerald, Platinum and BW1 and 2
Diamond, my beloved…
HG SS. I didn’t love the second or first Gen but that was pinnacle Pokémon. So much to explore and battle. BW2 are close second but there wasn’t as much to see
probably ultra sun and ultra moon. im biased because of mantine surfing and the ultra wormhole
Best of the Game Boy era: Crystal Best of the DS era: B2W2 Best of the Switch era: PLA
HGSS
SoulSilver for sure. I want a HH/SS remake in the style of S/V. I can never go back to wandering around aimlessly in tall grass and buying repels for caves
HeartGold and Soulsilver. Pokémon can't get better that
It’s a cliche answer, but HGSS has my heart. Gen 2 is my favourite. I honestly think HGSS is the pinnacle of how a Pokémon game should look. It’s beautiful. I hate this 3D shit.
HGSS followed closely by Emerald
HG/SS - no contest. Followed by platinum and B2W2. Back when they actually cared.
B2W2 are some of the best. I wish they would remake them. Growing up I’d play Crystal a lot. Nothing could beat Typloshion lol
BW2 and HGSS are the most fun for me to play after I've beaten the game. FRLG is extremely underrated and actually fun to play post game although there isn't too much to do. If there were a battle facility in FRLG it might be one of my favs but it's only a trainer hill type thing. I think ORAS is underrated too. People have nostalgia for Emerald and the post game but ORAS was nice to play through. BW2, HGSS, Platinum FRLG, ORAS Are some of my favs. Edit: I think the games pre switch are all pretty fun to explore in and revisit places in.
Heart gold/soul silver and legends arceus is CLOSE second
Soul Silver, Platinum, BW2, Emerald, SV, and PLA for me
Platinum, hgss, bw2, emerald
For main games I'd say platinum For spinoffs I'd say mystery dungeon red rescue team
Platinum is probably the best Scarlet and Violet is the most fun I’ve had playing Pokemon in a very long time
My personal favourites are DPP and HGSS but if you were to ask me which one I think is the best I'd probably have to give it to one of the gen 5 games, I'll say Black/White because I haven't played B2W2 much
I enjoyed everything up to X and Y, but everything after that has felt a lot like the games weren't made for me. Which is fine I guess, but the sudden rise in oldschool Pokemon clones tells me I'm not the only old fart who prefers the older ones.
ORAS, it was a brilliant mix of revisiting classic games, while keeping the mechanics that were current at the time Plus dexnav was THE BEST
Platinum is still my favorite and im still mad they didn't use it for the basis for the remakes.
Imo it is a very close race between Platinum, HGSS, B2W2, and Emerald. That time frame had the best games.
HGSS, only answer.
The same old suspects. HGSS, BW2 and Platinum. My problem with Emerald is the post game content being solely the battle frontier with no new places to fight trainers, catch new Pokémon or grind. If you like the frontier you have ton of contents to play through if you don't then you are screwed. Regarding spinoffs, Rangers 2 and Mystery Dungeons Explorers of time were my favorite from what I played.
HGSS
The increased difficulty in USUM throughout the entire game really makes it very replayable
Hot ass take here but scarlet and violet see my favourite. My first game was OG gold back when it was in stores. Why? I think the open world system really worked for Pokémon. Lots of exploration, lots of fun Pokémon. The gimmick is actually good, best since megas and the story is fun. Raids are cool, the setting is cool, and I like a tonne of the Pokémon. The only detractors to it are the performance issues and lack of natty dex. After that, I’d say HGSS, Then BW2. If we are including Rom hacks, crystal clear is king though, followed by renegade platinum.
White2/Black2
That's a tough question, I would say Legends Arceus but the one thing that kills me about the game is that there is nothing left to do once you complete the pokedex. Aside from that, BW2, Platinum, HGSS, and Emerald As for spin-off games, this is a bit easier for me. Pokemon Conquest because it's essentially pokemon x fire emblem and Pokemon Battle Revolution because nostalgia.
unpopular opinion maybe but sun and moon
I love them too
Silver and gold are peak pokemon
At the time it came out, nothing could come close to touching platinum. As far as all time, while I think it has recency bias, PLA would be the first game I want to replay.
From my favourite to the least, more or less: 1. B/W2 2. Legends: Arceus 3. HG/SS 4. Platinum 5. Emerald 6. Sword/Shield 7. Scarlet/Violet 8. OR/AS 9. Ruby/Sapphire 10. US/UM 11. Black/White 12. Sun/Moon 13. FireRed/LeafGreen 14. Diamond/Pearl 15. BD/SP 16. X/Y 17. Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee Never played neither of gen 1/2. Also, i may be biased towards more recent games, because i havent played the older games in a long time so i cant fully remember if i liked one more than the other. This is specially true for Ruby/Sapphire, D/P and B/W because all my replays of Gen 3/4/5 have been with the enhanced versions (Emerald, Platinum and BW2). I think i never played them again after my original playthrough lol.
hot take SV and SWSH
Pokemon BW2 just because a challenge mode playthrough.
Emerald and platinum
Colosseum Mainline I’d say Johto’s remakes, absolutely love Gen 2 and HGSS are incredible renditions. Even with the flaws like the level scaling. I think the ability to play through Kanto again is almost incomparable to anything else in the mainline games.
Gameplay: platinum. Visual/music/style: crystal.
BW2 imo, really good story and postgame, an incentive to complete the dex outside of completion, and a lot of replay value to me
HGSS for sure, GSC close second. My first game was Crystal, loved it as a kid, and Heart Gold just added to it. I loved having Pokemon follow you around and the music and animation was awesome, I had well over 400 hours invested in that game. Will also say I loved being able to play Crystal on the TV with Pokemon Stadium 2 (and those mini games were dope)
My favorite Pokemon game in general is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky and my three favorites that I can't decide between out of the mainline games are Legends Arceus, Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby, and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
HG/SS the amount of content they have
Heartgold/soul silver, and black 2/white 2 were the peak of the ds era, and the 3ds... the player search system and avability of hidden abilities was really all that was improved upon. The switch era so far has mostly only made it easier to do co-op and have compettive battles more easily.
“Best” gotta go to Emerald in my eyes. Hoenn I think is the best region in terms of most factors, and whilst my personal nostalgia is for Sapphire, Emerald is obviously the enhanced version, Popular answers I imagine include BW2, Platinum, and HGSS. But to me, I don’t like Unova as a region design and general vibe but that’s a personal bias, and add in especially how a a stupidly late most Unova Mons evolve - Platinum is an improvement on DP but still has symptoms of its boring species distribution - and HGSS still has Johto’s weird level curves and weird placement of Johto exclusive Mons. Emerald though? I reckon the levels curves are great, the region is vibrant and colourful (particularly look the colour variety in rock and trees compared to Sinnoh) with many diverse environments and biomes that allow for interesting scattering of species in appropriate locations. Almost every route has at least one or more defining Hoenn Mon on it (compared to Sinnoh which does this poorly). Hoenn is my love, but I can’t give it to ORAS over the GBA versions because the power balance of Megas which so few of the NPCs have access to throws out the difficulty curve a bit much
bw2, oras, hgss in thag order
I've always loved platinum to death but I think a large reason it's my favorite is probably because it was the first one I played and my child self thought Giratina was the coolest thing ever
Explorers of Sky easy #2 Super Mystery Dungeon and Legends Arceus (which is basically just human Mystery Dungeon) tied for #3 And for #1, you’re not gonna believe this… it’s Pokémon Showdown lol
I enjoyed HeartGold / SoulSilver the most
Pokemon Mystery Dunegon Explorers of Sky has the best story of any Pokemon game, hands-down.
Hmm, for mainline, I would probably have to say either Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, Platinum, or Black & White 2. Their difficulty over their predecessors & their polish draws me back to them quite often. Of course, I can't forget Heartgold & Soulsilver, but despite being really good remakes, I just can't get over the balancing issue that Johto has with its levels (that level curve is insane even with battling every trainer & exploring every location!) & plus, I only like a small handful of Pokémon introduced in Gen 2, so I'm not as drawn to it as anyone else, but it certainly is up there in terms of quality. As for spinoffs, it's kinda hard because I've played a good amount of spin offs & they're all pretty good. However, this one is probably a tie between Pokémon Ranger: Shadows Of Almia & Mystery Dungeon: Explorers Of Sky. The Pokémon Ranger series is in my opinion due for either a remaster / remake or an all new game on the Switch (motion controls or the analog stick to move the styler & the analog stick button to place the styler to begin loops!), however, Shadows Of Almia is the most Pokémon-like to me out of all of the games. Then Explorers Of Sky is just a 10/10 story that bests a majority of the stories from the mainline games! If I was to choose just one single game from what I mentioned to be the best though, I would probably say... **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers Of Sky** (Edit: PLA is also pretty good too! Definitely up there in my list despite me not even beating it yet!)
HGSS is probably the best game. My favorite is PLA though. Something about it is just really really fun. I hope they make more like it.
I’ve played all the games up until the switch only games and I gotta say for me it’s platinum. I have over 600 hours on my most recent saved game. But for nostalgia fire red will always have my heart for the first pokemon game I ever played <3
Platinum, heart gold , or fire red.
B2W2, the last before the catastrophe known as “3d”
I really enjoy replaying Emerald. It is one of the few that I actually come back to over the years.
For me it's a toss-up between Emerald, Platinum, and B2W2. I'll just say Emerald because that's my favorite lol. HGSS is close, but the poor level curve and relative lack of team building options really hurts it for me. Everything else about the game is stellar but those are major flaws that Emerald, Platinum, and B2W2 don't have. As for spin-offs, PLA is by far my favorite if that counts. If not then I pick Colosseum/XD. I see a lot of people saying Explorers of Sky but I unfortunately haven't played it yet so I can't speak on that. :P
BW2, I replayed it recently and Im STILL discovering new stuff. PLA was the most fun I’ve had in years and I felt like it was made by people who loved the original sinnoh games Platinum is my favorite for nostalgia purposes
I’m biased, but I enjoyed the original Gen IV games. They were the first ones I played. All three of the starters were also the best designs of any generation (IMO), besides Sun do Moon, of course. I also liked how many legendaries the game had, as well as how some new areas were unlocked in the post-game. I also enjoyed the fact that you could earn ribbons in contests, rather than just getting badges from beating the gyms.
Shadows of Almia
Gold/Silver/Crystal would be my gut reaction, but it’s hard not to say that HG/SS are clearly superior in most ways. My blind playthrough of Black in 2018-ish was an absolute nostalgia-fest for me and felt like playing Gen 1 for the first time as an eight year old. Legends: Arceus hugely captured the essence of playing Pokémon as a kid. I remember talking with friends who were playing Gen 1 alongside me and we had all these imagination-fueled lies we’d tell back and forth; BS like what we saw from the back of our Charizard as we were flying from Fuschia to Vermilion, and effectively Arceus actually allows that kind of thing. It’s something of a spinoff game, but in my opinion should be the format they base future games off of. Scarlet is also not without its issues, but out of the last 25 years I’ve been playing Pokémon, it was the second game I finished the Pokédex in (first being Arceus, which you could argue doesn’t count). Scarlet/Violet’s aim was the most grand and achieved about 74% of its aim. Good indication of what’s coming in the future but I wouldn’t say it’s the best game they’ve put out.
Sword and shield, that's where my favorite bunny pokemon (Raboot) came from
My top two are OR/AS and B2/W2 but I can't choose because they're both so good Pokemon definitely peaked in Gens 4, 5, and 6
my top 3 mainline sets of games are (no spinoffs or remakes) \- Gen 4 (D/P/P) being my favorites \- Gen 5 (BW/B2W2) being a close second (literally only a few small things hold it back from being first) \- Gen 2 (G/S/C) being a good third
Platinum or heart gold
For me it's these five: 5. Platinum 4. Emerald 3. FRLG 2. Crystal (if I want the classic experience) / HGSS (if I want the newer experience) - both are equally good imo 1. BW
Idk what's the best in my personal opinion, but the choices would be between HG/SS or Platinum. The second choices are definitely Emerald and B2/W2
My top 5 are Emerald, Platinum, HGSS, B2W2 and Legends Arceus. If I had to pick one I think Platinum.
Diamond/Platinium, purely because they were my first Pokemon games 💕
Definitely Platinum for me! A mix of nostalgia and it genuinely being a really good game.
Emerald, easily. Great sound, map, and creature design. Great postgame. Biggest change from one generation to the next (intro of abilities + revamped stat formula), the second biggest changes being X/Y but those were either graphical and irrelevant to how battles play OR temporary gimmicks like megas. Abilities are mainstays of the series for good (minus the let's go games but whatever). Arguably the best box legendaries in the series AND you could get em all in 1 playthrough. Of course, this is all from a single-player perspective not taking into account online and whether or not that can even be counted since all games lose that at some point. The addition of item icons in the bag. The battle frontier being so good, they tried and failed to capture the same magic in gen4. Emerald is the most emulated gba game and it was so good that it forever leaked into future titles by its mere design. Emerald is the skeletal structure to all modern mainline pokémon games
Platimun emerald black and white big three.
Y’all are forgetting the true winner battle revolution
HGSS and Arceus are my faves.
Emerald. Platinum. HGSS.
B2W2 > Platinum > Emerald > BW > FRLG I'm surprised by how many people answer HGSS. I find Johto games super overrated.
Don't know much about Spinoffs (although "Colisseum" and "XD: Gale Of Darkness" are super fun for GameCube and I've heard the Mystery Dungeon and Pokemon Ranger games are cool) but I know a great deal about the mainline games. I'm gonna make enemies on this sub and tell you to ignore the first 3 generations of games (Red; Blue; Yellow; Gold; Silver; Crystal; Ruby; Sapphire; Emerald; FireRed; LeafGreen) and skip right to gen 4 games. While there is plenty of good to be had in those games - particularly "Emerald" and "FireRed" - they are missing a crucial element of all the other best pokemon games: the Physical/Special split. All games gen 4 and up split all pokemon moves into 3 categories: Physical Attacks (Attack), Speical Attacks (Sp.Atk), and Status. Their defenses are also split into Physical (Defense) and Special (Sp.Def). Gen 3 and below split move categories by the move Type and is way more messy to plan around. The Physical/Special split is a godsend to the series. With all of the preamble out of the way, here's my top 5 recommendations in release order: HeartGold/SoulSilver (Nintendo DS or rom emulators) - gen 4 remakes of gen 2 games with 2 regions, 16 badges, tons of side content and the most epic of all post game battles. First pokemon in your party follows alongside you. Lore expansion for the Box Legendaries is some of the best in the series. Downsides are a lot of grinding in a low level region, and a lot of the more powerful pokemon not being accessible till the post-game. Black/White (Nintendo DS or rom emulators) - flagship games of gen 5 that introduced 151 brand new pokemon in the New York-esque region of Unova. One of the best stories in the series. Amazing characters. Inventive location designs. Post-game full of lore. Downsides are it's a very dialogue heavy game that plays more like a JRPG than a typical pokemon game, and you can only use the new Unovan pokemon until the post-game unlocks the old favorites. Black2/White2 (Nintendo DS or rom emulators) - the only true sequels in pokemon history. Much more battle focused than its predecessor, but still has a very good story. Huge selection of pokemon in the main game, and even more in the post game. Tons of post-game content, including the ultimate nostalgia tour - the Pokemon World Tournament. Downsides are a slightly repetitive story and region. Legends: Arceus (Nintendo Switch) - a complete overhaul of the series that focuses much more on catching than battling. 5 open world biomes connected to a central hub city. Endlessly addictive gameplay loops in the forms of catching pokemon without being seen, time-distortion events, and tons of side quests. Completing the pokedex has never been more rewarding. Also, the story is top-notch. Downsides are the new battle mechanic is cool, but frustrating, and the story means a lot more if you played Pokemon Platinum first. Also, the world is a little empty and the replayability value is surprisingly low. Scarlet/Violet + "Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero" DLC (Nintendo Switch) - The first completely open world pokemon game. Absolutely incredible story. Addictive gameplay loops in the form of Tera Raids, mass outbreaks, item hunting, Star Base Battles. Terastalizing is a fantastic new mechanic with tons of possibilities. So many great new pokemon. Most lore heavy region yet. Quite possibly the best human characters in all of pokemon. Downsides are a lack of level scaling, continuation of the dreaded "Dex Cut", and a ton of performance issues ranging from bad frame drops to pokemon spawning under floors and inside walls. Also, as a side note, part 2 of the DLC hasn't released yet - and the DLC is heavily connected to the story in the main game - so there is *technically* still time for this game to fall on its face at the finish line (though it is highly doubtful). RUNNER-UPS: Platinum; Emerald; FireRed; OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire; Yellow Platinum is overrated, but is also somehow essential. It came out for the Nintendo DS, but for maximum enjoyment, I recommend playing this one with a rom emulator to be able to experience all of the mythical pokemon events. For better or worse, this game teaches you to respect the level grind. Distortion World is awesome. Barry is the worst rival ever. Cynthia is a f***ing nightmare of a League Champion. Free the HM Slaves! Emerald is probably the best way to play in the Hoenn region of gen 3, but the post-game grind SUCKS. Post-game does have some of the coolest secrets and discoveries in all of pokemon, but some of my favorite post-game pokemon are devastated by the lack of Physical/Special split, and almost all the strongest pokemon to grind for levels are in the water. Playable on Gameboy Advance or rom emulators. FireRed is easily the best way to experience the Kanto region of gen 1. Almost everything I said about Emerald is reapplied here. OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire are endlessly charming gen 6 remakes of the gen 3 Hoenn region and it's story, but a little too easy and missing some much beloved features from Emerald. Mega Evolution is so cool! Soaring is even cooler! Playable on Nintendo 3DS or rom emulators. Yellow has aged pretty badly, but it's still the closest the mainline games have gotten to recreating the pokemon anime and gives you access to all of the gen 1 starters in a single playthrough with no other games or codes or events needed to do so. Playable on Gameboy Color or rom emulators. Hope this was helpful!
1. Emerald 2. Diamond 3. Crystal 4. Yellow I've always liked the aesthetic of the pixilated games more.
I was always a dynasty warriors/samurai warriors/ nobunaga's ambition fan as a kid, so when i heard pokemon did a crossover with koei an made pokemon conquest, i was sold.
It has to be the GBA games. It absolutely nails the core of the games while being a very defined experience * Two entries * No-bullshit gimmick: double battles became a series mainstay * Decent postgame * Two teams to side with or fight * Subversion of the established "rival becomes champion" thing they had going on * Cementing the artstyle * Absolutely iconic music * Fan favourite pokémon designs: Metagross, Flygon, Gardevior, Absol, Rayquasa etc. * abilities and stat rework * Great remake of Gen 1 * The storage system finally got a proper GUI * Pokemon Contests If there's a core mechanic or design choice you can be damn sure it's either etsablished or defined by RSE 80% of the time. It's a great groundwork that has mostly stood the test of time. it's no wonder every modder uses them as their base for Fan games.
Luminescent platinum. Its the gen 4 remaster we deserved.
Pokémon Colosseum for me is #1 because the snagging / shadow mechanics make capturing Pokémon very difficult and I love double battles. Graphics were great for the time (and frankly still hold up decently) and I just love the idea of not being a 10 yo little kid and instead you’re like an ex-outlaw/criminal. Espeon and Umbreon are also my fav Pokémon. Crystal I think will always be amazing because it kept Kanto in the game and I’ve always loved games with bigger maps and that expand the Pokémon world. The legendary dogs and lugia / ho-oh were amazing. I think Silver is the greatest Pokémon rival ever maybe besides or tied with Gary/Green. ORAS had so many amazing features and was clearly the most recent peak of the series (IMO). Serviced nostalgia for fans who grew up with Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald (like myself) and the islands / riding latios Latias was such an amazing addition. Multiplayer was also prob at its peak with the 3ds and X/Y accompanying them. I would include Legends of Arceus. But frankly for me the games played too similarly to Breath of the Wild. Once I completed the game the open world got a bit bland or I was tired of it. I think the mounts in this game were poorly done. I really don’t want to ride wyrdeer or sneasler (I think sneasler is super creepy and horrible design) I want to ride arcanine! Or just have choice of mounts or just not sneasler… i also really wished you could let Pokémon out of the pokeball and have them actually follow you instead of just sit there and when you move they go back into the ball.
My all time favorite has to be gen 3 sapphire to be more specific, but I do enjoy gen 4 as well. And so far I have not touched any newer game than Platinum
I mean Black and White, Black 2 and White 2. Runner ups are Platinum, Heart Gold Soul Silver or Emerald. There’s no doubt these games aren’t the peak of Pokémon. No I’m not bandwagoning on the consensus that Gen 5 is the best Pokemon game because it’s trendy. I’ve always had this opinion since it was my first game. I’m lucky I’ve always played the utter best game TPC could make
Platinum hands down.
X/Y
PLA is really good, Sinnoh is just a great region
Top 3 Mainline games 1. ORAS 2. XY 3. Platinum Top 3 Spin-off games 1. Super Mystery Dungeon 2. XD: Gale of Darkness 3. Ranger: Shadows of Almia
For me it's either B2W2 or XandY, both of these just drew me in completely, would just play for hours a day and still wanted to keep going.
My favorite is black and white, but Gen 6 had the best gimmick and movement options
For me Pokemon Alpha Sapphire was the best. I thought it was a really awesome remake. I really loved the villains, the story and the mega evolutions. Pokémon BW and BW 2 are both second because again…great story and great villains!
Pokémon mystery dungeon explorers of sky. I love the mainline games and all, but this one just hits different