Pokemon: Best way to get into it?

[zimboombafoo]

I played the original Pokemon on gameboy as a kid..it's recently caught my interest again (especially now that WoW has become a ghost of what it used to be)..I recently bought a switch and have been enjoying Pokken Tournament (I know, not a regular Pokemon game). I know Ultra Sun & Moon is the newest REAL Pokemon game with the best graphics (I would have to buy a 3DS). Should I start there or should I pick up Let's Go Pikachu? PS: I tried Pokemon Go, couldn't get into it..especially since it's winter outside.

[Mestalis]

It ultimately depends on if you want a challenge or not. Let's Go Pikachu is very similar to a standard pokemon game, missing a few features, a few new features added, and very very easy. I've been having a fun time playing, I don't currently have my Pikachu in my party because he's so OP he kills nearly everything in one hit. I also disabled the choice to switch pokemon after your opponents pokemon feints for an additional challenge. If you want a decent challenge without having to work for it, get a 3DS; but if you just want to have fun playing Pokemon, Let's Go will do.

[Linkedblade]

If you like the originals: red/blue/yellow, then let's go will be very familiar. Otherwise gen 7 is the way to go

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Pick whichever game that interests you and play it. That said, it goes without saying that if you want to play with other players, you'll want to play the latest generation (Sun & Moon), but don't let that deter you from playing the older games.

Be advised that starting with Gen 3, you can carry over your Pokemon to the next generation, so you can technically start with gen 3 and play with the same Pokemon in every Pokemon game forward. There is an argument to be made that you may appreciate the newer games more if you get to experience how the franchise evolved over time.



If you are interested in competitive Pokemon but don't want to go through the hassle of spending two dozens hours trying to catch Pokemon, breed for the right combination of abilities and moves, and then trying to grind EVs, then I'd recommend that you check out the Pokemon Stadium games, as they let you jump in to tightly tuned Pokemon battles with any team of Gen 1+2 Pokemon.

I'm hoping GAME FREAK will announce Pokemon Stadium 3, but given that they believe that the new main series titles with 3D Pokemon have (somehow?) replaced Stadium, it seems unlikely.



People like me loved Stadium for two reasons: the in depth, customizeable challenges that no Pokemon game since has been able to capture, and the rental Pokemon. Stadium allowed you to pick from a variety of different tournament rules. Do you love unevolved Pokemon? Try the Little Cup! Do you want try a hardcore mode? Try the Challenge cup, where your Pokemon are randomized and you have to make do with what you got. Furthermore, each battle was very tightly tuned, so you had to know your 248 available Pokemon, their moves, and their abilities to succeed. For once, Pokemon required actual strategy to win, and you couldn't just spam the same one over and over again for each match.

Rentals were the other reason why I loved Stadium: raising Pokemon for competitive play in the main series is an absolute nightmare. First, you have to catch and breed the Pokemon you want over and over and over again until you get the right nature, and even then, you might have to breed some more to get the right ability and the best starts that Pokemon can be born with. Next, comes the hour and a half of EV leveling in either the tedious super training mode, or three hours incredibly boring horde battles. Then you have to farm the Pokemon League three or four times to get the Pokemon up to level fifty, possibly even higher if there's a move you want that is learned at an even higher level. But wait! There's more! You still have to slog through several hours of tedious Battle Chateau/Tree for the BP before your Pokemon is even ready for competitive, and god forbid if you were planning on building a strategy that required multiple Pokemon, let alone anything larger than a party of three. I have five hundred hours invested in the 3DS Pokemon games, and the vast majority of that time was spent not playing competitive or endgame, but instead just making the Pokemon required to play it, and I didn't even have that many. I have... maybe ten options? Steelix, Drapion, Skuntank, Mismagius, Toxicroak, Honchkrow, Mawille, and Altaria... and that's it. If I want to play competitive or try to make it for as long as I can in the battle chateau/tree, that's literally all I can pick from unless I want to invested well over a dozen to two dozen hours of tedium required to make more.

When I realized that Sun's endgame was no different from ORAS and XY, I decided to just turn off the 3DS and go back to Stadium 2. Because 1. the fights are actually enjoyable (thanks to each fight being preset and tightly tuned by the game designers, and to effective camera work that makes it exciting to watch), and 2. I can just jump right in. Pick a cup, prepare your strategies, research your mons, pick your mons, and you're in.

As bad as Pokemon Battle Revolution was, there's a reason why I spent more time playing that than I did the 4th gen games.

Seriously Game Freak; how can you not see the appeal of the Stadium games? Why are you puzzled that your fans have hated the mainline game's endgame for two generations?

If Pokemon Switch has a Stadium mode, I'll lay down my $350 on the spot.

[dope_danny]

Heart Gold/Soul Silver remain the best games in the series. Largest world, largest number of pokemon, 16 gym leaders, a secret super boss connected to red and blue, a true day night cycle, mechanics like playing your radio with certain stations luring in certain pokemon and so much more. Including the poke walker which you can keep in your bag and walking around also helps raise your pokemon. If you own a ds or 3ds its easily the go to.



Only trouble is its also quickly turning into one of the pricier entries in the series. Black and White/BW2 are getting pretty pricey but in certain parts of the world HG/SS can hit the triple figures for a preowned copy. But if you can find it cheap you won't find a better experience in the series. The ones before it range from buggy to bland and the ones made after get progressively easy/bloated with mandatory tutorials up to 70% of the way into the game.

[Keile]

Heart Gold/Soul Silver remain the best games in the series. Largest world, largest number of pokemon, 16 gym leaders, a secret super boss connected to red and blue, a true day night cycle, mechanics like playing your radio with certain stations luring in certain pokemon and so much more. Including the poke walker which you can keep in your bag and walking around also helps raise your pokemon. If you own a ds or 3ds its easily the go to.



Only trouble is its also quickly turning into one of the pricier entries in the series. Black and White/BW2 are getting pretty pricey but in certain parts of the world HG/SS can hit the triple figures for a preowned copy. But if you can find it cheap you won't find a better experience in the series. The ones before it range from buggy to bland and the ones made after get progressively easy/bloated with mandatory tutorials up to 70% of the way into the game.

Those games right there are easily the best remakes in the history of Video Game remakes.

Nintendo showed how to do remakes RIGHT with those two. They also included what was actually shown to be the best/most accurate pedometer on the market for quite some time with them I actually have mine right here with me right now. Needs a new battery, though...

[Daedius]

Start with the original on the gameboy, working your way chronologically from there.

[Video Games]

You just made a thread where ypu bought a switch and wanted to return it within hours because it wasnt fun, but now youre saying youre enjoying it? Get outta here.