Pokemon - What is your favourite game in the series and why?
My favourite game is Crystal Version for the Game Boy Color. I've been playing Pokemon since the beginning - Red and Blue. I loved the original games, and as a kid I saw the hype for the release of Gold/Silver online. Gold/Silver's release is easily the most excited I've been for anything in my life. When they finally came out in the west, they hit all my expectations and more. The introduction of genders, time-based events with a visible day/night cycle, new types, new Pokemon, held items and so much more made the games a hugely more in-depth experience compared to the originals. No other game in the franchise has offered such a marked improvement over the previous to date.
Crystal, being a third version, is essentially an enhanced version of Gold and Silver. It doesn't blow them out of the water, but what it does add is nice. Animated sprites, some feature refinements and an improved storyline makes it the quintessential Gen II game in my opinion.
Remakes of Gold/Silver - with some Crystal features included - exist in the form of HGSS for the Nintendo DS. A top five Pokemon game in it's own right, I like it slightly less because they don't have quite the same vibe the originals had. This is almost entirely due to nostalgia, but it's what I believe.
Do you agree? Do you disagree entirely? Share with us your favourite Pokemon game and why.
Controversial take, but my favorite is Legends: Arceus
For a very long time my favorite games were the Hoenn ones, but Arceus just feels alive in a way that no other pokemon game does.
That aside, generally the GBA era games were the best ones for me, though a good portion of that is probably nostalgia.
I totally agree. For many years, I would have said ORAS (in fact I'm replaying it right now), but PLA was a mechanical breath of fresh air while still hitting the right nostalgic notes.
The soundtrack of PLA is also beautiful. Love the old Gen 4 melodies with all the new instruments!
I was about to post the same exact thing, seems like a lot of people agree. Although Scarlet/Violet has a lot of QoL improvements over Arceus, I found the PokeDex system in Arceus to add a lot replayability. Once I finished the main quests in Scarlet/Violet, I was done.
Scarlet/Violet have been pretty fun, but I ran out of steam towards the end to complete the game. I think I just got too frustrated with the performance issues... I really wish the games performed better.
I am excited for future Pokémon Legends instalments! And, as Sapphire was my first Pokémon game, I similarly feel a fondness and nostalgia for the Hoenn games.
I tried to get into Legends: Arceus, but I don't know, something about it didn't really stick to me. I might need to give it another shot, since I've only played the game for about 2 hours. I didn't get a Switch when the console first came out, so I've never played Sword/Shield, and everything that I've heard about those games haven't really made me want to play them either.
So when Legends: Arceus came out, I had been playing Brilliant Diamond, and felt that playing Legends would take away my "focus" from BDSP. At which point, my friend, who I was also playing BDSP with, got Arceus and told me how much he loved it and told me to get it as well. I ended up buying the game, but at this point, am not sure when I will get around to giving it another shot. But I really should try it again and progress further than I currently have.
I don't think that's controversial at all! From what I've observed, PLA was the game that made the community feel alive and connected again. It was far from perfect, but it felt the most refreshing entry in years.
Other pokemon games have a ton of potential for a Legends adaptation- specifically Hoenn and Unova. Both regions are heavily surrounded by pokemon mythology, so I hope PLA isn't a one time thing.
Yeah, based on the voting here, it looks like my feelings were pretty common #^-^#
Good chance it is my favorite as well (though the game I have the fondest memories of is probably Crystal, and I really like HGSS as well). Arceus is the only game I ever completed the Pokedex in though. Partially because it really was a pretty solo-friendly game, but it's also just so fun to catch Pokemon!
I'm going with the remakes of HGSS. I specifically have SS myself.
I think the biggest reason I like it is because the game isn't completely overloaded- it's what, Gen 5 at the latest? I think it might just be Gen 3.
Which means it's not overloaded with Pokemon- it took the best features of GS, and RSE, merged them together without going overboard, so the actual number of pokemon you can have is less than 400 (I could be mistaken on this). You get some of the newer ones, but your old favorites (assuming you played previous games) are also available. And you still have the fact that Red is the Hidden Boss, who CAN kick your butt if you're not prepared for him.
HeartGold/SoulSilver is also my favorite in the series. The 4th generation added so many absolutely insane mechanics and quality of life improvements in general, so when they remade my previous favorite games (specifically Gold for me, as I never owned Crystal) in that engine I was ecstatic. Heck, some of the features and QoL improvements introduced in HG/SS are only just recently making their way back into the series (like your lead Pokemon following you and toggle running).
I agree with this one, also the story was a good mix of original and following the default formula
It‘s funny how this post reads as if I‘ve written it myself. It‘s also Pokémon Crystal for me and also for the same reasons. I actually can’t remember ever being upset at not being able to play as my gender, but I still vividly remember the moment when I could decide to be a girl in the game and I was so thrilled about this. And it was also the first game in general for me that had a day/night cycle. Both of these things made the game so much more real to me. The game suddenly knew I‘m a girl and also that it‘s dark out when I‘m playing. I found that so fascinating. But also the Pokémon were my favourites. I loved gen 1 and 2 the most. The ones after that already felt a bit as if they’re running out of ideas.
Other than that, I also really loved Pokémon Yellow, simply because of the addition that now I had a little Pikachu following me around. That was such a cute and nice touch.
And lastly, I even though it isn’t my favourite, I also want to mention Pokémon Black and X because they drew me back in after the series lost me for a few years.
That era was interesting for me. I was 10 or so when Red/Blue came out, so by the time Diamond/Pearl came along I was aging out of Pokemon's primary demographic. Then Black/White kind of sealed the deal--I was fully disinterested in Pokemon. But something about X/Y really grabbed my attention and I enjoyed it a lot (story maybe?). Only for everything after it until Sword/Shield to just completely lose me again. And despite it being kind of a lackluster game, I really enjoyed Sword/Shield. And Violet/Scarlet, despite its many many many flaws also really held my attention (I think it was the story).
I get the feeling that Millenials all over the world share the same Pokémon story. I mainly had Nintendo handheld consoles for Pokémon. Sure, I also played Zelda on them although I enjoyed the ones on the stationary consoles more, but Pokémon made me buy them. But after Crystal I just wasn’t interested in it anymore and skipped the GBA and initially also the DS. It wasn’t until I was in my mid 20s that I bought a used 3DS to try Black and X. Maybe it was the story, or maybe these entries in the series added some new things that weren’t lackluster like the others.
After that, like you, I also lost interest again and didn’t touch Sun/Moon, etc. I planned to boycott Sword/Shield because I hated that they didn’t have all old Pokémon. But then my partner gave it to me for my birthday and I actually liked it a lot despite it‘s flaws. Let’s go Pikachu was quite cute aswell, but I haven’t touched any of the other Switch games yet. Arceus sadly doesn’t look that good and I also couldn’t get myself to pay for Violet/Scarlet yet after I read the reviews. But maybe now that I read your comment I will. Seems like you and I have a similar Pokémon taste, so I kinda trust you :)
Edit: Typo
I liked the Let's Go games for the chance to visit Kanto in proper 3D, but the Go-inspired battle/catch mechanic changes really just ruined it for me. I even tried to spice it up with some custom Nuzlocke rules to keep it challenging, but it wasn't enough. On the upside, it's probably the PERFECT first Pokemon game for my kids since they're too young to play the more difficult entries.
I think a lot of the reaction to V/S was overblown, tbh. Performance was (is? I haven't played in a month or so now) terrible at times, but everything else really made up for it. The story, the new Pokemon, the open world, the incentives to explore, etc. are all fantastic. I think if you liked Sw/Sh, you'll probably like V/S as well.
Started with Red but completely agree, Crystal was something special. I felt like no other mainline game can compare. Exploring Kanto after the elite four blew my little mind.
Discovering that there is still whole Kanto with another 8 badges (and more) after Johto was like one of the best days ever a kid could have. I love pretty much everything about Crystal version, especially that for me it has the best graphics in the series (despite being pretty basic for today's standards) and contains my 2 favourite generations of Pokemon, as well as 2 regions within one game. It's a pinnacle of Pokemon games.
I have absolute bias but those graphics had so much charm compared to other gens. I recommend checking out Pokewilds which is a gen 2 graphics pokemon/minecraft type game. Haven't played a lot of it yet but enjoying it so far.
Same as you and @m8y, except I started with Yellow. But I stopped playing after Crystal. I played other versions on emulators a little bit, where I could speed up the time. I also sometimes play pokemon go, though mostly as a means to practice my Russian (and I don't really like the game tbh).
I think I'm the only one who would say Black/White. My absolute favorites. For me, I really did enjoy the game forcing you to exclusively use the new Pokemon and not seeing any old ones (until end game that is). Really broke my habit of using the same Pokemon over and over again, game after game, and think of new ways to create a powerful, balanced team. The novelty of all the Pokemon, and my team, made it feel like a whole new series.
I have played every game since exclusively using Pokemon that were new to that generation (or if a remake, the Pokemon that were new during that generation).
I actually tend to play my second playthrough of each game that same way for pretty much the same reason. Black and White were such a breath of fresh air.
I just picked up both Black and White. Out of the two which one do you recommend to play first? I know there are differences in the environment, etc.
I think either! I don't think there's enough of a difference between the two of them to give a recommendation. I personally think Black has the better exclusive Pokemon between the two of them, so if I had to pick one, I'd go with that one!
Perfect. I think I will start with Black then. Thank you!
I look at it by generation for main games.
For me it was G/S/C. They were the most expansive games and had cool mechanics, like the bicycle puzzles, and all of the stuff that made R/B/Y great. They added pokemon, but not 5 generations' worth as we saw in the DS era.
My absolute favorite game is Pokemon Ultraviolet, but it's a romhack. It has some major differences such as allowing catching all Gen1+2 pokemon, you catch your starter in a Safari Zone, and it is built on Fire Red, wich comes from my favorite era of Pokemon, those GBA games were great. It feels like an extension, not a fan game.
G/S are my favorites, too. After that it felt too much like playing the same exact game over and over again, but with more pokemon with increasingly strange designs. And once they got off the gameboy hardware and it's limitations I started to get frustrated about basically anything regarding text; the writing was bad, it was delivered too slowly, the plots were uninteresting, and it just seemed like there was a lot of (very slow) text for such simple stories.
I do play the newer ones from time to time, and I actually enjoyed the gameplay of Arceus, but the problems with the story elements were still there - actually slightly worse because the pace of gameplay was less slow than the RPGs.
I also kind of wish they would have adopted a new art style for the series at one point. The change in time period/dimension/whatever in Arceus did a lot to make it stand out; I just want to see them take it a bit further. I'd really like it if they went to a new region and there are some pokemon that are basically the same as they are in other games except the new art style would replace the basic changes that regional variations allowed before.
I would say Pokemon Ruby. For the longest time it was Silver, mostly because I loved bellsprout tower. But Ruby was the first time since the original Red where I was really astonished at how much the games could do and grow. Yes its limited to one region unlike g/s/c but the colors and battle animations, the story, and all the new mons it was just a huge overhaul in my eyes.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned ORAS yet. They have the graphical and mechanical improvements of the 3DS and the style of Hoenn.
Admittedly I'm biased. While I've played every gen since original RB, Sapphire is the first game I actively chose to get.
side tangent: In fact, I made a PowerPoint presentation explaining to my parents why they should drive me to the local computer store to and let me spend my savings on it. The GBA SP has just released, so I was able to sell them on the idea of a rechargeable battery (no more boxes of AAs), backlit screen (no peripheral light or needing to turn on the overheads when playing at night on long drives), and there was a sale at the time.
Legends is great, too, and is easily my favorite Switch game of the series, but it's too new to judge on the same scale.
Unabashedly biased towards RSE. My other favorite Pokemon game is PMD:Sky with its art being so similar to third gen.
Houen is where the heart is 😄
Heh, I am absolutely loving the idea of a kid giving their parents a PowerPoint presentation on the pros of GBA SP ownership. Reminds me of my "This is why I should have a cat" flyers, but more successful.
What was your starter in Sapphire?
Yeah, i was pretty proud of myself for that. And i still have the system and the cartridge, too.
My starter was Mudkip! I always gravitated to the water starter, at least thrive the first five generations. What about you?
Oh far out! I've long-since lost my original copies and GBA, but I've gotten into modding the hardware recently, and man I forgot how awesome Gameboys were.
Torchic, so hopefully you weren't my rival or you'd have me beat!
I've been curious about that for years, but I've been afraid I'd break something, and those old systems aren't cheap. But I've seen some gorgeous GBA and DS mods.
The Gold/Silver/Crystal era was amazing. Johto, the roaming Legends, getting to go back to Kanto -- that was so cool to 10-year-old me. All three games are my favorite.
Crystal Clear is my favorite ROMhack that I've been enjoying for a long time. It re-imagines the world of GSC and makes it an open world adventure where you can start from any town. Plus, it's compatible with the original games and Pokémon Stadium 2!
If you love Gen 2 as much as I do, you'll love Crystal Clear. It's re-solidified my love for the original games.
A fellow enjoyer of Crystal Clear! I've played it off and on for a while now, and it's by far the most fun I've had with a ROMhack. What starter did you choose? I went with Growlithe (always wanted on IRL as a kid, ha).
I've done a bunch of playthroughs, but my favorite has always been Slowpoke!
I'll always really appreciate Gen 2 for having the same hardware limitations of Gen 1, but still managing to greatly improve on Gen 1's formula. Same limitations and they still managed to have enough extra room on the cartridge to cram the entirety of Kanto on there as endgame content. Love it.
So by extension, I'd say HG/SS is probably my favorite. It's everything I loved about Gen 2, but modernized (for the DS era, anyway).
Im torn. I want to say Gold but my experience with Shield was really good. With Gold the most memorable moment for me was finishing the game and it telling me that now you get to go back to kanto. It doesn’t hurt that It introduced Espeon one of my favorites. On the other hand Shield was what I always wanted out of pokemon. You are in a world that has a big tournament and battles are in huge sports stadiums. Then dynamaxing during fights makes the spectacle even bigger literally. Soundtrack was great too! Specially the gym battle and its dynamax transition.
So Gold And Shield.
For me, it's ORAS - Gen 3 was the original gen I sunk the most time into, and Gen 6 in my mind is the best balance point of QoL and game-balance changes but not having future "goofiness" like Gigantamax
I'd been avoiding ORAS for ages because I played emerald and wanted its equivalent. Finally took the plunge last year and played a modded version and it's probably been the most enjoyable pokemon experience I've had.
Could you share which mod you used for ORAS and where you found it? I love doing modded challenge runs with my friend on pokemon Emerald. But our main gripes are the lack of physical/special moves. Gens 4-5 run slower on an emulator than running gen 6 through Citra for some reason on my laptop. So we're hoping to play some modded ORAS, but we can't find many good mods. A no exp mod for example, would be one of the things we'd want to try.
Also just in terms or enjoyment, I wanted to mention that I think they've improved on the music from Emerald to ORAS a lot. It's the same melodies mostly, but it's just richer. Also Sky Pillar theme is dope.
Sorry, when I said modded I should have said I played a romhack. It was Sinking Sapphire. I won't post links to it since most sites include the actual rom but it should be pretty easy to find.
I'm torn between HGSS and Legends:Arceus. I grew up playing the Gen 4 games and HGSS is just packed with so much content. It's probably my favorite main line game. That gen 4 love extends to Legends:Arceus too. It's a fresh take on the Pokemon series and I absolutely love the art style and music in the game.
Pokémon Red. It was my first introduction to the game - well, to ANY video game really! And it also inspired me to pick up the trading card game. I played for years during the 90’s, winning local tournaments and amassing a large collection of cards (including a complete set of the first 151 Pokémon!)
I should probably find those and sell them.
This is going to be a little controversial and I fully accept that this is kind of a "bad" opinion, but Scarlet/Violet. Open world fits the Pokemon brand just perfectly in my opinion, and while I do agree that Scarlet/Violet had many issues, I think it sets the groundwork for the future of the series quite well. So I suppose it's my favorite less in terms of the game itself and more in terms of what it represents.
If I had to pick a Gen other than Scarlet/Violet, then Gen III is my personal favorite just because it has a lot of my favorite Pokemon.
I agree with your "bad" opinion. Scarlet/Violet has good roots, it just runs terribly.
I completely agree with you actually. I have been playing since RBY came out, and there is just something about how invested these games made me. First time I ever completed the Pokedex. I am so excited for the DLC. I do admit it runs like garbage, but still -- the gameplay loop was just very well done.
For me, it's a tie between Crystal and Emerald. I got both games around the same time and they both just seemed so massive to me. Crystal had TWO FULL REGIONS and Emerald had the battle frontier! Both games were before I personally think that pokemon started jumping the shark (gen 4 was fun, but they completely lost me at gen 5 and later, with ridiculous pokemon designs, overly complex gameplay, and graphics styles that I just personally didn't like), and I still play them to this day.
Pokemon Pinball, because I like Pinball.
That's not entirely true, Pokemon Gold was neat because it had the entire Johto Region, and then the Kanto Region as post game/new game plus, and according to the chart, it's about where I fall in.
I have to agree with you on Crystal. Being able to go across two regions, and go back to visit Kanto, see how it's changed in the time gap, battle Red, collect 16 gym badges... It was amazing. I also remember the animated sprites for each Pokémon blowing me away as a kid. Also also, Silver is still one of the more interesting antagonists in the series.
I'm going with a spinoff, Explorers of Sky. It's the only game that's made me cry. I loved the story. I enjoyed the gameplay. The characters just felt right. I enjoyed getting to be a pokemon instead of catching them.
I can't really decide when it comes to the mainline games. I liked the environment and feel the most in Sun/Moon. Red/Blue originals were my first pokemon games so they have the magic of nostalgia. Silver/Gold/Crystal were awesome and I especially liked the remake.
Arceus felt like something I had wanted for a long time so that's up there in my favorites list as well. I loved exploring and just how different the setting and gameplay were. I also really liked the character designs.
For me, Gen 2 has a soft spot in my heart as the first generation I played, so I'd probably say HGSS for improving on it so much. My only real complaint is that it has Lyra instead of Kris. Kris's design is iconic, and I just do not like Lyra's super-short overalls.
Second place is probably Black and White and their sequels, just for the incredible story and the sheer amount of things to do. There was just so much content and details in them, from the post-game to side quests to even the sound design. They even had actual significant version differences with all the different areas and the final gym! I regret that BW was the first mainline game where I only got one version because of that.
Also, I'd say Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are the best games since the shift to 3d models. I remember an article said that Game Freak had a team of new employees work on USUM while the veterans worked on one of the Switch games, and I could feel their enthusiasm with all the added details and side quests. I was grinning like an idiot so much throughout it. I probably spent fifteen minutes petting a Stufful in someone's house on day one.
Yellow will forever be my favorite just because it was my first, it's the one I always think of when I think of a Pokemon Game.
Plus 6 year old me loved having my Pikachu following me around everywhere.
Pokemon Yellow does hold a special place in my heart for the same reason you mentioned -- it was my first. I got it as part of the Special Pikachu Edition bundle, and I still have that GBC! It is in nearly perfect condition, as it was a combined Christmas/birthday present from my parents (it was expensive for us back then, and we didn't have a lot of money), and I distinctly remember my mother telling me, "Under no circumstances are you to allow ANY of your friends at school to 'borrow' your GameBoy. If you break it or they play on it and break it, you won't get another one. We can't afford it." It scared me into taking great care of it when I was a kid, haha.
Yellow feels so nostalgic to me as my first entry into the Pokeverse.
Pokémon Gold for nostalgia reasons. My brothers and I borrowed the cartridge from a friend, who would let us use his save game (!) as long as we would capture Ho-Oh without master ball. A lot of reloads and ultra balls later, we managed to do so, which was thrilling and captivating. In hindsight it was such a grind. It’s the Pokémon game/gen I kept getting back to when emulators became a thing. Special shout-out to the Ruby Destiny mod, which sparked my interest for Pokémon again, until my save game crashed.
This is probably going to be a bit of a hot take but Pokemon Go is my favorite game in the series since it's the only one that incorporates real "adventure" into the game.
I've played every game pretty extensively, even finishing a few full ribbon masters. For those that are unaware, ribbon masters are Pokemon where you collect every ribbon possible for the game of origin. If you caught a Pokemon in Scarlet in the latest generation (thus making it impossible to transfer into older games), then you would want to obtain 4 ribbons: Paldea Champion, Master Rank, Effort, and Best Friends. The Once-In-A-Lifetime is omitted from being considered since (at the time of my having finished my ribbon masters) it is unable to be obtained legitimately. The Pokemon I finished getting the ribbons for originated in Colosseum and made their way all the way to Sword/Shield.
In order to get all of the ribbons you generally have to finish a fair bit of the post game of each game. All this to say I've definitely played my fair share of the games themselves, not to get into the competitive battling I've done on Showdown and such.
At the end of the day, I had a lot more fun running to the end of a foggy, dimly lit dock in order to catch a Meganium in 2017 than playing through all of the other games.
Besides Go, I'd say Red/Blue/Yellow are my favorite since they were the first I played and got me into the franchise to begin with.
That is definitely a hot take, and I can't say I agree necessarily, but that late 2016 summer through 2017 were absolutely a magical time and easily one of the top experiences with Pokemon. The excitement of chasing down nearby uncommon Pokemon is unmatched. It's a shame the game is relatively shallow, and microtransaction based, because the concept is so perfect for Pokemon. If they had been able to build a "real" game around the tech with story progression, quests, and some more of the traditional elements, it had the potential to be the best Pokemon game ever.
I think as AR tech advances there’s a non zero chance of Go (or some iteration of it) becoming something much much more interesting. It’s possible collision could be simulated so combine that with animated Pokémon and maybe someday we could get Pokémon IRL (digitally) where you have to go out and find stuff!
It has to be Crystal..
However there are now some ROM hacks that are expanding some of the GBA iterations in ways that Crystal did for the GBC versions.
Inclement Emerald is INSANE. 8 gens, advanced AI, mega evolutions, and tons of custom options.. honestly just check it out. It's nuts.
GSC for its time. Lately Hgss or dpp have my heart
Emerald by miles. Incredible soundtrack, my preferred pokemon design and visual choices. Plenty of ROM Hacks to continue living the olden days. All around great. Its biggest weakpoint is the League in my opinion.
FireRed/LeafGreen, gen 3 is the point where the 2d games did their last big graphical jump and honestly the gen 3 engine is just a bliss to play on, it's just so fast and smooth.
As far as why FRLG, I feel like Kanto is easily their best region, it's the only one they got a ton of time to develop the universe in, and they had a very clear message to deliver. It feels like an indie JRPG, because that's essentially what they were at the time. The remakes don't stray far from the source material and hence you can still get the same effect as the original game, just with a more playable angle.
I like Platinum a lot. I know B2W2 is very popular, but I loved the more calm and jazzy aesthetic of Sinnoh. BW and 2 were a little too... I dunno, edgy in the aesthetic if that makes sense?
Going off the grid for my pick with gen 6 - Pokemon Y. For a very personal reason, it was my first living dex, and also the last true living full dex. The feeling of organizing, playing old games and trading up Pokémon, trading in GTS and wondershare, using the coin trick to swing around the tower to hatch eggs.
As a fan of the series for a long time, that was the first time I set my mind to it and accomplished it, and that generation will always hold a special place for that reason.
1500 hours.
Heartgold. Gold was my first, and HG:SS were amazing remasters.
Definitely the original Pokémon Gold, the game just brings back so much nostalgia. My mom bought it for me on my gameboy color, and she had silver for hers. We would trade with the link cable. Lots of long car rides with my tricked out gameboy (one of those crazy magnify glass speakers light combo things with a car cigarette charger). The town with the Unknown is my favorite part of the world, love the music.
I’d say my second favorite was Sapphire, loved making secret bases and the Gameboy Advance SP I played on (which I still play on occasionally) was such a wonderful system.
heartgold for sure. it was my first game, so im definitely blinded with nostalgia but its still my favorite. i love the pokemon following you, the puzzles, the pokemon in the game, and i thought it had a good balance between a good story yet not being dragged along by it.
I didn't see this one mentioned -- Pokemon Snap and the New Snap on the Switch. While I loved capturing Pokemon and defeating the Elite Four, what I really loved was taking pictures of them and trying to beat my personal bests. New Snap feels like a loveletter to those of us who longed for a Snap sequel since OG Snap was released eons ago.
I wish I was surprised at how few people have said the Sinnoh games. Diamond was my first, so there's definitely a lot of nostalgia bias, and I still like Soul Silver more than Platinum.
Legends: Arceus was the only game I completed the dex for, but it's somewhat tainted by my imagining how much better it and the series as a whole could've been if the Pokemon games were on the same level of quality as Mario and Zelda. I also know that a lot of my similar-age friends are massive fans of Black/White, but I still need to play through those myself.
Emerald was the first one I played and the only one I finished. It really set my expectations so high that every game since has kind of been a disappointment. At some point I just stopped trying the new ones.
I would argue that Emerald has some of the highest difficulty out of most, if not all the Pokemon games. Still very playable and beatable, but you actually have to do work and some hard grinding. Most other games then feel... just too easy.
Hmmm, this is a bit difficult since I've played them all except gen 4 and 7 (though I never finished gen 6). I have to say Sapphire. It was the first pokemon game I was old enough to be somewhat competent at the game, as well as the first pokemon game where I finished the regional pokedex (gen 9 was the only other one for me). I remember using a claydol to win all of the highest ranking contests because I heard that it would give me a trainer star (it didn't, though I think I fucked it up potentially). I had 300 hours on Sapphire I think.
In 2nd place is I think is Gale of Darkness. The double battles by default were really cool. The music and animation were great. A good mix of pokemon to get, and I loved the overworld navigation.
In 3rd place is I think Scarlet. I just had a blast playing with my friends and journeying together while in Discord was just so much fun. Could of been the GOAT imo if the game was more polished, but outside of that, it was great on all fronts.
I have a very soft spot for the DS era, but it's mostly a tie between Platinum and Black 2. These two games had very fun post-game content that you could just sink into for hours. I also love the balance between the uncanny and wholesome elements in their stories, including background/side quests.
Of course, nostalgia also plays a role. I still remember going to the mall at night with my mom, and they're really warm memories for me.
emerald.
I'm trying to play pokemon unite now but it's such a clusterfuck
Pokemon Yellow is my favourite, mostly due to nostalgia. I never had a Gameboy as kid, but I played my cousin's copy of Yellow all the time.
I bought a Gameboy and started collecting games a couple years ago, so I got to play Yellow again for the first time in decades. It's just like I remember. I've played plenty of other Pokemon games, but they don't give me a buzz like this.
I think one reason is that Pokemon got so much right from the first generation. Yellow doesn't feel like a 24-year-old game. It plays so similarly to recent Pokemon titles. Just a little rougher around the edges, a little smaller in scope, and a little simpler. It's still very charming.
I bought a copy of Pokemon Gold recently. I've never played it before, but I'm looking forward to it. I just need to replace the battery first because it's stuffed.
Heart Gold/Soul Silver. Gen 1 and 2 are too classic for me to not like them, but the physical/special split is one of the best things the series has done. HG/SS is a Gen 2 remaster with a better engine, so it takes the cake for me.
Typical answer but for perhaps an atypical reason: G/S/C. This is the last Pokemon game for me that really captured my imagination with its setting. It really felt like Johto was a place with a distinct culture and history, as opposed to a themed backdrop. The world is rich in folk stories tied to the legendary Pokemon. It was a pleasure to learn about the Unown, Ho-oh and Lugia and the legendary beasts. Even little touches like the mysterious cabin in the forest added a level of wonder that I haven't really felt as strongly with later entries in the series.
R/S/E's end game events involving the legendaries were also very fun, but the rest of the game was not as enjoyable to me. In the other games in the series (that I played) the setting felt like it was more like an aesthetic choice and didn't resonate with me as much.
I keep hearing good things about B/W(2), and I'd like to play those, but the prices they go for nowadays are prohibitively high. We'll get a remake soon enough, I suppose. Hopefully it's give a bit more care than D/P got.
Pokemon Blue and Heart Gold.
I'm a bit torn between HGSS and FRLG, Fire Red was my first exposure to pokemon as a series and is thus very important to me. (plus it's the only one I ever really bothered to finish)
But I have spent a lot of time in Soul Silver on my hacked 3DS and I do have a soft spot for it. Those are my top two and I tried out BW and DP but it just never really stuck out to me.
Honorable mention to the Hoenn games, those were pretty neat.
Been with the series since the beginning; Yellow, Black & White 2, and Arceus are probably my favorites, not necessarily in that order