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[LakeOf9]

im a bit confused because this game looks really bad (and I do mean it, this is graphically one of the worst looking games I have ever played), and in terms of actual game quality, I got the impression it was fine but quickly swept under the rug. so it never occurred to me it was good.

but it is?

so just saying this now, I have not played any pokemon game ever before, this is my first one (I made a thread on here asking people for suggestions about which pokemon game to look into a few weeks ago). but if the others are even a little like this one, then these games are better than I have been thinking:

• I love the open world design. it is absolutely amazing, the entire map is communicated to players with just great visual language and cues that automatically make you want to explore more (such as a waterfall in a distance, ruins on top of a mountain, a shipwreck on a beach, a volcano on a distant island, etcetera)
• actually exploring the open world is really fun because you will always be rewarded to a degree that blows my mind because no other open world game is this good at rewarding the player. this comes down to...
• the pokemon. okay, the actual pokemon, the creatures, are great! I love the designs, I love how clever the battle system is, I love the whole catching them all and evolving them mechanics, I love everything to do with them! which means I go out of my way to find, fight, and catch as many of them as I can. and since the open world is designed around the expectations hat the only way to find pokemon is to explore it - meaning the reward for exploration is always new pokemon - it's always a great reward. its guaranteed to be a great reward.
• I love the combat! it's a very quick and slick turn based battle system, with some very simple ideas that it gets a lot of mileage out of (mostly, it relies on three very simple things, elemental effects, buffs/debuffs, and status conditions, but it does so much with those three). It also creates a lot of fun scenarios with this simple premise - being attacked by multiple pokemon at once, the alpha pokemon, trainer fights, and even those frenzy pokemon fights are kind of cool
• everything is so quick and slick! your pokemon can gather resources while you explore, you can run from battles by literally just running from battles, getting experience and new moves happens automatically without slowing you down; after jpgs like dragon quest and final fantasy this is all really refreshing!
• I love the music so much, I am actually surprised. its really good at setting up a great atmosphere too
• speaking of which I love this game's atmosphere. it really does feel like you are going out into the dangerous wilderness by yourself
• the story is stupid, but that's true for all nintendo games
• the one thing that I think is really bad is the complete lack of voice acting. even zelda has voice acting now. its so weird, this game has a pretty big emphasis on story, why not at least have Mario style voice effects even if you dont want fully voiced dialogs
• and yes, it really does look ugly. technically it is bad but even the art style is bad. people praise pokemon art styles, but I dont see it here, this is a bad looking game in ever way

TLDR, very good game! I love it a lot actually. Are the other pokemon games like this? if I liked this game a lot, what is the next game in the series I should try?

 

[Skeptical]

Are the other pokemon games like this?

Uh, sadly not. Feel free to look into them, but you may end up disappointed. Personally, Legends happens to be my favorite, and I didn't bother playing Scarlet/Violet. To go through your points:

• Open world design - Scarlet/Violet is the only other one that has this. Sword/Shield has a small open world area, but mostly linear. The rest are completely linear, albeit some with branching paths.
• Always be rewarded - If you are referring mostly to catching and finding new Pokemon, yes that is true in the mainline games as well. That said, except for the other Switch games, the trouble with exploring for Pokemon is that they only appeared via random battles; you couldn't see and hunt down the ones you like. So in that sense, exploration wasn't as fun.
• The Pokemon - yes, they are always the star of the show. Please note that, with the exception of Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, none of the other games have the simplified catch mechanic. All of them require you to battle a Pokemon, whittle its health down, then try to catch it in battle. Legends greatly streamlined the catching process.
• The combat - Very similar to the mainline games (agile/strong style is gone, but there are a couple additional quirks in the mainline games like held items that increase the complexity of battles.) And yes, it's a major plus for the series. That said, stuff like Alpha Pokemon and random multi-Pokemon battles aren't a thing in the mainline games, although trainer battles are more common.
• Quick and slick - This is the worst part of the mainline games. Maybe they are better now, I don't know. But.... "Bulbasaur uses vine whip ... .... [animation] ... .... It's super effective! ... ... [health bar goes down] ... ... Staryu is paralyzed ... ... [paralysis animation] ... ... It may not attack!" Personally, I don't think I could play the old games anymore without emulation at like 4x speed or so.
• Music I can't comment on
• The atmosphere in Legends is pretty unique. My understanding is you might get a similar feeling with S/V, but maybe not so much with the older games. To be honest, I liked Sword/Shield and thought that was one of the few things it got right. Instead of a dangerous expedition, it was kind of a reality show sports league. Made for a different change of pace compared to the rest of the games.
• Story, voice acting. Yep, don't expect that anywhere else.
• Technically ugly - To be blunt, this is actually Gamefreak's BEST work in that regard. If you look at Scarlet/Violet, be warned...

Based on what you said you liked about it, Scarlet/Violet would probably be the best one to try. It's open world, the story is supposedly more mature, it tried to streamline things as well. But the big caveat is that, while it is perhaps the best mainline Pokemon from a gameplay perspective, it is the absolute worst from a technical perspective. I am not sensitive to frame rate at all; I honestly can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS, but watching videos of it makes even me pause on playing the game.

Other than that, my general impression is that the DS games are considered the peak of the series. Black/White gets a lot of praise, although I fear it may be mostly from hardcore Pokemon fans who liked that it brought a completely fresh set of Pokemon in, which may not feel as important to you as a Pokemon neophyte. Heart Gold/Soul Silver also gets a ton of praise, and is my personal favorite of the mainline series (not that I have played a ton of them)

 

[Swagballs717]

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the breath of fresh air that series has needed for at least a decade.

It takes the concept in a completely new and interesting direction, both in terms of gameplay and story. That being said, I think it has a lot of missed potential. Certain places like Eternal Forest and Turnback Cave I think are really underwhelming in how simple they are. In the DS games they felt so much bigger and atmospheric, but in PL:A they're really undercut by the poor graphics, which really is the game's biggest weakness. It was hard for me to stay immersed in the game when I could see textures repeating all over the place. But I also really liked the music and sound design in the game, it really adds to the old timey atmosphere that the game is set in. If they just improved the visuals in terms of graphics and world design, it would really go a long way.

 

[theclaw135]

The PLA battle system piques my interest, I really didn't like the gimmicky combat of the 3DS era.

What to play next? Scarlet/Violet is a marvel for its extraordinary, staggering framerate dips. Show the game to anybody who doesn't know what frames mean or how to see them. You can just about feel the lag by panning the camera next to a lake, watch the game panic as water enters and exits the view.

 

[Beer Baelly]

Expected a Drizzlehell or GigaBowser thread

 

[GetInTheRobot]

LA was a great game outside of its piss poor performance. I was like 70% of the way to the dream pokemon game I has as a kid during pokemon mania. But as good as it is its probably where pokemon should have been in 2012 not 2023... Pokemon needs to still be in the hands of a more competent team.

 

[GigaBowser]

Expected a Drizzlehell or GigaBowser thread

Hey hold my beers pal just because I likes Zelda doesnt mean I likes Pokemon crud

 

[Tangerine]

100%ed it. First Pokémon game played since gold silver on GB color.

Great game imo.

 

[Josemayuste]

Great game, a more than welcome change of pace for the series, the game has soul, and it shows.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Expected a Drizzlehell or GigaBowser thread

Don't insult me by assuming that I would play pokemons.

 

[Hudo]

Am I the only one who thought that Let's Go Pikachu/Let's Go Eevee was the best thing that came out of the Pokemon IP since Sapphire and Ruby?

 

[Kamina]

Agreed, it was a fresh wind for Pokemon.
Sure the graphics aren’t the best, but they look better than any other of the recent Pokemon games imo.
If they took that concept, brought it to Jotho and added some more side content this could well become my favorite game.

 

[Darkness_Arises]

My favourite pokemon game of this generation and the only pokemon game I could be bothered enough to complete. It is aggressively ugly and quite incompetent graphically. However, it more than makes up for it with great exploration, battles and pokemon catching experience. Easy 8/10, I would not give the other pokemon games this gen more than 5. Let's go was also great, however, it is kind of a remake, so I don't count it alongside this gen's pokemon games.

 

[Saber]

Disagree. Although I understand and give them points for being bold to move into an another route, the gameplay section is not that much solid and it feels like you're doing a crappie routine. Its almost aways resolve in reapeating catching repeated pokemon over and over.
The battle themselves are worse with enemies able to beat your pokemon with 10~15 level disadvantage. Even worse the game imposes "double battles" that only wild pokemon and trainers can do, and only against you. Its aways them mobbing you. Also these styles do no favors to you since its not enought to take advantage over your enemy.

Boss battles are mediocre with you simply throwing sacks and dodging everytime. They suggest you to battle a weakened version of the boss, but its a suicide mission as the boss is way stronger and often KO all your mons.

Really this game has potential but once you play it, it becomes a chore and depressing as you keep repeating things over and over and you see your mon getting weaker.

Strangelly this game is somehow better than Scarlet and Violet. Thats how bad those games are. One aspect they do deserve credit for is this sectors approach. It totally fits pokemon and the areas themselves are well constructed and memorable. An excellent fit for a pokemon game since its easier to remember where you can find specific mons, something Scarlet and Violet pathetic fails as you explore repeated cliffs over and over.

 

[Quasicat]

The only reason why I bought Arceus was because I was talking with a coworker that is really into Pokémon and I told her the last Pokémon game I enjoyed was Blue/Let’s Go Pikachu since it is a remaster of sorts. I tried White and Diamond, but didn’t like them. She suggested that I pick up Arceus as Sword and Shield would probably not interest me. She was right! I love Arceus because of the open world mechanics.

 

[Codes 208]

Its easily the best pokemon game on switch,

(which isnt that high of a bar mind you but for a one-off that just shows how damn good this game was. Like comparing rogue one to the rest of the disney star wars sequels)

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Soulless garbage lacking in area variety and all you can do in it is catch Pokemon, barely any trainer battles and one town and the side quests are trash. I was bored after 15 hours and forced myself to finish it because of bad opinions from people on this website which claimed it was "the best Pokemon game" since Red and Blue, which is one of the worst opinions I've ever heard.

Sinnoh is potentially the best region in the Pokemon series but this game was just dull as dish water. The only sort of wonder and sense of quality on Switch Pokemon games is the last two hours of Scarlet/Violet when you go to Area Zero and it turns into a shit Xenoblade game, I was shocked but still wasn't enough to nudge it past a 6/10.

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

Would have blown my mind if they made a game like it back in Gamecube era.

At that point in the console's life I would have rather they just held the open world for the Switch 2 and went all out. What was released didn't feel like a game designed for 2022.

 

[Luigi Mario]

I'm glad to see that you went with Arceus, even though it didn't win in your poll and it seems like you enjoyed your time with it very much.

I love it a lot actually. Are the other pokemon games like this? if I liked this game a lot, what is the next game in the series I should try?

Unfortunately not, Sword/Shield are probably the worst mainline entries and Scarlet/Violet are still technical disasters. I wouldn't recommend any of the other Pokemon games on Switch, besides maybe the newest Pokemon Snap.

 

[Yoshi97]

I was a huge defender of pokemon up until arceus released. It made me realize how much better these pokemon games should be especially now they're on console. The action elements are something that imo make pokemon 1000X better. Going back to non action stuff was grueling in scarlet and violet for me (terrible frames didn't help either).

 

[Codes 208]

Would have blown my mind if they made a game like it back in Gamecube era.

At that point in the console's life I would have rather they just held the open world for the Switch 2 and went all out. What was released didn't feel like a game designed for 2022.

Gamefreak still wouldve cut as many corners as they did with s/v, theres no reason why those games shouldve been ass considering gamefreak is one of the biggest and successful developers and how much pokemon makes in mainstream media.

Arceus isnt perfect either but the monster hunter-style semi-open world worked so much better for them than the actual open-world

 

[Roufianos]

I loved it, felt like the Pokémon game I always wanted to play as a kid.

 

[Malio]

Loved it. I can’t go back to the old style main games. I hope they are working on another one in this style.

 

[SCB3]

im a bit confused because this game looks really bad (and I do mean it, this is graphically one of the worst looking games I have ever played), and in terms of actual game quality, I got the impression it was fine but quickly swept under the rug. so it never occurred to me it was good.

but it is?

so just saying this now, I have not played any pokemon game ever before, this is my first one (I made a thread on here asking people for suggestions about which pokemon game to look into a few weeks ago). but if the others are even a little like this one, then these games are better than I have been thinking:

• I love the open world design. it is absolutely amazing, the entire map is communicated to players with just great visual language and cues that automatically make you want to explore more (such as a waterfall in a distance, ruins on top of a mountain, a shipwreck on a beach, a volcano on a distant island, etcetera)
• actually exploring the open world is really fun because you will always be rewarded to a degree that blows my mind because no other open world game is this good at rewarding the player. this comes down to...
• the pokemon. okay, the actual pokemon, the creatures, are great! I love the designs, I love how clever the battle system is, I love the whole catching them all and evolving them mechanics, I love everything to do with them! which means I go out of my way to find, fight, and catch as many of them as I can. and since the open world is designed around the expectations hat the only way to find pokemon is to explore it - meaning the reward for exploration is always new pokemon - it's always a great reward. its guaranteed to be a great reward.
• I love the combat! it's a very quick and slick turn based battle system, with some very simple ideas that it gets a lot of mileage out of (mostly, it relies on three very simple things, elemental effects, buffs/debuffs, and status conditions, but it does so much with those three). It also creates a lot of fun scenarios with this simple premise - being attacked by multiple pokemon at once, the alpha pokemon, trainer fights, and even those frenzy pokemon fights are kind of cool
• everything is so quick and slick! your pokemon can gather resources while you explore, you can run from battles by literally just running from battles, getting experience and new moves happens automatically without slowing you down; after jpgs like dragon quest and final fantasy this is all really refreshing!
• I love the music so much, I am actually surprised. its really good at setting up a great atmosphere too
• speaking of which I love this game's atmosphere. it really does feel like you are going out into the dangerous wilderness by yourself
• the story is stupid, but that's true for all nintendo games
• the one thing that I think is really bad is the complete lack of voice acting. even zelda has voice acting now. its so weird, this game has a pretty big emphasis on story, why not at least have Mario style voice effects even if you dont want fully voiced dialogs
• and yes, it really does look ugly. technically it is bad but even the art style is bad. people praise pokemon art styles, but I dont see it here, this is a bad looking game in ever way

TLDR, very good game! I love it a lot actually. Are the other pokemon games like this? if I liked this game a lot, what is the next game in the series I should try?

I loved LA, it was very much a return to form of what makes Pokemon such an endearing series

As for others,

• Let's Go P/E are good games, a bit gimmicky and solid remakes of the Yellow, they run and look the best as well
• Sword and Shield are super easy and linear but I enjoyed them and the DLC a lot, the Raid lair in the second DLC is one hell of the Time waster
• Scarlet and Violet - You do have to ignore the technical issues but they are very very good games if you can and have possibly the best Music in the series