Best main series Pokémon game for newcomers to start with?

Now, I know that these games are generally considered pretty easy compared to most RPGs. Once you learn how types matchup well you can complete most games with almost any Pokémon team, with some exceptions. As I’ve wanted to introduce some friends of mine who don’t have much experience with video games to the Pokémon franchise, I wanted to see what the people at Smogon think the best games to start with are. I’m gonna give a synopsis of my opinion on each region’s overall difficulty, and how I think they compare/if I would recommend them to a newcomer. I apologize for formatting; I typed this on a phone.

Kanto: Depends on version. I will admit I have comparatively little experience as I don’t return to these games often, but I’ll give my opinion anyway.

RBY: It’s the originals with all their trappings, though you can make it through pretty fine if you learn basic type matchups. The only real stumbling blocks a newcomer could have are Misty and Sabrina, with the others being handled with experimenting or a nudge in the right direction from a friend (get Mankey or Butterfree for Brock if you choose Charmander or are playing Yellow) or Diglett for Lt. Surge (though his Raichu can pose a threat with Mega Kick and Mega Punch if it hits). E4 aside from maybe Lorelei (her Pokémon can live a Tbolt if you are under leveled and they are dual types) and Lance (if only because you don’t see Dragons almost at all throughout the game) are dealt with through type matchups the player has learned up to this point, and, in the case of Agatha she just has weak mons and/or moves. The Champion...well you’ve had practice with his team, with the only real challenge being Alakazam and maybe the starter due to its high level. He has pretty weak moves in RBY (which is evident of the really bad learnsets in RBY aside from using TMs on mons, mostly special ones like Gengar, Nidos and Clefable) so you should be fine, though his team was made more competent in FRLG.

Speaking of FRLG, it is mostly the same save for slightly updated mechanics like Abilities. As for problematic areas to travel through, only perhaps Rock Tunnel without Flash and maybe Victory Road (though it’s more tedious than actually hard) are kinda annoying to newbies. I haven’t played Let’s Go yet, but I’ve seen a friend play it, and he said he can be difficult if you don’t want to break the game in half. I’d say anyone can likely pick these games up no problem with minor problems here and there and beat them, though I’d recommend FRLG or Let’s Go over the originals because they are less dated the former.

Gen 2...oh boy. The difficulty here is odd due to the weird level curve. You will be underleveled constantly for bosses post Morty unless you feel like going out of your way to grind, but overleveled for most mooks. Aside from fights being tougher than they should be due to the bizarre mook/boss level contrast, the hard fights are pretty well known here (Whitney, Clair, and maybe Morty if he gets lucky with Hypnosis). The saving grace is the elemental punch TMs in Goldenrod, which make otherwise difficult fights like Lance (hello, Ice Punch) much more manageable. Most everything else is dealt with through type matchups, with the main problem being that most Johto mons suck, not helped by the fact that evolution stones are very hard to acquire until Kanto unless you get lucky with the Pokegear. Kanto isn’t bad save for Blue and Red, as IIRC the others until Blaine are below level 50 and thus are technically weaker than Lance’s best Dragonite. I would say a newcomer could beat the game if they knew what they were doing, but I wouldn’t recommend it due to the harsh level curve and many mediocre mons.

These problems are only accentuated by HGSS, where the best TMs (Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, etc) are locked behind the Game Corner with no way to buy coins, which only emphasizes the other problems like the lacking mons and hard to get stones, as well as the level curve which was barely changed aside from postgame. Some fights become harder due to updates mechanics and changes, like Morty’s Gengar using Shadow Ball off its Special Attack (though he’s walled by any Normal especially if you can TM them Shadow Claw from the route east of town) Clair getting better moves, and Miltank holding a Lum Berry. Kanto’s levels, even for the mooks, were buffed up considerably too. I’d say GSC is beatable by anyone who has played a Pokémon game before, while HGSS isn’t recommended until you’ve played a few games first due to being hard for the wrong reasons I’ve mentioned. The only real story you miss out on is Red and some of Team Rocket as they originated in Kanto, but it’s not as bad as Black and White compared to their sequels.

RSE. I started here with Emerald. By now, mons were back to being pretty usable on the whole aside from needing TMS for a few like Shiftry. The level curve is smooth here, with the only numerous stumbling blocks being unusually tough gyms (even more so in Emerald) who either have competent Pokémon with only a few counters (Brawly, Wattson, Norman) or strategies that can throw unprepared players for a loop (Flannery’s Light Screen and Attract, Winona’s DD EQ Altaria, the surprisingly tough Double Battle with Tate and Liza in Emerald after being a joke in Ruby and Sapphire, Juan’s Double Team Kingdra in Emerald). The Elite 4 is pretty manageable with a good team, though I remember hating Drake as a kid. Steven is tougher than Wallace, but I think both are good and fair challenges, especially if you don’t abuse the level 70 Rayquaza in Emerald.

ORAS are pretty beginner-friendly mostly due to EXP Share and past generational changes, most notably much better movepools, with the only real hard bits being maybe Norman, Winona and Steven’s Mega Metagross. I’d say a beginner could start here in ORAS or even RS (where the tough midgame is balanced by the manageable endgame), but maybe after playing another game if playing Emerald.

Gen 4. In DP, the Pokédex sucked (see: literally two Fire types and Steelix being a running gag in Gyms thanks to elemental fangs). Not as bad as Johto but it’s definitely noticeable (just look at Flint and Volkner). The fights are balanced for the most part but the level curve by the end gets absurd (level 66 Garchomp!) and the Elite Four and Champion are in my opinion the hardest in the series with pretty dangerous Pokémon. The only other tough fights are the early Galactic Admin battles (let’s have the player fight fully evolved mons super early on with few weaknesses) and Cyrus, who, despite sharing a Rock weakness across his mons, has really good moves to compensate. Most Gym Leaders are dealt with via type matchups.

In Platinum, this is made much harder despite having a pretty good Pokémon selection unlike the originals. Most important fights are buffed or are swapped around and they are hard (Mismagius Shadow Ball at only the third gym springs to mind, as does Wake’s Waterfall Gyarados and Candice’s Snow Cloak Double Team Froslass). The E4 and Champion were nerfed level-wise slightly but their mons are updated to be better (look at Aaron and Flint for proof). I would say newcomers should play the DPPt games after having beaten multiple games, especially Platinum. Travel-wise, it’s only annoying due to a load of HMs and the snow routes.

Unova. I think Black and White 1 are very well balanced. You have some tough fights (Lenora, Elesa, Clay, Marshall, Ghetsis), late evolving mons, and a less forgiving EXP system, but the last two are compensated by pretty much no other difficulty spikes save the final boss, TMs being reusable, Audino being accessible, and most mons from Pinwheel Forest onward being generally useful (especially the desert). Only downside to playing BW1 first is that it subverts many of Pokemon’s tropes (like the endgame) which is best enjoyed if you play almost any other game first to be properly affected by the plot twist-notice how the Champion is obviously stated instead of somewhat unknown except to people who notice important NPCs easily in the other games (read: this character keeps showing up despite not being the player’s friend, an antagonist, or Gym Leader).

The Unova sequels are easier due to other regions’ mons being available and most tough fights being toned down or removed (the exceptions being Cheren who is tough with no easily available counters to his team as Riolu doesn’t learn Force Palm until level 15, and the new Colress who has great strategies). The only reason I don’t recommend the sequels is that it follow on the story of BW1. The Elite Four is mostly the same with an easier final boss albeit not a total pushover.

Gen 6. Well I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how easy XY are. Exp Share breaks the game, you are given great mons for free, and only the second Gym Leader Grant and Siebold pose a decent challenge. There is a wide mon variety but it might overwhelm newcomers, and some of the references to other games would likely be lost on them. I would recommend it if newcomers are fine with being overloaded with options and having a game they can breeze through. Even without the Exp Share some mons don’t even have full movesets.

Sun and Moon. These games are interesting. I’d say that they are harder than Kanto and Hoenn with much more balanced Exp Share mechanics thanks to Unova’s Exp system returning. The major fights are pretty challenging but on the flip side, the game tells you what mons are weak to what after you battle them now. A newcomer could beat these games with some effort, even as their first game, but they aren’t cakewalks by any means.

USUM on the other hand are very, very hard unless you really know what you are doing. Every major battle save the first Totem has tricks up their sleeve, and everyone knows how hard that one fight is towards the end. The endgame is slightly easier (final boss has no competitive strats) and harder (the Fighting E4s replacement has a much better team in terms of mons). In every playthrough I have whited out at least once save my mono Psychic run. I would recommend playing two other games first before this one.

So yeah, I think Black and White are overall the best games to start with aside from the plot subversions, though the Unova sequels and the Kanto remakes are also good choices, with an honorary mention to RS/ORAS. I know this post is long but I wanted to share my opinions on how the difficulty of each set of games might be acceptable or too challenging for a newcomer. All these games are great in their own ways. What do you guys think is the best set of main Pokémon games to start with?
 
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If we're going off of overall easiness, then XY and the Lets Go titles are the preferred starting point. XY, once you get past Korrina, the game just rolls over and dies, and Lets Go you got an easy to break starter and a party that's easy to become nigh immortal monsters with candies and chain capturing.

If, however, we're going off of accessibility and/or overall quality of the game, then the gen 5 titles or SM. While SM has some solid difficulty, the gen 7 games are very, VERY handholdy, so a player almost always has an answer to a problem right around the corner, and shouldn't find themselves in an overly frustrating fight outside of Guzma 3 or the final Lusamine battle (Stupid goddamn Metronome Clefable). The legions of cutscenes can be a turn off, but the story elements can be engrossing enough for a first time player to keep going. Gen 5 with its Xtransiever allowing you to call the professor for advice and a very straightforward region with its own engrossing story (in BW at least) also makes for a great place for a newcomer to start off at. Also, both titles are easy enough to find and buy, at least from my own point of view (XY is starting to charge up a penny, and Lets Go is on the Switch, so its' far removed from the other titles)

Special mention goes to Fire red/Leaf green. If a person starting off has a Gameboy Advance or older DS model, there is no finer place to start off a Pokemon adventure than with a more.. refined Kanto experience with more content overall.
 
We'd need to think of three things, basically: Difficulty, user experience, and mechanics.

My candidates would be HGSS (with the best interface in the series, so under most cases a new player shouldn't get lost, and it's fairly easy) and ORAS (as it's pathetically easy, it has the DexNav for sidequest fun, and the only major modern mechanic it's missing is Z-Moves). I think that in general the remakes are very beginner-friendly, even FRLG, however outdated it is.

I would go against recommending Let's Go if it's to play traditional-styled games because the most common things you'd be doing are missing.
 

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The way I see it, it's always harder to go back than forwards for newcomers - not to say that it's not possible to do so, but the mechanical changes can make it difficult. The most notable one I personally think is to go from Gen 4+ to Gen 1-3 due to the physical/special split. As such, it could be recommended to ignore the first few gens, but I personally think that Gen 3 at least is worth playing.

Personally I'd say start with RSE (trying to put my clear bias aside), because I don't think it's as important to play gen 1 or gen 2. There's several reasons for RSE instead of FRLG though. One is that the game starts you off with positive feedback, the first battle is with a wild Pokemon which you cannot lose against, something that gives the new player a low stress way to learn the interface. This is continued with the various wild Pokemon encounters prior to the rival battle, stepping up the stakes a little bit by adding the possibility of losing without making these learning battles particularly difficult. This is in contrast to FRLG shoving the new player right into something 'high stakes', and while there is a tutorial of sorts it's a battle that's very possible to lose for a new player learning the interface which is less ideal.

Another important factor is the starter quality and how that's expressed to the player. This is particularly important because many new players end up heavily favoring their starter, having that be a drastically higher level than the rest of the team. In FRLG this strategy is overall less effective, as the starters mostly have mediocre or unintuitive level up movepools with the exception of Charmander who gets annihilated by the first two gyms. Bulbasaur's somewhat close, but the weakness of Vine Whip, low PP, and ineffectiveness of Grass against many of the early Pokemon is somewhat off-putting. Squirtle is close to ideal, but Bubble is incredibly weak for the first move and after Water Gun Squirtle doesn't really get another Water move by level.

In contrast, both Torchic and Mudkip have very clear, very useful level up movepools. They also match up well against almost the entire game - starter rolling with Torchic or Mudkip is not overly difficult (easier in RS than E for Torchic). Treecko is the unfortunate exception here, though at least it can beat Roxanne fairly well. Treecko is arguably a lower quality starter than any of the Kanto ones, but Torchic and Mudkip are both vastly better.

Another rather important thing is frustration due to being lost or having an odd requirement before progression is possible. RSE are fairly clear about where to go next - it's always either to the new area or the player was told where to go (for example, go back to Mr Briney's house). FRLG on the other hand are often less so. with the biggest leap being the backtrack from Vermillion after Cut in order to head east along an easily missable path so that they can find their way to Celadon which is just a little north and west of Vermillion to begin with. I personally like wandering all over Kanto, but it's not always the clearest on where to go. There's also the weird requirements, like the Tea to get into Saffron, the Surf and Strength HMs requiring Safari Zone trips, and most of all the blasted Pokedex requirements. Flash is relatively inoffensive, but unlocking postgame is no small number of caught mons. RSE isn't perfect in this regard, the best example being Strength in Rustarf, but it's better about it.

RSE also provides a clear path onwards to the rest of the series. After beating RSE many of the Pokemon not yet seen are in FRLG which also has its own postgame to help expand the idea of what a mons game offers. Then after FRLG there's a sequel of sorts, HGSS, which has some new mechanics to introduce and brings back familiar faces that made playing RSE prior a good idea, things like Steven Stone's cameo and the Hoenn legendaries. Then after that it's to Platinum and the rest of the series can be done in chronological order afterwards.

In short, I believe RSE are the best starters due to having very few references that can be missed by new players, preventing issues of unlearning mechanics to go back to FRLG, provides an excellent setup for the rest of the games, and are just all around solid games.
 
The way I see it, it's always harder to go back than forwards for newcomers - not to say that it's not possible to do so, but the mechanical changes can make it difficult. The most notable one I personally think is to go from Gen 4+ to Gen 1-3 due to the physical/special split. As such, it could be recommended to ignore the first few gens, but I personally think that Gen 3 at least is worth playing.

Personally I'd say start with RSE (trying to put my clear bias aside), because I don't think it's as important to play gen 1 or gen 2. There's several reasons for RSE instead of FRLG though. One is that the game starts you off with positive feedback, the first battle is with a wild Pokemon which you cannot lose against, something that gives the new player a low stress way to learn the interface. This is continued with the various wild Pokemon encounters prior to the rival battle, stepping up the stakes a little bit by adding the possibility of losing without making these learning battles particularly difficult. This is in contrast to FRLG shoving the new player right into something 'high stakes', and while there is a tutorial of sorts it's a battle that's very possible to lose for a new player learning the interface which is less ideal.

Another important factor is the starter quality and how that's expressed to the player. This is particularly important because many new players end up heavily favoring their starter, having that be a drastically higher level than the rest of the team. In FRLG this strategy is overall less effective, as the starters mostly have mediocre or unintuitive level up movepools with the exception of Charmander who gets annihilated by the first two gyms. Bulbasaur's somewhat close, but the weakness of Vine Whip, low PP, and ineffectiveness of Grass against many of the early Pokemon is somewhat off-putting. Squirtle is close to ideal, but Bubble is incredibly weak for the first move and after Water Gun Squirtle doesn't really get another Water move by level.

In contrast, both Torchic and Mudkip have very clear, very useful level up movepools. They also match up well against almost the entire game - starter rolling with Torchic or Mudkip is not overly difficult (easier in RS than E for Torchic). Treecko is the unfortunate exception here, though at least it can beat Roxanne fairly well. Treecko is arguably a lower quality starter than any of the Kanto ones, but Torchic and Mudkip are both vastly better.

Another rather important thing is frustration due to being lost or having an odd requirement before progression is possible. RSE are fairly clear about where to go next - it's always either to the new area or the player was told where to go (for example, go back to Mr Briney's house). FRLG on the other hand are often less so. with the biggest leap being the backtrack from Vermillion after Cut in order to head east along an easily missable path so that they can find their way to Celadon which is just a little north and west of Vermillion to begin with. I personally like wandering all over Kanto, but it's not always the clearest on where to go. There's also the weird requirements, like the Tea to get into Saffron, the Surf and Strength HMs requiring Safari Zone trips, and most of all the blasted Pokedex requirements. Flash is relatively inoffensive, but unlocking postgame is no small number of caught mons. RSE isn't perfect in this regard, the best example being Strength in Rustarf, but it's better about it.

RSE also provides a clear path onwards to the rest of the series. After beating RSE many of the Pokemon not yet seen are in FRLG which also has its own postgame to help expand the idea of what a mons game offers. Then after FRLG there's a sequel of sorts, HGSS, which has some new mechanics to introduce and brings back familiar faces that made playing RSE prior a good idea, things like Steven Stone's cameo and the Hoenn legendaries. Then after that it's to Platinum and the rest of the series can be done in chronological order afterwards.

In short, I believe RSE are the best starters due to having very few references that can be missed by new players, preventing issues of unlearning mechanics to go back to FRLG, provides an excellent setup for the rest of the games, and are just all around solid games.
Great post! I think the positive feedback is a really interesting angle, and having good starters accentuates that. I’m intrigued by that high stakes thing, so I’ll give my opinion on early stakes, mostly Gen 4 Johto because I think that early game is actually pretty hard. No offense to Siggu’s opinion above though, as everyone has different experiences and difficulty is subjective.

I’d argue HGSS are really high stakes unless you use a Geodude, the traded Onix Rocky (which is difficult because of obedience mechanics until the Hive Badge) or a Mareep. Nothing else besides maybe a equal-level starter can really outdamage Faulkner’s Roost Pidgeotto easily unless you grind. In addition, Pidgey using Sand-Attack neuters Rock Throw’s already iffy 80 accuracy (it wasn’t buffed to 95 accuracy until Gen 6), so unless they use the starter to take out Pidgey and Geodude/Onix to take out Pidgeotto, they’d be in for a long fight unless they get lucky. Mareep is probably the best choice for this fight with Thunder Wave or Static slowing Faulkner down and hoping for full paralysis before the kill. Pidgeotto does have decent bulk though (63/55/50) so it’s still a challenge and you won’t one shot it. The other problem with these strategies is that the best place to train beforehand (Sprout Tower) has the Sages with Bellsprout that deal serious damage to Geodude or Rocky, though this may not be an issue because all mons save Elder Li’s Hoothoot are only levels 3-7. Even in the original GSC, Faulkner’s Pidgeotto had Mud-Slap to hit these three counters too.

Bugsy falls prey to much of the same issues. From my memory, Flaaffy’s ThunderShock 3HKOs Scyther, who 2 shots cleanly back with U-Turn. Geodude/Onix can take a hit, but there is the possibility of taking 3 hits first due to Scyther’s superior speed and being unable to harm it if it uses U-Turn to switch into Metapod or Kakuna twice in a row. Quilava helps here but both Flaaffy and Quilava have 80 special attack and thus 3HKO Scyther or even worse due to Sitrus Berry (remember Scyther has 110 Attack, 70/80/80 bulk and 110 Speed). Your alternative solution to these fights is to grind off of severely underleveled mons (highest is level 8 Zubat/Slowpoke, 9 levels below Scyther). Then you have Rival 2 which while his first two mons are pushovers, his starter is pretty resilient if you don’t have a type advantage yet. I won’t go into the other fights because I discussed them above.

Sinnoh is pretty high stakes too. While you have more super-effective options for the early bosses now, you still have to beat a Cranidos with Headbutt off of Attack equal to Gyarados (125) which from my experience 3 shots a starter at only the first major boss. Yeah, even Monferno can win if you grind, and the other two have natural advantages in their base forms, but still. At least aside from the Galactic Admins and Fantina the game gives plenty of options as well as the Vs. Seeker before Hearthome City.

BW1 encourages you to use the monkey before options open up, though you do need to be careful of the trio’s Work Up Lillipup, which, while having never swept me, can be dangerous if you let it. BW2 has many great options early but Cheren is kinda a brick wall unless you get lucky (don’t grind a Riolu to level 15 just for this, it’s resisted by the next two gyms anyway) or use something like a Thunder Wave + Growl Mareep.

XY has plenty of options, though the first gym isn’t exactly a cakewalk for Fire types with Surskit’s Water Sport. Still, you have Flying types and you have Pikachu if you can find one, as well as the traded Farfetch’d, and even Chespin has Rollout. Even Froakie gets Water Pulse at level 14 which is feasible IIRC if you fight every trainer.

SM is kinda tough early on with the principal (she has a Magnemite which resists a ton when most things have Tackle) and a Technician Alolan Meowth with Bite. Ilima also has the actually scary Yungoos to soften you up, and a Technician Smeargle which boosts the super-effective move he likely uses on your starter. USUM is mostly the same with those fights from the principal having the starter good against you, and the first Totem is easy due to Brick Break access. Note that I have lost to Hala even with an evolved starter in Ultra, so he’s not easy either (remember the important trainers can have Pokémon with IVs and EVs in these games, in contrast to past installments). Though to be fair, they do give you items left in right to counterbalance the early bits as well as the Exp. Share and plenty of different Poke Balls.
 
If I were to recommend A game for a newcomer, I would absolutely recommend pokemon XY. Its a decently fun experience, not difficult or frustrating, and has a FEW somewhat challenging fights. Not to mention its wide array of available pokemon, allowing for fun and easy teambuilding. While I do personally not enjoy the XY games because of how easy they are, a newer player and especially a younger player would certainly enjoy the good graphics, good customization, and friendly banter between your little group of friends. Another newcomer game I would personally recommend is ORAS, as they have some of the same good qualities of XY, while still having a bit of a difficulty curve. Not to mention the bevy of legendaries to catch, which expands the endgame farther along with the delta episode. Over all good games to start with and get yourself immersed into pokemon.
 

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