What's your favourite main series Pokémon game?

What's your favourite generation overall?

  • 1 - [ Red, Blue, Yellow ]

    Votes: 18 6.6%
  • 2 - [ Gold, Silver, Crystal ]

    Votes: 53 19.3%
  • 3 - [ Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, LeafGreen, Emerald ]

    Votes: 87 31.8%
  • 4 - [ Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver ]

    Votes: 74 27.0%
  • 5 - [ Black, White, Black 2, White 2 ]

    Votes: 42 15.3%

  • Total voters
    274
I'd have to say gen 3. It introduced so many things to the Pokemon world, Pokemon contests being one of them and one of y favorite things to do in Pokemon as well as the Battle frontier. Not to mention my favorite Pokemon of all time Milotic lol. The story of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald also really interested me with the inclusion of Pokemon mythology, and I'm quite the fan of myths and ancient history so gen 3 gets my vote.

From Sapphire to X & Y, the plots of the game shave definitely interested me and that's one of the main reasons why I play Pokemon, for the story, so choosing can be a bit difficult when I really think about it lol.
 
Funny thing about RBY... when I was young I got stuck. Didn't know I had to surf from Pallet, so I thought I had beaten the game. I ended up grinding my team to level 80+ out of boredom and to battle my dumb little friends, then I discovered Cinnabar and realized there were two more gym leaders and the Pokemon League. I felt like tough shit. Remakes are better, at least the Sevii islands are something to do.

GSC holds a lot of great memories for me, but I guess it wasn't that much different from RBY all in all. You'd think having two regions to explore would feel bigger, but Kanto was horribly neutered and other than things like Skarmory, Blissey and Tyranitar, none of the new pokemon were particularly amazing at the time.

Forgive me for my heresy, but in retrospect I didn't enjoy RSE. Tedious fucking map that requires an HM whore every ten steps, and no postgame worth noting in any of its incarnations. But it had great pokemon and some great battles, so it's hardly bad. Its metagame is also still my favorite, although it looks like GenIV might look a little like it.

DPP was where it was at for me. An amazing selection of great pokemon, a huge map with tons of secrets, and some pretty great NPC battles, as well as a metagame that pretty much set the standards for every metagame that has followed so far. Platinum is, in my opinion, one of the best-polished games in the series if not the best. Special mention goes to HGSS, which was made better in every way by the DPP engine.

And then there was BW... Which I struggled to enjoy, although the endgame will probably never be topped. That double fake-out at the end is just amazing, and the whole thing was epic in scope. And more importantly, it was DIFFERENT. I'm honestly tired of beating some stupid champion only for my title to be meaningless and for nothing new to open up. BW2 was much better, but it had some of the same issues. At this point it just feels like the same game over and over again, and I guess I'm way late for only now realizing this. But the ingame trainers are probably the best of the series. I felt challenged at multiple points, and that's this gen's saving grace for me.

XY is amazing, and the third game will probably be my favorite yet. As is, though, XY has almost no postgame and the ingame battles are a joke. I can't even remember the names of any of the gym leaders. For as much delicious content is in the game, it's just way too easy. At least Wifi is fun.
 

Agonist

how can I feel existential dread, it's my fear
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
You could make an argument for rby being clunkier (which it is, but it has charm / memorable characters / a plotline that doesnt make you the chosen one with the power to stop everything bad).
I'm sorry, but what? You're the sole person in the entire Kanto that is able to stop Team Rocket. How is that not a plotline where you're the "chosen" one?
 
I loved Platinum it was the game that got me back into it after missing Gen III and then loved how HG/SS was redone.

Best feature was how you could re-battle gym leaders and they had improved teams and levels.

Shame that Gen V didn't continue this element.
 
I loved Platinum it was the game that got me back into it after missing Gen III and then loved how HG/SS was redone.

Best feature was how you could re-battle gym leaders and they had improved teams and levels.

Shame that Gen V didn't continue this element.
Uh, in BW2 there was the World Tournament, where you could battle competitive teams held by pretty much every Gym Leader in existence and every Champion.
 
I, late as ever, started playing my own Pokemon games, starting when Diamond and Pearl was released (making Diamond my first owned Pokemon game). Hours were spent grinding my Empoleon to freakishly high stats, and tears were also shed (curse you, shiny Medicham :< ).

Then Platinum came out. OMG, that game is still my favourite. Giratina, Looker, CHARON. The little things make the game great to me. I loved it all. Sadly, I didn't really play HG/SS, so I don't know about them.
 
I was three months old when Red and Blue hit America, so I missed out on the first two gens. So, my nostalgia lies in Emerald, my first Pokémon game that sucked me into the franchise and has kept me as one of Gamefreak's loyal slaves fans who buy every new main series game and a good many of the spin offs. Even if I look past my nostalgia, I like Emerald a lot. It was great for its time. I've played through it dozens of times, and I just simply love Hoenn. I better get a remake soon.
I also really liked Black and White. I love story driven games with three dimensional characters and epic plots, and Pokémon has always had the potential for that (from Colosseum to Mystery Dungeon to the Looker chapters of X and Y). So, Black and White made me happy with its more complicated story and even slight plot twist that I totally saw coming, but was good none the less. Pokémon has proved that it is capable of more mature stories and character development.
Personally, however, my favorite entry to the series has got to be X and Y. Improved breeding mechanics, the graphics and animation, trainer customization and even an awesome, more mature story driven sidequest with Looker (albeit short) make it an amazing game. I wish they would change the formula, but it's a main series game, and that's not going to happen. However, I've already poured 150 hours in and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
 
Gen IV. Not just because of Stunky (my favorite pokemon!) but because of the WiFi capabilities and the ability to connect with Pokemon players like never before! WOW! :)
 

Regime

the party is December 18th
is an Artist Alumnus
My favorite generation would have to be BY FAR 4th Gen. It was my first set of games I ever played (Platinum being first), but Diamond was really fun too! They introduced SO many awesome Pokemon like Rhyperior and Weavile, and the storyline was good for a change. HGSS had really good mechanics, such as the Pokemon following you, so yeah.
 
My favorite is poke Crystal and too a lesser extent heart gold /soul silver( did not really play them besides using a emulator) Just loved the game overall and I dolove the nostalgia factor.
 

Lord Wallace

Hentai Connoiseur
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
The fact that BW1 and BW2 are in the same category unsettles me a little bit.

BW1 is my favorite main series game to date, with a cast of exciting new mons that dominate the campaign, the most unnerving rival since Silver (no Cheren not you), a surprisingly intriguing plot and some thought provoking dialogue that actually gave me an incentive to not just blitz through the text, and some of the most epic standoffs in Pokemon history (specifically the final fight with N, one box cover legendary versus the other, how cool was that?) The satisfactory amount of post-game content also helps.

In comparison, BW2 was a total disappointment. I mean sure the World Tournament and the varying difficulty settings were cool but the campaign was pretty underwhelming.

The charm of the new mons was all but lost with the integration of the old ones, the pacing gets a little loopy in some parts as the game seems to struggle with the timing of Team Plasma related events and the continuation of your Pokemon League challenge (the structure of the campaign actually REGRESSES from what BW1 establishes to the formulaic detachment of the "Team Bad Guy subplot" from the rest of the game present in prior generations) and
Zinzolin or whatever he's called was probably the dryest, sappiest antagonist in the entire series. I mean I know Pokemon isnt exactly known for its deep storytelling but after BW1's impressive display BW2's painfully contrived plot just falls flat.

And while Colress being revealed as a Team Plasma affiliate did catch me off guard for a second, he actually LOSES presence as a character after he establishes his position at Team Plasma. Not cool, he could've been a total badass.
 

Shroomisaur

Smogon's fantastical fun-guy.
Voted for my favorite (Gen III) expecting to see it trailing behind the others... and then I was shocked to see it leading the poll!

Hoenn is my favorite region. Although I played every single Pokemon game when they were new, and Gens I and II have a lot of nostalgia, nothing can beat Sapphire for me. The music, the towns, the storyline featuring the epic Groudon/Kyogre weather war, it's all so memorable to me. Gen III also features my favorite regional list of Pokemon overall (Shroomish!) and they restored a good defensive/offensive balance after gen II. There was also a great battle Frontier in Emerald.

The most important thing to me though is that Gen III was a "break" from Gens I and II. All the broken mechanics were fixed, the IV and EV systems were completely revamped, natures were introduced, and Abilities were added as well. All of these made it possible to really individualize your Pokemon and customize your team to a whole new level.

I'm also very surprised to see Gen IV close behind III, which was by far my least favorite generation. DP was incredibly slow-paced, had awful Pokemon designs imo, and nothing memorable. Lumping HGSS in with DPPt doesn't seem fair to me, since I absolutely loved those games. The same goes for Gen V, in which I loved BW but didn't care for BW2.
 
Voted for my favorite (Gen III) expecting to see it trailing behind the others... and then I was shocked to see it leading the poll!
Yeah, I double-took at this, too. And Gen I in last place, wow...

The most important thing to me though is that Gen III was a "break" from Gens I and II. All the broken mechanics were fixed, the IV and EV systems were completely revamped, natures were introduced, and Abilities were added as well. All of these made it possible to really individualize your Pokemon and customize your team to a whole new level.
This was all nice, but honestly, what I like the most about Gen III is that it feels the least linear of any gen so far. Compared to previous and later gens, I don't feel like I'm playing through levels in a game that someone has designed. That you can't leave the ocean routes and explore the wider seas because of the rocks, for example, feels more like an unfortunate coincidence within the universe than a restrictive, man-made design. (Other regions either settle for straight lines of rocks or just don't have much water at all.)
 
The "cleanest" game out of every generation would be Gen 3.
They did practically nothing wrong with that game. It was amazing at the time, not only as a Pokemon game, but as a video game in general.

- First time in which sprites were actually very clear. They also animated upon summon(although I believe Crystal did do that as well).
- The battle animations were amazing. After Gen 3, they didn't even seem to try. Anyone remember Leaf Blade? Hyper Beam? Solar Beam? Psychic?
- Natures.
- Abilities.
- New Pokemon PC Box.
- Each Pokemon has their own "small" Party/PC sprite.
- Two on two battles.
- Breeding was taken to a new level.
- Very memorable characters.
- The contests and mini-games were actually pretty good.
- Had it's own Pokedex, combining old and new Pokemon.
- Having your own secret base and when connected to someone, they are transferred.

What did Gen 4 bring?
- Physical attacks as physical and special attacks as special. Finally.
- Underground world was pretty cool and was fun to get rare items.
- Online, which I don't know if it was for the better or worse as it is filled with hacked Pokemon. Personally, I don't like it as I'm a purist. I know people who believe that they got a legit shiny from the GTS, lol.

Then we have Gen 5.
- I haven't beat the game yet, but so far, this seems to have the most post-story stuff.
- Triple battles, a bit too much, maybe?
- Constantly moving Pokemon during battle.
- The best sounds and music in all of Pokemon, I will say that.

- Really lame battle animations. Like, really. Fake Out? Iron Defense? The only thing so far that was even somewhat impressive was Muddy Water/Surf
- Have been discussed before. Crappy item bag.
- Horrible enlarged/minimized sprites.
- Where did our customizable text frame go?

tl;dr: Gen 3 was the best, Gen 4 didn't bring too much, Gen 5 had some good stuff, but took out a lot of good things from prior games. The Pokemon games haven't "excelled" as a game as much as Gen 3 did.

*uses Soak on self as flameshield*
 
It honestly depends on what you liked the best out of each generation. I've already said that if I had to choose, it would be 5th gen, but I'd like to elaborate more.

See, each person has stuff they like, and for them, it's what may boost a generation to their "favorite" even though perhaps overall the generation didn't bring as much in to the bigger picture.

I hear a ton of people talking about 3rd gen, and believe me, when I got Ruby I played the everloving shit out of that game. I restarted over and over for ages. I loved the music, the legendaries, the new sprites. Abilities were cool, contests were amazing (why the fuck did GF take them out of future titles, I want them back dammit. And the atrocity that was the 4th gen contests don't count). I played the shit out of LeafGreen when I got that too, and the nostalgia factor was a huge part of it. Also had the best Champion music until this day, hands down.

4th gen (D/P/Pt) was alright. Nothing really stood out for me, besides the Physical/Special split which was fantastic. But if I had to choose one thing that made 4th gen memorable, it was the Distortion World. That place was the epitome of amazing design. It bummed me out that you couldn't visit it again after it was done, and that nothing like that was ever used again in future games. Also, Giratina. Fucking Giratina. I battled that SoB and it was glorious. I literally set my game down after the battle swoosh and did something else, all the while listening to the amazingly dark music. And then it beat the shit out of my team so many times that I just went "fuck it" and used a Master Ball on him.

HG/SS, as said before, is a bit unfair to be lumped into the same category as D/P/Pt. It's a throwback to the good old 2nd gen, but with far more stuff. The amazing remixes, the better graphics... AND YOUR POKEMON FOLLOWED YOU AROUND. THIS WAS THE BEST PART. WHY HAS THIS BEEN ABANDONED GAME FREAK.

Now for 5th gen. Overall, it didn't add a whole lot. Breeding mechanics were great. Reusable TMs were something that should have been done ages ago. Cool moving sprites. Great, but there were a lot of annoying stuff too. The bag was utter trash, the sprites looked shitty close up, and BW2 was kind of an eh sequel, though the World Tournament more than made up for it.

So considering these points, it's fair to see why so many people chose 3rd gen as their favorite, because overall it introduced the most stuff.

But for me, I chose 5th gen because I loved the story. Sure, 5th gen was a bit bland overall, but in terms of story, nothing in past generations beats it. Here I am, still playing Pokemon 13 years later after playing Yellow as my first game, and my tastes have changed over the years. I crave deep storylines in games, and 5th gen showed that it was possible to do in Pokemon. Sure, it ain't no Tales of Symphonia, but we were given a great antagonist, N, who literally wanted to put the world in terms of Black and White. He was a young man filled with ideals and most importantly, conviction. And it was over the most essential part of Pokemon: the bond between Trainer and Pokemon. By advocating to sever that bond, you had to ask yourself, "what am I really doing with my Pokemon? What are they to me?" And the two legendaries were great as well, representing the clash of ideologies between the main character and N. And in BW2, N comes back, with something almost unheard of in a Pokemon game: he has character development. He realizes that perhaps he must have a new outlook on the world, and he not only says so, but he shows it. Many other previous characters have said to change, but nothing to show for it (besides maybe Silver). N is different, and even has his releasing of his legendary as a symbol.

This is why I'm not surprised why 5th gen is pretty low on the poll. Most people who play Pokemon don't really give two shits about the storyline. But for me, it's the most important, and which is why I'd pick 5th gen as my favorite. Sure, it has its flaws, but it was a huge leap in terms of storytelling compared to previous gens. And seriously, when N's castle popped up near the end of B/W, I was nearly orgasming over the sheer awesome. I remember playing through that part in B/W and thinking to myself, "since when was I playing Final Fantasy? I thought I was playing Pokemon."

Now, like I said, I do like 3rd gen, but years later, looking back at the games, I honestly can't see the appeal. Hoenn is literally mostly water, and surfing around everywhere got tiresome real fast. The rival was pretty meh, especially since it came after the game with pretty much the best rival ever (in terms of a character), Silver. Re-listening to the music, it overall was alright, save for the Legendary theme, Regi theme, Mt Pyre and the E4/Champion themes which were the best out of a generally bland soundtrack. Compare that to HG/SS or BW/BW2 where literally there was no theme I didn't like. 3rd gen and Hoenn in general hasn't really aged well over the years imo, and tbh that's exactly why I'd like the see a remake of it sometime, simply because I'd want to see it updated.

X/Y as a generation is shaping up to be quite good. I dislike the bland storyline (seriously why the hell is it so short) but there's a slew of new things that made me happy. Breeding, for one. Also, AMIE. oh my god Amie. Now if we got back the HG/SS "Pokemon follow you around" gimmick with Amie in a later installment, there's nothing more I could ask for.
 
Most people who play Pokemon don't really give two shits about the storyline. But for me, it's the most important, and which is why I'd pick 5th gen as my favorite.
If you are looking for good storytelling in your RPGs, what made you stick with Pokemon through fifteen years where it barely existed?
 
If you are looking for good storytelling in your RPGs, what made you stick with Pokemon through fifteen years where it barely existed?
Because I like Pokemon, lol. I honestly didn't really play Pokemon for the story in the beginning, because I didn't even think that it could make a good story. I just enjoyed Pokemon and liked the plot as it usually was, a kid's plot. But then B/W happened, and then it showed me that a plot for a kid's game could also have mature elements in it. After B/W I started taking the story seriously. And that's why I was so disappointed in X/Y's plot.
 

Stone RG

Megas are broke
It honestly depends on what you liked the best out of each generation. I've already said that if I had to choose, it would be 5th gen, but I'd like to elaborate more.

See, each person has stuff they like, and for them, it's what may boost a generation to their "favorite" even though perhaps overall the generation didn't bring as much in to the bigger picture.

I hear a ton of people talking about 3rd gen, and believe me, when I got Ruby I played the everloving shit out of that game. I restarted over and over for ages. I loved the music, the legendaries, the new sprites. Abilities were cool, contests were amazing (why the fuck did GF take them out of future titles, I want them back dammit. And the atrocity that was the 4th gen contests don't count). I played the shit out of LeafGreen when I got that too, and the nostalgia factor was a huge part of it. Also had the best Champion music until this day, hands down.

4th gen (D/P/Pt) was alright. Nothing really stood out for me, besides the Physical/Special split which was fantastic. But if I had to choose one thing that made 4th gen memorable, it was the Distortion World. That place was the epitome of amazing design. It bummed me out that you couldn't visit it again after it was done, and that nothing like that was ever used again in future games. Also, Giratina. Fucking Giratina. I battled that SoB and it was glorious. I literally set my game down after the battle swoosh and did something else, all the while listening to the amazingly dark music. And then it beat the shit out of my team so many times that I just went "fuck it" and used a Master Ball on him.

HG/SS, as said before, is a bit unfair to be lumped into the same category as D/P/Pt. It's a throwback to the good old 2nd gen, but with far more stuff. The amazing remixes, the better graphics... AND YOUR POKEMON FOLLOWED YOU AROUND. THIS WAS THE BEST PART. WHY HAS THIS BEEN ABANDONED GAME FREAK.

Now for 5th gen. Overall, it didn't add a whole lot. Breeding mechanics were great. Reusable TMs were something that should have been done ages ago. Cool moving sprites. Great, but there were a lot of annoying stuff too. The bag was utter trash, the sprites looked shitty close up, and BW2 was kind of an eh sequel, though the World Tournament more than made up for it.

So considering these points, it's fair to see why so many people chose 3rd gen as their favorite, because overall it introduced the most stuff.

But for me, I chose 5th gen because I loved the story. Sure, 5th gen was a bit bland overall, but in terms of story, nothing in past generations beats it. Here I am, still playing Pokemon 13 years later after playing Yellow as my first game, and my tastes have changed over the years. I crave deep storylines in games, and 5th gen showed that it was possible to do in Pokemon. Sure, it ain't no Tales of Symphonia, but we were given a great antagonist, N, who literally wanted to put the world in terms of Black and White. He was a young man filled with ideals and most importantly, conviction. And it was over the most essential part of Pokemon: the bond between Trainer and Pokemon. By advocating to sever that bond, you had to ask yourself, "what am I really doing with my Pokemon? What are they to me?" And the two legendaries were great as well, representing the clash of ideologies between the main character and N. And in BW2, N comes back, with something almost unheard of in a Pokemon game: he has character development. He realizes that perhaps he must have a new outlook on the world, and he not only says so, but he shows it. Many other previous characters have said to change, but nothing to show for it (besides maybe Silver). N is different, and even has his releasing of his legendary as a symbol.

This is why I'm not surprised why 5th gen is pretty low on the poll. Most people who play Pokemon don't really give two shits about the storyline. But for me, it's the most important, and which is why I'd pick 5th gen as my favorite. Sure, it has its flaws, but it was a huge leap in terms of storytelling compared to previous gens. And seriously, when N's castle popped up near the end of B/W, I was nearly orgasming over the sheer awesome. I remember playing through that part in B/W and thinking to myself, "since when was I playing Final Fantasy? I thought I was playing Pokemon."

Now, like I said, I do like 3rd gen, but years later, looking back at the games, I honestly can't see the appeal. Hoenn is literally mostly water, and surfing around everywhere got tiresome real fast. The rival was pretty meh, especially since it came after the game with pretty much the best rival ever (in terms of a character), Silver. Re-listening to the music, it overall was alright, save for the Legendary theme, Regi theme, Mt Pyre and the E4/Champion themes which were the best out of a generally bland soundtrack. Compare that to HG/SS or BW/BW2 where literally there was no theme I didn't like. 3rd gen and Hoenn in general hasn't really aged well over the years imo, and tbh that's exactly why I'd like the see a remake of it sometime, simply because I'd want to see it updated.

X/Y as a generation is shaping up to be quite good. I dislike the bland storyline (seriously why the hell is it so short) but there's a slew of new things that made me happy. Breeding, for one. Also, AMIE. oh my god Amie. Now if we got back the HG/SS "Pokemon follow you around" gimmick with Amie in a later installment, there's nothing more I could ask for.
This man knows his shit, and im glad to say i completely agree with all of his points, even though i chose DPP as my favorite gen, closely followed by Emerald JUST becuase i love Hoenn, May, and the starters. BW is where you realize, if you have played throughout all or most of the previous main games, that the guy who wrote the dialogues and storyline had a sudden blast of genius, a deep message that renders you thinking for hours, and N's farewell is such a... touching moment, because he realizes that how he was raised, and how slave pokemon feel about their trainers is not how all pokemon feel about their trainers, and then he just goes, never to be seen again until BW2, which was done well at the very least.

As a generic fact, i think all the important characters in Unova were given a MUCH better character development than in Sinnoh by a longshot, hell, Cheren and Bianca dont get any credit ever for such a well done change of mind through their adventures as opposed to Silver, why? Because the standard for development in Unova is much higher than in it was in previous generations. Alder was an awesome champion, he fitted his role well in my opinion, with battles aside. Memory Link helped up with the Gym Leaders and was such a great adding to make them feel not like they were feeling up space, but they had goals they were aiming for changed during the 2 years timeskip. And can someone explain why wasnt Hilbert/Hilda given some closure with N? Its pretty sad they were looking for him for 2 years while he was doing the exact same thing.

No mention to Iris, fuck afroamerican champions i hate her dress.

Bleh, XY was a mayor dissapointment in MAIN storyline terms, Lysandre cannot make up for the competitor for worst champion in history with Wallace, awful admins and absolutely useless and un-rememberable ''friends''. But i got my hopes high for Z, i mean Platinum was definetely a step up from DP, and as of right now, it seems Gamefreak are actually making some sort of effort to establish mroe mature themes to the games.
 

Stone RG

Megas are broke
^hey now, Serena is pretty awesome. The other 3 though are forgettable.
Thats why the ''friend'' thing, i couldnt care less about the 3 of them since they serve ni purpose. On the other hand, Serena/Calem as a rival was pretty legit to say the least, he/she gets some development and achivement of his/her goal to an extent.
 

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