Which Pokemon Game to start with?

[SullyMcGully]

A few of you may know me as possibly the only person on Serenes Forest who has never played a Pokemon game. Well, I'm planned on changing that. I have a 3DS, which means I have access to almost every mainstream Pokemon game ever made in some way or another, either through Virtual Console, enhanced remakes ported to DS/3DS, or original titles released on DS/3DS. I checked it out and they all seem to sell for about $25 used on Amazon. So which game should I start with? Should I go all the way back to the beginning and play the Gameboy titles? Should I start with a remake or an original? Should I wait for Ultra Sun/Moon to come out? Every game has two versions, which is better?

Keep in mind that the things that matter most to me when buying a game are:

1. Good value for money

2. Good storytelling

3. Good music

4. Long-lasting gameplay experience

[Florina's #1 Fan]

Okay, so be aware this is coming from someone who hates the GBA games, first of all. I think the best game to start with is Pokemon Platinum. Here's why.

• Pretty good story for a Pokemon game
• The best champion
• The Battle Frontier
• Its graphics don't feel dated
• Its OST is absolutely one of my favorite game soundtracks ever (it's up there with the GBA FE games and Skullgirls, which has an absolutely astounding soundtrack)
• Feels balanced
• The Disortion World puzzles near endgame are super cool and fun
• Giratina is boss
• It gives you a general feel for the franchise, it isn't too easy or too hard
• It lasts a while, although there is no online play anymore (it's old :/ )
• The Battle Island (I said the Battle Frontier, but that's just a small part of the Battle Island)

I personally started with Pokemon Diamond, but of the Sinnoh trio, Platinum is most assuredly the most for your money. If you'd rather have access to online play, I would suggest Pokemon Sun/Moon, they're a good starting place too and they have some neat puzzles, even if I personally would rather have the modern looking 2D sprites and pixelated graphics of Sinnoh.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Florina's #1 Fan

[Michelaar]

10 minutes ago, SullyMcGully said:

A few of you may know me as possibly the only person on Serenes Forest who has never played a Pokemon game. Well, I'm planned on changing that. I have a 3DS, which means I have access to almost every mainstream Pokemon game ever made in some way or another, either through Virtual Console, enhanced remakes ported to DS/3DS, or original titles released on DS/3DS. I checked it out and they all seem to sell for about $25 used on Amazon. So which game should I start with? Should I go all the way back to the beginning and play the Gameboy titles? Should I start with a remake or an original? Should I wait for Ultra Sun/Moon to come out? Every game has two versions, which is better?

Keep in mind that the things that matter most to me when buying a game are:

1. Good value for money

2. Good storytelling

3. Good music

4. Long-lasting gameplay experience

I reccomend not to start with Ultra sun and moon, since those are kind of tied to the originals, but you can pretty much start with anything that isn't USUM or black 2 and white 2. 

My favourite game in the series are Pokémon Black and White. These are really beginner-friendly.

• They are amazing games, pretty long too.
• The story is widely accepted by the fandom as one of the greatest in pokémon, with great characters and villains.
• The music is just amazing ;)
• Don't know how much this counts, I never have done Black and white post-game before, but the games themselves are pretty long, PLUS the only pokémon games to have sequels (Black 2 and White 2)

 

@Florina's #1 Fan I always thought Platinum was really difficult compared to others.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Michelaar

[Intercopter]

My first was Pearl, but I concur with @Florina's #1 Fan. After playing through Pearl all the way, Platinum just felt like an objectively better version of the game.

Black/White isn't a bad place to start either. Unova is my personal favorite region. 

[Florina's #1 Fan]

4 minutes ago, Michelaar said:

 I always thought Platinum was really difficult compared to others.

I can see that, but overall, Pokemon as a franchise isn't difficult, and Sully said he wanted the game to last. ORAS, SM, and BW took me maybe a week to get through, and when I was done, there wasn't much to do afterwards aside from going online, catching legendaries, battling a few 'strong' trainers (that were actually still level capped at 60 and were a piece of cake), and going to the slightly stronger Elite 4 that still manages to get steamrolled. Sometimes there would be a really short and sort of lame post-game quest set (like the Delta Emerald Rayquaza thing), but it just felt like a teeny distraction so you wouldn't notice how little material was actually placed in post-game.

Black and White are really good games, but I wouldn't start with them because I feel like they're way too easy for a game that is already quite low on the difficulty scale. These games are targeted at kids, after all. But you can start there if you think you won't be able to understand the battling system quickly. The Unova region is an excellent region, all in all, and it is friendly toward beginners.

[Michelaar]

5 minutes ago, Florina's #1 Fan said:

 

Black and White are really good games, but I wouldn't start with them because I feel like they're way too easy for a game that is already quite low on the difficulty scale. These games are targeted at kids, after all. But you can start there if you think you won't be able to understand the battling system quickly. The Unova region is an excellent region, all in all, and it is friendly toward beginners.

You have clearly never met the horrors that are

Elesa, N, and Ghetsis

There are far easier games than the unova games, is all that i'm saying. I feel like  it's not that difficult, but also not that hard.

[Ronnie]

Start with Platinum, Black and White or Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire.

Or hell just start with Sun and Moon. Love that game.

Oh and the ones with 2 versions are basically the same game with just minor story changes to fit the cover legendary. The ones with the 3rd version, you're better off with the 3rd version since it adds more stuff. Skip Gen 1 and 2 at all costs, they are archaic as hell. Gen 3 is pretty archaic but runs at the speed of sound so it feels great still. Nice graphics and music too.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Ronnie

[Bartozio]

I agree with Platinum being a good start. The Battle Frontier is a pretty fun and tough challenge, so training up pokemon to clear it and thinking up strategies for it should make it a pretty lasting experience. It also forces you to fully understand the battle system, instead of just allowing to power grind through it.

Other then that, I remember the story to be pretty eventfull and the difficulty not being too low. I might be biased since it's the best game from the generation where I played competive though.

[Rex Glacies]

I started with Gen IV, which is Platinum, Pearl, and Diamond, but because we are already into Gen VII, I would recommend Sun or Moon. They do have a good story (I didn't care for it, though that's more because I accidentally spoiled it for myself), have great music (I love all of Team Skull and the Aether Foundation's themes, plus more), and have reasonable difficulty (with an item called the Experience Share, you can basically manually make the game more difficult or easier).

There are two issues of course - as a recent 3DS game, I think it'll cost about $40, and I got rather bored after finishing the story, though that is likely more my own issue than one with the game.

As for what not to start with, I say HeartGold/SoulSilver, Black/White 2, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, and the upcoming Ultra Sun and Moon. HeartGold was... fairly boring, I admit, and unless you watched the anime or played the original games (which I doubt) then I can't say they'd appeal to you. Black/White 2 and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire can be fun (I loved White 2) but you'll probably miss out on many of the Easter Eggs and aspects of the story if you haven't played their predecessors. From information that has been revealed, Ultra Sun and Moon sound like the same situation.

If Sun or Moon won't appeal to you, then go for Platinum or Black and White. Platinum's a good choice (and is in the best generation and region), and Black and White are largely appealed towards beginners, yet are still excellent.

[Tamanoir]

The good thing with BW is that you can go straight up to B2W2 afterwards, if you liked them. BW is reasonably difficult (and B2W2 is quite above gameplay wise.)

Sun and Moon is the safest bet, honnestly. Really covenient to play through, good story and character, OK difficulty (it's on the easy side, but the EXP sources are quite limited.)

BW and SM are relatively short however

If you don't worry about playing older games, Emerald is a really good take as well. It's a better choice than ORAS for two reasons : Number one is the battle frontier that offers hours of challenges ahead. It's also reasonably challenging all around, while ORAS are the only games that are really too easy (much more than XY who were already on the very easy side.)
Emerald also really put double battles at the front, which offers mainy interresting new strategies. I would consider it as one of the hardest games, though (Salking + Double Battles = Deadly Killing Machine)

[Ronnie]

Whenever you do get around to playing Pokémon, feel free to PM me any questions!

[Stephen the Great]

5 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Whenever you do get around to playing Pokémon, feel free to PM me any questions!

Same here, but only ask me about Gen V and earlier.

[NSSKG151]

I would recommend Emerald as it has in my opinion the best game but since you said games on DS/3DS I would also like to say Platinum is a good choice. The villain team in Platinum didn't impress me that much but most of the gym leaders are actually challenging and the champion is generally agreed to be the hardest in the franchise. Plus there is still plenty to do postgame since Battle Frontier exist in this game. Platinum also isn't as slow as Diamond and Pearl when it comes to saving the game or messing around with PC.

Other games I would recommend is Black/White 2 but it requires playing Black/White 1 to understand the full Unova story or Heartgold/Soulsilver if you want to see what Pokémon was like back late 90's/early 2000's but those games are hard to by these days or way too expensive.

[Ether]

I'm gonna be a little bit contrarian compared to most people here and ask a secondary question. Do you think you're going to end up playing more Pokemon games after your first one? Do you have any intention to play most/all of the series if the gameplay agrees with you? If so, I think that you should start as early in the series as possible, as going backwards can be... an interesting short of culture shock in Pokemon especially if you don't know what to expect. 

Additionally, Gen 1 and 2 are available on the 3DS VC and are easily the cheapest available options. Gen 1 is notable because it's latest remake was on the GBA, which you didn't list as something you had access to. If you're interested in starting from the beginning, Either Red/Blue or Yellow are still fun to play, but might not be if you went back to them after playing and getting used to later entries. 

Gen 1 is also notable in that the 3rd version isn't a direct upgrade like other generations. Yellow has a slightly different structure than normal, and takes cues from the anime, where Red and Blue play more similarly to later entries. Gen 1, however, are very "old" games in a sense, not just literally. The mechanics are unique compared to later games, and the art style isn't to everyone's taste. If you want to avoid them for that reason, Gold and Silver are also quite good and hold up much better to a modern lens, with a long campaign and probably the simplest mechanics to grasp in the series, lacking a lot of gen 1's quirks. Sadly, Crystal isn't available on VC right now, which is better than the two original versions.

Now, if you don't want to reach all the way back to the Gameboy VC titles, my next recommendation is Black or White. The thing that's special about these games is that they remove all previous pokemon from the main game, which makes individual pokemon much more easy to keep track of, and isn't something I've seen mentioned so far. Jumping into a game like Platinum with a large, mixed pokedex can be daunting for a new player, and B/W are a sort of reset, in that regard. They're also unique in that they're one of few sets of games with a direct sequel instead of a third version in B/W2, which makes for an easy transition into a second game.

[Zkitty8]

I agree that Platinum is probably a good place to start. It was actually the game I started with and I quickly fell in love with it. There are lots of cool pokemon to catch, some challenging puzzles and battles, it has a decent story (although not as good as B/W or S/M in my opinion), and exploring the region and catching pokemon and battling at the battle frontier should add a lot to the post-game.

Black and White would also be good places to start. They're kind of easy because of how linear they are, but the story is great and it has cool pokemon too. Sun and Moon are also good, but they're different from the other games in the main series because they don't have gyms. The beginning of the game is very slow, but if it's your first game then the tutorials might not be so bad. Gold/Silver and their remakes aren't bad places to start either. And all the games have good music so don't worry too much about that.

[Ceratisa_Winters]

Red and Blue Eshop..