Pokémon... Where to start?

[JoJo]

Yellow is by far the best in the series. Play that one.

Ha, only with nostalgia goggles on, they were great for their time but Gen I really hasn't aged well. Graphically, it's badly drawn monochrome sprites on a white background. The Kanto region is the smallest and most basic, with around half the number of towns of recent installments. The only postgame was catching Mewtwo. The Gen I metagame was also horribly broken in favour of psychic types, with their only counter being bug types which had no moves in that gen above 25 power, and many bugs were also secondarily a poison type which counteracted their meagre advantage over psychic types.

If you have to play a Kanto game, choose FireRed or LeafGreen, which are superior in every way. But seriously, just play X & Y since they have been improved so much and still feature the original 151 pokemon heavily.

 

[spartan231490]

So after debating with myself all year I've decided to go and get a Nintendo 3DS this year, mostly so that I can play Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. However, it feels kind of a waste getting a new handheld so that I can just play one game so I've been thinking about getting into Pokémon, however there are so many games that I don't know where to start!

Essentially I'm looking for a Pokémon game that has a lot of single-player content but is also friendly towards new players.

Anyone got a game they can recommend for that?

Remember, pokemon games are aimed at like 10/12 year olds, so they're all friendly to new players. That said, if you intend to buy more than one, I would strongly suggest starting at the beginning. They are really all solid games and since they add features with every generation, you won't one day go back to play the originals and find that your favorite feature wasn't implemented yet(like breeding, or pokemon contests, or lots of other, smaller stuff).

If you only plan to buy one, start with something from the second generation. The types are still pretty obvious at that point, the names aren't too ridiculous, and you can play two full regions with 16 badges and one elite 4 that has an elite 5th above them. It also has access to 5 legendaries, if that's your thing, and the starters are, if not my favorite, second only to the originals. Crystal is probably one of the best from any generation for building a balanced team early, you can get bellsprout, poliwag, phampy and ghastly(grass, water, ground and ghost. They're not the strongest of their types, but it's rare to be able to catch any pokemon of those types early in most of the games) before the first gym. I think growlithe(fire type) can also appear, though I'm not sure and if he does he's hard to catch thanks to roar.

You can also get Teddyursa, who evolves into the powerful ursaring(normal type), in the first cave, though he is a rare spawn. Second gen also has the clone glitch, and the easy cheat to get all 3 starters, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

[EHKOS]

I'd grab Firered or Leafgreen if you want to go first gen, because in Blue, Red, and Yellow, they had a type change that doesn't carry over to any other generation. I forget what it is, something about Ghost type I think.

X&Y has the best online stuff, although there are always the dicks that only pack legendaries.

But you really can't go too wrong unless you pick Diamond and Pearl, which is nearly tied with Black and White for being the not the best games. Although there really aren't any BAD Pokemon games...the main ones I mean.

Heartgold/Soulsilver are great choices too, Emerald might be harder than the others, there was a lot of bullshit in that game, although I love it. It just had precision bike puzzles and brail codes of all things.

 

[Sansha]

So after debating with myself all year I've decided to go and get a Nintendo 3DS this year, mostly so that I can play Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. However, it feels kind of a waste getting a new handheld so that I can just play one game so I've been thinking about getting into Pokémon, however there are so many games that I don't know where to start!

Essentially I'm looking for a Pokémon game that has a lot of single-player content but is also friendly towards new players.

Anyone got a game they can recommend for that?

I honestly advise starting at Gold and Silver. They have the basics combined with really good user friendliness and flow, and even teaches you some history of Red and Blue.

 

[Hero of Lime]

My biggest recommendation would be Black and White, which also gives you a very clean slate, as you must use only 5th gen Pokemon till after the main game. I would say X and Y are the most newbie friendly. That being said, if you play X and Y first you'll get sort of spoiled by the visuals and the OP exp. share, which might make the older games more of a grind.

So while I definitely recommend X and Y, but only after playing the likes of Black/Black 2, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Platinum. I also recommend Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, though those are harder to get these days.

 

[Rob Robson]

So after debating with myself all year I've decided to go and get a Nintendo 3DS this year, mostly so that I can play Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. However, it feels kind of a waste getting a new handheld so that I can just play one game so I've been thinking about getting into Pokémon, however there are so many games that I don't know where to start!

Essentially I'm looking for a Pokémon game that has a lot of single-player content but is also friendly towards new players.

Anyone got a game they can recommend for that?

I would start with either Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed or LeafGreen. After one of those I would do HeartGold or SoulSilver. Then after that:

Diamond/ Pearl / Platinum --> Black & White --> Black 2 / White 2 --> X & Y.


The reason I recommend it that way is because it's generational correct progression, and you don't have to play the very first games that were black/white etc.


If you think you're going to play ONE GAME UND ONE GAME ONLY (which I doubt as they are addicting) my personal favourite is the Gold/ Silver generation, so I recommend the remakes HeartGold/ SoulSilver.

Plus, I think that Black/White had the best story of all the games.

Never heard someone say that before, I thought it was widely regarded as the worst story, especially with the cheesiness of Team Plasma and the lack of fun minigames in the game like contests. I also found it to be the shortest game out of the entire bunch.

 

[LittleBlackDragon]

I'd say for a new player, HeartGold/SoulSilver, any of the Gen 5 games, and XY might be a good place to start.

 

[spartandude]

As much as others didn't like it, the Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald gen was my favorite.
It had the most entertaining storyline and the coolest areas of all the games. Otherwise I would suggest leaf green or X/Y.

I sadly missed Gen 3, i tried to get an emulator but at that point my 3DS along with Soul Silver, Platinum, Black and White 2 arrived in the post so its difficult to bother with the emulator atm. Especially since i now have X. However rumours are saying we might get Gen 3 remakes soon.

 

[The White Hunter]

I'd recommend starting on X or Y, since they are the newest and the only ones so far that are made with the 3DS specially in mind. Unlike older games X & Y have proper 3D graphics and they have the most pokemon catchable within a game (between 300 and 400 I think if you include Friend Safari). The online features are a lot better in X & Y too.

All pokemon games are friendly towards new players by design, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about that

I would recommend Heart Gold or Soul Silver for the DS for single player content to be honest, but X and Y have plenty of content and multiplayer and the underlying mechanics are more transparent, if still a touch murky and confusing to the unitiated.

They are also quite pretty, shame about the camera being idiotic most of the time.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

It always felt to me like the multiplayer aspects of Pokemon have always been...not tacked on but always more of an after-thought than anything. When it comes to Pokemon, I don't think it matters where you start since they all (from what I remember) are pretty easy on newcomers. Personally, I liked Soul Silver/Heart Gold a whole lot so if you wanted to start with that awesome. Otherwise, X/Y is really good. Black and White were fun while they lasted but after playing them I didn't really retain as much as other generations.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

So which game would you guys say has the most Pokémon available without having to share from other games/go online?

 

[The_Echo]

So which game would you guys say has the most Pokémon available without having to share from other games/go online?

X and Y, easily. The regional Dex has 454 Pokémon in it, out of a total 718.

I might be a bit late to the thread, but I'd just recommend X and Y as your first game anyway. It introduced the new Fairy type, meaning that the type chart [http://www.serebii.net/xy/typechart.shtml] has been altered accordingly. Some Pokémon have been retrofitted into the Fairy type, which will take some getting used to for veteran players like myself. And X and Y is built upon the improvements of previous generations, as well as making the competitive/meta game more accessible.

So all around I'd say you'll have the easiest time entering the franchise with Gen VI.

 

[LightningFast]

I'd definitely recommend entering with Gen VI. Thanks to the improved exp. share, I didn't have to grind at all, and was actually able to keep a B-team of sorts. Plus, training up new Pokemon is a sinch.

Unfortunately, the game's a bit on the easy side. The tutorials are comparatively faster and the game feels a bit more streamlined, but there are very few times in which you're going to be defeated completely. The Elite Four and Champion are particularly disappointing, with me only feeling really challenged while facing one of them. (Of course, I was a little bit overleveled.) The pacing of the game's also odd, and it's true, the story is pretty terrible (the main villains are... just... ugh...) but I'd honestly recommend it over most of 4th or 5th gen. If X and Y had Diamond and Pearl's elite four and champ, I'd say hands down best in the series.

 

[KorfZin]

Never buy an old Pokémon game, parts of the games are locked off forever unless you own it and go online during a certain limited time.

 

[Someone Depressing]

The whole point of the Pokemon games are to be easy to play and user-friendly. It's nothing like Dwarf Fortress, any RPG before 1990, or an average rogue-like.

I'd start with any. Any at all. The Stadium games, the main games, whatever.

 

[Story]

Never buy an old Pokémon game, parts of the games are locked off forever unless you own it and go online during a certain limited time.

Out of curiosity, what things are locked off in old pokemon games?
Do you mean event exclusive pokemon?

OT:
Y or X by far OP. Most of the old games still hold up, but X and Y is just the more streamlined game with the most content (excluding perhaps Gold/Silver/Crystal and their remakes).

 

[KorfZin]

Never buy an old Pokémon game, parts of the games are locked off forever unless you own it and go online during a certain limited time.

Out of curiosity, what things are locked off in old pokemon games?
Do you mean event exclusive pokemon?

That, and areas and battles, and items, and Pokéwalker courses.

 

[Story]

Never buy an old Pokémon game, parts of the games are locked off forever unless you own it and go online during a certain limited time.

Out of curiosity, what things are locked off in old pokemon games?
Do you mean event exclusive pokemon?

That, and areas and battles, and Pokéwalker courses.

Ah good point, though I thought that was only the HeartGold/SoulSilver games?

Another thing that the OP might consider is that the online community on older games might be dead/non existent.

 

[KorfZin]

Ah good point, though I thought that was only the HeartGold/SoulSilver games?

I edited in "items" as well, something about Rotom forms I think. Well, I missed one, put down the game in anger and will whine about it forever!

 

[sanquin]

Heartgold and Soulsilver give you the most bang for your buck. As as far as I know they're the only games that have two area's. Both the area's from gold/silver and red/blue.

Alternatively, x and y are good. The game is less challenging than earlier ones, but has a lot of things that previous games didn't have. Plus, it's also a HUGE step up graphics-wise.