Least favourite primary paired versions?

[Esserise]

There's only so much praise you can give something before you run out of things to say

Ah, so I see you've never seen me get going on Gen 5

(Half-)joking aside, I dunno that it's that simple... I think framing might be an important element. Like, in a "your favorite" thread, you are describing what it is you find likable and meaningful about something, and I think it maybe comes off as somewhat poor form (even if it shouldn't) to challenge that in a thread that is insinuated to be about appreciation. Whereas in a "your least favorite" thread, that's people coming after your favorites and there's maybe more of an instinct to defend them against that criticism. I mean, that's part of the reason why I didn't make separate favorite and least-favorite threads about post-game stories, because I felt like it's kind of redundant. With two topics on essentially the same subject, a lot of points that people might be making in one thread are going to be germane to discussions in the other thread, but they're not going to hear them. In addition, there's going to a lot of people saying relatively the same things twice. To me that doesn't seem like an efficient way to communicate, but then, my thread variant has gotten the least traction, so what do I know.

 

[Daenerys]

Sword and Shield because for me they introduced too many changes and I didn't like the feel of the games. Red and Blue were really bad too though I mean the graphics were the norm for that time period but the number of glitches and the hassle of training back then was too much to bear.

 

[fluffy-wooloo]

A tie between X/Y and Red/Blue. I can't even play X/Y anymore because everything about those games bores me and Red/Blue had the biggest flaws out of all main Pokemon games.

 

[Nichole the Otter]

For me, it's R/B. They're riddled with glitches and both the type chart and Pokemon roster was horribly unbalanced.

SW/SH come probably a close second. I don't like Dynamax or Raids, and most of the new Pokemon don't interest me a lot. Not to mention I decided to quit playing the games after Gen 7.

 

[Esserise]

Sun & Moon... it’s interesting how my problems with these games are like the inverse of my problems with DP. SM do a lot of new things and try out tons of fresh, bold ideas, whereas the Gen 6 games felt (comparatively) more typical and tame. But the irony is that Sun & Moon might’ve pushed things too far... the cutscenes drag so hard, this is where they decided dungeons weren’t worth bothering with anymore, and there are some legit straight-up downgrades from Gen 6, most obviously with the Festival Plaza and the lack of utilizing the bottom screen. And like I said in one of the third version threads, USUM show up a year later and shine a flashlight on all sorts of cut corners in SM. Just thinking back on the lag spot before Double Battles makes me feel second-hand humiliation, lol.

I might owe SM a slight apology lol

My recent run of Pokémon Sun has kinda reminded me of what I appreciated about these games when they first came out. I'm not sure I'm giving them enough credit for how fresh and confident they feel despite the many potentially controversial changes they make. More than that, though... I ribbed on SM here for feeling incomplete in retrospect of USUM, but at the same time, going back and playing SM after SwSh makes SwSh feel surprisingly... sterile. SwSh now feel very slick but almost to the point where there are no interesting quirks or rough edges to appreciate. Like, normally when you make a bunch of quality of life improvements, the previous games feel a little more dated. But I kind of feel like SwSh's touch-ups are almost too good. For instance, the omnipresent PC, the ability to change Natures, the busted Exp. Candies, the (to be fair, unintentional) ease with which Shiny Pokémon can be obtained thanks to Max Raid Battles... kind of makes me feel like I don't have to really work for anything. I don't have to make any compromises. Everything is so slick and easily accessed. For the long-term good of the series, most of those changes are probably more of a good thing than not, but on an individual level, it feels somewhat less personal and engaging to me. Take the lack of HMs or even Poké Ride. Galar Taxi is a cool worldbuilding element, but in practice, it's just a teleport button that cuts to a black screen. The little cutscene where Charizard comes and picks you up in SM feels like something is actually going on, even if it is just a preformed cutscene to play while the game loads up the next map. I talked elsewhere about how Poké Pelago feels more lively and endearing than Poké Jobs. And while USUM are obviously the champions as far as little micro-events sprinkled throughout the game are concerned, even SM have a fair few to seek out, whereas the only ones I feel like I remember from SwSh are finding that lost Minccino in Motostoke, the standing stones puzzle in Turffield, the food deliveries in Hulbury, delivering Paula's letter to Frank, and that hapless detective sequence in Circhester. And lord knows that I love the atmosphere of Galar's Gym battles, but they just plain and simply aren't as mechanically interesting or challenging as Alola's trials.

Also. Concerning the "lag spot" before Double Battles, it occurs to me now that it probably isn't lag, but rather just a lack of animations for that part of the sequence, which they clearly fixed when they got around to USUM. It's kind of like the new animations that SwSh added so that the Pokémon don't just stand around when the battle starts or when they Dynamax.

New ranking lol
Ruby & Sapphire
Black & White
Gold & Silver
Sun & Moon
X & Y tied with Sword & Shield
[break]
Diamond & Pearl
Red & Blue

yeah. That feels a little more accurate in terms of what I usually prioritize and appreciate in a new game.

 

[Nichole the Otter]

For me, Red and Green/Blue. Kanto is a really barebones region that is riddled with glitches and unbalanced moves and Pokemon rosters. It doesn't help that I get more and more sick of Kanto due to all the pandering in recent years.

 

[a230]

I'll go with sun and moon. I was not a fan of the pokedex, and the trials. Trials was a good idea , but really poorly executed. Too much handholding, too much cutscene. The games are not replayable at all. I don't hate story telling or plot, but like the trials, it was poorly excuted even if the story was not bad. Furthermore , there was almost no pokemon of my liking in the pokedex.

Black and White was close . At the time i was on a 2 years break of pokemon and I was piss off that none of my favorite pokemon was available at the time. Todey, i'm used to the pokemon of Unova and I love a lot of the mons, something that was not the case at the time. And I think today I would enjoy a new generation with only new pokemon.