What is your LEAST favorite Pokémon game?

[~kieran~]

lgpe- boring. the pokemon catching mechanics are terrible

bdsp- the games can be more glitchy than sv at times and the graphics are terrible

i also like looking down on people who picked the opposite version than me (besides sv, i picked violet but i also like scarlet) because my opinion is obviously superior to theirs

 

[Guinea]

I didn't like Sword/Shield at all. I traded my copy of Sword for Captain Toad. Didn't regret it.

 

[Sheep]

Honestly, BDSP. Mostly because of the chibi human graphics which I find to look odd in 3D, and the Pokémon models themselves are also unappealing to look at since the eyes/mouth/nose and the like have no depth. I like the vivid colors but that's it really. /: All the friendship boosts made it very easy too, I wish I could deactivate them or at least have them happen less frequently.

 

[Princess Viola]

X/Y - As much as I think they're peak when it comes to clothing options (and for introducing two of my fave Pokémon with Goodra and Sylveon), the games are just so boring and easy and don't even have an interesting story to make me go 'Yeah as games, they're pretty mid but it's still worth it for the story'.

 

[Rockapheller]

Honestly? Any Gen I game.

The trophy belongs to Gen I games because of all the broken moves and glitches. I think what Pokémon benefitted back then was that probably no one knew most moves were not working as they were supposed to. Being the first games of the franchise, people just accepted the moves as they were, let alone being aware of all the broken catch rates, critical hit mistakes, and other glitches.

The bag was horrible to operate. You're looking for an item? Good luck finding it in 10 minutes maybe with all the items getting listed back to back and no option to organize the order even. Pokémon were most of the time out of proportion and you could not genuinely imagine the right version of it unless you know what it looks like outside of the game. Yellow and Gen II games fixed it drastically, but still not efficiently enough.

The Pokémon games became playable for me starting from Gen III. Even today, whenever I decide to make a "Pokémon marathon", it is FireRed & LeafGreen for Kanto representation, and HeartGold & SoulSilver for Johto representation for me.

 

[Frozen Fennec]

Gen IV games, the games felt a bit slow at times and the HP bars slowly rolling down during battles at times felt like a huge deterrent from wanting to battle at times.

 

[EzloSpirit]

Battle Revolution. The graphics were stunning. Everything else was pointless lol.

The only Pokemon game I've genuinely regretted buying, though, is Brilliant Diamond. It's a fantastic game. But it's virtually identical to the original game, incorporates nothing from Platinum, and costs almost twice as much as the original. Not to mention what they did to the Poketch lol. For someone who played the original, it's a complete waste. But if you've never played the game, or Diamond's your favorite and you want nothing more from it, it's fine.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee: Not really fan of the catching mechanics and the lack of a post game.

 

[Bolt Strike]

This may be kind of cheating because I never actually played the full game, but I have to mention LGPE (although I did play the in store demo so I guess I can still count it?). That game is the exact antithesis of what I want a Pokemon game to be like. A bland, casualized recycling of an old region with the same old antiquated level design from the Game Boy, the limited roster from the Game Boy, almost no new features or content, and they even stripped away wild battling to cram in mobile's catching mechanics. And from what I played of the demo, I absolutely could not get the motion controls to work properly. Honestly would like to forget this game ever existed.

In terms of games that I've fully played though, BW1 and USUM rank pretty low too. Both felt more like steps backwards than forwards from their previous entries. BW heavily casualized the regional design and stripped away almost all sense of exploration, removed a ton of content and QoL features, and limited the Pokemon roster to just new Pokemon in pursuit of a "fresh start" that was poorly executed (how can it feel like a "fresh start" when they do things like replace the same old Zubats and Geodudes with Totally Not Zubats and Totally Not Geodudes?). As for USUM, almost none of what it added felt significant or fun and the plot was butchered in the process of replacing the Nihilego neurotoxin storyline with Necrozma. It basically felt like playing SM all over again with $1, maaaaybe $5 worth of extra content at most and didn't do nearly enough to justify going back to Alola again a mere year later.

 

[TheCapsFan]

Initially voted for USUM and BDSP in the poll, but quickly changed to USUM and XY after a bit of thought.

USUM put a really bad taste in my mouth & really solidified that the "definitive version" strategy was simply overdone. It came way too soon after the original SM and removed a lot of the story bits from the original that I particularly enjoyed. That being said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to replay these games relatively soon. In a vacuum, I have a feeling I'll really like these games for their increased difficulty over the originals - but the circumstance of their release really made me dislike them at the time. I suppose we'll see.

And it's actually my feelings on BDSP that have somewhat made me re-evaluate my opinions on USUM. I still heavily, heavily dislike these games, and think that the definitive version of Sinnoh can be found with Platinum, and a lot of the omissions that BDSP made are really frustrating. That being said, I respect the level of difficulty of the tougher fights in the games, especially after nuzlocking the game on stream. It really makes me wonder if and how my opinions on USUM will change once I nuzlocke those.

X and Y on the other hand, I recently replayed and had much of the same experience that I had the first time around. Tons of Kanto pandering, uninspired dialogue and story, really awkward camera & artstyle tbh, and the main gimmick of the game is really only accessible in the postgame. There were a few bright spots (realizing just how much the game rewards you for exploring routes to the fullest is one) but overall I find these games incredibly lacking and am not surprised that I didn't really ever pick the games back up after I finished the main story for the first time.

It's interesting, viewing the Pokemon series in a retrospective lens - I don't really think that I believe that any of the Pokemon games are absolute, unforgivable trash or anything like that. Honestly I don't think I'd put any of these games lower than maybe like a 5 out of 10. Having played a lot more games now than when I played most of these games for the first time, I think it's really easy to shit on many Pokemon games for various reasons, some warranted & some not, but despite that I really find it difficult to call any of these games truly "bad." Maybe it's nostalgia, or maybe it's just that I like the formula & it's kinda comforting to me? Or perhaps a bit of both? So, for me, this is really a tough question to "defend my answer" if that makes sense.

 

[Scruffyjay]

Main series: Red/Blue and Diamond. Good, but not great. Gen 1 of course started everything but the games aren't as good to me as the rest. Diamond was quite boring to me compared to other games.

Spin-offs: Not including mobile games... Pokemon pinball RSE only because I suck at pinball, LOL. great graphics though

 

[a230]

Pretty simple for me ,SM,USUM and SV.Those games are just a chore.

 

[Daenerys]

removing the ability to battle wild Pokemon instead of catching them... just no.

Yeah I can't stand it and I don't know what possessed Game Freak to think that it was a good idea in a core game. Leveling up is so tedious in those games unless you catch a whole ton of Pokemon, which is annoying enough as it is since you have to keep buying Balls. It doesn't help that NPCs on routes can't be re-battled, so you don't have many options to earn extra money early in the games.

I remember arriving at Brock's Gym and thinking I was ready to face him since I'd fought every trainer up to that point and caught around 30 Pokemon, only to realize that I was still under-leveled and at a type disadvantage and had to borrow a stronger Pokemon via trade. The same thing happened in Misty's Gym.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

Yeah I can't stand it and I don't know what possessed Game Freak to think that it was a good idea in a core game. Leveling up is so tedious in those games unless you catch a whole ton of Pokemon, which is annoying enough as it is since you have to keep buying Balls. It doesn't help that NPCs on routes can't be re-battled, so you don't have many options to earn extra money early in the games.

I remember arriving at Brock's Gym and thinking I was ready to face him since I'd fought every trainer up to that point and caught around 30 Pokemon, only to realize that I was still under-leveled and at a type disadvantage and had to borrow a stronger Pokemon via trade. The same thing happened in Misty's Gym.

Another Issue with the games is the lack of a post game since it’s mostly the same as Gen 1 but with Master Trainers and Green given a focus.

 

[Norzan]

I hate every mainline Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch for specific reasons for each but it's a toss up between SWSH and Let's Go. SWSH sparked a Fandom civil war that I bitterly lost and set the precedent that until a miracle happens no Pokémon game will have all the Pokémon retroactively making the time spent on my intergame collection worse but Let's Go said "fuck your 'standards' of how much you think a $60 game should have everything is subjective and we're going to take advantage of it."

Same map as a 22 year old Gameboy game.
Nearly every mechanic from gens 2-7 removed. Only 153 Pokémon. Two of which you need to play a time consuming mobile game for and another you need to buy a $50 accessory for. No replacement for the slots at the game corner. For full console price. So many hyper ambitious games were sold for the same price and Gamefreak did nothing with the blank canvas that was Kanto. Anime references were removed instead of adding things that were only possible in the anime during the gen 1 days

This is pretty much what i was gonna post. And it really sucked because the games are finally on a home console, so you would think the production values would be higher, the game design would improve and the amount of content would increase, but in several areas it's somehow worse than games that came out like 16 years ago.

You have Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid and other Nintendo franchises trying their hardest to expand upon previous games and introduce new ideas with each new game, but a lot of the Pokemon games seem to be stuck in a state of arrested development. Specially Sword and Shield, that game is the definition of a by the numbers, generic, absolutely bland when it comes to a game introducing a new generation, it's ridiculous just how safe that game is. The only game where they seemed to actually try was Legends Arceus, but like every other Switch Pokemon game it felt rushed in several areas and not given enough time to properly flesh out its new ideas.

 

[CyanLaser]

My least favorite games would be FRLG and BDSP. It’s not a coincidence that to me, they’re both remakes of games that don’t really hook me that much to begin with but also don’t do much to make the experience fresh and improved (unlike what HGSS did with reincluding the Kanto portions that were cut in GSC and what ORAS did with lowering water encounter rates and introducing Soaring). While I can forgive all the other games (even the ones I’m more critical of, like SwSh) to a certain extent for trying to push the series in a new direction (all first-in-the-gen games, LGPE, PLA) or just being rock-solid Pokemon experiences (Emerald, BW2, HGSS and ORAS, and USUM), I don’t think that either applies to FRLG or BDSP.

 

[KOT0NE]

im generally really easy 2 please but for me.... bdsp i fear sorry. it's kind of the punching bag of the community already so i guess its pretty basic but it gives like absolutely nothing new to chew on for me. i want at least some substance in remakes that i can revolve in my head !! character redesigns extra dialogue anything would be fine. that and sinnoh never hit as hard 4 me anyways so my hopes were 4 liek an oras style remake thatd get my interest.!! but instead i have even less interest in these compared 2 the ogs

lets go used 2 be least fav but its grown on me with time idk. its still very much cashgrabby and ill never understand what was going on in the writers room with lets make a kanto remake thats also a spinoff thats also a sequel despite having the exact same story but just with more forgettable characters while simultaneously still having the old trio too?? i dont even dislike trace or the protags theyr silly but they barely got any content ever again after lgpe. altho i luv green so lgpe gets a lot of points 4 her also its a pretty looking game.

generally all i care 4 these games i fear is to just give me literal crumbs in terms of story and characters. forgettable redesigns and some extra dialogue like the hgss calls would be fine just give me Something 2 work with here!!

 

[Princess of Lumas]

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet for sure. This was the final nail in the coffin for old fans that the mainline series turned into a cash grab (and we saw warning signs well before SV). There are games in early access on Steam that have less bugs than SV when it was released. I am still optimistic for the future of Pokémon because of Arceus Legends and I'm excited for Pokémon Z-A, but I feel like I can't expect anything from the mainline games anymore. I was sort of cooling on the new entries of this franchise by Ultra Sun & Moon, so it's sad to see what's happened. I don't mean to sound so negative as I still really enjoy the other Pokémon game generations, they had a good run!

 

[Norzan]

This is pretty much what i was gonna post. And it really sucked because the games are finally on a home console, so you would think the production values would be higher, the game design would improve and the amount of content would increase, but in several areas it's somehow worse than games that came out like 16 years ago.

You have Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid and other Nintendo franchises trying their hardest to expand upon previous games and introduce new ideas with each new game, but a lot of the Pokemon games seem to be stuck in a state of arrested development. Specially Sword and Shield, that game is the definition of a by the numbers, generic, absolutely bland when it comes to a game introducing a new generation, it's ridiculous just how safe that game is. The only game where they seemed to actually try was Legends Arceus, but like every other Switch Pokemon game it felt rushed in several areas and not given enough time to properly flesh out its new ideas.

I know i posted this but i think i actually know what my least favorite pokemon game actually is and it's Sun and Moon.

It's the first generation where i couldn't even finish it because even by the last portion of the main story i felt i was still stuck in the tutorial. The entire thing didn't felt like an adventure, it felt like a field trip where it's you and a bunch of people seeing the sights, hardly at any time is the player let loose and be free to explore on their own. The entire region being divided by islands seemingly just gave Gamefreak an excuse to have some really boring routes and honestly boring towns. The pacing, jesus christ, the pacing, it's horrendous. It's cutscene after cutscene, just drab dialogue after drab dialogue, where my character feels more like a spectator than an active participant (this story is really about Lillie and her family drama). Don't know what came over Gamefreak to have this much dialogue and these many cutscenes, because it seems they have been trying their hardest to make the games appeal to a younger audience and those people aren't exactly known to like lengthy cutscenes and hearing people talk.

Like i said above, it's legit the first generation where i didn't even finished my playthrough (got to the last island and gave up). I disliked it so much that i didn't even bothered transfering my pokemon from my Y version to my Sun version, i just couldn't be arsed to do it. And now that the official servers have shut down, i feel like i didn't missed anything by not transfering my pokemon, their adventure ended in Generation 6.

I appreciate actually trying new things like with the trials and the Totem pokemon battles, but this generation is an incredible slog. Long gone were days like in the earlier generations where you barely had any cutscenes with dialogue and when they were there, they were quick and to the point. Obviously didn't bothered with Ultra Sun and Moon which i heard is a disgusting cash grab that didn't really didn't fixed anything (if anything it made parts of the story worse), and the new content and changes didn't justify putting down 40 bucks.