Which are the most balanced game(s) to you?

[Hellomello]

So which games do you think are the most "balanced"? (I.e. Good pokemon, region, features, story etc.)

 

[Likeitornot.]

@Hellomello; I just moved your thread to Pokemon Video Games as it appears to be the more appropriate section for this discussion.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Platinum by a long shot. It's the only game that I can't find any glaring flaws in the region design, dex variety, game content, or difficulty, probably the closest thing to a perfect game we'll ever get (aside from possibly DP remakes, but it's hard to say if it'll be an improvement or a regression the way Game Freak is lately).

 

[StandbyForBattle]

Platinum seems like a balanced a game the story, more evolution for old pokemon, gym leader rematch, sinnoh pokedex, etc. I'm consider on how will GF remake Sinnoh remake, since Platinum was upgraded version of Diamond/Pearl.

 

[Boss1708]

Easily Black 2 White 2 imo

It is the game with the most content, but also the best balance between the types of content (battles, minigames, customisation in Join Avenue, story content, missions, exploration, etc).

It also has the best balance between content and updated mechanics. To give an example: Emerald got a lot of content as well; but unlike BW2, its mechanics are outdated (it came before Gen IV split, no reusable TMs, no automatic Repel usage, etc.). Same goes for HGSS and Platinum, to a lesser extent...

 

[Soki]

Definitely Platinum, there's just very little I dislike about it. I love its Dex, the region, the Pokétch, the characters, the player characters, the evil team, its challenging Pokémon League, just...everything really. Except Mt. Coronet maybe, definitely the most annoying area.

 

[Almonds]

Both Platinum and B2W2 has great balance in terms of content, adventure, and battles.

 

[PurplePopplio]

Platinum and B2W2. Both got the balance almost exactly right with great stories, excellent post game content and necessary dex expansions.

 

[Sakuraa]

Voted for ORAS, Platinum, and Sun/Moon. Great Pokemon and engaging stories

 

[Guzma]

Platinum for fixing most of what was wrong with DP and adding the new evolutions of old Pokemon to the Sinnoh Dex proper instead of bafflingly holding them over for the post-game, B2W2 for continuing BW's great story, having good characters and combining Gen V's great new Pokemon (Gen V has more Pokemon I consider favorites than any other Gen; doesn't hurt that it introduced more Dark, Steel and Bug types than any other Gen, and the Bug-types were actually good) with old classics, and ORAS for having a good balance of new Pokemon and making Team Magma and Aqua actually interesting.

 

[DoctorWhy]

I'd say HGSS and B2W2.

 

[CynthiaLover]

There's a reason why it's called "Platinum Version", because it was a platinum-level game. While it still had some faults, like 1-time use TMs, very useless HMs like Defog, and Mt Coronet, overall Platinum was one of the best, if not the best, game of the series. With a more interesting story, updated graphics/gameplay, Move Tutors that weren't locked behind post-game, and access to a wide-range of Pokemon, it had the most going for it, and it lived up to its hype. Not to mention, according to Cynthia in BW, Platinum seems to be the "canon" game of Gen IV, as she mentions the battle in the Distortion World and such. So overall Platinum was by far the best of the series, as it had the best improvements and least flaws.

Runner-ups go to BW, ORAS, and SM, as even though they were lacking in things, they were still extremely good in multiple fields. Just not quite as good as Platinum, but they still proved their worth with good stories, good gameplay, and well-developed characters/Mons.

 

[ocelotlrama jaguar]

Easy choices for me. Platinum, Black and White, and Emerald, in that order.

 

[Blockhead Pippi]

I haven't played the other games very many times to form a definitive opinion of them, but I would say out of the generations that I have, Crystal version is the most balanced for me.

Gen 2 fixed a lot of flaws in Gen 1, and then Crystal improved the flaws that were in Gold/Silver and added a lot of great content. Makes me all the more disappointed that it's not coming to the VC.

 

[Rainbow Cloud]

I'd say HGSS as they felt like the most balanced and complete games due to there large amount of content and features, there was a large postgame with Kanto to explore after Johto and most of the flaws or places where GSC were lacking content were fixed. The introduction of walking pokemon, the pokeathlon and the pokewalker were great additions too. I probably would have preffered some form of contests over the pokeathlon though.

B2W2, FRLG, Platinum and ORAS also felt really well balanced and complete too as they also had a lot of extra content and improvements from the games they were based on.

I think the remakes, sequels and third versions tend to feel like the most complete games in general though as they often improve on the flaws of their predesessors and bring a lot of extra content to the game overall.

 

[Hellomello]

Anyone else wanna share their opinions?

 

[Guzma]

FRLG kinda was ruined for me in hindsight after HGSS and ORAS included cross-generation evos without beating the game.

 

[Matleo]

XY and Sun and Moon balanced more things out type wise i think.
But there is plenty to do.

 

[Hellomello]

It's Platinum for me as well.

I loved the region design, mainly because I found the whole "Mt Coronet divides the Sinnoh region into two halves" thing to be rather interesting and unique for a Pokemon region, but also because it's one of the few regions that struck the right balance between non-linearity and straightforwardness. (Major props to it for not having its' level curve messed up in the process as well. *coughHGSScough*) Add some cool scenery and settings to the mix, and you've got yourself a very solid region.

Speaking of setting, I feel that Sinnoh is the most atmospheric region out of the bunch - the mostly calm music, the foggy areas, the paled color palette of the graphics, the overall mysterious vibe of the region - it all just went together so well. I felt that this game did a really good job at illustrating its' overall setting and theme.

The storyline was engaging and more in-depth than any previous titles that came before it, and it had (imo) one of the most well-delivered executions that the franchise has ever presented to this day. While I know that the grand scale of Cyrus's plan isn't to everyone's tastes, I personally loved how they simultaneously integrated a concept as abstract as emotion and strife and a concept as grand-scale as the rewriting of the universe into the plot, meshing them together into a fairly original and interesting storyline. The way the story culminates at the Spear Pillar was epic as well; almost symbolic considering that it all culminates at the literal peak of a mountain (of which you had to make your way up to). The only flaw I'd point out in the storyline is the lacking exposure of Cyrus's ideals. It's a shame they never really went in-depth with the viewpoint he presented in the game, as I found the whole "emotions are the source of all strife" theme to be more interesting than the action-oriented parts of the plot.

Besides that, they really got the difficulty level right in this game too; not only in terms of trainer AI, but also in terms of region navigation. I suppose that it all boils down to personal experience and skill in the end, but I personally found Platinum to be one of the more balanced games in terms battling/training difficulty (along with RSE and BW/2); not impossibly difficult, yet not too easy like in later games as well. In terms of region navigation, handholding was kept to a minimum (which I like), and non-linearity was turned up a notch compared to recent titles.

And then you have the post game. Oh man, the huge, amazing post game. I absolutely loved Platinum's post game; it just felt so expansive and rich with so many things to do, it almost felt like a second journey in a way (albeit smaller). This is made especially apparent when you compare it to some of the more recent games that have relatively barren post-games. (I might have actually missed out on some things though, as I haven't watched any playthroughs of XY/SM yet, so correct me if I'm wrong here). So yeah, there isn't really much to say here except for the fact that Platinum has one of my favorite post-games of any Pokemon title (second only to HGSS, but you can't really compare one to two regions in terms of expansiveness).

The expanded Pokedex was a very welcomed addition as well. The DP Pokedex was essentially crap in terms of variety, and they did a great job of upgrading it in Platinum; to the point where I had considered almost every entry as a possible member of my team at least once - the options were just that good (or maybe I'm just indecisive, lol). Then there's also all the fun little features and side quests that spice up your journey along the way; such as the Poketch, the NPCs that follow you around (a feature I really like but hasn't returned since), the underground, as well as the contests (admittedly they were a watered-down version of the advanced mechanics of RSE's contests - namely the Appeal round - but still fun nonetheless), just to name a few.

So yeah - sorry for the essay there, but this post definitely illustrates how I view Platinum as the most definitive title in the franchise so far; it just felt so...refined and robust.

Runner-ups for me go to BW2 for the fairly-good storytelling and expansive game content, HGSS for the post game, and ORAS for fleshing out and improving on the TM/TA storyline so much (as well as Hoenn just being one of my favorite regions in general).

 

[Camille]

Platinum by far. It is one of the most fun games in the series to replay, and there are very few things I dislike about it. The Gym Leaders and Elite Four aren't complete pushovers, the regional Pokedex is quite large, the region is huge, and I love the storyline and Distortion World in particular.
However, HG/SS and Black 2/White 2 also have lots of content, but they have the infamous level curve and linear region issues, respectively.