Pokemon (Handhelds, not Go)
- Thread starter Gavinmad
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Hateyou
Not Great, Not Terrible
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Sounds like sword and shield may be the way to go. Definitely not go, I hate mobile games and his “going outside” time involves zero electronics. Toy swords, bikes, and shit like that is outdoor time. Switch is basically just something to get us through winter when we don’t do much outside. Also a god send for long car trips.
Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I don't have a Switch but I know that Let's Go Eevee and Let's Go Pikachu are slightly simplified remakes of the OG red/blue games, you just throw pokeballs at wild pokemon similar to the mobile game controls but you battle other trainers normally.So my 7 yo son likes Pokémon but has never played any game yet. He has a switch, which one should he get? He’s never really played a game that you select things from a menu to fight though he’s seen me playing games like that. He loves botw, smash bros, anything Mario or Zelda really. I’ve never played a Pokémon game either so I’m clueless. I see diamond, pearl, legends, shield, let’s go evee, and no idea what the differences are.
Rajaah
Gavinmad you seem to be the main Pokémon weeb gurus on the board, what’s the best intro game on a switch? Or just best one really.
Sword and Shield is just a normal franchise entry, Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl is a remake of an older pair of games, no idea about Legends.
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Chris
Potato del Grande
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Get Sword/Sheild. The problems with the games are being too easy for pro gamers and some older pokemon missing for competitive play, so it probably ideal for a 7 year old.So my 7 yo son likes Pokémon but has never played any game yet. He has a switch, which one should he get? He’s never really played a game that you select things from a menu to fight though he’s seen me playing games like that. He loves botw, smash bros, anything Mario or Zelda really. I’ve never played a Pokémon game either so I’m clueless. I see diamond, pearl, legends, shield, let’s go evee, and no idea what the differences are.
Diamond/Pearl remakes will be slightly more difficult and more complicated games, he can play those if he liked Sword/Sheild.
Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Rajaah
Honorable Member
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So my 7 yo son likes Pokémon but has never played any game yet. He has a switch, which one should he get? He’s never really played a game that you select things from a menu to fight though he’s seen me playing games like that. He loves botw, smash bros, anything Mario or Zelda really. I’ve never played a Pokémon game either so I’m clueless. I see diamond, pearl, legends, shield, let’s go evee, and no idea what the differences are.
Well, Pokemon Legends: Arceus is coming out in four days. I have no idea if it'll be good or not, but it's described as "Pokemon meets BOTW" and you said he likes that, so it may be the best option. However it's also going to be the most "different" from traditional Pokemon out of all the ones named. If he likes it and wants to get into the series itself, here's the Switch rundown:
Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee: Two versions of the same game. A remake of Generation 1 (the original Pokemon Blue/Red on Game Boy in like 1998). I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit and, well, starting with Gen 1's latest remake is probably a decent idea.
Sword/Shield: Two versions of the same game. This one is actually brand new, not a remake, and the latest chapter in the series (Gen 8). Can jump in here if you want more modern gameplay and to see what Pokemon is all about nowadays.
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: Basically a remaster of Gen 4. Not even gonna call it a remake. They also remastered the shittier versions of Gen 4. Diamond and Pearl were slow, clunky games in their day. Platinum, the upgraded version of them, is one of the best games in the series. I have no clue why they didn't base the remaster on Platinum. It's also a low-effort port compared to the remakes of Gen 1-3 in the past that were all high-effort actual-remakes. Just finished BD myself and I'd avoid it.
In short:
-Probably start with this Arceus game that's about to come out, unless it gets terrible reviews
-If he wants to jump into the latest incarnation of "regular Pokemon" after that, go with Sword.
-If he wants to go back and see what Gen 1 was like and sort of go through the series instead, go with Let's Go Pikachu. Only issue with that is, it'll be kind of difficult to go through Gens 2-7 without a 3DS since they're all on there. If he gets super into it after Gen 1, it might be worth it to get a 3DS just for this series.
-Probably avoid BD/SP since it's a low-effort port and a downgrade from the existing Gen 4 upgrade.
Best versions of the series as it is now, if you only have a Switch and 3DS:
Gen 1: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee (Switch)
Gen 2: Pokemon Heartgold/Soulsilver (DS)
Gen 3: Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/OmegaRuby (3DS)
Gen 4: Pokemon Platinum (DS)
Gen 5: Pokemon Black/White 1 and 2 (DS)
Gen 6: Pokemon X/Y (3DS)
Gen 7: Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon (3DS)
Gen 8: Pokemon Sword/Shield (Switch)
It really is a great series, but you have to be into it, not mind the slow-ish gameplay, enjoy the elemental/type based strategy of it, etc. Most of the games are on the easier side so they're one of the more relaxing things to play, and every time out I end up with a different endgame party regardless of which game it is, which is pretty cool.
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Rajaah
Honorable Member
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Yeah I wasn't crazy about Dynamax either. All it is is a giant transformation that completely generi-fies all of your Pokemon's abilities into general type moves. Boring.
All the NPCs in Gen 8 make such a big deal about it for the whole game, all Dynamax-this and Dynamax-that. Well I say it's more like Dyna-sucks!
I wonder what it's like to be a kid nowadays with the Nintendo Switch as the big portable, especially the OLED version. When I was a kid we would have killed for anything remotely like that. Hell, just a damn backlight on a portable system would have been incredible. I grew up with the Game Boy and thought it was the greatest thing ever, so I wonder if kids now appreciate what a tremendous system the Switch is.
Rajaah
Honorable Member
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One of my GFs grew up on the cartoon, so she was very familiar with all the Pokemon without ever playing any of the games. She really wanted me to play one on the TV so she could watch it. This was 2016 so the Switch didn't exist yet. Best I had was Pokemon FireRed on a modded Wii with emulation. Soon as I fought a battle she was like "This is IT?" and was shocked at how slow and animation-less the game actually was. I think she thought you could control them in battle like a regular game. Still watched me play the majority of the game. I like how short Gen 1 is, can finish a playthrough in a day with ease.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Thanks for the review. My seven year old and I picked up Pikachu Let's Go yesterday and had a lot of fun with it. It's basically perfect for us because the coop lets me play with him while he retains control and he's able to play without me. He did ragequit in the Viridian Forest when Butterfree showed up and introduced moving pokemon mechanics, but I was able to catch it while he was roiling in anguish at how many pokeballs I was yeeting into the woods trying to learn how to aim.
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Koushirou
Log Wizard
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The catching mechanics in Let's Go are fucking horrendous. It's absolutely not fun in the least. Once you have to try to catch harder stuff like the legendary birds, etc. it's fucking infuriating.
As for Arceus, IDK, it just looks boring as fuck to me. Just watching reviews and seeing that Kleavor encounter where you dodge and chuck balms at it for 90% of the "fight" and that's being praised as one of the cooler types of content in the game...oof. Maybe there's better quests later, but it looked mostly like "go catch X bidoof" or "go hit Y little shits with some herb bombs" etc. On top of that, the game just looks like shit...it's ugly as a motherfucker.
Anyone hear able to change my mind? I don't really trust any review sites with Pokemon games, because the soyboys are always going to gargle the Pokemon cock. I skipped out on Sword and Shield as well because they looked like hot trash and dynamax is a retarded gimmick, but then again it sold more than any other Pokemon game ever, apparently, so maybe I'm wrong.
As for Arceus, IDK, it just looks boring as fuck to me. Just watching reviews and seeing that Kleavor encounter where you dodge and chuck balms at it for 90% of the "fight" and that's being praised as one of the cooler types of content in the game...oof. Maybe there's better quests later, but it looked mostly like "go catch X bidoof" or "go hit Y little shits with some herb bombs" etc. On top of that, the game just looks like shit...it's ugly as a motherfucker.
Anyone hear able to change my mind? I don't really trust any review sites with Pokemon games, because the soyboys are always going to gargle the Pokemon cock. I skipped out on Sword and Shield as well because they looked like hot trash and dynamax is a retarded gimmick, but then again it sold more than any other Pokemon game ever, apparently, so maybe I'm wrong.
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Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I'd attribute this just as much to it being the first mainline Pokemon game that wasn't handheld exclusive as I would to any assumption of quality.
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