Haha this is probably a controversial opinion, but I enjoyed Pokemon Sword (it was the first one I played… well, kinda: had X for a very short time but didn’t get to play it). Although, the wild areas in Sword weren’t the best.
I couldn’t get into Arceus because it was basically all wild area. I know it sounds dumb, but I liked the same old story and formula. It was fun to go around and battle all the trainers and enjoy their banter or praise.
Once I finish X I plan on playing some even older ones.
I got into pokemon at the start of Gen 5 when I was in elementary school, and basically immediately went back and played platinum and heart gold. I’ve played them all since, and with a combination of hindsight and cynicism, I more or less got in at the peak, and have watched it coast downhill since.
My issue with pokemon sword is that it just felt insubstantial, for lack of a better word. Hop was, in some parts quite literally, a reused hau from Gen 7, the complete dead metagame of dynamaxing along with the removal of Megas and z moves, the dex cuts, the wild areas somehow managed to emphasize how small the game was, it really just ended up being a perfect storm of mediocrity to me. The new pokemon were cool as always, and I actually really loved crown tundra, but it was the first time I found myself just mashing through to get to the end of the game, and that’s when it really all hit me.
I’m still really enjoying arceus because it has just the right amount of mundane box checking to be a sort of half-focused relaxing game for me, and they absolutely nailed the atmosphere.
Because I’m just built different, I replayed Gen 6 in the time after this interaction (Y, specifically), I would solidly rank it as my 4th favorite generation, behind 5, 4, and 7, in that order. And that’s nothing against Gen 6, there’s just a lot of really strong pokemon games.
To sort of clarify my thoughts, Gen 6 is where I feel pokemon first started a sort of “two steps forward, one step back” sort of improvement, which is really why I have such mixed feelings about it.
Oh wow, you started and beat Y already? Impressive! I’m such a filthy casual. 🙇
My desires to self insert in those cutscenes with Shauna are, admittedly, a large source of bias for me in favor of X. I haven’t yet played 7th or 5th gen, though… they’re queued up as my next plays, then I’ll hit 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Gen (an actual older Gen 1, not Let’s Go, as I burned out playing Go… now that I think about it. maybe that’s why I dislike Arceus).
Oh wow, you started and beat Y already? Impressive! I’m such a filthy casual. 🙇
In the least condescending way, everything Gen 6 and after is basically just easy mode compared to the past games, especially since I wasn’t doing any sort of a challenge run.
Also, I wasn’t going for side content since I’ve seen it all multiple times, and the main story is only like 6-7 hours if you already know what you’re doing.
Add onto that the fact that I’m currently in online college, which gives me tons of free time, and the fact I caught a 2 week ban from league of legends, playing through Y was a fun side thing when I wasn’t doing something else.
My desires to self insert in those cutscenes with Shauna are, admittedly, a large source of bias for me in favor of X
The Gen 6 characters are really fun, no contest there
Haha this is probably a controversial opinion, but I enjoyed Pokemon Sword (it was the first one I played… well, kinda: had X for a very short time but didn’t get to play it). Although, the wild areas in Sword weren’t the best.
I couldn’t get into Arceus because it was basically all wild area. I know it sounds dumb, but I liked the same old story and formula. It was fun to go around and battle all the trainers and enjoy their banter or praise.
Once I finish X I plan on playing some even older ones.
I got into pokemon at the start of Gen 5 when I was in elementary school, and basically immediately went back and played platinum and heart gold. I’ve played them all since, and with a combination of hindsight and cynicism, I more or less got in at the peak, and have watched it coast downhill since.
My issue with pokemon sword is that it just felt insubstantial, for lack of a better word. Hop was, in some parts quite literally, a reused hau from Gen 7, the complete dead metagame of dynamaxing along with the removal of Megas and z moves, the dex cuts, the wild areas somehow managed to emphasize how small the game was, it really just ended up being a perfect storm of mediocrity to me. The new pokemon were cool as always, and I actually really loved crown tundra, but it was the first time I found myself just mashing through to get to the end of the game, and that’s when it really all hit me.
I’m still really enjoying arceus because it has just the right amount of mundane box checking to be a sort of half-focused relaxing game for me, and they absolutely nailed the atmosphere.
Because I’m just built different, I replayed Gen 6 in the time after this interaction (Y, specifically), I would solidly rank it as my 4th favorite generation, behind 5, 4, and 7, in that order. And that’s nothing against Gen 6, there’s just a lot of really strong pokemon games.
To sort of clarify my thoughts, Gen 6 is where I feel pokemon first started a sort of “two steps forward, one step back” sort of improvement, which is really why I have such mixed feelings about it.
Oh wow, you started and beat Y already? Impressive! I’m such a filthy casual. 🙇
My desires to self insert in those cutscenes with Shauna are, admittedly, a large source of bias for me in favor of X. I haven’t yet played 7th or 5th gen, though… they’re queued up as my next plays, then I’ll hit 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Gen (an actual older Gen 1, not Let’s Go, as I burned out playing Go… now that I think about it. maybe that’s why I dislike Arceus).
In the least condescending way, everything Gen 6 and after is basically just easy mode compared to the past games, especially since I wasn’t doing any sort of a challenge run.
Also, I wasn’t going for side content since I’ve seen it all multiple times, and the main story is only like 6-7 hours if you already know what you’re doing.
Add onto that the fact that I’m currently in online college, which gives me tons of free time, and the fact I caught a 2 week ban from league of legends, playing through Y was a fun side thing when I wasn’t doing something else.
The Gen 6 characters are really fun, no contest there