Topic: Best Pokémon Game for Newbie to Series?

Recently, I have been very interested in Pokémon, mostly thanks to friends who do nothing but play the game.

What is the best game in the series for a compile newbie who knows nothing? (i.e. easiest to get into/understand, etc.)

I was thinking about X and/or Y, but I don't know if I should wait until Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire this fall.
Or, would it be better to go back to Gen 4 or 5 (the DS games)?

There are so many games in the main series, that I have absolutely no clue which one to get started with.

X and Y are good places to start. Though if you want to start with the remakes, they'll probably be just as newcomer-friendly as X and Y.

X and Y are pretty good. They get right into the meat of the pokemon games and make IV Breeding and EV Training very simple and easy to understand. I imagine the remakes will be newbie friendly too.

X and Y are extremely newcomer friendly. I know this because I used these games to hook some people I know on the series.

i'd also recomend x and y or the new remakes coming out, or if you decide to go with the older ds games then the black and white games or the gen 2 remakes are also good choices. pretty much all the pokemon games are very friendly to beginners as far as understanding things go, but if your also looking for one thats light on dificulty then the best choice is x or y.

Are you sure you did everything you could in the cafe?

I think you need to rescue the giant guy from the prison there.

I've heard X and Y are easier than the others (can't see how, but then again I haven't played it). But, other than that, they're pretty much all the same. Pick whichever interests you the most.

X/Y would be better options. ORAS is a long long wait right now and we don't even know if it's any good.. X/Y you can kinda get a little up-to-date with the pokemon since most are catchable right now.

You can buy previous gens like platinum and BW.. but you may find yourself bored when everything you can do is done as wi-fi was shutdown. X/Y doesn't have anything either content wise.. you'll get bored of that but atleast you can play competitive online keeping you going.

Any of the Pokemon series is a good start. Though, they don't really do a great job explaining game mechanics to new players; they assume you already know the game, so I suggest going to serebii.net for the knowledge of how everything works.

I started playing Pokemon with Sapphire version and I've played every game since then, so I can definitely recommend the series! Even if you don't like the competitive play, which is great fun, there is a lot of depth to the storyline in my opinion.

X and Y are great starting points as they have a lot of mechanics smoothed over and updated from previous Pokemon games. That being said, there is a special place in my heart for Ruby/Sapphire, Heartgold/Soulsilver, Diamond/Platinum, Black/White.

My suggestion to you is check out X or Y and see how you like it. If you think you would like to check out the older games, maybe try HG/SS for the DS. But I think you'll be happy enough with X and Y that you'll be anticipating Hoenn in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire ^_^

Serebii.net was mentioned above, it is a great site with news and guides. I am a forum member there, so check their forum out if you need any help. Enjoy!

Thanks everyone! Reading your replies, I think I will go with one of Gen 6 games.

However, I do have a concern about guides and such.
How long do you guys think it will take for there to be decent newbie guides for Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire?
Is it better to get X and/or Y soon (before mid-August), and buy the remakes this time next year (or whenever I finish X?Y)?

I always recommend the newest versions so, X and Y.

Pokemon x and y like everyone else here is saying.

I'd start with Black and White, actually. The games are incredibly simplistic and dumbed down, to the point where I'd even call it a fault. But for a newcomer, it's probably the best place to start because there's less features to get used to, less Pokemon to familiarize yourself with, and everything is just so streamlined.

XY isn't too bad a starting point either, though, there's also a lot of streamlining in that game and it's probably the easiest game in the series so far. But there's more Pokemon to learn (3 times as many as BW) and new features that might be a bit more confusing to a newbie.

Rather than waiting until Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire?

It would make sense that it would all come to me time and patience. I'm specifically interested in X/Y because they are current-fen, and because there are lots of "basics of the basics" guides available.

Pokémon X & Y are the best place to start, you won't really find much of a discount on older games anyway, and the new game includes a new type which hasn't happened in over a decade, as well as all the updated mechanics and such so you may as well start there. You can still get Pokémon from older gens.

I'd definitely recommend jumping in with Pokemon X/Y.
It's very light on difficulty, with the new Exp. Share taking most of the grinding out of the game.
If you decide to get into competitive battling, they've made breeding and training good Pokemon really easy in X/Y too.

Go to my favorite game of all time... Pokemon Platinum. PLAY IT. Then play Pokemon Black/White. THEN X/Y THEN PK O/A.

You gotta play the series in a right order so you can appreciate it more.

Any of them, you do the same thing in every game.

That's a pretty huge over-generalization of a Pokemon game. What you do in Pokemon Platinum is NOT the same in X/Y. What you do in Black/White is NOT the same you do in X/Y. You just meant "battling and catching Pokemon", huh? Yeah, don't generalize like that.