Topic: Last Pokemon game was Heartgold, Getting back into the series now.

So the last time I played Pokémon was Heartgold era. Now I’m looking to get back into Nintendo games. Started with BoTW on the Switch, now I’m getting my Pokemon itch back so I’m gonna pick up a “New” 3DS XL and jump in. Question is, should I just start where I left off and start at Black/White then play B/W2 then X/Y THEN UltraSun/Moon or go and just pick up UltraSun/Moon? Seems like there’s mixed reviews since it went 3D (which is weird for me, too since Pokemon has always held that 2D spot for me which I like a l o t). Basically either start where I left off and ease into the series again, kind of “catching up”... or jump in with 18372 new Pokémon all at once. For the record, I’m okay with playing all the games just to get familiar with the series again as well as just playing the games I’ve missed out on. Just wondering what you guys think. Thanks for the help Happy Holidays~

I really liked BW and BW2. They offered something fresh in the story and made you feel there was a purpose in what you did. However they are somewhat dated now. The 3D Pokemon games have graphical and performance issues and generally look and play like old Playstation 1 3d games. They look like a pixelated mess and have frame isuess, especially on the battles and they are horiffically slow, especially in the unskipable cutscenes. If you play only one 3D game go for the Ultra series. Once the story ends the games still have the got to catch them all vibe and it is still fun to capture and trade.

If you are OK with older games go with Black and Black 2 but play then on a DS for a better experience. Then jump to Ultra Moon or Sun. If you want to catch them all you can use the online trade on Ultra. Note that you can transfer your Pokemon from BW and BW2 to Ultra with the paid service pokemon bank. It is painfully slow since you can trasfer only ONE box at a time but gets the job done for 5 euros.

If you're keen to pick up where you left off, then I strongly suggest that you play the games in chronological order, so...

• Black/White
• Black 2/White 2
• X/Y
• Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire
• Sun/Moon
• Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon

Damn, that's a LOT of Pokémon games. I think you'd be completely fatigued with the Pokémon series by the time the Switch version is released if you were to play all of those, so I think you should perhaps limit yourself to just Black/White (which I'd say is the "freshest" generation since G/S/C) and perhaps Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon to better familiarise yourself with all of the new mechanics, attacks and Pokémon that have been introduced since.

I've barely even started playing Ultra Moon as I'm just a bit fatigued with the series at this point. I'm sure lapsed fans who are easing back into the series will have a much better time with it though.

I would say play Black/White, then Black 2/White 2, then X/Y, then Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, and then play Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. It's basically the games in chronological order, but it's probably better to skip Sun and Moon with USUM out.

If you don't have the time to play five Pokémon games, I'd say just play BW and B2W2. They're easily my favorites.

If you aren't bothered by the lack of older 'mons, then play BW first. They tried with the main campaign, for once. BW2 are not third versions, but sequels that follow the events of the first game. I don't think you should play them if you haven't played BW, so those two go in tandem.

About gen VI as a whole, I'd say you're ok skipping it. XY are super bland and the cast is truly dreadful. The gen only introduces a handful of new Pokémon too, which means you're not missing out that much compare to gen V (69 vs 150). Mega evolutions are a thing but honestly, if you're not into online battling and post-game training they might as well not even exist. ORAS does put them at the forefront a bit, which is fine to spice things up, but it's still not that great of a remake. Definitely more comparable to FRLF than to HGSS. Again, unless you really like the Hoenn games, you're fine skipping them.

I'd say you should play either Sun/Moon or an Ultra game, not one of each. I haven't played much of Ultra Sun but, from what I've heard, it has more content but worse characters. The main thing is that these games are not designed to be replayed, and it shows. The intro moves at a snails pace in both games, with lots of cutscenes interrupting your progress every few steps. It's not too bad the first time, but it's unbearable on a second playthrough. For that reason, you should pick only one (I'm guessing most people would tell you to pick an Ultra version) and never look back.

BW2 is the only recent game worth getting since HGSS (although it can be hard to appreciate without playing BW1, but that game went way too far with changes to be worth playing, BW2 is what BW1 should've been). Other than that, I wouldn't recommend getting back into this series period. There's been a massive nosedive in quality since HGSS thanks to Game Freak starting to pander to casuals, and later mobile gamers. The recent games are extremely linear, have minimal content, and have gotten easier. I would wait and see what the Switch brings, for the most part 5th-7th gen has been extremely mediocre, whereas the Switch game might alleviate some of it in the shift to console.

I'd personally suggest playing the gen 5 games in chronological order (So play Black/White, then Black 2/White 2) and then skip X/Y, maybe get OR/AS, but only if you liked Hoenn and Gen 3, then skip Sun/Moon and get Ultra Sun/Moon.

When it comes to Gen 6, it all seems like GameFreak was mostly testing the waters, so because of that X/Y are pretty bland with a generic story and a bunch of friends that constantly want to annoy you. Now, when it comes to OR/AS, I loved Gen 3, so naturally I liked OR/AS a lot too. For the most part it is done better than X/Y from my stand point at least, so it wouldn't hurt to get that game eventually. It all depends on if you really want to play a lot of Pokemon games in a 1-2 year time.

The Ultra games from what I can tell so far playing them are just really the definitive edition like Platinum or Emerald, but they split them across two games instead. And considering the fact the Ultra games have enough more content than Sun/Moon, being things like nearly all the legendaries post-game, or having exclusive new Pokemon for the first time ever mid-gen, you're more well off getting those since it's post-game will actually keep you around for a bit longer than Sun/Moon.

So would can I play OR/AS first? Or should I stick to date of release.

@Super- I'd personally say stick to the date of release, but that's just me. It may help you ease into the 3D games better if you do it by the release.

Gameplaywise there are no major changes that affect single player. You have new Pokemon, new items, new abilities(like Mega evolution in gen 6 and Z moves in 7) but functionally the core mechanics are unchanged and anything new is eased into because the games are targeted at kids.

There are no main series games in 20 years that I have disliked, so I suggest you play 1 of each game in the order of release. Black or White, B2 or W2, X or Y, Alpha Sapphire or Omega Ruby, skip Sun and Moon and go right to Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon. Unlike BW2 which were direct story sequels to Black and White or ORAS which is a re-imagining of gen 3 USUM are basically Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, Platinum. The definitive version of the generation. They only made it a pair this time to keep with the Day/Night theme. If you play Sun or Moon, and jump right into USUM, you are gonna be upset because is is 90% the exact same game. A good game, but the same one.