Designated a mainline entry in the series by Game Freak itself, Pokémon Legends: Arceus feels like the result of the developers learning lessons for 25 years, refining the formula, and finally taking the franchise in a new, incredibly exciting direction.
Technically it may stumble in places, but with an emphasis on extremely rewarding exploration, addictive catching mechanics, a fine roster of Pokémon, and a genuine sense of scale that’s unlike anything in the series, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is up there with the greatest Pokémon games ever made in our book.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A on Switch is 'fine'. For a lot of people, that'll be enough. And certainly, even we're surprised it's as stable as it is after Legends: Arceus and Scarlet & Violet had more than their fair share of performance woes.
Longer load times and softer image quality are a couple more (expected) nicks in the older hardware version's armour, but overall, Legends: Z-A on Switch is.... okay! Certainly a step up from the last two mainline games, but still far from Pokémon's best-looking titles.
A beautiful game with potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay, there's still no getting away from the fact that this is an ageing GBA title at its core. The dungeon-crawling genre has evolved over the years to try and make things feel less repetitive, and while Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX does add some features to modernise the process a bit, they tend to fall flat.
It's still fun in bursts, it just gets samey after a while.
Pokémon Quest is a fun little time waster that will satisfy your collect 'em all urges if you've exhausted everything the mainline Switch Pokémons have to offer.
You will have to splash some cash if you want to get the most out of it, but it's far from a money sink. You can get everything you need in a single purchase, or unlock most of it slowly by playing for free — it's one of the most generous 'freemium' systems out there.
Overall, Quest is a great jumping-off point for new fans of the series, and the cutesy art style just might win over veterans. No harm in giving it a shot.
There are still plenty more ways we’d like to see the Pokémon franchise evolve but despite some glaring technical hiccups, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet has us cautiously excited about the series' future.
Scarlet & Violet is most fun and exciting when you're just exploring the world, and while there are many small new details and improvements to the Pokémon formula, it still plays it safe in a few areas.
It’s a smaller step than many may have hoped for, then, especially considering what Pokémon Legends: Arceus did, but it's definitely one in the right direction. We really hope Game Freak can figure out how to smooth out the series’ ongoing performance issues because they’re going to become a serious detriment over time.
Pokémon Sword and Shield succeeded in bringing some new ideas to the table, although there are areas where it could have pushed further.
What was done right was done right, but there were also elements that felt like they had come from a decade-old design document. There are moments contained within that are the best the series has ever been, but this joy is occasionally spoiled by contrasting moments that left us disappointed.
It's an experience full of highs and lows, from the unadulterated wonder and joy of seeing a brand-new Pokémon in a stadium full of cheering crowds, to the monotonous and dragged-out dialogue we just wanted to skip. The wonders of exploring the Wild Area felt like the true evolution of the series, which subsequent entries have explored.
On the whole, Pokémon Sword and Shield were a very solid start to the HD generation of Pokémon games, although with room for improvement.
Not a game at all, but a streaming app that gives you access to a whole bunch of animated Pokémon goodness, plus Pokémon TGC and Championship coverage, singalongs for younger kids, and various other forms of official Pokémon-related videos that periodically update with a fresh batch. If you want to see official Pokémon videos away from the hustle and bustle and ads of YouTube, you can catch 'em on Pokémon TV.
Free-to-start MOBA (that's Multiplayer Online Battle Arena if you're not down with the lingo, folks) Pokémon Unite is difficult to recommend to casual 'free' players who aren't already Pokémon fans, but series stalwarts will more likely stick with it for the long haul.
The gameplay is engaging, with a large roster of Pokémon that can be tried out in offline modes, but owning iconic Pokémon such as Lucario or Garchomp to play in Ranked will require an immense amount of Aeos Coins or paid-for Aeos Gems.
A lot of joy is to be found in Quick Matches due to daily map rotations, but ultimately, Unite is too geared toward grabbing people’s purses to win games rather than providing an even and engaging playing field. Still, if you don't mind the F2P aspects and you're into MOBAs, this one is surprisingly solid that's still getting solid support.
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! are beautiful reimaginings of a video game classic, updating a decades-old game in ways which make it infinitely more accessible and user-friendly for a modern audience, while keeping the magic first discovered all those years ago.
On the downside, the motion control mechanic is fun but flawed, forcing you to shift from one play style to another to get the best experience. Still, the game does a superb job of striking a balance between being an easy route of entry for newcomers and offering just enough post-game challenge and competitive play elements (and nostalgia, of course) to please series veterans; as a result, these newer titles really do offer something for everyone, which can't always be said of the mainline Pokémon entries.
They might not be absolute masterpieces, but we’d urge any Poké-fans out there to give these Kanto classics a go.
This re-heated Wii U port, the unholy lovechild of Tekken and Pocket Monsters, is a Pokémon fan's dream come true. Rather than relying on turn-based combat to see who is the very best, you can take to a 3D arena and smash seven shades of poop out of a rival 'mon to finally decide once and for all who is (Nido)king or queen.
Robust single and multiplayer options make Pokkén Tournament DX one of the most impressive competitive fighters on Switch, although the lack of mechanical depth may put off serious fighter fans.
Though some of Pokémon Friends' puzzles can be fun, even the best ones begin to grow stale after only a few hours, as they're so quick to complete and pop up so often, which dampened our enthusiasm for unlocking Mudkip and Jirachi plushies to decorate our rooms.
Unfortunately, we have no desire to boot up Pokémon Friends daily for a few quick puzzles like how we rip packs in TCG Pocket, leaving us with the sense that this puzzle package will fade into the background with other casual Pokémon spin-offs, forgotten until the next Presents announcing a handful more overpriced puzzle packs. A shame.
