Okay yes, I was one of those people that didn't play Pokemon until Pokemon Go. But to be fair, the tv was never on when that show was on, and I had no friends that played Pokemon. I'm going on a trip in a couple of weeks, and I was thinking about breaking out my old DSi, but then I realized I had no games I'd want to play on it. So I decided, why not get a Pokemon game? Maybe that'll spare my 4G and phone battery from trying to look for Pokemon on the go when there is none. But the problem is, I know nothing about any of the games. They have so many versions, I don't know which one to get. There's also the problem that they only make the newer versions on a 3DS, which I don't have. So I guess I wanted to ask everyone's opinion on which version I should get, as someone who has never played the DS ones. Is there a "starter" one? Or just one that's really fun and everyone should get? Please also explain why you think I should get a certain version if you can so it can help me decide. Even if I don't get one before the trip I would still like to try one of the games out.
I recommend getting black and white, HeartGold and SoulSilver, or FireRed and LeafGreen or Diamond and Pearl. I personally don't like the 3DS ones as much so don't think you'd be missing out on much. I don't think I could explain well though why I love those ones so much, so I'd recommend watching IGN's YouTube reviews of them
One of my favourites is Diamond, but I think part of the reason is because that was the first game I got. Heartgold Soulsilver are also two very good games, and stand out from the others in my opinion. I liked HG SS because your Pokemon followed you around outside their pokeballs. I guess it also depends on which generation of Pokemon you want to get (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc), if you have a preference. Core series - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia
I'll go ahead and say Heartgold and Soulsilver too, those were some of the best in the series in my opinion. Especially the fact that your first team member would follow you on foot and interact to you and your surroundings. Depending on the time, area, what the heck you're standing on, they'll respond a lot differently. Much more lifelike. The Gamecube versions of Colosseum and XD (No, that's not an emoticon) were pretty great too. One of the few main series console games, had a bit of a darker tone and rather interesting locations. (I'm serious, there's an underground city in Colosseum. I hope they bring it back someday, it's by far my favorite.) Though I was disappointed by the lack of character selection/customization. Outside of the main games, my favorites would be the older Mystery Dungeon games: Blue Rescue Team and Explorers of Time. Both of those had neat gameplay mechanics that branched out a bit, and some of the least predictable and more memorable game storylines I've seen in all my years. I kid you not, the ending of Explorers of Time had me in tears. Over a DS game.
I'd recommend Platinum over Diamond or Pearl too. Its a much upgraded version of them, but any of Black, White, HeartGold or SoulSilver would be great bets too. : )
All of the games are basically the same concept but with different Pokemon and gym leaders thrown in. Heartgold/Soulsilver would be my recommendation since the second generation was my favorite. However, if you're interested in the first generation, the games that started it all (aka the Pokemon you see in go) there is firered and leafgreen on the Game Boy Advance, which the DS can still play. But you will have to hunt around a little.
If you have a 3DS the original Red, Blue, and Yellow are available as digital downloads. The Mystery Dungeon series was pretty good too imo. A little different from the traditional Pokemon games but I still had a lotta fun with em.
I'm kind of like you in the sense that I was never really into pokemon until pokemon go. Being a poor student (and totally unwilling to spend money on a mew interest), i'm now playing Pokemon Blue on arcadespot, which is like a website so you don't even have to download shit or buy a DS or whatever device. I can't recommend any games for you though, i haven't played them myself.
My personal favourites are soul silver and sapphire. If you want to play any games that have got remakes, play the remakes (bar maybe ruby and sapphire as you can't play 3ds games at the moment) because they're more polished and more variety in pokemon and so on. There also is a fair bit more content in the remakes. In soul silver and heart gold you get both the johto and kanto regions instead of just johto. Also, you have the pokemon at the front of your party following you out o their pokeball in the overworld and you can pet them and so on, and subsequnetly, my typhlosion in SS really means something to me. yes I know it's a game leave me alone The gen I games are good, no doubt, but have got the problems you'd expect from a handheld game from the late 90's; they can be buggy (see missingno), black and white, though that shouldn't be to much trouble unless you care about that kinda thing and if you're playing them on a gbc or gba but even the colour pallete is limited. I'd also recommend the gba remakes over the original, and you can play them on the DS/DS lite. In my opinion, gen III games are the 'golden age' of the pokemon games. R/S/A are probably my favorite games that aren't remakes, and they're just good. Everything about them works. Gen IV I haven't played yet. Pfft. Gen V games had less critical acclaim than the other games, but there's no reason to diss them. They're still fairly fleshed out games that do everything right, but After gen III and IV, they don't really hold up as well. The gen V pokemon themselves are also kinda crap, to be blunt (trubbish? Really?). One neat thing about them though is they have animated pokemon in battle, which makes it more immersive, I suppose. Gen VI and the upcoming VII aren't really applicable 'cos you haven't got a 3ds. I would say start with diamond, pearl or platinum. You can play them on a DSi, they're cheaper than HG/SS for whatever reason, fairly easy to get hold of, and I honestly think that the sinnoh pokemon are sick.
On the topic of gen 5 Pokemon, there are actually a lot of good ones and it became one of my favorite generations of the Pokemon roster. Yes, trubbish is kind of crap designed, but that's no different than Grimer. Gen 1 Pokemon, but literally a pile of shit that evolves into a bigger pile of shit. Then we also had a Pokeball that evolved into a bigger pokeball (seriously???), a magnet that evolved into a bigger magnet and so on. There was lots of garbage in generation 1 for all it's 'praise' and it wasn't one of my favorite generations (I'd rate it 4th out of the 6th generations I've played). I still recommend giving it a chance though since there is a lot of fun to be had in those games, but I still prefer generations 2 and 3.
If you're wanting to start off with a DS game, I highly recommend Heartgold and Soulsilver (same game, just a few exclusive pokemon to each game, to promote trading). They're remakes of the gen two games (my personal favorites of them all). You can play them on the 3DS as well so I recommend buying a 3DS over a regular DS/Lite/DSi. The ones only on 3DS are amazing, I highly recommend X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire.
I'm "new" ( not really but I never played the games ) to Pokemon too and I have recently bought my first pokemon game on my DS too ( which isn't 3D ). I took the White version 2 one. Try it out if you can c:
I'd suggest HeartGold and Soul Silver also, however, the main issue is that these versions appear to cost the most (£30-£40 for these compared to £10-15 for Platinum/Black), when buying from eBay (I have bought all my older Pokemon games from here)
I downloaded the Rom for HeartGold and im loving it. Its a lot harder then previous games and there is a lot more you can do.Pokemon Gold was one of my favorites growing up and this remake is brilliant.
My personal favourites are Emerald and Platinum. But I definitely recommend the Mystery Dungeon games, especially if you don't feel much in the mood for RPGs.
I would say that a good starting point would be Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. They are simple enough to learn the basics of the serie, and add more things that show the more "advanced" thing easily. Also, Gen 3 would be a good point to begin by the same reasons, but they are simpler (mostly, there are some puzzles...).