In your eyes, what makes a Pokémon game good?

[XtinaIsMeLuvinWWE]

I'd say it's probably the region for me :)


The structure for each Pokémon game is roughly the same, so if I'm in a location where I'm happy to do that and can explore for ages without swiftly wanting to move on to the next town then that's me happy :)


Of the ones on the list there's three I'd pick :)


1) Things they add to the series - is a big one as it helps differentiate the experience you get with each game. For me this would be things like the phone in Gen II, the Contests in Gen 3 etc. :)


2) Challenging leaders of the region - Pokémon is a game that I want to last a long time when I'm playing, and given that the trainers on routes etc. don't tend to put up much of a fight, when you get to Gyms and the League, you want to feel like your protagonist has met their match at last :)


3) Post-game - As exciting as getting to the league is, it's also upsetting cause you know you'll have completed the game (all the more reason for challenging leaders as they help the game last longer), that's why when there's a great post-game to look forward to, such as in HGSS, it makes it so much better :) To me at least :)

 

[Jimbob1192]

I'd say it's probably the region for me :)


The structure for each Pokémon game is roughly the same, so if I'm in a location where I'm happy to do that and can explore for ages without swiftly wanting to move on to the next town then that's me happy :)


Of the ones on the list there's three I'd pick :)


1) Things they add to the series - is a big one as it helps differentiate the experience you get with each game. For me this would be things like the phone in Gen II, the Contests in Gen 3 etc. :)


2) Challenging leaders of the region - Pokémon is a game that I want to last a long time when I'm playing, and given that the trainers on routes etc. don't tend to put up much of a fight, when you get to Gyms and the League, you want to feel like your protagonist has met their match at last :)


3) Post-game - As exciting as getting to the league is, it's also upsetting cause you know you'll have completed the game (all the more reason for challenging leaders as they help the game last longer), that's why when there's a great post-game to look forward to, such as in HGSS, it makes it so much better :) To me at least :)

I agree very much with this. Gym leaders could be harder (if all were of a similar ilk to Whitney, I'd be happy...), version specifics are great and post-game stuff is essential.

Of these, post-game is probably the most important to me. For instance, Gen IV actually provided very mixed feelings. On one hand, my first steps on Route 225 were incredibly memorable. I adored the completely different style of music (not so much for 228, but that's my humble opinion), and I was so happy to run into a completely different set of Pokemon from the rest of the game. Pleasingly, Gen V continued this trend, but I did find that of IV a lot more nostalgic...

The only downsides were that grinding in Gen IV became more apparent. After beating the Elite Four, I like to try and "catch 'em all" (I'm no EV specialist by any means.) This involves tons of grinding and hence a change of scenery becomes welcomed. In Gen IV, I found myself hanging around Route 227 the whole time owing to its higher level Pokemon. After a while I'd complete Stark Mountain and back to its accompanying route. This got boring.


What I would like in a Pokemon game is a region with many routes. I guess that's why I liked Gen II so much, as Kanto was full of routes with similarly levelled Pokemon (ignoring nostalgia). Also, it's an excuse to hear more beautiful route music which, in my opinion, is generally the best in the game. I figured that this was why I didn't enjoy Gen V as much.

On the topic of post-game, I like being able to find unlockables that are found in early routes and the like. I found Gen VI to have done this very well.

 

[Hiatus]

Gym leaders being tougher—that's more or less a personal preference, really, haha. Some would like it, and others wouldn't. If all leaders were as difficult as Whitney, I personally won't be too fond, to be honest. It's good to be in some challenge every once in a while and have your skills put to the test, but if it were all the time, things could get a little frustrating, in my opinion.

What I think would be better is if you were able to set your game's difficulty from get-go, manually. This way, everyone would be satisfied, including those who don't want to be challenged and those who do—both groups.

 

[Altairis]

Gym leaders being tougher—that's more or less a personal preference, really, haha. Some would like it, and others wouldn't. If all leaders were as difficult as Whitney, I personally won't be too fond, to be honest. It's good to be in some challenge every once in a while and have your skills put to the test, but if it were all the time, things could get a little frustrating, in my opinion.

I think there's a difference between challenging and hard. Whitney was hard because at that point in the game you didn't have access to many good things that could counter her. I personally never really had too much trouble with her (probably the name connection tbh ;)) but I bet that's why others did. I would like to be challenged, even if it's just the increase of levels or adding one more Pokemon to each team, but I would definitely not like to be faced with haxing or gimmick using gym leaders all 8 times.

 

[Pendraflare]

So post-game seems to be the most enjoyed thing here, followed by challenge and new features. As for challenging battles, my two favorite games are ones with Gym Leaders/Elite Four and Champion that have received pretty negative reception compared to the others. This is why as a challenger I like to go in against these battles at rather low levels. Despite that, I think those two games have some fights that can be tough, particularly on BW2's Challenge Mode (like Elesa, Clay, and Drayden to some extent, and Clemont and Valerie in XY). When i've come to Whitney in HGSS, i've usually had something effective for her such as Geodude or the Machop you can trade for.

 

[Sablrainy]

The things that matter to me in a Pokemon game is the Pokemon, the battles, and the post-game. I have seen X/Y's post-game and it seems very disappointing, and the difficulty is non-existent in these new games. The Pokemon were ace though, but could it have killed them to add 10-15 more? Hopefully OR/AS will really step things up.