4th Gen Seven years ago today, (April 22, 2007)

Allow me to tell you the tale of my initial experiences with the 4th gen games. This will probably answer all of OP's questions.

Ah, 2007. I was 14, living in an apartment in between moves. My days around that time were spent trolling f00ls on YouTube and finishing up the last few things in Pokemon XD. We'd been hearing about D/P for a while now - that is to say, my friend who I've know since first grade who'd been helping me move, and I - and we were figuring out how we'd go about getting the games. His mom offered to get me Diamond the week it came out, so I figured all was good. When it came time to get it, his mom changed her tune, saying that I was "begging for it" and didn't get it for me, even though she was the one who offered. Long story short, I never got Diamond or Pearl. They were the first and so far only main series games I skipped out on.

Fast forward to early 2009. I was in my sophomore year of high school, 16, and had recently signed up for YouTube and acquired my now long-standing crush on the lovely Lady Gaga. The Pokemon community on YT was massive at the time, and I learned that Platinum was coming out in March. I still had my black DS Lite at the time, but the top screen was cracked, so I sent it into Nintendo to get fixed. I had a bit of cash on me, but I ended up getting the rest of the money for the game by trading in my copy of Gears of War 2. I liked the game, but the multiplayer sucked compared to the first, so it was no big loss and netted me about 30 bucks of store credit. I picked the game up about a week after release date. I noticed that just about everyone else who had the game was using the same basic core for their team (Infernape, Starraptor, Garchomp, Lucario), so I decided to be original and not use any of those (I dislike their designs anyhow). I picked Turtwig and caught a few other guys who I tried to make into team members, but only Shinx ended up making the cut and becoming my favorite 4th gen Pokemon.

Around the 3rd gym or so, I hacked in a Mew and a Mantine just because they're my faves of their respective gens, and they stayed on my team as well. I was really impressed with this game right off. Sinnoh was a very immersive region with a fantastic OST and diverse locations. It took me much longer to finish this game than other Pokemon titles because not only is it generally considered the hardest game in the series, it was something I wanted to savor and not rush through, so I spent roughly two weeks on it before getting into the HoF, and it wasn't easy.

Torterra kept falling behind because everything in the game seemed to run Ice Fang, and during the final battle with Cynthia, I initially lost due to Mew being my last Pokemon and getting poisoned by Roserade, her last one. I thought things over and trained a Weavile for my team, who ended up making a huge difference in the second round. This is my favorite game in the series because not only was it a fun ride that got released during one of the best times in my life, it got me into EV training and competitive play. My favorite feature was either the online battle frontier, or the option to set your team to lvl 100 for online battles, 2 things that I resent the removal of in gen 5. The return of the night/day feature was nice too.
 
Seven. Years. -- Damn this makes me feel old. I remember me and my friends looking up all the pokemon as they were being revealed in Japan and we were like freaking out over how cool some of them were.

When did you get it? -- I pre-ordered it at Toys R' Us, at the time I had a membership and a deal with them that as new pokemon games were released I got 15 dollars off if I bought both versions (which I usually did) and I had been doing that since RBY.

Which one did you get? -- Both, but I lost my Pearl after like 2 months because I threw away the cases and had nothing to put my games in.

What were your first impressions of the game? -- I liked the starters, but I didn't really like the actual gameplay, and I never did any of the wifi events so I missed out on a lot.

Who did you start with? -- Piplup, I always pick water starters.

How long did it take you to finish it? -- Maybe like a day of constant playing, I'm not sure though. I've played a lot of games since then.

What was your favorite feature implemented? -- The underground mining thing. In every game I have ever played that has a mining option I always do that first if I can upgrade it. First skill I mastered in Runescape. Whoo.

What was your favorite pokemon/line introduced? -- I hate them all. But I did like Leafeon, Glaceon, and Froslass because they looked neat.
 
Ruby and sapphire gets a rework now and they came out 12 years ago :P
 
When did you get it?

I got D/P on release day. I think they were the first games I bought at release a trend I've continued (with the exception of B/W, which I got on vacation a few weeks after they came out). I hadn't really planned on getting D/P on release, but I recall randomly waking up early that day and deciding to hunt them down and buy them (in other words, I found a store that had them in stock and then talked my dad into picking them up, since I didn't have a driver's license). At the time, it seemed a little strange to get Pokémon games on a Sunday, since I had a lot of work to get done for school, but I had some time to play Diamond on release day, and I was glad I got it then.

Which one did you get?

In 2007: Both (Diamond and Pearl). When Platinum came out, I got that at release too. Diamond was my main game; I actually still have only played an hour or two of Pearl.

What were your first impressions of the game?

I enjoyed it. I think I was thrown a bit by the graphics/by the fact that the characters seemed a little taller than before. I recall the opening portion of the game seeming slow. I also thought Bidoof was neat-looking, and recall catching and nicknaming my first one.

Who did you start with?

Diamond: Piplup. I always go with the water starter in my main game, and this was no exception. Penguins are awesome. I wasn't overwhelmed by Empoleon, but I was still pleased with my choice. Still, the lack of available fire-types was irritating (though I restarted Pearl a couple of times to get myself the other starters, so I wasn't without a Chimchar and Turtwig for too long).

Pearl: Turtwig. I like turtles.

Platinum: Piplup again. I thought about using Chimchar, but I just wasn't that into monkeys, and I liked Piplup and wanted to use it again.

How long did it take you to finish it?

I think I beat the Elite Four in August. I tried to go through it slowly, so that was actually a fairly fast completion time for me (LeafGreen was far worse, for example). I'm not sure how many hours I had at that point; probably a hundred or so, maybe between 100 and 200? I completed the local Pokedex before beating the Elite Four, and I did a lot of other trading before officially "beating" the game. I completed my national dex sometime after that, but I don't remember when exactly.

What was your favorite feature implemented?

Online trading. I spent so much time trading the summer D/P came out, trying to get shinies from GTS giveaways, negotiating trade deals, etc. It provided a very different experience than what I had had in past games, and it was actually a pretty illuminating part of the self-reflection I was doing at the time. Also, Pokémon became a shared activity again, rather than one I did alone in the privacy of my home.

What was your favorite pokemon/line introduced?

Hmm. Not sure. Maybe Garchomp? I also liked the starters reasonably well, though I preferred some of the ones from earlier gens. Overall, I don't feel that attached/partial to gen 4 Pokémon.
 
These games are special to me. They're not my favorites (and actually are probably my least favorites), but they were the beginning of many things. A rebirth for me into the Pokemon fandom after I dropped off in Advance due to thinking I was "too old" for Pokemon. Near the end of the Advance generation, I started getting back into it. The pull was too strong. Then I found out there were new games coming out for the DS and I had to get one. So I got one for Christmas, along with all the Advance games I missed and planned to get these new games.

It was when it first came out sometime in 2007. I can't remember the date, but these were the first games I pre-ordered, something I'd only repeat for X/Y. Super psyched about them, I was. Rabidly consuming the new Pokemon and their designs. (And hating all of the Sinnoh starters. They grew on me later on, but are still my least favorites)

I got Diamond even though I wanted Pearl, because I was very nervous when we were pre-ordering the games and the attendant spoke to me directly asking me which one I wanted. I just said the first one that came to mind so they could stop talking to me. Yes, I am silly.

My first impressions were that it was slower than the Advance games, but much more awesome. I loved the graphics more (especially the sprites) and enjoyed the return of day/night, reminding me of my first game Silver.

I started with Turtwig, continuing the Grass-type tradition I started in Silver. Though as I said, I had no real preference for any of them.

Believe I finished it in several months, around July.

My favorite feature implemented was the GTS and Wi-Fi trading. I found those to be a god send due to not having any friends in real life who played these games. So excited I was that I myself hooked up my router properly just so I could do it. This feature revolutionized my Pokemon experience and made me feel much more connected. Now I could get any Pokemon I wanted if I just asked and had a fair trade. My frustration from the old days was gone. And I used this feature to get myself a Misdreavus that I used in my team and evolved into a Mismagius.

Lastly, my favorite line will have to be a three-way tie. Staraptor, Lucario, and Luxray lines. I used all of these in my first team, and none of them let me down. Especially my Staraptor, which was an awesome reliable and powerful Pokemon. And also happened to have a good nature. (Adamant)
 
Wow, it certainly doesn't feel that long. I remember the months prior to the release of Diamond and Pearl, I was so hyped about the games that some nights I couldn't sleep. Totally irrational, but my life was Pokemon at that point, haha. I planned to wake up at around 4 in the morning the day of the release, and wait outside Target for it to open. I couldn't sleep that night, obviously, and pulled an all-nighter. Anyway, I got some breakfast burritos and waited outside the store for an hour or so and practically sprinted to the game aisle when the doors were unlocked.

I went with Diamond, because I didn't care for Palkia. Wasn't aware of the version-exclusive aspects, but it turned out just fine. My brother picked up Pearl shortly after, and so any Pokemon that weren't available in Diamond I could easily obtain via trading.

I had a lot of fun at first. After being so excited for such a long time, even if the game was trash, I would have enjoyed it at that point haha. I played it non stop for three days straight, only stopping to go to school, and managed to defeat it before a week passed. It was actually difficult to decide on a team of six, because I couldn't find too many Sinnoh Pokemon I liked. Right now, I can't even remember my original team.

In my first ever play through, I chose Chimchar. Infernape turned out to be quite the powerhouse, and made the first two gyms an absolute joke. However, later on, I favored Turtwig and after completing the run with Infernape, I immediately started over, this time choosing the Grass-type. Torterra's design is very underrated, in my opinion.

The Pokétch had some pretty nifty mechanics to it, and kind of introduced that type of feature into Pokemon games. After DPPt, most of the games have included a tool that envelops the entire bottom screen of the DS.

There's actually only a small group of Pokemon I liked in Sinnoh, but I guess my favorite of them all would be the Buizel line. I'm a big fan of otters and weasels, and they fit that criteria well, haha. Loved Glaceon too, espcially when they gave one to May in the anime. :]
 
When did you get it?
Unlike most who got it on release date, I got it 2010-ish. I was still stuck with my GBA on 2007 and had no clue what a DS was, haha.

Which one did you get?
Diamond. I thought Dialga had a cooler design, so I picked it.

What were your first impressions of the game?
It was a big step-up from the GBA! Everything felt so real thanks to the new 3D and I also loved the new music that came with it as well.

Who did you start with?
I can't remember. xD; All I know is that I used Empoleon most prominently during my playthroughs of this game.

How long did it take you to finish it?
I can't remember too. xD Probably a few months?

What was your favorite feature implemented?
The step-up in graphics. :) I would have said online trading and battling, but I couldn't connect to Wi-Fi with my DS, so I definitely missed out on a lot. :(

What was your favorite pokemon/line introduced?
Luxray! His design is really cool and he had always been a great help to my team. :D
 
I had been out of the Pokemon craze for quite a few years after RSE, feeling a bit eh towards the series in general and I guess feeling 'too old' to play Pokemon again. But once my best friend (who still very much loved Pokemon), told me Nintendo was coming out with brand new games I was both shocked and amazed that Pokemon was still going strong. She told me she was going to get Diamond because the legendary for it looked really awesome, and despite my previous disposition on Pokemon, I soon became excited all the same. I decided I would get Pearl to make a duo out of our games and keep things kinda interesting.

When I got the game I remember my very first impression being that the graphics looked absolutely amazing! And to think I had been so impressed with my Sapphire version not long before this. The whole game itself just had me in awe the entire time I played it, and I was hooked from day one. My friend and I were always in constant competition with each other for the strongest team, and the furthest progress. So that kept me even more interested than I already was!

Once Platinum was announced I knew I had to get it. I had so much fun with Pearl, and I knew Platinum wouldn't disappoint. I even got really into shiny hunting because of my Pearl and Platinum's Pokeradar. Couldn't get enough of the post-game content from the RNG manipulation, soft resetting (legendaries), chain hunting, and Battle Frontier.

I can now officially say that I've played Platinum a full 3 times over and probably 2 times for Pearl.
They definitely hold a special place in my heart as my most played of the series, having clocked nearly 700 hours altogether. <3
 
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