My GOAT

Doubt I'll bother finishing it. Open world is boring and gameplay feels stale after playing 10 years of Souls games.

This game kicks ass

Great aesthetics and designs all around, one of my favorite pokemon soundtracks, I love the characters and their stories. The beginning is sluggish and some of the gameplay elements can feel stale but most of the gameplay complaints are pretty mild for me.

Took a really good game and made it uglier. It also added an incredibly stupid post game segment that has atrocious writing so that's fun!

Probably the first time I just couldn't be bothered to finish a pokemon game. There are redeeming qualities to be sure but the main story content bored me horribly, the characters are all just flat, not a huge fan of the aesthetics, the music is honestly just bad, the progression is stuttering and poorly paced. These are mostly the things I remember from the game, not any of the positive elements unfortunately.

Haven't revisited this one in years but at the time I was just excited to play a game with Venasaur on the cover. Still I unabashedly love Gen 1 and adding some much appreciated mechanical updates to it are always nice!

Same as gen 2 review but with a lot of really well done updates and changes. Same flaws and strengths, the added content is a welcome bonus though. I will say part of my nostalgia means the updated visuals aren't a 100% improvement since I really love the old sprite art. However it's an incredibly minor feeling compared to how much this does right.

Not a fan of the writing or region or most of the pokemon designs in this one. Which is to say beyond that there isn't much else I actually care about in Pokemon here for me. I appreciate some of the concepts they went for but honestly the writing tries so hard to feel serious and falls utterly flat. The music is generally pretty good and there are a number of good QoL changes added this time though.

First time the series started losing its luster for me (pun intended). There's still a lot to love here and maybe if I had waited until Platinum to dive in I would have felt better. But the fact that progression in this game somehow feels slower than even Gen 1 is pretty frustrating. Good new designs and battle mechanic updates are great though.

Probably the biggest overall jump for the series between generations. I could complain about pokemon type distribution (seriously so many water types) but it's just a lovely region with some excellent new designs.

A nearly perfect sequel. I love the regions aesthetic, music, and it has many of my favorite pokemon designs. It is a really fun continuation of the first games story while also being fairly out of the way. Some minor gripes with pokemon placement and level curve aside I still fervently enjoy playing this.

(Gen 1) Surprisingly great for a first effort at the concept. Shows its age but I think it's more than playable despite that.

Gameplay is pretty bad and the story is bland but it's carried by everything else.