As usual, I’m getting this…which in itself is a bad habit because it hasn’t gotten better.

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The last really good new Pokemon games were Black 2 & White 2 on the DS, and I loved the X & Y myself but it went significantly lower.

Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby were fun too…but this is a rework of good games.

Sun & Moon was a “meh”, a very nice story but that was the case.

Ultra Moon & Ultra Sun I recommend if you have never played Sun & Moon, the story has a better ending in my opinion than Sun & Moon, but if you play Sun & Moon don’t waste your money because the other 90% is 1 to 1 version.

I didn’t like the Let’s Go games 10 times, partly because I never liked the original (Gold, Silver and the games after that are what I mainly care about) and besides it was boring except for the battle mechanics (Fire Red and Leaf Green added a bunch of completely new ones) This wasn’t in this area, it’s really based on the original games minus the gameplay and graphics)

Sword & Shield + DLC was nice in its own right, better than Sun & Moon in my eyes but worse than X & Y, which started the lower trend in their own right.

On the other hand, the Diamond & Pearl remake really frustrated my hopes, so far these new releases are fun, Fire Red & Leaf Green added extra regions, Pokémon, Heart Gold & Soul Silver added great graphics (for DS then), and lots of world mods ( Added certain places that were not available before) and of course new Pokemon.

Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby were a little lower, but since I’m a Hoenn fan, I thought the games were still fun.

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl is a bit too 1 to 1, not much new (Ranmas Park is the only major innovation) and the graphics are a bit basic, anyway, given that S&S looked good on Switch and used to be in the pre-remake 3DS era It also got good graphics, just like the main games.

Disappointment is the right word. I went to play platinum after I finished remakes and felt better stupid enough.

Then the new Arceus game… it’s shelved and unfinished.

The Arceus problem for me isn’t the awful graphics (really, a lot of Wii games that look better, precision aside) but the emptiness of the world.

I stopped at the fifth map, I couldn’t force myself to keep going because although this didn’t work for me, and the previous four maps felt like “go from point A to B, do this and that and then the next volume”

That’s 4 times, and I know the fifth map isn’t much different, and while Pokémon itself isn’t the most exciting franchise these days, I’ve never had to force myself to quit playing Pokémon, even the original games I play I don’t like. I’d rather play with Arceus.

_{In terms of spin-offs, I’d rather see a new puzzle dungeon game, it was more fun}

From what I’ve seen here I’m afraid this is a lot like Arceus, as Sword & Shield still has the classic cities, areas with Pokémon etc, I think Scarlet & Violet will just throw that in the trash.

Streamlined caves, large empty open spaces and many other complaints I had about Arceus pops are the things I would expect based on that trailer.

And I hope I’m wrong, I’ll find out on November 18, because despite complaints, I’m playing through games (Arceus has to be finished before November 18, so I hope to live) and Pokemon is and will remain my “guilty happiness” in terms of games.

I’m complaining and I’m part of the problem, the games are selling though it gets worse, so Gamefreak won’t deal with this again.

_{If you’re reading this, congratulations on surviving so long around current Pokemon games}

bonus; Black 2 & White 2 and everything before it were fun games (ORAS Edition is an exception)