Current Events > Is Pokemon Sun/Moon the worst Pokemon generation?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I haven't played Legends Arceus or Scarlet/Violet yet, so I can't judge those. But from what I've seen, I think I'll enjoy them, especially since I'm not a graphics whore

Over the past year I've been catching full living Pokedexes in each generation, and transferring them up to Home. I just finished gen 6 (X/Y/OR/AS) and had a lot of fun. I've really enjoyed playing through every game up to this point

Except... I'm playing Ultra Sun now and my god, it is so fucking boring. Idk if maybe I just don't like the Hawaiian setting, or if it's the cutscenes and slow pacing, or something else (funny because Ultra Sun supposedly actually sped up the cutscenes... lol). But I've literally fallen asleep twice while trying to play this. And I'm only on the first island!

People shat on Let's Go and Sword and Shield, but I had tons of fun playing through those years ago. I remember hating Ultra Sun when I first played it years ago (before Let's Go and Sw/Sh), and unfortunately it looks like those feelings haven't changed. I am seriously dreading beating these games and catching/breeding over 800 Pokemon

I remember lots of hype when Sun/Moon originally came out, but was that just because it was right off the summer of Pokemon Go? Are Sun/Moon the worst Pokemon generation that you've played?

Gen 8 was terrible

Are we basing this on opinion or actually taking the quality of the games into account

Because if it's the latter then I have to be completely honest and say that Gen 1 RBY has aged like expired milk left in the direct sun, aside from having incredibly limited movepool options and an unbalanced type chart, the games are such a hilariously glitchy mess that sometimes it's a wonder they actually function lol

It's either non-remake gen 2 or gen 8 for me.

Gen 2 has so many useless pokemon and you don't encounter any of the cool new ones until you've basically cleared the game. The map sucks, whirl islands suck, and Kanto, while cool, is so barebones it feels empty.

Gen 8 isn't a finished product. Even if it was, it would just be OK. The new Pokemon were cool, and the wild area was....pretty good. Post game content was an absolute joke.

Its the gen that made me feel like I had finally outgrown Pokmon, so I think it is. But it does try some new things and has more content than the next gen so objectively it probably isnt

Every gen has its problems, but at least gens 1, 2, and 8 are all playable and fun

Gen 7 is... playable, I guess? If you can avoid falling asleep

Gen 6 was the worst mainline games for me, Pokemon Y was the first mainline game I never finished once I started it. Sun and moon were playable and I actually enjoyed them.

For me I'd go 5, 7 or 9

I know 5 is well-liked by some but I find the Pokemon designs (especially the starters) generally boring.

9 shows a lot of potential but the game was very unfinished. When you look at the quality and features of fangames these days you realise the main series could be so much better.

8 isn't playable or fun
6 is very very un-fun

black and white were dogshit

SwSh was the worst generation

I don't understand how people use Pokemon designs as a reason why any gen is good or bad

Every single gen has good and bad designs. I just take them for what they are. It should have no impact on whether a gen is good or not because you have hundreds of old ones to choose from too. Main things should be the story and gameplay mechanics of that particular gen

5

Pokemon Moon isn't just the worst pokemon game I've played, it's the worst RPG I've played.

Been playing pokemon since gen 1 and gen 7 made me never want to buy another pokemon game. After seeing what 8 and 9 were like, I know I made the right call.

Pokemon ultra moon and ultra sun were amazing.

I found the introduction of regional forms, some of the aesthetics, the concept of ultrabeasts, trying something new from gyms all pleasant things.

I still think Sun/Moon is the worst gen.

Kyle1022 posted...

I don't understand how people use Pokemon designs as a reason why any gen is good or bad

Every single gen has good and bad designs. I just take them for what they are. It should have no impact on whether a gen is good or not because you have hundreds of old ones to choose from too. Main things should be the story and gameplay mechanics of that particular gen

It has a huge effect on your gameplay experience. Especially if you want to complete the Pokedex. If I'm consistently facing Pokemon with poor designs or ones which I find boring, I'm going to find that gen underwhelming. Even Gen 4, which is the one I played the most as a kid, I have to concede has more dull designs compared to 1, 2, 3.

Gen 6 has been my least favorite gen and the gen I rarely replay (I replay the Ruby/Sapphire remakes from that gen more often)... Region is ok, story sucks, side characters are annoying, forgettable gyms and E4...

Megas, the new Pokemon, and the start of character customization are it's only saving graces...

I should really replay a Gen 7 game... It's been a bit since I've done that...

Yes. It was the first and only Pokemon game I had to force myself to finish the main story.

I played the vanilla sun/moon and the game was utter garbage in my opinion. Most of the pokemon were terrible. To the point I just transfered over my Ash-Greninja and it carried me through the enitre game. And the regional gimmick was underused mostly.

Characters and the world were forgettable and Lusamine for whatever reason they made a psychotic and abusive mother that killed and froze pokemon to display in her private counters.....wtf?

Also being told to become a trainer really irked me the wrong way.

Krojen posted...

I found the introduction of regional forms, some of the aesthetics, the concept of ultrabeasts, trying something new from gyms all pleasant things.

I still think Sun/Moon is the worst gen.

Ironic because I really dislike all of these things lol

Joelypoely posted...

It has a huge effect on your gameplay experience. Especially if you want to complete the Pokedex. If I'm consistently facing Pokemon with poor designs or ones which I find boring, I'm going to find that gen underwhelming. Even Gen 4, which is the one I played the most as a kid, I have to concede has more dull designs compared to 1, 2, 3.

Not on mine. I've done living pokedexes for every gen up till 7, and I could not care less what they look like. There are dozens/hundreds of Pokemon in every gen. There are bound to be some you like and some you don't like. I also think many of the gen 4 designs look silly, but it has no bearing on whether or not I like the games

random_man9119 posted...

I should really replay a Gen 7 game... It's been a bit since I've done that...

There's a reason for that

All these people saying Black and White
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/1/0/AAIOMWAAEjh-.png

kuwab0 posted...

All these people saying Black and White
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/1/0/AAIOMWAAEjh-.png

BUT IT DIDN'T HAVE PIIIIIIIKACHUUUU! OR CHARRRRMANDER!

Sword Shield Violet and Scarlet are all significantly worse.

Gens 4, 6, and 8 are the worst.

I think it is to me but let me run through my thoughts on them all again...

RBY - buggy but nostalgic
GSC - okay but could have been better
RSE - alright but not a fan of water
DPPt - personal favorite
BWB2W2 - Eh, and half forgettable
XY - Enjoyable
SM - Hated it
ShSw - Meh
SV - Better than I expected but feels meh still

8 or 9.

I liked SM a lot, even though I mostly understand the complaints. Game just was a vibe with the Hawaiian setting, story was a bit darker, felt like the creature selection was interesting. My main complaint is that the experience is very linear.

My bottom three are probably XY, SwSh, and SV. I think SV might end up being my least favorite given time since it's so unbelievably buggy and ugly.

Sword & Shield are definitely the worst.
Scarlet & Violet are *fine* but just rushed out and poorly made.

Sun & Moon were saved by the story and characters, but the sequels sucked ass.

I think it's worth noting that Sun/Moon also had the worst trading card art.

To people saying that Sun and Moon aren't bad, or that other gens are worse, I'm wondering when was the last time you played a gen 7 game. I would bet anything you forgot how. fucking. slow. everything is. Not the text or battles like gen 4, but the pace of the story. Every fucking thing interrupts you with dialogue, or a tutorial for some new gimmick. And this is in Ultra Sun where it was supposedly improved

Now that I think about it, there are a ton of 3DS games like this. The main ones that come to mind are Mario & Luigi Dream Team and Paper Mario Sticker Star. Honestly, the 3DS is home to several of the worst games I've ever beaten

Kyle1022 posted...

I would bet anything you forgot how. f***ing. slow. everything is. Not the text or battles like gen 4, but the pace of the story. Every f***ing thing interrupts you with dialogue, or a tutorial for some new gimmick. And this is in Ultra Sun where it was supposedly improved

Gen 8 was worse and is only given a pass because it's "open world". SM and USUM do have two of the most disappointing moments in the franchise though.

It's difficult to say. I think Sun/Moon started the tipping of the scales to less quality games. I remember being extremely pissed off when they put up literal roadblocks preventing you from exploring certain areas. In Sword and Shield my biggest issue is that those same roadblocks returned, but in a different way. Towards the dark gym there was a story event that happened, but the npc that was with me said something along the lines of "Don't worry about that, just focus on getting your gym badges". Again, that really pissed me off as I'm a huge story nerd. The gym leader isn't magically doing to disappear. I can come back to that later on.

Then we have Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl which were just lazy ports of the original games. They didn't even fix the issues that were in the original games (but were fixed in Platinum). I haven't played Arceus or Scarlet/Violet though with the later it doesn't seem like I'm missing much, except for Larry.

I love Pokemon, I've been playing it since the original release of Red/Blue, but they have gone straight downhill with the quality.

At the point I played Sun, the only Pokemon games I played were Red/Gold/Diamond. I was pretty fatigued on the classic trope of get the badges become the master at that point. (Though it seems I magically missed the games that tried to buck that convention a bit lol) Sun/Moon diverged from that somewhat and I really appreciated it. It kinda felt more reminiscent of a plot from the anime, which I had a lot of nostalgic fondness for.

It wasn't some instant classic, but I enjoyed it.

Kyle1022 posted...

There's a reason for that

I still have replayed SM/USUM more than XY... At least 6 times between all 4 versions...

CM_Ponch posted...

Gen 8 was worse and is only given a pass because it's "open world". SM and USUM do have two of the most disappointing moments in the franchise though.

Having played gen 8, I never had a problem with the pacing. Not sure which parts you are referring to

The base games of gen 8 are better than gen 7. With DLC included? It's not even close

Kyle1022 posted...

The base games of gen 8 are better than gen 7. With DLC included? It's not even close

Nah, SwSh is better in that it's a console game, but it's on the same console as BotW. There's no excuse for it being as lazily done as it is. Gen 7 was held back by hardware, Gen 8 fails to live up the standard.

So... graphics? Not everything is gonna look like BotW nor does it need to. I could not imagine playing Nintendo games post-2005 and caring about graphics

And Sun/Moon weren't held back by the hardware. This is evident if you play the game upscaled in an emulator. The models were rendered in higher resolution to future-proof them, so they look fine. But everything else looks muddy and low-res. Those games have some of the ugliest upscaled graphics you'll see in a 3DS game

That's like saying Scarlet/Violet were held back by the hardware when it was really just Game Freak's awful optimization. Game Freak has been significantly behind the curve graphics-wise since at least the DS days (that's not to say the DS games look bad, they are very stylized, but primitive graphics-wise for the hardware)

I don't know how you can keep arguing S/M are the worst when at the very minimum they worked out of the box, unlike S/V.

As a genwunner, Id go in worst to best..
X/Y: yeah Froakie but literally nothing to do.
SWSH: Boring. Straight like FF XIII. dlc did nothing.
SunMoon: Too much handholding. Story was weird af but oh well.
Geez this is where it gets muddy honestly. Not gonna go on but those three are definitely the worst.

Kyle1022 posted...

Not everything is gonna look like BotW nor does it need to. I could not imagine playing Nintendo games post-2005 and caring about graphics

Graphics were the least of Swsh's problem. This is a sad excuse for an open world.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/7/8/AAXqMxAAEjkm.jpg

LordFarquad1312 posted...

I don't know how you can keep arguing S/M are the worst when at the very minimum they worked out of the box, unlike S/V.

Literally the first line of the first post lol. And as long as they patched it and it's playable now, idrc

CM_Ponch posted...

Graphics were the least of Swsh's problem. This is a sad excuse for an open world.

SwSh never tried to be open world. It was a bridge from the old style to the Legends/Scarlet/Violet style, and they used the wild area as a compromise. Similar to how gen 6 was still tile based but had those roller blades where you could move 360 degrees

Kyle1022 posted...

SwSh never tried to be open world.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/9/5/AAXqMxAAEjk3.jpg

I haven't played Gen 2, 5, 8, or 9 myself.

Despite its linearity (and a few other flaws that I'm forgetting about myself), I actually enjoyed Sun/Moon myself. I enjoyed its setting, character customization, Trials (for the most part), and pretty much everything else...plus I'm a Hawaiian myself who was also born there, so those games get bonus points from me as well.

I would say that Gen 4 is the "worst" I've experienced through, but I thought the Sinnoh games didn't do enough to shake up the formula nor justified enough reasons to be "Nintendo DS" games (which would fortunately be met by HGSS). I am also aware that my past self used to loathe them like the plague, but the present me just thought of them as "...okay" games.

CM_Ponch posted...
SwSh was about as "open world" as Black and White were. The region was literally like, two circles and two lines lol. The wild area and DLCs were experimental wide open areas for the next games. That's not the same as open world

Kyle1022 posted...

SwSh was about as "open world" as Black and White were. The region was literally like, two circles and two lines lol. The wild area and DLCs were experimental wide open areas for the next games. That's not the same as open world

The wild area, the main area of the game, was experimental?

Yes, but I still wouldn't consider any of them "bad"

SM also probably has the best storyline of any of the games, mostly due to being the only one really trying to make a good story. But stopping you all the time to tell the story hurt the actual fun of a pokemon game, which was kind of you doing more of your own stuff.

USUM made the story much worse, without really adding anything good in exchange

CM_Ponch posted...

The wild area, the main area of the game, was experimental?

Yes, I don't know that it's the "main" area of the game though as basically none of the story takes place there. It clearly set the stage for Legends and gen 9

Proto_Spark posted...

Yes, but I still wouldn't consider any of them "bad"

SM also probably has the best storyline of any of the games, mostly due to being the only one really trying to make a good story. But stopping you all the time to tell the story hurt the actual fun of a pokemon game, which was kind of you doing more of your own stuff.

USUM made the story much worse, without really adding anything good in exchange

I still think B/W had the best story.
B/W2's story was worse, but the games were better.