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Discussion What 3 Pokémon games make up the "Nintendo Switch Pokémon experience"?

What games are included in the definitive Nintendo Switch Pokémon experience?

  • Total voters
    105
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Deleted member 2

Guest
I feel like the Switch has been plentiful when it comes to quality Pokémon-related output.
After all the dust has settled, which Pokémon games will stand out as the "must haves" for this Nintendo hardware generation?

We have our main series titles:
  • Pokémon Sword & Shield
  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus
  • Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

We have our remakes of prior generation main series titles:
  • Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! & Let's Go, Eevee!
  • Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

We have our spinoff titles and remasters:
  • New Pokémon Snap
  • Pokkén Tournament DX
  • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX

And of course, who can forget the mobile titles:
  • Pokémon Quest
  • Pokémon Unite
  • Pokémon Café ReMix



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Of the above choices, which three would you select to represent the best that the Nintendo Switch has to offer?
 
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  1. Pokemon Sword and Shield: Classic Pokemon formula, best multiplayer and competitive in the series thus far.
  2. Pokemon Legends Arceus: A fun singleplayer game that displays a lot of potential and new ideas for the franchise.
  3. Pokemon Unite: A shockingly good MOBA that serves as a perfect, free entry into the world of Pokemon for beginners and folks who like phones.

It's too early to rate Scarlet and Violet.
 
Very hard to pick. There are at least 4 great ones, without even having played Vi/Sc yet. I went for Arceus, Snap, and Sw/Sh.
 
Let's Go for being the very first console HD Pokemon
Sword and Shield for being the first new generation/start of the 8th generation of Pokemon on console
Legends for being something new entirely
 
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I'm thinking Arceus is going to be in everyone's picks.
 
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Scarlet/Violet, Arceus, and Let's Go.

Scarlet/Violet for the more traditional Pokemon experience (while still being different than what you find on the handhelds), Arceus for the awesome spinoff, and Let's Go for the more casual/remake.
 
Scarlet/Violet, Arceus and Pokkén. Pokkén because it's literally the Pokémon game with best visuals. And it's actually more fun than most of the anime fighters on Switch.
 
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this is hard since I love Scarvel, but it gotta be Let's Go, the spiritual sequel Legends Arceus (the Pokémon game with the best visuals), and New Snap which is the cutest
 
I'd say Pikachu for being first, Sword and shield for being dominant, and Arceus for being unique

(and the Pokémon game with the best visuals is Emerald!)
 
New Pokemon Snap for being the best spin-off in years.
PMD for being a pretty great remake of a classic, even for its faults.
Legends Arceus for being a great change of pace compared to the classic formula.

Honorable mention for Sw/Sh + Expansion Pass. Even if I find the games abysmal, they're the newest "classic" experience you can get, and if people are looking for that there's not really a better option. ...Besides maybe S/V, I haven't played them yet!
 
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I went with:

- Pokemon Sword/Shield + DLC : because its the first new gen on the console and it's got the blueprints for the open world we see later in Arceus and Scar/Vio + it keeps the linear parts what one is used to from Pokemon games too. It has a nice balance of new and old basically!

- Pokemon Legends Arceus: Something completely different from the OG games! The gimmicks of throwing a ball, sneaking around etc etc. It gives the game a unique experience, in a Monster Hunter-esque way!

- Pokemon Unite: a neat multiplayer focused game that is different enough from the above games I mentioned!
 
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SwSh, LGPE, and PLA - however, LGPE will eventually be replaced by SV.

That being said, as an early Switch adopter, I think LGPE will always have a really soft place in our hearts. For the longest time it was the only regular-experience Pokemon game we had access to, plus it got a TON of promotion between spirits in SSBU and discounts in stores. There was a while there where LGPE felt like a quintessential experience, despite it being pretty basic in concept. For that reason, I think that PLA will actually be the game replaced by SV for me - but generally speaking, for a wider audience, it will of course be the two mainlines + PLA.
 
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My choices:
  • Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee - The best way to get into the series is with the first game in the series, now with the best graphical style the series has had. This game has charm for miles. Also - the mechanics of catching pokemon have always sucked, so the change here isn't the negative many portray it as.
  • Pokemon Legends Arceus - The best game in the series, full stop. Incredibly addictive pokemon catching action.
  • New Pokemon Snap - The best spinoff - get to see what you don't in mainline games which is how pokemon really behave in their natural habitats. Really surprising amount of content.

Honorable mentions would go to:
Pokemon Scarlet - Fun at times but tons of design flaws. Tough call between Sword/Shield and this if you take S/S's DLC into account, which was good.
Pokken Tournament DX - Great fighting game, just a bit overcomplicated
 
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This is the easiest decision I’ve made all week! My choices might not be “the definitive Pokémon Switch experience” for everyone, but they are for me.

  • Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee
The first Pokémon game on Switch also became my favorite Pokémon game ever, until a certain other game knocked it down to second place. I’ve said it before, but LGPE was a magical experience for me. This game oozes charm and character. It still has the best graphics of any “mainline” Pokémon game. I honestly found the new catching mechanic to be an improvement on the old method. The game would be perfect if motion controls weren’t forced in docked mode.

  • New Pokémon Snap
What a joy this game is. No one expected a sequel to Pokémon Snap, let alone one that expanded on the original in such wonderful ways. Pokémon have literally never looked better than they do here. There is so much to see and do, it’s almost overwhelming. New Pokémon Snap is probably the best spin-off game in the entire franchise.

  • Pokémon Legends Arceus
My favorite Pokémon game ever. Nothing comes close. This game takes everything I love about Pokémon and turns it up to eleven, while removing those parts of Pokémon that never appealed to me all that much. It may not be for everyone, but Arceus is my perfect Pokémon game. I sincerely hope we get more games like it.
 
Legends Arceus, Snap and Scarlet/Violet.

I could also easily recommend Let's Go if the person is into oldschool RPGs too.
 
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Let's go for introducing overworld mons, Gen 8 for improving it, and pla for perfecting it lol. Almost wanted to just vote pla though, it's the best pokemon game ever and a masterpiece imo.
 
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I’m gonna vote once I actually play through Scarlet/Violet. But New Pokemon Snap is a lock as one of the definitive Switch Pokemon experiences.
 
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SwSh, Snap and Arceus cover 3 different facets of Pokemon pretty well. It remains to be seen about ScaVi
 
So before Pokemon Violet is in my hands, for me it is definitely Pokemon Legends Arceus, New Pokemon Snap, and Pokemon Unite. Arceus reignited my love of Pokemon I hadn't felt strongly about since Silver, New Pokemon Snap is my favorite spinoff in the series and was just super welcome to have, and Pokemon Unite is a multiplayer staple with my friends that I have well over 100 hours in.
 
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX - The best Pokemon spin-off, and my favorite Pokemon game on the platform outright.

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee and Pikachu - Quintessential remakes/oddball titles that sit in between mainline and spin-off. Better than Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl.

Scarlet and Violet - Okay, haven't actually played these yet, but I had to include a mainline game and they look way better than Sword and Shield to me.
 
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Pokémon Sword and Shield - the mainline game
Love them or hate them, Sword and Shield represent the default mainline Pokémon games on the Switch. They're not remakes, they're not spin-offs, and let's be honest, they're not radical departures from what came before. This is the past of Pokémon, but now in the HD era. For three full years they were the games you had to play if you wanted to play competitive Pokémon on cart, with that reign only ending today.

Pokémon Unite - the spin-off
This was a hard choice. There are quite a few Pokémon games on Switch that do not fall into the usual RPG category, and Unite is certainly not the best of them (that would likely be Snap). But it is the most Pokémon of them - free-to-play with a somewhat predatory monetization model (like Pokémon Go), simple to understand yet difficult to master (like the RPGs' battle mechanics), and frustratingly addictive (like all things Pokémon).

Pokemon Legends Arceus - the future
This one likely needs little explanation. This was the Pokémon game many of us fantasized about as children. Large, open areas, with Pokémon just chilling in their natural habitat like real wild animals, and we can just throw a Pokéball at them to catch them (or begin a battle with them). I'm sure Scarlet and Violet will build on the ideas here, but there's no denying the impact this game will have on the future of the franchise.
 
Red Monster said:
This is the easiest decision I’ve made all week! My choices might not be “the definitive Pokémon Switch experience” for everyone, but they are for me.

  • Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee
The first Pokémon game on Switch also became my favorite Pokémon game ever, until a certain other game knocked it down to second place. I’ve said it before, but LGPE was a magical experience for me. This game oozes charm and character. It still has the best graphics of any “mainline” Pokémon game. I honestly found the new catching mechanic to be an improvement on the old method. The game would be perfect if motion controls weren’t forced in docked mode.

  • New Pokémon Snap
What a joy this game is. No one expected a sequel to Pokémon Snap, let alone one that expanded on the original in such wonderful ways. Pokémon have literally never looked better than they do here. There is so much to see and do, it’s almost overwhelming. New Pokémon Snap is probably the best spin-off game in the entire franchise.

  • Pokémon Legends Arceus
My favorite Pokémon game ever. Nothing comes close. This game takes everything I love about Pokémon and turns it up to eleven, while removing those parts of Pokémon that never appealed to me all that much. It may not be for everyone, but Arceus is my perfect Pokémon game. I sincerely hope we get more games like it.
Click to expand...

Damb those were my exact choices. Nice
 
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Pokemon Legends: Arceus and New Pokemon Snap are the easiest picks for me. PLA actually offers something inventive and refreshing on the formula, and New Pokemon Snap was a sequel that had 20 years of technology to catch up on where it's nostalgia fodder for fans of the N64 original while also providing a lot of content variety for new fans who never played it before, let alone any Pokemon game before.

As for the third title...iunno, I guess ScarVi just from recency bias? I played Shield and Brilliant Diamond borrowed from the library but...ehh, didn't turn my crank tbh. I certainly wouldn't pay full price for either of those games.
 
Ok, I picked Legends, Scarlet/Violet and Let’s Go. I could swap out Let’s Go with Snap, but I think these three games iterate on the formula but make conscious changes to appeal to a variety of audiences.
 
Let's Go and Mystery Dungeon were games I liked quite a bit, especially MD. Cafe and Quest were fun little time wasters but my interest didn't last long for them.
 
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I chose Pokémon Let’s Go because that was the nostalgia bridge between lapsed older fans and Go players. New Pokémon Snap because it is the best of the spin-off titles and brought something back that hasn’t been done for decades. Then Legends: Arceus since that tried to change up the formula first and really brought some much needed fresh ideas to the series.
 
Okay, I'm like 30 hours into Scarlet and I'm changing my answer lol.

Edit: to include Scarlet I mean.
 
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1) Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee!

The first HD Pokemon game, and one of the best mainline Pokemon titles, period. Streamlines a lot of the Pokemon experience while focusing on the best parts of Pokemon; the cute Pokemon themselves! Eevee is adorable, and I love that you can dress yours up with cute outfits! Plus, it's the first game where wild Pokemon appear on the field itself; a huge step forward that would be carried over to future games!

2) New Pokemon Snap

A long awaited sequel to one of the greatest Pokemon titles of all time, and it really delivers! It expands on everything from the N64 original, adding tons of new Pokemon with great levels and branching paths. It's so fun just seeing Pokemon in their natural habitat, waiting to get the perfect shot of them! The only flaw with this title is that unlike the original, there's no Slowpoke! A missed opportunity.

3) Pokemon Legends: Arceus

A massive step forward for Pokemon in general. I love the unique setting in this one, and I love just being able to explore the open world areas. There's two things that really make this one special though. First is the more action based approach; Pokemon directly attacking your character make things more intense, and being able to catch Pokemon without battling them is really fun! Second, the new battle system is such a refreshing change of pace! Having to decide between agile, normal, or strong style attacks was a neat twist to the typical formula. Finally, giant Pokemon! I caught a giant Eevee in this game and evolved it into a giant Sylveon! Super strong, and super cute! The only flaw with this title is again, no Slowpoke, even though this would have been the perfect time to introduce Samurpoke (Samurai Slowpoke).

Honourable mention goes to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, for letting me play as a cute Skitty!
 
I've picked Sword/Shield, Legends: Arceus, and Scarlet/Violet. The first and the last should be self-explanatory: since they are the mainline games, they are also the most popular and sold the most (Scarlet/Violet's not there yet, but it will certainly take over Arceus), and in turn have the most sociable aspect built into them like trading and battling.

Legends: Arceus is a more experimental game for sure, but the aspects introduced in the series helped push the future generation forward in groundbreaking ways, like how free travel is compared to before, as if they're gearing up to be open world. Not to mention: it has compatibility with the other entries since you can export the Pokemon into HOME for use in other present main games and the future. BDSP too has that transferrable aspect, but since it's a remake that is faithful to the originals to a fault, it did not feel as revolutionary.

Thank you for reading.
 
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I played Pokemon Sword & Shield both for more than 300 hours.
However, I played Arceus for 35 hours, Violet 35 hours, Scarlet 25 hours, and totally off the hook.
It’s a mystery myself still looking for answers.
 
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xghost777 said:
So before Pokemon Violet is in my hands, for me it is definitely Pokemon Legends Arceus, New Pokemon Snap, and Pokemon Unite. Arceus reignited my love of Pokemon I hadn't felt strongly about since Silver, New Pokemon Snap is my favorite spinoff in the series and was just super welcome to have, and Pokemon Unite is a multiplayer staple with my friends that I have well over 100 hours in.
Click to expand...
I’m amending my post here after rolling credits on Pokemon Violet. Pokemon Unite and New Pokemon Snap are still on the list and the third spot is taken up by Pokemon Legends Arceus and Pokemon Violet. It’s a package deal you can’t go without! They complete each other.
 
Scarlet/Violet - It's the latest mainline entry, so I think it best represents where the series is currently at.
New Snap - A completely different take on the series that shows a different side of the Pokémon world.
Mystery Dungeon - Just fantastic remake overall.

With these, you get three unique genres that altogether complete the Pokémon experience if you ask me.
 
I voted:

Let's Go - as time has gone on, it's a really polished Pokemon experience. The catching mechanics are fine in handheld, a little borked in docked mode. But the underlying game has a good (albeit safe) foundation. I think for all of the advancements the other traditional RPG games make on Switch, I think this is the purist Pokemon experience that doesn't have a whole lot of downsides. Sw/Sh are very messy, S/V would take its place if it gets patched.

New Pokemon Snap - It is one of the only Pokemon games in existence that actually capture the allure of Pokemon in the wild. You're in THEIR den. Pokemon behave differently. There's a sense of unease depending on the level you're going through (the deep sea levels in particular). It has actual voice acting. It has great visuals. It's a gem.

Pokemon Legends Arceus - From a gameplay perspective, it's hands down, the most fun Pokemon game ever. The core gameplay loop is outstanding. The focus on a smaller Pokedex helps give the Pokemon they actually feature a lot of small details both in their behavior and within their environment. It's HARD. It has actual cool boss battles. Its level design is great. It will truly be the future of Pokemon if they let it.
 
  • Pokemon Legends Arceus (the best Pokemon game on Switch)
  • Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (the best "traditional" Pokemon game on Switch)
  • Pokemon Let's Go (just a flat out fun, charming, and super chill game. Also the best looking 3D Pokemon game ever!)
 
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PLA and SV have both blown me away after years away from the series. It’s wild to think two of my picks came out this year… but so be it!

Then, I put Pokemon snap as my third. I haven’t played it yet - but I must do so. and I know it deserves my vote.
 
I ended up picking New Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Legends Arceus and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet. I believe these games embody the things I like the most about Pokemon.

Snap: shows the Pokemon living like real creatures in their habitats. Portrays the zoology/ecology nerd aspect of Pokemon.

PLA: built around catching them all and completing the Pokedex. Not my thing, but for a wide swathe of people, that is the Pokemon experience for them.

S/V: It’s the latest mainline game, with all the excitement that offers. Around a hundred new mons to befriend, new Leaders and rivals to tackle, a new region to get lost in.

So yeah, that’s why I think those three make up the definitive Pokemon experience.
 
  • Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus
  • Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
For me those are by far the best. I know people don't think high of BDSP but personally I loved it and it's the closest to the old formula.
 
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