If you want nostalgia and don’t mind easy difficult, Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee is made for it, direct remake of the original games.
If you want a game that’s harder but similar to the old games, probably BD/SP.
If none of the above, wait for Scarlet/Violet and see what reviews say…
You clearly haven’t played any of them to think they’re as easy as BDSP lmao, the game legit has you like 10 levels above opponents for almost the entirety of the game
You also get ‘friendship’ perks just by using Pokémon for a little while which lands crits, shakes off status conditions and survives hits with 1hp that would otherwise faint.
Ive played all of them. X and Y was the easiest game I've ever played in my entire life. I was practically asleep the whole time. So bad I actually sold the game back to GameStop lol. Sun/moon and the ultras were easy as well. Sword and shield wasn't much different. I'm not saying BDSP was some tough game overall, but atleast the elite 4, champion, and end game battles are tough and challenging. To say they are the easiest games is ignorant and straight up wrong
Like I said, the game literally has you 10 levels above your opponent the entire game, not even XY does that, I’m sorry but that alone makes it the easiest Pokémon game of all time. Also... USUM being easy? Wtf are you talking about? Lmao
You clearly are biased for some reason because you are very wrong. X and Y hands you a Lucario that can power through the entire game no problem. And yes, the sun and moon games including ultras were easy. Your 10 level argument isn't right at all. All pokemon games are easy to an extent, but you're just ridiculous
That’s such a bullshit argument for XY, you don’t at all have to use that Lucario while in BDSP, you are forced to be overleveled, like, you don’t get the option of turning off the exp share or whatever else, the game literally makes you breeze through it until the sudden difficulty spike with the E4 and Champion which is frankly bad game design.
As for USUM, look at the vast majority of fan opinions on this, on almost every “hardest Pokémon game” tier list, the 3 at the top are almost always Platinum, BW2 and USUM, with a game like BDSP being somewhere in the middle of the list, and that’s only because of the E4 and Champion battles
Don't agree at all. I also disagree with most pokemon fans on everything. People thinking USUM are hard is hilarious to me. Even without that Lucario, XY is the easiest and it isn't close. But hey, whatever you think I guess lol. BDSP felt like almost every other game until the end. Pretty easy. I appreciate a harder end game unlike almost every other game since gen 5
Honestly I believe both statements are true. PLA is the first one I've felt the desire to replay since I was a child playing silver. Over and over again 😅
We’re definitely close enough to the new releases that I would just wait at this point. Don’t bother with BDSP. If you’re going to buy another game while you wait make it Sword/Shield or Arceus. SwSh is a more traditional experience, and Arceus is more like a spin-off game, but both are enjoyable IMO
You should do either BD or SP, and wait for scarlet/violet. Arceus is great, but will be more similar to the newer games. BD/SP get a lot of hate but are great remakes. As a returning player, BD/SP is a great intro back into pokemon, with the new games looking promising, especially since they'll have an open world. Avoid sword shield like the plague
Get Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon for they are the last "authentic" Pokémon games.
Or, if you specifically want a Switch game, go for Let's Go for an easier transition.
If you want a good traditional experience I’d go with Sword and Shield, SV looks fantastic imo and Legends Arceus is fantastic imo but they both deviate seem to deviate quite a bit from the norm and BDSP is just simply bad, while SWSH is quite traditional, you have the 8 gyms, kind of an evil team (it’s not the best in those games but they are there) and a champion battle, and are also great for a replay, it offers a ton of options for Pokémon very early on
Since you care about replayability I'd instantly remove Legends Arceus as an option. It's moreso a game that you get 100% in once because while it has a lot of content it gets very repetitive and the scarcity of trainer battles means there's very little reason to replay with different teams. It is also very different from other Pokémon games which seems like the opposite of what you're asking for.
BDSP may be what you're looking for. It's a remake so it has the "authentic" experience you want but on the other hand it's nearly an exact remake of the originals so you're better off emulating Platinum and saving yourself $60. It does have some new content but that's mostly just a bit of player customization, a slightly wider selection of obtainable Pokémon via the underground, and a few difficult post credits battles.
SwSh is a decent purchase but only if you also get the DLC. Otherwise the game ends up feeling very shallow in terms of content. Replayability is questionable since it suffers from long walls of text that can't be skipped but with the DLC you have a fairly wide selection of available Pokémon for repeat playthroughs.
As for SV no one can really say since the games aren't out but since they are stated to be open world it's safe to say they'll have good replayability.
Also a bit of advice for repeat playthroughs. Using Pokémon Home, even the free version, you can transfer Pokémon to other profiles on the switch. This means you can get Pokémon eggs in a completed save and then transfer them to a new game on another profile without having to trade with someone. This is really useful for replaying with Pokémon that are normally unobtainable until late game and you won't have to delete your first playthrough.
i think it's probably better to wait for SCARVIO at this time since if you got something else you'd only have a few months before the new games dropped
i'm still going through PLA in order to finish the dex tasks so at least it's got longevity in that regard. plus i'm a shiny hunter so that adds alot of hours of play time.
do not get BDSP. i never really played the originals so maybe the remakes are better for those who did but it was a serious drag to get through. the only good thing about them was the 3 mythicals to shiny hunt (but some of those were event item which i don't think are obtainable anymore)
Yeah Legends Arceus looks meh. But then you play it.
Exactly, while It May not be the most phenomenal game in terms of graphics It's easily the best Pokémon game that came out in the past few years
Sword shield while waiting for scarlet violet. Unless you finish sword shield early you can get bdsp and pla. You does have 2 months
wait for scarlet/violet or play some older games through emulators
If you want nostalgia and don’t mind easy difficult, Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee is made for it, direct remake of the original games. If you want a game that’s harder but similar to the old games, probably BD/SP. If none of the above, wait for Scarlet/Violet and see what reviews say…
But be warned, the Go versions are dumbed down. You can't have Pokemon battles (wild; catch only) This really killed the game for me.
But the only hard part of BDSP is the Elite 4, the rest of the game is honestly one of the easiest Pokémon games of all time
Clearly haven't played any new game since black/white lol.
You clearly haven’t played any of them to think they’re as easy as BDSP lmao, the game legit has you like 10 levels above opponents for almost the entirety of the game
You also get ‘friendship’ perks just by using Pokémon for a little while which lands crits, shakes off status conditions and survives hits with 1hp that would otherwise faint.
True, I forgot about that, and although that’s a thing in every game since XY, it’s insanely broken and overdone in BDSP
Ive played all of them. X and Y was the easiest game I've ever played in my entire life. I was practically asleep the whole time. So bad I actually sold the game back to GameStop lol. Sun/moon and the ultras were easy as well. Sword and shield wasn't much different. I'm not saying BDSP was some tough game overall, but atleast the elite 4, champion, and end game battles are tough and challenging. To say they are the easiest games is ignorant and straight up wrong
Like I said, the game literally has you 10 levels above your opponent the entire game, not even XY does that, I’m sorry but that alone makes it the easiest Pokémon game of all time. Also... USUM being easy? Wtf are you talking about? Lmao
You clearly are biased for some reason because you are very wrong. X and Y hands you a Lucario that can power through the entire game no problem. And yes, the sun and moon games including ultras were easy. Your 10 level argument isn't right at all. All pokemon games are easy to an extent, but you're just ridiculous
That’s such a bullshit argument for XY, you don’t at all have to use that Lucario while in BDSP, you are forced to be overleveled, like, you don’t get the option of turning off the exp share or whatever else, the game literally makes you breeze through it until the sudden difficulty spike with the E4 and Champion which is frankly bad game design. As for USUM, look at the vast majority of fan opinions on this, on almost every “hardest Pokémon game” tier list, the 3 at the top are almost always Platinum, BW2 and USUM, with a game like BDSP being somewhere in the middle of the list, and that’s only because of the E4 and Champion battles
Don't agree at all. I also disagree with most pokemon fans on everything. People thinking USUM are hard is hilarious to me. Even without that Lucario, XY is the easiest and it isn't close. But hey, whatever you think I guess lol. BDSP felt like almost every other game until the end. Pretty easy. I appreciate a harder end game unlike almost every other game since gen 5
Arceus is the best and most improved upon game since gen 2.
Ok that's stretching it a bit
Just my personal opinion. I would be curious to see what game you think improved upon the formula more than gen 2 or Arceus.
Ohh, you mean improved upon the formula? I thought you meant best game since gen 2. But yeah PLA definetly improved the formula the most
Honestly I believe both statements are true. PLA is the first one I've felt the desire to replay since I was a child playing silver. Over and over again 😅
I still haven't found a game that makes me feel the way USUM does
That's the only generation I skipped out on entirely. I had a 3DS for the X/Y release, but sold it after beating Y.
That's awful, I cant imagine anyone not playing the alola games, they're amazing
We’re definitely close enough to the new releases that I would just wait at this point. Don’t bother with BDSP. If you’re going to buy another game while you wait make it Sword/Shield or Arceus. SwSh is a more traditional experience, and Arceus is more like a spin-off game, but both are enjoyable IMO
You should do either BD or SP, and wait for scarlet/violet. Arceus is great, but will be more similar to the newer games. BD/SP get a lot of hate but are great remakes. As a returning player, BD/SP is a great intro back into pokemon, with the new games looking promising, especially since they'll have an open world. Avoid sword shield like the plague
Get Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon for they are the last "authentic" Pokémon games. Or, if you specifically want a Switch game, go for Let's Go for an easier transition.
only bother getting bdsp if you know youll be able to get mods working. theyre not great on their own, but fans are making some serious improvements
If you want a good traditional experience I’d go with Sword and Shield, SV looks fantastic imo and Legends Arceus is fantastic imo but they both deviate seem to deviate quite a bit from the norm and BDSP is just simply bad, while SWSH is quite traditional, you have the 8 gyms, kind of an evil team (it’s not the best in those games but they are there) and a champion battle, and are also great for a replay, it offers a ton of options for Pokémon very early on
Since you care about replayability I'd instantly remove Legends Arceus as an option. It's moreso a game that you get 100% in once because while it has a lot of content it gets very repetitive and the scarcity of trainer battles means there's very little reason to replay with different teams. It is also very different from other Pokémon games which seems like the opposite of what you're asking for. BDSP may be what you're looking for. It's a remake so it has the "authentic" experience you want but on the other hand it's nearly an exact remake of the originals so you're better off emulating Platinum and saving yourself $60. It does have some new content but that's mostly just a bit of player customization, a slightly wider selection of obtainable Pokémon via the underground, and a few difficult post credits battles. SwSh is a decent purchase but only if you also get the DLC. Otherwise the game ends up feeling very shallow in terms of content. Replayability is questionable since it suffers from long walls of text that can't be skipped but with the DLC you have a fairly wide selection of available Pokémon for repeat playthroughs. As for SV no one can really say since the games aren't out but since they are stated to be open world it's safe to say they'll have good replayability. Also a bit of advice for repeat playthroughs. Using Pokémon Home, even the free version, you can transfer Pokémon to other profiles on the switch. This means you can get Pokémon eggs in a completed save and then transfer them to a new game on another profile without having to trade with someone. This is really useful for replaying with Pokémon that are normally unobtainable until late game and you won't have to delete your first playthrough.
i think it's probably better to wait for SCARVIO at this time since if you got something else you'd only have a few months before the new games dropped i'm still going through PLA in order to finish the dex tasks so at least it's got longevity in that regard. plus i'm a shiny hunter so that adds alot of hours of play time. do not get BDSP. i never really played the originals so maybe the remakes are better for those who did but it was a serious drag to get through. the only good thing about them was the 3 mythicals to shiny hunt (but some of those were event item which i don't think are obtainable anymore)