I want to start Pokémon with either Crystal or LeafGreen. Can anyone recommend guides for general play? Also tips for beginners, games to skip etc

[Cheesebu]

I hope this isn't too broad of a topic, but it's a long time coming and I really want to get back into the franchise. The reason I'm starting so far back is I want to play with my Analogue Pocket and I love the graphics of GBC/GBA.

I know a guide isn't super necessary for regular play, but I also know there are some oddities in Pokémon, some "smart play" tips for what field moves and attacks to give your team, and some things that just aren't obvious for a person playing 20 years later.

Here are some things I'd love help with if anyone can spare some time to respond:

1. Where are some effective guides/walkthroughs to make sure I don't miss too much in a general play through and don't get stuck?

2. What "roadblocks" exist for transferring Pokémon up from gen to gen? Is there any hard cutoff point like GBA-DS, DS-3DS, or 3DS-Switch?

3. Is it even worth worrying about transferring to each new gen?

4. If I have HeartGold and SoulSilver on DS, should I skip Crystal?

5. If I have OmegaRuby should I skip Emerald?

6. Can I transfer from HG/SS straight to Black 2/White 2 rather than play the originals?

7. Any others I should just skip, and will it effect my ability to transfer my Pokémon up?

Any other tips would be much appreciated. I've played the first few hours of several games and I played most of HG but I think I've only ever really beat Red/Blue back at release. Despite that I've continued buying at least one version of nearly every game.

I'm not too worried about finishing a Pokédex, but I may feel differently once I get deeper in lmao. I am kind of a completionist but I don't want to get too overwhelmed.

 

[It’s Time To Go]

You can transfer from GBA all the way up to home. I wouldn't bother about always transferring, they tend to block off generation transferring till the post game anyway.

 

[Ovvv]

1) These games don't really need guides for general play, but any quick Google search should yield fine results for this. PokemonDB is your friend when it comes to learning more about individual Pokemon, though.

3) Not really, but that's up to you and how much you like your past Pokemon.

4) Yes

5) No.

6) Yes, though BW2 do have some story stuff that jumps off from BW1.

One recommendation for the DS games: If you find yourself wanting more of a challenging experience, I recommend checking out the Drayano hacks. They're excellent.

 

[ohlawd]

if you're set on playing a GB/GBA mainline game you can play Emerald and skip everything else in those two eras.

 

[Liam Allen-Miller]

1. Where are some effective guides/walkthroughs to make sure I don't miss too much in a general play through and don't get stuck?

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I don't have any particular guides to link to but there are virtually no missables of note in the "main" Pokémon games. You can almost always come back to things you may have missed earlier at any given time. I would personally suggest starting with Crystal! H/G/C have a ton of personality. FR/LG I find are a bit plain.

 

[Mr. President]

1. Where are some effective guides/walkthroughs to make sure I don't miss too much in a general play through and don't get stuck?

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You should not have to worry about this, Pokemon games are generally pretty straightforward.

2. What "roadblocks" exist for transferring Pokémon up from gen to gen? Is there any hard cutoff point like GBA-DS, DS-3DS, or 3DS-Switch?

3. Is it even worth worrying about transferring to each new gen?

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I would not bother with transferring, because you are starting a new game each time, and often transferring is an awkward process that is locked until you reach an arbitrary point.

4. If I have HeartGold and SoulSilver on DS, should I skip Crystal?

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Yes.

5. If I have OmegaRuby should I skip Emerald?

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No

6. Can I transfer from HG/SS straight to Black 2/White 2 rather than play the originals?

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Yes but you should play the B/W. B2W2 are actual sequels.

7. Any others I should just skip, and will it effect my ability to transfer my Pokémon up?

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Skip SWSH

 

[Atom]

There are no real missables, hard to get stuck. Emerald is better than oras in terms of difficulty and endgame content but oras have a lot of fan service for fans of the originals, hgss are better than crystal but personally prefer the sprite art in the latter over the former and it's a bit snappier of a game which is why I gravitate back to it. I've never really bothered transferring to each new gen -- gives me something fun to look at a decade down the road when I boot the game up again.

 

[Aleh]

4 - HGSS is a lot better but Crystal feels very nostalgic and it still holds up nicely, your choice
5 - Since you're just coming back I doubt you'd use the only worthwhile addition Emerald has over ORAS, so I definitely recommend ORAS

 

[Deleted member 24021]

1. Where are some effective guides/walkthroughs to make sure I don't miss too much in a general play through and don't get stuck?

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Bulbapedia has some good guides, here's a link to the HGSS one.

2. What "roadblocks" exist for transferring Pokémon up from gen to gen? Is there any hard cutoff point like GBA-DS, DS-3DS, or 3DS-Switch?

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You can transfer Pokemon from GBA all the way up to Pokemon Home on Switch, but starting with Sword and Shield not every Pokemon is available to be used.

3. Is it even worth worrying about transferring to each new gen?

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Not really, unless you want to do post game content with some of your favorites.

4. If I have HeartGold and SoulSilver on DS, should I skip Crystal?

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You can if you're not willing to play through both Crystal and HG/SS.

5. If I have OmegaRuby should I skip Emerald?

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Omega Ruby has quality of life features that Emerald doesn't have, but Omega Ruby is missing the post game content from Emerald. It's up to you.

6. Can I transfer from HG/SS straight to Black 2/White 2 rather than play the originals?

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I recommend you play through Black/White too because Black 2/White 2 is a direct sequel.

7. Any others I should just skip, and will it effect my ability to transfer my Pokémon up?

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You can skip Sword and Shield and Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, both are half baked experiences compared to the past Pokemon games.

 

[RetroRunner]

Play Pokemon Crystal Clear, it's a ROM hack of Crystal that makes it open world

 

[DoctorPlayer MD]

Start with Leaf Green and then HGSS, platinum, BW2, XY, ORAS, USUM and Sword and Shield so youcan experience all regions.

 

[Cheesebu]

Ok I dunno why I thought some form of guide was somewhat necessary but that's a relief that they're not.

I won't worry too much about transferring, I guess I thought it was more of a big deal than it is.

Yes but you should play the B/W. B2W2 are actual sequels.

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I recommend you play through Black/White too because Black 2/White 2 is a direct sequel.

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Thanks for this. I should have known from the names but I completely thought they were just a new version, except Nintendo got greedy and made two instead of an all in one like Crystal.

Start with Leaf Green and then HGSS, platinum, BW2, XY, ORAS, USUM and Sword and Shield so youcan experience all regions.

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Thanks, this is a good idea. No reason to burn myself out on the same regions unless I know I like them already.

 

[HardRojo]

If you have HGSS as you asked then don't play Crystal, go with Leaf Green.

 

[Mankoto]

1. Where are some effective guides/walkthroughs to make sure I don't miss too much in a general play through and don't get stuck?

It's Pokemon so 99% you'll be fine with no guide. Just use the Pokemon you like and understand type match-ups and you'll pull through.

2. What "roadblocks" exist for transferring Pokémon up from gen to gen? Is there any hard cutoff point like GBA-DS, DS-3DS, or 3DS-Switch?

It would be best to start at leafgreen as you can carry all of those pokemon forward to current games.

3. Is it even worth worrying about transferring to each new gen?

That's up to you. I still have all of my Pokemon from Emerald with me.

4. If I have HeartGold and SoulSilver on DS, should I skip Crystal?

Yes

5. If I have OmegaRuby should I skip Emerald?

No.

6. Can I transfer from HG/SS straight to Black 2/White 2 rather than play the originals?

Yes, but if you care about story, BW2 is the sequel to BW. So you'll miss out on some aspects skipping the original.

 

[SanTheSly]

Start with LeafGreen of those two, Pokémon have abilities from Gen 3 onwards, very nice spritework throughout, good OST, faster paced. As for your questions:

1) Serebii.net is your best bet, followed by bulbapedia or GameFAQs

2) A fair few - GBA pokémon can only be transferred up to DS era games, and you have to have beaten the Elite 4 in the DS era games to unlock the ability.
Often, it's also a hard limit of 6 pokémon transferable per real world 24 hours. I think everything after that point has to be done via pokémon bank or the pokétransporter apps on 3DS - I believe you can still transfer everything from Gen 5 to Gen 6 this way but at the cost of a subscription fee.

3) Honestly, no unless you're DESPERATE to have your "original" pokémon from way back when in the newer games or to fill your pokédex but good luck on that.

4) Yes, HGSS are the better experiences over Crystal at this point, they include the newer content from Crystal but with more quality of life improvements. Some people consider HGSS the peak of the series, I can't really recommend the original Gen 2 over them unless you were really that curious.

5) No, Emerald is still very playable (and I really wasn't a fan of ORAS compared to the original Gen 3 games, but I'm not huge on Gen 3 anyway)

6) You CAN go from HGSS to Black 2/White 2 but you're probably going to be a little confused as to what's going on with the story. BW2 are direct sequels to BW for a reason.

7) I would personally say to skip Gen 6 entirely (Just my least enjoyed games), some will suggest skipping Gen 7 but I would say only skip Ultra Sun/Moon of that gen - the originals were far more enjoyable to me than the updated versions. Get ready for people to whine about Gen 8 as well. As for transferring up pokémon, kinda already covered that. You'd need to beat the Elite 4 in most titles and pay for a subscription service to get everything to Gen 8. It really depends how diehard you are.

Other tips:

• They split attacks into Physical/Special from Gen 4 (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/Heartgold/Soulsilver) onwards. Physical attacks consider enemy defence in calculations and special attacks consider special defence. Checking on the menus will tell you which attack is which type.
  
  
• Try to include some good coverage moves to ensure you don't get caught out by an enemy with a type advantage.
  
  
• Don't feel obligated to run a full team of 6 as soon as possible, it can make things harder for newer players because experience is being split a lot more and you may feel the grind a lot harder.
  
  
• Fairy type exists from Gen 6 (X/Y/Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire) onwards. Check the type matchups if you play later games because honestly even I still forget what they are from time to time.

 

[L Thammy]

If you mean Crystal for the GBC, a very visible between that and Leafgreen would be that Leafgreen was made after the introduction of Abilities. So whereas before Pokemon's combat abilities were defined almost entirely by their stats, type, and moves, after that you might need to learn the Pokemon more individually.

Since it's a remake and they weren't made for it from the ground up, the spread of Pokemon in Leafgreen itself don't have exciting abilities that often, though.

 

[DeadeyeNull]

Play Pokemon Crystal Clear, it's a ROM hack of Crystal that makes it open world

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While crystal clear is excellent this is bad advice for a first playthrough. Crystal clear expects you to have played crystal and know where things are beforehand. Since it's a ROM hack the information a new play might need is a lot more scarce too.

Definitely try it after a first playthrough though, since it really is great.

 

[Atom]

Play Pokemon Crystal Clear, it's a ROM hack of Crystal that makes it open world

Click to shrink...

While cool, crystal clear is probably not how I would introduce someone to pokemon and the opening up of johto/kanto completely obliterates any sense of pacing and general progression that the original games had. It's also different enough that idk where you would go after that, all the other pokemon games are comparatively linear.

If I had to recommend a gen 2 rom hack it would be Polished Crystal, which basically back ports all the hgss content to crystal while adding the gen 4 mechanics to the base game and improving level curve and overall playability and QoL, as well as adding a handful of original areas.

 

[SanTheSly]

Yeah I'm also gonna third the sentiment that you should not play a romhack as your first experience returning to the franchise.

 

[Cheesebu]

So I figured LeafGreen was a well liked remake, but I do have R/B/Y. Its not a huge deal to me which I play, I'm only 30 minutes or so into LeafGreen. Any reason to just play the originals aside from just picking based on which graphics I like more?

Edit: and while hacks sound cool, I really want to play on Analogue Pocket and we have no idea when it will be opened up for emulators. I'm just using carts.

 

[SanTheSly]

So I figured LeafGreen was a well liked remake, but I do have R/B/Y. Its not a huge deal to me which I play, I'm only 30 minutes or so into LeafGreen. Any reason to just play the originals aside from just picking based on which graphics I like more?

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No, I struggle to think that anyone is going to recommend the original gen 1 games over the remakes. They're slow, archaic, mechanics aren't coded correctly, not that pleasant to look at etc.

If you're looking for a nostalgia hit then they're fine, and they have excellent soundtracks, but there's really very little reason to actually play them over FRLG.

 

[MattB]

Also should be noted if you play gen 1 or 2 on VC on 3ds you can transfer those Pokemon all the way to swsh but not the physical GB/GBC games.

 

[PandaShake]

Haven't played since xy, and bdsp interest is starting to wane after 5 badges and every time it's because the games are too easy so it feels like I'm going through the motion. Maybe run away from more wild pokemon, avoid some trainers to under level yourself for a challenge or try out some self imposed rules like nuzlocke.

 

[Starlatine]

5. If I have OmegaRuby should I skip Emerald?

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absolutely not
specially if as you say you love the gba graphics which is the one and only thing i would use as a "con" for someone wanting to play gen 3

 

[ashm]

One advantage you have when playing any game on their original cartridge instead of the Virtual Console version is that you'll be able to also use your Pokémon in Pokémon Stadium 1/2 if you also want to give those a try. They are essentially an expansion to Gen 1/2 with more (and tougher) battles, as well as QoL features and side-activities. On the other hand, using the VC versions means you'll be able to transfer your Pokémon forward all the way up to Switch.

 

[Cheesebu]

Also should be noted if you play gen 1 or 2 on VC on 3ds you can transfer those Pokemon all the way to swsh but not the physical GB/GBC games.

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Wow I totally forgot about that. I remember reading it back when they released but it's been forever. I do have Blue and Crystal on 3DS but I'll probably still play the carts.

absolutely not
specially if as you say you love the gba graphics which is the one and only thing i would use as a "con" for someone wanting to play gen 3

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I'm kinda happy everyone is saying go for Emerald tbh haha, I might play the remake someday but yes, a huge motivation for me atm is just seeing those amazing graphics since I never played the GBA gen of Pokémon games.

 

[Aleh]

I think FRLG are terribly bland games and that the original RBY are at least a nostalgia trip through and through… but actually the best gen 1 version is let's Go

 

[DeadeyeNull]

No, I struggle to think that anyone is going to recommend the original gen 1 games over the remakes. They're slow, archaic, mechanics aren't coded correctly, not that pleasant to look at etc.

If you're looking for a nostalgia hit then they're fine, and they have excellent soundtracks, but there's really very little reason to actually play them over FRLG.

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I mostly agree, while there's definitely a charm to the originals I don't think you lose anything in the remakes. I will say yellow might be worth it just because it's a little more unique, but even then there's let's go.

 

[Cheesebu]

I think FRLG are terribly bland games and that the original RBY are at least a nostalgia trip through and through… but actually the best gen 1 version is let's Go

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I mostly agree, while there's definitely a charm to the originals I don't think you lose anything in the remakes. I will say yellow might be worth it just because it's a little more unique, but even then there's let's go.

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I played an hour or so of Let's Go when it came out but I recall being annoyed by it. Like there was some motion controlled thing when throwing a Poké ball. I dunno. There are so many considerations lmao. Aside from that is it pretty much a standard remake?

I never bought it, just had a rental but it's somewhat cheap for a used copy now.

 

[Starlatine]

I played an hour or so of Let's Go when it came out but I recall being annoyed by it. Like there was some motion controlled thing when throwing a Poké ball. I dunno. There are so many considerations lmao. Aside from that is it pretty much a standard remake?

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No, LGPE is not traditional in any sense. Stick with FRLG

 

[Akainu]

Guides? It's Pokémon. You know how to play Rock Paper Scissors you're golden.

 

[Aleh]

I played an hour or so of Let's Go when it came out but I recall being annoyed by it. Like there was some motion controlled thing when throwing a Poké ball. I dunno. There are so many considerations lmao. Aside from that is it pretty much a standard remake?

I never bought it, just had a rental but it's somewhat cheap for a used copy now.

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Yeah, the motion stuff for catching wild Pokémon is the most annoying thing about the game, but everything else is much more enjoyable. Overworld Pokémon (and the way they are distributed through the region) are major improvements
Besides that the game is just like any other Pokémon game too

 

[Starlatine]

Yeah, the motion stuff for catching wild Pokémon is the most annoying thing about the game, but everything else is much more enjoyable. Overworld Pokémon (and the way they are distributed through the region) are major improvements
Besides that the game is just like any other Pokémon game too

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No they're not. Catching is the main way of leveling up, candies are introduced, several changes to trainers and how gyms operate, the master trainers etcetera
Its okay if you like the game but if OP is asking for a traditional experience Lets Go isnt it

 

[DinoBlaster]

I just want to give a shout out to the original Red and Blue. FireRed and LeafGreen are definitely smoother experiences and are probably the better starting point. But at some point I think it's worth checking out where things started. Super janky and unbalanced but the music is great and there is a simplicity that I find really fun.

 

[Aleh]

No they're not. Catching is the main way of leveling up, candies are introduced, several changes to trainers and how gyms operate, the master trainers etcetera
Its okay if you like the game but if OP is asking for a traditional experience Lets Go isnt it

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You don't have to use candies, Gyms are the same as always (with pointless requirements sure) and master trainers are just a bonus thing to do in the postgame
You could put all those things in any other game and no one would say they make it non-traditional

 

[Spiderhead]

Do LeafGreen so you can run, Crystal is painfully slow nowadays

 

[slothrop]

I really don't think you need a guide, or really need to think about much. Just play one and if you do feel like transferring anything into the future you can worry about it then. Or not if you don't feel like it. Its never something you do until late game anyway.

 

[TheAggroCraig]

1. You probably won't get stuck much/at all, I've used Serebii or just Google your question and you'll get an answer quick, or just go on Youtube.

2. Physical GB/GBC carts can't transfer up, you can however play RBY/GSC on the 3DS Virtual Console and transfer them from there to Pokemon Bank on 3DS, which they can then move to Home/current gen. (There is a way to hack a 3DS and transfer save data from GB/GBC games to that but that's a whole different ball game that I assume you won't care to do).

3. It depends on how attached you are to them, I personally have had some of the same Pokemon for nearly 20 years from my original Sapphire save. They don't really do much other than live in boxes but it's really nice to have them.

4. HGSS is basically Crystal definitive edition, imo you can skip it but it entirely depends on if you want to live the franchise from start to finish, gameplay and all.

5. ORAS covers some of Emerald really but it feels like an entirely different type of game. Emerald was much better than Ruby/Sapphire and made general enhancements to Gen 3 as a whole. IMO If you had to pick one Gen 3 game to play, Emerald is the one.

6. Yes

7. Just play the 3rd versions of games if they exist. The only games I think you could skip would be Sun/Moon as Ultra Sun/Moon are more or less the same and offer more.

You could do something like: Yellow, Crystal (if you intend to play these), FR or LG, Emerald, Platinum, HG or SS, Black or White, Black 2 or White 2, X or Y, OR or AS, Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon, Sword or Shield.

(just my opinions on the matter at least)

 

[Quinton]

It's safe to say few would argue the fact that you should skip Diamond & Pearl in favor of Platinum. It's simply the superior version in every conceivable way. (Someone out there is going to point something out, somehow, in favor of the originals. Maybe. But they're wrong.)

Equally safe to say skip Ruby & Sapphire. I'll be honest, I'm on a very quick break right now, so I haven't read everything in detail thread-wise. If that's already a no-brainer to you, great!

There's no third version to X & Y, of course. And that's terribly unfortunate. But it is what it is. Just worth mentioning since... damn. There should have been. :P

I'd suggest skipping Sun & Moon in favor of UltraSun & UltraMoon. Now, this one's more contentious, because many players prefer the narrative climax of the first versions. And I can see why. It doesn't bother me very much, and I say this as the kind of weirdo who tends to enjoy the stories as part of the Pokemon experience, haha.

Go with your heart (and I guess the majority opinion) on this, but just know that if you play SM and then USUM, you're going to be retreading most of that ground big-time. USUM is, narrative quibbles notwithstanding, bigger, better, and even a bit harder. It's good stuff unless you just abhor Alola or something. This isn't all that uncommon, but I think it's a great region.

You can probably skip Let's Go, Pikachu & Let's Go, Eevee. FireRed and LeafGreen are almost certainly still the superior remakes, IMO. The only thing they're missing, and this will feel retroactively huge to you but maybe not so bad before you experience it, is that the Physical/Special split begins with Gen 4 (DPPt/HGSS). This is huge. It enhances the gameplay so damn much. So, if you elect to play HeartGold & SoulSilver alone, rather than playing Crystal followed by them - and I think that's a reasonably fair decision, for what it's worth - certainly do play FireRed first.

Doubling down, tripling down, whatever, on playing Black & White as well as Black2 and White2. It's not universally believed, though it's not all that far off, that these games have the best stories in the series. While that isn't the highest bar, it's still better than I think many players were anticipating at the time. And yeah, they form one cohesive story between them. It's unlike anything that Game Freak has done since, and that's a real shame, but for numerous reasons, the games didn't sell that great. So... yeah.

Lastly, I will go ahead and be a devil's advocate on Sword & Shield, in case no one else elects to do so. On their own, they're not great, but they do some things that haven't really been done before and it's still worth it for that. If barely. The whole gym/championship shtick has never felt better production-wise. Galar celebrates that stuff in a way that the anime always has, but the games seldom (if ever) have.

Here's the thing, though. Sword & Shield are, like, a 6 on their own. But between the Isle of Armor and especially The Crown Tundra, they're at least a 7 with the Expansion Pass. I'd say closer to an 8, even. But the Expansion Pass costs more money, and the Switch titles already cost more than what came beforehand. (Though if you're in the market for an authentic copy of any of the DS games sans Diamond & Pearl, you're already looking at a lot more cash than that. Scarcity and all.)

I hope that helps!

 

[Cheesebu]

No they're not. Catching is the main way of leveling up, candies are introduced, several changes to trainers and how gyms operate, the master trainers etcetera
Its okay if you like the game but if OP is asking for a traditional experience Lets Go isnt it

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Ahhhh yes, the no EXP thing was definitely what soured me. I don't mind a non traditional experience once in a while but I really hadn't expected that and it didn't gel with me.

I just want to give a shout out to the original Red and Blue. FireRed and LeafGreen are definitely smoother experiences and are probably the better starting point. But at some point I think it's worth checking out where things started. Super janky and unbalanced but the music is great and there is a simplicity that I find really fun.

Click to shrink...

Blue was my introduction and I played the heck out of it, and played a few hours again when it came out on 3DS VC. I've just never finished another one after that.

It's safe to say few would argue the fact that you should skip Diamond & Pearl in favor of Platinum. It's simply the superior version in every conceivable way. (Someone out there is going to point something out, somehow, in favor of the originals. Maybe. But they're wrong.)

Equally safe to say skip Ruby & Sapphire. I'll be honest, I'm on a very quick break right now, so I haven't read everything in detail thread-wise. If that's already a no-brainer to you, great!

There's no third version to X & Y, of course. And that's terribly unfortunate. But it is what it is. Just worth mentioning since... damn. There should have been. :P

I'd suggest skipping Sun & Moon in favor of UltraSun & UltraMoon. Now, this one's more contentious, because many players prefer the narrative climax of the first versions. And I can see why. It doesn't bother me very much, and I say this as the kind of weirdo who tends to enjoy the stories as part of the Pokemon experience, haha.

Go with your heart (and I guess the majority opinion) on this, but just know that if you play SM and then USUM, you're going to be retreading most of that ground big-time. USUM is, narrative quibbles notwithstanding, bigger, better, and even a bit harder. It's good stuff unless you just abhor Alola or something. This isn't all that uncommon, but I think it's a great region.

You can probably skip Let's Go, Pikachu & Let's Go, Eevee. FireRed and LeafGreen are almost certainly still the superior remakes, IMO. The only thing they're missing, and this will feel retroactively huge to you but maybe not so bad before you experience it, is that the Physical/Special split begins with Gen 4 (DPPt/HGSS). This is huge. It enhances the gameplay so damn much. So, if you elect to play HeartGold & SoulSilver alone, rather than playing Crystal followed by them - and I think that's a reasonably fair decision, for what it's worth - certainly do play FireRed first.

Doubling down, tripling down, whatever, on playing Black & White as well as Black2 and White2. It's not universally believed, though it's not all that far off, that these games have the best stories in the series. While that isn't the highest bar, it's still better than I think many players were anticipating at the time. And yeah, they form one cohesive story between them. It's unlike anything that Game Freak has done since, and that's a real shame, but for numerous reasons, the games didn't sell that great. So... yeah.

Lastly, I will go ahead and be a devil's advocate on Sword & Shield, in case no one else elects to do so. On their own, they're not great, but they do some things that haven't really been done before and it's still worth it for that. If barely. The whole gym/championship shtick has never felt better production-wise. Galar celebrates that stuff in a way that the anime always has, but the games seldom (if ever) have.

Here's the thing, though. Sword & Shield are, like, a 6 on their own. But between the Isle of Armor and especially The Crown Tundra, they're at least a 7 with the Expansion Pass. I'd say closer to an 8, even. But the Expansion Pass costs more money, and the Switch titles already cost more than what came beforehand. (Though if you're in the market for an authentic copy of any of the DS games sans Diamond & Pearl, you're already looking at a lot more cash than that. Scarcity and all.)

I hope that helps!

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Thank you! This is all very helpful.

 

[Crayolan]

Here are some things I'd love help with if anyone can spare some time to respond:

1. Where are some effective guides/walkthroughs to make sure I don't miss too much in a general play through and don't get stuck?

There's really not much to miss or get stuck on in the main stories of these games. I wouldn't worry.

2. What "roadblocks" exist for transferring Pokémon up from gen to gen? Is there any hard cutoff point like GBA-DS, DS-3DS, or 3DS-Switch?

There is no GB (C)>GBA transfer. Other than that, you're good.

3. Is it even worth worrying about transferring to each new gen?

No, not really.

4. If I have HeartGold and SoulSilver on DS, should I skip Crystal?

Probably, yea.

5. If I have OmegaRuby should I skip Emerald?

No, ORAS is missing Emerald content and improvements.

6. Can I transfer from HG/SS straight to Black 2/White 2 rather than play the originals?

I think so but not sure.

7. Any others I should just skip, and will it effect my ability to transfer my Pokémon up?

You have to have at least 1 gen 3, 4, and 5 game to transfer from gen 3 to present. After that, you just need Bank. The most skippable mainline games imo are XY and Sword/Shield.

Any other tips would be much appreciated. I've played the first few hours of several games and I played most of HG but I think I've only ever really beat Red/Blue back at release. Despite that I've continued buying at least one version of nearly every game.

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As for general tips it's mainly just systems things which are well known to vets but not clear to newcomers and barely explained in-game.

-STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus). Attacking with a move of the same type as the Pokemon using it gives it a 50% power boost.
-In gen 3 and earlier, whether a move was a physical or special attack was determined by type. Rock, Ground, Steel, Ghost, Fighting, Normal, and Bug are physical. Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Dark, Psychic, Ice, and Dragon are special.
-In gen 4 (Diamond and Pearl) onwards, there are physical and special moves of every type, which can be seen by checking the move description. Physical moves have a spiky explosion symbol, special moves have a puddle symbol. This applies to remakes made in gen 4 and later too.
-Held items are very useful. Make use of them.

 

[DeadeyeNull]

I played an hour or so of Let's Go when it came out but I recall being annoyed by it. Like there was some motion controlled thing when throwing a Poké ball. I dunno. There are so many considerations lmao. Aside from that is it pretty much a standard remake?

I never bought it, just had a rental but it's somewhat cheap for a used copy now.

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It's still pretty different, which is why I recommended it. There's no real reason to play the original r/b over frlg, but there might be a reason to play yellow in addition to frlg. Let's go is arguably closer to yellow which is why it might be a replacement. Though not if you dislike the motion stuff.

I'm not saying yellow is a must play, but if you want the experience the old school games it might be better to play that, instead of r/b, since frlg is more of a straight upgrade in regards to those.