Are the pokemon generations getting worse as they go along?

[Grumpy Drizzle]

There hasn't been a generation inferior to its predecessor. Every reason for anyone not liking any newer generation is very subjective like not being fond of the new Pokemon designs, not liking the region or simply pure nostalgia. The game keeps getting better all the time.

 

[-Nator-]

I believe only those who have been around the inception can truly determine this.

Growing up since Gen I, I can tell you that Pokemon has had its ups and downs over the years. Has Pokemon every been as popular as it once was? Of course not. Generation I had the largest overall fanbase. That said fanbase started declining upon the release of Generation II, but not by very much. It wasn't until Generation III that things took a drastic turn for the worse. Me personally, I thoroughly enjoyed Gens I and II, but took a break from Pokemon in Generation III because I felt Pokemon got stale at that point. It wasn't until Pokemon Platinum Version I got back in the gist of everything. Although I found Gen IV mediocre, they were still good games nonetheless.

Generation V, on the other hand, felt as if Pokemon was reborn in a way, as it is my favorite Generation behind I and II. I really enjoyed how you couldn't access any of the National Dex Pokemon until post-game. Unova definitely shined bright in its days.
Now, as for Generation VI, I think it is fairing well. Although I don't like it quite as much as Gen V, it comes pretty damn close. The primary thing I love about X and Y is the fact that every time I play it, it always reminds me of what I always wanted in a Pokemon game as a kid (the 3D style and whatnot).

Pokemon isn't necessarily getting "worse" as it goes along, I just don't think it will ever be the craze it once was.

 

[Mocksie]

The original two generations were incredibly glitchy and had many problems. I love them to death, but it's true. Game mechanics have only improved as the generations have gone on. Not only that, latter generations have provided us with better graphics and a more involved story. Are there things gen I and II did better? Sure, rival personalities are a good example of that. But overall each generation has improved upon the last.

As far as new pokemon go, I think that these viewpoints are largely biased. I personally feel that if some of the Gen I pokemon were introduced now (instead of in Gen I), that people would find them pretty stupid - Imagine if the reaction if a pokemon like Jynx was introduced now. Likewise, if some of the "hated" pokemon now were instead introduced in Gen I, such as Vanilluxe, they may not be as hated because they would then be part of the nostalgic original group. But since the original 151 are the "originals" people overlook the stupidity of some of the designs just because of nostalgia goggles.

Personally, I really like a lot of the Gen I designs, my favorite pokemon is from Gen I, but latter generations have brought in some great pokemon as well. Garchomp and Salamence are much cooler pseudo-legendaries than the original Dragonite and I think Talonflame is a cooler bird than Pidgeot. There are many other examples, but those are just a few.

Appreciate each generation for what it offers!

 

[cagedWINGS]

The original two generations were incredibly glitchy and had many problems. I love them to death, but it's true. Game mechanics have only improved as the generations have gone on. Not only that, latter generations have provided us with better graphics and a more involved story. Are there things gen I and II did better? Sure, rival personalities are a good example of that. But overall each generation has improved upon the last.

As far as new pokemon go, I think that these viewpoints are largely biased. I personally feel that if some of the Gen I pokemon were introduced now (instead of in Gen I), that people would find them pretty stupid - Imagine if the reaction if a pokemon like Jynx was introduced now. Likewise, if some of the "hated" pokemon now were instead introduced in Gen I, such as Vanilluxe, they may not be as hated because they would then be part of the nostalgic original group. But since the original 151 are the "originals" people overlook the stupidity of some of the designs just because of nostalgia goggles.

Personally, I really like a lot of the Gen I designs, my favorite pokemon is from Gen I, but latter generations have brought in some great pokemon as well. Garchomp and Salamence are much cooler pseudo-legendaries than the original Dragonite and I think Talonflame is a cooler bird than Pidgeot. There are many other examples, but those are just a few.

Appreciate each generation for what it offers!

I could never guess what your favourite Pokemon is. ;P.

Its true. People need to take the nostalgia goggles off for a second and take a look at the Gen I designs in a vacuum.

Gen I designs were overly simplistic in my honest opinion but of course they had to be. Anything more complicated and they would have been a pixelated mess on the screens of our Gameboys.

But still, how can people hold Gen I in such high regard and deem newer generations as crap when Gen I gave us Pokemon like Seel, Voltorb and Muk? They're nothing to write home about. Their designs echo down the line and in later generations we get the Pokemon these three would have been if they were created later on in the franchise - Spheal, Klinklang and Garbodor. And people have a problem with their designs! WTH!

Gen V had the opposite problem. I think a lot of their designs were too much, too overly complicated. Game Freak were aiming to relaunch the franchise and make Pokemon that completely didn't resemble their predecessors. They achieved that, and we got Pokemon like Reshiram and Conkeldurr..

Yeah, as people who have already read my thoughts on Conkeldurr already know, I hate hate hate his design.

For the most part I enjoyed Gen V and it had some great Pokemon that are some of my favourites, for example Pignite and Mandibuzz. I even like Stunfisk. He's really cute! I also liked BW/B2W2's story; its better than X&Y's in my opinion. Overall it was a mixed bag though. Good generation but it isn't my favourite by a long stretch.

Gen VI hit the mark for me. The designs weren't overly simplistic and they weren't too complicated either. Perfect.

 

[Ruas]

Rather wide topic.

Surprising that after mixing the games and anime, you still feel it has been going downhill all the way from Gen2! I'm sure there are many great things that counter/undo Misty's absence and lack of "completely fresh" Pokemons in Sinnoh. Try to explain your POV with some criteria like here, then it'll be easier/more interesting to discuss. Otherwise, we'll go on a rant.

 

[coolj7]

In my opinion, each generation is better than the last. Gen 5 was my favorite until I got X. The gen 3 starters were the best but the game just isn't as fun as the newer ones. I actually like the fact that gen 5 didn't bring back old pokemon in game so everybody could see that the new ones aren't so bad.

 

[Yogi Bear]

Qualm: Number of Legendaries/Generation and lack of inter-relation

Try to explain your POV with some criteria like here, then it'll be easier/more interesting to discuss. Otherwise, we'll go on a rant.

Seems simple enough.

The thing I hate most about RSE is the emphasis on the ocean. Don't get wrong: I don't have a problem with surfing around, my problem is that you need no less than three Water-based HMs in order to properly move around Hoenn's Waters: Surf. Waterfall, and Dive; with 8 HMs in total. Please note that I often stick all of my HMs on to one Pokemon and that I dislike carrying around HM Slaves around, leaving my typically with just 4 Pokemon for battling. In order to fell truly prepared for any puzzle or situation I walk into, I wind up feeling railroaded into carrying two Pokemon (usually something like Pelipper) that I don't particularly like or want.

Generation IV has a lot of things going on Pokemon-wise that I don't like: Starly's cry is long and annoying (it's also EVERYWHERE), Bidoof is the derpiest thing ever, roughly a quarter of the pokemon introduced are just pre-evolutions or evolutions of existing pokemon and there are more legendaries than there should be. I don't like having a lot of legends in one generation.

First generation only had 5(trio, ultimate psychic, Jack of all trade), Second had 6 (trio, box exclusives, jack of all trades).
Generation 3 has 10 (box exclusives, trio, jack of all trades, latis, shape-changing psychic), which I think is pushing it, but at least they for the most part all relate to each other or establish a trend.

Generation 4 has 13. And it's kind of ridiculous. You have another trio (a tradition, so okay), the box exclusives (another tradition) 2 jack of all trades (Manaphy and Shaymin), another really fast special-attacking Pokemon in the vein of Mewtwo (Darkrai) and the Latis...the "God" of all Pokemon (Arceus)...Cresslia...Heatran...Regigigas (an expansion of a previous trio) and...... Phione. Generation 4 starts the "event" trio with Darkrai, Shaymin and Arceus. The legendaries here just seem tacked on to me, they don't have the thematic togetherness in the last couple. Or at least anything I can remember. Heatran is a cool Pokemon but why is he there? Why does Phione exist? Why is Regigigas in Sinnoh but not Hoenn? Why is Cresslia not seemingly more important in Sinnoh lore?

Generation 5 has 12 but interestingly enough, they're all rather related: there's the sword trio, the cloud trio, the box exclusive trio, and then the "event" trio one of whom becomes a fourth member of the sword trio. I want to complain about the number but they tie to each other more thematically than fourth generation did.

Generation 6 has 6. You have the box exclusives, and the event trio. That's it. I like this. There are already 46 legendary pokemon coming into this generation and by the time things are done it looks like we'll have a ratio of 52/721 which is a proportion twice as high as 1st gen and roughly as high as 1st to 5th combined.


Sinnoh I find hard to remember with the exception of the town where the daycare was, the spot on Mt. Coronet where you meet Dialga/Palkia/Giratina, and the lake by your hometown.

 

[Retro-Chaos X]

Not at all. As much as I like Gen 1/2, they are made redundant due to FR/LG and HG/SS, so logic dictates they're the worst (the aforementioned remakes are exactly the same, but update and, well, better).
Gen III is my up-most favourite Gen - it is utter perfection in my opinion (especially the Hoenn games) and I love everything about (except your rival in R/S/E).
Gen IV is also very good I think. D/P/P were great games, and I love HG/SS to death.
Gen V was decent, but I prefer Gen III and IV. Gen V has many merits though - it has by far the best storyline we have seen so far, and the fresh new Unova pokemon was a cool addition.
Gen VI is also extremely good. I love the new feel to the game and the high amount of changes. In addition, the PSS has made Pokemon more social than ever before which is fantastic.

So to sum up, Gen I/II good but redundant, Gen III my favourite, Gen IV is 2nd, Gen V is 4th and Gen VI is 3rd. This is just my opinion and likely most people will have differed opinions, though.

 

[Sohryu]

Nope. Quite the opposite. I like The first and second gen. Didn't care about third gen. Enjoyed the fourth. The fifth was, by far, the best. I'm yet to play the sixth, but all pokémons there, except one family, are freaking awesome.

 

[Tepig Pignite Emboar 969]

They are getting better. Gen 5 was my favorite. My favorite starter was Tepig, and I love Pignite and Emboar. I also liked Fennekin's evolutions too. So I'd say the generations are getting better.

 

[Vindle]

The only Pokemon I have a problem with is Jynx. Other than that thing, I don't mind any other Pokemon.
Gen III has to be my favorite, though. The one thing I've noticed is that it's becoming increasingly difficult to find pokemon with only a few weaknesses. Delphox, Greninja, and Chesnaught seem to be weak to more than they're good for, and I've been able to beat them easily, minus HA Greninja. That's one reason why I usually use the older Pokemon.

 

[HafuTrance]

First and second gens = ok
Third gen = Introduction to better mechanics So nice.
fourth Gen = More changes to mechanics of third gen Even better.
fifth Gen = I'm a little on both sides for that gen I hated a few of the pokemon and still do. At least both white and white 2 had pretty decent stories.
Sixth gen = Lots of changes, better story, Customization, world wide release, and pokemon sprites I like and the rest I can stand looking at.

Based on only my opinion I think 6th is the best so far with R/S/E/FR/LG in second with fourth gen being third.

 

[Cometstarlight]

(Counting remakes in the gen they were remade in. ex: FR and LF in 3rd, HG and SS in 4th)

1st gen: Ah, the one that started it all. Yes, you had your share of glitches and OP types and you may not have held up as great as others had hoped, but to start it all...it was pretty good.

2nd gen: Loved this gen! My sister and I played it so much that we memorized every time event within it. I just really enjoyed this gen.

3rd gen: RSE: Ok this is where I started to get a little...worn out? Is that the word? For a while, this was my least favorite gen, but I think it was because that they stepped up their game in terms of difficulty and strategy. Playing now, I really enjoy it b/c I see that it allowed me to adapt to the new playing style changes. So I would say it did a lot of good. However, it dropped day and night cycles, animations in the sprites (they put them back in Emerald), LOTS of water, but I realized they were going for a more tropical environment, and...lots of trumpets. Dat trumpet, they say when pretty all the music had some form of trumpet in it so Hoenn seemed to have the same sound as it were.

FR/LG: A bit underwhelming, but I liked the new content they added, well, not really new, just stuff they didn't include in the first release. Overall, similar problems with R/S

4th gen: D/P/Pt: Battles SO SLOOOOWWWW, really glad that they fixed that in Platinum. This could be where pokemon slowed down a bit in terms of everything. Pokémon wasn't as popular as it used to be, they were bringing in new evos to old pokemon to draw some of the old players back, the plot wasn't that great (but when has pokemon ever been about the plot, really?). Climbing Mt. Coronet was probably my least favorite part of the game, but they were things I discovered after the main game that I thought was mind blowing. Mainly finding Sendoff Spring without knowledge of what it was or why it was there. It's not my favorite generation, but it brought one of the best innovations: The physical special split.

Hg/SS: Great remakes, but at the same time, they felt a little...rushed, but I don't know. I still thought they were pretty good since they fixed a lot of thing that were wrong in the first games. The pokemon walking behind you was a nice touch, but I'm not super upset that they got rid of them.

5th gen: Oh. OH. Um...give me a second....Ok, I'm good. I'm going to be completely honest and say that I hate gen 5, but let me explain.
What I liked about gen 5: a select amount of the new pokemon like the Oshawott line, the Snivy line, Larvesta line, and the Driburr line (there are more, I just can't remember all of them off the top of my head), now that I've thought about it- 5th gen's plot is pretty legit, a bit laughable at times, but I like the step up here, and N.

What I didn't like: The LONG time you had to wait for pokemon to evolve and the fact that the pokemon was extremely weak until level 49 or in the 50s, the fact that there were just a flood of pokemon that weren't great (I would've been fine with it if they didn't limit your pokemon selection...speaking of which), the fact that you couldn't use any previous gen pokemon without trading, the rivals were bland, the champion was bland, the map appeared to give you freedom but was horribly linear (in it's defense 6th gen is pretty linear too, but imo 6th gen handled it better), the level spike in the wild after the E4, the 'twist' in the villain arc with Ghetsis, the lack of adding anything that was really innovating (Triple and Rotation battles were clunky and unnecessary in 5th gen), and the overly pixilated sprites.

BW2: Similar problems, but the addition of adding in pokemon from previous gens fixed a large portion of it with me. Wasn't...as linear, but still pretty linear. It felt kind of boring, that was probably just me though, but I was shocked at how bored I was when playing this game.

6th gen: Whew, back into positive territory. Let's see: Starters were great (can you say, a change in typing? XD LOL), the region was fun, there was the lowest amount of pokemon added in history, but was brought up with the largest regional pokedex in history as well, which masked the small selection very well. The 3D sprites were a great addition and brought more life to the game. Pokémon Amie wasn't really necessary, but it was fun to play with the pokemon I caught. The rivals were bland again (more does not necessarily mean better). It just felt like a breath of fresh air and that I was never done exploring something, which was kind of fun for me!

Sooooo, overall, I think the pokemon games hit a slight rough patch in 3rd and 4th due to the fanbase, but weren't bad, 5th gen was gosh awful, and 6th gen was a step in the right direction imo. So I think only gen 5 was the only instance of the generations being 'worse'.

 

[JonnyL]

I, quite honestly, have enjoyed every single Pokemon game. I mean sure, I've had my complaints (Platinum's long-***** save time for starters, or Lavender Towns depressing atmosphere) But I've always had fun times while playing every generation with my friends. In my opinion I think they've slowly have gotten better. Pokemon X & Y easily have to best Interface and Mechanics of any Pokemon game (IMO) Of course there will be those that absolutely hate everything new to the franchise and will only consider the originals to be the "best" But, not only have they continued to upgrade the mechanics of the games every generation, they've managed to put out a plethora of new Pokemon every Generation. Again, there will be those that will hate every new Pokemon after 2nd Gen. But, would you prefer that they stopped creating new Pokemon all together? Creativity does have it's limits I'll admit (Dunsparce anyone?) But, as long as they keep getting fresh minds into the company then I'll bet we will continue to receive newer and more advanced Pokemon Games. Anyways, that's all. Good Question BTW! =3

 

[WildHennaCharizard]

Sigh not this again... Look every gen has it's good Pokes and bad Pokes design wise. Gen one had balls,magnets and piles of sludge as Pokemon and no one cared. Gen 5 had trash bags, candles and ice cream ( tho to me the Vanlite line can pass for living icicles). I see no problem between those gens. Sixth gen is fine too; its just up to each individual on how they see them.

 

[ThePiggyRider]

I hate to tell you this; but your diagnosis is... a slightly less horrible genwunner.

 

[PinkiePieFox]

I am a no genner, how would I be able to become one?
Simple, all gens for me have been just as brilliant as eachother. I probably couldn't be able to rank the gens, I love them all, yes they all have their ups and downs. But all are very unique.
So the games must have a consistant quality for me to love them equally. They all have special stories and exclusive mechanics, and I just love them all!

Gens of Pokemon? For me they have a fairly equal ratio of Pokemon I: 1)Love 2)Meh 3)No thanks.

But this is just me, Gamefreak would like to think they improve with each gen, aesthetic wise and game mechanics that is sometimes the case. But each gen has, like I said, exclusive elements and storylines. It's just based on personal opinion if you think the games are getting worse or better.

 

[Kalosian]

It is all a matter of personal opinion. If you were to ask 20 different fans on what they think, you would likely get 20 different answers. But regarding the subject, I find it to be the opposite, I think the new generations are better than the older ones. I find every generation to be better than the previous one, and almost every game to be better than the previous one(s). And I have played all the games since the first generation in order. As for the Pokemon designs, I often find many of the new ones to look weird when the new generation has just started, but it has for me always been a matter of getting used to them, once I have played the new games long enough, no designs look weird to me anymore. This has been the case with every generation, nothing has changed regarding that.

 

[Golden_Latias]

I am a no genner, how would I be able to become one?

You don't want to be one.

A genwunner is someone who acknowledges only the first 150 Pokemon and R/B/Y and considers everything after that to be vastly inferior in every way. It's all nostalgia.

Yeah, I'm in the camp that thinks the games generally get better each generation, except I do think Gen II was the best one. I pretty much agree with the analysis of Johto in that link posted earlier aside from the legendaries bit (Johto has both the best-designed and perfect number of legendaries imho). So for me, based on personal preference, it would be 2 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 1.

 

[MedMana]

I agree that the generations have been getting better, but each has their different quirks that allow them to not be 6-1 for everyone. For example:

Gen 1 was the first generation (duh), but remains to be one of the darkest in terms to what actually happens. How many other games make you fight a dead marowak?
Gen 2 Quite possibly has the most land to explore due to containing two different regions, as well as introducing two mechanics that are now used to evolve so many different species and the Pokathalon in the remakes.
Gen 3, especially Emerald, had a deeper story, the most creative cities and towns to date, an unique gym battle, and a big step in the music department.
Gen 4 had a huge number of ways to play with your friends beyond battling and trading, especially in Platinum.
Gen 5 has an amazing story that makes you hate a character for more than being difficult to beat and leaves you at square one in terms of pokemon choices.
Gen 6 has the largest variety of available pokemon, mega evolutions, and brings aver 200 pokes to 3D.

That said, it doesn't matter what mechanics have been added as long as you enjoy the game. Take your time and try to see what makes each game unique to you!