>>46218966core millenial but we had pogs in boyscouts too. me and my brother got the matching pair of red and blue when they first dropped in the US, our dad took us to the store and waited in line with us to get them. it was a good time. all the kids on the playground were trading or battling via link cables, there were underground trade markets where a kadabra was worth a rattatta and 2 gogurts. and it lasted a while, like several grades, i think i was in 5th grade when it came out and we were still playing red and blue for a few grades. gold and silver were also good.
ruby and saphire was the point where it was more of just "a game you played" and less of a schoolwide phenomenon. i still liked em though. skipped gen 4 entirely because that was when i went to college the 1st time (flunked out after 2 semesters, i was 17 and just wanted to party).
actually had a lot of fun with gen 5, i liked the new pokemon, and the game had a good soundtrack and some fun cities. plus since i had skipped gen 4 all those designs were new to me too.
got gen 6 and made it about halfway through. it was ok. wasnt blown away but it didnt strike me as terrible. the "team rocket" fashion guys or whoever they were were pretty lame. neat aesthetic for the region, but i dont know if i like the move to 3d. although the 3D in alpha saphire felt like it held onto more of the character of the orginal games styles though.
i really hated gen 7. 2 hours into the game and i'm still running into 4 or 5 cutscene sequences of handholding talking, the pokemon are lame, the style looks attrocious and lacks all charm, you cant do anything at your own pace without the story stopping you, and the islands and lack of gyms really destroyed the whole "routes and badges" feel that makes pokemon pokemon.
i dont mind sword as much as moon. its got a bland commercial mass appeal art style and it's story is written for 4 year olds, really cringey characters, but a lot of the gameplay changes are ok
