>>54836417I started with gold and then bought blue from a game store. I played every game up to platinum.
I bought HGSS, BW, BW2, XY, and ORAS in 2016 (I think) because I wanted to get the 20th anniversary mythicals, but I didn't want to play XY without finishing the earlier games.
I skipped SM, USUM, LGPE, SWSH. Played some BDSP but got burned out after a few gyms. Completed the story of legends arceus and SV.
I feel like I didn't really fully enjoy HGSS, BW, BW2, XY, or ORAS. I sped through HGSS and gen 5 just so i could play gen 6, then I used a guide to help me get through XY quickly.
I enjoyed gen 1 to platinum. I'm playing gen 1 vc right now, and it's a pain. Lack of good dialogue, broken battle mechanics, terrible quality of life (can't use bicycle without opening bag, can't surf or cut or use strength without opening party). But in my original playthroughs as a kid, playing without guides, without knowing what was going to happen, not knowing any of the new pokemon, I think the unknown made it a lot of fun for me.
So I played legends arceus and SV without getting any spoilers. I had a lot of fun doing dex challenges in arceus. I had a lot of fun exploring in SV, hunting for new pokemon. Parts of the story where I didn't know what was going on, thinking some characters are villains and then finding out they're not. That was fun to me. I sometimes do the raid events in SV, but I don't spend time figuring out the best build, and so I don't really find it very fun. I just do them to collect the uniques.
I think part of the problem for /vp/ is that people know the story and all the pokemon right away before they play, and the core gameplay isnt challenging, Then all that's left is finding the bad stuff to complain about. If you know everything about the game before you play, then it's only fun if you're into shiny hunting, completionism, breeding, competitive battling, or restricted playthroughs like nuzlocke.
For gen5+ did you play without spoilers?
