Going back to Pokemon...

    I was a kid in the late 90s, and like any self-respecting kid-geek in the late 90s, I was way into Pokemon.
 I bought the games, I watched the anime, I collected the cards (and pretended I knew how to play the card game), the whole nine yards.  For a while, it was all my friends and I could ever talk or think about.  When I think about a moment in my childhood when I was really happy, I think about (along with other, more important things) how excited I was when my mom's boyfriend got me that Charizard card, and how jealous my friends were.  Pokemon used to be a big part of my life.

    I was a kid in the late 90s, and like any self-respecting kid-geek in the late 90s, I was way into Pokemon.
 I bought the games, I watched the anime, I collected the cards (and pretended I knew how to play the card game), the whole nine yards.  For a while, it was all my friends and I could ever talk or think about.  When I think about a moment in my childhood when I was really happy, I think about (along with other, more important things) how excited I was when my mom's boyfriend got me that Charizard card, and how jealous my friends were.  Pokemon used to be a big part of my life.

I was feeling the same as you when Diamond/Pearl came out. I used to love Pokemon so much when I was little, but going back to it was pretty disappointing TBH. It bummed me out that I couldn't get as into it as I could when I first play Red.

I think the best way to make it fun for you (since you're older now) is to check out serebii.net and really focus on learning how to make the best team possible and getting the most depth out of it as you can. Search around on geting the best moves for each Pokemon and getting a good variety in your team. Act like you are going to play in a professional game tournament or something because just playing through the main game seems kind of shallow/easy otherwise (at least to me). But who knows, maybe the nostalgia will be enough for you unlike me :P.

You know, I was never really into JRPGs for the challenge, so maybe an easy game is just what I need.

I ever has a friend who, to this day, buys every Pokemon game that comes out.  We could battle each other like a couple of 10-year-old dorks!

I still like to play Pokemon and I'm 18.  The Pokemon Version games are very fun, deep, and addicting games.  If I were you, I would just wait for Platinum to come out rather then getting Diamond/Pearl right now.

"Oh boy...pokemon, well you all know what I got to say about that.......

WOW!!!!  POKEMON, CREATURES I CAN SHOVE IN MY ASS AND LET THEM SHOOT MAGICAL POWERS OUT MY DICKHOLE!!!
"

Pokemon is still decent for what it is, but they really haven't done anything really groundbreaking since the Gold/Silver/Crystal Era except add contests (which I hate) and online stuff (Trade a LVL 100 Lugia for a level 5 Chimchar, because that kind of crap seems to be 90% of the trades posted there). But still good, even though it's pretty much the same game from generation to generation.

If you haven't played since the sixth grade then I think they've added enough with each new game for it to feel somewhat new.  I haven't been able to finish Pearl yet and just hearing about this new game makes me wanna go back and pick it up, and yes I think I'll end up buying platinum.

IT makes me feel really nostalgic too.

And it still is fun.

"RichardLOlson said:

"Oh boy...pokemon, well you all know what I got to say about that.......

WOW!!!!  POKEMON, CREATURES I CAN SHOVE IN MY ASS AND LET THEM SHOOT MAGICAL POWERS OUT MY DICKHOLE!!!
"

...are you seven?
"

The reason Pokemon died for me is because of the new ones. Not the games specifically, but the creatures themselves. I liked the original 151 (right number?), and then they added more and more and more. Then the formula really destroyed the fun for me unfortunately. No new Pokemon game experience can be compared to me going up and down that one island to glitch 99 rare candies. NONE.

I haven't played Pokemon since, I don't know, I think FireRed. I sold my DS about 3 years ago, but now I kind of wish I had one again... 

I'm 18 and wanted to get back into pokemon too. I bought both Diamond and Pearl, to fuel my obsession to ''catch em' all." I never got past two badges. I don't know why, but it just seems really boring now. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe it's just becasue I haven't watched the anime in 10 years and dont want to cuddle with the pokemon anymore.

I got back into Pokemon with Diamond and was quickly disturbed how complicated it got since Red/Blue.  In Red you would catch a Pokemon and that use said Pokemon to get and kick some ass.  In Diamond you go out and catch a Pokemon but instead of just going out and kicking ass right away you need to make sure its the right gender, the mood is currect and if it is shiny or not.  Also breeding shows up somewhere along the lines which just complicates shit even more.

For some the complication is loved but for me when I think Pokemon I think of a simple little game that is more or less just glorified cock fighting, not something I need to create charts for to make sure my Pokemon is maximized.

"I got back into Pokemon with Diamond and was quickly disturbed how complicated it got since Red/Blue.  In Red you would catch a Pokemon and that use said Pokemon to get and kick some ass.  In Diamond you go out and catch a Pokemon but instead of just going out and kicking ass right away you need to make sure its the right gender, the mood is currect and if it is shiny or not.  Also breeding shows up somewhere along the lines which just complicates shit even more.

For some the complication is loved but for me when I think Pokemon I think of a simple little game that is more or less just glorified cock fighting, not something I need to create charts for to make sure my Pokemon is maximized.
"

I'm pretty sure you will still enjoy it, just not as much as you used to. Pokemon failed the moment they started making a bunch of random Pokemon. In my opinion 151 was enough. Now there up to like 60 million or something... I dunno...

"I got back into Pokemon with Diamond and was quickly disturbed how complicated it got since Red/Blue.  In Red you would catch a Pokemon and that use said Pokemon to get and kick some ass.  In Diamond you go out and catch a Pokemon but instead of just going out and kicking ass right away you need to make sure its the right gender, the mood is currect and if it is shiny or not.  Also breeding shows up somewhere along the lines which just complicates shit even more.

For some the complication is loved but for me when I think Pokemon I think of a simple little game that is more or less just glorified cock fighting, not something I need to create charts for to make sure my Pokemon is maximized.
"

Try out the FireRed game for GBA, I played that two years ago after taking a hiatus from pokemon just like you. Playing the FireRed remake brought back some amazing memories.

It's okay to love Pokemon again. You CAN go back.

"Pokemon is still decent for what it is, but they really haven't done anything really groundbreaking since the Gold/Silver/Crystal Era except add contests (which I hate) and online stuff (Trade a LVL 100 Lugia for a level 5 Chimchar, because that kind of crap seems to be 90% of the trades posted there). But still good, even though it's pretty much the same game from generation to generation.
"

*sigh* Those were the days... I remember when I kept singing to those opening theme songs. They were so catchy.

Collecting every single Pokemon is fucking insane! First you have to have multiple versions of the game. Next the only way to get the super secret Pokemons is by going to some special Pokemon event  where they have a booth where you download the special Pokemon to your DS; the with that is most of those events is in Japan.I was like fuck that! I quit.

I like to boast about currently owning 473 types of pokemon in diamond.

I can relate to this a lot, I went off pokemon for a while, but then one day i found my old gameboy, and I played pokemon, it was brilliant. So if I can do it you can do it, get back to pokemon!
I always liked to say that I had 235 hours and also 124 pokemon in blue (I had about 500 but I had 124 difrent types of pokemon).

"I'm pretty sure you will still enjoy it, just not as much as you used to. Pokemon failed the moment they started making a bunch of random Pokemon. In my opinion 151 was enough. Now there up to like 60 million or something... I dunno...
"

The original 151 was the best.  I remember playing Pokemon Blue back when I was in fifth grade, good times.  Ever new pokemon game now is in general the same.  They just make a new pokemon list, change the villian (which is generally the same, just with a new name Team "insert something here").  I actually rented Leaf Green recently from GameFly though, so I can go Blastoise in Pearl =P. 

i was a big fan of the pokemon game when i was younger just loved them, they were great.

Pokemon Platinum? When are they going to run out of gems and precious metals?

I'm actually really surprised they haven't gone all out and made a Pokemon MMO yet. Persistent Pokemon in a massive world to explore where you can Pokebattle other players? Hell yes.

I kinda found it fun to "go back" to the series. Yes, there's a crazy amount of Pokemon now and sure, they may not all be cool - but in a way it makes the experience like it was back with the original - all new things you haven't discovered yet.

Couple things. First, for a moment there, just a moment, you brought me back to "the days". You know, the days when Pokemon was cool and kids played on the school bus, and everyone was like fuck the cool kids cause everyone was a nerd, and everyone linked up at lunch and battled.

Oh man. I could shed a tear.

Second, glad to see you playing Chrono Trigger, even if it isn't the classic build on the classic system. It's the perfect game. I hope you enjoy it. As for the other games you mentioned, eh, they are all sub-par. There is no real way to get back to good turn-based RPGs today. I've sort of left it behind, as has apparently the developers. Lost Odd. looked alright. I own it, I played it, I wasn't hooked. Maybe I'm jaded now and I expect more from my games, but whatever.

Anyways, I had a similar feeling when I saw the Pokemon ad. I'm sure though, like I did years ago with some random iteration of Pokemon, you'll go out, buy it, and not feel the same connection as you did back in the 90s. Why? I don't know, it's just changed I guess. When I was a kid at least, I remember the Pokemon's being bad ass. I never watched the show, but judging from the images on the cards and the graphics in the game, Pokemons were rough and tough pwning machines! They kicked ass, period. Once I found out that they were supposed to be cute and cuddly and soft and fluffy, I was turned off. Again, maybe I'm jaded.

It was years ago when I bought that iteration of Pokemon and looking back, it was a waste of my time. Maybe it’s like trying to play new turn-based RPGs. They just don’t match up to Chrono Trigger because that was my youth. You just can’t beat the feeling of playing games as a child.

I still play Pokemon games and I'm 35 - let's not be ageist about it. I do think the games are all too similar, so you will never enjoy the second one you play as much as the first. But they are essentially solid games, and deserve to be seen as more than just childish schoolkid fodder.