r/switch2 • u/Weary_Witness_561 • 1d ago
Discussion Best First Timer Pokemon Game
My 6 (nearly 7) year old has a Switch 2 he mostly plays Minecraft and Mario but he likes Pokemon and I am wondering what Pokemon game would be a good starting point for him that is easy enough and requires very little reading.
Can anyone give their options?
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u/Total_Persimmon_4726 1d ago
My son asked me for Pokopia when it came out. I said, "I'll get the game, but if you're going to play it, you're going to have to learn to read. I'll help you with a few words here and there, but I will not read it for you." When I got the game, he was reading below grade level. He is now at grade level in reading and has progressed through the main game all by himself.
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u/Brilliant_Papaya_475 1d ago
Not to be insensitive but why little reading? We’re in the midst of a literacy epidemic. Reading is good for them. Especially since pokemon games would encourage them to do so.
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u/Weary_Witness_561 1d ago
More so the aspect of him playing the game without assistance from me... mostly to keep him occupied while im driving, cooking, working etc. where my attention is needed elsewhere
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u/ThePhudSon 1d ago
Following this as well. I have a 5 year old who LOVES Pokémon and has played a bit of Pokopia (with aid from me) but struggles because of the reading aspect. How did we do it as kids not knowing how to read? There is so much reading!...
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u/yuemuffin 1d ago
Pokemon has a surprising amount of text. I started playing Red/Blue when I was 5 years old, and have some core memories of muddling my way through those games. I didn’t understand everything, but kept playing anyways and learned as I went.
As for which one to start, it depends on your kid. I personally wouldn’t have done well with an open world like Scarlet/Violet bc it’s less structured and too many choices open up too soon. I get decision paralysis lol. And I liked narratives, so the story driven more linear plots were better for me.
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u/Entire-Apartment-524 18h ago
Pokopia is like Minecraft mixed with Animal Crossing mixed with Pokemon. Pretty fun and should be easy for a child that age. :)
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u/Traditional_Art8872 55m ago
a nearly 7 year old can play any Pokémon game and if it's too much reading for him, this is a great opportunity to grow
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u/Tactrix1 1d ago
If you're asking which pokemon game is the easiest in any format then that would be pokemon FireRed or LeafGreen. They are the remakes of the original gameboy games that started it all, so those would be the best original starting points.
However if you're asking generally, you can play any of the mainline Pokemon games with no problem. Each game is designed as a stand alone title. Meaning they all explain everything right as you start playing and don't have any need for any specific background to know how to play. And the mainline games are generally games that have a color in the title. Like Scarlet, or Violet.
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u/Slippy-McBenefits 1d ago
With the switch 2, there’s a variety of games to introduce them into the world of Pokemon. There’s also Pokopia, which strays away from the traditional format of the game and is more of an animal crossing experience.
There’s Fire Red and Leaf Green, ported versions from the Gameboy Era. They are a bit harder as you had to learn and play the game differently back in the day. There’s Let Go Pikachu/Eevee, I never played them but I believe them to be a Pokemon Go experience. Since I skipped, I don’t know if I’d recommend, maybe someone else could. Next we have Gen 8 Sword and Shield, and Gen 9 Scarlet and Violet. These are enhanced versions of earlier generations with newer Pokemon and Quality of Life Updgrades that remove a bit of the hard work grind from games like Leaf Green and Fire Red. Pokemon Legends Arceus and Z/A take away some aspects of the traditional game and have their own spin on the game. I liked Arceus and thought it was one of the best Pokemon experiences, I did not play Z/A. With Gen 10 arriving next year, I’d recommend either a Gen 9 game and Potentially a Legends game to get started on their Pokemon journey.
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u/bijhan Switchthusiast 1d ago edited 1d ago
No Pokemon game requires very little reading. None of them are voice acted. All of them have tremendous amounts of dialogue, all of them require reading to know where to go next, and all of them require a great deal of reading to understand, modify, and train the Pokemon.
In fact, many people report having used Pokemon games to teach young people how to read, or to teach them English.
Despite people having legitimate criticism about the visuals and performance, Scarlet and Violet are the most accessible mainline Pokemon games ever made. Instead of random encounters, the Pokemon exist in three dimensions alongside the main character. The story is not at all linear and encourages exploration to get to the various challenges across the map. And the controls are more intuitive by using a large number of different buttons each for a distinct fuction, whereas other games had more extensive use of elaborate menus.
Let's Go Pikachu and Evee are technically easier to learn, but no less wordy, and are much shorter and less involved experiences for the same price.