The Pokémon series is currently in the midst of an unprecedented drought. The franchise recently broke its previous record for the longest gap between new entries, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A isn’t due out on Switch until “late 2025.” Fortunately, a bunch of existing Pokémon games are currently on sale over at Woot, in case anyone’s been feeling the need to catch-em-all more than usual.
The Amazon-owned daily deals website has discounts on a bunch of first-party Switch games at the moment, including almost every Pokémon game with the exception of Scarlet and Violet and Pokémon Snap. These sale prices are about as low as these games go and the bonus is that these are for physical editions rather than just digital downloads:
The standout here is Pokémon Legends: Arceus which is arguably not only one of the best Pokémon games ever made, but one of the top Nintendo-published games on the Switch altogether. Its hybrid real-time action makes scouring its open-ish world for Pokémon feel more lifelike, engaging and fun than in the mainline series. Catching up on it will also be good practice for when Z-A arrives in the fall.
Otherwise, I’m surprisingly partial to Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. The Chibbi Gen IV remakes got a lot of flack at launch for being barebones and straddling a weird divide between the franchise’s retro-looking past and modern 3D presentation, but it actually struck a surprisingly good balance for me.
They’re more-or-less a one-to-one recreation of the originals, but with a more modern look and feel. For anyone who wants to tap into that childhood nostalgia, they’re probably the best bet. Unless Nintendo finally decides to bring the original Game Boy and Game Boy Advance Pokémon games to Switch Online with online battles. That would be too obvious though!
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