SPOILER Which Pokemon Generation Is Better: Gen 4 Or 5?

I've been replaying a bit of Platinum recently out of nostalgia and curiosity of how well pokemon has aged since I last played Diamond and Pearl 12 years ago. While I was looking online for tips and type match ups, I stumbled upon a few videos about how generation 5 was one of the best games and it was downhill from there. Obviously it's probably more complicated than that, but I'm genuinely curious what you guys think.

 

i really prefer gen 5 over gen 4. the graphics are an improvement over 4, the games have (imo) the best story of all the mainline pokemon games, and they're just fun games.

this wasnt part of the question but i also do prefer gen 5's graphics to those of 6+, it hit a sweet spot of really good pixel graphics before gen 6 went 3d and just significantly decreased how good the games looked. idk

 

Gen 5 has the best graphics, more QoL (tms especially) and best story out of all the games plus I love its music.

Gen 4 has better gameplay than Gen 5 but it still has good gameplay imo, and I like its world better than gen 5.

So Gen 5 for me.


Then it went down :(
Though ultra moon was still pretty fun

 

That's what I keep hearing about Gen 5's story and graphics. The sprites in Gen 5 do look a lot better. I heard people trashed a lot on Gen 5 because of some of its pokemon designs such as a garbage can and a ice cream cone. That's not a dealbreaker for me, but I never really liked the manmade object looking pokemon. Especially the key chain one (which is gen 6).

Like what are ya going do with it? Jiggle it in front of your opponent? This is a franchise where you're supposed to battle giant dragons that can shoot fire, water, or even lasers, rock monsters, and even ghosts, and here you have a literal key chain. Grant it not all pokemon are supposed to be intimating, but at least still make it somewhat believable that this thing can fight.

I've heard that people are also down on it because it doesn't initially feature the common early pokemon from previous games such as zubats and magikarp (though I wouldn't care since confusion is the most annoying stat in the game and magikarp is completely useless until it evolves).

 

I will always hold a special place in my heart for gen 4, as Pearl was my first Pokémon game (though technically I grew up on the anime of gen 3) I do think gen 5 is a better package. Diamond and Pearl have a lot of.. interesting quirks such as the total lack of fire types and the overall speed of the game, while Black and White are still perfectly playable and have one of the best storylines in the series to date, great characters, a fantastic roster (save a few oddballs, but I only really dislike one or two, and it's not the ones you expect).
The limit of putting all non-gen 5 mons behind postgame, while a divisive one, I feel was a very fresh change, because you couldn't just go back to old favorites and had the magic of getting to know a whole new roster for the first time again. They have their flaws, but B/W to this day are some of my favorites in the franchise.

And then there's Black and White 2, which are also fantastic in their own right.
Before I wrap up this wall of text, I do want to briefly mention Platinum. Platinum salvaged a lot of what D/P lacked (a better regional dex, more story, smoothing of the gameplay engine, though it still could be argued it's too slow for some, I think it's fine) and just a bunch of quality of life improvements, that made gen 4 a treasure in its own right, but I still prefer gen 5 over 4.


gen 7 is still my favorite, though, both S/M and USUM, fight me

 

So what’s the difference between Black and White and Black and White 2?

 

It's actually like a totally different game. Think of it like enhanced versions, but on a whole different scale. More characters, more areas, way expanded PokéDex so it's not Unova-only, legendaries to catch, the PWT, just a heck ton of things to do in general. Like with SM vs USUM, the story of the original is better, but the gameplay improvents and quality of life far justify it.

 

Two different stories

BW2 is BW two years late after that story and continues it

BW2 also fixes some of the problems BW did wrong and adds more qol

 

So I should probably still play Black and White before I play Black and White 2 so I'm not lost in the story right?

 

Technically no, you dont need to have play Bw to understand the story in BW2 but I do recommend playing it before as there are nice callbacks to the first story. If you can play both games, do so.

 

Okay, but Klefki is unironically one of my favorite pokemon and was literally so powerful that the competitive scene had to ban multiple movesets on it.

 

"Klefki, I choose you!"

Klefki:

 

What I see is klefki with prankster using *swagger* *thunderwave* *substiute* *protect*

Unnerfed swagger thunderwave and prankster, in gen 6

Pokemon showdown in gen 6 with low ladder shits and giggles

 

Foul Play was better than protect, IMO. Fucker could take down a comp-viable mega rayquaza singlehandedly

 

Yeah mb, misremembered that it wasnt protect it was foul play, which too was nerfed

Been a whole while since I’ve played

 

I just wish Pokémon went the animated sprites route instead of 3D models tbh
Hot take but
I think Gen 5 looks better than Sw/Sh
And that is a GBA graphics game with some polygons here and there

Gen 5 and 4 aged pretty well graphically (gen 4 not so much but gen 5 def did), but I just can't bear with both because of how the xp share works, I really like gen 5 and 4 but the xp grind really kind of ruins it for me
However, I like gen 4 more, I just really like Sinnoh and it has some real bops (yes gen 5 also has bops but I prefer p i a n o s)
Like, can we talk about this track?

 

I’d say at 9:19 and 1:06:47 are better, and 1:11:50 is the best out of the whole game.

 

I think gen 5 is the "last great generation" since the later games all had noticeable flaws. Personally, I have no problem with gens 6 and 7 (and I'd actually enjoy gen 8 if my control sticks weren't drifting), but the 2D games will be appreciated more than the 3D games.
Do HGSS count as gen 4? They're on the same system but are gen 2 remakes (though I'd say they are way more than just remakes).

Below I have some positive memories from the two generations. This may bring up some nostalgia if you try to recall each point

I will try to remove bias from my answer, since I grew up with Platinum (though I did play through most of DP to see the differences). I then played at least 1 of each set of games that came out afterwards, with the exception of Let's Go.
ok the actual first game I played was Ruby but it was in Japanese with a dead internal battery so I have limited memories with it

Some of what I like in gen 4:
- Earthquake before 3rd gym
- Only 1 rival (they make more than 1 in every game after this and I feel it's just more compact to learn about a single rival)
- Partners that you can later team up with at the Battle Tower
- The Battle Frontier (wHy did they discontinue this)
- WI-FI PLAZA
- Mt. Coronet is the large, influential dungeon and even has both a spooky theme and an epic theme. Also FEEBAS appeared
- Jumpscare in Platinum (is this even a good thing lol)
- HGSS's final dungeon and battle

Some of what I like in gen 5:
- Some areas are no longer strictly 2D (Dragonspiral Tower, Skyarrow Bridge and Castelia, Opelucid City Gym) yet don't alienate the 2D controls
- These are still on the DS? They feel like they run on next-gen hardware, but actually push the DS to its limit without any lag
- Most fleshed out story of any pokemon game in my opinion (I also think BW1's story is better than BW2's, but would feel much better replaying the sequels than the originals)
- PWT (complete with remixed battle tracks)
- Last games with no Fairy type
- Pokestar Studios
- Legitimately great roster to choose from and some of the most powercrept pokemon
- Them treating Volcarona as a deity in the depths of a large dungeon

I could go on for an extended period of time, but it would just be blabbering. Now I'll get into things one generation does better than the other.
- I think Sinnoh has a better postgame than Unova because you are brought to an entirely different land. In gen 5, you are merely allowed to go to the other 1/3 of Unova and it feels like you could go there all along if not for construction and inconvenient maintenance. HGSS postgame is also crazy. 4 > 5
- BW2 are the only games with actual difficulty settings, but they're locked behind a completed save (White 2 gets shafted with unlocking the Easy mode while Black 2 gets the sought-after Challenge mode). So to even play a whole game on a different difficulty you needed to own a separate, completed Black 2 or get a friend with said copy. Still, the options are there and gen 4 does not have any of them. 5 > 4
- The gameplay in gen 5 is much, much faster than in gen 4. 5 > 4
- BW1 mess with the endgame formula, and it really feels like you're fighting to keep the world in balance. The only other time I remember this happening is near the end of Sword and Shield (but for stupid reasons), but you still fight the official champion afterwards. Regardless, I think gen 4 has the authentic endgame experience like all the gens before it. 4 > 5
- In gen 4, you can get the cover legendary before 90% of the main story is over. This is also part of why I like gens 6 and 7. In BW1, you technically still get the cover legendary before the end, but it has losing matchups against the "final" boss(es). In BW2, it feels like you do not truly meet the legendary until the postgame. 4 > 5
- Contests and Pokeathlon > Musical and Pokestar (despite the latter being the most interesting concept to me). 4 > 5
- Unova gyms are possibly the best designed in the series. When gyms return in gen 8, it only feels like they mimic the style of gen 5. 5 > 4 > 8 lol

Ugh my post is unorganized, isn't it? Anyway, I would say gen 4 is more interesting to explore, while gen 5 has the better engineered games. For that reason I prefer gen 4... if only I had the time to deal with its slow gameplay.

Oh, the soundtracks? Memories are stored in music, so there's no way I could evaluate the two fairly. I will say they are the best I've heard behind XY's (strings).

Also,

You are the only one I've seen to comment on the amount of grinding in these games. And I fully agree with you. Gen 4's grind is unfortunate and slow, while gen 5 is mugging Audinos while spraying Repels all the time. But the more wild pokemon you fight, the higher the chance one will shine, right?
I think ORAS and gen 7 got the exp share right (and toggleable), while XY's was overpowered and gen 8's was forced to be on (also cAnDy).

 

So I’m not the only one who thought Gen 4 has a bit of a grind to it? I did play Diamond and Pearl when I was younger, and I didn’t remember grinding that much and breezing through most of the game with my starter grass type.

Now that I’m replaying with Platinum, I noticed that it’s quite tedious to get all of your Pokémon leveled up; especially ones that don’t have an attack in the early game so you have to constantly switch out between battles to level them up. Trainers are pretty much the best way to level but they’re nonrenewable in the early game so you have to choose wisely whom to level up.

The most annoying part of Gen 4 so far is that if you pick the fire starter (which you should because I heard there’s no better fire Pokémon in Sinnoh), Psyduck is your only option for the first gym because every other Pokémon is weak or barely effective to Rock and Ground.

 

The fire starter is definitely the best fire type until a certain pokemon in the postgame. There are some ways besides Psyduck to fight in the first gym, but that yellow boi is the best way to blow those rocks up. Examples of this are raising a Budew (possibly evolving it), grabbing a Machop off the nearby route, or using the evolved version of the fire starter, which has a Fighting move and is no longer weak to Rock.