The holiday season is in full swing and that means Christmas is not far away, which is why we are here to help you figure out just the right Pokemon games to buy as Christmas gifts this year.
Pokemon has been one of the most prolific series in gaming over the last 25 years and with that has meant a lot of varying game releases that players of all different kinds of ages can enjoy.
While a very dedicated Pokemon fan may have some or all of the games on this list, this is still what we believe to be five of the best options for you to choose from on the market right now. We also decided not to go retro since that would involve buying old hardware and the like, so we are sticking to modern platforms generally for this one.
This is our list of the 5 Pokemon games to buy as gifts for this Christmas season.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
The most recent entry on this list, bothPokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearlreleased just last month. These are remakes of the fourth generationDiamond and Pearlthat are set in the Sinnoh region.
There has been some controversy about the art style and some other issues by some players, but these are the most traditional of the Pokemon games on this list and felt like a nostalgic trip back to a generation that was now nearly 15 years ago. With new additions like the Grand Underground, most Pokemon fans will be pretty happy with this one.
New Pokemon Snap
Yet another release from this year,New Pokemon Snapreleased earlier this year and wowed players by just the scale of it. The originalPokemon Snapbecame a bit of a cult classic and fans were finally rewarded for their long wait with the sequel they deserved.
While this is not your traditional Pokemon game in any sense, riding on rails taking pictures of all kinds of Pokemon in the various settings that vary by time of day still feels like a major adventure. The original is scheduled to come to Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass as some point in the near future too, but definitely do not sleep on this latest entry.
Pokemon Sword and Shield
Now we go back a few years for the last brand new non-remake mainline entries in the series withPokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. These games broke a lot of new grounds in ways such as the Wild Area, but also did have some issues such as the massively reduced Pokedex.
At this point though, what you’re really going to want to get is thePokemon Sword + Pokemon Sword Expansion PassorPokemon Shield + Pokemon Shield Expansion Pass. This adds the two DLC packs for the game that added a lot more to the games and made it feel more whole in the end. you’re able to even purchase the base game and then let them buy the expansion pass later if they like it enough as well.
Pokemon Let’s Go! Pikachu and Let’s Go! Eevee
And we continue to go back further to the earlier life of the Nintendo Switch withPokemon Let’s Go! PikachuandPokemon Let’s Go! Eevee. These two are remakes of the original Pokemon Yellow, though also substituting Eevee instead of Pokemon in its own version.
The visuals still look fantastic, but the one downside for people is that wild Pokemon battles are non-existent now. Instead, the wild Pokemon encounters are now just likePokemon GO. This means you will have to throw balls with motion controls or with the touchscreen instead. Even so, the game is a solid remake ofYellowand is a very good option for Christmas for younger players that maybe haven’t played a Pokemon game before.
Pokemon GO/Pokemon Unite
And for our last entry on the list, we are gonna cheat a little bit by including what are two free games.Pokemon Gois exclusive to mobile platforms, whilePokemon Uniteis available on both Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms. However, we are including them because both include microtransactions, and giving someone money for said microtransactions isn’t a bad gift idea as a result.
Pokemon GOlets you spend in-game coins on additional storage, raid passes, egg incubators, and more.Pokemon Unitewill outright let players purchase licenses for Pokemon to use in the game, as well as purchase cosmetics and such. If you’re struggling to find something for that Pokemon fan that seems to already have everything, these might not be bad options if you know that they play the game.
Bonus:Pokemon Trading Card Game
Just because we were feeling generous for the holidays, we have thrown in an extra entry as it’s not a video game, but rather a trading card game. ThePokemon Trading Card Gamehad a massive resurgence this past year and may be as big as ever right now.
It’s very hard to find Pokemon TCG packs most anywhere right now, so finding any packs or boxes with them is likely going to make many Pokemon fans very happy if you were to gift them for Christmas.
