10 Pokémon Games That Still Capture the Feeling of Adventure Better Than Most RPGs Today
GameFreak’s Pokémon franchise has stood the test of time, with dozens of entries across its mainline series, including remakes, as well as numerous one-off spinoffs and spinoff series. It’s spawned movies, anime series, picture books, manga… you name it, Pokémon has probably done it — or has a plan to.
Throughout all that, Pokémon has seen game after game focused around not only its traditional adventure gameplay loop but also more experimental entries as well. Its long history means it’s produced some absolutely fantastic games that capture that ineffable sense of adventure extremely well, from older entries that feel more satisfying than many modern RPGs to newer entries that redefine the Pokémon experience.
10
Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Embracing a Unique Role
The Pokémon Ranger spinoff games changed up the traditional Pokémon formula by turning players into Pokémon Rangers, field agents who explore regions and help people and Pokémon in natural environments. It’s an interesting take on the series, and it avoids common RPG tropes where players interact with the world solely through combat and quests.
In Shadows of Almia, you explore, investigate problems, and understand how Pokémon fit into environments. You embody an often-overlooked RPG role of the explorer seeking to understand rather than conquer, and that gives a unique feeling of adventure. It’s a limited role, but it’s one you don’t always get to experience, which gives Shadows of Almia a strong sense of self.
9
Pokémon Colosseum
It’s a Pokémon Road Trip
Colosseum is built around a literal adventure, as players have to travel from location to location to help communities and Pokémon. Its sense of adventure is aided by the location itself, Orre, in a way that many modern RPGs just don’t manage.
Orre has a strong identity, moreso than many larger open worlds. Its desert towns, criminal organizations, and unusual environments make it feel unique. Each location is memorable and has a defined purpose, making each visit feel satisfying. Although it lacks some of the additional content you might find in modern RPGs, it doesn’t really have filler, which makes the overall experience feel much more meaningful. Because of that, you feel less like you’re ticking off a list of things to do, and more like you’re experiencing an actual voyage — it’s a real road trip through a frontier.
8
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
Purposeful and Memorable
Although it’s set in the same place, Orre, as Pokémon Colosseum, Gale of Darkness takes a different approach that still manages to capture that feeling of adventure many modern games lack, just in a different way. This adventure isn’t really about pure exploration and discovery. It’s more of an epic quest.
In that way, when we move from location to location purifying Shadow Pokémon, everything feels purposeful. The small, carefully designed world makes every location feel like part of a larger journey, in sharp contrast to many sprawling modern RPGs where individual locations simply don’t matter. One of the biggest parts of any adventure is in the memories it creates, and Gale of Darkness manages this much better than the interchangeable locations found in many modern RPGs.
7
Pokémon Platinum
A Journey of Discovery
The Sinnoh region has a little bit of everything: ancient ruins and mythology, varied world design, memorable characters. Its varied biomes offer a genuine adventure through diverse settings, and as we do so, we uncover various secrets. It’s packed with reasons to backtrack, rewarding players’ attention to detail and curiosity in exploration, especially with its lore.
Sinnoh’s lore is described through locations, NPC dialogue, hidden books, and various encounters, rewarding players who seek out new information. It’s got its share of exposition, but as we travel through Sinnoh, we naturally learn more and understand the narrative, almost like a journey through a real place than a simple RPG backdrop. It’s an adventure of discovery instead of a series of quest objectives.
6
Pokémon Black 2 & White 2
A World That’s Moved On
As a sequel, Black 2 & White 2 are unique among mainline Pokémon games because they return to the same region a few years later. Johto does something similar, but on a smaller scale, as its Kanto is a simpler post-game area.
But this is one of B2 & W2’s core strengths and helps them shine. Unova feels like a real place that exists independently of the player, and a playthrough feels almost like revisiting a place that’s changed since you’ve been gone rather than a rehash of the exact same map. Many RPG sequels add more content to existing areas or depart for new areas entirely, but B2 & W2 focused on making the original setting feel new and different in a way that works logically and emotionally. You get to experience a genuine adventure in somewhere you already know well, enhancing the experience.
5
Pokémon Emerald
Strong, Thematic World Design and a Solid Gameplay Loop
Hoenn’s design approach supports adventure through meaningful exploration and a sense of discovery rather than pure map size. When we travel through Hoenn, it feels like a genuine adventure: we set out from home and traverse mountains, oceans, islands, caves, and even the deep sea on a quest that takes a meandering path.
These locations don’t tend to blur into one another as interchangeable quest points as you find in some modern RPGs. Instead, each location has a defined purpose and a unique charm that makes us feel like we’ve traveled across a real world. The classic Pokémon gameplay loop enhances the feeling of adventure by giving a sense of overall purpose.
4
Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen
No Hand-Holding — Just An Adventure
Pokémon Red & Blue are classics that let players set out on a true journey. They’re great because they don’t hold your hand and just let you go out and experience your journey, but they do show their age these days. FireRed & LeafGreen, though, are essentially straight upgrades that modernize the gameplay without removing that all-important sense of exploration.
These definitive editions expand the journey further by including the Sevii Islands, an all-new location to explore, and they beat out modern RPGs through tight world design, content density, and good diversity. Each location has a recognizable purpose, and the feeling of being let loose on the world massively adds to the feeling of adventure.
3
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
Good Adventures Need Good Friends
Solo adventures can be fun, but the Mystery Dungeon series rooted its journeys in a sense of community and camaraderie. In Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon are people — there are no humans — so your team consists of Pokémon sharing stories, forming bonds, and fighting together.
This makes the adventure feel fuller, since it’s not just about schlepping from place to place. Many of life’s best adventures are best experienced with friends, and this is what Explorers of Sky tried to demonstrate. Many modern RPGs treat followers or companions as more-or-less interchangeable units, but Explorers of Sky centers emotional bonds to show another side of adventuring.
2
Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver
A Classic Adventure, Definitively Reimagined
HeartGold & SoulSilver are the definitive Johto games to this day, expanding on the core world and updating it for a more modern audience. They lack some of Crystal’s innovations, but they’re still well-regarded by fans today — and for very good reasons.
They keep the tight design and content-dense approach of Gold & Silver, and nothing feels like filler. Many modern RPGs have vast areas, repeatable fetch quests, and collectibles strewn across the map. Despite all that, HG & SS feel like more of an adventure. The environments feel purposeful and integrated into the world, and the two-region structure creates a fantastic sense of scale without resorting to a vast, empty map.
1
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
It’s All About the Adventure
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a lot more modern than some other entries on this list, but it’s earned its place through ripping up the traditional Pokémon formula and showing that a smaller, more focused open-world design can pack a powerful punch. In Arceus, discovery and exploration are the entire point. Hisui, the ancient Sinnoh region, is a wilderness unexplored by the Galaxy Expedition Team. The player takes the reins and must discover not just individual locations but also the Pokémon within them.
The map isn’t littered with icons, there aren’t thousands of collectibles strewn across the world, and its smaller zones make the exploration feel targeted. The game design rewards curiosity, and the deeper mysteries of the world are revealed through exploration, discovery, and building meaningful relationships with the people and Pokémon inhabiting it. The result is an adventure that feels natural, as if it emerged less through careful game design and more through the meanderings of a person on an expedition in the world.
