From the day I played the Blue version, I loved Pokemon.

Desgin

The Pokemon design can be derp or funny . They feel more in line with my sensibilities compared to other games with focus only on being cool or cute.

Favorite Mons

Click on then for more info

Battle System

The battle system is really solid. It emphasizes simplicity and player agency .
The item system, for example, instead of every character having multiple armor/weapon pieces, you have one item. But this item is really strong:

• You have 50% more magical defense, but cannot use non-damaging moves
• You deal 50% more damage, but cannot change moves
• You survive with 1 health if a move would kill you in one hit and you are at full life
• Deal 1/6 damage if hit by a contact move

Giving too much complexity can make players not understand the system and paralyze them, so instead of making more strategic decisions, they make less.

The type system is simple, but lets the player deal double the damage, no questions asked. Again, little complexity but a lot of player control.

Favorite Game

My favorite Pokemon game is actually a fan game: Pokemon Reborn .
A really difficult game, where at the start they give you only bad pokemons and you have to fight strong opponents (the first gym leader has 6 pokemon with an Electrode as her ace).
Man, I finished this game at least 3 times, each using only pokemon of a certain type: steel, water, psychic. Finding uses for trash pokemon and using them at maximum is really fun.

The ambiance is a polluted megalopolis, really cool. The story and characters, well, are really edgy, better just ignore them.