10 Pokémon Games Where Early Routes Feel More Memorable Than Entire Modern RPG Areas

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Published Jul 16, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT

Ewan is an experienced gamer with more than two decades of gaming under his belt, across consoles, handhelds, and PC. He's written for a variety of digital publications, including DualShockers, GameRant, The Mary Sue, and We Got This Covered.

GameFreak's Pokémon franchise is stuffed full of memorable moments, NPCs, creature designs, and eye-catching locations. With twelve mainline games, multiple spin-offs, remakes and even remakes of remakes, movies, and several anime series, the Pokémon franchise is arguably one of the greatest video game and multimedia franchises of all time.

This is a franchise in its third decade, and it's still going strong, with new entries year after year — including more experimental titles like Pokopia. Through it all, the Pokémon world has delivered game after game with memorable early-game areas that players still remember years later. At a time when many modern RPGs deliver bland early-game areas that exist to be passed through and forgotten, these Pokémon games feature iconic areas that have remained in cultural consciousness for years after their debut.

10 Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

Floccesy Ranch, Virbank Complex

Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 spun the Unova map around and had players approach the region from literally a different angle. They're unique among Pokémon games because they're direct sequels to their predecessors, set in the same region, with mostly the same Pokémon Gyms and an overall theme.

They could easily have been forgettable in that context, since we're literally journeying the same paths as Black and White. The thing is, it wasn't. The games added new locations, including Floccesy Ranch, an early-game area with a good variety of Pokémon. Part of the memorability comes from being novel compared with Black & White, but unlike early areas in many more modern games, Black 2 & White 2 offered decent enemy variety, good team-building opportunities, and strong story tie-ins.

9 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky

Treasure Town

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

Mystery Dungeon isn't a traditional Pokémon game, but it has its dedicated fans. The series was very good at creating locations with a strong emotional identity that fans love and remember even today. The Mystery Dungeon series put the Pokémon front and center in a way that other games didn't, so they necessarily have a very different structure. Despite that, some of the earliest locations in-game are fondly remembered by fans for their combination of utility, charm, and enduring presence.

Areas like Treasure Town become a major player hub where players enjoy story progression, shops, and other services throughout their adventure. It features recurring characters, shops, and story events, creating a strong sense of community. It's not just a one-and-done early-game town you never engage with again.

Obsidian Fieldlands

Legends: Arceus was extremely well-received by the Pokémon fandom for offering a new kind of Pokémon gameplay alongside more traditional series aspects. Instead of classic "routes", it featured small-scale open-world areas filled with Pokémon to discover and catch.

Early-game areas like the Obsidian Fieldlands are especially memorable. This was fans' first introduction to a new kind of Pokémon gameplay, offering a gameplay loop across different environments and a new catching-and-battling system, as well as new traversal methods and reasons to keep coming back to the same map. It's nostalgic, fresh, and new simultaneously. It changes players' relationships and interactions with Pokémon, since battles and catching take place in the overworld. When I first played, I was blown away — it felt like a whole new way of experiencing the Pokémon world, and it's stuck with me. It's no Eden Prime, but it's pretty memorable.

7 Pokémon Sun/Moon

Route 3, Verdant Cavern, Melemele Meadow & More

Pokémon Sun & Moon switched up Pokémon's traditional gameplay loop by replacing Gyms with Island Trials. It's not an exact one-for-one change, but it's pretty similar, so it doesn't feel too different. But the world design really shines, and it's filled with expressive, characterful designs that enhance the world and setting. And they're present right from the start.

Alola's early-game routes are stuffed full of memorable designs, such as the Melemele Meadow with its bright yellow flowers, but Route 3 will go down in Pokémon history as the infamous location where it's possible to obtain a level 9 Salamence. This has been memed by the community so many times, but it adds a lot of value beyond what early-game areas typically offer in most other RPGs. The endless tutorials in this section of the game do make it feel a little frustrating, though, which is also memorable... just not in a good way!

6 Pokémon Colosseum

Outskirt Stand, Phenac City, Agate Village

Modern RPGs often build these huge, sweeping worlds with little that's actually inside them. The sense of scale can be a fantastic attribute, but it isn't always necessary — as spinoff Pokémon Colosseum proves. This is a game with fewer overall locations, so each one carries more narrative weight than you find elsewhere.

That means places like Phenac City, Agate Village, and Outskirt Stand get more narrative attention. Each one has a distinct vibe and a purpose, and they're not simply designed to be throwaway locations with a simple fetch quest attached. This means these areas leave a strong impression on fans that many modern RPG areas just can't, because they're designed purely for transitions or are filled with simplistic quests but little else.

5 Pokémon Black/White

Pinwheel Forest, The Dreamyard

Pokémon Black & White had a frosty reception in its day, but they aged well, with many players now appreciating the soft reboot approach. Some of the Pokémon are incredibly popular, like Krookodile or Chandelure, and as a setting, Unova's pretty charming. Some of the early routes were pretty well-received by fans; Pinwheel Forest is pretty popular thanks to its secrets, atmosphere, and interesting layout.

With Pokémon restricted to only new-to-the-series Pokémon, every step in Unova was rewarded with something new. It felt like true exploration. In contrast to many modern RPGs, which often treat early-game locations as places to traverse rather than explore, Pinwheel Forest has a layered design that rewards exploration rather than simple traversal.

4 Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald

Route 102, 104, Petalburg Woods, Rusturf Tunnel

Hoenn has a pretty recognizable and memorable design aesthetic, and the game's early routes draw the player in immediately. Something that makes Hoeen especially memorable is that the GBA was a pretty straightforward upgrade over Johto's GBC visuals, and the stylized art direction is bright, charming, and engaging. This upgrade is something many fans remember fondly, including myself — the vivid full-color visuals on my GBA were a real treat.

Memorable moments, rare Pokémon, and story beats woven throughout the starting routes make them stand out. I remember searching for ages for my own Ralts after helping Wally catch one in the early game, and when my Nincada evolved into not one but two Pokémon, I was amazed. Experiences like these help make Ruby, Sapphire & Emerald's early routes feel alive, with memories that stick around.

3 Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum

Eterna Forest, Old Chateau

Pokémon's forests are enduring fan-favorites for good reasons: they're evocative, often mysterious, and they're filled with cool Pokémon to catch. Sinnoh has a contender for the best forest in the entire Pokémon franchise with Eterna Forest. This isn't just a forest — there's a mysterious haunted Old Chateau, twists and turns, Moss Rock to evolve Eevee into its (then new) Grass-type evolution Leafeon, all sorts of Pokémon to catch, and Team Galactic.

When you're exploring Eterna Forest for the first time, you even get a temporary battle partner to help along the way. It's got a very clear vibe, and since it's a Nintendo DS game, it can't rely on sheer size and graphical fidelity to wow and amaze. Unlike modern RPGs, it has to take a different approach, so it weaves together mood, atmosphere, mystery, and story to deliver a lasting impression.

2 Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal

Dark Cave, the Ruins of Alph, Sprout Tower & More

Gold, Silver & Crystal were developed on what's now incredibly old hardware (even though it pains me to say it). They didn't have space for flashy visuals, expansive landscapes, or pointless meanderings, and it shows in the world design. Every step had to achieve something, and Johto's early-game areas delivered.

With an opening sequence including religious sites like Sprout Tower, ancient locales like the Ruins of Alph, and Slowpoke Well, all before reaching the second Gym, Johto is packed with memorable moments. This content-dense, richly populated set of routes tells an immersive story rooted in the region's themes of tradition and heritage. Despite limited resources, these early-game routes provide a truly memorable experience that still outclasses larger areas in more modern RPGs.

1 Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow

Viridian Forest, Mt Moon, Nugget Bridge & Rock Tunnel

Pokemon FireRed LeafGreen Viridian Forest

Modern RPGs emphasize sheer scale, having enormous maps filled with icons, side objectives, and hidden collectibles. That just wasn't possible on the original Game Boy hardware. Back then, games had to prioritize, optimize, then cut something just to make sure. Despite that, the early game was jam-packed.

Viridian Forest and Mt Moon are effective locations, teaching players about exploration and basic dungeon crawling, and Nugget Bridge is a real gauntlet, but Rock Tunnel kicks it up a notch. As a kid, I didn't know about Flash, so I ended up wandering through Rock Tunnel completely in the dark. Even with Flash, it's not an easy journey — you often run out of Potions way before the end. We aren't talking large, sprawling areas akin to modern RPG zones — they can't be on the Game Boy — but they deliver a memorable experience all the same.

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