Have the fan-games exceeded the official games?

[Sunbean]

Personally it depends on what you're comparing. Fangames are a really mixed bag and quality varies widely, and I'd say a vast majority of fan games being developed are pretty bad compared to anything GF puts out. Not to mention all but a few games are unfinished. 

 

I would say the main points here are with story, and honestly I prefer the charm of the original games to anything a fan game has offered. I love the intricate plots fan games can provide, but at the end of the day the characters and plotlines in the official games what still stick with me. And I think the spin off games are a staple of great storytelling that I want to see more of: Explorers of Sky and Shadows of Almia have that great blend of the casual charm of the main series games and more crazy concepts fan games put out there. I think sometimes fan games just go way too far trying to be different than the main games and the tone is just really off. As much as I like Reborn, games like it using gritty realism paired with really cute and fun Pokemon are just tonally wrong.

 

And one more thing to hit upon... Pokemon is meant for handhelds. As much as I love fangames, I always stop playing for long periods of time because the controls are so wonky, even using a gamepad. The official games just give you the best gameplay experience.

 

So yeah, I think fan games can improve certain things but as an overall experience, the official games are much more memorable and wholesome.

 

[doombotmecha]

IMHO there's good and bad in both. The average mainline game is better than the average fangame, since Nintendo is more consistent, but the best fangames can easily outclass many mainline games.

 

It's all quite subjective, but of the games I've played, I count Emerald, Moon, and Reborn as my top 3.