Difficulty in Pokémon

[ShineCero]

This is the continued discussion from the thread, Pokémon Sun, and Moon, in regards to the difficulty in Pokémon games. Throughout the years, there have been discussions on whether or not Pokémon Main games have been becoming "easy" and no longer poses a challenge in comparison to an earlier generation. This discussion is widely from Black/White, but exploded in XY due to the introduction of "XY's Experience Share".

Now, do you think Pokemon is becoming easier? Do you care about the difficulty in Pokemon games and have other means why you enjoy the series? State your thoughts here!

 

[~ Z ~]

Ah yes, the infamous "Pokemon is too easy!" statement. Here's my rundown on that.

It's a load of shit and people who say that usually forget that they've been playing the game far longer than the newer players. I swear, in each generation it's the same thing. 

"Pokemon is hand-holding!" People say this with the Exp. All. I don't see it as hand holding. Just turn it off. You don't HAVE to use it. Once it's off, you can go back to playing the game as you did before. It makes no difference in the game, game play, mechanics, etc. 

Pokemon is a kid's game even if people want to admit it or not. It's not suppose to be hard and it never will be. GameFreak can easily make it hard af but they won't. There is no need. All these 'fans' claiming that GF needs to think about their older audience are selfish. They do care because they keep giving us another game to play with while keeping it in the same demographic Pokemon was intended for. 

However, most of these 'fans' just want what THEY want (Fanon, headcanon, etc) and get butthurt when GF doesn't give it to them. I can honestly say that 96.9% of the Pokemon fanbase think like this. Even I admit to at some points. However, I don't get mad when GF doesn't 'give me what I want'. Usually, they give me something better.

 

[ShineCero]

You have people whom convince themselves that GameFreak is making "bad games" because it does not meet their expectations of "difficulty" despite none of the main games has been remotely difficult. And even if "difficulty" somehow makes the game better, their suggestions always fall on the line of "Make them higher levels". This isn't a solution; all that does is encourage pointless grinding.

Why does making a game "difficult" the only way to enjoy the game anyways?

I never understood of the idea of "hand-holding"; is the term exclusive to the game beating you over the head of explaining certain things or telling you to use a certain item? Outside of tutorials, I can't think of anything in the Pokemon games that is considered hand-holding. No, NPC giving you optional items isn't hand-holding. :think:

 

[~ Z ~]

It's usually people who want the game to be harder complain about losing later on. They have a game that's hard but they're crying because their team gets swept. Comedic gold at it's finest. ls:

 

[LoopyPanda]

Every single game in the pokemon franchise, including the spinoffs, are designed for practically anyone who can read and understand the most basic mechanics to complete the game.Arguably, any game you can think of off the top of your head is designed to be able to be completed by most anyone. Is it harder to do for some people more than others? Of course. 

The only real complaint I'd have about this hand holding business is the option to skip the godforsaken Capture tutorial. YES game, I know how to tap 3 different tabs to catch a Pokemon. Or at least, let me accelerate the dialogue a bit faster by holding the button. And maybe having some legendaries practically handed over to you in ORAS when they used to be difficult for us back in the gameboy days (I say used to because if you replay it again without the mentality of a 7-9 year old, it's pretty damn easy). They made up for it with having to make the Hoopa Hole Legendaries a bit more picky with you than ever though. 

At the end of the day, the games are as easy or as difficult as you choose to make it past a certain degree. A majority of the complaints come from personal preference and subjectivity. In my opinion, this kind of subjectivity has come down to how you approached the game. It's not Game Freak's fault you decided to read every spoiler posted on Famitsu and CoroCoro, and it isn't their fault you looked up everything that was datamined the first week and suddenly the game's too easy. It's also not their fault you underestimated the game and allowed your pokemon to be 15 levels below the level cap of the boss and have lost about 20 times because of this. The fact of the matter is, that there are myriad variables as to why a game could be immensely difficult for one person and exceptionally easy for another that I'd be here all day listing off. It shouldn't matter to compare people's experiences because it isn't like everyone shares the same brain or something. But here we are. (Granted, a great portion of Pokemon's fans are children, so I cannot fault them for something they can't really help at their age)

If it really is easy and it bores you, Game Freak doesn't need to lift a finger for you to really make the game more difficult. Then again, that's what the post game areas are for, right?
You can turn off EXP with the press of a button, Free candies are now incredibly easy to get if you exploit the poke beans enough, you can go in with pokemon under the level caps, you can go a no potions run, do a Nuzlocke, the possibilities are infinite. Nobody's going to do that except for yourself though. People shouldn't get this sense of entitlement that Game Freak must make the game as unplayable as Dark Souls in order to get entertainment out of it. Go look for a Feebas if you're so bored for a challenge. I'm sure you won't mind throwing your DS out the window after the 100th Magikarp you find if it means you can hold it over your inferior friends' heads (sure you might lose some friends but who cares, your Milotic wrecks all their lame pokemon!).

 

[ShineCero]

Every single game in the pokemon franchise, including the spinoffs, are designed for practically anyone who can read and understand the most basic mechanics to complete the game.Arguably, any game you can think of off the top of your head is designed to be able to be completed by most anyone. Is it harder to do for some people more than others? Of course.

It's telling how these fans created some fantasy about the core Pokemon games ever being hard. To children, in particular, for those playing the series for the first time, can the games quite difficult. However, experienced players (in general) who played a couple of Pokemon games will realize that each Pokemon game isn't all that difficult in the first place. Adamant players that create a belief that past Pokemon games were hard are trying to voice some bragging rights, forgetting the fact that this is a children's video game.

Can it be difficult? Of course, different players experiences the game differently, but overall, the game had and will always, be easy. Plus, they can place their difficulties if they crave it so much.

The only real complaint I'd have about this hand holding business is the option to skip the godforsaken Capture tutorial. YES game, I know how to tap 3 different tabs to catch a Pokemon. Or at least, let me accelerate the dialogue a bit faster by holding the button. And maybe having some legendaries practically handed over to you in ORAS when they used to be difficult for us back in the gameboy days (I say used to because if you replay it again without the mentality of a 7-9 year old, it's pretty damn easy). They made up for it with having to make the Hoopa Hole Legendaries a bit more picky with you than ever though.

Aside from the Capture Tutorial shenanigans, game giving you legendaries isn't hand-holding. BW, XY, and SM gave you mascot legendaries that requires capture to move forward the plot (which they will make their catch rate much higher). Rayquaza was an example of this where they change his capture rate for capture rate because of plot purposes. However, other legendaries still require to be capture, need specific triggers to make them appear in the overworld and vice versa. Hell, there were players back in ORAS that could not catch BW Legendaries for weeks because their capture rate was brought down (even with O Power, Critical Capture and Quick Ball). Some are lucky; some are not. RNG does not bring difficulty in the games, just shitty luck. :maybe:

That and players are not forced to use these Legendaries, even when it's needed to be in your party.

At the end of the day, the games are as easy or as difficult as you choose to make it past a certain degree. A majority of the complaints come from personal preference and subjectivity. In my opinion, this kind of subjectivity has come down to how you approached the game. It's not Game Freak's fault you decided to read every spoiler posted on Famitsu and CoroCoro, and it isn't their fault you looked up everything that was datamined the first week and suddenly the game's too easy. It's also not their fault you underestimated the game and allowed your pokemon to be 15 levels below the level cap of the boss and have lost about 20 times because of this. The fact of the matter is, that there are myriad variables as to why a game could be immensely difficult for one person and exceptionally easy for another that I'd be here all day listing off. It shouldn't matter to compare people's experiences because it isn't like everyone shares the same brain or something. But here we are. (Granted, a great portion of Pokemon's fans are children, so I cannot fault them for something they can't really help at their age)

If it really is easy and it bores you, Game Freak doesn't need to lift a finger for you to really make the game more difficult. Then again, that's what the post game areas are for, right? You can turn off EXP with the press of a button, Free candies are now incredibly easy to get if you exploit the poke beans enough, you can go in with pokemon under the level caps, you can go a no potions run, do a Nuzlocke, the possibilities are infinite. Nobody's going to do that except for yourself though. People shouldn't get this sense of entitlement that Game Freak must make the game as unplayable as Dark Souls in order to get entertainment out of it. Go look for a Feebas if you're so bored for a challenge. I'm sure you won't mind throwing your DS out the window after the 100th Magikarp you find if it means you can hold it over your inferior friends' heads (sure you might lose some friends but who cares, your Milotic wrecks all their lame pokemon!).

True words, but you will continue to have idiots that will swarm the stage because GameFreak does not cater to their needs. ls:

It's pretty much some artificial bragging rights over the game when in reality, no one gave a shit. Now playing Crash 1 without dying once and 100% the game, now that is some bragging rights :maybe:

 

[LoopyPanda]

That's what I meant by the other legendaries being incredibly picky-- they appear only after you expend more work than past games. I can imagine most shiny/IV hunters suffered with Rayquaza since you weren't able to save immediately before battle like usual. And Deoxys was also hellish since the whole thing takes 20 minutes give or take. XD

I blame the whole thing on nostalgia goggles.

You can't be a good gamer until you summit Mt. Everest while doing a Nuzlocke. GO HOME, GAMER GURL

 

[ShineCero]

That's what I meant by the other legendaries being incredibly picky-- they appear only after you expend more work than past games. I can imagine most shiny/IV hunters suffered with Rayquaza since you weren't able to save immediately before battle like usual. And Deoxys was also hellish since the whole thing takes 20 minutes give or take. XD

I blame the whole thing on nostalgia goggles.

You can't be a good gamer until you summit Mt. Everest while doing a Nuzlocke. GO HOME, GAMER GURL

Yeah. Personally, I would rather have Legendaries handed over to me than catching down roaming legendaries, one of the most painful and dreadful things in the Pokemon franchise. It's not a challenge, just frustration. '

Now, if GameFreak do decide to add a bit of difficulty in the game, the only thing they would need is to amp up the intelligence of the AI, increased their Pokemon, give them moves they can abuse (similar to Black and White and Sun and Moon) and give them perfect EVs/IVs. Increasing levels does not do anything other than encouraging more grinding. 

It's also quite ironic that many Pokemon fangames had statements of being "hard", yet most of them suck. Hell, that whole Prism thing pretty much die overnight :maybe: