Are The Pokemon Games Too Easy?

[ToddMann10000]

With the recent announcement of Z-moves, Ive seen a few people commenting that this will make the games too easy, that they'll be overpowered.
Some people have countered that the games have always been too easy, that they need to introduce a difficulty setting to increase the challenge for veteran players.
Some people have also suggested that, with the shiny charm and chain fishing, even the potential for shinies is easier than ever.

Personally, the challenge for me is (and always has been), in catching them all. I try to collect a living pokedex in every generation of games, before moving on to shiny hunting. But this is a self imposed challenge, not unlike a Nuzlocke challenge.

Are the games too easy? Would a harder difficulty setting make that much difference? Does the EXP share make leveling up a chore, or a breeze?

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

I think Game Freak wants the games to be enjoyable to new players especially for the younger kids. Therefore they are cutting back on the difficulty but I don't mind to be honest. I am alright with how the games are now.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Really, I think the problem is that we're too good at this stuff. I found X to be really easy like many others did but I saw it more as something up on my end. Probably because Gen VI kicked me into shape due to it being the first generation where I had suitable Wi-Fi.

 

[Icy Wind]

Are the games getting easier? Yes, yes they are.

.......

But do i care if they're getting easier? No, no i don't. Why? Because this is a franchise that is targeted at kids. The games are not supposed tp be your typical "hard" rpg like fire emblem ect....
Plus, most nintendo series are super easy anyway, so it's not like this something exclusive to Pokemon.

Honestly, people who complain about the newer games getting easier and praise the older games(mostly gen 1-3) are forgetting that most pokemon had terrible movesets and not to mention the imbalanced regional dex, both of these factors resulting in rather lackster team members, hence why the "difficulty" in battle. Sure, you can argue that the gym leaders/elite four using less pokemon than before might be a factor in making the games easier, but were most gym leaders in gen 1-4 really that challenging? Wallace with his Luvdisc, Winona with her Swablu, Pryce and his seel..... the list goes on and on to the point were only a handful of gym leaders(ex: Bugsy and his Syther, Whitney and her Miltank) were actually challenging.

Of course, adding difficulty settings(at the begining of the game of course) would probably be the best solution, but eh, i rest my case.

 

[Esserise]

Honestly, people who complain about the newer games getting easier and praise the older games(mostly gen 1-3) are forgetting that most pokemon had terrible movesets and not to mention the imbalanced regional dex, both of these factors resulting in rather lackster team members, hence why the "difficulty" in battle. Sure, you can argue that the gym leaders/elite four using less pokemon than before might be a factor in making the games easier, but were most gym leaders in gen 1-4 really that challenging? Wallace with his Luvdisc, Winona with her Swablu, Pryce and his seel..... the list goes on and on to the point were only a handful of gym leaders(ex: Bugsy and his Syther, Whitney and her Miltank) were actually challenging.

Of course, adding difficulty settings(at the begining of the game of course) would probably be the best solution, but eh, i rest my case.

This is a good point. Much as I do enjoy a challenge (and I do endorse the inclusion of things like difficulty modes and challenging facilities like the Black Tower/White Treehollow for the people, such as myself, who want a tougher experience), it has never really been the games' goal to be particularly hard. The difficulty in the older games, as you say, stemmed more from problematic mechanics (and probably somewhat from our relative lack of experience), and that's not really the right way to go about making your game harder. Excessive grinding, bad Pokémon selection/distribution, being saddled with terrible move access, and other such gameplay issues are annoyances; they are not the marks of difficulty, they are the marks of poor design.

All in all, while I would very much like to have the internal option to make my game harder, I am content with self-imposing limitations, because I realize that the games are not particularly interested in providing me with difficult gameplay. Even in the only games with difficulty modes, the emphasis is less on being able to make the game harder, and is instead more on just having a version-exclusive feature that you can share with others. If that were not the case, then Challenge Mode would not have been exclusive to Black 2, and it would have been available from the beginning of the game.

Should I demand more from them? Should I be more angry? I guess I could be... but it seems like it would be a futile effort, and self-imposed difficulty is a decent compromise anyway.

 

[Ｄｉｓ]

I would like the Elite Four to have full teams, just to match what most players are going in with. But it seems that since I got the type chart down things have been a lot easier, and the only challenge is in online battling and things like the Battle Resort. But they haven't gotten to the point where they're effortless, and that's fine with me

 

[ArvAl]

It's all about perspective. If you're an avid Pokemon gamer, you wouldn't even have an complaint, let alone boredom.

Moreover, just because new features help you while on progress, doesn't mean it's actually the game got less challenging than before. In fact, we've got more curious to try those things as fun only rather than ditching it and we always can set trials by ourselves (Those were the reasons why Nuzlocke was created).

So did it getting easy? Depends. For me, I wouldn't care if it is or not, as long as it isn't bothering the progress negatively.

 

[Deku-Mimikyu]

Does anyone remember the easy and challenge modes from Black and White 2? Yeah, I didn't think so. They were such a good idea, but it was so baffling that you needed to beat both versions of the game to get them. Why couldn't they have just been available from the start? I think introducing something similar in the new games would work out well.
Maybe something like this:

Spoiler

Choose Your Difficulty:

Beginning Trainer - This mode is for trainers who are just starting out or want an easier adventure.
Would include more tutorials and lower leveled trainers. Possibly things such as items costing less or Pokemon being easier to catch.

Classic Trainer - The mode for trainers who want a middle of the road journey.
Does what it says on the box. Normal difficulty.

Seasoned Trainer - For those trainers who know the Pokemon world inside and out, gives a spicy challenge.
Higher leveled trainers, less tutorials. Other things like items costing more might be a thing.

You might also have the option to change the difficulty whenever you like.

 

[Esserise]

Does anyone remember the easy and challenge modes from Black and White 2? Yeah, I didn't think so.

But two posts in this thread already mention the concept, and mine discusses the ones in B2W2 directly.

 

[Jaye]

I don't think it can be denied that the Pokemon games have gotten easier, but that's a consequence of two things:

1) the design of the games have improved. As others have pointed out, grinding has become far less excessive, the placement of Pokemon has improved, the levels that Pokemon learn moves makes more sense, etc. Artificial difficulty due to bad mechanics and game design is far less of a thing now.

2) the player has gotten better. Long-time players will know the type match-ups off by heart, and have instant access to a truck load of information on Pokemon stats and move sets. You can find out the levels, teams and movesets of gym leaders and Elite 4s ahead of time. You can find out where Pokemon are found without actually looking in game.

Having said that, I do think they could make their AI a touch smarter.

 

[PanicAttack]

The thing is, Generation 1 isn't that difficult to begin with. The AI's even dumber in that than it is now, and AI Pokémon don't tend to have coverage moves the way that they do in newer games, making it easy to outplay. That's not even touching on the type balance (or lack thereof).

 

[EmpoleonProd]

The last time I felt challenged in a Pokemon game was in Gen IV with Diamond, I know Platinum was made a fair bit easier, then again, I was 10 or 11 when Diamond came out, too, so I'm rather confident that I could play through them with ease. I think a big part of it is just us growing up and becoming better. Whether it's that we're just getting older and better or if the games are actually getting easier or a mixture of both, I do think they need to implement the easy/challenge modes that BW2 had and make those standard in every game.

Aside from that, all we can do is set self-imposed challenges, people like to do nuzlockes or turn the exp share off or go mono-type or use unevolvable Pokemon etc, I did a speedrun-ish type thing of X yesterday, it wasn't a full blown speedrun, (I definitely didn't break any records), but I did skip every optional battle I could and it did end up making the story battles and mandatory battles more challenging, I even blacked out of Victory Road once, but part of me hates doing this, I like to experience the games in their full glory, and having to set rules or limits myself just to make the game challenging feels very artificial. The game should be naturally challenging to where, even if I fight every single trainer and get every single item and do all the optional stuff that I can still feel like the game challenges me and that's what I feel like a challenge mode like from BW2 would do, except even more extreme. All that did was heighten the AI a bit, give notable trainers (E4, rivals, maybe late-game gym leaders) items, better moves, etc. I want every trainer to have like max IVs and items on every Pokemon etc, so hardcore competitive challenge mode is what I'll call that.

 

[Pokémon Trainer Emily]

I actually like their easiness. Black and White were a huge change from XY, so I barely had any fun playing through them because they were so hard for me. I like games that are easy to enjoy and relax with- like XY, they're not hard and are really fun.

 

[Guzma]

If I want a hard game, I go play Shovel Knight or Mega Man. I enjoy Pokemon as an easier game, the REAL challenge is going up against other people.

 

[KrystalDragon13]

I do think the games are far too easy nowadays. Hear me out.

In FireRed and LeafGreen, I had a blast catching Pokemon and raising new ones! Stopping Team Rocket and beating my rival every time he battled me!.. And then I got to the league. They were waaay too hard and grinding in those games were a pain after you ran out of trainers to fought. My Pokemon couldn't match up to what was getting thrown at them and that made me start over every time I got to the league. Simply because they were expecting too much of me, a small, 7 year old child.

Then Diamond and Pearl came around! These were my favorite games and even introduced my favorite legendary, Palkia! The story was engaging and mysterious, the rival was fun and made me laugh a lot and I adored my team oh so dearly. The was finally in my sights! And I... Lost. I lost the first few times I battled them. But they were a challenge, it wasn't that their level was so over mine, it was that they were honestly filled with unexpected moves and Pokemon. And y'know what? I beat them. After learning what their Pokemon's moves were and figuring out when I should send out who, I won. I think this is how it should be.

X and Y's EXP. All was a real downer. It doesn't let the kids grow with their Pokemon themselves and they don't really understand how tense the league was. I know it can be turned off, but by default it's turned on. So I played through it with it on while playing through X. Was very disappointed when I got to the league, all my Pokemon being around 10 levels over the opposing Pokemon.
At the same time, I think they're trying to get the new kids into the game, adapting to a new generation of kids whose patience and expectations are different than the ones when I was young. But, myself being greedy... I do want a difficulty option, just because that would cater to both audiences. Yes, I competitively battle, but I can say I enjoyed FireRed and LeafGreen more than X and Y because it was a real challenge for me and I remember a bunch of times where I was tense and afraid to have my Pokemon faint... and I prefer that.

On a similar note, I don't know if Z-moves will break the game. If anything happens it'll be too easy if that EXP. All comes back, because then most likely there'll be no reason to even use the Z-moves unless you're going for overkill. Mega Evolution could've been a huge asset to X and Y, getting you out of a tough spot in the game... But instead it was waaay too powerful because of the EXP. All.
...At least, in my experience.

 

[DoctorWhy]

For the most part, yeah. They've gotten a bit too easy. That's not really a horrible thing, but I hate breezing. I don't wanna breeze through. But I don't want levels/grinding to be the "difficulty" either. I'd like an AI and team composition enhancement. For those who like the easiness, I would say I want difficulty settings available at the beginning. Easy, Normal, Hard.

 

[Lyrebird]

I miss the artificial difficulty due to mechanics. Made the game more fun. Now you're just breezing through with a story line that irks.

 

[Lufenium]

Pokemon was never massively difficult, but Gen VI certainly did hand a lot of stuff straight to us. The Exp Share & mega evolution were both available pretty early on.
Then there's the issue that the gym leaders & E4 use smaller teams of Pokemon.

 

[PinkIceFox]

I've never felt the games were TOO easy. Personally there are times in nuzlockes where I'm playing and I realize I've hit a wall with my current team and I have to switch someone out and train them. Then again, I've only fully played Leaf Green, Soul Silver, and Alpha Sapphire. I'll say I did feel Alpha Sapphire was easier for the most part.

 

[dragon_nataku]

I think everyone is forgetting one important point: This is a game for children. Now, obviously, there are a ton of us who are old farts (get off my lawn if you're not gonna mow it, m8 ) who are fans of the show/games/etc., but that doesn't change that the target demographic are small children around the same age as the protagonist of the games, so of course the games are easy.

I've played at least one game from every set except B2W2 (working on B2 now) and while I remember being frustrated about the huge level jump between the last thing you do in FR/LG before the Elite Four and the Elite Four themselves and spending hours grinding inside Victory Road (I hate grinding in anything with the passion of 1,000 fiery suns), I didn't like how overlevelled having EXP Share on in X/Y made my pokemon (and yeah I forgot you could turn it off). Especially since I was having so much fun screwing around in the Battle Chateau or whatever it is that all my pokemon were in the 90s. (I do like this aspect when I'm trying to level pokemon for my living dex though but not for actual gameplay) But like... a happy medium between the two would be nice. Or maybe acquire the EXP Share later in the game. I don't recall how it was in OR/AS, or maybe I just turned it off at some point, I'm not sure.

Anyway, personally I play Pokemon games when I just want to relax. I'm considered a hardcore gamer in other gaming circles (playing games on Hard Mode or Nightmare Mode or whatever fresh out of the box, etc), so the only reason I pick up a Pokemon game is to chillax a bit and play something fun and easy. So I don't really have much of a complaint in terms of "too easy" (besides the EXP Share but like others have said, turn it off if you remember ).