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Official Pre-Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield Speculation & Leaks thread

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RileyXY1 said:
It's because they wanted BW2 to be "unique". And for that, I think that difficulty options will only return in a BW remake.
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XD Okay no- implementing difficulty modes is not a way to make a game unique. Adding an underground area to an entire region is a way to make a game unique. Difficulty modes is just a basic gameplay function that should be implemented for the entire series.
 
Oriden said:
XD Okay no- implementing difficulty modes is not a way to make a game unique. Adding an underground area to an entire region is a way to make a game unique. Difficulty modes is just a basic gameplay function that should be implemented for the entire series.
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GF has a heavily backwards mindset.
 
Oriden said:
XD Okay no- implementing difficulty modes is not a way to make a game unique. Adding an underground area to an entire region is a way to make a game unique. Difficulty modes is just a basic gameplay function that should be implemented for the entire series.
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It’s not so much that they thought difficulty settings themselves would make the game “unique,” but rather, that they thought the Key System would (it was their big idea for Gen 5 - they’d actually wanted to implement it right from the beginning, with the original BW games, but had to drop it for some reason I don’t recall), and I guess were trying to think of different version-exclusive features that players could unlock with it. Why they arrived at the idea of using difficulty settings as such a version-exclusive feature, I have no idea.
 
Esserise said:
It’s not so much that they thought difficulty settings themselves would make the game “unique,” but rather, that they thought the Key System would (it was their big idea for Gen 5 - they’d actually wanted to implement it right from the beginning, with the original BW games, but had to drop it for some reason I don’t recall), and I guess were trying to think of different version-exclusive features that players could unlock with it. Why they arrived at the idea of using difficulty settings as such a version-exclusive feature, I have no idea.
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And then difficulty options stopped appearing and I don't think that they will appear again until they remake Black & White.
 
RileyXY1 said:
And then difficulty options stopped appearing and I don't think that they will appear again until they remake Black & White.
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It really wouldn't make a lot of sense to bring it back in the remake like it's a special feature for the region... it's really more of a game function than a region trait. There's no reason to wait for that specific generation to bring back a desired feature- and if they brought it back in the same way it was originally presented, the outrage would be intense.
 
SinnohEevee said:
GF probably thinks kids only want games that can be beat in 1 hour.
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You're right. GF is overcasualizing the franchise to appeal to mobile phone gamers. I don't think that they'll change their mindset until mobile phones start to die off in popularity.
 
prog rocker said:
I'm the only one to see Pokémon as something that was created to be casual but then people made things complicated? Or is it because most of the competitive players I found treat it so seriously that I can't find that fun anymore?
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There’s a difference between “fun” and “being monotonous, boring, and so easy that a toddler could beat it.”
 
prog rocker said:
I'm the only one to see Pokémon as something that was created to be casual but then people made things complicated? Or is it because most of the competitive players I found treat it so seriously that I can't find that fun anymore?
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I think it may be a combination of there being so many factors in competitive play and people have taken it so seriously that it's kinda too much... but I also feel like that's part of Pokemon's appeal in that it can be a casual game or it can be a major strategic undertaking.

Actually also wondering if part of the reason why difficulty levels haven't made a return is just the effort in programming difficulty levels. They may not have gotten a good grasp on how to do that in a simple and effective way yet? So as to not dedicate a lot of time in developing levels of difficulty for each game. If they don't have a simple formula of sorts to implement them, they may just be cutting it out of development until they can come up with an effective method to easily implement it for every game. Fingers crossed, because that would mean that it's still under consideration and may return?

Can't remotely explain the decision to make them version-exclusive in BW2, though, because that will never make sense, unless they really were just reaching hard to make use of that Key feature. Like a kid going "Look what I can do!" and showing it off in the worst way possible.
 
I don't think the game difficulty is too big of an issue personally. Even from BW2 all the way through S/M, just leave exp share off and don't intricately plan your team and the game still requires you to at least not be braindead the entire time. SOS battles in gen 7 and USUM's difficulty make it interesting imo.

The bigger issue is how the game progresses. Gen 7 felt way too railroaded and I hope for gen 8 gamefreak can find a way to balance storytelling with exploration/freedom. I still think that gamefreak will aim to please longtime fans with gen 8 and potentially wont go as nuts with the handholding/casualisation since we have LGPE to act as a segway/introduction into the traditional main series games.

Assuming LGPE is a massive success and does considerably better than gen 8, then I would be worried about what that would mean for gen 9.
 
Quick question: How can they make the games more difficult in the future? And no, bigger teams are NOT a solution especially since that only makes you waste time and resources that you might need in the future (just look at what FireRed/LeafGreen did with the Ace Trainers...) I take it back, I forgot that Poké Ride exists and that now we can make our teams however we like (still bitter at FRLG's Ace Trainers, though)
 
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prog rocker said:
Quick question: How can they make the games more difficult in the future? And no, bigger teams are NOT a solution especially since that only makes you waste time and resources that you might need in the future (just look at what FireRed/LeafGreen did with the Ace Trainers...)
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Actually, I think adding more Pokemon can improve things, especially in the early game. Plus, more Pokemon gives the Gym Leader opportunities to cover their bases. For example, Marlon's Challenge Mode team added a Mantine with Ice Beam and Air Slash, making it much harder for people to use Grass types.

Another way of improving difficulty would be to improve the AI, while also giving opponent Pokemon better movesets. And planning teams better in the first place; Olympia was a joke because her ace Pokemon (Meowstic) was essentially weaker than her other two Pokemon. Wulfric shouldn't have been a final Gym Leader when Ice is such a janky type and his ace Pokemon was a total pushover.
 
prog rocker said:
Quick question: How can they make the games more difficult in the future? And no, bigger teams are NOT a solution especially since that only makes you waste time and resources that you might need in the future (just look at what FireRed/LeafGreen did with the Ace Trainers...) I take it back, I forgot that Poké Ride exists and that now we can make our teams however we like (still bitter at FRLG's Ace Trainers, though)
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Bigger teams, higher levels, better AI... probably more annoying healing items being used.

Worst thing would be having an AI smart enough to pick a pokemon on their team that your pokemon is most weak against, forcing you to try to have your pokemon conquer their weakness or find yourself constantly switching pokemon as they repeatedly switch to one that can kick your ass. XD
 
I have an idea as to why the Difficulty system was cut after Gen V and I think I can describe it by simply hijacking a quote by Masuda:
Junichi Masuda (never) said:
Put simply, the Battle Frontier Difficulty System wasn't included because only a tiny number of players would have appreciated and used this game feature. Players get fed up more easily than they did in the past and aren't attracted by these 'demanding' challenges.
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I am joking…but it's probably not far from the truth.
 
SGD said:
I have an idea as to why the Difficulty system was cut after Gen V and I think I can describe it by simply hijacking a quote by Masuda:

I am joking…but it's probably not far from the truth.
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Yeah. I don't think that difficulty options are ever coming back.
 
Oriden said:
It really wouldn't make a lot of sense to bring it back in the remake like it's a special feature for the region... it's really more of a game function than a region trait. There's no reason to wait for that specific generation to bring back a desired feature- and if they brought it back in the same way it was originally presented, the outrage would be intense.
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This. It's one thing to make a fun side feature like Contests or Secret Bases or the Underground unique. Those things are all extras removed from the core experience, it's not the end of the world if we don't get features like those in other regions. But actual core gameplay enhancements being used as region exclusive features? That's completely absurd. Phasing those kinds of features in and out doesn't make the older games more appealing, it makes the newer games feel stagnant and arbitrary.
 
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