Game Difficulty

[Sopheria]

I'm hoping for a challenge. It'd be nice to have the difficulty setting akin to Black & White, but I'm not too sure what the likelihood of that is. The Exp. Share is a large part of what made X&Y and OR/AS so notoriously easy, but it was also the level curve and the modified exp. yield formula which caused Pokémon to level up faster than in previous games (regardless of whether or not you had the Exp. Share on). I think if they just make the level curve a tad bit steeper, and go back to the 5th gen exp. yield algorithm, the challenge level would be just right.

this is EXACTLY what I was going to say! I hear all the time how "this series" or "that series" is way too easy and "I've been playing this series for 20 years, so I know for sure the new games are easier than the older ones!" and don't seem to grasp that if you have been playing a series, particularly one like Pokemon that has changed very little, it's not always the games that are easier, a lot of the time it's you being better at the game than you were 20 years ago. (particularly if you're 26, meaning you were 6 when you started!)

I mean, outside of competitive battling, there isn't a whole lot to grasp when it comes to Pokémon--not to the extent that there'll be a significant gap in your skills over a period of 20 years. At least for me, when I go through a Pokémon game, I do more or less the same thing I did when I was 10: level grind, spam damage-dealing moves, and use items when needed :P So I don't think the amount of time you've been playing the series makes any difference at all.

 

[poop face]

It's probably going to be easy for us fans, like they normally are.

We have to remember the franchise as well has a lot of children that love it, too, so it makes sense to me why the game wouldn't be extremely difficult in the first place.

I don't think Pokemon has ever really been about being hard, it's been more about immersing yourself within the world of the game and getting into the story, and it may or may not be hard for some to get really into the story of the game if they can't get past a part.


Would be cool maybe if after you beat the game, you can unlock a feature to play the game with a difficulty setting (not a Nuzlocke).

Maybe, have a gym leader which is hard to defeat because you have to come across a Pokemon that has a super-effective against it or it could be power-house defense wise.

Imo one of the hardest gym leaders in the Pokemon franchise was Whitney and her damn Miltank

 

[pkmin3033]

Would be cool maybe if after you beat the game, you can unlock a feature to play the game with a difficulty setting (not a Nuzlocke).

Honestly, I think if this kind of thing is going to be included, it needs to be available from the very beginning. Don't forget, Pokemon games only have a single save file, and I doubt this will change with these games. What good is being able to play the game with a difficulty setting when you've already finished it? A lot of people won't want to play the game a second time through, or lose all of their Pokemon just for the sake of doing so. Far better to be able to do it from the very start. This is where B2W2 went wrong with their difficulty modes, in my opinion - most people never got to play them because of that requirement.

 

[poop face]

Honestly, I think if this kind of thing is going to be included, it needs to be available from the very beginning. Don't forget, Pokemon games only have a single save file, and I doubt this will change with these games. What good is being able to play the game with a difficulty setting when you've already finished it? A lot of people won't want to play the game a second time through, or lose all of their Pokemon just for the sake of doing so. Far better to be able to do it from the very start. This is where B2W2 went wrong with their difficulty modes, in my opinion - most people never got to play them because of that requirement.

I agree putting a difficulty setting at the end of the game is kind of pointless, but I was just thinking if that kind of thing is added to the game, that's how Game Freak would do it.

 

[LilyGardy]

The Pokemon games haven't been 'hard' for a long time. I can't remember the last time I found a game difficult on a normal playthrough. I don't know why people are saying Platinum was challenging either. I found it straightforward.

Then again I have been playing these games for 15 years or so so I will know the mechanics of the game better than someone picking up their first game.

The Exp. Share might be broken but it does save time on grinding which could be useful for someone who does not want to spend a while grinding their Pokemon and just wants to play through the story.

I normally do a normal playthrough and a challenge playthrough of each game. I'd like to see a return of the Elite Four and Champion having higher levelled Pokémon in Rematches which XY lacked.

 

[pkmin3033]

I think to make Pokemon difficult you'd need to establish some sort of level cap, or do something similar to the OT/Badge obedience relationship thing. Raising AI intelligence and/or levels by 5-10 alone won't change the fact that you'll still be able to one-shot opposing Pokemon if you grind enough, making the difficulty increase entirely artificial and pointless: there is a difference between making something time-consuming and making it hard. Level increases make it time-consuming, as you have to spend more time grinding. I found this with Challenge Mode, which wasn't particularly challenging - sure, levels of opponents were up by a bit, and they had held items. So what? Grinding an additional 5+ levels meant I could still pummel them with no difficulty, all it cost me was maybe an hour or two extra to get there. Easy.

Putting a cap on your levels - or having your Pokemon disobey you if you go above a set level regardless of whether you caught them or not - and forcing you to think strategically to beat a more intelligent AI would make the games more difficult in my opinion. Forcing you to fight a more advanced AI on equal terms makes a game more challenging, because it removes that level-up workaround that has always stopped Pokemon from being anything other than easy once you're familiar with the game's mechanics. You could also restrict the use of items in battle to however many the Gym Leader is allowed on top of this, so you don't have that to fall back on as well, meaning you can't outlast your opponent just by healing constantly. Sure, you could build a stall team or whatever, but that's a strategy you'd need to invest time in, rather than a quick fix by stopping off at a local Pokemart and loading up on potions and what have you.

 

[Charlie Brown]

I don't mind the difficulty level being similar to how it was in XY, just with more control over the difficulty. XY was pretty easy if you had the EXP Share on, but you had the option of turning it off to make the game a bit harder. I'd love to see this taken a step further and have a Challenge Mode available from the start (like with BW2 except already unlocked), so you have another degree of controlling how difficult your experience is. At the end of the day Pokemon do need to cater to their primary target audience (which is kids generally) but it would be cool if there were a few added options to make it a bit more challenging for those of us who have been playing for yonks.

 

[illumine]

If they add thematic grass or rock type Pokemon, then it might be a troubling time to be a Helioptile.

Other than that, though, the games by this point are unlikely to be too difficult, especially as players might be expected to get through the earlier stages regardless, but one issue might be how often they throw out Fairy types, Steel types and others with similarly peculiar resistances to attacks, as while previously these have generally been reined in to their particular places, they could otherwise make certain types more important at peculiar times for it, especially if this were more sudden. In terms of genuine difficulty, though, there isn't likely to be much, but the shift towards more restricted types like Dragon, Steel, Fairy, etc., might somewhat trivialise their rarity. The more features they add, the less difficult in any sense they would probably want to make the game.

 

[François2]

I'd like it to be more difficult than X&Y but I do agree with the people saying that the games haven't actually gotten that much easier throughout the generations - we've just gotten better. The exp share is the main thing I think made a difference in generation six and that's something I'd like to be changed because I honestly found myself not wanting to use it last generation due to just how easy it made the game. I have a tendency to have one member on my team who's massively underlevelled, whether that be because they're a new addition or because they're not that useful, and in X&Y I found it hard to justify trying to drag up that pokémon because it'd bring all the other pokémon in my party up too. I regularly went to gyms with pokémon 5-10 levels higher than even the gym leaders and with exp share on I found it pretty much impossible to stop that happening. That's the sort of thing that eliminates any illusion of challenge.

 

[MarioManH]

Xy was a walk in the park. I want the gold old days when I had to go through Dark Cave for 2 hours because I forgot to pick up TM Flash

 

[Desert Stream~]

I forget who, maybe even Masuda, said that "people don't have enough time these days so we had to make the games easier because no one wants to put that much time in". Which is absolutely ridiculous and pissed me off just reading it. These games will obviously be as easy XY and ORAS but if they don't put a difficulty level in I will be disappointed, I had to grind out Pokemon Yellow when I was 7 I think we can handle that level of difficulty.

Is it just me, or is the only good thing masuda ever did for the pokemon company was the Masuda Method? Lol, making the games too easy, getting rid of the battle fronteir.... what were they thinking":?

No offense to Masuda though lol...

 

[Shaussman]

XY and ORAS were way too easy. The exp share was definitely a contributor but overall they were a step back from Emerald/Platinum (which both had a good difficulty level). Just adding more pokemon on a lot of the trainers/gym leaders would make a huge difference

 

[beanholestatus]

Obviously people are going to be better at a game when they're 20 than say 10 years old! But these games have obviously gotten a lot easier, it's easier to level up Pokemon even without exp share, I've played through XY plenty of time without using exp share and it is still a cake walk. Even Black and White are noticeably harder, wouldn't kill them to add a mode where the levels are 3 higher than normal and add a few Pokemon to the Gym Leaders/Elite 4

 

[Rivvon]

I know why Gym Leaders started having only three Pokemon in their rosters and Elite Four members having four. It's due to what Masuda said about the fact people are busier and that's why Pokemon games have been getting easier.

I actually agree with his reasoning...to an extent. As a working adult myself, I know just how difficult it is to make time to play games. But the Pokémon games are on handhelds, so it's easier to find time to play during breaks or during transit than if the games were, say, on the Wii U. And the lack of challenge in X & Y made in un-engaging. The second time I played through X, I beat almost every Gym Leader with a Modest Pinsir. I mean, that's just not good.

ORAS wasn't much harder, but was able to maintain some semblance of a challenge (if you turned off Exp. Share). If they could push that a bit more, I think they will strike a good balance.

Although I do think that part of the reason why I want the games to be more challenging is because without much of a challenge, it effectively shortens the story portion of the game--and then there's nothing to do after the story portion at all. So at least what content the game does have should be engaging.

I'm kind of pulling a blank here but in game design they teach you about how if a game has just the right amount of challenge it keeps players immersed in the most effective manner. I don't remember what it's called but it's very effective and honestly I think it could definitely help if the Pokémon games were just a bit more challenging--after all, if it's challenging, it's more rewarding when you beat the game.

 

[kevcrash]

Difficulty settings are something I want as well. XY was very easy, as was ORAS (though I kept my exp share off for it and had some struggles, mainly Steven).

However there are many factors in Pokemon affecting difficulty..
-There's the EXP share as mentioned. If you hate grinding, you're probably going to use the EXP share which dramatically decreases the difficulty.
-Pokemon available. A lot of the time I'll struggle with a game if there just aren't any Pokemon I can use to beat a gym. For instance, many players resorting to Butterfree to beat Brock. Sometimes, when there are Pokemon that can help me beat a leader, I just plain don't want to use them.
-Being a veteran of the game, I (and most others) know the typing system through and through. I can easily determine when to switch or strategize according to how much damage is being done. I accept that my extensive knowledge of a pretty simple game means that I will get through it rather easily.

Those are just a few. But keep it in mind, because at this point the real difficulty they can add are either changing some mechanic of the game, increasing AI, or just an increased level curve.

 

[Jonuman]

I want a "Have you played Pokémon before", if yes, the tutorials wont be there, and the game becomes harder, if no, there will be tutorials and the game becomes easyer

 

[Shadow Chill]

Bring back the difficulty mode in BW2 in its entirety. Improve on the AI so they make strategic decisions and even revive their fainted pokemon (once or twice per battle).

 

[_Dud_]

Honestly, if they were going to implement a direct way of letting us control the difficulty, I'd prefer it if they just completely removed the "how to catch a Pokemon" sequence out for players who pick "hard mode". That way, Masuda's quote would also apply to this as veterans wont have to go over basics which saves time.

 

[Hikamaru]

I want a "Have you played Pokémon before", if yes, the tutorials wont be there, and the game becomes harder, if no, there will be tutorials and the game becomes easyer

As unlikely as I see it happening, I could imagine this being an option for the veteran players who are sick of the catching tutorials.

 

[Angelroid]

I want a easy difficulty and hard difficulty in the games.