is it possible to make a Pokemon game more difficult?

[dogtree]

i think it will be very difficult since Pokemon battle mechanism are not deep enough. There are not
that many moves and NO classes such as warrior mage paladin etc.. (traditional rpg classes). Moves
are pretty similar just different Pokemon use it ( increase attack, defense , trap etc..).

If you want more difficult or more strategy intensity rpg for 3ds , you should be looking at bravely default and Shin Megami Tensei IV.

i am wondering will future Pokemon game get harder?

 

[Nah]

Is it possible to make Pokemon difficult? That's what the Challenges section is for. And competitive battling. You should really check those out.

 

[Fernbutter]

Well the only thing that actually makes Pokemon itself difficult is by the means of Fan or Player based objectives, like competitive battling and also challenges and Nuzlockes, along with normal battling as well.

 

[Goomy Gumi]

Competitive battling and challenges do make Pokemon much more difficult than the main game. However, for in-game purposes, Pokemon could be made more difficult if levels of trainers were higher, certain items (aka Exp. Share) were removed, and status conditions were more threatening (return of poison while walking, etc.).

 

[holywhitefang1]

Competitive battling definitely. However, if your looking for a harder story line, play hardcore: When a pokemon faints, it dies, and you must release it. If all your pokemon die, you have to restart. Theres some challenge for ya. :)

 

[scprepschool]

If they expanded the worlds a little more, and made leveling up pokemon harder ( also did an overhaul on every pokemon, making each one more unique... it would change the competitive scene for ever but provide us with better games ) like say, make it to where if someone loves a Pikachu, he can theoretically take one into a competition and wreck if he devoted enough time to it and searched a massive region from move tutor to move tutor teaching it things to make it more versatile. Change the stat cap on certain pokemon. I dunno... too much change in this post, it will probably not be liked

 

[Cerberus87]

Self-imposed difficulty is not an answer. Nuzlocke is a fad.

Giving enemies better movesets and good held items that work with their strategies is a proven method of making the games more difficult. Also, Gamefreak could improve the AI so that it actually learns how to switch. However, an AI as good as a human player probably could not be reproduced on the 3DS because the CPU isn't strong enough. Even more "serious" RPG games like Fire Emblem Awakening have relatively simple AI that go for simple strategies.

 

[Necrum]

Self-imposed difficulty is not an answer. Nuzlocke is a fad.

Giving enemies better movesets and good held items that work with their strategies is a proven method of making the games more difficult. Also, Gamefreak could improve the AI so that it actually learns how to switch. However, an AI as good as a human player probably could not be reproduced on the 3DS because the CPU isn't strong enough. Even more "serious" RPG games like Fire Emblem Awakening have relatively simple AI that go for simple strategies.

I will have you know that Challenges is one of the most active forums on this site, good sir. And that the Nuzlocke Challenge is perhaps the most popular, after Monotype of course. Sure, GameFreak does need to add more difficulty settings to the game, but do not ever discount the potential of self imposed difficulty. I happen to be addicted to Challenges. :P

 

[jdthebud]

I realize this is an X/Y thread, but there are also numerous hacks of pre-Gen VI games that introduce higher difficulty storylines if that's what you enjoy. Mostly by maxing AI and giving gym leader Pokemon items and killer movesets. Combining those kind of hacks with Nuzlocke rules can jack the difficulty fairly high.

Just two cents from a Challenge regular. :P

 

[Sydian]

I've been coming up with creative and difficult ways to play Pokemon since I was a kid, way before PC and way before the Challenge forum even existed. IT WAS DESTINY.

Pokemon is one of those games that's just so varied that you could come up with plenty of challenges, themes, and gimmicks to make your experience not only more difficult and challenging, but rewarding, personal, anything you want it to be, really. That's part of why I love Pokemon so much, and the challenges we have for it here on PC. It's refreshing to play Pokemon in new ways.

 

[Khoshi]

There was an attempt in the challenge mode of B/W2, but not really, no. At least, from the developer's side. Fan made challenges such as the infamous Nuzlocke Challenge and randomizer challenges exist to give players some difficulty :p and, of course, PC's very own Challenges forum. Take a visit imo.

You could always try ROM hacks made by fans that are essentially harder versions of games.

 

[Loner_grunger]

Simple: no running shoes, no fly, no bike no roller skates and surf slower than walking.

 

[Necrum]

Simple: no running shoes, no fly, no bike no roller skates and surf slower than walking.

Well that's just torture, lmao!

 

[Darkwing Ducklett]

Short of imposing restrictions on yourself? I doubt it. Black 2 and White 2 attempted to make Pokemon games more challenging by adding a Hard Mode (which was stupidly locked from the beginning of the game, but I'll not go there because it's beside the point) and through the PWT. Both failed abysmally. The Battle Frontier of earlier generations, too, was an attempt to add some challenge to the game, and it was hardly a rousing success. The AI just isn't smart enough, and their movesets aren't good enough, to provide any sort of challenge to players who know what they're doing.

I can't even think of how to make the main part of the game itself harder in itself, short of imposing a level cap until you get a badge (i.e. instead of having traded Pokemon refuse to obey, have ALL Pokemon refuse to obey, or stop them growing entirely) and/or scaling Gym Leader's Pokemon levels to match your own, and giving them better movesets and hold items, similar to B2W2's hard mode.

Plus, there is the age rating to consider. Make a Pokemon game too hard, and you immediately shut out a large percentage of the audience. I wouldn't expect a seven-year-old to be able to (or have the patience to) grind levels to beat unreasonably powerful Gyms, for instance.

 

[CaesarAlexsander]

Speed run using only Smeargle. Or Magikarp. That's about as hard as any game gets.

 

[dogtree]

Short of imposing restrictions on yourself? I doubt it. Black 2 and White 2 attempted to make Pokemon games more challenging by adding a Hard Mode (which was stupidly locked from the beginning of the game, but I'll not go there because it's beside the point) and through the PWT. Both failed abysmally. The Battle Frontier of earlier generations, too, was an attempt to add some challenge to the game, and it was hardly a rousing success. The AI just isn't smart enough, and their movesets aren't good enough, to provide any sort of challenge to players who know what they're doing.

I can't even think of how to make the main part of the game itself harder in itself, short of imposing a level cap until you get a badge (i.e. instead of having traded Pokemon refuse to obey, have ALL Pokemon refuse to obey, or stop them growing entirely) and/or scaling Gym Leader's Pokemon levels to match your own, and giving them better movesets and hold items, similar to B2W2's hard mode.

Plus, there is the age rating to consider. Make a Pokemon game too hard, and you immediately shut out a large percentage of the audience. I wouldn't expect a seven-year-old to be able to (or have the patience to) grind levels to beat unreasonably powerful Gyms, for instance.

so large percentage of audience are 7 years old...? I thought pokemon players are 15 + they are smart enough

 

[Pillodox]

There's the challenge mode on Black 2 & White that makes the game harder.

 

[Nah]

Self-imposed difficulty is not an answer. Nuzlocke is a fad.

Giving enemies better movesets and good held items that work with their strategies is a proven method of making the games more difficult. Also, Gamefreak could improve the AI so that it actually learns how to switch. However, an AI as good as a human player probably could not be reproduced on the 3DS because the CPU isn't strong enough. Even more "serious" RPG games like Fire Emblem Awakening have relatively simple AI that go for simple strategies.

so large percentage of audience are 7 years old...? I thought pokemon players are 15 + they are smart enough

Yes, a significant portion of Pokemon's fanbase is kids. You wouldn't know it since most of the people on this site are 13+. 7 year olds don't frequent forums either.....and you'd be surprised at the number of idiots in the world.

Pokemon has always had this label of being a "children's game" because back in the day, the vast majority of people who played Red/Blue/Yellow were kids. I was 7 years old when I first played Red/Blue/Yellow. Nowadays, the largest part of Pokemon's fanbase is those kids who've now grown up, but there is still a significant number of children. And the thing is, not everyone who's played Pokemon has been doing so since Gen 1. Each generation has been someone's first Pokemon game. The devs don't make it difficult on purpose so people can get into the series. No one starts off as a Pokemon master. You make the game too hard, and it turns people off to the series, which is bad for business. This is Pokemon, not Dark Souls.

So when the devs can't/won't make the games difficult, you have to take it upon yourself to make it more challenging. Ignoring the large number of challenge options is a bit ridiculous. You can sit there and complain about the difficulty while waiting for something that'll never happen, or you can start up a challenge or enter the competitive battling scene.

 

[Necrum]

Actually, the majority of users on this site are in the early 20s, which would be the generation that grew up with Pokemon. This site does hardly scratch the surface though when it comes to to fan base as a whole, and yes, these games are targeted at children. But plenty of games targeted at children are either challenging or have a difficulty setting to change it. I am pretty disappointed in the fact that Challenge mode didn't make it into XY, but there's a simple reason why it didn't: BW2 was made by a different team. The same team that made HGSS in fact, which was why features from that game didn't carry over to BW. By the time these features are added, the games are already too far solidified to add anything. I personally think that Challenge mode did a great job of increasing the challenge of BW2. However its lack of accessibility led it to failure. I do hope that in future entries we see it make a return, since now they have the time to add it.

 

[Puddle]

I think they try and still appeal to the younger games, but there are a lot of aspects that do make the game more difficult now. Before, it was just use moves. Now it's natures, EVs and IVs, breeding, all this stuff has advanced the game, and I'm sure more stuff will advance the game, that doesn't necessarily effect it for everyone, but certain Pokemon veterans can use all these to just make game play more interesting.