Are Pokémon Games Hard?

Started by T!M June 18th, 2013 7:01 AM
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T!M

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Age 31
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Georgia, United States
Seen May 20th, 2016
Posted April 25th, 2014
1,422 posts
14.4 Years
Do you think any or all of the Pokémon games were hard or challenging. Or do you constantly breeze through each installation? What's your opinion on the difficulty on any or all of the games?

THREAD NOTE: I mean the base difficulty. So this is excluding the use of Easy or Challenging modes in B/W2.


Note: Oh crap! I meant to post this in Pokémon general gaming. Would a mod be so kind as to move it? Thanks in advance.

Amore

Seen 18 Hours Ago
Posted 18 Hours Ago
5,243 posts
13.8 Years
Well, certain aspects are. Obviously for most of the games you can grind, EV etc. and make it really easy. But Battle Frontier, particularly in Pokémon Emerald, is still pretty tough. Especially Battle Factory, I think that's possibly the hardest feature in all of the games.

Powerserge

The Imminent Victor

Age 32
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New Zealand
Seen November 30th, 2017
Posted November 30th, 2017
461 posts
10 Years
Pokemon games have always been the easiest RPG titles that I have ever played. I've never had any difficulties with any of them, even at a young age. Now that tends to change when you get into the competitive environment, but that's true of all things, even tic-tac-toe.

Pichu2Pikachu2Raichu

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Age 33
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Seen July 26th, 2013
Posted July 25th, 2013
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10.2 Years
Ruby was hard but Emerald is more challenging.

Leaf Green is TOO EASY!

Yellow is just perfect.

I have not played games over GEN 3 so I can't say for the rest.

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Age 26
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California, United States
Seen August 24th, 2016
Posted April 14th, 2014
128 posts
10.7 Years
When I started playing this franchise it was a little difficult, but as I played more the games became easier and easier. I think that the games are designed to be a challenge to younger audiences.* And once you get the hang of how the mechanics of Pokemon work, it becomes a breeze to play through, almost.

*This does not include the optional Battle Frontier, Subway, etc. in Gens 3, 4, and 5, where it is considerably harder to win battles.
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Seen April 16th, 2014
Posted July 6th, 2013
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9.9 Years
I haven't got past the first few gyms in B/W, can't say much about gen V, or battle frontier, but for the other games, I think it lacks a bit in the terms of a proper challenge, though given the mechanics, I don't think much can be done about that. Probably why people started to create their own personal rules to play the game. For example, there was a time I played allowing me to have a single main type of pokémon in my team.
Male
Texas
Seen October 21st, 2017
Posted July 9th, 2017
1,285 posts
14.9 Years
The hardest Gyms are usually the first Gyms. Because there are only so many trainers and so many EXP point you could have earned. The challenge is maintained when pokemon fight at the same level.

The Most notorious fights I know about are Whitney's Miltank and Lenora from BW. Both are very early in the game. And both normal type.

Pokemon should have a level cap system. You can't level past 10 without the first badge. And the first gym is designed to be challenging at lv10. The same with the other gyms, except at higher levels.

BW made it real easy to find water pokemon before the ground gym and other such match-ups. While this was true in Gen1, you did have to go out of your way to find these things. (Like Diglet's Cave and Lt. Surge. It's been awhile, but I don't think you must go to Diglet Cave before the gym.)

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When I first started out at quite a young age and didn't know anything about type advantages/HM moves being undeletable and all of the other important information one should know, the game was rather challenging. I also pretty much caught and tried to raise everything I saw but found that rather difficult. However, once you actually get the hang of the game, learn a bit more and grind a tiny bit, the games become unbelievably easy to cruise through. There were only a few things that stumped me such as the Battle Frontier Tycoons etc., but other than that once you know the basic info to the franchise, the games are quite easy.
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Posted January 24th, 2017
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10 Years
They are hard if you haven't added any Action Replay codes if your playing the rom versions on your PC or laptop.
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Posted July 3rd, 2018
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10.9 Years
I've not played ALL the games mind you, only Blue and Black. I don't use Legendaries, either. It would just be way way too easy that way! I think Blue was harder than Black though, probably because I was a newbie and never knew about weaknesses. They were both easy for me in general though. A good grind can make it even easier. Since there is a fight in every piece of grass/stone just about, the grind happens whether I liked it to or not. ^ ^; (A tough game of this genre is called Shin Megami Tensei.)

The AI is terrible from what I've seen, and most wild Pokemon are very bad at making decisions. Many times they spam moves like "Leer" over and over, but never attack. I've had many moments where one attack could have finished me off so many times, but they never decided to give the finishing blow.

The Gym Leaders in Black were so easy that I was able to win every single fight just by using Lilligant. Apart from the Ace Trainers I never felt challenged in Black. I barely remember Blue anymore, but I do remember my Gyarados beating down everything in his sight. xD

I think Pokemon was made to be easy so everyone of all ages could enjoy it though (obviously, yes?). It was made to require skill when it comes to the competitive battles though. Humans are A LOT more challenging than Pokemon AI. :)
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Seen June 10th, 2020
Posted November 16th, 2019
139 posts
10.9 Years
i feel Pokemon games are getting more complicated in very minor aspects. The transition from Red to Silver for me took a long time because at that time i never researched anything and just played the game as it were handed to me. The transition from Gen 2 to 4 in my honest opinion wasn't that hard but i struggled getting used to all the changes in gen 5.
Did these changes make things a little harder? Maybe just a little. But they also made things easier at the same time as long as you payed attention to the new set of rules.
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BrandoSheriff

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15.9 Years
With more changes, the games steadily get more challenging, but never too hard.

IMO, any Pokemon game is only as hard as you make it. You could grind to make your experience better, or not to give yourself a challenge. It's usually the post-game battle facilities that provide the difficulty, like the Battle Frontier or the Orre Colosseum. Any other time, it's what you do in the game that decides how hard your experience will be.
I think Pokemon was made to be easy so everyone of all ages could enjoy it though (obviously, yes?). It was made to require skill when it comes to the competitive battles though. Humans are A LOT more challenging than Pokemon AI.
Exactly my thoughts.

The metagame and the newly-implemented difficulty levels/modes exist, so we couldn't ask for more or less. Challenge mode would need some improvement, though. The AI is still easy to get around with... and increasing pokemon levels really does little.

I like the post-game stuff, too (Battle frontier, the long-lost Pokemon Contests, and the likes). Not that they're terribly easy, or terribly hard. But some new set of rules and limitations are always a welcome treat for those who'd wanna spice up their game.
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Posted November 8th, 2014
284 posts
10.1 Years
For older players, Pokemon is fairly easy but i remember playing emerald as a kid and bieng totally challenged by every gym leader. I kind of miss it. But theres nothign like that feeling you get when you find out something new that helps you get better. Like type advantages i didn't kknow about years ago and more recently, discovering EV training and cross-breeding. Those kind of things just ad a little bit more challenge to the game and i love that.
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Brendino

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Seen 16 Hours Ago
Posted April 6th, 2023
8,567 posts
13.5 Years
Pokemon's obviously not designed to be a walk in the park, but still easy enough for first timers to pick up the game and not get frustrated from the difficulty, and then never playing the game again. And because it's still aimed at a younger audience, many of us who have been playing for years could basically play the game in our sleep.

I do love that they've added more challenges in game, though, like the Battle Frontier, PWT, etc. That way, it keeps older players of the game interested due to the added challenge, but it isn't mandatory for those who aren't quite as skilled at the game.

disciplish

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10.7 Years
I personally think that the difficulty depends on three things:

1) Your knowledge of the system. While the veteran player could easily breeze through the installments knowing weaknesses, reistances, etc., a new player will have no idea what they're doing, and will probably find it difficult- or at least more difficult.

2)How you train/your methods while you play. This is a worthwhile example; for example, Emerald was easy for me in the beginning, in fact all the way to the champion, because I pummeled through it with Blaziken and Rayquaza. But obviously, when it came to the Battle Frontier, I was a total screwup. In B2/W2, which is the more notable example, it was more difficult for me to fully storm through the game but I eventually made it with my team. and now my team is the most badass thing on six slots. Or at least, it is in game.

3)The competitve aspect. Whether you're going competitive or not definitely changes the level of difficulty, no matter what, and... well, I suck at that kind of stuff. Nuff' said.

---

Now, the way I play, I find it pretty easy. But that's just me.
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I don't think they're that hard....but on the other hand it's not so easy that it becomes boring. I think there's a nice balance. Although I feel like the 5th gen games were a bit easier than the 3rd and 4th gens. I didn't get to try the challenge mode because you get it after you completed the storyline...which was a bit silly.

I think it becomes a bit easier for me because I know all the type strengths and weaknesses inside out and I make sure my team has a good variety of types in it.
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moon

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I do think they are very easy. If you grind and capture the "right" pokémon, you'll have a breeze finishing the game. It's not often I've run out of money to buy potions or helpful items.

However, you can adjust your difficulty setting by capturing less powerful pokémon or pokémon who are more difficult to raise. That's why pokémon is so diverse - it's a different playthrough with every team.
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Hikamaru

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Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
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12.2 Years
I do think they are very easy. If you grind and capture the "right" pokémon, you'll have a breeze finishing the game. It's not often I've run out of money to buy potions or helpful items.

However, you can adjust your difficulty setting by capturing less powerful pokémon or pokémon who are more difficult to raise. That's why pokémon is so diverse - it's a different playthrough with every team.
Basically what Rika said. The games can necessarily be made easier by capturing strong overpowered Pokemon. Also, while veterans may have an easier time due to experience playing the games, a new player would think otherwise. While there have been new challenges added in later games, there's a reason why Pokemon games can be played any way, and that's why PC's Challenges forum exists, to give experienced players a new twist to playing. Also, competitive play can determine as a factor.

But I guess the main reason is because of the fact Pokemon is targeted towards children. It's a reason as to why the franchise is so successful. The games aren't necessarily hard, it's basically the player's thoughts that determine it. I'm actually quite skilled right now than back when I first played Ruby.
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