EC

he/him
Seen July 1st, 2022
Posted February 26th, 2021
5,502 posts
7.2 Years
So it's no secret that the games have gotten easier over the years (or we have gotten better, who knows). What game do you think was the hardest though? And I'm talking base game. No "hard difficulty" key on Black 2/White 2. I'll offer my opinion after a few of yours.

blue

gucci

Male
United Kingdom
Seen September 26th, 2021
Posted August 7th, 2019
21,056 posts
15.4 Years
Platinum is pretty tough, especially if you try to nuzlocke it. That game is intense almost from the start, and there are a lot of challenging battles early on even just with regular trainers and grunts. Even before the second Gym you're already taking on a Level 17 Purugly and then soon after a Level 20 Skuntank which are good examples as to the difficulty this game sets. Then you move onto the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members who all have significantly stronger Pokémon on their teams compared to Diamond & Pearl. Generally, it just seems like Platinum is a difficult step up from those games, but I love that aspect of Platinum.

Flowerchild

> smile!

Age 24
She/Her
Hyperspace
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 7th, 2022
8,699 posts
13 Years
I really should know better after playing it a dozen+ times, but the game I seem to find myself most consistently underlevelled in by the time I get to the Elite Four is FireRed & LeafGreen. I'm not quite sure what the cause of that is, though I think the level curve does start getting pretty steep by the time you're around the 7th-8th gyms, I don't think that's the whole story to it. I also agree with Blue that Platinum is a pretty tough one as well - Purugly is a really tough fight to go through, especially if you didn't pick Chimchar as your starter (which makes it easy to sweep until you beat Gardiena).
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Alakazam17

Long time no see!

Female
Canada
Seen October 27th, 2020
Posted October 24th, 2020
5,639 posts
17.7 Years
My vote goes to Gold/Silver/Crystal, because that battle with Red at the end, in addition to being EPIC, was also the highest-leveled in-game battle at that point in the franchise, and quite possibly-correct me if I'm wrong here-since.

LegendChu

❤ CAREFREE, BUT CARING ❤

Male
Third Rock From The Sun
Seen October 21st, 2017
Posted October 21st, 2017
14,122 posts
9.1 Years
For a non-Nuzlocked, single player walkthrough, None!

From my experience, if you have well-trained Pokemon & stocked up on items, you can pretty much beat every game, without too much fuss.

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Qibli

Motorcycle Dragon

Non-binary
Seen 3 Days Ago
Posted 2 Weeks Ago
1,794 posts
9.8 Years
Red is by far the hardest, if you don't have team trained properly you can't win also Platinum gives a hard time against cythia
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Lunar

Age 24
Male
England
Seen September 16th, 2020
Posted September 15th, 2020
This is a tough question, Platinum can be challenging at times during the game, and FRLG does seem to have a steep level curve at the E4. I've never actually completed Yellow, but I found it really hard but simply because I've played Crystal loads and know it pretty well, I'm gonna say it's the toughest imo. There's several tough fights (Whitney's infamous Milktank for example) and Clair and Lance are even tougher than they are in the remakes cause there's hardly any decent Pokemon that are super effective against their teams, which means you have to train even more.

Flowerchild

> how does this thing even work

Age 24
She/Her
Hyperspace
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 7th, 2022
8,699 posts
13 Years
Believe it or not I actually never had much of an issue with Whitney's Miltank. Was it that common of a battle to get stuck on?
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Lunar

Age 24
Male
England
Seen September 16th, 2020
Posted September 15th, 2020
Believe it or not I actually never had much of an issue with Whitney's Miltank. Was it that common of a battle to get stuck on?
I think the main issue was (for me) I was a kid when I used to play Crystal and was either under-levelled or at the same level as the Milktank which made it a challenge. Nowadays, I don't really have too much of a problem with it, cause when you're a couple of levels above it the Milktank isn't too tough.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
Platinum is definitely the hardest as far as Nuzlockes go, since I've heard pretty much everyone loses a Pokemon against say, Cyrus or Cynthia who are some of the hardest opponents. The Johto games come close, especially with the Gym Leaders having Pokemon hard to take down, like Whitney's Miltank or Clair's Kingdra.

And then there's also Sun & Moon fast catching up on the difficulty scale. Totem Pokemon and some AI opponents have devious strategies, coupled with the post above saying that the league is also brutal. Doesn't help that the Elite Four actually have maxed IVs and EVs in some stats, and all their aces having Z-Moves.
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Seen April 22nd, 2018
Posted April 22nd, 2018
111 posts
5.9 Years
I'm glad to see that Sun and Moon have already been mentioned in this thread, because I was going to say those!

The Totem challenges were, at times, significantly tougher than most Gym Leaders. If you were for some reason at a type disadvantage, which I found curiously common - or if your 'mon with an advantage got one-punched unexpectedly - it could be brutal. Salazzle, the first time around, was much tougher than I expected, especially with its partner Salandits throwing out Poison Gas and Venoshock; Lurantis was an absolute nightmare if you didn't have a very strong, very fast, STAB-boosted super effective move; and others were also kind of ridiculous at times.

The league was another story altogether. If you don't play with the experience share - and I learned not to after Gen 6 - you're suddenly already underleveled when you get to Poni Island! And that makes it tough to be at the right level when you finally make it to the summit of Mt. Lanakila. I chose Hala first and he absolutely destroyed me a couple times; Kahili wasn't bad, but the other two were definitely a challenge as well. The final championship battle, though was particularly brutal - mostly because I was totally not expecting Brave Bird on Decidueye, so most of my team was weak to it without having moves that could effectively counter it (at least Kahili actually had Flying-types).

I'd also say that the Johto games deserve an honorable mention; sure Whitney was tough, but several of the other Gym leaders were also quite strong, and the level jump from Clair to Lance was pretty intense if you were only on-par with Clair or underleveled to begin with. I think that Johto has one of the toughest Leagues to get through - and then, of course, there's Red at the very end.

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LilyGardy

The Flowering Pokemon

Female
Celadon Gym
Seen 2 Days Ago
Posted January 28th, 2023
4,476 posts
7.8 Years
Surprised at how many are saying Platinum. All of the Sinnoh games were easy for me. Volkner is a poor final leader and the Elite Four are underwhelming and whilst Cynthia has a well balanced team I haven't found her an issue in any playthrough including my Mono Grass run.. Remember Garchomp is 4X weak to Ice.

Whilst none of the games are hard I'd say Johto is the trickiest with two sets of Gyms and a battle against Red which was a grind to be well levelled for. HGSS boosted the difficulty with instances such as Clair's Kingdra getting Sniper. Lance was especially tough in my Mono Grass run.
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Age 25
Female
Seen June 19th, 2019
Posted March 5th, 2018
1,259 posts
13.7 Years
I had significant difficulty with Moon, which is something I absolutely did not expect. I was at type disadvantage very often and because I don't wanna spoil myself on the new Pokmon I didn't know where to get Pokmon that would set me at an advantage. Even now my final team has some gaping holes in terms of type disadvantage.

I thought I wouldn't need the Exp. Share at all, but I was incredibly wrong about that. I never had to do a Totem battle twice, mainly because my Pokmon were always overleveled in preparation for the tough battles. I really had to do some extra training for the League. The difficulty of these games took me by surprise (but pleasantly so).
Heh. Difficult Pokemon games. Alright, I'll play along.

I'm going to sound terrible, but...Red/Blue/Yellow. Seriously, go back and play them now, all these years later, coming off the 3DS titles...or even the DS titles. They've not aged well at all. Red/Blue slightly more than Yellow, given that Yellow gives you all three starters...although you also start with Pikachu, so if you don't know where everything is, or what learns what at what level, the first Gym is going to stonewall (haha) you.

Pretty much every Pokemon title from Gen III onwards spoils you shamelessly with significantly enhanced gameplay mechanics, a lot of hand-holding and signposts about where you need to go next, a wider variety of Pokemon along the routes, etc. Recently it's also been forcing gift Pokemon onto you and shoving you down linear routes to the next challenge with all the subtlety of a speeding locomotive. You can't not know what you're doing in new Pokemon titles, with everyone going out of their way to tell you...and roadblocks reminding you if you forget.

Pokemon is designed to be played by everyone, so it has to be easy enough that children can play it...but kids these days, they're spoiled. Gaming has changed a lot since the 90s, and Pokemon has become substantially more accessible (read: easier) to accomodate this. This is by no means a bad thing. But it's VERY jarring when you go back to the earlier titles and the kid gloves come right off. Easy enough to play still...if you know what you're doing. I would argue that you don't really need to know what you're doing to play later Pokemon titles and have an easy time of it still.

This is not to say that RBY are inherently different for lacking these signposts, because they're not; you can still blaze through the game if you grind enough, etc. But it's going to feel like even more of a trial doing it, and the limited systems are pretty jarring when you've been playing 3DS games for years and you're used to being treated more gently. RBY are Pokemon without the padding. Still easy, but VERY rough around the edges.

As time goes by, unless we get a weird return to limited systems and a complete lack of direction in Pokemon games, RBY are only going to seem harder for that, I think...which will probably only serve to have people begging even harder for Kanto remakes, not realising Kanto remakes would just adopt the systems Pokemon has now.

KNS27

I got... Lonely Doggo?

Age 19
Female
In Lonely place
Seen October 18th, 2017
Posted October 16th, 2017
1,143 posts
6.2 Years
Here my Opinion.

I have some hardest part on a various Pokemon game.But I say Lenora's Watchdog give me a headache.I realized base power Retaliate will becoming double if there's one ally fainted.Also, Retaliate is a normal type and Watchdog get STAB, so now Retaliate base power becomes 105 X 2 since you have taken down her Heirder.So total base power Retaliate in her watchdog now becoming 310.That total base power is too big for the early game.Also, her Watchdog has move Hypnosis and Confuse Ray.This foe is too OP for early game.Luckily, I beat Lenora with A Luck.Her Watchdog's Hypnosis missed Twice and give my Pignite chance to knock out her watchdog.
Female
Seen February 7th, 2023
Posted February 26th, 2021
303 posts
7.7 Years
Hmmm....I want to say Platinum, but I'll go D/P since you don't have any decent fire types unless it's your starter or....Rapidash. Let's not forget that the Elite Four is pretty varied this time around and they all carry Pokemon you can not expect to believe to be on there (Flint's Steelix). The gym battles are also challenging and I was close to loosing every. single. one. The trainers also put up a decent fight too. Also, Cynthia is pretty hard even for Pokemon standards.

Sun and Moon are kind of difficult if you look at it this way...the reversion to the old gen 5 exp system makes it a bit harder to grind. The trainers carry more than one Pokemon (a major step from XY) and also the fact that Kukui nearly kicked my butt. Also, screw that Lurantis, Mimikyu (especially this one) and Nanu's Persian all trying to send me back to nearest Pokemon center as soon as possible. Also, Acerola's Driblim can BURN. It does not die.

Fire Red and Leaf Green are mildly difficult, but nothing too hard. The Elite Four and Gym leaders provide a MAJOR difficulty spike, but that's about it. The surrounding trainers are pretty tame.

I'm not including Gen 2 because they're easier to get around and the only major challenge is Claire and Whitney. Red isn't that hard because he's just several levels ahead of you.
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Spyro

Seen October 5th, 2018
Posted July 26th, 2018
2,373 posts
7.4 Years
Diamond/Pearl. While replaying through Diamond, I beat every single trainer I could, went to every side location, fought in the double-battle restaurant everyday, and I still was awfully underleveled during the league. My strongest Pokémon was 15 levels under Cynthia's strongest. I still managed to beat her by stalling her with my Bronzong, I'm pretty lucky I had it.

DmitritheDitto

Ditto Fanclub

Male
Trinidad
Seen October 26th, 2020
Posted September 24th, 2018
50 posts
5.9 Years
[QUOTE=Meyneth;9699354]Heh. Difficult Pokemon games. Alright, I'll play along.

I'm going to sound terrible, but...Red/Blue/Yellow. Seriously, go back and play them now, all these years later, coming off the 3DS titles...or even the DS titles. They've not aged well at all. Red/Blue slightly more than Yellow, given that Yellow gives you all three starters...although you also start with Pikachu, so if you don't know where everything is, or what learns what at what level, the first Gym is going to stonewall (haha) you.

Pretty much every Pokemon title from Gen III onwards spoils you shamelessly with significantly enhanced gameplay mechanics, a lot of hand-holding and signposts about where you need to go next, a wider variety of Pokemon along the routes, etc. Recently it's also been forcing gift Pokemon onto you and shoving you down linear routes to the next challenge with all the subtlety of a speeding locomotive. You can't not know what you're doing in new Pokemon titles, with everyone going out of their way to tell you...and roadblocks reminding you if you forget.

How was Gen 1 difficult?I just started it two days ago and I'm on my fifth badge,my nidoking knows Trash,Poison sting,Horn Drill and Horn Attack.I ran through the first 5 Gyms with just a Nidoking.Granted I have noting to deal with ghost types it's still pretty easy.All my other Pokemon are below lvl 20 excluding nidoking which is 50.
Male
Seen November 5th, 2021
Posted March 17th, 2021
213 posts
6 Years
I guess it all depends which team you use. I think the hardest game I've played (I've played all generations except 4) was Yellow but that's because I decided to complete the rocket storyline after the cascade badge. Also, because I kept Pikachu but none of the other starters, that little troll rat was definitely a handicap and I found the elite 4 punishingly difficult. But usually I'm fine with everything until I try the postgame tournaments and then I get wrecked.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
Diamond/Pearl. While replaying through Diamond, I beat every single trainer I could, went to every side location, fought in the double-battle restaurant everyday, and I still was awfully underleveled during the league. My strongest Pokémon was 15 levels under Cynthia's strongest. I still managed to beat her by stalling her with my Bronzong, I'm pretty lucky I had it.
Cynthia and the Elite Four had probably the largest level jump here, so if you didn't grind you'd lose a lot. This may be why the levels on their teams were lowered in Platinum, but still kept to being a challenge by overhauling their teams with better Pokemon.
Gone forever for personal reasons.
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smocks

fiat lux

Female
California
Seen March 25th, 2019
Posted March 10th, 2019
As much as I love Platnium and respect it's difficulty, depending how you play Yellow, it's certainly a challenge.

First off, you're stuck with Pikachu, all due respect to Pikachu but it's definitely not the greatest and you can't evolve your Pikachu nor put it in the PC, making one whole slot in your team useless. Also, as games progress, more detail gets put in the graphics and improvement in the plot points. The simple classic graphics in Yellow are charming yet confusing due to the lack of detail, giving a more general idea to the player which can be hard to catch on if they aren't used to said graphics. + The newer games seem to remind you what's going on, in Yellow, if you forgot what you were doing in certain areas, it would take you some time to retrace your steps.
Female
Wherever I go, there I am.
Seen August 31st, 2017
Posted August 31st, 2017
38 posts
5.9 Years
I'm a casual player and didn't play anything until X/Y, but I'd have to say that S/M had to be the harder of the games, especially when I had to stop and grind my team because I realized that the next Trial was too high in level. The Ultra Beasts almost murdered me, even if I was twenty levels higher. I had trouble with Lusamine's battle at the end, even if I had a type advantage. The Pokemon League, in comparison, wasn't that hard, since I had a balanced team. Even Kukui, and he was supposed to be the best trainer in the game.
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