4th Gen Is it just me, or is Platinum harder...?

[Kenith]

I used to only use 1 pokemon to fight everyone back in Pokemon Red, blue, yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal.

But it was when I played crystal did I realize how tough the pokemon were, and decided to actually train an entire team, and focus on their abilities. After that, it took longer to complete the game, but much easier battling.

And it's just so much more fun making up different teams and strategies against the opponents instead of use one pokemon the entire time =3

 

[PlatinumDude]

I find Platinum to have the same difficulty level as D/P/Pt. Other than the new changes brought about in Platinum, I don't see how it's harder than D/P/Pt.

 

[serabeth]

I find Platinum to have the same difficulty level as D/P/Pt. Other than the new changes brought about in Platinum, I don't see how it's harder than D/P/Pt.

Well, if you read the original post, I never asked if Platinum was harder than Diamond or Pearl, since I have never played either of those :). I was just wondering if anyone thought it was a little more difficult than previous generation games.

I have beaten the elite four in Platinum since I made the original post, and I think I've come to the conclusion that while the actual difficulty level is still fairly easy, Platinum does require more level grinding than the other generations.

In all of the other generations, I just battled trainers and spammed Repel in areas with wild pokemon. In Platinum, I actually had to level them up some to be able to beat the Champion.

 

[~RNC~]

It's not really harder, it just seems that way because you have been playing the older games all this time, if you would have played diamond or pearl it would have seemed the same as those 2!!
That's just my opinion though!! :)

 

[Water Pokémon Specialist]

Yes, it is harder. Scarier. It's a lot deeper than it's predecessors, and HGSS. You just have to try harder ;)

I disagree- manly because she says she has been playing Emerald. Before I got Pearl and Platinum, Emerald was all I played, and I still restart and play it often now to transfer useful TMs via Pal Park, but I find it much harder. Obviously, this is just my opinion, but allow me to elaborate:

It at least SEEMS that skills that sometimes paralyze/burn/poison (meaning they do damage and theres like 10-30% chance of additonal effects) suceed in doing just that alot more often on Emerald. I also find that all of my Pokémon flinch a helluva lot more on Emerald, and the enemies seem to be able to crit me at least 50% more often than either I can crit them or they crit me on gen 4 games.

I also find that money is harder to come by- by the time I get to the E4 first time round on Emerald, I have very little money even though I buy maybe 10 Pokéballs at the start and never buy any again because I know who I wanna catch for my team and don't bother catching anyone else. I also buy little else in game, but when I get to E4/Victory Road and it's time to stock up on supplies, it leaves me almost empty of cash.

Lastly, I find the Elite Four much much harder also. Obviously they start at a lower level in Emerald (I think the lowest is 46), so my Pokémon are lower also, but on the current saved game I have, I have yet to beat them, or even get as far as the Champion without losing all my Pokémon and 'Whiting out' several times. This hasn't happened to me since I first started playing with Pokémon blue all those years ago, and even then, I don't think it happened as often as it does on Emerald. Now, all these years on, I have experience on my side, a knowledge and understanding of the Pokémon, their weakness and what moves do what- not to mention a team that has been handpicked to be the best (types-wise) for beating the E4 and champ, yet I fail several times before I succeed.

Maybe it is just me going wrong, but I find that the Gen 4 storyline much easier and supportive as it gets your Pokémon to a decent level to face the E4 and champ at the end. I agree that the Gen 4 games seem scarier, and they are longer also, but I think this helps.

So, long story short- in MY opinion, Emerald is much harder than Pearl/Platinum.