Self Imposed Rules?

[Figure]

I was wondering if anyone does self imposed rules in non-nuzlocke runs? I started a SoulSilver playthrough a few nights ago but it's too boring and easy but I didn't feel like doing a nuzlocke so I just implemented some rules I normally have in nuzlockes.

First, I do set instead of switch. In my opinion, if you play on switch you are doing baby easy mode and it is so low effort it isn't even worth playing. I also do no overleveling where I can't level past the highest level of the next gym leader, for example, I can't go over level 13 before I beat Falkner. This keeps it much more competitive and it works on an RP level as well as in Pokemon Origins, Brock selects Pokemon based on how many badges you have. The last self imposed rule I am doing is I match how many healing items the opposing gym leaders uses. Falkner doesn't use any items so I can't either. This one is kind of a sportsmanship thing to me, sure I can win any battle if I spam potions but that is also just too low skill and makes the game not fun for me.

What are some rules the rest of you add to your games and why do you add them?

 

[Sydian]

i don't use any healing items in battle in all runs. i sometimes play on set, but it depends on the game and the team.

 

[Figure]

i don't use any healing items in battle in all runs. i sometimes play on set, but it depends on the game and the team.

What games do you play on switch?

 

[Nah]

I've done a few monotype runs before, but that's been about it. Never really bothered to make it a point to try to make the main story of Pokemon games harder.

 

[icycatelf]

I'd only use regular Poké Balls for a long time. Everyone in-game used regular Poké Balls, so I thought I'd follow suit. Probably wasn't until Sun & Moon when I saw that NPCs used other kinds of Balls that I finally stopped.

Other than that, I'm not sure I ever have—unless you count hunting Shinies at full odds instead of chaining, MMing, etc. I went through a phase that I didn't feel like I deserved a Pokémon, for example, on my TrainerSona's team, unless I'd found a Shiny version of that Pokémon at full odds in-game. Now I'd rather base my TrainerSona's team on my real-world encounters, but I still prefer hunting at full odds since it offers a non-competitive player like myself a little more of a challenge and gives me a reason to keep playing.

EDIT: And I usually make a point not to use Legendaries/Mythicals, not necessarily because so many of them are too strong but because it's just not realistic. I am using Jirachi in my current Sword playthrough, though. The only Jirachi I'd ever used was one I hacked in Ruby back in the day, so I thought I'd mix things up.

 

[NikolaP]

Playing through X on the emulator and since Kalos gym leaders have like 3 Pokémon on their team, I decided to bring the same number of Pokémon as the gym leader to gym battles. Only past the 1st gym and it's fun, Viola almost beat me with a type disadvantage.

 

[Megan]

I usually stick with catching only enough Pokemon so I end up with a full party. Occasionally I count gifts in that as well. When HMs are used I usually spread them among the group so everyone has their "job", which already puts a sort of restriction.

Depending on if I feel like it I also try to keep grinding to a minimum and instead focus on all the other tools I have available. It's a pretty good method to get yourself to mess around with X-Items.

 

[Alfadør]

I always play on "set" and try not to grind at all (not really a rule, I'm just used to it), so I'm always underleveled vs gym leaders. I also don't use legendaries during the adventure.

Also no exp.share in older games. I hate that it is now mandatory

 

[Figure]

Playing through X on the emulator and since Kalos gym leaders have like 3 Pokémon on their team, I decided to bring the same number of Pokémon as the gym leader to gym battles. Only past the 1st gym and it's fun, Viola almost beat me with a type disadvantage.

Oh that's a good idea! It always bothers me that X and Y leaders use so few Mons so that's a good workaround.

I always play on "set" and try not to grind at all (not really a rule, I'm just used to it), so I'm always underleveled vs gym leaders. I also don't use legendaries during the adventure.

Also no exp.share in older games. I hate that it is now mandatory

For sure, I just hope the mechanics of Let's Go never get implemented where the Pokemon you use become unstoppable the more you use them in battle living hits on one hp, built in quick claw, and whatever else they can do.

 

[Sydian]

What games do you play on switch?

BW2, platinum, those are the first things that come to mind, however it also really depends on my team. sometimes i just play in set the entire time, but for certain challenges, there would be no way to win if i played in set (stares at the last challenge event.....). and then sometimes i just wanna be casual and keep it in switch bc meh.

edit: i just realized that double and triple battles are technically always in set. you get no warning what they're about to throw out lol hella...

 

[Figure]

BW2, platinum, those are the first things that come to mind, however it also really depends on my team. sometimes i just play in set the entire time, but for certain challenges, there would be no way to win if i played in set (stares at the last challenge event.....). and then sometimes i just wanna be casual and keep it in switch bc meh.

edit: i just realized that double and triple battles are technically always in set. you get no warning what they're about to throw out lol hella...

BW2 is undertandable as it is one of the tougher games. Never played Platinum, hopefully it will be put in the EShop some day. Why the hell all of their titles aren't on the shop for $10 or so is another thread entirely though.

 

[Sydian]

BW2 is undertandable as it is one of the tougher games. Never played Platinum, hopefully it will be put in the EShop some day. Why the hell all of their titles aren't on the shop for $10 or so is another thread entirely though.

platinum is pretty tough too, i hope you get the opportunity to play it. i'm not getting my hopes up for eshop releases tbh but then again i don't like to get my hopes up for things i want anyway lol but i think with DS (and even 3DS titles) it might be a bit more difficult bc of the dual screen functionality.

 

[Figure]

platinum is pretty tough too, i hope you get the opportunity to play it. i'm not getting my hopes up for eshop releases tbh but then again i don't like to get my hopes up for things i want anyway lol but i think with DS (and even 3DS titles) it might be a bit more difficult bc of the dual screen functionality.

I bought Pearl for like $40 at GameStop and it was busted, then couldn't get a refund so fuck GameStop I'll play Platinum somehow someday. There is a rumor in March for the 25 year anniversary that X/Y, ORAS, USUM, and HG/SS may be coming to the Switch, I think, as a bundle. It is just a rumor but GF supposedly renewed the trademark for HG/SS so that would be sick.

 

[FriendlyNeighborhoodAmpharosFan]

Personally, I use Set mode all the time, and force myself to not use Potions or X-Items. I also force myself to catch the first Pokemon I encounter on every area (so that I can fill out my Pokedex faster). You can make it so that you can't use TM moves or Pokemon whose STAB types are super-effective against the next Gym.

 

[Roni]

i ain't too much a fan of making pokemon games harder, but game freak seriously did make it absolute baby mode out here if left unmonitored. i really like romhack solutions to overleveling by making the curve dynamic instead of just set levels (they scale up according to your highest leveled pokemon so you'll never just stomp on everyone).

i'm gonna be playing the 3DS titles soon since i've yet to try them out. might start with Y and do small things like Healing Item restrictions and Set style battling to make it more of a challenge (bcs i remember a lot of people saying that Pokemon started getting really easy by that point). i'm still too soft-hearted to do a Nuzlocke though, so maybe that'll be for next time hehe.

 

[Eggzachtly]

I like limiting myself to not using items when battling or fighting with one specific type like a gym leader. Thinking of limiting what I can catch in play throughs similar to how QuickGG and ChillN' Play do on YouTube. There last vid each Pokémon they caught had to be weak to the last Pokémon they caught

 

[Sheep]

Reading these posts, I'm definitely interesting in no-items for all my future playthroughs ngl. The games are very easy for me now as a series veteran who has played for 20+ years, so I think something like that at least would be cool to do. I'd want to keep my levels closer to that of the trainers, but if we'll continue having forced experience share in future games like SwSh it will require a lot of team swapping :(

 

[Sydian]

Reading these posts, I'm definitely interesting in no-items for all my future playthroughs ngl. The games are very easy for me now as a series veteran who has played for 20+ years, so I think something like that at least would be cool to do. I'd want to keep my levels closer to that of the trainers, but if we'll continue having forced experience share in future games like SwSh it will require a lot of team swapping :(

for a long time, my play style was that i would only raise the pokemon i intended to take all the way to the E4, but with the new exp share, i find that it gives you a chance to try different pokemon and raise lots of different teams and that in itself creates a new playstyle for the games that offer that. i think it's fun personally tho i totally get it's not everyone's thing. i still play old games mostly only raising what will be in the party permanently, but the games with the new exp share, i take the time to try out new pokemon that i wouldn't have considered before bc they're hard to raise or w/e.

also no items is fun and a money saver lol i have so much money in games now since i'm only using items outside of battle and don't need to stock more than necessary since i'm not using them in battle. it also makes you plan your movesets more strategically. it's fun and i highly recommend, especially for the newer titles.

 

[Zeostar]

I mostly play on switch instead of set. My reason is that when I play on set I'm still switching constantly and the A.I isn't.

I don't use revives in battle, unless it's a last resort emergency. Such as battling Leon, we were both down to one pokemon with low HP. He was going to outspeed me, so I revived a fast pokemon. I also refuse to spam items, if I've used over 4-5 potions in a battle I won't use anymore.

 

[Roni]

for a long time, my play style was that i would only raise the pokemon i intended to take all the way to the E4, but with the new exp share, i find that it gives you a chance to try different pokemon and raise lots of different teams and that in itself creates a new playstyle for the games that offer that. i think it's fun personally tho i totally get it's not everyone's thing. i still play old games mostly only raising what will be in the party permanently, but the games with the new exp share, i take the time to try out new pokemon that i wouldn't have considered before bc they're hard to raise or w/e.

also no items is fun and a money saver lol i have so much money in games now since i'm only using items outside of battle and don't need to stock more than necessary since i'm not using them in battle. it also makes you plan your movesets more strategically. it's fun and i highly recommend, especially for the newer titles.

yeah one of the biggest humps for me when tryna do no-items runs on games Gen 4 and below, was that it was really hard to strategize movesets while also making space for HMs ugh. either i sacrifice move slots evenly across my team, or i sacrifice 1-2 team slots for slaves. it's annoying to have to go to the move deleter & relearner/grind 2 extra team members before the pokemon league. gen 6 and above apparently doesn't have this problem anymore, so i'm down to challenge myself.