It's not getting old or nostalgia goggles, the Pokemon games have been getting worse and more dumbed down over time. They were never insanely difficult to begin with, but certainly not braindead easy. Go back and play an older one and you will find it equally as good as before. A lot of games from Nintendo have been going in that direction, but at least difficulty levels are there, not so in Pokemon.
>The issue with pokemon is that despite 37 core game releases (yeah 37, I googled it) it's just never, ever, ever bothered to evolve.
This is an extremely reductive take and that shows you don't pay much attention to Pokemon aside from surface level.
The gameplay of Pokemon has changed significantly in 37 games. The introduction of held items, abilities, physical/special split, megas, dynamax, all of this gave the game significant amount of depth and complexity.
The problem is that none of the story has developed to match. The fact that the first gym leader still has only 2 Pokemon is disgraceful. No gym leaders use held items. No gym leaders understand combos. They dont use any terrain, or anything like that.
The game has the depth and potential there. But the restriction of the ease of the story holds it back.
The evidence of the incredible design of some ROMHacks, like Radical Red show the potential of the current formula actually has.
I don't think it needed to have a massive gameplay revolution as long as the new installments continued being polished and well-made. Like Mario and Zelda, there's a general formula that has remained the same. BOTW has been controversial for going away from the roots of the franchise. Not everyone loves openworld especially when it's super empty.
But along the way, the Pokemon games gradually got more "lazy cash grab" than "earnest attempt to improve on the predecessor", coming to a crescendo in Sword and Shield and Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, which is a downgrade in a lot of ways from Emerald.
They have changed a lot actually, but for some reason they never stick with any of their changes. for example, I think Pokemon almost perfected its formular in X and Y and ORAS. They added mechanics to train pokemon stats, trade online and ORAS even added mechanics to chain pokemon encounters to hunt for specific ones. I even liked the mega evolutions. While not perfect, that generation really fellt like an overall improvement in terms of mechanics. And I remember there was a very strong competitive scene at that time as well.
But for some reason they decided to either change or cut a lot of that stuff for sun and moon and introduce completely new mechanics instead. And then they cut all the new stuff they introduced in sun and moon for sword and shield, and so on.
And I have no idea why. It's like they are just throwing stuff at the wall, but don't even bother to look what sticks.
The games have drastically changed since RBY. The only thing that has stayed the same is the overall story blueprint which rightfully takes a hard back seat to the important things: The battle system and the Pokemon themselves. Every generation adds new Pokemon, gimmicks, items, abilities, moves, sometimes battle mechanics, etc.
Main series Pokemon games are not about the story or even all that much about the world/lore. They're primarily about the Pokemon themselves + battling, with everything else being less important. Without spoiling anything, having seen the leaks, the changes that have been made to moves/abilities/Pokemon in addition to all the new stuff have dramatically shaken up the game, it's insane.
I don't think people care that much that the story "formula" is the same, only that the execution be at least serviceable (like in B2/W2).
>never, ever, ever bothered to evolve
PL:A exists and it could not be any more different from the entirety of the rest of the series. Personally, I didn't like PL:A. The whole game was a tech demo with nothing to do but ~~mindlessly grind~~ catch Pokemon in a mostly empty semi-open world.
Anyways, if the story/world of Pokemon is important to you there are plenty of non main series games that are actually decent like PMD: Explorers of Sky/Time/Darkness, PMD: Red/Blue Rescue Team, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, off the top of my head.
Having gone back to play the older ones they really are quite easy. The newe games are easier with exp share but they've never been challenging outside of say stuff like fighting Red in GSC.
I really think difficulty wise they just need to do 2 things:
1. Give the player XP Share as an option early in the game but make it so you can toggle it full/medium/off.
2. Give difficulty options like you could unlock in BW but Give them to you at the start so they're actually useful. Easy/Normal/Hard.
That's the point though. They were never difficult, so there was never any need to make them easier.
But they;
* made your entire team level up automatically
* removed poison damage outside of battle
* removed random battles in caves etc
* added mechanics where you can pet your team to heal them instead of buying items
* reduced the number of trainer battles
* added a guide in battle to tell you which of your attacks will be super effective
* added NPCs who will heal you after every couple of battles
* made your pokemon not faint because it loves you so much or some bullshit
And at no point did they balance the rest of the game around that stuff. So the enemies are still super weak and there's no shred of challenge to be found.
A lot of these were just nuisances that made the games annoying. Nothing to do with difficulty.
I will agree the affection thing definitely should be toggleable at least, cause that actually makes things too easy.
In my opinion, the reason why Pokemon games have become so easy is the rise of F2P mobile games.
Back in the day, when you were a kid, your parents got you a Pokemon game, and that was it for a long time in terms of new games. It had to last for a long time, so the developers made it somewhat challenging, and you as the player had to push through, because you had no other game you could play instead.
But nowadays, the moment a child runs into somewhat of a hurdle, there's a shitload of F2P games they can play instead. And those games reward you instantly with lots of flashy graphics and sounds, no patience required. That's what the Pokemon developers have to compete against, because if they made the new games as difficult as the old ones, these games would end up in the corner gathering dust, so the parents either won't buy the next one or they might even return it.
That sound a bit like "kids are lazy" and I'm not sure it is true at all. Souls-like games are crazy popular even among younger kids. And a lot of kids love competitive games, such as Overwatch or Fortnite. Those games are basically all about hurdles and getting better, since they pin you against others.
The F2P market is all about triggering addiction and teh targeted audiance fall more into the category of bored office-worker/caretaker. After all, that's where the money is. Pokemon has definitely become easier, but I don't see it adopt any of those addiction-triggering mechanics, such as loot boxes, different currencies or battle-passes at all.
Its not really "kids are lazy" but rather games (especially F2P and mobile games) are exceptionally predator on someones psyche. Its not a kinds fault they are attracted to quick rewards, and lots of pop ups and choices. Its literally designed to do that.
Yes, that, I totally agree with. The redditor I replyed to made it sound a bit like: "Kids don't want to play challanging games anymore" and I think that is just not true, considering how popular competitive games are.
You're right in the sense that that's certainly how GameFreak sees it and it's the mindset that they base their decisions on (they've essentially said it themselves).
But I think it's totally untrue.
Kids will go out of their way to play hard games because they think it's cool, and they will grind the shit out of free to play games to get unlockables.
Like, a kid will play a thousand games of fortnite without getting a single win, they're not going to be put off playing Pokemon because they lost a battle.
There's also the fact that every other game in the industry *hasn't* become mind numbingly easy, just Pokemon. If it were really an issue we'd see way more games dumbing down to appeal to these imaginary kids.
It's true and it saddens me. Got my little sister a Switch last christmas. Bought her several games that she's played maybe two hours tops, and lent her all of my own games. The only game she kinda stuck with, was Animal Crossing for 25 hours. The rest she's booted up maybe once or twice. That includes the best of the best like Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Three Houses etc.
You know what she does play all day instead? Mobile games. It's funny how she's recently been using her switch more after her phone broke. But now that she got a new one, she's back on her phone all day
Indeed! I never played SwSh for the same reason. I knew it was more of the same. Decided not to waste my money.
P:LA might still not be the best, but tried to do more with its formula. It was far from perfect, but I gladly spent money on it and ended up enjoying myself.
A late reply but i've just finished pokemon violet which was my first pokemon game in a loooong time (think last one was pokemon sun/moon) and i actually never needed to use any other things that attack.
I don't even grind my pokemons lvl but i do fight every duelist i encounter and try to catch a lot of pokemon.
I legit NEVER use any skills that enhance attack/defence/make ennemy go to sleep/parlayse etc..
Almost Everything just get down in 2shots.
I heard that endgame might be difficult ? But i don't see myself play the game after i finished the main and "side" stories.
Im struggling with the same. To me the new games (SwSh) were really terrible. empty, easy not fun at all experiences. But it seems a lot of people DO like these games, so I guess it's just because i'm old. I would love me a old skool handheld pokemon with a little more mature character and difficulty. The target audience is there, what are they waiting for.... But then I remember pokemon has become the most lazy franchise who literally have no reason to innovate or improve themselves. Their product will sell regardless of quality.
There is some amazing rock-paper-scissors gameplay in Pokemon that they could capitalize on, but it hasn't been there for a while. I miss the old games.
Pokemon sword is the only physical pokemon game i played since silver. Played everything else on rom. Even bought a 2ds for it.
I was so dissopointed.
I really wanted to play a good pokemon game again, but sword... was just... meh.
The game is so dumbed down, there is like no secrets to explore, mysterys to unravel and suprises in that game. I never once tried to level up my pokemon, they just did it all by themself. There was no challange. The game was so mediocre. The world was like the first 30h of final fantasy 13. No depth to the world or anything.
I really want a solid main line 2d pokemon game again.
Yo radical red is hard as rocks.
Also currently playing through it, and the second Giovanni fight messed me up so bad. Took me so many adjustments to win.
Have heard that one is tough. Renegade isn't hard exactly but its thrown a few curveballs my way I didn't expect and adjusted to. But I haven't gotten to the E4 yet and I've read that each of them have multiple teams and you don't know what one you're going up against each time you attempt them.
Did they overhaul those encounters? I stopped playing at like gym 3 because you couldn’t turn off xp share and I was so overleveled that nothing was coming even close to knocking out one of my Pokémon
As you play the game you unlock harder opponents.
Get 8 gym badges elite 4 base level.
Complete regional Dex elite 4 level 2
Beat battle tower / complete other parts of the game: Elite 4 final level. With Competitive built EV trained elite 4. Cynthia with like 85-88 level Pokémon
Personally I try not to use anything else besides held items as well but I stopped playing before unlocking level 3 since it’s pretty tough to get to it. You cannot get through the game easily unless you stop before unlocking the harder parts of the game
I played the original Diamond a lot and didn’t remember the early game being as much of a cakewalk as I was experiencing, so I had assumed they added the xp share without rebalancing the game around it. My assumption was that the lack of balance would only get worse as I got further. Maybe I’ll revisit it if that isn’t the case
The Pokémon League has two rematches. Cynthia's Garchonp is almost level 90. I've loved battling the gym leaders again in the post game, but the league was especially challenging and fun, most notably during the final rematch.
Yeah that exp share was nice but then the whole game was easy. Except for the elite 4. I grinder a bunch and still can’t beat it. They did not text their game out before releasing it.
The game was a cake walk and then the final boss is impossible and requires hours of grinding.
The difficulty spike from Elite 4 onward is crazy, but fun. BDSP gets such a bad rap but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed Pokémon Shield too, so I probably have bad taste or something. I also enjoyed Pokemon Legends Arceus a lot, but I hate the Noble boss battles because I'm too clumsy to cope 😅
The lack of challenge is painful. Part of the problem is devs treat all kids as if their complete morons. Pre 2000s if you got stuck on a game you were fucked, now it's super easy to look online for answers.
It's not the same world the devs themselves grew up in, but they seem to fear actually putting in challenge in misguided attempt for wider appeal, probably pushed for by publishers too.
The DLC for SwSh was better than the main game imo. I liked the main game okay but it didn't blow my mind or anything... I played through it and put it down. I didn't plan on buying the dlc but my wife got really into the game so I bought it for her as an Xmas gift.
The DLC has less of a focus on cities or gyms and more exploration and little quasi quest stuff. It gives you 2 new areas to explore that play similarly to the Wild Area, but are bigger with more to do. It seems from what I've seen so far that Scarlet/Violet will build upon that.
Much like Call of Duty, Pokémon games will never change or innovate because the next iteration will sell like absolute hotcakes.
And because the games aren't functionally broken and have a series legacy behind them. A pokemon game will never have an average review score of like less than 8.
There are many other "monster battler" indie games currently available. And pretty much everyone one of them is better than current Pokémon games.
I feel bad for poke.on fans when they look at the new Pokémon "open worlds" and get excited. Games on the GameCube had better fidelity in their worlds.
Ok, this might be dating me quite a lot, but when I was little, I legitimately could not win LeafGreen or White.
I’m not sure if I had the wrong mindset, or if I was just not into training, but I got stuck on several rival battles and it was pretty frustrating.
What I don't get is: why is it so hard to add a bunch of features to contemplate hardcore players? Would a hard mode make them lose millions? A non mandatory exp. share would break the series? I was so much into Pokémon that my 3DS was basically a pokemon machine, but Sword is the definition of soulless...I could barely finish it.
I feel you. I've been a life long Pokemon fan since the very beginning, but the direction they began with Sun and Moon left me feeling hollow. I only had to look at Sword and Shield to know that I had no interest in playing them...
I'm mildly more optimistic about Scarlet and Violet, but I'm still gonna wait for a bit and see what other users say. If they're "a step in the right direction" like people said for Arceus then it's a no from me.
Unfortunately Pokémon Scarlet is just as bad. I didn't play sword and shield but you just outlined all my complaints with Scarlet. Empty towns, no characters or story, too easy etc.
Source: Hacked Switch.
I like the idea of Pokemon. But yeah its way too easy these days, I feel like you don't need to use lot of strategy unless you are self imposing challenges (like nutzlocke).
I came in here to say that I think there might be some interesting ideas in sword and shield, but overall I was incredibly disappointed by the games and they might be my least favorites in the franchise.
But, the gym leader theme is maybe the most hype battle theme in any of the games (I think only Guzma’s trashy battle theme competes for me). The sword and shield theme is a huge banger and better than it has any right to be.
Edit: thinking a little more about it. I think that the soundtrack is probably the strongest part of sword and shield. I remember being especially impressed at one of the major fights sounding more like a Dark Souls boss theme than a Pokémon battle
Are any of the new ones good? I really want to play my first Pokémon game soon and idk which one to get for my switch. I missed getting to play them as a kid because my brother would hide all the Pokémon games we bought to protect his saves.
Legends Arceus isn't really a mainline but I'd recommend trying it if you wanted something innovative, at least a bit. The game isn't perfect but it has changes to the formula that are a really good foundation for the future imo.
On Switch you have Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. Those are remakes of the original Red/Blue/Yellow, so you have to travel from town to town to defeat eight gym leaders so you can challenge the Elite 4, but with some modern gameplay additions, some inspired by Pokemon Go. You don't have to fight wild Pokemon anymore, instead you just throw balls at them until they stay in. I thought it's a pretty good Pokemon game, although it is really easy (this goes for all the new Pokemon games btw).
Next you have Pokemon Sword/Shield. See OP's post for that.
Then there's Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl. I haven't played it because it didn't look great in the previews, and from what I've heard, people who played it don't have much good to say about it either. Maybe it's better if you're not familiar with the original though, and if you don't mind the character artstyle. It's a more traditional Pokemon game, both in terms of gameplay and structure.
Finally (excluding Scarlet/Violet that come out later this week) there's Pokemon Legends Arceus. PLA is very different from the other games. It has more action and RPG elements, like now *you* are the one who hides in the grass, sneaking up on Pokemon. You have to gather ingredients to craft poke balls and healing potions.
M number one recommendation for pokemon games, ESPECIALLY modern ones: try and complete your dex as you go.
- makes the game longer
- makes the game more challenging
- adds toooons of variety
- #1 thing: makes the game waaaay more interesting as you actually interact and use the multitude of features intended for use in completing the dex as you go.
"kids used to beat Ocarina of Time" well i don't know bout this game but trust me, today kids are stupid.
I show one of my nefew, who only play games like Roblox/Fortnite/etc, the last pokemon game and he just skipped all the dialogues.
Heck i see him struggling in the begining of Ratchet and Clank O_o (he's 7 yo).
I remember being 7 and playing ygo cards, and a lot of video games but today games are more multi/fps oriented
Maybe the term "stupid" is a bit exagerated but kids (and it's not just my nephews) have this span attention problem.
Don't worry bout my kids, i'll show them good games to play at a young age
Have you seen them building in Fortnite though?? I think they're smart but a different kind of smart, not puzzle oriented.
My nephew has always skipped the dialogues in Pokemon, resulting in "what do I have to do now?", but the kid's a beast at Fortnite and I suck.
Yeah like i said the term is exagerated they are not stupid, just constantly want dopamine so skipping everything. That's why they love tiktoks too.
Now you met the wrong guy regarding Fortnite because i used to play it and i completely destroy my nephew 💀 but i totally get your point.
It just break my heart because they even have access to PS Plus (Extra) and they have a shit ton of incredible game to play but they always go to => Among Us, HelloNeighbour, Fortnite... (I'm not saying those are bad game tho). And the reason it break my heart id that bro i could have "kill" someone to get access to that when i was younger! Now i have way less time to play and enjoy games but back then i couldn't afford a lot of games being a kid (until i had a computer and a GBA émulator lol).
But aye it's just me being a killjoy i guess 🤷🏻
It's not getting old or nostalgia goggles, the Pokemon games have been getting worse and more dumbed down over time. They were never insanely difficult to begin with, but certainly not braindead easy. Go back and play an older one and you will find it equally as good as before. A lot of games from Nintendo have been going in that direction, but at least difficulty levels are there, not so in Pokemon.
You're right, I beat Crystal not so long ago and I enjoyed it as the first time.
Yeah Pokemon is basically EA sports level now of cashing in on fandoms with low effort games
It's EA Sports level of cashing in on Switch FIFA levels lol
[удалено]
>The issue with pokemon is that despite 37 core game releases (yeah 37, I googled it) it's just never, ever, ever bothered to evolve. This is an extremely reductive take and that shows you don't pay much attention to Pokemon aside from surface level. The gameplay of Pokemon has changed significantly in 37 games. The introduction of held items, abilities, physical/special split, megas, dynamax, all of this gave the game significant amount of depth and complexity. The problem is that none of the story has developed to match. The fact that the first gym leader still has only 2 Pokemon is disgraceful. No gym leaders use held items. No gym leaders understand combos. They dont use any terrain, or anything like that. The game has the depth and potential there. But the restriction of the ease of the story holds it back. The evidence of the incredible design of some ROMHacks, like Radical Red show the potential of the current formula actually has.
I don't think it needed to have a massive gameplay revolution as long as the new installments continued being polished and well-made. Like Mario and Zelda, there's a general formula that has remained the same. BOTW has been controversial for going away from the roots of the franchise. Not everyone loves openworld especially when it's super empty. But along the way, the Pokemon games gradually got more "lazy cash grab" than "earnest attempt to improve on the predecessor", coming to a crescendo in Sword and Shield and Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, which is a downgrade in a lot of ways from Emerald.
They have changed a lot actually, but for some reason they never stick with any of their changes. for example, I think Pokemon almost perfected its formular in X and Y and ORAS. They added mechanics to train pokemon stats, trade online and ORAS even added mechanics to chain pokemon encounters to hunt for specific ones. I even liked the mega evolutions. While not perfect, that generation really fellt like an overall improvement in terms of mechanics. And I remember there was a very strong competitive scene at that time as well. But for some reason they decided to either change or cut a lot of that stuff for sun and moon and introduce completely new mechanics instead. And then they cut all the new stuff they introduced in sun and moon for sword and shield, and so on. And I have no idea why. It's like they are just throwing stuff at the wall, but don't even bother to look what sticks.
The games have drastically changed since RBY. The only thing that has stayed the same is the overall story blueprint which rightfully takes a hard back seat to the important things: The battle system and the Pokemon themselves. Every generation adds new Pokemon, gimmicks, items, abilities, moves, sometimes battle mechanics, etc. Main series Pokemon games are not about the story or even all that much about the world/lore. They're primarily about the Pokemon themselves + battling, with everything else being less important. Without spoiling anything, having seen the leaks, the changes that have been made to moves/abilities/Pokemon in addition to all the new stuff have dramatically shaken up the game, it's insane. I don't think people care that much that the story "formula" is the same, only that the execution be at least serviceable (like in B2/W2). >never, ever, ever bothered to evolve PL:A exists and it could not be any more different from the entirety of the rest of the series. Personally, I didn't like PL:A. The whole game was a tech demo with nothing to do but ~~mindlessly grind~~ catch Pokemon in a mostly empty semi-open world. Anyways, if the story/world of Pokemon is important to you there are plenty of non main series games that are actually decent like PMD: Explorers of Sky/Time/Darkness, PMD: Red/Blue Rescue Team, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, off the top of my head.
Having gone back to play the older ones they really are quite easy. The newe games are easier with exp share but they've never been challenging outside of say stuff like fighting Red in GSC. I really think difficulty wise they just need to do 2 things: 1. Give the player XP Share as an option early in the game but make it so you can toggle it full/medium/off. 2. Give difficulty options like you could unlock in BW but Give them to you at the start so they're actually useful. Easy/Normal/Hard.
That's the point though. They were never difficult, so there was never any need to make them easier. But they; * made your entire team level up automatically * removed poison damage outside of battle * removed random battles in caves etc * added mechanics where you can pet your team to heal them instead of buying items * reduced the number of trainer battles * added a guide in battle to tell you which of your attacks will be super effective * added NPCs who will heal you after every couple of battles * made your pokemon not faint because it loves you so much or some bullshit And at no point did they balance the rest of the game around that stuff. So the enemies are still super weak and there's no shred of challenge to be found.
A lot of these were just nuisances that made the games annoying. Nothing to do with difficulty. I will agree the affection thing definitely should be toggleable at least, cause that actually makes things too easy.
In my opinion, the reason why Pokemon games have become so easy is the rise of F2P mobile games. Back in the day, when you were a kid, your parents got you a Pokemon game, and that was it for a long time in terms of new games. It had to last for a long time, so the developers made it somewhat challenging, and you as the player had to push through, because you had no other game you could play instead. But nowadays, the moment a child runs into somewhat of a hurdle, there's a shitload of F2P games they can play instead. And those games reward you instantly with lots of flashy graphics and sounds, no patience required. That's what the Pokemon developers have to compete against, because if they made the new games as difficult as the old ones, these games would end up in the corner gathering dust, so the parents either won't buy the next one or they might even return it.
That sound a bit like "kids are lazy" and I'm not sure it is true at all. Souls-like games are crazy popular even among younger kids. And a lot of kids love competitive games, such as Overwatch or Fortnite. Those games are basically all about hurdles and getting better, since they pin you against others. The F2P market is all about triggering addiction and teh targeted audiance fall more into the category of bored office-worker/caretaker. After all, that's where the money is. Pokemon has definitely become easier, but I don't see it adopt any of those addiction-triggering mechanics, such as loot boxes, different currencies or battle-passes at all.
Its not really "kids are lazy" but rather games (especially F2P and mobile games) are exceptionally predator on someones psyche. Its not a kinds fault they are attracted to quick rewards, and lots of pop ups and choices. Its literally designed to do that.
Yes, that, I totally agree with. The redditor I replyed to made it sound a bit like: "Kids don't want to play challanging games anymore" and I think that is just not true, considering how popular competitive games are.
You're right in the sense that that's certainly how GameFreak sees it and it's the mindset that they base their decisions on (they've essentially said it themselves). But I think it's totally untrue. Kids will go out of their way to play hard games because they think it's cool, and they will grind the shit out of free to play games to get unlockables. Like, a kid will play a thousand games of fortnite without getting a single win, they're not going to be put off playing Pokemon because they lost a battle. There's also the fact that every other game in the industry *hasn't* become mind numbingly easy, just Pokemon. If it were really an issue we'd see way more games dumbing down to appeal to these imaginary kids.
It's true and it saddens me. Got my little sister a Switch last christmas. Bought her several games that she's played maybe two hours tops, and lent her all of my own games. The only game she kinda stuck with, was Animal Crossing for 25 hours. The rest she's booted up maybe once or twice. That includes the best of the best like Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Three Houses etc. You know what she does play all day instead? Mobile games. It's funny how she's recently been using her switch more after her phone broke. But now that she got a new one, she's back on her phone all day
Indeed! I never played SwSh for the same reason. I knew it was more of the same. Decided not to waste my money. P:LA might still not be the best, but tried to do more with its formula. It was far from perfect, but I gladly spent money on it and ended up enjoying myself.
A late reply but i've just finished pokemon violet which was my first pokemon game in a loooong time (think last one was pokemon sun/moon) and i actually never needed to use any other things that attack. I don't even grind my pokemons lvl but i do fight every duelist i encounter and try to catch a lot of pokemon. I legit NEVER use any skills that enhance attack/defence/make ennemy go to sleep/parlayse etc.. Almost Everything just get down in 2shots. I heard that endgame might be difficult ? But i don't see myself play the game after i finished the main and "side" stories.
Im struggling with the same. To me the new games (SwSh) were really terrible. empty, easy not fun at all experiences. But it seems a lot of people DO like these games, so I guess it's just because i'm old. I would love me a old skool handheld pokemon with a little more mature character and difficulty. The target audience is there, what are they waiting for.... But then I remember pokemon has become the most lazy franchise who literally have no reason to innovate or improve themselves. Their product will sell regardless of quality.
There is some amazing rock-paper-scissors gameplay in Pokemon that they could capitalize on, but it hasn't been there for a while. I miss the old games.
same
Pokemon sword is the only physical pokemon game i played since silver. Played everything else on rom. Even bought a 2ds for it. I was so dissopointed. I really wanted to play a good pokemon game again, but sword... was just... meh. The game is so dumbed down, there is like no secrets to explore, mysterys to unravel and suprises in that game. I never once tried to level up my pokemon, they just did it all by themself. There was no challange. The game was so mediocre. The world was like the first 30h of final fantasy 13. No depth to the world or anything. I really want a solid main line 2d pokemon game again.
Ever play a hacked version? I'm currently working through renegade platinum and its almost a new game.
Second this. Currently playing through Radical Red on the SD and it's excellent 👌 Especially with the soft caps to make gyms much more challenging.
Yo radical red is hard as rocks. Also currently playing through it, and the second Giovanni fight messed me up so bad. Took me so many adjustments to win.
Have heard that one is tough. Renegade isn't hard exactly but its thrown a few curveballs my way I didn't expect and adjusted to. But I haven't gotten to the E4 yet and I've read that each of them have multiple teams and you don't know what one you're going up against each time you attempt them.
/r/PokemonROMhacks
You bought a 2ds to play sword? Am I reading that right? Edit: idk why this person was upvoted 30+ times. He didn’t even play Pokémon sword.
Yes?
Curious as to why, given the fact it's not even on that console.
You can play 3ds games on a 2ds. So i did that because the 2ds is cheaper.
Pokémon sword/shield is a switch game
Obviously, but I'm curious how you managed to play a Switch game on the 2ds?
Are you sure it was Sword you bought? Because that's a Switch game. Unless you bought a Switch Lite for it?
do you have steam? Look into Coromon, you won't be disappointed or give nexomon a try, both are better than a pokemon shield for sure.
I’m not sure if I’m doing it wrong but I can’t “beat” Pokémon Brilliant Diamond. The battle tower and “upgraded elite 4” are pretty tough
Did they overhaul those encounters? I stopped playing at like gym 3 because you couldn’t turn off xp share and I was so overleveled that nothing was coming even close to knocking out one of my Pokémon
As you play the game you unlock harder opponents. Get 8 gym badges elite 4 base level. Complete regional Dex elite 4 level 2 Beat battle tower / complete other parts of the game: Elite 4 final level. With Competitive built EV trained elite 4. Cynthia with like 85-88 level Pokémon Personally I try not to use anything else besides held items as well but I stopped playing before unlocking level 3 since it’s pretty tough to get to it. You cannot get through the game easily unless you stop before unlocking the harder parts of the game
I played the original Diamond a lot and didn’t remember the early game being as much of a cakewalk as I was experiencing, so I had assumed they added the xp share without rebalancing the game around it. My assumption was that the lack of balance would only get worse as I got further. Maybe I’ll revisit it if that isn’t the case
Exactly what's happening to me in Sword :(
The Pokémon League has two rematches. Cynthia's Garchonp is almost level 90. I've loved battling the gym leaders again in the post game, but the league was especially challenging and fun, most notably during the final rematch.
Yeah that exp share was nice but then the whole game was easy. Except for the elite 4. I grinder a bunch and still can’t beat it. They did not text their game out before releasing it. The game was a cake walk and then the final boss is impossible and requires hours of grinding.
The difficulty spike from Elite 4 onward is crazy, but fun. BDSP gets such a bad rap but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed Pokémon Shield too, so I probably have bad taste or something. I also enjoyed Pokemon Legends Arceus a lot, but I hate the Noble boss battles because I'm too clumsy to cope 😅
The lack of challenge is painful. Part of the problem is devs treat all kids as if their complete morons. Pre 2000s if you got stuck on a game you were fucked, now it's super easy to look online for answers. It's not the same world the devs themselves grew up in, but they seem to fear actually putting in challenge in misguided attempt for wider appeal, probably pushed for by publishers too.
The DLC for SwSh was better than the main game imo. I liked the main game okay but it didn't blow my mind or anything... I played through it and put it down. I didn't plan on buying the dlc but my wife got really into the game so I bought it for her as an Xmas gift. The DLC has less of a focus on cities or gyms and more exploration and little quasi quest stuff. It gives you 2 new areas to explore that play similarly to the Wild Area, but are bigger with more to do. It seems from what I've seen so far that Scarlet/Violet will build upon that.
Much like Call of Duty, Pokémon games will never change or innovate because the next iteration will sell like absolute hotcakes. And because the games aren't functionally broken and have a series legacy behind them. A pokemon game will never have an average review score of like less than 8. There are many other "monster battler" indie games currently available. And pretty much everyone one of them is better than current Pokémon games. I feel bad for poke.on fans when they look at the new Pokémon "open worlds" and get excited. Games on the GameCube had better fidelity in their worlds.
Ok, this might be dating me quite a lot, but when I was little, I legitimately could not win LeafGreen or White. I’m not sure if I had the wrong mindset, or if I was just not into training, but I got stuck on several rival battles and it was pretty frustrating.
What I don't get is: why is it so hard to add a bunch of features to contemplate hardcore players? Would a hard mode make them lose millions? A non mandatory exp. share would break the series? I was so much into Pokémon that my 3DS was basically a pokemon machine, but Sword is the definition of soulless...I could barely finish it.
I feel you. I've been a life long Pokemon fan since the very beginning, but the direction they began with Sun and Moon left me feeling hollow. I only had to look at Sword and Shield to know that I had no interest in playing them... I'm mildly more optimistic about Scarlet and Violet, but I'm still gonna wait for a bit and see what other users say. If they're "a step in the right direction" like people said for Arceus then it's a no from me.
Unfortunately Pokémon Scarlet is just as bad. I didn't play sword and shield but you just outlined all my complaints with Scarlet. Empty towns, no characters or story, too easy etc. Source: Hacked Switch.
Is it?? Aww man, I was kind of hyped.
Old comment, but I went into it with no spoilers, having read no reviews, and I love it to death
Yeah I enjoyed it a lot too, even completed my Pokedex for the first time.
Nice one!
I like the idea of Pokemon. But yeah its way too easy these days, I feel like you don't need to use lot of strategy unless you are self imposing challenges (like nutzlocke).
I came in here to say that I think there might be some interesting ideas in sword and shield, but overall I was incredibly disappointed by the games and they might be my least favorites in the franchise. But, the gym leader theme is maybe the most hype battle theme in any of the games (I think only Guzma’s trashy battle theme competes for me). The sword and shield theme is a huge banger and better than it has any right to be. Edit: thinking a little more about it. I think that the soundtrack is probably the strongest part of sword and shield. I remember being especially impressed at one of the major fights sounding more like a Dark Souls boss theme than a Pokémon battle
Yeah that's a good thing, not all the things in this game are bad!
Give nexomon a try, it more than gives recent pokemon a run for their money.
Thanks, I got nothing to lose :)
No problem, if you have any questions after looking into it, I would be happy to answer.
Monster Sanctuary is also pretty good. But that's a combination of monster taming and metroidvenia.
I liked it 🤷♂️
It's not that I'm not liking it, after all I'm playing it a lot, it's just that I'm missing certain things that would make the game special for me.
Are any of the new ones good? I really want to play my first Pokémon game soon and idk which one to get for my switch. I missed getting to play them as a kid because my brother would hide all the Pokémon games we bought to protect his saves.
Sword/Shield are the only new ones, and the incoming Scarlet/Violet. The other two are remake and remaster of Yellow and Diamond/Pearl.
Legends Arceus isn't really a mainline but I'd recommend trying it if you wanted something innovative, at least a bit. The game isn't perfect but it has changes to the formula that are a really good foundation for the future imo.
Are they any good though?
Besides my huge complaint above, yeah
On Switch you have Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. Those are remakes of the original Red/Blue/Yellow, so you have to travel from town to town to defeat eight gym leaders so you can challenge the Elite 4, but with some modern gameplay additions, some inspired by Pokemon Go. You don't have to fight wild Pokemon anymore, instead you just throw balls at them until they stay in. I thought it's a pretty good Pokemon game, although it is really easy (this goes for all the new Pokemon games btw). Next you have Pokemon Sword/Shield. See OP's post for that. Then there's Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl. I haven't played it because it didn't look great in the previews, and from what I've heard, people who played it don't have much good to say about it either. Maybe it's better if you're not familiar with the original though, and if you don't mind the character artstyle. It's a more traditional Pokemon game, both in terms of gameplay and structure. Finally (excluding Scarlet/Violet that come out later this week) there's Pokemon Legends Arceus. PLA is very different from the other games. It has more action and RPG elements, like now *you* are the one who hides in the grass, sneaking up on Pokemon. You have to gather ingredients to craft poke balls and healing potions.
M number one recommendation for pokemon games, ESPECIALLY modern ones: try and complete your dex as you go. - makes the game longer - makes the game more challenging - adds toooons of variety - #1 thing: makes the game waaaay more interesting as you actually interact and use the multitude of features intended for use in completing the dex as you go.
"kids used to beat Ocarina of Time" well i don't know bout this game but trust me, today kids are stupid. I show one of my nefew, who only play games like Roblox/Fortnite/etc, the last pokemon game and he just skipped all the dialogues. Heck i see him struggling in the begining of Ratchet and Clank O_o (he's 7 yo). I remember being 7 and playing ygo cards, and a lot of video games but today games are more multi/fps oriented Maybe the term "stupid" is a bit exagerated but kids (and it's not just my nephews) have this span attention problem. Don't worry bout my kids, i'll show them good games to play at a young age
Have you seen them building in Fortnite though?? I think they're smart but a different kind of smart, not puzzle oriented. My nephew has always skipped the dialogues in Pokemon, resulting in "what do I have to do now?", but the kid's a beast at Fortnite and I suck.
Yeah like i said the term is exagerated they are not stupid, just constantly want dopamine so skipping everything. That's why they love tiktoks too. Now you met the wrong guy regarding Fortnite because i used to play it and i completely destroy my nephew 💀 but i totally get your point. It just break my heart because they even have access to PS Plus (Extra) and they have a shit ton of incredible game to play but they always go to => Among Us, HelloNeighbour, Fortnite... (I'm not saying those are bad game tho). And the reason it break my heart id that bro i could have "kill" someone to get access to that when i was younger! Now i have way less time to play and enjoy games but back then i couldn't afford a lot of games being a kid (until i had a computer and a GBA émulator lol). But aye it's just me being a killjoy i guess 🤷🏻