Discussion Pokémon and the Removal of Difficulty Options

[Nmanic]

This is my least favorite aspect of Switch era Pokémon. Ever since LGPE, exp share has been permanently on. Now, with Scarlet and Violet, you no longer have the option for set battles.

One common argument I run into is "Pokémon has always been easy! The target demographic is stupid 6 year olds!" But I have always resented this perspective, because, demographics aside, the simple presence of options like turning off exp share or using set battles made it possible for many folks like me to add a little spice to the experience. It's not like anyone is expecting SMT levels of difficulty from Pokémon-- it's that options continue to be removed that give us any way to make the games more enjoyable for those who like a little tension.

What annoys me the most about these changes is that, with exp share, their argument was essentially that most players used exp share, and anyone who wanted difficulty options could simply box the rest of their party. Beyond being impractical for enjoying a regular playthrough, I hated this explanation because it still doesn't explain why you would remove an option that, as far as I can see, wouldn't have been a particularly taxing development prospect.

And I'm similarly frustrated with the lack of set battling as an option. They probably thought similarly that most people kept switch battling on by default, and anyone who wants to set battle could just refuse the option to switch, but why remove an option we've had for decades? It just screams of a desire to remove any ability people had to add tension to their playthroughs. We shouldn't have to enforce our own rules for exp share and set battling when those have been simple toggles for the majority of the series.

Anyway, I really just wanted to start a discussion about this because it's far and away my least favorite thing about the Switch era of Pokémon. There are many things I've loved about the last four years and I even think I'll enjoy much of what ScVi has to offer, but I still wanted to air my grievances.

Sincerely, if this doesn't bother you, I hope you continue to enjoy Pokémon and that you can at least sympathize with why it may be bothersome to others.

 

[Brofield]

Honestly, I agree. Being forced to use EXP share means I don't have to take the time to properly explore an area, trying to find a certain rare Pokemon that only spawns based on arbitrary conditions or missing TMs hidden in the overworld. Hell, I don't know what generation they started but now when your rival picks the remaining starter that's weak to yours feels like some cheap bullshit. Did the leveling system get broke when my Fuecoco levels up immediately to level 6 right after the first battle? I know it sounds like a boomer take but like...my Squirtle fighting a Bulbasaur in Professor Oak's lab was a battle of attrition when the only damaging moves either knew were scratch and tackle, and you WORKED for victory.

I never even ran with the set battle option but almost 90% of the time I just pressed B to keep battling with the same Pokemon growing up. The removal of options really does hurt, not just from a difficulty perspective but also from a lack of accessibility. I feel like even the rival asking a subtle "Oh, I see you picked [Fire starter]. Do you think I should take [Grass starter] or [Water starter]?" as a way to select difficulty could be a feasible option. It might be a little too binary, but then the difficulty curve can adjust accordingly in the early hours before matching in the mid to late-game.

I don't even need all that mature a storyline (even I was a little taken aback in PLA where Cyllene actively tells the 16 year old child that feel from the sky in weird future clothes "Pull your weight here in this harsh land or you will be left to DIE"), but for all these changes being made for the sake of "Press A to win" should invite a similar scrutiny that God of War: Ragnarok is currently facing for having solutions to puzzles said out loud before you're given a chance to solve them. Kids played Pokemon Red and Blue with minimal instructions plus a condescending rival, and it made us stronger for it where victory at the end of the Elite Four felt earned (also hella boomer take but tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I'm wrong.) It's not to say "my generation was better", but that you can trust kids to know what to do. It feels like the most aggravating helicopter parent gripping your hand when attempting to play these newer games.

 

[Zellia]

It's telling that the one time they implemented difficulty levels, in BW2. they did so in the most stupid and inaccessible way possible. Locking Challenge Mode behind beating one version (or finding someone who had) was stupid. Locking Easy Mode in a similar manner behind the other version was mind-bogglingly dumb. Sometimes I have to wonder if they came up with the most obtuse implementation possible, so they could claim nobody used it and then proceed to ignore it.

It's difficult to see how to get Game Freak to course correct on this though, since I think they just assume anyone wanting a challenge can go play competitive and removing Set just feels like they're doubling down on removing even options to make the game harder. I think that's ignoring a potentially sizeable minority demographic that now get their difficulty fix through romhacks instead. I don't want the games to be Radical Red hard, but an option for a Challenge Mode that is maybe around the level of a Drayano romhack would certainly be nice.

 

[Deleted member 2]

Locking Challenge Mode behind beating one version (or finding someone who had) was stupid. Locking Easy Mode in a similar manner behind the other version was mind-bogglingly dumb.

This is my least favorite of Game Freak's game design decisions. Absolutely terrible idea

 

[Nmanic]

Honestly, I agree. Being forced to use EXP share means I don't have to take the time to properly explore an area, trying to find a certain rare Pokemon that only spawns based on arbitrary conditions or missing TMs hidden in the overworld. Hell, I don't know what generation they started but now when your rival picks the remaining starter that's weak to yours feels like some cheap bullshit. Did the leveling system get broke when my Fuecoco levels up immediately to level 6 right after the first battle? I know it sounds like a boomer take but like...my Squirtle fighting a Bulbasaur in Professor Oak's lab was a battle of attrition when the only damaging moves either knew were scratch and tackle, and you WORKED for victory.

I never even ran with the set battle option but almost 90% of the time I just pressed B to keep battling with the same Pokemon growing up. The removal of options really does hurt, not just from a difficulty perspective but also from a lack of accessibility. I feel like even the rival asking a subtle "Oh, I see you picked [Fire starter]. Do you think I should take [Grass starter] or [Water starter]?" as a way to select difficulty could be a feasible option. It might be a little too binary, but then the difficulty curve can adjust accordingly in the early hours before matching in the mid to late-game.

I don't even need all that mature a storyline (even I was a little taken aback in PLA where Cyllene actively tells the 16 year old child that feel from the sky in weird future clothes "Pull your weight here in this harsh land or you will be left to DIE"), but for all these changes being made for the sake of "Press A to win" should invite a similar scrutiny that God of War: Ragnarok is currently facing for having solutions to puzzles said out loud before you're given a chance to solve them. Kids played Pokemon Red and Blue with minimal instructions plus a condescending rival, and it made us stronger for it where victory at the end of the Elite Four felt earned (also hella boomer take but tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I'm wrong.) It's not to say "my generation was better", but that you can trust kids to know what to do. It feels like the most aggravating helicopter parent gripping your hand when attempting to play these newer games.

It would be great if they did little things like letting you advise your rival if you want them to pick the starter who's strong against yours. I think it's a pretty weird change that they just give them the one you'll easily beat. It makes the first battles of the game set the tone of it being mindless button mashing.

Similarly, I think it would be cool if we could toggle the extra info under each move that tells us effectiveness. I don't mind this as much per se, but it does remove the incentive of figuring out type effectiveness.

To your last point, I agree. I think kids know when they're being condescended to, and on the other hand, they totally understand the sense of accomplishment that comes from overcoming something difficult. I have a feeling that a lot of the 20/30 year olds who make up Pokémon fandom now (myself included) wouldn't be nearly as invested if we didn't take it seriously as a kid when faced with tough battles like Gary, Lance, Red, Cynthia, etc... On the other hand, BW's difficulty spikes, while I like them, were a bit extreme. Maybe XY was an over correction for that criticism, because that's when the core difficulty really started to fall off a cliff (but we still had options before the Switch era!)

It's telling that the one time they implemented difficulty levels, in BW2. they did so in the most stupid and inaccessible way possible. Locking Challenge Mode behind beating one version (or finding someone who had) was stupid. Locking Easy Mode in a similar manner behind the other version was mind-bogglingly dumb. Sometimes I have to wonder if they came up with the most obtuse implementation possible, so they could claim nobody used it and then proceed to ignore it.

It's difficult to see how to get Game Freak to course correct on this though, since I think they just assume anyone wanting a challenge can go play competitive and removing Set just feels like they're doubling down on removing even options to make the game harder. I think that's ignoring a potentially sizeable minority demographic that now get their difficulty fix through romhacks instead. I don't want the games to be Radical Red hard, but an option for a Challenge Mode that is maybe around the level of a Drayano romhack would certainly be nice.

I really wonder if there's a core of people higher up at GameFreak that just strongly believe anyone who finds ways to make the games more difficult is doing it wrong somehow. I don't know, I'd personally love to meet and speak with these devs and pick their brains about the removal of options to try and understand their perspective (or to try and get them to consider the base of Pokémon fans who do value this stuff).

Gen 5 difficulty options were so frickin weird lmfao.


Personally, I think a great solution would be what Dragon Quest XI or Xenoblade 2 offer. You can customize all sorts of difficulty options to your liking with those. Giving us the ability to tone down exp gain, buff enemy levels/damage, etc would vastly improve the series for me

 

[Mekanos]

BW2 Challenge Mode was so good and it's a crime that 1) it has never been reused, 2) it was introduced in a hilariously convoluted way.

 

[VelvetMonkey]

Wow this is really disappointing. I'm even less excited to start these games now...

 

[NabiscoFelt]

Because of my personal playstyle changes (rotating parties of 12+ ftw) I actually found SwSh and PLA to be the most challenging Pokemon games I've ever played, but I agree that there's no reason to remove options. Kinda baffled by the disappearance of set mode honestly, even if I only used it once (SwSh). Wonder if it's a tech issue? Though can't fathom why

Overall it's not an issue that affects me overly much personally, since I don't really care too much about the difficulty of these games and never really have (the only time I can actually remember having problems besides the aforementioned Switch games was with my first Pokemon game, Emerald, and that's because I was 10 years old and ignored teambuilding entirely in favor of the classic "boy I wonder how much I can grind up this starter" route). But I also never used Set mode or turned off EXP share before.

That being said, yeah we need more options, not less, and I can totally get why people are disappointed at the continued lack of difficulty