Nmanic
Bob-omb
- Pronouns
- He/Him
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.
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.