On the fence about buying Pokemon Sword. Does the lack of challenge make the game less enjoyable to play?

[DaiJyoubs]

I just finished US/UM this morning (trying to prep my living dex before Home) and the mere fact I can have EXP share off made the game so much more difficult and fun than Sword/Shield. Now, between the fantastic new Pokémon, awesome soundtrack, and neat scenery, there's still a lot of awesome stuff there but to get even a remote challenge, you can never stop moving. Even if you just kill a few extra Pokémon, you start to get much stronger than anyone else.
Honestly, between the lack of difficulty in any capacity, the poorly designed routes and region, and the awful story, you can skip the game if you want. Still though, it's Pokémon and it's still fun.

 

[Homura]

If you want an all around good RPG don't buy this.
If you want a monster collecting and raising game then this will be perfect for you.

 

[Milennia]

I steamrolled it without grinding at all, my biggest let down was the lack of real caves and base raids etc. I really didn't like the story in this game
Can't emphasize that enough actually, they could even release a feasible path B version of the game and you would actually see more scenario which is just awful
The post game including the BT and competitive play/shiny hunting is actually really great though, it's been keeping a lot of people I talk to regularly engaged
Even the max raid grinding didn't get old for a lot of people i've noticed through twitter

 

[Tan]

It's very easy. But I'm playing through TemTem at the moment and finding the added challenge, which is coming only from a need to grind and use healing items, does nothing to affect my enjoyment of the game.
If you're looking for a difficult or challenging game, I wouldn't recommend any pokemon game, old or new. But that depends on what kind of challenge you're looking for I suppose.

 

[VPplaya]

It was the only main series pokemon game I put down almost immediately after beating it. The lack of challenge was a massive component of that. I'm sorry, but being consistently 3-4 levels ahead of nearly everything in the game, without having any say in the matter, is completely ridiculous. The story is also hilariously bad, if you care about that sort of thing.

That being said, I think your best bet would be to just wait until the dlc comes out, where hopefully you can find a cheaper used copy somewhere.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Just use several teams and you'll be fine, OP.

Sword is the second Pokémon game I've beaten and I had a lot of fun with it.

 

[Lobster Roll]

I don't think anybody has ever played Pokemon because it's difficult. It's just fun to collect, assemble, and deploy a team of Pokemon that are unique to you where each one has its own type coverages and moments to shine. If you're looking for a *difficult* game, Pokemon might not be it, but it's still fun for other reasons.

 

[Pirate Bae]

It's pretty difficult if you're into completing the Pokedex. Grinding for hours for a 2% spawn Pokemon...yikes

But as far as battles go, no, it's not hard.

 

[Cyberninja776]

Going by your original post, there really isn't much for you to do. You'd be much better served by any of the other RPGs on Switch if you don't care about collecting the Pokemon.

 

[Moist_Owlet]

If you are looking for a collecting things RPG, SMTIV on 3DS has a way better difficulty curve, better story, better maps, and better battle mechanics than Sw/Sh by a country mile. SMTIV isn't even a particularly great game either.

I steamrolled it without grinding at all, my biggest let down was the lack of real caves and base raids etc. I really didn't like the story in this game
Can't emphasize that enough actually, they could even release a feasible path B version of the game and you would actually see more scenario which is just awful
The post game including the BT and competitive play/shiny hunting is actually really great though, it's been keeping a lot of people I talk to regularly engaged
Even the max raid grinding didn't get old for a lot of people i've noticed through twitter

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I keep hearing that it's ok if you don't grind or catch too many pokemon (because battles from catching pokemon also ridiculously level up everyone in your party), but when the solution to the piss-poor difficulty is to not engage with one of the core mechanics of the game (catching pokemon) then maybe the game is shit. Better route design would have made up for this by giving something interesting to navigate, but instead we get hallway from beginning to end with one braindead easy battle after another.

Also the wild area runs like dogshit when connected online.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

It's pretty difficult if you're into completing the Pokedex. Grinding for hours for a 2% spawn Pokemon...yikes

But as far as battles go, no, it's not hard.

Click to shrink...

That's not difficulty. That's tedious.

 

[regenhuber]

I know the "Sekiro Easy Mode" is a contentious topic but Pokemon really needs a hard mode.

Played Sword at the hospital for a couple of days (4 gym Badges) and the so called difficulty is insulting.

Go to a gym, figure out what element works best and one shot everything. Rinse repeat.
That's the game.

 

[Magnemania]

you can kinda force the game into having difficulty by skipping ~60% of the content and beelining for the gyms while dodging every trainer you see and only catching the pokemon you're considering for the team

you definitely don't get a $60 experience by doing that

 

[HK-47]

It's pretty difficult if you're into completing the Pokedex. Grinding for hours for a 2% spawn Pokemon...yikes

But as far as battles go, no, it's not hard.

Click to shrink...

That's not difficulty. That's just tedium

 

[ThisIsBlitz21]

There's zero challenge in this game. Think X/Y amount.

Its your call. I personally had some fun with it.

 

[Jessie]

I didn't like it, but I still think you should play it.

 

[Deleted member 51691]

If you need difficulty to find enjoyment in a game, SwSh probably isn't for you. You will have to go out of your way to rush through the story to find a semblance of challenge. I personally didn't mind steamrolling through fools but that might not be everyone's cup of tea.

 

[spam musubi]

Beyond the ease of combat, I found it pretty tedious to play because of how hand holdy and patronizing it is to play overall. It constantly railroads you and treats you like a child who has never played a video game before. I'm sure there is an audience for that, but 20 years in I just can't take it anymore.

 

[Moist_Owlet]

I didn't like it, but I still think you should play it.

Click to shrink...

There is stuff to like about it and you should try it.

But I would rather fly through rings in superman for N64 than play any more of Sw/Sh.

 

[Mario_Bones]

It sure does, if you're not into the multiplayer then don't even bother. You just walk in straight lines and mash the A button for most of the game

 

[defaltoption]

I think I'm ok with most of Game Freak's design decisions, I even think the game looks decent (despite not running in 60fps), but what I'm really worrying about, besides the meaningless dialogue and lack of replay value, is the seemingly nonexistent difficulty.

I imagine collecting Pokemon can be fun nevertheless, but I generally don't care about the collecting aspect.

From what I've read, in order to make the game somewhat challenging, you have to go out of your way and create self-imposed challenges, e.g. Nuzlocke runs.

If you already played the game, did the difficulty bother you? Any helpful insights? Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Click to shrink...

Yes it absolutely has an effect on how much fun it is, I am not a pro Pokémon player by any means and barely remember what Pokémon is super effective to what and i beat the game with 4 pokemon and one was a starter one was a free Pokémon they just give you and a third was the starter bird, youll always outlevel everyone and they constantly heal you everywhere you go so youll rarely need a Pokémon center. Only two battles were hard the final boss and the champion and both i beat first try with the revives they hand you right before the fight. Its insane how much this series refuses to cater to the long time fans in terms of pushing it forward. It was not fun at all and something i really only finished just because its Pokémon and my sister and I always get it and battle once we finish

 

[Milennia]

If you are looking for a collecting things RPG, SMTIV on 3DS has a way better difficulty curve, better story, better maps, and better battle mechanics than Sw/Sh by a country mile. SMTIV isn't even a particularly great game either.


I keep hearing that it's ok if you don't grind or catch too many pokemon (because battles from catching pokemon also ridiculously level up everyone in your party), but when the solution to the piss-poor difficulty is to not engage with one of the core mechanics of the game (catching pokemon) then maybe the game is shit. Better route design would have made up for this by giving something interesting to navigate, but instead we get hallway from beginning to end with one braindead easy battle after another.

Also the wild area runs like dogshit when connected online.

Click to shrink...

I'm not even saying it's good when you dont grind, i'm saying I just didnt grind and the game was still a joke, so it's not a solution at all

 

[PonyStation]

The game is too easy when you can spam Swords Dance 2x to start a match then KO every single Pokemon the other trainer has. The AI just throws its hands up and pretends there's no stat changes happening

 

[ResetGreyWolf]

Yes, it does make it less enjoyable, especially for a person like me who generally enjoys a great challenge in games. That said, I still thoroughly enjoyed Pokemon Sword for some reason. It was a fun ride.

 

[Betty]

I found it trickier than Sun & Moon, but mostly because I just rely on my main Pokemon to brute force the gyms rather than making a well rounded team.

It's very enjoyable though, has many quality of life improvements and is a must have for the Switch.

 

[ILikeFeet]

If you need difficulty to find enjoyment in a game, SwSh probably isn't for you. You will have to go out of your way to rush through the story to find a semblance of challenge. I personally didn't mind steamrolling through fools but that might not be everyone's cup of tea.

Click to shrink...

it's more that it needs difficulty to make up for the lack of other things to do. at least in my case it does. if you're not interested in catching pokemon, there just isn't anything here. the battling is fun, but there's not much worthy battling until the battle tower, but by then, you're probably sick of the game

 

[60fps]

Thanks for the input so far.

Beyond the ease of combat, I found it pretty tedious to play because of how hand holdy and patronizing it is to play overall. It constantly railroads you and treats you like a child who has never played a video game before. I'm sure there is an audience for that, but 20 years in I just can't take it anymore.

Click to shrink...

I read that a lot and I don't like that. On the other hand however I read takes like this:

Favorite Pokemon games outside red, blue, and yellow. Story didn't get in the way and a lot less hand holding in general. The wild areas and raid battles are extremely fun, and it looks like they are building on that in the expansions.

Also, the QOL improvements are amazing. Not sure I could ever go back to earlier Gens now.

Click to shrink...

and I'm left confused.

Yes it absolutely has an effect on how much fun it is, I am not a pro Pokémon player by any means and barely remember what Pokémon is super effective to what and i beat the game with 4 pokemon and one was a starter one was a free Pokémon they just give you and a third was the starter bird, youll always outlevel everyone and they constantly heal you everywhere you go so youll rarely need a Pokémon center. Only two battles were hard the final boss and the champion and both i beat first try with the revives they hand you right before the fight. Its insane how much this series refuses to cater to the long time fans in terms of pushing it forward.

Click to shrink...

Thanks. Yeah that doesn't sound too hot. I can't think of any reason not to include an optional "Hard Mode" for experienced players

If you need difficulty to find enjoyment in a game, SwSh probably isn't for you.

Click to shrink...

I don't need difficulty to enjoy games. I just would like some fundamental engagement in my games, like AI opponents having the same amount of Pokemon as the player, or making even somewhat intelligent decisions (as AI would imply) for example.

So I'm simply wondering if the lack of difficulty actually does make the game less enjoyable. I mean, the title says just that.

And reading comments like these doesn't make it sound like they got these things right:

The game is too easy when you can spam Swords Dance 2x to start a match then KO every single Pokemon the other trainer has. The AI just throws its hands up and pretends there's no stat changes happening

Click to shrink...

I generally don't care much about whether something is easy or difficult, so I don't think "being easy" is the games problem. The problem is that it isn't engaging even within its easy-ness. The games would still be pretty easy if trainers had more Pokémon or put a little thought into moves they used. Things like that, so long as the numbers were balanced and the ai wasn't tooooo smart would go a long way in making the games more engaging without being difficult.

And that's without mentioning the general lack of interesting level design, puzzles, worthwhile activities in towns, etc.

So if you're worried about challenge, I imagine you're worried about "just going through the motions", which is basically how this game works. You just float from one area to the next like you're in a lazy river, so I don't think you'd enjoy it.

Click to shrink...

 

[Aia]

It's too easy and worse thab FXIII corridors.. worst RPG in years. OST is great though.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

For me, it did. I didn't even make it to the halfway point before I gave up on the game. Frankly, the most boring entry in the series, if you're the type who wants any sort of challenge at all.

 

[Deleted member 59848]

The game is so easy even my 4-year-old son who can't read that well yet is unbeaten. Let's Go pikachu had more challenge than this.

It's still pretty fun overall. What spoils it is annoying characters like Hop. At least the post-championship baddies are kinda fun. The rest of the characters are utterly charmless.

 

[Fnnrqwin]

It's definitely too easy. Like, in the climax of the game it kind of just plays it for you. I was trying to get a specific nature for the Pokémon you catch so I used a level 1 Pokémon with Synchronize and never got attacked.

There are a a lot of other problems with the game, but I've put nearly 300 hours into it, so I'd say there's enough good about the game to make you overlook the difficulty.

 

[Murfield]

Thanks for the input so far.

I read that a lot and I don't like that. On the other hand however I read takes like this:

and I'm simply confused.

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For a pokemon game it gives you quite a lot of freedom. Especially after how constraining sun and moon were.
But again for a pokemon game.

In my view its the best pokemon game in years. I didn't find it so easy I could switch off completely. The only part where I really struggled was against the champion, mainly because his team countered mine quite hard.

 

[808s & Villainy]

I would say so. I'm not usually too bothered by a lack of challenge, but this was to the point I didn't have a huge motivation to keep playing. Catching Pokemon was the only real challenge, and that's because you had to worry about accidentally KOing things

 

[deroli]

Pokemon Sword was a fairly big disappointment to me. The whole game just ambled along without any high points. The lack of challenge definitely played a part in this.
I did not lose a single fight despite not having played a Pokemon game since Red and also not caring about any tactics. I still don't have a clue about the weaknesses/ strengths of less obvious types like fairy, dark or dragon. There wasn't any preperation needed for the gyms and the only criteria to become a part of my team were 1) to look cute or 2) being a Gen 1 Pokemon to fulfill my nostalgia. However I did use a lot of items and cheesed the final boss, which was the only challenge I had to face.

 

[Cronogear]

I feel like the only way to enjoy SwSh is if you enjoy catching Pokemon and doing raids/battles. Which to be fair, plenty of people do enjoy.

But if you're in it for literally any other reason, you're going to be disappointed. It's incredibly easy, linear, poorly written (even by Pokemon standards), and has little content outside of raids and online play. If you're just looking for a fun JRPG to play, there's a ton of better options out there, even on Switch.

 

[Benzychenz]

Have you played other recent games? I found it harder than gen 6 and 7.
I lost to the champion first go around.

 

[spam musubi]

Thanks for the input so far.



I read that a lot and I don't like that. On the other hand however I read takes like this:


and I'm left confused.



Thanks. Yeah that doesn't sound too hot. I can't think of any reason not to include an optional "Hard Mode" for experienced players



I don't need difficulty to enjoy games. I just would like some fundamental engagement in my games, like AI opponents having the same amount of Pokemon as the player, or making even somewhat intelligent decisions (as AI would imply) for example.

So I'm simply wondering if the lack of difficulty actually does make the game less enjoyable. I mean, the title says just that.

And reading comments like these doesn't make it sound like they got these things right:

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure what they're referring to when they say the "story is less hand holdy". I'm not concerned about the story (even though it feels comically unfinished in some places due to important events happening off screen or some cutscenes literally being storyboards). I was talking about the gameplay experience overall. Constant tutorialization, simplified mechanics and most enemy encounters requiring zero mental effort.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

It's not the difficulty that's the problem with SwSh, but the way the game is designed in general. A lot of the routes and progression between towns are straight lines and there are almost no dungeons in the games. It all feels very autopilot and themepark-y because of that.

 

[Moist_Owlet]

It's too easy and worse thab FXIII corridors.. worst RPG in years. OST is great though.

Click to shrink...

This 100%. I don't get how FFXIII gets the hate it does while Sw/Sh does the same thing but worse and gets a pass.

The game is extremely bad.

 

[Maple]

It's not the difficulty that's the problem with SwSh, but the way the game is designed in general. A lot of the routes and progression between towns are straight lines and there are almost no dungeons in the games. It all feels very autopilot and themepark-y because of that.

Click to shrink...

Agree with this. Not only are the battles beyond easy, but the world design itself is incredibly shallow and uninteresting. No dungeons, no optional areas, no ambiguity as to where you need to go next. The routes themselves are bizarrely short, especially in the second half of the game.

It's a completely scripted experience from start to finish - you board the ride at the beginning of the game, and when the credits roll at the end is when you can disembark. These games don't even feel like RPGs anymore.

I feel like Sword/Shield are easily the worst games in the series.

 

[Arithmetician]

I had to use revives against one of the gym leaders, but that was partly because I went in blind since the 4th gen so didn't know the typings of any 5th to 8th gen Pokemon and didn't understand the fairy type

 

[Rafavert]

What bugs me about this game's difficulty is that a lot of it would be solved if you just let us disable the Exp. Share.

Later on I almost only used Arctozolt, cuz it was the slowest growing Pokémon in my team. Everyone else caught up to it by the time it had leveled up. I had a Orbeetle in my team I only used a handful of times, yet there it was, same level, if not higher, than the rest.

That was, for me, the single worst decision in the game. If they patch that option, I'll definitely do a new playthrough, though.

 

[Agni Kai]

Fun fact: I'm visiting my girlfriend who is doing her postgraduate studies in Europe and I bought a copy of Pokemon Shield to play on her Switch (dear Lord this PEGI? rating number on the German box is HUGE) and I'm having a good time with the game. I love how colorful it is and I love the new Pokemon designs.

I sort of think names are not so original anymore though. There are good names here and there, but then I see Thwackey and a part of me dies inside.

 

[808s & Villainy]

If you want an all around good RPG don't buy this.
If you want a monster collecting and raising game then this will be perfect for you.

Click to shrink...

But Pokemon is an RPG. I never got why Pokemon games seem to only be compared to previous Pokemon games and not other titles in its genre

 

[GuEiMiRrIRoW]

If you have been playing every sibgle pokemon game, this o e will be a walk to the bakery shop.

but if you haven't like me (my last was x and y) it will be a little difficult.

but greatness comes from vs online.

 

[TheBiInBilingual]

Pokemon has never been hard. Ever.

You can also limit levelling up by not catching every single pokemon out there, since catching grants exp.

Also, put a little challenge on yourself by to never use super effective moves.

I did both of these things and the game was really enjoyable.

 

[cainhxrst]

It's easy but like you still need to have some level of awareness when playing. Despite the lack of challenge I did find it fun due to it's world and characters. Agreed on the idea that pokemon has never really been hard.

It's absolutely a solid RPG, just a very streamlined one almost designed like it was meant to be played by people with little time to spare.

 

[Greywaren]

Difficulty didn't bother me. I limited myself to just catching all new Pokémon I found and fighting only trainers and I was like 2-3 levels above the Champion when I got to him. That being said, the collecting aspect is what I love about Pokémon, I don't care that much about the challenge.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

honestly, it was still enjoyable but it's really glaring just how easy all battles but the last one in the main campaign were a breeze to go through.

 

[Bansai]

It did for me, first Pokemon game I've played since early 2000 and it's probably the last for another 10 years or so.

It baffles me that this game is so successful.