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

[60fps]

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!

 

[ILikeFeet]

yes. there's not enough to make the piss easy game much more fun if you don't care about collecting or online battling. there's the battle tower, I guess, but that's post game

 

[catboy]

if you switch out your party as you're going you might be at a level where you actually lose some pokemon during fights

however the main story is honestly awful and i would not recommend buying it for that

it's amazing as a collecting pokemon game

 

[Unkindled]

It's very easy challenge wise if you can get over that part you might enjoy it.

 

[Odeko]

I would say so, yes. I had to constantly swap out my team to keep from getting woefully over leveled and just steamrolling everyone, and I still beat every gym on the first try pretty handily. Plus it kept me from having a close-nit party that I stick with the whole time which is my preferred way to play.

 

[Zalman]

It's not a difficult game, but I still found it very enjoyable nonetheless.

 

[EvilChameleon]

I beat Shield thrice. I only found them to be easier the Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. They were about on par with the original Sun & Moon and X & Y, to me at least. I will say that these games are fast though. You can beat a couple of gyms a day if you just barrel right through, because the routes and region are quite small.

 

[RDreamer]

I hadn't played a Pokémon game in a long long time so I picked up Shield. I didn't expect much but still came away disappointed. It's ridiculously easy. And the story kinda sucks. And the game feels so barebones compared to most RPGs. It feels like a $30 indie title or something.

 

[Fireblend]

I played the game with a "party" of ~16 Pokemon (the new designs were so good I just couldn't choose 6) and had a ton of fun, lost a couple times against other challengers, gym leaders and the final tournament people. So I'd say if you're willing to "make your own difficulty" it should be fine.

 

[Serebii]

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...

Didn't bother me at all and the game, like SM and USUM, do actually have a challenge unless you're purposefully just sitting in a route/area and KOing and catching every Pokémon you find

Many are also finding lots of enjoyment out of the Max Raid Battles

 

[affeinvasion]

The only fun thing in this game is pokemon catching. Everything else is so braindead easy that it's a chore to get through. Incredibly disappointing, even coming off of Sun/Moon.

 

[Nevermeltice]

Difficulty definitely leans towards the easy side, which means you won't be able to grind lest you get overleveled and make the game more boring than it already is. In all fairness, I just completed a second run since I had some spare time to kill and it was a much more enjoyable experience this time around... probably because the new "design" had time to sink in so I knew what was in store for me in a second playthrough.

Also, the thing about the game not having much replayability value doesn't really hold true for me anymore. Mind you it's like the shortest Pokémon game yet and it's possible to finish the main game and post-game quest under 25 hours, so it wouldn't be much of a hassle to pick it up for a new run.

 

[Rodrigues solitaire]

No but the absolutely inane corridor routes do.

 

[KillstealWolf]

It is really brain dead easy, I could list all the ways you could make it challenging, but if you have to read like a 12 point bulleted list for the challenge aspect... something is wrong.

Pick up Sword if you want to go in for the post-game raids and online battles. That's the main thing the game has (And also where everyone is playing online at the moment as well) but even I find the raids a little on the simple end.

 

[Izanagi89]

For me it did. It was mind numbingly easy. I did hear however that there are sections which do test you a bit a bit but honesty I didn't have it in me to even get that far

 

[abellwillring]

The QOL improvements make it the best Pokémon game yet to me. Tons of fun.

 

[MaitreWakou]

Depends on if you care about difficulty or not.
It's a "core gamer" place here, most people want challenge, and some people are even pissed off if you dare to say that FromSoft games could have a easy mode.

Personally, I think that it's alright to make a super easy game. I love easy games. I don't believe in things such as "developers are insulting your capacities by creating such an easy game" like we read sometimes here.
Sometimes, it's fun to just have a relaxing, super easy game.
So for me, it was a great experience. Not only the game was easy, but there wasn't 10 trainers or so on each road. Way better pacing. It was super fun.

I understand that some people get bored by easy games ! But there's nothing wrong with the fact that the game is easy. It doesn't mean that the game is bad, just that it's not for someone who wants challenge.

Now of course options are always good, and a hard mode or something like that would be great for people who wants it. Nowadays, every JRPG have different difficulty settings, Pokémon would benefit of having one. But I'll just say that Pokémon only having an easy mode isn't more wrong than FromSoft games only having a hard mode. (It might seems like I'm salty toward FromSoft but I'm not, I'm a huge fan, I'm just playing Devil's advocate)

 

[Speedlynx]

It all depends on how much you value challenging game design. Sword and Shield are not that. They've even removed maze dungeons and puzzles.

 

[Zen]

The game is easy outside of the Wilds area, where I took on a roserade with my lv14 party that was level 34 and completely stomped me. You have to watch your encounters there. Also there are a couple gyms that force you to actually have a strategy, albeit that's only if you don't bring a hard counter to their element. If you want the game to be challenging you'll want to swap mons a lot and not just stick with your starting team, because they'll become over leveled from the exp share.

 

[Ryuelli]

No, but difficult games are something I actively avoid.

 

[Askherserenity]

I never really played Pokemon for the challenge at all so it didn't effect me whatsoever. I really enjoy Sword and Shield. If you're into Pokemon, you should play them. I doubt you'll end up hating it. Also, you'll always have online battles to get your ass kicked if you're into that.

 

[TheRuralJuror]

I couldn't stick with it personally. The challenge was barely there and it felt so damn linear. Some good things nonetheless, just not my cup of tea anymore.

 

[The Turbanator]

You have to intentionally avoid killing or catching pretty much every wild Pokemon past badge 1.

I did this and still only lost two fights the whole game.

 

[Jimnymebob]

The main problem with the difficulty is you're given access to the "open world" part really early in the game, so you could be tempted to just wander around catching and fighting lots of things like I did, and end up like 15 levels ahead of the first gym. That being said, other than my starter, I did reach the champion with the rest of my team being like 3 levels either side of their team.

The main story isn't really difficult though, other than the 8th gym, because that leader actually uses strategy, and the champion, just because they have a lot of powerful Pokémon.

 

[mueske]

Yes, the difficulty bothered me. I hadn't bought a pokémon game on launch in forever. But it was the first mainline game on the "console", so I was interested.
I wish this series would grow. But as we all know, Nintendo themselves don't like growth, so I'm shit out of luck.

 

[Matchew]

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.

 

[effin]

Honestly yeah I'd avoid if I were you. If you're interested in the main "story campaign" and the main game then it's 100% not for you as it's pretty easy and you can breeze right through without ever running into difficulty. If you're into collecting Pokémon then hey it's a pretty good fit.

 

[Egida]

It gave me the feel of playing a budget jrpg made for kids. You'll get overleveled very easily, the story is almost non existent. You'll probably forget about it the moment credit rolls if you're not interested on collecting.

 

[Neoxon]

It seems like you want to challenge out of the main game, in which case I would say don't bother with Sword/Shield. There also isn't much with regards to the post-game either.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

I thought it was pretty difficult at times tbh. The last fight in the main story in partic definitely stings.

 

[Glio]

It depends entirely on the person who plays.

 

[Chromie]

I fucking hate how easy Pokémon is. I get it, it's aimed at children but even then, why not give us a difficult option? They did it before in a very stupid way.

I wish I didn't love Pokémon because I enjoy breeding and battling my friends but the single player stuff is dreadfully easy, boring, and story has always been crap. Don't buy it for story or challenge.

Get it because you like catching Pokémon, filling out a Pokédex, or online battles.

 

[Nano-Nandy]

Finished it at 50 hours. Currently at 110 hours after completing the dex, and doing raids is a daily thing with friends. It will end been as my favorite and most played Pokémon game. Looking forward to the expansions.

 

[DanteMenethil]

I dropped it mid game. Felt like going through the motions with zero engaging gameplay.

 

[banter]

Despite it being easier, I enjoyed it far more than X/y, s/m, and us/um.

 

[MoonFrog]

No. It is just more Pokemon.

 

[Rotobit]

It's not too easy if you don't stick around in the same areas for too long. Naturally changing up your party composition helps, as well. It's worth saving the Wild Area until the post-game too, unless there's something you really want from it.

The good thing about it compared to the previous couple of gens is that the pacing is a lot quicker, so even if you are having an easy time it's not exactly tedious.

 

[Moist_Owlet]

The new pokemon have some fantastic designs, but the gameplay is bottom tier garbage. At least the game is short so you don't have to suffer with it for long.

 

[Tohsaka]

If Sun/Moon's lack of difficulty didn't turn you off, I think you'll be fine with this. It's not really any easier than that game, IMO.

 

[Deleted member 8791]

If you don't actively grind and just keep progressing you won't be outlevelling stuff in my experience. Doesn't mean the game becomes hard, just a normal Pokémon game.

 

[Charizard]

The main campaign is eh.

But even the older Pokemon campaigns are eh once you realize that if you raise just 3 Pokemon that complement each other well you will eventually just steamroll over everything.

 

[Dr. Mario]

I liked the game, enjoyed my time all the way to the end, but yeah I only lost to the final boss a few times, and only because he always got initiative and then one shotted me, and I didn't know I could actually use a certain OP pokemon. At least it provided a challenge where you really had to strategize.
The rest is super easy. But I don't care about challenge so still really liked it. Ymmv.

Actually, the first wild area was super difficult, don't know what that was all about.

 

[slothrop]

It's exactly as easy as every other Pokemon game. Just don't sit back and grind in the wild area for 10 hours mid story or something, which it seems like some people had done.

 

[stan_marsh]

No

 

[BigTime_2018]

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

Click to shrink...

The lack of challenge is a flaw, but the collecting aspect made Sword/Shield one of my favorite games of 2019.

I had never cared about the collecting aspect before, but with things like Max Raid Battles, Surprise Trades, and Pokémon showing up in the overworld, filling out the Pokédex is more fun and accessible than it has ever been.

 

[Jolkien]

It's mind numbingly easy. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're an hardcore Pokémon fan. I skipped several generation and I was shocked as to how little the serie changed. I don't know if there's another series that is more or as safe as Pokémon.

 

[Deleted member 25799]

It really depends on what you plan on doing and what type of Pokémon player you are. I'm at 500 hours played and I've enjoyed my time with a it a lot, but I'm also hardcore into breeding and competitive battling, so after I finished the main story in like 20-30 hours, the rest of my time has been spent playing comp. If you plan on doing something similar I absolutely recommend you give it a try, especially if you have friends who play it as well.

The difficulty is shit, though, just so you know. You can somewhat alleviate this by using multiple teams on the story (rotating them), that's what I did and it helped a lot.

 

[Undeniablybiased]

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.

 

[Rirse]

There is a challenge if your not careful, but that all pokemon for you. The water gym leader beat me the first time and the second fight with her she nearly wiped me anyway. And the last boss was a very narrow victory. Other then that, most trainers are "weakness, win".

Honestly as I go through the older games, it not so much they forgot how to do a challenge, but with so many moves and better set of moves learned and pokemon availability, you are not stuck in a bad spot. Like in Emerald, I pick the grass starter and the fighting gym kicked my ass hard because I didn't get Ralt and the regional pokemon are just rock types that are weak to fighting so they didn't help. I had pokemon who would been useful if I was in Sword era, but since it gen 3 I only have useless moves at the level I fought him at.

Other words, I feel like the games weren't really made to be easier, it just with the general quality of life changes in the series just makes thing much easier to deal with them having almost no options like the early gens. Still better then gen 1 through, where Psychic was OP and ghosts had a single move that does fix damage and they are also weak to psychic.

 

[Lazybob]

It was very easy even when purposely rotating 12 pokemon to prevent the forced always on exp share from over leveling my party. At least with sun/moon i could turn exp. share off and there were occasional difficult moments like some of the totems. Only somewhat challenging part was the champion in Sword/Shield since he has a bigger jump in the levels of his pokemon from the previous stuff you face and that wouldn't have been a challenge at all if I didn't go out of my way to train 12 pokemon at once. If I didn't enjoy playing against people online I'd have been disinterested in the game.