does anyone else feel that sun/moon makes it too easy?

[Hansome duded]

Lmao not using regular pokeballs on all legendaries like a champ what are you?

you're not the champ here... you're not using bad balls on all the legendaries. bad balls are the WORST

[Ad Bot]

[tikitai]

its just a quality of life upgrade, dude
it doesnt even tell you the weaknesses if its a pokemon you havent faced before
if you find the game too easy try turning exp. share off

you're not the champ here... you're not using bad balls on all the legendaries. bad balls are the WORST

what sort of scrub doesnt use premier balls to catch legendaries

[NinjaNacho]

I didn't think it was too easy because I turned off the exp share and was under leveled by a couple levels throughout the entire game.  X & Y were the easiest tho, especially with the exp share on.  Also they made breeding kinda harder with no good spot to go back and forth like ORAS or XY.

[Prokiller10]

That's what you think because of the exp. share
turn that stuff off and you have a whole different difficulty

[Poliwhirl]

telling type matchups is a welcome improvement, not knowing it is just more difficult for no reason
turning EXP share off doesn't increase the actual difficulty, just makes progressing through the game a boring chore and leads you to rely on only your starter to carry you through the game

they struck a really good balance in this game, because they removed the things that don't actually make the game more challenging, just more of a time-consuming annoyance. it's just as difficult as any other pokemon game. (which is to say not very)

an example of this good design paying off is how it encourages people to use all of their pokemon. when you defeat one pokemon it prompts you to switch your pokemon, and you can view your party to see if anything is super effective against it. if you do, you switch into that pokemon and feel as though you earned it for strategically swapping your pokemon.

I didn't think it was too easy because I turned off the exp share and was under leveled by a couple levels throughout the entire game.  X & Y were the easiest tho, especially with the exp share on.  Also they made breeding kinda harder with no good spot to go back and forth like ORAS or XY.

go inside the little fenced-in circle in front of the nursery, get on your tauros, hold down B and rotate in a circle like a madman. it should hatch in about 5 minutes maximum without a flame body pokemon.

[sorrel]

I'm not far into the game but do you ever get a thing for your poke Dex that lets you know if you caught all of the Pokémon in the area?

[Legodude77]

I'm not far into the game but do you ever get a thing for your poke Dex that lets you know if you caught all of the Pokémon in the area?

The pokedex is split up into each island, but not for separate areas of each island.

[Regulith]

I was originally disappointed when they first announced the changes to the UI for making things too "easy," until I thought about it and realized that we're hitting 800 total Pokémon with 18 different types this generation. Do you realize how absurd it is to expect people to memorize the (more often than not multiple) types of over 800 creatures, plus the type chart with weaknesses and resistances? There's no way a person -- let alone the children whom the games are designed for -- could remember every single one of those without fail without being some kind of savant or an actual genius. I understand the feeling of superiority that comes from having a good grip on type matchups, I've felt it too, but you can't punish the rest of the players who can't handle all that. I'm honestly surprised they didn't do something like this sooner.

There's still trial and error because you have to KO a Pokémon once before it shows you the type advantages, sort of like you've brown townyzed it with your Pokédex after defeating it. The trials are more difficult than Gym battles as well: Tell me, what usually happens when you fight a Gym in previous games? You probably have one Pokémon with 1-2 super effective moves that plows through the Gym Leader's 2-5 Pokémon with ease. At least this time it's somewhat of a challenge thanks to the allies and aura boosts, 2 or 3 of the Totems gave me a significant problem because they used advanced tactics I wasn't expecting. I'm sure everyone who has played through the game to a certain point will gladly tell you about Lurantis.

I'm not really a good player; I don't know stuff about IVs and all that bs. I just use Pokémon that have a good moveset and a good type combination. I've never beaten anyone in a Pokémon battle.

If the game has been totally successful up until today, and they've been using the same formula for years, then why change it? I'm pretty sure people managed pretty damn well before these changes.

People managed because they had to. There wasn't any alternative: you HAD TO remember how everything stacked up if you wanted to stay ahead. And back when there were 150 or 250 or even 400 that wasn't TOO bad, but we're double that now. With each generation comes a whole new batch of Pokémon, the occasional new type, and even type matchup changes. I doubt Sun and Moon are the last time we'll be getting any of that, either. You just can't expect everyone to keep track of all that time and time again.

turning EXP share off doesn't increase the actual difficulty, just makes progressing through the game a boring chore and leads you to rely on only your starter to carry you through the game

It increases the difficulty if you don't do this. This is what a lot of people try to do when they first start playing Pokémon games, myself included, and while it may work, it's not fun because you're only using 1 overleveled Pokémon with 4 moves the whole game. Try this instead: Turn off Exp Share and keep an eye on your levels. Don't let anyone get too far ahead, or too far behind. If anyone starts lagging behind by 3-4 levels, put them in front. If you're in an area that has significant type advantage against that Pokémon, hold off until the next area and/or do the switch-in technique. Trust me, I played the whole game without using the Exp Share or grinding and had the best Pokémon experience I've had since Silver.

I'm not far into the game but do you ever get a thing for your poke Dex that lets you know if you caught all of the Pokémon in the area?

Unfortunately not. A couple really nice features weren't included this time around. Game Freak is notorious for having great ideas but only using them once.

[Magus]

I'm sure everyone who has played through the game to a certain point will gladly tell you about Lurantis.

It called a Castform for help which would use Sunny Day.
The Lurantis would proceed to spam Solar Beam without the charge and Synthesize to heal most of its HP.

[cooolguy32]

It called a Castform for help which would use Sunny Day.
The Lurantis would proceed to spam Solar Beam without the charge and Synthesize to heal most of its HP.

yeah, THAT IS SO loving CHEAP. the only the way I was able to beat the bitch is using a pokemon that had air cutter.

[beachbum111111]

What I find fascinating is that you, an experienced player, are trying to speak on behalf of new players (not just young kids, but even people like me who've never played a Pokemon game before),

I should have clarified that I was more talking about games in general. I'm stuff at Pokemon myself.

It's clearly something they've discovered as problematic during playtests and made a decision on to try and rectify a communication barrier.

I don't know about this specific issue but I'm not sure Nintendo makes decisions like this to make the game better or if it's just purely a business strategy. You would think if they found this to be a problem that they would find Starfox Zero's controls to be a problem in playtesting as well. Personally I think both were business decisions. What they did here was more to appeal to kids even more (as I'm assuming they've either lost ground to the Mobile market or have just been starting to stagnate in sales growth). And starfox to push motion controls in the Wii U. Of course I have no way of proving this and this is all just speculation.

Isn't it at all possible that you're just very good at the game and that you're starting to find it boring as you've played a lot of Pokemon? That's what happens to us with any game that we play a lot of; we grow bored as our skill level reaches heights that means we're incapable of learning anything new.

God no. Like I said I'm terrible at Pokemon and dislike JRPGs in general. I shouldn't have stuff on Foxscotch like that since he was probably more referring to this issue (which is probably valid) then to games in general. I just hate when games are dumbed down for the sake of accessibility.

Personally I think if the game was designed well and there is enough intrigue in the presentation then people will try to learn the game and play it in general because the interest is there. The reason I believe that is because a year ago when I first heard of Europa Universalis 4 (a complicated grand strategy game) I had no clue how to play it and all the different mechanics completely confused and overwhelmed me, but I pushed through because the idea of playing as any nation in the historically accurate 1400s and recreating history was like a dream game to me so I toughed through it and now I would say I'm pretty good at it. Compare that to say... a new Lego game (lego star wars or whatever they are making) and I could tell you right now that I wouldn't complete it because the intrigue just isn't there for me, I'm not even good at shooters or platformers (although I still enjoy them) I just know that the game wont challenge me in any way or offer me anything interesting in the gameplay so whats really the point?

I get where your coming from and I don't think that games should all be Dark Souls tier or even SMB3 tier. I just don't like how games like the newest Super Mario World basically give you a free pass when you forget up too many times. I think games should challenge the limits of your skill even if it's just a little bit. It pays off in the end and feels far more rewarding.

[otto-san]

What I find fascinating is that you, an experienced player, are trying to speak on behalf of new players (not just young kids, but even people like me who've never played a Pokemon game before), especially over such a trivial change. It's clearly something they've discovered as problematic during playtests and made a decision on to try and rectify a communication barrier.

mcjob is mcright. a pokemon newcomer probably isn't going to find this incredibly intuitive without guidance:


some of these are common sense, and the designers are pretty clever about at least giving you hints or obvious indications of your opponent's type, but it can be a lot to think about and it could make battle unnecessarily frustrating for inexperienced players.
also keep in mind that types have been added over generations. there are more types now than there were two generations ago, and definitely more than there were in the first generation. i wouldn't be surprised if this were something they've considered adding in the past, and they just finally decided to pull the trigger on it

[McJob]

I don't know about this specific issue but I'm not sure Nintendo makes decisions like this to make the game better or if it's just purely a business strategy.

Business decisions generally only affect the marketing and overarching feature set of the game, not the small design tweaks. Nintendo might be a games-focused business, but it doesn't mean their top brass know or care what's in the game itself. They're there to sell copies and make sure everybody gets a fair cut.

You would think if they found this to be a problem that they would find Starfox Zero's controls to be a problem in playtesting as well.

Different teams, different games, and control schemes are a completely separate issue to UI/Tutorial stuff.

Personally I think both were business decisions.

Is this an attempt to form some kind of "AAA Bosses Are Dumbing Everything Down" conspiracy? As I said, the people who handle sales/promotion/distribution don't make decisions about the tiny game elements; they may give a list of required specs (Multiplayer, Character Customisation, Open World etc), but the actual implementation is down to the developers themselves.

What they did here was more to appeal to kids even more (as I'm assuming they've either lost ground to the Mobile market or have just been starting to stagnate in sales growth).

In what way, shape or form? Why would kids not buy the game if this minuscule feature wasn't added to the game? Is it even advertised as a big selling point on the box?

If they wanted to appeal to even more kids, they would spend more money in marketing and promotion with events, shows and other stuff. Kids don't buy into game features the same way we older folk do.

And starfox to push motion controls in the Wii U.

That's there is more likely a business design spec than what you were blabbing about with the Pokemon game.

I just hate when games are dumbed down for the sake of accessibility.

Please explain to me how this is "dumbing down" the game. Please explain how the act of streamlining non-gameplay is a bad thing.

Developers have to make choices about what their games teach and what their players should practice. In Pokemon, as far as I understand, understanding weaknesses is only one tiny part of being successful at the whole game itself. Bringing a water pokemon to a battle with a fire pokemon doesn't guarantee immediate victory, and there's other skills required to win.

Accessibility is only a tiny part of the streamlining decision process. 90% of it is because of negative feedback or because the developers knew too late into development of the previous game that certain choices sucked hard, but couldn't make those changes until the next round. Developers are players too.

Personally I think if the game was designed well and there is enough intrigue in the presentation then people will try to learn the game and play it in general because the interest is there.

Looking at average play-times for most games may surprise you. Even games like Half-Life 2 have people play for 10 minutes and then quit and never return. "Good design" is only part of the battle.

Compare that to say... a new Lego game (lego star wars or whatever they are making) and I could tell you right now that I wouldn't complete it because the intrigue just isn't there for me, I'm not even good at shooters or platformers (although I still enjoy them) I just know that the game wont challenge me in any way or offer me anything interesting in the gameplay so whats really the point?

Congratulations; that's your personal situation. Guess what, though? Everybody finds different motivations to play games. I've played through and 100% most LEGO games. I play Assassin's Creed religiously, and probably a lot more stuff you'd hate, and yet I wouldn't touch any strategy game with a 10-ft pole.

Everyone has different tastes and different reasons. Developers pick a profile of the ideal person who would enjoy their game (the "target market") and make a game to that profile, because we simply CANNOT make one game that fits all. Some people want an easy, 5 hour breeze to take their mind off life, while others want dedicated 180 hour torture chambers.

I just don't like how games like the newest Super Mario World basically give you a free pass when you forget up too many times. I think games should challenge the limits of your skill even if it's just a little bit. It pays off in the end and feels far more rewarding.

For you. But not everybody feels that way, and clearly the SMW devs studied focus tests and tried to make the game that fits the kind of player they think is appropriate.

[e-maxx]

mcjob brings the heat once again

[NinjaNacho]

go inside the little fenced-in circle in front of the nursery, get on your tauros, hold down B and rotate in a circle like a madman. it should hatch in about 5 minutes maximum without a flame body pokemon.

I think ORAS spoiled me b/c you could just hold down one button, also I'm afraid of breaking my circle pad again.
 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯