“Pokemon Is Just So Easy, That It Stopped Being Fun” | Monster Sanctuary Developer Interview

Denis Sinner, Creator of Monster Sanctuary, joins us to discuss his recently released monster taming meets metroidvania title.

What was most interesting about our conversation though was how mainstream monster taming games like Pokemon have sacrificed strategy, challenge and innovation, for simplicity and to make their games as accessible as possible to a young audience.

If a game is too easy, can it truly be fun?

[-Foxtrot]

Where's the lie though

Even GameFreak have gotten a point where they don't seem able to make big Pokemon games without them sacrificing a shit load of features that came below. They just think adding a new silly gimmick will bring people in.

[Inverno]

Gigantimax was pretty horrible too. It only happened on the last pokemon of every gym battle, and most gym leaders didn't even have a gigantimax in their party. The anime does it better with Gigantimax being something that could happen at random due to Eternatus's energy flowing all through Galar. Hell even Pikachu went Giga which wasn't something your starter could even do.
And it doesn't even matter cause unlike mega evos this only happens in the Galar region. Not much effort was put in but I guess that doesn't matter since all these forms will go unused in the next game. Which is a shame cause they would make great mega forms

[gold_drake]

true, but Gamefreak is just not used to making big titles in HD and are pretty inexperienced making games for consoles. they've stayed too long in the handheld market and now its all crashing down.

the real issue is that pkmn games still sell like crazy, the backlash they've gotten didnt matter as a result of that.

[septemberindecember]

What I've started doing for challenge in pokemon games is constantly swapping my pokemon out. In early games you had to choose and build up your team, but Pokemon games now make that too easy and OP. Swapping out your pokemon gives you a challenge and helps you fill in your pokedex.

Still, wish there was a hard mode.

[Interloper]

I do exactly this! I constantly experiment with new pokemon I catch and more often or not I win by the edge of my seat, but the fact I don't min/max my pokemon probably adds to the difficulty. I think I'll do some type-run exclusives such as a Ghost-type run or maybe even Bug. xD

[njitram2000]

I tried making it challenging by not fighting a single wild Pokemon and I was still able to get halfway through the game without using a single potion with trainer xp alone. And something like Nuzlocke is just no fun to me because I want to assemble a team that I want. Not a random group. I remember having to grind for a gym in gen 1/2/3 and even then I barely made it through. That was the pokemon I remembered when I bought Shield. It was not what I got :(

[Inverno]

S&S isn't balanced out well enough. I've played plenty of JRPGs and most feature a shared EXP system so that unused characters don't become complete useless later on, but this just doesn't work well in Pokemon. I stopped playing after Fire Red and with those games I always found myself sticking with my starter for everything. In Shield I had the same problem cept I rarely bothered switching my team and went on to beat the game basically just using Inteleon.
Then there's three different EXP candies on top of rare candies on top of jobs ontop the excessive amount of exp you can already get from wild battles. There's no to battle at all. There's no need to even breed cause you can get perfect stat pokemon in raids and just use a mint. I guess this helps get to the online competitive modes much quicker but I just can't get into Pokemons boring turn based battles, and it's impossible to play in co-op battles with friends with the awful link code matchmaking and lack of messaging on Switch

[Antnee534]

I don't mind these other monster collector games becoming what pokemon can't. It actually gives other monster collector games a way to stand out apart from Pokémon. Pokémon for me personally is a perfect experience that us older fans needs to realize will never be what we want because the game is for kids and they make this clear ever iteration. So instead of complaining about something we literally can't change lets put that desire for something more into these indy games like temtem and others.

[fitofficial]

I'd settle for being able to skip the cutscenes. They're miserable.

[AuraAbjure]

That's the main reason why I never bothered with Twilight Princess. I used one finger on the attack button and my other hand to cover my eyes. After seeing all the enemies I could kill that way I knew the game wasn't for me and sold it.

[Inverno]

Twilight Princess was perfect in every way but it's difficulty. I know some would find it hard to believe that lack of difficulty would be a deal breaker, but it's honestly legitimate criticism. If a game can be too hard, then it can also be too easy

[AuraAbjure]

When you're right you're right. One day I plan on finding a used Wii U and playing it again. This time on hero mode with the Ganondorf amiibo.

[Sirk7x]

Hero Mode for Twilight Princess HD actually gave me a whole new appreciation for the game. When I originally beat it on Gamecube, I was really disappointed, especially after Wind Waker. Too easy, dark and mud-like green and browns all over the place, story was basically OoT 2.0. Played it again on Wii U and absolutely fell in love with it.

[Scissorman82]

was it? i don't recall it being that difficult compared to some of the other games in the franchise. that being said, a game being too hard is one thing, as long as its fair and not designed in a way to hold the player back.

[DragonWarrior19]

Well Pokemon isn't supposed to be difficult. It's really baby's first JRPG. It's fun for older gamers because of Nostalgia and Pokemon meaning something to people who grew up with it or connected to it on a deeper level. So maybe it stopped being fun for YOU creature of game nobody has ever heard of but for millions of gamers, young and old, it's still tons of fun.

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

It's actually not a great idea to analyze Pokemon as a RPG, because difficulty isn't the only aspect that doesn't hold up when examined under that lens. If it wasn't for the creature collecting and semi-open world aspect, it wouldn't be that engaging at all. There really isn't a lot of depth to it from a mechanical standpoint. But, it's a good thing games are more than a sum of their parts. While I have my reasons for not supporting the latest games, Pokemon is a product that works as a whole. It's just best to refrain from closely examining some of its parts.

[Scissorman82]

yeah if you really put it under an rpg microscope it falls a part really fast. it's shame because there is such a laser-sharp focus on the pokemon themselves and not at all on the gameplay mechanics.

[Sirk7x]

Eh, even if designed for younger audiences, you can still even attempt to tell them a story. For example, Super Mario RPG is a simple RPG, relatively easy, and can be enjoyed by children. They still put alot of effort and attention into telling a good and detailed story, however. Pokemon Sword/Shield is "You want to beat all the gyms and your rival trails behind you the entire time doing the same thing."
The DLC was great though.

[Majin-vegeta]

To get any sort of challenge from Pokemon these days you need roms. r/PokemonROMhacks has plenty of them

[Inverno]

Rom hacks are also a showcase of the love fans have for the series. Some have quite a lot of effort put into them. It's a shame Ninty doesn't see it that way and shuts them down

[Scissorman82]

so glad i snagged a copy of pokemon uranium lol

[Chexs1990]

Used to love the Pokemon games but honestly, at this, I would just call Gamefreak a bad developer.
They don't seem to have either creative nor development talent anymore.

Mind you, back then they hit gold once, and just stayed on with that, more or less stagnating creative growth.

[Scissorman82]

I really wish this wasn't true but...yeah.

[nommers]

I would say its more that pokemon games have been so copy and pasted over the last 20 years that it's not worth getting more than 1 or 2. Get maybe one of the best pure 2D pokemon games and one of the more recent 3D ones like X or Y......and even THEN the similarities between them are so close you might as well just get one and be done with it.