The Pokémon audience has been growing over the years, but The Pokémon Company has never done anything to satisfy that niche of players with more adult plots or more demanding titles. For this reason, some players were experimenting with the Pokémon games until they found the Nuzlocke, a set of self-imposed rules that cause Game Freak titles to significantly increase in difficulty. However, it seems that The Pokémon Company is a bit lostbecause they seem to think that playing by these rules is equivalent to play with a hack rom. Does this make any kind of sense?
First of all. What is a Nuzlocke?
When a video game is very easy, it is quite common for users to discover their own methods to increase the difficulty of the title and not get bored. With super mario odyssey, the Internet was full of players who passed it without taking damage, with their eyes closed or even with a dance mat instead of a controller. With Pokémon, a few years ago, the community more try hard made fashionable the ‘Nuzlocke Challenge‘.
Nuzlocke challenges are self-imposed rules. As a general rule, in the Nuzlocke only one pokemon can be caught per route (the first one that comes out). When a Pokémon goes down weakened, you should go to the PC and release it, then you must consider that he has died. Healing items cannot be purchased, and if you use one you found on the ground, you can only use it in combat. From here, there are huge lists of rules that you can or cannot use in your games. Depending on which generations of Pokémon, the Nuzlocke challenge can be more or less complicated to finish, because if we fall totally defeated, it will be considered ‘Game Over’.
When a new Pokémon game comes out, like Scarlet and Purple this November, YouTube and Twitch are filled with players making their first attempt at the game with this challenge. There is nothing wrong with it and most users use the physical game, without any modifications. All it takes to play a Nuzlocke is the willpower to unleash your Pokémon once it falls in battle.
The Pokémon Company doesn’t seem to understand what the Nuzlocke is
Recently the user patterrz has shared on Twitter a fragment of a Nintendo Minute in which this technique is discussed. In the video, a viewer asks the two members of the program if they have ever played a Nuzlocke. Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang respond by saying that they once thought of doing an episode about the Nuzlocke, but, after talking to The Pokémon Company, they rejected the idea.
According to Krysta Yang, the Nuzlocke equivalent to playing a modified ROM in the eyes of The Pokémon Company. For this reason, they did not address the issue on the show.
The Pokemon company thinks Nuzlocke runs are “on the same level as” ROM Hacks according to former Nintendo employees https://t.co/X9x7o0rnE7
September 18, 2022 • 12:30
We are not going to ignore the fact that there are no ‘locke’ challenges that are played with modified ROMs, as is the case with Randomlocke. But most of the lockes are played with legal cartridges without modifications. Even the impossible ShinyLocke has to be played with a real card and console, so that observation makes no sense.
Locke mode should come standard in Pokémon games
Surely, by now, The Pokémon Company knows very well that its position does not make any sense. However, we are going to go a little further, because this way should be a playable option in games.
It is a bit absurd how little playing field Game Freak gives players. If they listened to them, they would get more satisfaction from their customers.
A perfect example is MercurySteam with Metroid Dread. After observing the network and discovering that many were passing the title by making a challenge no-hit, the Spanish developer decided to implement this mode in the video game itself through a free DLC. This is living proof that two video games can be published by Nintendo and have totally different visions. The Pokémon Company should also copy this philosophy. Only then could they remove the obsolete image that they project abroad and show people that there is an interest in improving their famous franchise.
