Idea #10: How To Give Greater Challenges

I'm going to show you all the possible options you've given us in the Pokemon games.  Granted, some things have changed from generation to generation, but really, this menu hasn't changed drastically:

Do you see something missing that would be present in other games?

I do.

Or rather, I don't...I don't see...I see what's not...

There's something missing, okay? It's a difficulty setting.  How would this work, though? You've designed a game wherein the difficulty gradually increases as the player progresses linearly through the storyline.  How can you truly make something harder in a turn-based RPG if the world itself is already designed to up the ante whenever the player gets to a new area?

Does this strike you as familiar at all:

Many people will see this and know exactly what I'm about to propose; since so many players already implicate the set of rules used in these comics, why not have a Nuzlocke setting in the options menu? It would be very easy to do.  All you have to do is lock the Poke Balls after the first encounter in a new area, force an entry into the nicknaming screen, lock the player out from trading, and delete the Pokemon's data if it faints in battle.  That way, you could create a whole new division of the competitive circuit: the hardcore players.  Think about it: tournaments held wherein losers actually lose their Pokemon.  The stakes have never been higher! Speaking of "higher"...

Hire me, Sugimori!

See? I also do homonym wordplay.  I'm a valuable asset.

Dear Ken Again,

So...I understand that you are the artistic director and really, your job is to come up with new Pokemon for the newer generation of games, and while I do have plenty of ideas on what to do for new Pokemon, I acknowledge the fact that in the past few entries, I haven't exactly been giving you ideas in that field.  Really, most of my ideas should be going to Junichi Masuda, since he's the game director; however, "Hire Me, Masuda" doesn't rhyme, so just be prepared to take a lot more of ideas that don't necessarily have to do with the design of future Pokemon.

I mean, you have to be in contact with Masuda, right? Just put in the good word for me, get him onboard with the idea of my employment, then...

Hire me, Sugimori!

Sincerely,

Kevin Little

P.S. - Shit's been busy, what with the tabletop and all, so don't expect me to just shell out these ideas regularly.  I'm occupied, these posts don't get as many page views, and these are marketable concepts for you to possibly steal, so deal with it.