What Are The Hardest Pokemon Games?

[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

What do you think the hardest Pokemon game is?

[@NamNam-yd8hc]

Idk bruh

[@geg708]

_Either USUM (with no Exp. Share) or Emerald_

[@ynw_tony]

Your mother

[@joshhallam6342]

Pokemon collosum you can only have Pokemon that are shadow or gifts little place to grind and boss having tactics to defeat you

[@ivanzoneBR24]

Platinum- Tough to Level Up Legends Arceus- Tough to Survive Outside Attacks

[@ChaosBuckaroo]

X/Y was so difficult they nerfed the gyms before release. GF knew we wouldn’t be able to handle the gym leaders with *checks notes* full movesets.

[@coatrak1357]

And... full teams

[@Zelkiiro]

Let's just conveniently forget that Champion Blue's Pokemon didn't have full movesets, either. And that the Pokemon who did have full movesets had...Roar, Ember, Leer, Take Down...

[@abarette_]

>X/Y was so difficult they nerfed the gyms before release ... and gave you a bonus starter. ... and gave you a legendary by Gym 3. ... and removed Megas from any major trainer except Diantha and Lysandre ... yeah that doesn't hold up, cope

[@coatrak1357]

@@Zelkiiro actually only his gyrados didn't have a full movest lol

[@Zelkiiro]

@@coatrak1357 His Exeggutor only has Hypnosis, Barrage, and Stomp.

[@Zactoshi]

S Tier Platinum 🙌🏽

[@rqjlfm]

i LOVE your content, keep doing what you’re doing!

[@Mar-iw5ut]

F tier dp smh

[@jaretco6423]

Eh. I give it more of an B tier.

[@charliez077]

100% agreed. I replayed all the games quite recently and without any grind but also not self-restricting (turning off Exp Share, not using Exp Candies...) Platinum can still be TOUGH - but unlike in Diamond/Pearl where the Elite 4 is crazy overlevelled here it's just tough gym and Elite 4 rosters (plus that infamous Galactic leader with Purugly!)

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

If we're including spinoffs then Pokemon coliseum and gale of darkness are by faaar the hardest. They're just straight up unfair at times. That stupid damn final mayor boss battle makes cynthia look like a joke.

[@ExitScam]

Cynthia is overrated. The kids of today never faced the fear of a slow king using skill swap on a slaking

[@chrissy9997]

@@ExitScam I replayed it recently and I must have been incredibly lucky, because I found Evice easier than Nascour. He didn't bring out Slowking and Slaking at the same time admittedly, but even if he did, I was aware of the threat Slaking posed.

[@ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣΛΑΧΑΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ]

If we include spin offs explorers of sky is the hardest. Its final dungeons are just brutal.

[@lightning2279]

Agreed. I also think cynthia and pokemon platinum are very overrated in difficulty. She isn't hard if you know what you are doing.

[@kdburner7356]

@@lightning2279yea I’ve never got the hype either, even as a kid I remember blitzing through Pearl with no real challenge

[@CameraDiscipleJosh]

PLA, USUM and BDSP have some SERIOUS trainer AI when it comes to switching out, using the most effective moves and using items. In USUM, I've seen major trainers use Full Heals the instant their Pokemon got statused in addition to their respective healing items. They're pretty good at switching as well. I love how in BDSP they make use of hidden abilities when beneficial. I also appreciate how most major trainers have helpful items on their Pokemon other than just Sitrus Berries and even have some EVs on their Pokemon as well as IVs greater than 0. Don't even get me started on the BDSP post-game rematches. Those are examples of how post game rematches should be. Overall in terms of difficulty, I think BDSP and USUM are examples of how difficulty should be in Pokemon (without the forced EXP share and busted affection mechanics of course).

[@unknownuser494]

It's same with b2w2 veteran and ace also feels like mini boss and most people have fully evolved pokemon.

[@averytubestudios]

Eh, BDSP relt really unfair since the game skyrockets in difficulty at the end. USUM had Ultra Necrozma, but that's only 1 fight. But, USUM has the best difficulty curve barring the Exp. Share and Affection.

[@CameraDiscipleJosh]

@@averytubestudios to be honest for me, USUM was probably the most difficult game to playthrough battle-wise. Even as an experienced player of 9 years at the time, no game has ever challenged me as much as USUM and not just Ultra Necrozma. Pretty much every major trainer was a challenge due to them having advanced AI (sometimes they'd switch out, which doesn't happen in other games) and their Pokemon have EVs and near perfect IVs. I will admit, I played without the EXP share but I wasn't severely underleveled. I think even if I were playing with it on, it still wouldn't be a walk in the park due to major trainers Pokemon having higher stats due to IVs/EVs. One battle the sticks out to me is the 1st battle with Ilima in Hau'oli city. He has a Smeargle that always has a move super effective against your starter (Ember for Rowlet, Water Gun for Litten and Leafage for Popplio). Furthermore, all are boosted by the ability Technician, which gives a 50% boost to all moves with base 60 power or less. All those moves as well as STAB Tackle get that boost. And this is only at the beginning of the game. That is REAL strategy, NPCs using a Pokemon's skills and the game's mechanics to their full potential is what every major boss battle in Pokemon should be.

[@Arkx919]

I dunno, BDSP seems more unfair than difficult. I mean, it would’ve been a nice challenge if they gave you all the tools to build a strong team pre-League, but they kinda didn’t do that. Platinum was so much better in that regard, I feel. Hands down my favourite game of the series.

[@Jdudec367]

@@averytubestudios least the exp share and affection are optional.

[@travisb.honest2438]

You are forgetting two games, and those are the Gamecube games Gale of Darkness and Colosseum. These are two of the hardest pokemon games ever made.

[@Moonstriker2514]

XD Gale of Darkness was my first video game i still have the disc and play it regularly

[@ggrarl]

Lest we forget, the final boss sends out Slowking and Slaking, and then uses Skill Swap.

[@Cruxxy21]

It’s really sad they keep getting forgotten. Would be amazing if they got a remake/remaster for switch.

[@darkglass3011]

Hard? Those games were unfair. The game developers were evil when they thought up the concept of Shadow Pokémon.

[@GravityBouncer]

Colloseum is truly the hardest imo

[@superjordanreviews1497]

The hardest game is Diamond and Pearl because of the will you must have to play through the slowness, the dumb pokedex, and the fact that it is not Platinum

[@pathos7527]

😂😂😂 PREACH

[@jaretco6423]

Even Platinum is still slow.

[@rammantakhsh9247]

BDSP had the hardest difficulty spike I've ever seen in a pokemon game. I had a deathless blind nuzlocke going until the pokemon league and I immediately wiped to the Elite Four because of their borderline-competitive teams and items it was ridiculous

[@charliez077]

that's simply because they only copied the EXACT levels from Diamond/Pearl - that crazy jump at Elite 4 was already there. the difference (mostly because of the modern Exp Share) is that in BDSP you are crazy overlevelled for most of the game and at least that 10 level jump kinda equalises it. in DIamond/Pearl the difficulty is pretty balanced in 90% of the game and at Elite 4 it is legit unfair lol.

[@freshuchiha2576]

Pokémon stadium with rentals only should’ve been #1 on this list. Iykyk lol

[@Alex-mq6qi]

I would put DP at the hardest instead of Platinum, the expanded Pokedex really helps in Platinum, as well as other things such as access to Gible way sooner and of course higher E4 levels (level 66 Garchomp is the stuff nightmares are made of)

[@dravenripley9468]

I remember struggling really hard in Diamond and Pearl as a kid. I never even beat the game myself until after Black/White came out.

[@charliez077]

actually it's a toss up imo the stuff you mentioned is true BUT Gym rosters and E4 rosters are considerably tougher in Platinum Volkner now has Lukxray AND Electivire. Bertha has Hippowdon AND Rhyperior AND Gliscor Fantina's Mismagius with Shadow Ball as THIRD Gym can be a legit nightmare if you're unprepared

[@mr.z6252]

​​​​​​​@@charliez077 I was On a 45 Winning streak on Platinum battle tower, until this one trainer pull out his Gliscor that somehow Outspeed My Salamence, Hit it with Ice Fang Shockingly my Salamence survive with 10 Hp.... and 1 shot it with Outrage. I was Laughing in both Joy & Disbelieve knowing that my Salamence survive, means my EV train for Defense paid off That type of Feeling is what Missing from Pokemon games these day, because of Affection & Other *"Friendly Bond"* Gimmick

[@locksquid749]

@@charliez077 but on the other hand gym leaders and elite 4 have mixed type teams which make things a bit harder

[@jexjexjexjex11]

I had to use my team from HGSS just to defeat the E4 in Diamond. Only good Pokémon I had prior to that was an overleveled Torterra and a level 50 Dialga

[@michael_xcx]

The hardest Pokémon game is actually Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. Firstly, due to the incredibly hard level one dungeons like Zero Isle and Destiny Tower. And secondly, because of Dark Crater where you have to take Cresselia with you and she uses up all of your reviver seeds.

[@samuelashfall9941]

man mystery dungeon ptsd, I hate super high floors escort missions, especially if I get really unlucky and find a monster house ughhh

[@bulborb8756]

oh god Dark Crater....that place is total hell, and doesn't help that the boss fight at the end is very cheap and BRUTAL, especially since cresselia is at a huge disadvantage in that battle as she can't do much against aggron, mismagius and the demon of nightmares himself darkrai as the battle is a 3v7

[@wikiuser92]

BDSP's boss battles have some crazy strategies, held items, and rematches. Kudos to them.

[@z0h33y]

Too bad BDSP was so meh compared to Lets Go/SwSh/USUM.

[@wikiuser92]

@@z0h33y It's not the worst Pokémon game ever made. Perfectly decent.

[@z0h33y]

@@wikiuser92 I think it was just mediocre.

[@magnus5747]

@@wikiuser92 it was a remake of aa inferior version. You are better of just playing platinum. This was the most useless and wasted remakes they ever made.....

[@wikiuser92]

@@z0h33y People had overly high expectations for the remakes and considered anything less than perfection an utter failure. IMO, the improvements are still very notable.

[@deepanjanmandal3694]

PLATINUM supremacy 🔥

[@gioanysgonzalez3396]

Personally I think Gale of darkness and Colosseum are the hardest in the series. Not only does the game aloud you to only have certain Pokémon but Shadow Pokémon are busted since every shadow move does super effective damage.

[@omlo9093]

Plus too many existing Johto Pokémon are junk when it comes to practical battle usage, weren't in gen 4 yet so the physical/special move split didn't yet happen.

[@reshiramnick]

But that's a spin-off tho

[@temmie2032]

not mainseries (people who say they are consume copium on a daily basis)

[@omlo9093]

@@reshiramnick If you can trade pokémon between mainline titles and the spin-off title, then it's a proper title.

[@rayquaza1053]

@@omlo9093 copium

[@Eclipsmon8421]

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon are the games with my favorite kind of difficulty in the pokemon franchise. They give you all the ressources possible, but they still manages to be challenging for pokemon standards. And personally, I prefer games that are difficult because of raw challenge, rather than being challenging by handicapping you. That's why Celeste is one of my favorite games of all time. There are checkpoints at each screens in that game, which means the punishment for dying is extremely low, but it is still a really challenging game. Of course, USUM isn't nearly as challenging as Celeste, but that's because pokemon games aren't that hard in general, so for pokemon, I really appreciate the approach USUM went to.

[@charliez077]

I would agree 100% but I decided to "trust" USUM when ppl said it was finally hard, so I played with Exp Share ON and one stable team. I didn't grind at all, but I still ended up awfully overlevelled. the bosses were very fun, but I steamrolled through most of the rest of the game just like Sun/Moon or ORAS (XY was even worse but that's not an excuse)

[@Eclipsmon8421]

@@charliez077 At least it's hard where it is supposed to be I guess.

[@charliez077]

@@Eclipsmon8421 well but to me 80% of the game again felt way too easy. hard bosses are great but I hate having to self-restrict not to steamroll through the rest of the game. not a problem in games like Platinum, Emerald or BW(2).

[@awesometoadultimate8562]

I was thinking that BDSP was going to be #1 because of the Elite Four, Cynthia, the post game rematches, and even some initial gym battles like Maylene. The teams in it are CRACKED.

[@skotiaH2O]

BDSP gives you way too many unfair advantages. They'd be #1 if the Exp Share and Friendship system didn't exist.

[@Kageravager]

I will make the argument that BDSP is mainly challenging for the Elite Four and some of the post game challenges. It just seemed that you always had the level advantage otherwise.

[@PrivateSparky]

The friendship mechanic being mandatory really hurt the game’s difficulty. The poor level curve also means it’s pretty easy to be over leveled for some gym battles even without grinding. On paper, I’d say BDSP has the toughest elite 4 for sure. But the many other factors balances it out considerably. Especially the friendship mechanic. Dear god. Making it mandatory was a huge stinker for me.

[@charliez077]

guys what's hillarious (well.. tragic actually) that this is 100% not ILCA's "plan" but only an incidental byproduct of their "design choice" to KEEP THE EXACT SAME LEVELS AS IN DIAMOND/PEARL which is absolutely RIDICULOUS - that game was designed without the modern Exp Share that gives your whole team +5x50% more Exp (plus add +20% Exp for Affection!)

[@ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣΛΑΧΑΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ]

I would expect to see Black and White somewhere on the list. Not only do you have to use completely new Pokémon but you also have absurdly high levels of evolution for some of the strongest ones and two consecutive champion battles

[@salmonidae3667]

When a game has 3 elite four members nearly get swept by a single pokemon (I swept Grimsley, Shauntal, and Caitlin with a single Scrafty), you know the league is gonna be on the easier side. Ghetsis wasn't too bad either along with his Hydreigon.

[@brownbeastoftheleaf3215]

Too easy

[@letmynamebeequaltox2961]

"Satanic Cow" describes that cutely terrifying thing perfectly

[@Mystic-Aidan]

Shoutout to BDSP for constantly using the sleep status on the player. It’s very hard to beat when you’re always drowsy while playing it.

[@mr.penguin6303]

I literally fell asleep playing bdsp once

[@dmtrsgrksrphl2501]

I remember having a bit of a hard time with Black 2 and White 2. The expanded selection of Pokémon comes with increased challenge for me

[@bulborb8756]

not to mention despite being the 1st boss...Cheren is actually kinda tough, being a normal specialist THAT early in the game means your options to counter him are non-existent, Riolu pretty much doesnt get a good fighting move unless your an impulsive grinder, and transferring in a ghost won't help you at all since both his pokemon are packing bite

[@JB-qu8pv]

Since PLA was the one I went out of my way to explore outside of the main story, I found it to not only be the most engaging but also the most difficult. Noble Arcanine and Volo were especially difficult

[@quanticflowers]

noble arcanine was BRUTAL, I died to it WAY more than i did palkia and arceus. i’d argue it’s honestly the only one that’s badly designed. the cross shaped arena made it extremely difficult to even see where it was, much less where i was heading when i’d inevitably get trapped in one end while Arcanine barreled towards me from the other.

[@Mendejito]

Currently playing Black 2 on challenge mode for the first time and it’s such a cool experience

[@batmanrogers5358]

Nuzlocke’ing the challenge mode of BW2 is one of my favorite runs I’ve ever done

[@YouStinkMike]

@@batmanrogers5358 same, I did a monotype rock challenge mode nuzlocke in white2 and it was one of my most fun teams I’ve played with

[@airtempest8945]

Nuzlocke of Black 2/White 2 and you don't get Mareep/Riolu. That's rough.

[@kingced741]

@@airtempest8945 bro must be a Champion

[@largenaq2935]

I’m still yet to beat the elite four of B2W2 challenge mode in a hardcore nuzlocke. I’ve made it there twice and failed both. Their teams are ridiculous

[@Wurmze]

Thing is with PLA is if you’re someone - like me - that got super into the game mechanics it’s way too easy to over level. Like I spent the first 20 hours in the obsidian fieldlands getting level ten on the dex entries and my team were early level 40 if I remember correctly. I haven’t fought arceus yet but the only battles I had any trouble with was the dialga and palkia battles against irida and adaman, and when I did path of solitude with my wyrdeer against ingos overquil. But I imagine if I went through again just for the story without filling out the dex it would be a lot more challenging

[@Shadowonwater]

Like you, I spent a lot of time working on the dex on I mostly had an easy time w/ battles. I already knew about the Volo thing and was excited to fight him, so I did that right away, and it *was* a hard challenge because I was actually on level that time. Anyway it took me a long time to get around the fighting Arceus. It is *not* an easy fight! Not at all! Ever other boss battle when I lost I decided to start from the top, not Arceus though, every phase of the fight against it made me lose multiple times even though I wasn't fighting from the start. Good luck!

[@ogueyratogeyrat7448]

overlevel is not challenge lil bro

[@Lonewolf-dy5yb]

I think Black and White deserve an honorable mention. It has some of the tougher gym battles, experience is fairly difficult to come by, Ghetsis is no slouch in terms of difficulty, and a lot of the good pokemon are locked behind optional areas like Sigilyph, Haxorus, and Volcarona, or high evolution levels like Volcorona and Hydreigon. Plus the post-game level jump is absurd, going from boss battles with the highest level pokemon being 54 to random trainers with level 60+ pokemon instantly.

[@charliez077]

yep. they legit had a perfect blueprint of difficulty with BW(2), even adding difficulty options in BW. and then they managed to completely screw it up by giving us the modern Exp Share which is fine in concept BUT terribly unbalanced (or other game-breaking stuff like Exp Candies, Z-moves, free Mega Lucario, affection, Roto Loto, etc.)

[@GyroNutz]

Most trainers in Black/White have barely any Pokemon though. It probably has the easiest elite four along with X & Y’s because each member only has 4 Pokemon (like wtf?)

[@OMSKBRUH]

That piano got me crying

[@bluedevils481991]

The fact that a State Farm ad popped up saying “i should file a claim” right after JPR jokes about paying his editor made this video even better haha

[@lydiavalentino]

Cheesing Ultra Necrozma with Toxic/Protect stall is probably the most satisfying that strategy can get.

[@raleo7466]

I didn't expect USUM to be number 2, I literally beat that game just mashing A (except for ultra necrozma, he had to die with a toxic and potion abuse). BW was a lot harder for me tbh, I remember having to throw myself against the elite 4 and get to ko some Pokémons before wiping out just to get enough levels to beat them stat wise (audino and lucky egg didn't give enough exp for leveling at that point)

[@charliez077]

USUM is hard only without using Exp Share or not using one stable team - I also strongly disagree with it being so high. yes, the boss battles can be very fun, but the rest of the game is just mashing A, especially with the "cheat" Z-moves which are completely overpowered against weak random NPC's (Dynamax was better in this regard because you can only use it specific battles). and btw Platinum is even tougher than BW!

[@robertlupa8273]

9:55 "I'm not a simp, I just appreciate strong trainers." The old guy outside of Celadon Gym said the same thing and we all know what he meant. :)

[@QueenEspeon96]

Platinum doesn't hold a candle to the Pokemon Stadium series (spin offs don't count I know) At least you can save before a tough battle; Pokemon Stadiums 1 and 2 don't do that. That's right, one chance, one screw up, and you'll have to start the 8 (4 for gyms/elite 4) battles all over again. Not to mention the game favoring the ai, so it's lucky to win some battles. Oh and I didn't even mention the rentals suck. The funny thing is..... THESE WERE MY FIRST GAMES! As a kid I would pick up and put down these games very quickly. However in the process, these games taught me how to strategize each move, and what Pokemon to bring in battles in a competitive manner.

[@LuckyBoyJKid]

It really does confuse me how Platinum or Diamond and Pearl (I guess Cynthia specifically) is remembered to be one of the hardest battles in all of Pokemon. I'm not denying it because it definitely makes sense given her team's coverage and levels but it's really not ingrained in my mind as something that took ages to get past. I remember wiping far more to Lance, Steven... Whitney... far more than I did to Cynthia.

[@Cigmacica]

I think it’s because most people who played those game’s we’re childs at that moment. When i was 8 i had a really bad time dianthea in pokemon x while i breezed through ultra necrozma one year later, or more recently i have destroyed most of pokemon’s black elite four wich most people also think was hard.

[@babulbi]

Because these were their first pokemon games, so their perspectives are wrapped by nostalgia. Like, Cynthia is though, but the challenge in those games isn't as spread out as something like USUM. Also, no idea why he put Platinum in here, Diamond and Pearl were way harder.

[@Shari362]

@@babulbi I've been playing since RBY. Cynthia is definitely the hardest champion lol. Other notable mentions are Iris and Leon, but anyone outside of those three are jokes.

[@babulbi]

@@Shari362 Read my comment again.

[@Shari362]

@@babulbi I'm responding to your comment that most people who rate Cynthia as the hardest rate her that highly because DP were their first Pokemon games. Honestly, considering most of the YT Poke Community is around my age (mid/early 20s) this is the furthest from the truth. Most KZbinrs started around GSC or RSE. Also DP is in no way shape or form harder than Platinum. The only thing DP has going for it in that regard is higher levels. All you have to do is look at each major trainer's team's and see that Plat is considerable harder.

[@PaulWade87]

*"Jesus Christ as my witness"* cool video yo!!!

[@spamton1337]

New JPR vids are always something I look forward to on Fridays🔥

[@MysticAceXYZ]

He's one of my favs, next to MysticUmbreon, AuraGuardian, MANDJTV, Truegreen7, Patterrz, Pokemen7 and Purplecliffe.

[@cloudwyrms9752]

Ok, I’ve been going back to play platinum and I’m not going crazy when I thought it was genuinely challenging at points, even as an adult playing it, lmaoooooo (that damn, damn purugly…)

[@rqjlfm]

I love how X & Y isn’t even in this video lmao

[@andrewsallee]

Think this is first time I noticed the Richard Petty Picture there.

[@mewmation]

Great Video. The spinoff pokemon games are much harder than the main series like pokemon xd, mystery dungeon and pokemon conquest

[@Eloharigaming8514]

People keep saying usum are the hardest but honestly i never really had any issue other than ultra necrozma. I think thinks like fairy typing/megas really made it not that bad. I remember having a much harder time in platinum and emerald than usum

[@269productions]

I just started playing crystal again and i am supprised how difficult it is and how long it takes to get to the next town. Feels a lot fuller than any game IV played in a long time. The no special a&d makes it a tad monotonous though.

[@Bassoon240]

Pokemon Puzzle League, anyone? No? Okay...

[@Violyte64]

[reads the video title] Either Pokemon Colosseum is solidly high on this list or we're not counting spin-offs. And as it turns out, we're not counting spin-offs!

[@clashwithdaragh]

When I think of hard pokemon games I go by a hardcore nuzlocking standpoint and to me here are the top 5: Honourable mention #1: BDSP purely because the elite 4 & champion are huge difficulty spikes. Honourable mention #2: 5) BW 4) Emerald 3) B2W2 2) Platinum 1) USUSM

[@3XA_Art]

I don't understand people who think that platinum is hard, I didn't lose a single battle

[@akilcharles3473]

While I'll argue that both Pokemon Platinum & USUM should at least be tie I stand by your opinion of choice on ranking the hardest games. However I feel there should be a honorable mention to Platinum's (somewhat) updated version BDSP. While for the most part this game is relatively easy, but until you reach the Elite 4 & Cynthia it gets really difficult more difficult than Platinum.

[@b-mill4306]

I don’t agree with this at all, the whole friendship system where you get easy crits and avoid ko’s is just completely busted. Not to mention the exp share

[@akilcharles3473]

@@b-mill4306 That would be the case for BDSP, I mean even without the friendship and exp mechanic the battle against the Elite 4 and Cynthia would still be a bit difficult. However in USUM you can choose whether to switch off/on the exp share and avoid using the Pokemon Refresh in the menu.

[@lohchong4862]

jpr: saying about paying his editor towards the end: an ad comes in and cuts off jpr me: whoa, why was the video suddenly cut off? oh, an ad

[@No-Community1380]

The hardest thing in pokemon is the part in X&Y when you need to chase that pokemon in the garden of the palace it took me 2 dam years

[@randomedgygamer2191]

lol what a kid

[@No-Community1380]

@@randomedgygamer2191 I also started playing the game years after it's release

[@stevenlast]

You might just be looking for main series games, but the Challenge Cup in Stadium 2 was the most difficult Pokemon gauntlet I've overcome

[@ggrarl]

Stadium 1 and 2 as a whole can be very difficult.

[@alphasierrazulu]

Colosseum and XD are the hardest, imo, but I like the list

[@Lanzetsu]

The issue with Sun / Moon is that you can snipe a LOT of trainers with a Z-Move because most trainers have only one or maybe two pokemon, which make it stupidly easy IMO.

[@charliez077]

this 100%. USUM is at least a bit better in this respect bc there are much less trainers with only one pokemon, but even there Z-moves are overpowered nukes against random NPC's. and USUM is still way too easy with Exp Share ON all the time, even without any grinding - I was again almost 10 levels overlevelled by the endgame.

[@TexasRed649]

No mention of Colosseum? That game is brutal.

[@DustyPhantom-ne5hy]

I was playing Silver recently. I tend to be impatient, so I didn't grind that much. I got to Clair, and proceeded to give up. It's so hard to grind, and the pokémon in the Ice Path are comparably such low levels, it's infuriating. Also, her kingdra resists all but one of the starter types, and its only weakness is Dragon, which you have no access to.

[@CrucifiedLullaby]

Pokemon Colosseum is THE hardest. Being a Gen 3 game AND how limited you were to use as in pokemon and moveset pool. It was brutal for a 2003 game.

[@ff10fire666]

None of the pokemon games are really hard they are designed to be someone's first rpgs but If I had to pick one it would be gen 5 bw/b2w2 mainly with b2w2 challenge mode or Colosseum because of the limited pokemon and double battles.

[@mousek801]

This made me start another Emerald playthrough. You highlighted all the best parts of the game.

[@brownbeastoftheleaf3215]

Thank you. I’m starting one

[@jeanzerwas9704]

ace trainers in platinum are legit skill checkpoints

[@coronium97]

i'm surprised platinum made top 1, but i see where you're coming from when you consider the context for every game. bw and bw2 were pretty difficult games as well, but game freak balanced both pretty well with their dexes and the lucky eggs. platinum had none of that and i remember having to decide which of the 6 eligible pokemon on my team to teach earthquake to

[@tiagocardosom]

Ah yes B/W and B2/W2 where you get Drilbur and get rock slide at level 29 , evolve it at 31 and get earthquake at 36. When I played both games I didn't know anything about them. I just catched and destroyed the game with it and Samurott Edit: there are not many Pokémon that can survive stab earthquake coming from a 135 base attack.

[@coronium97]

@@tiagocardosom same, i only caught it because it looked cool. turns out it was one of the best pokemon to use for a playthrough LOL

[@tiagocardosom]

@@coronium97 he was so good that he was banned from Smogon's OU if you had a Pokémon with sand stream ability and Excadrill had the Sand Rush ability

[@josephtucker7181]

Usum are by far the hardest to play because I just want to turn off the game with all the damn cutscenes you can't skip

[@Zetaroid]

I was surprised Colosseum didn't make this list. I think it might take the cake for #1.

[@bulborb8756]

i mean no kidding: between the extremely limited options for your team, generally only getting 1 chance to catch the shadow pokemon, a lot of the team options being absolute garbage, how hard catching shadow pokemon is and several other things that are against you

[@FTChomp9980]

Cynthia in Pokemon Platinum she was challenging for sure.

[@niceofgames]

I think we are leaving out an unsung entry into the Pokémon Franchise, though it was not made by the company. Pokemon Colloseum: this game is difficult because of a few aspects. 1. Every battle is a Double Battle. Meaning you have to consider even more typings and match ups than before. Even more with Bosses cause they have gimmicks that make it DIFFICULT if you don’t plan around them. 2. Limited Roster - You don’t have access to a full Pokédex in this game. You have to catch Pokémon from other trainers.(which I’ll get to) and, of the Pokémon you catch, almost half of them are not exactly VIABLE. 3. Shadow Pokémon - the Pokémon you catch are Shadow Pokémon, which only know one move to start that is like Struggle. There are extra mechanics that you need to deal with and CONTINUE to deal with until you purify them.

[@Benassiesto]

Objectively, Legends Arceus. You can’t just cruise through the game like normal. ‘Bosses’ are something new and really your ability to beat them is based on the skills you learned in this game alone (dodging, throwing stuff), whereas for Gyms/ Trials it’s just another Pokemon battle. The Volo battle is also one of if not the toughest battle in any game. And the toughest thing about this game for me was NOT REALIZING YOU CAN USE HEALING ITEMS MID-BATTLE UNTIL LOSING TO GIRATINA 20 TIMES! Genuinely thought they took that out of the game because it wasn’t the same button/ familiar UI from SwSh 😂 I highly recommend doing a no-healing-mid-battle playthrough though! Until Girantina. Don’t try it unless you’re a masochist 😅

[@lordfenix17]

I only used revives in my PLA run for the most part.

[@ignasiusbernadi6085]

I agree Volo is really hard even Cynthia is easier compare to Volo last battle

[@p_fu]

You have got to be kidding legends arceus is the most spoonfed pokemon game

[@charliez077]

nah, imo Platinum is much tougher than Arceus. for me Arceus was mostly pretty fun and I loved how even low level pokemon can damage me a lot, but I also (again) got overlevelled without any special grind and the trainer battles were soon too easy. Volo was super tough tho. but in Platinum you cant easily get overlevelled and a lot of Gym Leaders and Elite 4 are just tough!

[@backlogrob8358]

Does Arceus only being hard in the post game really make it more difficult than BW2? Even normal mode on BW2 is pretty tough throughout, at least in terms of just keeping your whole party on level.

[@BJGvideos]

With Arceus, you can get blindsided at any given point by an errant alpha.

[@johnax4124]

0:49 I swear I can faintly hear a discord notif sound under your voice

[@mattcoyle1620]

I think Pokemon Colosseum deserves a spot (maybe not hardest, say 1st spot, but definitely in the latter half of the top 5). You have a lot of tough matches, struggles to fight trainers while simultaneously trying to steal Pokemon from your enemies, ALL WHILE HAVING A SMALL POOL OF CHOICES, making it difficult to make teams able to tackle all problems.

[@sunbrodaveftw6131]

N64 Colosseum game was the hardest. -Trainers can heal, you cannot. -ingame Zapdos, the most broken version ever, Zap knows Sleep Powder (witch Zap can't learn in the original red blue classics)Sky Attack, Thunder Wave, and i think the last was Thunder Bolt. (I think the alternative Zap knew Rock Toss or some ish) - Ingame Raichu that knows surf (witch can only be learn in the yellow classic, when you teach your Pikachu surf) The list goes on, their was alot of pokemon that knew attacks but only for that game. No Mew or Mewtwo selection unless you actually caught them. The game was busted (but fun af)

[@elliot157]

USUM in set mode, without items in battle, no exp share & no affection is the single most fun way to play any pokemon game.

[@pokemonftw3652]

10:18 that reeeead

[@PaddyX360]

Platinum is a no for me! Colosseum would take my top spot. 2. BW2 3. USUM 4. Yellow 5. Emerald

[@jasondierkhising3585]

How was XD Gale of Darkness not on here? Orre colosseum is soo hard But I would say anything with the battle frontier is top contender and BDSP final E4 teams can be pretty hard sometimes. Also the volo fight RIP.

[@largenaq2935]

Pretty clear he’s talking about main series games

[@zemufinman1639]

I was kinda dismissive of #1 until i remembered how haunchcrow swept me 2 separate times by just clicking drill peck on my entire team. And then i was immediately back to disagreeing with you because i remembered that Guzma's masquerain did the exact same thing with bug buzz and air cutter every time i faced it even with friendship on my side. I guess moral of the story is I like Pokemon that are weak to flying

[@DarkCastleBoy]

For a veteran Pokemon Master like me there is no hard pokemon games I just love when it is harder and challenging. I just wish future Pokemon games give more challenges.

[@BlueLoveYT]

I'm really hoping SV will have fights as hard/bs as Volo. That was one of the coolest gimmicks I've ever seen in a Pokemon game. Having to fight 8 mons with no free heals was fun as hell

[@brownbeastoftheleaf3215]

Nope. The easiest of all!

[@andrewp.1358]

What makes Diamond and Pearl not as hard as platinum? Besides Cyrus distortion world fight, what else increased in difficulty?

[@andrewp.1358]

Anyways, you get gible at level 15 after the 6th gym, and in platinum that's not the case. U get it way earlier. Garchomp is crazy good to have, and getting it so late in diamond and pearl makes the games tougher imo. Also, fantina later on feels so scary vs the platinum version, bc she now has a Gengar, which can do SERIOUS damage.

[@Dw7freak]

I'd say Colosseum is one of the harder games for two reasons: everything is double battles and you are stuck with mostly garbage gen 2 mons. With all the battles being double battles, it's fairly easy to get overwhelmed, especially since the game doesn't give you many of the tools that make gen 3 double battles good until late game, like a good Surf or Earthquake user. The only good Earthquake user you get before post-game is Flygon, and you have to use the TM to teach it to it. The other problem is that most of the Pokemon you get access to are from gen 2. While this was done to help Ruby and Sapphire fill their dexes, gen 2 is notorious for having bad mons. There are only 6 Hoenn mons and no Kanto mons in the entire playthrough. The biggest pluses, though, are that you start with Espeon, you get one of the Johto starters in the first town (both Quilava and Croconaw are good picks), and you get the three legendary beasts, with Entei and Suicune being fairly early on. I normally don't use Raikou, just because it doesn't get any good moves during the playthrough and its level is much lower than your team while trying to purify it, though its speed lets you set up Rain Dance for Suicune to sweep with Surf when you get it. The only problem with grinding is that there's only one grinding spot and it kinda sucks. Mt. Battle is one of the few places in the game where the trainers are repeatable. The main problem, though, is how long it takes to get to the section that actually gives good exp for your level. When you unlock it, you have just caught a level 40 Entei and the first set of trainers aren't even level 20. You've got to go through half the climb just to get to same level mons.

[@jasongotcello]

Of all the Pokemon games, I've had to grind the most due to most times, even the wild Pokemon are beating my team

[@The_Relcity]

if I had all games then I would pick the same as JPR but change the first place spot to BDSP. BDSP is the hardest version because of most of the trainer's having one of if not all of their Pokémon fully competitive

[@simsportif]

WTF?! Colosseum beats all of those games handily in terms of difficulty.

[@necrozma4029]

I singlehandedly turned an otherwise relatively easy couple of games into hell for Nuzlockers.

[@DarkCastleBoy]

I agree with u completely on Platinum it is challenging mostly the Epic Battle with Cynthia 😰 it's everyone's nightmare I'm scared of her to this day lol. And she also has a cameo in B2W2 Too.

[@Nyicles]

what about B&W not the second version

[@Maki-Hosomaki]

I Don t think platinum is hard becous There is so much realy strong gift/Special pokemon that you can just use and just sweep all teams

[@CreamIc7]

I still remember everyone talking about how stupid hard ultra necrozma was but I thought he was easy af (I had 0 clue it was going to happen)

[@varenemerald]

I'd say legends is easier than XY. Literally didn't lose once.

[@Kyydon]

I haven’t played platinum in years, but honestly I feel like bdsp is harder. A lot of major fights actually have interesting strategies, hidden abilities, great held items, don’t forget the boost in stats

[@zandosdwarf-king]

Let's go was my hardest, because with no wikd battles I wasn't catching duplicates and XP for battling is lowered this game. And I ALWAYS build living dex along the way, so less XP for mons that stay for e4.

[@reesh2257]

I cannot count how many time i have lost to the old paralyzing man ,stupid twins and the DOUBLE TEM KINGDRA

[@arthurmclaughlin1458]

I played through platinum this year and made the big mistake of trying to run the elite 4 with a Toxicroak and an Abomasnow, did not go well 😦

[@galvsparks6295]

What is wrong with these two mons ? Especially toxicroak

[@arthurmclaughlin1458]

None of the elite four have any pokemon that are weak to poison

[@TheNeighbor216]

New to the channel, but enjoying the content. Keep up the good work!

[@cheeseburgerlazers]

plantinum was Rough as hell and the first game i remember buying for myself

[@aureliamastergoomba1278]

“Boxing it makes you a terrible person” Yes

[@alexgarnica8498]

I would argue that the actual hardest is Pokemon Stadium. Sure, it fixes some bugs from Gen 1 but the fact still remains, its from Gen 1. The trainers there all use strategies to take you out-the most annoying is when you face the Wrap, Fire Spin, Clamp trainers... also Fisherman R2 is a nightmare. And its even harder if you use rentals

[@Marabo77]

Pokémon Colosseum

[@soulmourne2698]

I dont agree i consider black 2 white 2 harder than legends, legends is just 1 fight the rest of the game is a walk in the park, and arceus is decent difficulty but its maybe 4-5 trys not that hard, platinum is honestly one of the best game in the pokemon franchise is probably the best i'm not sure if its the best couse b2w2 is spectacular in terms of quality, platinum is not just hard the quality of the game is super high unlike the trash sinoh remake released last year, the modern affection system is trash it just breaks all the combat system of a rpg at least in most games is optional not in the trash sinoh remake though

[@avatardoom]

Why did pokemon colosseum or XD not get an honorable mention?

[@SuperPlacido1]

Because they are spinoff not main games!

[@KaueMelo]

And Pokémon Platinum, on top of all of it, is LOOOONG!!! SO LONG!!! Rs.

[@mastermindgaming995]

Imo platinum isn't very difficult with a bit of game IQ, you can grab a Gible at the secret section of wayward cave, put it on your team and just win. Staraptor is the strongest regional bird, and all the starters are very strong. Weavile can deal with Cynthia's garchomp and lucians team. Bertha's entire team is weak to grass. It's not that bad.

[@denharte8670]

I understand this is for the main handheld games, but little child me still gets nightmares of that red-and-white afro and all those dancing, life-stealing Ludicolo. Why won’t the rain stop?

[@ggrarl]

"Let the music play!"

[@cestrumnocturnum5075]

"Whitney with her satanic cow" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@zeldamaster52]

Surprised to not see the original gen 5 games here. The 1st gym can be really annoying due to a lack of trainers to get XP on and the gym always having type advantage. Plus in my nuzlocke a lot of random NPC's actually are fairly competent and snuck some kills that I didn't ever expect. The game also really barrages you with battles as you go due to there being 3 rivals. And most people agree Elesa is one of the hardest trainers in any generation due to her triple Volt Switch team and there being 0 ice types to deal with the Emolgas that early in the game.

[@TheReZisTLust]

If i remember correct its Colloseum.