Pokémon Sword & Shield are now officially out in the wild, and surprising to no one, they've been huge successes. Fans are now digging into everything the game has to offer, and some think that the games might be a bit too easy.

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Today, we're going to be taking a look at a few reasons why the games might be pretty easy, and a few more ways to make the games more challenging. Let's get into it.

Updated November 3rd, 2020 by Brianna Albert: Despite Pokémon Sword & Shield being a game that is directed at younger players, people of all ages dive into the wide world Nintendo and Game Freak have created over the years. However, while some Pokémon games are harder than others, Sword & Shield can sometimes do a disservice to players by being a tad too easy. Let's get back into what makes Sword & Shield so easy and what can make it a bit too tricky for various players worldwide.

21 Challenging: Making Specific Curry

Curry Pokemon Sword And Shield

If venturing into the wild area, there are different vendors who will give the player the chance to purchase ingredients to create different variations of curry by spending Watts.

However, there is never any explicit order or way given to make a certain type of curryーthe only way to whip up a delicious (or disastrous) dish is through trial and error.

20 Too Easy: Pokémon's Affection

Vanilluxe Affection

By playing with and speaking to Pokémon, using them in battle, or whipping up some delectable curry in Sword & Shield, the player can raise their Pokémon's affection toward them.

Although at first glance things such as affection do not seem to have much of an effect during battle, the more a player's Pokémon likes them, the more likely the Pokémon will do it's best. This ranges from getting more critical hits to surviving with 1 hit point remaining.

19 Challenging: Raihan's Gym Battle

Raihan Pokemon Sword

Some players have complained that challenging the Champion, Leon, was too much of a breeze ー especially after having a tough time with the dragon-type gym leader, Raihan.

Raihan's gym battle is different, with the player having to battle his Pokémon with a 2-on-2 battle. This makes for a trickier situation, especially after the previous gym battles that aren't so difficult.

18 Too Easy: Telling Players What's Effective And Non-Effective

Alcremie

In past Pokémon games, discovering what was effective, super effective, and not very effective was a way to grow stronger in the series. The more the player battles, the more likely they are to remember what the most efficient way to hit a Pokémon's weakness would be.

However, in Sword & Shield, once the player knows the weakness of their enemy, the words "effective" or "not effective" will show up underneath the move's description.

17 Challenging: Dynamax Adventures

Dynamax Adventures Crown Tundra

Dynamax Adventures was the newest addition added in The Crown Tundra DLC. The player must traverse through a cave and battle against dynamaxed Pokémon to proceed.

The player will not be able to replenish PP, and a legendary Pokémon may be dwelling in the depths. Although it doesn't sound daunting ー as items will be accessible to give the player a boost ー it takes a bit more strategy than players might be used ti.

16 Too Easy: 100% Legendary Capture Rate

Crown Tundra Legendary

In The Crown Tundra DLC, there is a 100% capture rate on a legendary Pokémon of the player's choice.

However, this is only allowed after defeating said legendary, which may still be a challenge for those who are unfamiliar with doing so. Whatever the case, this is made easier than past entries in the Pokémon franchise, as beating a legendary to the red didn't guarantee a capture.

15 Challenging: The Isle Of Armor's Level Scaling

It's been confirmed through a hands-off preview with IGN that level scaling will be present throughout The Isle of Armor, a first for the series. This means that wild battles and trainer battles will stay consistently tough no matter how much you've leveled up your team during your original playthrough of the games. As such, if you really dove into the postgame of Sword & Shield, you can still expect a challenge from Isle of Armor.

14 Too Easy: Gating

Oftentimes, Sword & Shield are made far too easy by their gating mechanics. You can never even go a smidge off the linear path in the games because there is always some sort of gate devised to stop you from deviating. For a game with a feature as heavily-promoted as the Wild Area, the forced linearity is pretty grating, and never even letting you check out an over-leveled section makes things quite a bit easier.

13 Challenging: Max Raid Battle CPUs

Want to have the absolute worst time trying to complete Max Raid Battles? Use the CPU partners instead of connecting online with other trainers. The preset CPUs are hopelessly inept about 90% of the time and aren't actually going to help you all that much, save for a few Magikarp Hydro Pumps here and there. It makes actually getting a chance to capture the raid boss much more challenging.

12 Too Easy: Eternatus

While the Eternatus battle might seem like a huge, monstrous challenge to overcome due to the fact that its essentially a raid battle, it isn't at all a challenge. You have two legendary Pokémon helping you, and the catch rate of Eternatus is 100%, there's no real uncertainty when going into battle with it. If a legendary is that easy to catch, can they even be considered a legendary?

11 Challenging: The Final Hop Battle

The rival battles throughout the main story can certainly be difficult from time to time, but that final battle is a doozy and is arguably more difficult to overcome than the champion battle with Leon. If you want to make things even more difficult in this battle, try not bringing out your mascot legendary or Eternatus to match Hop's sword or shield dog.  This is a win that you're going to have to earn the hard way, best of luck.

10 Too Easy: EXP Share

The EXP share has been turned on to mandatory in Sword and Shield, much to the chagrin of many fans. In all honesty, how much the EXP share affects the game is up to players.

If you face every trainer on every route, its definitely going to make things a little easier. This can be fixed by skipping some trainers and taking Pokémon out of the party, which you no longer need to go to a Pokémon center to do, so it isn't a hassle at all.

9 Challenging: Set Battle Mode

One very easy way to make things more challenging in Sword and Shield is to change your battle mode from switch to set. In set mode, you don't get the option to switch out your Pokémon every time that you faint an opponent's creature.

This means that you won't necessarily have the type advantage, and you'll need to take a turn in order to switch out. This small change can really go a long way in upping the difficulty of the games.

8 Too Easy: EXP Candies

Screenshot

EXP Candies are a new item that functions similarly to rare candies, but they don't necessarily offer a full level, but rather set amounts of EXP.

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The items are much more abundant than rare candies as well, meaning that you can get them pretty frequently. This means that you can level up Pokémon at a pretty quick rate if you so choose. As you'll start to notice though, most of the things that make the game easy are completely optional, as are the challenging entries. It all comes down to player choice.

7 Challenging: Not Dynamaxing

via: Nintendo

E X P A N D. Or don't, it's up to you! If you choose not to Dynamax in Sword and Shield, it will make things pretty difficult for you.

Dynamaxing actually becomes pretty important to the gym battles, so if you choose to forgo it, you're going to be in for a rough one and will have to really up your strategy to make things work. Prepare to get STOMPED by Nessa if you don't.

6 Too Easy: Raids

As long as you don't get paired up with some big ol' idiots, raids can be pretty easy. When you clear them, you get all sorts of rewards that can make the game become really easy. This is actually where you get the aforementioned EXP candies, amongst other rewards.

Of course, you don't have to use the rewards if you don't want them, and can instead just go for taking out the Pokémon, ignoring any side benefits that might come with that. Once again, it's up to the players.

5 Challenging: The Wild Area

The Wild Area can be absolutely terrifying, as illustrated by this trainer running for his life. Look at this man. That empty smile is filled with nothing but FEAR.

Depending on where you decide to venture in the Wild Area, you can end up completely out of your league. It's easy to find level 50 Pokémon once you first make it to the area. Stock up on Pokédolls or something. The Wild Area holds a lot of good and a lot of bad, so just make your choices carefully.

4 Too Easy: Nature Mints

Sun and Moon worked hard to make the competitive scene a bit less daunting to get into, and Sword and Shield are following in Generation Seven's footsteps. With the introduction of Nature Mints, players no longer need to hunt for exactly the right Pokémon to battle with.

You can now change your Pokémon's nature with a mint. Why mints? Who knows. Either way, it makes getting into competitive play a lot easier than it used to be.

3 Challenging: Ignoring Pokémon Camp

If you're a monster and don't like your Pokémon having any sort of attachment to you, or curry, good. This will make the game more difficult, you monster. As long as you don't raise your affection too high with any Pokémon, they won't be inspired to live on one health or cure themself of a status.

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This can make the game much easier, and get you out of some tricky situations, so avoid camp and feelings if you're looking for a tough time.

2 Too Easy: Money Everywhere

These games are full of money. Trainer battles, rare items, it's everywhere. This means that gathering supplies from Poké Marts won't be an issue in the slightest. Well... for the most part. There are two types of trainers out there. Some like to spend their money on items that are going to help take them far in the Gym Challenge.

There are some who reward themselves with an entirely new hairstyle and color, lash extensions and a brand new outfit after doing the absolute bare minimum. Either way you play, saving up money for those activities is not going to be a difficult task in the slightest. Go get yourself some blue hair, you've earned it.