What is a Nuzlocke? – Coromon

Nuzlocke runs were born out of necessity as the powers-that-be behind the Pokemon series refused to let their games grow alongside their original audience. Pokemon Black and White 2 are the only main Pokemon games to have any level of difficulty options, and while those options were pretty lean, they were at least something. The problem is, games before and since lack this feature or any real challenge whatsoever – that’s where a Nuzlocke run comes in.

The Nuzlocke Challenge is a set of self-imposed rules to a playthrough that is designed to challenge a seasoned veteran player. Not only do they provide a challenge to the player, but they also encourage the use of Pokemon that normally wouldn’t make it into a lot of people’s favourite line-up.

The original creator of the Nuzlocke challenge is Nick Franco, a dedicated Pokemon player and talented comic artist. The Nuzlocke name comes from the Seedot and Nuzleaf that featured in his original comic that outlined the challenge and its accompanying rules. Their name, combined with John Locke’s character from the “Lost” television show, created “Nuzlocke”.

The comic and Nick’s challenge filled a gap that had been missing in the Pokemon community for years – a way to spice things up and make it more interesting. An avenue for veteran players to connect with each other over their losses and triumphs whilst enduring a Nuzlocke challenge.

Nick’s original comic that started the Nuzlocke challenge craze.

We can see from Nick’s original design that the basic rules of the Nuzlocke are pretty simple, despite some variants having a bit more complexity and dedication.

Rule 1 – If a Pokemon loses all of its HP and faints, it is considered dead. Depending on the player, the deceased Pokemon will either be “boxed” permanently, or they will have to be released. Either way, they cannot be used again in any circumstance.

Rule 2 – Only the first encounter on each route or area can be caught. This extra challenge forces the player to use Pokemon they wouldn’t normally, and it makes each encounter and death significant as the player can simply run out of usable Pokemon and therefore fail the Nuzlocke run.

Variants and Optional Extra Rules:

  • It is generally accepted that the player will nickname each Pokemon they capture to give them some personality and make the fear of losing them to the “perma-death” rule even more significant.
  • Pokemon gained through methods other than the first encounter are generally excluded and not usable for Nuzlocke challenges. This includes trading, event gifts, gifted Pokemon, egg gifts, etc.
  • Save scumming renders the runs pointless and is therefore usually just accepted as a non-practice. Perma-death or first encounter rules mean little if the player can reset their game.

The Problem With Nuzlocke Challenges

The key issue with the Nuzlocke challenge is that all these rules are self-imposed. They have never been officially supported in any Pokemon game whether it be the main storyline games or spin-offs. Meaning, if the player is unaware that the challenge exists, or doesn’t have the self-discipline to follow the guidelines, they are simply without an option for a challenging experience.

Without an audience, the player has a lack of accountability to follow the Nuzlocke challenge. As such, the difficulty isn’t set in stone.

How Coromon Solves This Problem

The way that Coromon solves this problem is twofold. First, the game doesn’t have a lack of difficulty options that lead to the necessity of the Nuzlocke challenge as there are four, quite varied, difficulty options. The second is that the option for a Nuzlocke challenge, which is enforced by the game itself, is present in Coromon through some of its difficulty options.

As I mentioned, Coromon has four different difficulty settings:

Easy – Fully heals your Coromon when they level up. Coromon can be revived if they are defeated in battle.
Normal – Coromon will not be healed on level up, otherwise, the game is unchanged.
Hard – Random encounters cannot be fled from and Coromon that are defeated are released, making you unable to use them again for the entirety of the playthrough.
Insane – All of the hard mode rules are active and only the first Coromon from each area may be caught.

With these difficulty modes, Coromon is infinitely more accessible than its competitors. Players who are inexperienced or unfamiliar with the genre can get a leg up through the level up healing with Easy mode. Those that want a strict “Nuzlocke” experience can select the Insane difficulty mode and have the Nuzlocke be imposed by the game itself. Those who want a challenge somewhere in between, have the Hard mode option. The game accomodates your preference.

Leave us a Comment!

Do you know which difficulty you’re going to play on? Something relaxing or are you going for a home run? We’d love to hear from you on the MGN.gg blog, our YouTube channel, of course, the new MGN twitter @MGN_TV, and our Discord – links for all of which can be found within the description of the video overview.

Credits

ProgramFounding Writers
AuthorLuke Cowling
PublisherMGN
GameCoromon

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