Jerry’s Marginalia — Not Every System Deserves Resistance
There’s this idea floating around that if something is easy, you’re doing it wrong. That if you’re not suffering, you’re not growing. That every system needs to be challenged, broken, or turned into a proving ground.
That idea is lazy.
Some games are built as friction engines. FromSoft hands you a contract up front: learn or die. Armored Core expects you to tune, fail, rebuild, repeat. Pain is the point. You consent to it.
Pokémon doesn’t make that offer.
Pokémon is a family game. A numbers-up, badge-down, keep-moving machine. It gives you tools—levels, TMs, type coverage—and says: use them. Overleveling isn’t cheating. It’s compliance.
So imposing a Nuzlocke isn’t “respecting the game.” It’s introducing harm where none was required.
And sometimes that’s fine— when you want friction, when you’re bored, when you’re curious.
But turning everything into a trial? That’s not discipline. That’s self-inflicted scarcity.
You don’t need to challenge yourself every day. You don’t need to bleed in every system you touch. And you don’t owe seriousness to things that were built to be gentle.
Knowing when not to resist is just as important as knowing when to push.
The skill isn’t hardship. It’s discernment.
— Jerry