>>48856329The games are balanced, but not the way most people play.
As a test and for fun, after playing Brilliant Diamond, I made some Eevee eggs and traded them over to Shining Pearl after the first badge. Then, I hatched the eggs, traded them back, evolved them into everyone but the day/night pair and sent them back. This makes them non-traded for Shining Pearl, so no loyalty issues or EXP boosts.
With this, I was able to play with all Eeveeloutions at level 1 or 2 (the Grass/Ice pair with a rare candy). The day/night pair would be acquired through normal gameplay.
All Eeveeloutions have 525 base stats (similar to 2nd stage evolution starters) and are single types, so they work well to test game balance. I made a rule to generally switch into the Eeveeloution with the best matchup each battle and play on Set mode. This insured mostly even usage. Further, I haven’t done any grinding, but I have played every trainer in every route you are instructed to take in the story.
As of the 7th badge and right before climbing the mountain, my team is in the mid to high 40’s range. What else is in that range? The box legendary.
My overall impression is that the game is balanced as follows:
Play all trainers on the routes = slightly over leveled.
Play only required trainers on the routes = under leveled.
This is just ILCA catering to both types of players.
“Collectors” don’t care as much about the gym challenge, so they can play all the trainers to unlock the national dex without much issue.
“Battlers” and “Speed Runners” can find challenge by only challenging mandatory trainers.
