>>37817719That's arguably the most true between thoaw three statements. The earlier games allow for some non-linearity in the sense you can do some gyms and dungeons out of order.
The games were always handholdy but became more overtly so in the new gens.
But challenging, that they never were. You were young and unexperienced, that's all. When Sword/Shield was announced I decided on a whim to Nuzlocke at least one game from each generation, with Battle mode on Set and no items during fights. I did Blue and I'm doing Crystal right now, it's shocking how easy they are, especially Blue which had more unfair bullshit moments in my memory (I haven't fully played a Gen 1 game in 10 years or so).
Even with self-imposed restrictions they're both way easier than any other Pokémon game I nuzlocked, in the sense that I got almost no deaths until the E4 and that I was never super pressed to level up or to alter my team for better coverage against leaders and such, something I consistently have to do in newer games.
Should be noted I'm not saying the newer games are more difficult, they are not, it's more a matter of having more options and variables to work with than the older ones. But the series definitely isn't becoming easier by any stretch of the word either.
