On using speedups in Kaizo IronMON

The Kaizo IronMON challenge combines many attractive features of Pokemon gaming -- randomization, decision making, replay value, and endless stream entertainment. But what stands out to me is the feeling of being on "the run."

Being on "the run" means total immersion in gameplay. You have a good Pokemon, you've made it past the early walls, and now you'll be faced with a series of difficult yet manageable decisions on your path to the Elite Four. You may lose your run to something random, you'll likely be able to play for 10+ hours with a good chance of reaching the pinnacle of single-player Pokemon gaming: the Kaizo Hall of Fame. Knowing this, and being able to enjoy it with a Twitch chat, is the most sustainable thrill I've found in my 9 years on Twitch.

Using speedups extinguishes that thrill. I can't be totally immersed in a game when I'm playing it at 4x speed. I can't enjoy the run for nearly as many hours. I can't provide my audience with a multi-day run that gives them time to emotionally invest in the Pokemon and the outcome. And most importantly, I can't truly appreciate being on "the run" when I have so much control over how often one occurs. Let's say "the run" happens once every 20 hours. With 4x speed, I can decrease that to 7 hours. With 8x speed, it would be 5 hours -- at least once per day. That's hardly befitting of a challenge that's designed to be the most difficult and rewarding of them all. And when a run dies, I can easily get another one.

Many people say they're OK with speedups for the early game only, or for friendship and Shedinja grinds. This seems logical at face value -- speed through the boring and repetitive parts of the run, and then fully enjoy the best parts of the run. But I can't fully enjoy the best parts of the run if I can reach them so easily. The greater the struggle, the greater the reward. It's human nature.

On a similar note, I believe Kaizo streams perform better in terms of viewership and engagement when the game is played at normal speed. In fact, some of my biggest viewer spikes have come during 20-40 minute friendship grinds! Of course, viewership is higher during runs than resets, but the runs are more meaningful and memorable to viewers when they come after hours of futility.

I don't expect that others in the community will share my approach. I think most Kaizo runners are mostly looking for stream content or a way to stave off boredom. Playing with speedups is an easy way to satisfy these goals, albeit potentially less effective.