Difficulty in games

[Drakstern]

So, I've been playing a lot of games lately, and I've noticed something rather annoying, at least for people like myself.

Games are getting easier. Not just 'oh you have tons of lives and can continue any time you'd like', but honest to god easier.

I'm currently playing Fable 2, and aside from one moment early in the game, I've yet to get knocked out. Typically, enemies don't even reach me due to a mix of Time Control and headshotting.

I finished Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin recently before picking up the new Castlevania game, and I died maybe twice the entire game.

Even Mega Man 9, which I was hearing complaints of 'too hard' from people about was relatively easy compared to previous Mega Man games.

What's happened? I mean, I know not everyone likes a game that's gonna kick their ass three ways to Sunday, but even the inclusion of difficulty levels is getting rarer. Are we just getting too spoiled? Do we expect to be able to blow through a game with minimal effort now? Is that really what people want?

I love a game that gives me an honest challenge. I love the little surge of triumph that I get whenever I get past a particularly hard bit, but it's getting harder and harder to find games that give that feeling to me. So... is that it? Am I part of a dying breed of gamers? Amongst the last of those who seek challenge?

 

[Cheesus333]

I don't dwell on the difficulty of games. I just play them over and over again if they're easy; completing them that many times is an achievement in itself. If you want to make it harder, just impose some rule on yourself. Say things like 'I won't use this weapon once' or 'I will not reload at all this level', stuff like that.

 

[vede]

You can't really judge a game's difficulty based on how often you die. It's about how hard you had to try to not die when you were still alive.

 

[Fraught]

I wouldn't say that they're getting easier. There's more difficulty between 8-bit games' difficulties, and 32-bit games' difficulties, but games that belong to the same category don't. And I have heard many say that Mega Man 9 is a very hard game, even when compared to the older games. Guess it's just you.

 

[Pseudonym2]

The old games were mostly ported from arcades in which high difficulties meant more quarters.

Also older games were smaller in terms of megabytes. To make the games longer developer simply made them harder. (Note this trend was more common in the American version of games.)

 

[Drakstern]

You can't really judge a game's difficulty based on how often you die. It's about how hard you had to try to not die when you were still alive.

I tend to judge it by how often I die simply because it's the easiest way to judge it. In games with HP, I have a bad habit of skating the edge of death because I'm a habitual item horder. In games where it's a one hit kill(like the remnants of the shmup genre), if I'm not dieing a lot, they're not doing it right.

It is true that 'how hard I have to try not to die' is important, but looking back on Portrait of Ruin, there were several points where I'd go from save point to save point without getting touched.

I don't dwell on the difficulty of games. I just play them over and over again if they're easy; completing them that many times is an achievement in itself. If you want to make it harder, just impose some rule on yourself. Say things like 'I won't use this weapon once' or 'I will not reload at all this level', stuff like that.

If a game's that easy, I tend to get bored on multiple play throughs, unless it's an astonishingly good game like Okami. Even with 'self-imposed challenges', a fair number of games nowadays are still pretty easy to burn through.

Mind you, I'm not saying 'EASY GAMES ARE BAD' or 'GAMES WERE BETTER WHEN I WAS YOUNGER', but I just wish there were a little more effort put into making the games enjoyable for people of all skill levels and frames of mind.

 

[Darth Marsden]

Games are getting easier, for several reasons. But to be honest, there are two main ones that stand out for me.

One - we're just getting better. Obvious when you say it, but you never stop improving upon yourself when it comes to games.

Two - games are becoming more mainstream. In order to appeal to a wider audience, games are deliberately being made easier, allowing more people to play them.

There will always be a market for more hardcore games, but these days you really do have to search for them. It's a shame, really.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Play a genre you're not used to. I have a knack for multi-tasking and got to a point where I could shred through RTS or strategy games without batting an eye. It just got stupid. So I switched to the FPS, then I switched to dual-analog controls after I got bored with those.

I'm about to switch back to RPG's and 2-D sidescrollers because by now I barely even remember basic tactics.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I always felt like games were getting easier, then I went back and played games that were hard as shit when I was 8-12, and realized they were alot easier.

The issue isn't games are getting easier, the issue is you've been playing games for years and you intuitivly understand how to do it. There's things you get that other people wouldn't. You've built up a tolerance. Like with Crack.

 

[Jharry5]

I recently re-played games I found really hard when I was younger and found they were easier. Maybe its not that games are getting easier, but as we've been playing games for longer, we're just getting better at them.
Although, I do agree that there is a lack of difficulty settings in new games. I miss the challenge presented, but it is better for my blood pressure...

 

[shatnershaman]

Play Halo 3 on Legendary with all skulls is somewhat difficult. Kinda.

You might even get into the world record book.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/halo2/news.html?sid=6155963&mode=news&cpage=14

 

[dukethepcdr]

If you want to die a lot in a new game, get Fallout 3 and play it on the maximum difficulty. I have a hard enough time staying alive on the easy setting if I stray into the wrong parts of the map before I'm leveled up enough. But, put it on the hardest setting and you barely make it from Vault 101 to Megaton in one piece.

Of course, you are probably one of those "game gods" I hear about who has practiced games so much that just about any game is easy for you. I for one, don't have enough time on my hands anymore to keep my gaming skills honed to the point that most games are easy for me.

 

[weirdaljedifan2]

Not all gamers want a challenge, some of us just want to have fun. Is Kirby Squeak Squad easier than rolling a giant rubber ball down a hill? Yes. Is Kirby Squeak Squad fun? IMO it is.

I'm someone who thinks that Sonic Chronicles was challenging(I haven't beaten the final boss, yet) while many others says it was too easy for an RPG.

I'm in it for the fun, not the broken controller lodged into the wall and/or TV.

 

[gunnnnkjkjkj]

I agreed that games are getting easier , because the people who play them are lacking the ability of handling challenges .

Before you had to give some effort to the game you were playing, now you can watch TV , eat and talk in your phone while playing...

I blame the people playing the games , i also blame the gaming industry for actually making the games easier.

 

[Hey Joe]

Games are getting easier because games are costing more to produce. Therefore developers and publishers want the consumer to get the full experience out of the game instead of throwing the controller down in frustration.

Also, letting the player get to the end of the game allows a cliffhanger ending for the sequel.

 

[wgreer25]

I love a game that gives me an honest challenge. I love the little surge of triumph that I get whenever I get past a particularly hard bit, but it's getting harder and harder to find games that give that feeling to me. So... is that it? Am I part of a dying breed of gamers? Amongst the last of those who seek challenge?

Mirror's Edge, Test of Faith Achievment... there is a challenge for you.

 

[Susurrus]

Try www.miniclip.com/light-heroes.en

Ok, now try beating all the levels.. SO HARD.

 

[haveyouseen_mywallet]

dude fable 2 was a breeze, wait till you reach the end, it's harder to spread jelly on toast than it is to finish that game. a lot of games to tend to be getting easier. i think it's because they're trying to reach a mainstream/casual gaming market while trying not to piss off the hardcore gamers. haha i'm just waiting for the next zelda to probably have all kinds of mini games.

 

[exocel]

i agree with you, i used to play games on easy when i was about ten, now ten years later im playing gears 2 on insane just to have some semblance of not just pushing up on the left thumbstick and holding the right trigger for 5 hours.


you want old school, make you swear i a good way, gameing?, get N+, youll dig it.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

People will be divided on this subject and some will try to say that a clear majority believe in one thing or another. I believe that they are wrong. Many people thrive on challenge and enjoy it while other people don't.

I don't think that people are permanently fixed into one camp or another or all extreme examples of one position. Games have a tricky balance of trying to satisfy a spectrum of desires from someone who plays games purely for status, who wants a game to massage her ego and rage quits if she fails once, to a guy who loves challenge so much that he laughs at every death and doesn't know the meaning of failure or giving up.