I Wanna Be The Guy: Is this what passes for hard now?

[Magikarp]

After reading a few articles proclaiming IWBTG to be the hardest game in all of creation, I decided to try it. It took me about 5 minutes to become disgusted with it & delete it.

I think some people have forgotten what it means for a game to be 'hard'. A hard game is a game that requires a high level of skill to complete. Games like IWBTG just seem to require you to die to work out what you have to do on almost every obstacle, thus requiring you to repeat everything before it just to have your first fair try at beating it. Obstacles should be surpassable without prior knowledge of them, & only require skill.

There seem to be many instances of this in games these days, usually restricted to the highest difficulty. The first thing that springs to mind is veteran difficulty on CoD: World at War; specifically the infinitely respawning soldiers thatthrew a grenade every couple of seconds.

/rant. So, what do your thoughts on this matter? Do you think games need to be more skill than knowledge orientated, or do you think you should have to learn from experience & guessing?

EDIT: Okay, maybe I shouldn't've taken it as a serious game, but this rule still applies to many other games, many of which are serious.

 

[Tharwen]

I don't think anyone really takes IWTBTG as a skill-based game.

I see it cited more as an evil exercise in unfairness, which will make every attempt to ruin your day.

 

[artanis_neravar]

After reading a few articles proclaiming IWBTG to be the hardest game in all of creation, I decided to try it. It took me about 5 minutes to become disgusted with it & delete it.

I think some people have forgotten what it means for a game to be 'hard'. A hard game is a game that requires a high level of skill to complete. Games like IWBTG just seem to require you to die to work out what you have to do on almost every obstacle, thus requiring you to repeat everything before it just to have your first fair try at beating it. Obstacles should be surpassable without prior knowledge of them, & only require skill.

/rant. So, what do you guys think onf this matter? Do you think games need to be more skill than knowledge orientated, or do you think you should have to learn from experience & guessing?

What is IWBTG?

 

[Magikarp]

What is IWBTG?

I Wanna Be The Guy. kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Nobody thinks IWBTG is a serious game.

It's supposed to be hilariously broken and frustrating, that's the point.

I find it funny that the OP went in to IWBTG expecting a skill based platformer, when it's actually evil in pixel form.

 

[Nocta-Aeterna]

I believe it was intended as a parody of old-style Nintendo games which were ridiculously difficult, and of how some older gamers are clamouring to go back to those days.

 

[Lord Devius]

Nobody thinks IWBTG is a serious game.

It's supposed to be hilariously broken and frustating, that's the point.

/thread.

The worst part of IWBTG is the sheer number of Let's Plays it has. Every moron who has Unregistered Hypercam 2 thinks it's a great idea for an LP, when in reality it's been done thousands of times.

Super Meat Boy is far better as a "hard" platformer, whereas IWBTG is just a throwback to glitchier days. And hell, you can play as The Kid in Super Meat Boy.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

The whole point of IWBTG is to troll the player and make them mad.

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

Hard for me is something that you can still fail at in spite of perfect execution of the skills you have learnt in that game thus far, all thanks to a little RNG, i haven't played IWBTG, but from the way you describe it there seems to be no random elements to it, so I wouldn't consider it a hard game.

So yeah, having to be perfect in my play and have the RNG Gods smile down on me at the same time? That's a hard game.

 

[Eacaraxe_v1legacy]

I believe it was intended as a parody of old-style Nintendo games which were ridiculously difficult, and of how some older gamers are clamouring to go back to those days.

Moreover, how much of the "Nintendo hard" trope is due to fake difficulty clouded by nostalgia.

 

[C117]

Super Meat Boy is far better as a "hard" platformer, whereas IWBTG is just a throwback to glitchier days. And hell, you can play as The Kid in Super Meat Boy.

True. Plus, Super Meat Boy has got WAAAAY better music.

I mean, the least you can demand from a game that's constantly gonna kick you in the balls for being so bad at it, is for it to have a killer soundtrack (see also F-Zero GX and Ninja Gaiden).

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

In terms of gaming most recently I consider Demon's Souls to be one of the hardest games I've played. It's extremely unforgiving, but it's also a bit of trial and error when it comes to set pieces that occur and how bosses need to be beaten.

I'd say Super Meat Boy as well, but I never did get mad at that game really. The ending replay made all the deaths that much more entertaining.

 

[Heathrow]

Gaming difficulty has traditionally been about unfair unexpected surprises, it harks back to the arcade days where the nasty deaths served to generate a steady stream of quarters from players as they memorized all the things that would kill them.

IWTBTG is very true to the roots of gaming.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

IWBTG isn't meant to be hard as in it takes skill to beat; it's supposed to be hard in the fact that it throws the cheapest it has in its arsenal at you. I don't think IWBTG is called a hard game. A cheap, frustrating game that likes to BS you all the time, yes.

 

[Arehexes]

I believe it was intended as a parody of old-style Nintendo games which were ridiculously difficult, and of how some older gamers are clamouring to go back to those days.

Moreover, how much of the "Nintendo hard" trope is due to fake difficulty clouded by nostalgia.

I thought it was cause were mad harder because in the US you could rent games legally unlike in places like japan where games where easy as compared (I believe battle toads is one of those games).

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I'd say Super Meat Boy as well, but I never did get mad at that game really. The ending replay made all the deaths that much more entertaining.

Funniest thing I've encountered that isn't meant to be. Watching a steady stream of Meat Boys running out, only to have three dozen of them taken out by one saw blade makes you realize you suck in the funniest way possible.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I believe it was intended as a parody of old-style Nintendo games which were ridiculously difficult, and of how some older gamers are clamouring to go back to those days.

Moreover, how much of the "Nintendo hard" trope is due to fake difficulty clouded by nostalgia.

I was just going to post something like this. People love to call out "Nintendo Hard" as being some sort of positive in game design.. but, as someone who really got into gaming during the NES era, it's really not. It's mainly the same sort of try and die difficulty you see in games like IWTBTG. "Nintendo Hard" has nothing to do with quality difficulty and everything to do with being a remnant from the arcade game developer mindset where you kill the player as often as possible so they have to put more money in your machine to continue.

 

[Arehexes]

In terms of gaming most recently I consider Demon's Souls to be one of the hardest games I've played. It's extremely unforgiving, but it's also a bit of trial and error when it comes to set pieces that occur and how bosses need to be beaten.

I'd say Super Meat Boy as well, but I never did get mad at that game really. The ending replay made all the deaths that much more entertaining.

You should try other Atlus published games (I think stuff like Etrian Odyssey and Shin Megami Tensi are pretty dang hard), they are pretty hard if you ask me (but oh so much fun).

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

No, what passes for Hard is Dragon Origins on Normal. If you can beat that....... you're a better RPG gamer than I am.

 

[XeroDesign]

IWBTG is just plain cheap (as many other users have indicated). Super Meat Boy is genuinely challenging as it doesn't rely on cheap tricks to kill you (for the most part).

Most games have been getting unnecessarily easy/cheap though. Hate the enemies in most modern games. They're generally too dumb but excellent shots... a bad combination.