Poll: Difficulty of Games, too hard?

[skywolfblue]

I wish some games were a bit more consistent about it. It might just be asian-ish designed games that this applies to though...

Most of my games are pretty "normal" about their "normal" difficulty. Halo, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Crysis 2, etc etc etc, are all pretty reasonable to play through the first time on normal without being "pound me in the ass".

However, Vanquish and Bayonetta were absolutely brutal. Their "normal" difficulty is like "extreme hardcore" difficulty in other games.

 

[username sucks]

most games are to easy, even on the highest difficulty. i have beat almost every game i have on the hardest difficulty and i really wish there was a higher one on them. still cant beat super mario bros. though

 

[phats_cocks_strangla]

I like playing on easy/ normal difficulties. Its more fun, isnt that the point of a game? Fun? I want to be able to enjoy the story and kick ass and take some names. I Dont want to be gettin killed every level or be so worked up that i have veins popping out my fuckin head. I like just chillin on a game to relax. If i want some competition or some shit like that I'll play multiplayer.
Also, I love those guys that brag and boast about beating a game on the hardest mode, then get their asses handed to them in multiplayer

 

[dessertmonkeyjk]

When you find yourself running into a new situation due to the fact you get easily bowled over and have to look for a new strategy is rather though provoking. It kind of helps the immersion really if the difficulty pacing is done right. If the enemy started to adapt to your repeated strategy and make you pay for it... by all means I welcome it.

 

[Riddle78]

Difficulty is rather...Nebulous for me. I start at the middle of the road,and employ a strategy that I believe will work. If it works,then it means I was onto something,and I repeat said strategy until it fails,whereupon I'll make modifacations to compensate for the now glaringly obvious shortcomings,or start with an entirely new approach.

If I give up in frustration on the basis if the game being too difficult,then that says 2 things. 1) I'm not flexible enough for the game (and I'm pretty damn flexible;I have a knack for identifying trends as they begin to manifest),and 2) There's something patently wrong with the game's difficulty curve if I find myself unable to evolve adaquately.

 

[m0ng00se]

any game with a scoring system is usually worth playing, provided the scoring system isn't used in a hamfisted manner in order to emphasize the violence by dehumanizing the people you kill (i'll use the context of madworld's point system as an example even though that game was great).

games like ninja gaiden, dmc, bayonetta, vanquish, sin and punishment, etc. you always learn from your deaths in those kinds of games. "every time i do my big slow powerful attack i get smacked from behind, i should probably stop doing that when i'm surrounded" teaches players to stop mashing buttons and employ decision making processes on even the most basic levels of gameplay. anyone who wants to be good at anything would be trying to do this on their own, but when the need to is taken away they might not notice there's even room for improvement.

"oh hey i can block their attacks! i should do that more!" becomes "if i time the blocks more carefully it stuns the enemy!" direct rewards (stunning the enemy so you can style on them) for increasing skill (recognizing attack patterns and employing precise timing) promote skill gain in the player, obviously.

every mechanic of the game is rewarding in its own right but also carries a punishment for improper use, encouraging you to learn how to play games properly. then, when you get to the end of the level it straight up marks you on how cool you were so you don't just cheese through every level with only the goal of survival. the game evolves from "learning to play" to "trying to overcome the challenges of the game while not dying" to "beating everything in style"

the specific skills you acquire while learning these kinds of games may not necessarily transfer, but the approach you took to acquiring those skills (exploring the system, analyzing your tools and their applications) is a valuable lesson in any facet of life and is often the most rewarding part of them. beating them is a point of pride beyond "i'm so l33t" because it's not just about raw twitch reflex. instead of "i can get the most headshots fastest while under pressure," it becomes "i consistently make good decisions from a large pool of options extremely quickly while under pressure, with above average dexterity and it's really cool to look at."


with vanquish, me and my friend tried to gun through it on hard mode right away and we had to constantly rethink our approaches to fights and how to utilize the different mechanics in order to maximize our ability to kill everything without leaving ourselves overly vulnerable and getting killed. At the same time, we had to do enough awesome stuff to keep ourselves from getting bored, and the game never really punishes you for doing something dangerous if you do it well enough. it was pretty much a perfect gameplay experience in that regard. it was consistently fun and every single revelation we made came with such a strong sense of accomplishment i came away from the game convinced i had become a better person as a result of having overcome it.

 

[nukethetuna]

They're easier nowadays. A result of the increased audience, most likely. I usually play most new games on the hardest difficulty.

Anyways, the issue is with the larger audience, not everyone has the time to devote to a game that kills you and kicks you back half an hour. The bit-by-bit autosave approach that most games take nowadays is made for people with less time, but more money.

It's not like I can't find a challenge, or make my own challenge, in basically any game if I'm feeling particularly pampered, though. So I don't really mind.

 

[ultrachicken]

My guess is that you have difficulty learning from mistakes. You haven't exactly given a ton of information for us to go on, but generally in these situations, the player is constantly trying the same tactics repeatedly in the hopes that something different will happen.

My advice is this: remember when you didn't predict that boss's sword swing? Don't do that again.

Anyways, I think that most games these days are extremely easy, as I am usually able to complete the games I own on one of the higher difficulty settings without breaking a sweat. Even Dark Souls has become a cake walk now that I have the Drake Sword and some pyromancy.

 

[Ace2401]

snip

DAT DISCORDING BERRY PUNCH. Holy crap that's an awesome avatar.

OT: Games have been getting easier and easier over time with few exceptions. Difficulty sliders do offset that a little though.

 

[Lhianon]

-snip-

i think modern games are not hard enough, but i played all kinds of different games for the last 17 - 18 years, so this is more a personal thing.
instead of asking if difficulty is important, you should ask yourself what you want from a game, is it a good story, a good art direction, cool in-game mechanics or challenge for the sake of challenge.
there is no inherent value in beating a game on a higher difficulty other than the ability to brag about it to other persons, but if you are a person like myself who trys to beat a game at a high difficulty setting just to get better at gaming in general you will find a certain lack of challenge in most newer games.
also, there are certain skills that translate from game to game, having twitch reflexes helps with mikro, having a good makro lets you develop a mindset that helps identifieing and managing "resources" in other games, may it be cooldowns, ammo, healthpacks, mana or magic shrooms.

sry for typos, it is 9:55 in the morning here ^^

 

[MarlonBlazed]

Have I missed something along my gaming life because I have been playing games for as long and as often as they have. Have I made myself a worse player by just playing on easy?

Don't ever let anyone tell you your less of a player because you only play on easy, there only boosting there own ego... Now let me boost mine.

First let me start by saying I was born with an Atari controller in my hand so we know where I'm at. O.K. now I'm going to shock the world by saying playing on easy has made it incredibly easy for me to beat anyone who has trained on hard. Of course this doesn't apply to all games since not all games require you to have a learning curve but its not uncommon for me to completely hand my rivals ass to them signed and autographed.

Simple logic really, give an already good gamer a low ark and the'll be more in tune with the game faster. Playing on hard honestly doesn't make you any better it just makes your progress slower, and pointless.... Really pointless, the reward for playing most games on hard is just unlocking a harder difficulty. Not to say there's anything wrong with wanting a challenge, thats not the point. The point is your not the worst gamer in the world because you play on easy only, that's not where your problem lies.

Anyways you stated that your not a very good gamer to begin with so keep playing on easy forever if you want and when it comes down to player vs player you might just have an advantage.... Uh unless has already played beforehand and is already good at gaming period...

Variables!!! I don't know this is just some things I experienced in my 23 years alive.

I don't play SP games on easy also I don't care if anyone here thinks they can beat me I'm not going to challenge you and we'll never know.

P.S. - I just remembered something that might help a lot, you need to deeply immerse yourself into the game, easy or hard you have to be your character and ignore the fact that nothing matters. Bad story bad gameplay bad whatever just ignore it and immerse yourself regardless. From A-Z I can almost guarantee your skill will go up as your brain syncs up with the games.

Again variables.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

I can usually play most games on normal without difficulty, but simply play on easy just in case. I hate the frustration of dying and failing repeatedly and would rather start on and easier difficulty than start on a harder one and then get frustrated and lower it. For instance, I played Gears of War 3 on Normal all the way through and died roughly 6 times throughout the whole thing.

I hardly ever play games on the highest difficulty because most games treat higher difficulty as "give the bad guys super powers while simultaneously turning you into a crippled shell of a man" mode. Veteran mode in Call of Duty doesn't make the enemies smarter or send more after you, it just gives them double health, double damage, makes them shrug off bullets (as in their accuracy isn't affected by that shotgun shell to the heart) and gives them the ability to see exactly where you are at all times and pick you off from 500 yards away because your foot peeked around a corner.

Mass Effect 2's Insanity mode didn't make the enemies smarter either, it just made you have Call of Duty levels of health and gives the enemies Terminator levels of armor. The only reason I played Call of Duty, Mass Effect or Gears of War on the highest difficulty was because I wanted the achievements (literally the Xbox Live Achievements) from completing it. I love Mass Effect and therefore want to get 100% achievement completion for the whole series, and so far I am succeeding.

Actually with the Mass Effect example i think thats one case where simply adding extra armour/barriers does genuinely increase the challenge, you need to plan out what powers you will give your Shepard, and pick team mates that will be beneficial for that specific mission, not to mention trying to get yourself and your squad into ideal positions on the battlefield. By changing a few statistics it does make the game genuinely more challenging, you need to plan carefully.

 

[NastoK]

Most of them are easy on normal difficulty, and for 2nd+ playthroughs even hard can be done without any great frustration. Heck, I play all RPGs on the hardest difficulty on first playthroughs, and you don't see me complaining. Then again, I might like the challange. Hrm.

Today's games are as hard as you want them to be, which isn't bad, I guess, as long as the player is having fun.

 

[Yugeky20]

Many games are both easy and hard these days (that is due to difficultly settings) but, Dark souls and Demon souls have totally raped my meaning of the word "Hard".

 

[Da Orky Man]

Most games are plenty hard enough. i'm still trying to get through Reach on Legendary. But there are a few, looking in the direction of Splinter Cell: Conviction, that are just laughably easy. I blitzed through the single-player on normal in a day, then the same on realistic. Just too easy.

 

[Knusper]

I think that games are too easy - I no longer turn the difficulty down when I'm stuck, but turn it up when I feel I'm being cheated.

 

[Amos the famous]

I'm playing through Rage at the moment and i had to put the game on it's hardest difficulty just for a challenge!