Poll: What's Your Deal With Easy Mode

[Lieju]

I have no issue with easy mode, but I rarely use it. (But that's because I rarely play the kind of games I'm bad at.)

If I play the Arcade-mode of a fighting-game, of a football-game or racing (or go for achievements) the easy-mode comes to play because I suck at those.

Also if the gameplay was just annoying but the story was good, I'd also use easy-mode.

Puzzle games tend to ascend in difficulty naturally, so they don't need them either.

Well, they can have hints.
When I play Professor-Layton games I never take the hints because I consider them 'cheating', but you could easily have a 'hard' and 'easy' mode in that game. (Also the amount of hint-coins and the puzzles you need to solve could change.)

And I can't remember what game it was, but it was an adventure-game where you had a mode that told you what parts of the background you could interact with, so that would be another way to make an adventure/puzzle game with an 'easy' mode.

 

[DrOswald]

I always play on the hardest difficulties when reviewing games because it reveals shoddy design choices. For example:

-Does the game become more tedious and boring (e.g. Call of Duty), or genuinely challenging (Vanquish)?
-Do the game mechanics encourage overuse of a single, optimal strategy/technique/tactic (e.g. XCOM Enemy Unknown) or are the viable options and strategies fairly diverse (Mass Effect 2 & 3)?
-Are many game mechanics ignored or sidelined in higher difficulties because they developers failed to take into account their effects (e.g. Tales of Graces), or was the combination of game mechanics and difficulty effectively planned from the start (Metal Gear Rising)?

etc.

You mention X-Com: Enemy Unknown as a game that encourages overuse of one overpowered strategy. What exactly are you talking about there? Is this in the tactical sections or the strategy sections? I only ask because I know 2 people who play that game (myself and a friend) and when we got together and compared notes on the game we had each decided that the game was really good but encouraged a single, overpowered strategy. Turns out that we had each come to a different conclusion as to what was the single over powered strategy, and each was indicative of our play styles.

My friend who is very cautious in tactics games favored a powerful line of long range units with an assault trooper to spot for them. He never used explosives and found the heavy class under powered in most situations. He drew out the enemy and let his long range fire power do the work. He never used shivs because he focused entirely on building up his human troops.

My much more aggressive play style focused primarily on assault troopers and support units able to quickly move in and eliminate enemies before they have a chance to threaten my squad. I made extensive use of explosives because they are pretty much a guaranteed hit and capable of eliminating entire enemy pods in a single action if required. I found snipers almost worthless because they are far too static and shivs very useful because they provide mobile cover, relatively high damage output and are extremely tough in the middle portion of the game, making them an excellent compliment to my assault troopers.

What was your single overpowered strategy?

In any case, about the OT, I like a variety of difficulty modes, but I would like to see more than just easy/normal/hard modes. For example, in X-Com there are a number of factors that make the game harder or easier. The ability to control the difficulty level of each of these factors would be nice. For example, perhaps a person is really good at the tactical battles but not so good at the strategy overview part. Maybe you could increase the amount and strength of aliens in the tactical battles while increasing the level of funding or reducing the rate of panic increasing events.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

The only legitimate use of 'easy' mode is in games like Catherine, where even 'easy' mode will easily wipe the floor with the majority of gamers foolish enough to pick it up and play it.

Come to think of it, Catherine is the only game I know of that hides away the 'very easy' mode and only makes it accessible by sort of entering a cheat code or dying of frustration and slumping over on the controller.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Pretty much easy mode all the way. I have no interest in the challenge of playing a video game, I just find them to be an amusing distraction, I don't want to have to put much effort into them.

 

[Brian Tams]

I'll play on easy mode when the only difference between the difficulties is how much health the enemies have.

Like, when I play on an increased difficultly, I expect the AI to become smarter, not spongier.

 

[Mad Artillery]

I usually start games on either the hardest or the second hardest setting depending on how many options are available and the genre. When I was a kid I always used to play on normal/medium because it was in the middle. I don't think my thoughts went beyond it's in the middle when I was picking those.

 

[Lucifiel]

I have nothing against it. I usually play on Normal mode, but every now and then, I found myself switching to Easy mode. It happened when I switched to a genre I was not used to. I prefer to play RPGs, strategy games, adventure or point and click games, but I found myself wanting to play some shooters, mostly for the story. Since my hand-eye coordination is really poor, I had a really hard time. So I switched to easy, until I was comfortable enough with the controls and the mechanics to return to Normal mode.

Bottom line is, I play games both to have fun and for the challenge. I don't see why one should automatically rule out the other.

 

[Madman123456]

I use easy mode whenever the developers appear to have gotten the meaning of the word "easy" wrong.
I don't want to challenge myself, i wont live long enough to reach anything that can be considered decent, so i don't have time for "hard" modes.

Another reason for which i switch to easy mode is when the game mechanics throw me out of the experience. Mass effect 2 has that happen a few times where you hit a cheap enemy that forgot his space helmet and has no personal shield with two sniper rounds and he wont die, which is rather odd.
So i'd turn the difficulty down until a headshot from a sniperrifle will kill an unshielded unarmored enemy with kill the enemy.

 

[ThatQuietGuy]

Honestly I tend to start games on hard mode given the option these days. I don't have a problem with easy mode, I've used it in the past. It's not a requirement for games though. If a game is made that demands you rise to meet it's challenge that should be ok too, as in the infamous case of Dark Souls.

 

[Broderick]

(Just saying now, I would not mind the addition of an optional easy mode to dark souls). Mechanically, the game would definitely still be good, but I think the experience as a whole would be hurt if the game was easier. One of the main themes of the game is the inevitability of death, and the struggle against it; by making the game easier, this theme becomes less prevalent, and the world much less threatening. This would hurt the entire premise the game is based on, and I think it would not only hurt the game, but do a disservice the players as well.

Well that's the point of a difficulty level though. It's so everyone can find their level of challenging. What's a rewarding grind for some may simply be an impossible wall for others.

Indeed, true enough. If there is a way to add an easier difficulty setting to Dark Souls that allows it to keep it's core and not mess with multiplayer, I would fully support it. I am unsure how they would go about such a thing though; most of the game is made much easier when you start to recognize enemy attack patterns. Perhaps an easier setting would leave them open to attack for longer, aside from a damage or health increase for the player. I wonder how they would make Sen's Fortress easier?

 

[Veylon]

I don't use easy mode. But I do understand wanting to give players a chance to learn without getting their teeth kicked in for daring to press start.

I think Megaman 10 did a good job with Easy Mode: show what would be harder if you picked the next one up. There were a lot of floating 'Easy' platforms over bottomless pits and floors laden with spikes. I understand that's not necessarily an option for all games. Alternatively, restrict achievements to higher difficulties; it says "Hey! You beat this level all right, but if you stretch a bit, you can get this shiny!" It creates an excuse to go back and experiment and learn. Not everybody has been a master at genre X for ever and ever.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Dont care about easy mode. Its there for people that want to use it. If you dont want to use it, then dont chose it. It affects nobody, though some do moan that games have that mode.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I find some game's easy mode a way to train for the harder modes. Some games I'm naturally good at and some I need training wheels to get started on. A game thats super-hard from the get go may turn me off it completely especially if the controls aren't intuitive or the mechanics are a slight perspective shift from MY normal.
There's nothing wrong with an easy mode because we're here to be entertained. Sure a challenge is part of entertainment but a game that is consistently frustrating loses the challenge part and becomes stressful. Stressful gaming isn't fun, nor entertaining.

 

[Joccaren]

I have nothing against an easy mode being in ANY game, it should always be an option.
As to whether I'll use it?
Depends on what the easy mode is, and what the game is. Civilization? I don't practice often, and I try more to have fun in that than have a challenge, so I never get over the 4th difficulty level [Unless I'm playing that mode where it auto-scales the AI based on how you're doing, in which case it hits the top difficulty quickly, then rapidly drops, then rapidly rises, then rapidly drops - ect.], and most of the time I play on the second.
Any FPS, ARPG, RPG in general - Normal run through first to get a hang of the game, then max difficulty run through, which is 95% of the time a cakewalk.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Depends on the game. Generally, why not. In the case of Dark Souls, it is difficult by design. What I dislike is having to unlock difficulties like it's a substitute for actual replayability.

 

[mohit9206]

I almost always play any and all games on their easiest available difficulty setting.I like to enjoy the story in games and i do not want challenging gameplay to become an annyonce or hindrance in me enjoying the plot of the game.I am clearly in the minority here as most gamers either prefer to play on normal or hard.

 

[bug_of_war]

never use it, how can something be fun if you're not even being challenged? that's just boring, that's like having monster hunter game in where all the monsters die in one hit, completely awful.

actually while I am on the topic of challenge, who thought it was a good idea to have certain difficulties only available after you have beaten the game already? absolutely hate that.

Sometimes it is fun to sit back and feel invincible, that's one of the many reasons the invincibility cheat codes were so prominent in games on the PS1 and 2. So yeah, easier modes have their purpose, but are not for everyone.

And yeah, I agree with you the whole, "unlock hard mode" crap is annoying, it's fake longevity.

OT: I'm indifferent, easy mode has it's purpose, and I occasionally play games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Mortal Kombat on easy just for a fun quick play.

 

[mirage202]

Depends on the game yet not the type of game. More how lazy the devs were in making the difficulty levels.

Say normal/hard etc actually unlock parts and abilities of the AI then yes I do enjoy that kind of challenge. If higher difficulty just gives them cheat codes, or turns AI into bullet sponges, screw that. That kind of 'challenge' ruins a game for me in mere minutes.

 

[getoffmycloud]

I will use easy mode for a heavily story based game cause I hate breaking the flow of a story by dying loads but other than that I won't really use it.

 

[Rednog]

I don't use easy mode, but I don't have any problem with it. Gaming is all about having fun, the whole people having a problem with easy mode being in games just makes me roll my eyes so hard that I almost give myself a concussion. You want to play on hard mode fine, be my guest, have fun; just don't dictate how other people play the game.