Poll: What's Your Deal With Easy Mode

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So my feelings about easy mode have jumped around a lot, over the years. When I first started gaming, in the early 90s, I would always play on easy because I was a child and would get frustrated easily. Over the years, I became to proud to play on easy mode, as if it made me less of a gamer. I would always start on normal mode and then move up to hard. Now I feel like easy mode is entirely acceptable, depending on the game. A game like Dark Sous or Demon's Souls pretty much has to be hard, because that's the majority of the appeal (and even those games are only hard until you learn the various patterns and secrets). But I am shitty at rts games. My options to get through a campaign is either easy mode or cheating. Dynasty Warriors games are not about challenge or anything like that. They are about hilariously bad voice acting and mindlessly button mashing through thousands of enemies, and I honestly think that playing on harder difficulties actually makes the game less fun.

So what do you all think? How do you feel about easy mode in games?

 

[felbot]

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.

 

[Miss G.]

I play a lot of games that have a fixed standard mode, but I love Easy mode if its for a game I'd have a hard time with otherwise, like Deadpool or The Last of Us. In the case of the former, I'd never played a game in that genre before and it showed, and for the latter, it helped me feel like I can move up to Normal mode once I'm finished with Easy mode New Game+, especially since the gameplay is pretty much the same for all the modes save being able to survive one or 2 more hits/a little more or a little less salvage/the ability to hear certain or all types of movements in Listening mode. I also love Casual mode, where I don't have to deal with permadeath of characters, like in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

The more difficulty tiers in games the better. Makes them more accessible to a wider audience.

I understand the argument behind a single fixed difficulty for a game like Dark Souls, but I'm still not sure I agree with it. Games like XCOM managed to get a reputation for being ball breakers despite having multiple difficulty tiers.

 

[Lord Kloo]

I use easy mode to unlock bloody difficult achievements in games, for example in dishonored, getting the pacifist or unseen run-through is very difficult so i go onto easy to make the challenge easier.

Otherwise I use easy mode to have a good time on some games, minecraft for example i find a lot more fun in creative mode where you cant be killed, you can fly and all the blocks are given to you. sure it takes all the challenge out of the game but it makes it more fun if you just want to build things like its virtual Lego.

If I'm just playing a new game though i always stick to normal as to not ruin the game by whizzing straight through it all.

 

[piinyouri]

I use to always put it on easy by default when I was younger because I had nightmare situations even earlier in my gaming life where I'd get stuck and couldnt progress, and I wanted to make damn sure that didn't happen again.

As time went by I put it back to normal, as it was usually the perfect blend of fun and challenge.

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.

Mmmm, depends. If it's a harder difficulty that allows you to keep all your progress/items/levels (Dragons Crown, Ratcheteadlocked, Champions of Norrath) and is basically just another tier of progression, then I tend to enjoy that.

If it's something like a straight action game or something with no progression elements, or none that you can keep upon moving to a higher difficulty(older games, DMC/GoW series), and a new harder difficulty is only making everything else harder while you remain the same as you were before, that depends on the level to which I enjoyed the game. Though most of the time I will dislike that scenario as it's usually just for bragging rights and that is the last thing I play for.

 

[Genocidicles]

When I was little I went with easy mode all the time.

Now I just don't see the point. Winning on easy is a hollow victory.

 

[Atrocious Joystick]

I occasionally use easy mode as a sort of "skip button" in case i get stuck on a particular stage in a game, especially if I am actually playing at a harder difficulty. Or in case I am playing a horror game and just can't stand all ze horror for a while.

 

[krazykidd]

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.

This . So much this .

I am not entertained by anything easy . So i avoid it completly . I usually start my games on hard mode , because iv'e been gaming so long that even normal mode bores me ( on the first playthrough). I absolutely hate when games for me to play normal to unlock hard mode .

I remember when i stoped playing games on easy . I was a kid and i was playing contra 3 ( i think) on the snes . I was playing easy mode and my dad( who also games) walks in .

Dad: what are you doing?
Me: playing contra?
Dad: that looks pretty easy , are you playing on easy ?
Me: yeah
Dad : *laughs* you are such a novice, when you become a man like me , you'll be able to beat games on hard .*walks out of room*
Me: ... * resets game , restart on hard*

I was about 6 or 7 when that happened . I have never played a game on easy since. Although i didn't beat the game on hard that day , i eventually did .I learned to enjoy a good challenge , and persevere .

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

depends entirely on the game, some games i do on hard/insanity/god mode, while some games i do on easy/casual/novice mode, and entirely depends on what kind of mood i'm in.

(sometimes i don't have alot of time in the coming weeks to beat a game, so i set it to easy/normal so i don't have alot of deaths/restarts to deal with and can just enjoy the games mechanics and story it is trying to offer me at face value)


i don't see the big deal in getting a fuss over it, difficulty is entirely subjective depending on the genre and person playing it. I have friends who fucking roll people in Dota 2 and Starcraft 2, but then I fucking destroy them in tf2 and super smash bros, the difficulty of the games are entirely subjective to the persons skills, so flaunting your e-penis about shit is just stupid.


multiplayer i can understand, as that is everyone playing it, but single player? who gives a fuck, you aren't the one playing, so let the person play how the want to.

 

[Juste Goose]

I rarely play easy mode. The only time I ever do is when I want to see a game's story but couldn't care less about the game play. Like Uncharted. I hate how they keep interrupting my movie with shootouts and chest high walls.

 

[hoboman29]

While I will start on normal difficulty I think easy mode has a place. For one it's a great way to get the stupidly hard achievements and also it's a great way to practice advanced techniques without punishing a player too harshly.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

never use it, how can something be fun if you're not even being challenged?

I'm reminded of this stand up comedy routine:

Video games do a thing no other industry does. You cannot be bad at watching a movie. You cannot be bad at listening to an album. But you can be bad at playing a video game, and the video game will punish you and deny you access to the rest of the video game. No other art form does this! You?ve never been reading a book and three chapters in, the book has gone, "What are the major themes of the book so far?" and you?ve gone, "Well? I don?t know?" and boom! -gestures a book clapping shut- "Oh, for fuck?s sake!" You?ve never been listening to an album and after four songs, the album has gone "Dance! Dance! Show me your dancing is good enough to merit this!" And you go, "Is this good enough" and the album goes, "No," and stops.

I've played plenty of games that were not remotely challenging, and still plenty of fun. A lot of sandbox games fall under that category. As do many story-heavy titles.

 

[MysticSlayer]

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.

But...but...but...how will anyone beat Hard mode unless they got the Super Badass Space Cannon of Destruction on their first playthrough of Normal? What, you actually think skill can help you get through it without said weapon/upgrade?

OT: Can't stand Easy mode. I'm not the type to go looking for the most grueling challenge a game can offer, but Easy mode is just too easy. I need at least some challenge or else beating the game makes me unsatisfied in my ability to beat it. Even a lot of games' Normal mode is getting too easy, forcing me to play on Hard, provided they even allow it from the start. Heck, I've even played a few games where Hard mode was a walk in the park, only made worse by the fact that many of them didn't offer a higher difficulty right from the start, assuming they provided one at all.

 

[skurz]

I think the Devil May Cry reboot tackled alternative difficulties decently, though it still had the annoying Easy, Normal, Hard modes.

After beating the game once, another mode called Son of Sparda was unlocked- the only difference is that "big" enemies show up earlier and all enemies are stronger.

After beating the game on that mode, two more are unlocked: Dante Must Die! and Heaven or Hell.
Dante Must Die! mode is an extreme version of Son of Sparda that upon completion gives you a great upgrade.
Heaven or Hell mode allows you to kill anything in one hit, but you also die in one hit. Very fast paced and fun!

Then, possibly taking it too far, after beating it on Heaven or Hell, Hell or Hell is unlocked, where all enemies are upgraded..... and you die in one hit.


While I enjoy a good challenge, after beating DmC on its "hard" difficulty, I was a bit too drained to want to play harder and harder levels, and Heaven or Hell was only obtainable after beating the damn game twice already.

I would like to play a game that offers weird alternatives to harder difficulties. It's similar to playing Age of Empires until you were drained, then pulling out the "cheat codes" for several more hours of flying bears and town destroying cars.

 

[Clowndoe]

You should have put an option for "I don't use easy mode because I've never needed it." I mean, if the difficulty above it is too hard then play easy. If you don't feel like having a challenge and just want to drink down a game, then that's fine too. You shouldn't be limited by possible esteem issues, it's a single-player game (probably), why shouldn't you be allowed to tailor it to your preferences?

Also, people thinking they *have* to play on a certain difficulty gets really annoying as a Killing Floor player. Firstly, you get people on the forums saying that the game is too hard, even though they're playing on hard or higher, despite the fact that there are people for whom "hard" is babby difficulty. Also, those people tend to think that the whole point of the game is to level up so that you look capable of playing the hardest difficulties, causing extremely frustrating wipes because you trusted that a maxed out character would know how to do his job.

The point is games should be fun while you're playing them, not afterwards when you're bragging.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I have no problem with Easy Mode. It is not, however, my cup o' tea.

For me, Easy Mode is not satisfying. It isn't fun. I typically play the hardest initial difficulty. I sometimes like playing on the hardest because it's the most realistic, to me. It's how difficult things would be for Character X if the situation was actually happening.

What I hate is when devs are like, LOL BEAT THE GAME AND YOU CAN DO IT AGAIN ON A HIGHER DIFFICULTY! I also hate when there are trophies involved and you have to beat the game again and again for each individual difficulty trophy. I'm looking at you, Prince of Persia Tilogy.

I'm all for putting in an Easy Mode, so long as having that mode does not affect my Normal/Hard Mode. That way I get to play how I want and those less capable can still enjoy the game at their own pace.

Everybody wins! Except the monsters.

 

[Weaver]

It's because we're all experienced gamers.

My mom tried to play Twlight Princess on the Wii and couldn't even properly navigate 3D space or work the camera. Those are the kind of people easy mode is for.

 

[shrekfan246]

I've played plenty of games that were not remotely challenging, and still plenty of fun. A lot of sandbox games fall under that category. As do many story-heavy titles.

Butbutbut how can you inflate your ego if you don't beat everything on the Big Manly Men Difficulty for Big Manly Men[sup]TM[/sup]?!?

I mean, everyone knows that if you play on Bro, Do You Even Lift? you're just a big dumb babby who shouldn't be playing games!

More seriously, I like it, with the exception of when a game patronizes me for dying excessively in a short amount of time by stating that I've unlocked Easy mode, or informs me that maybe I should switch to the Baby's First Video Game difficulty.

There are very few games that I play on the hardest difficulty, because I've never been fond of the fact that about 99% of the time it just means the basic mooks take roughly a minute longer to kill.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

There are very few games that I play on the hardest difficulty, because I've never been fond of the fact that about 99% of the time it just means the basic mooks take roughly a minute longer to kill.

Sometimes I like a brutally hard game. Sometimes I just like to relax. I'm not always in the mood to have my balls broken by some relentless and cruel game. Challenge is ONE form of gaming fun for me, not the ONLY form. It'd be sad if it was. That would seriously limit the number of games I enjoyed.

Also, totally agreed on that last point. Why must harder difficulty ALWAYS mean "jack up the HP by 5000%"?