Why do people play hard games?

[Iwata]

Speaking for myself, because part of the fun of games is overcoming whatever challenges it throws my way. I despise playing games on Easy difficulty for that reason, because although I may love the story and the gameplay, the challenge itself is a big factor for me. A leftover from starting gaming in the 80's.

 

[dimensional]

well I never intentionally seek out hard or easy games but I may end up playing them and some games Bayonetta springs to mind are a lot more enjoyable on hard and non stop infinite climax mode than normal. If I find a game fun ill keep going almost regardless of difficulty unless its a brick wall that I cant get over. If im not having fun due to the difficulty I just turn it off now I used to get really pissed off and persevere until I got passed it but I never got a sense of accomplishment I would just think thank god that shit is over and it would put me in a bad mood basically I dont like it if the difficulty makes it a chore to play.

So something like Bayonetta or Mass Effect on max difficulty or Demons Souls and Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) are all good something like facing Seth on SF4 on max difficulty is not good and not worth the effort for me Is the reward worth the perseverance basically I never look for a challenge in a game or shy away from one as long as it engages me difficulty is moot.

 

[TrevHead]

Why do people play hard games? Why would one wish to subjugate themselves into playing something MIND NUMBINGLY FRUSRATING?

You are missing the point, it isn't mind numbing for those of us who like a challenge infact its very much the opposite.

Some ppl like to play games that need a high degree of skill, motivation and concentration while others like to play to relax and switch off. I like to play both ways depending on how i'm feeling.

When it comes to my challenge fix I love shmups, i've been gaming since 8bit and nothing was more enjoyable and an pure adrenaline ride than 1 Credit Clearing a shmup. Im taking about my hands actually shaking due to the adrenaline while i'm playing the game (expect maybe other arcade games in a real arcade and Eve online pvp) Thats why Lilith Slave is so passionate about Touhou and the genre in whole.

To the OP I don't know if you do anything else outside of gaming that is difficult but rewarding but it does exist in gaming, if you haven't gotten into that side of gaming I'd suggest you give it a try as you are missing out on a big part of what make video games so enjoyable. Especially when so many AAA games are getting stale, bland and just meh.

I think everybody needs to do their own 1CC or something akin to it. I think this article explains it better than I can http://shmuptheory.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/one-credit-completion.html

 

[krazykidd]

Personally , i play for challenge . Every game i play , i play for challenge . If a game is easy , i'll be bored to tears . I usually play on hard mode on my first playthrough , not for bragig rights , but because i find challenge fun . Testing my strategy , testing my reflexes , testing my determination . I actually finished IWBTG. Why? I found it immensly entertaining , sure there was braging rights but i don' care about that.

Now i can understand why people like easy games , hell i liked kirby's epic yarn . But i seek challenge , i am a gaming masochist of sorts . This started because of my dad . I remember the day that made me appreciate challenge . It was because of my dad . It was playing contra 3 on my snes and he came into the room , i was like 6.

Dad: hey son what are you doing?
Me: playing contra 3
Dad: looks pretty easy , what difficulty are you playing on?
Me: easy...
Dad: hahaha you are such an amature, when you become like me you play on hard.
Me:...*sad face*
Dad: don't be sad you are still a kid .
Me:*resets snes start game on hard*

best , dad , ever .

 

[Orange12345]

The definition of hard is different for all people, for instance someone might find starcraft on brutal difficulty hard while another will find it redundant. Since developers don't want to alienate the largest demographic of players they make a game with a difficulty that suits the average which leaves anyone above the average with a watered down snore fest, harder difficulty doesn't always help because most times it just increases enemy damage and health but does nothing significant to the AI because they are good enough so that nothing can truly threaten them. So some people seek out the rare exception like demons/dead souls that offers a really meaty challenge and a possibility of failure.

 

[GigaHz]

Why do people play hard games? Why would one wish to subjugate themselves into playing something mind-numbingly frustrating? Is it to get a nostalgic feel so people can feel like "this is how games were back in my day"? Because I don't think they were hard to be entertaining, but to get money.

So, escapists, why do people like this torture? Why? To me it seems like the video-game equivalent of bondage. Or do people just do it for a joke, not for serious entertainment? I can't comprehend.

Captcha: piece of cake. Oh, how I wish it was.

Edit: I should probably add I mean IWTBTG stuff, not good fair but still hard challenge stuff.

I play challenging games because I like to be challenged in general. To me, there is nothing more satisfying than overcoming a seemingly difficult task, especially if a lot of thinking and strategizing is involved.

That isn't to say that I don't play mind-numbingly easy games. The problem is they are far too common. There are some games where you can literally derp from one checkpoint to another, zerging yourself through challenges, and end up beating the game by simply experiencing it. I'm not one of those jerks who wants all gaming accessibility to be limited for the sake of arbitrary challenge but it is nice to have options.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

The spark that drives us to aggrandize the self.

Lots of people like to play games that challenge them, push them to overcome their limits and and sit themselves at the top. I play games on their highest initial difficulty because the challenge makes it fun. Playing games on their hardest difficulty increases your natural ability in games as a whole, and it makes games boring when played on easier difficulties. At least, that's how it works for me.

 

[TrevHead]

best , dad , ever .

Yeah cool dad. And good parenting.

---

I tend to play most of my games on normal, only because i've been bitten in the arse by so many AAAs that don't scale difficulty properlly. I like hard games however I hate enemies that are cheap or have way too much HP or the game doesn't pace properlly. It would be nice if reviewers talked about difficulty scaling as I hate the idea of quiting half way through a game because the game on Hard is just naff.

Thats why I tend to look towards games that are designed to be hard from the get go like Ninja Gaiden and Darksouls

It's am often dismayed just how bastardised challenge has become with mainstream gaming in general. Like achievements and gamerscore or all the hardest game / boss ever youtube vids that just show JRPGs that can be grinded away. Not that i'm not saying they're not hard per-se but its not in the purist sense

 

[Tallim]

Why do people play hard games? Why would one wish to subjugate themselves into playing something MIND NUMBINGLY FRUSRATING?

You are missing the point, it isn't mind numbing for those of us who like a challenge infact its very much the opposite.

Some ppl like to play games that need a high degree of skill, motivation and concentration while others like to play to relax and switch off. I like to play both ways depending on how i'm feeling.

When it comes to my challenge fix I love shmups, i've been gaming since 8bit and nothing was more enjoyable and an pure adrenaline ride than 1 Credit Clearing a shmup. Im taking about my hands actually shaking due to the adrenaline while i'm playing the game (expect maybe other arcade games in a real arcade and Eve online pvp) Thats why Lilith Slave is so passionate about Touhou and the genre in whole.

To the OP I don't know if you do anything else outside of gaming that is difficult but rewarding but it does exist in gaming, if you haven't gotten into that side of gaming I'd suggest you give it a try as you are missing out on a big part of what make video games so enjoyable. Especially when so many AAA games are getting stale, bland and just meh.

I think everybody needs to do their own 1CC or something akin to it. I think this article explains it better than I can http://shmuptheory.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/one-credit-completion.html

YAY someone else who loves to 1CC shmups In my mind shmups are some of the purest games you can play, they take enormous skill, concentration to do really well in. There are only a few I can do it on.

OT: Why not? Depends on the game really and depends on how the difficulty is implemented. The answer to difficulty in far too many games is to just change a few numbers and make it take longer to do rather than test skill or force new strategies.

And nothing kills the atmosphere horror games like being able to just wade through enemies like a walk in the park.

Other than that then it's just the challenge. So many games are afraid to challenge people.

 

[Strain42]

To me it depends on what type of difficulty it is. Some things offer a real sense of satisfaction when you complete them.

Like there's this iOS game called Squids, and two of the stars you can get for each level are based on Time and beating the level without anybody dying. Now a real challenge is getting both of these in one go (you don't have to do that though) but keeping everyone alive requires smart thinking on the players part. If you shoot a squid to kill one enemy, you need to make sure they're not stuck somewhere where they can be knocked over the ledge.

If it's a game that's difficult because of anything luck related, I don't consider that rewarding, I consider that faulty game design.

A game where you can do everything right and still have a 50/50 chance of failing isn't hard, it's just problematic.