During Game Informer's exclusive one hour demo of Days Gone, the publication asks whether the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive will feature any difficulty settings. As we all know, a lot of games these days offer easy modes for players who may just want to enjoy a story, or super hard modes that are designed to test those looking for a challenge -- but Days Gone won't have either.
"The game itself is already pretty hard," states director Jeff Ross. "It's not very good when it's easy. It's a way more exciting game [when it's hard], it's a lot of fun -- and it kinda speaks to the fantasy of the apocalypse by being a challenge," Ross continues. "We give too much away for free by having an easy mode."
Clearly developer Sony Bend wants Days Gone to be a suitably tense experience, but how do you feel about this? Do you prefer when games give you difficulty options, or are you happy to go with the default? Save your ammo in the comments section below.
[source gameinformer.com]
Comments 52
Im fine with that. Bloodborne wouldn't be the same if it had an easy mode
I never choose easy on any game so I'm ok with that, I'm down for the challenge.
I always play games on the 'standard' difficulty, so I don't mind this . I'm not a trophy whore I so don't replay games on a harder difficulty =p
I always play hard and switch it to easy when no ones looking.
As long as the checkpoint is not too far apart, I have no problem with it.
Nice.i love hard games bring it on.been playing games since 1983.so im down with hard games retro style playa.word up son
I think it makes sense given what they seem to be going for. Lowering the difficulty would take away all the tension.
It will take a lot of time for me to finish the game and this is great.
@Neolit I don’t know, I’m torn. Like on the one hand I feel like options are ALWAYS better, but then I think about people who want an easy mode in Bloodborne and I’m like... No, that would ruin the game completely.
If they really do want you to always feel threatened in this then I do get the decision. It may just not be for everyone.
Time to git gud.
@Neolit Don't speak for me. I'm looking forward to this.
Good on them for making a statement. Take it or leave it. There is such a thing as too much catering.
As long as it’s done well I’m fine with it, but done well for me may not be for you.
This made me more interested in the game as now it doesn't sound like some generic open world zombie game.
@Mikethemosher
There are a lot of times that I wish Devs would follow their own paths and not make decisions based off of a vocal minority in a forum.
It can be good, but I’ve definitely seen it go bad.
I guess that the trophy whore in me when i always choose hard mode so my trophies will stack lol. Not a problem at all i always play hard mode
As it stands, it’s not an issue for myself. But the only way I’ll know if Sony Bend’s design decision works, will be when I’m actually playing Days Gone 😉
Honestly I'm glad, since this means I won't have to play on Hard to get platinum.
I don't see the issue. So many games don't have difficulty settings. Even happy about it. I hate choosing difficulty, because it means going online and looking up what will suit me best.
Why is everyone implying it will be an incredibly difficult game? Yeah, no easy mode, but no hard mode either. I always play the default mode anyway, so I don't really mind. If the game is well-balanced, I don't have an issue with it. The Witness didn't have difficulty options, neither did Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild, I don't recall The Last Guardian having it either. So many games don't have difficulty settings.
Hopefully this will allow the situations in game to be well balanced and the tension appropriately set. Looking forward to this game more and more.
Options are usually good, but they clearly think that an easy mode would diminish the experience, and I'm happy enough to believe them for now. I normally pick the default middle difficulty.
@Octane This! Zelda BOTW was sometimes so difficult but it was fair ( i just explored some swamp but i had the soldiers sword and no upgraded clothing )
Horizon Zero Dawn had a story difficulty mode and extra hard mode patched into the game after launch. So it's still possible we get one.
Nowadays, games at launch are rarely the same 6 months later. Look at GT Sport, it's practically double the game it was at launch. Granted that's an extreme example but my point is, patches are a thing now. The Devs may be concentrated on just getting the core game out and add difficult into the game later.
Of course, this doesn't help the day one buyer but that's why it pays to wait.
Makes sense to me. If you play a game like this and are running around with bags of ammo and mowing down swathes of enemies and taking next to no damage, any impact the game tries to build will be lost.
@Neolit I do think its their choice when its get down to it. Maybe wait and see before going out of your way taking down a product. 😉
This is just as funny when gamespot blasted Everybody Golf for not having a rewind option because it was to hard. 😁
Plus there is always a small amount of players who thinks the world should revolve around there preference. 😔
Welp one less game for me to buy in 2019. I'll wait til it hits under twenty with PlayStation Plus sale on PSN.
"the fantasy of the apocalypse"
Somebody needs therapy.
Didn't The Last of Us have difficulty settings? I know people who played that on easy because they were genuinely scared of clickers (who wouldn't be) and they still came away from the experience thinking it was an absolutely brilliant game.
Not sure I agree with the sentiment difficulty always equals tension. Good game design equals tension.
Seems like maybe they shouldn't have told anyone this. The game may be judged by some before it's been given a chance. If this was an Uncharted game I'd probably be concerned, but this seems different.
A member of the team was quoted saying something along the line of "the game play will be different to that of a lot of other games." So you may have a horde of Zombies here and a group of bandits there and having no easy mode may force you to turn it into a puzzle: How could I use these different groups/landscape/objects/buildings to my advantage? That's the vibe I'm getting from the media they've shown and other content. It sounds like they have tried an easy mode (based on the quoted text in this article) and it might not have been fun. How fun would Portal be on easy?
Anyway, I guess reviews and word of mouth when it's released will be the answer to the question. I'd hate for them to tack on an easy mode and have people say it's rubbish.
Thought I'd just add that I'm pretty sure someone said something like: The choices you make will affect your game and outcome.
Surprising choice.
With only one difficulty setting it could be too easy for people that want a challenge or too hard for people that
just aren't that amazing at playing games but still want to enjoy them.
They'll either have to choose a middle-ground that won't suit everyone or be like Bloodborne and well, I suppose that did well but people were expecting a tough game. Days Gone's reputation will need to be clear so that people don't find it's too hard and just return it/complain.
I can see their point of it suiting the setting and being a better experience, it's just surprising as it's a 1st party studio reducing their audience.
I was immediately happy when I read this, not because I care about difficulty, but because it means there won't be multiple difficulty playthroughs required for the platinum.
@LaNooch1978 Sometimes games are what they are and Bloodborne on easy well why even play it. Its even one of its biggest selling points.
@Neolit Lazy well i would love you see make something like that yeah Mario and Zelda also where lazy games.... 😕😑
But its always nice to see when someone needs to let people know they dont like so everyone need to hate it. 😁
With you i sometimes agree and sometimes you baffle me with your opinion. 😉
And this is not a game for small kids something you should know.
Reason to not buy a game number 1296: No difficulty options! sigh
@Neolit I’ve never played a Souls game for more than 5 minutes so I can’t comment on that, but I believe devs have the right to be presumptuous way more than you are entitled to. It’s their game, their job, so of course they know better than you and me.
I’m not defending the practice (I honestly could not care less) and I agree that more options is better than less options, but it just baffles me to see you call them presumptuous when you’re the one acting self-righteously. Rhis is their vision, their art, so they can and should do whatever they want to, without having to listen to random people on the internet.
You’re not entitled to anything, you buy your game if you want to and it ends there.
Also, not having multiple difficulty settings allows them to focus more on fine-tuning the default one, resulting (hopefully) in an overall better, tighter game.
As long as it’s fair and beatable. Will wait for impressions first.
If it's fair, there is no need for any drama. Don't remember a difficulty setting for MGSV or Zelda botw and I don't think it made a difference!! Last post I look at about this game until review. I think sometimes you can know too much about a game before it comes out.
@Neolit “You are missing the point. I am not commenting here because I think they should do this or that for me. I am just expressing my opinion about their practice.”
No, you’re not. You’re getting riled uo and calling devs “lazy” based on an aspect many people consider trivial, all without having even played the game. I don’t think that’s fair to them. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have the slightest interest in this game as it’s simply not for me, but it seems childish and narrow-minded to dismiss it for those reasons.
As for the first and second points, I completely disagree.
If musicians, film-makers and devs always thought of giving the players what they want, well, there’d never progress, only stagnation.
I’m a huge Zelda fan, and I would never have thought BOTW would be what I wanted next from the series, but here it is and it’s one of my all-time favorite games.
That’s the same principle that keeps annual franchises more or less the same, much to the chagrin of internet communties.
The way I see it, if you have a vision and want to make something to be proud of, you make it for yourself; if you wanna make a smash hit, you simply do what tou know sells.
That’s what differantiates games like BOTW or GOW from COD and the likes.
@LaNooch1978 of course, if you put it that way I think noone in their right mind would say no; that’s not what I was trying to say.
I was mainly addressing the arrogance with which it was being asked by @Neolit, who even went so far as to call them “lazy” like he knew better than professional developers.
My point is: it’d certainly a bit of a shame that there aren’t different difficulty options, but I’d trust the devs to have their reasons to not have them.
If they think this is how the game should be played to be fun and interesting, so be it.
Certainly they are way more entitled to decide what’s good for their product than some random whiner on the internet who probably doesn’t have any experience in developing video games.
No product has ever been created to cater to everyone, so why should this game do that?
Also, like many others have pointed out, several games don’t have difficulty options and still turned out great, so it’s a kinda petty to criticize it.
I like options.
I've cancelled my pre-order of Detroit: Become Human because I don't like the box art.
@LaNooch1978 “But to claim that artistic integrity is being compromised by the practice of making the art more accessible is more than a little bit specious.”
I’m not saying that. I’ve never said that, actually. What I mean is: if the devs feel like adding an “easy” option would dilute the experience, they have the right to do that, as noone knows better than them what works for their game.
I don’t know the reasons why they won’t add difficulty options, I’m just saying that if they feel it’s the right thing to do, I trust them. That’s all.
@Neolit I don’t know, it seems to me way more of a stretch to state they are behind schedule than to hypothesize that it might be their choice. Every game that has no difficulty options has been behind schedule? You’re talking about them as if they were the most important things ever in videogames.
And of course they have to sell their product, but it seems really silly to me that this “artistic vision vs. profitability” revolves around difficulty options. Again, you’re way overstating their importance. Do you really believe they’ll sell fewer copies just because of that? If so you are naïve.
Lastly, my point was never “artists create and business men shell out the dough”. Read carefully, my point is that I feel their choice is justified if they believe that’s the way the game should be played.
That’s the same argument people use to jump at the throat of those that ask for an easy mode in Souls game and noone bats an eyelid.
If, as you say, they’re cutting stuff because of time and/or money constraints, well, those things happen unfortunately. But without evidence, I’d rather believe it was their choice.
I like optional story modes, providing they don't disable trophies, and they aren't always super easy by the way. I don't have the time or patience (or skills?) any more to play action adventure games on hard difficulty (which I still do occasionally). I'd much rather play 2 games on easy in the time it takes 1 game on hard. I just don't want to lose time by dying any more, like I did in the preceding decades (I started playing on the Amiga 500). If I'm in the mood for the one more go feeling, I'll play another genre.
@Neolit well, at least we can agree on disagreeing lol
Have a good day mate 👍🏻
Well there's still a bit of time left before release. I can't imagine it being too hard to implement? Just lowering the HP of the zombies might do the job already, though from what's shown here they already look to be killed in one shot.
Not having difficulty options is stupid. Not everyone has an infinite amount of having hours and replaying segments of a 50 hour game over and over when you don't have time sucks. Hell, I switched God of war to easy.
Too bad but maybe it will be ok at normal
So long as it progressively gets harder as you unlock more and get better at the game. I am fine with it.
My problem with this is if I find myself, feeling that the game is too easy, I would appreciate the option to make it more difficult
Some people don't live in their parents basement being left a bologna sandwich on top of the stairs playing video games 34 hours a day. Some of you kids are absolutely great at these games, that's why I don't play Black Ops I'm dead 20 times in one minute. What the hell is it to you if someone is set one easy? Put down the sandwich your mommy left for you and answer that!!
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