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Topic: Game Difficulty discussion

Posts 41 to 60 of 68

Rudy_Manchego

@kyleforrester87 Confused - didn't they put in an easy difficulty? My argument is that it may not be the best implementation of accessibility options (not to blame the dev) but doesn't mean games shouldn't have them.

@themcnoisy I guess where I struggle is that I don't see why it matters if there are difficulty options that make a game more accessible to more players if the original vision of the developer is still available. Play Sekiro as the developer intended or play it easier. It makes no difference to me because I will pick what works for me. Some people will go down the easier route because of laziness, sure, but it means people who genuinely can't play it at the standard the normal mode requires can. All good, more people buy the game, game industry does well etc.

If it is about bragging rights, then brag that you beat the game on normal or hard or whatever. Award those with trophies or whatever as well. I spent ages getting the platinum on Wolfenstein: The Old Blood on the hardest difficulty which punished me but I liked the game and wanted the plat. Other players could whizz through it on easy. Don't care for me, I completed it on hard and I'm quite proud of the achievment.

I do think you are totally right about having intuitive difficulty though and I think that should be a big feature. If someone does well, get more difficult, if someone struggles tweak it a little bit down. That would be good.

I will agree completely that no developer should bow down on their artistic vision. I consider that the normal mode of any game. I just don't see that if they have the resources options arent available to others.

An example I would cite - my boss at work bought my OG PS4 off me, mainly so he could play TLOU. He was a PC gamer at heart and was most into FPS and strategy games. He found the game tough but loved the story so in the end he dropped the difficulty to easy. He completed the game, loved it, went back and played it again on Normal.

Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot

PSN: Rudy_Manchego | X:

kyleforrester87

@Rudy_Manchego You suggested that the difficulty options in Celeste were badly integrated based on what Noisy was saying, I assume because it makes the game an absolute cakewalk.

Anywhoo, I don't consider myself a great gamer by any stretch, but I know that with enough practise I will be able to complete any game I put my mind to and the fact is I think everybody else could too unless you are unfortunate enough to have a physical or mental impairment. Games like Dark Souls, Hyper Light Drifter and Celeste are not "hard" - you just have to play them differently and build up some muscle memory. If you don't want to do that then the games just aren't for you. And it's okay to hit a wall and stop playing too. Some of my fondest gaming memories are of games I never completed.

[Edited by kyleforrester87]

kyleforrester87

PSN: WigSplitter1987

BAMozzy

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

Feel free to add me but please send a message so I know where you know me from...

PSN: TaimeDowne

kyleforrester87

@BAMozzy You're talking about games being more accessible for others, and giving more options, whether that be easier or harder options, but you were dead against raids in Destiny having matchmaking as it, in your opinion, did not work with the design of those challenges. Why did player choice and inclusiveness not factor into your opinion on that topic?

[Edited by kyleforrester87]

kyleforrester87

PSN: WigSplitter1987

JJ2

@BAMozzy
Man im really sorry but I dont have time to read your text walls.. Respectfully I hope you understand.
All my point is saying its completely fair for a Studio to want players to experience their game in the way its intended AND given the intent here is precisely they are games designed especially for this purpose (being chalenging). They should not get crap because of it.
Besides all points of views are FAIR, its perfectly normal for customers to give feedback. Unlike some gamers dissing people for saying they d like a third person perspective in CP77 for instance, I find it fair for gamers to let them know what they would like.
However, when its coming from pressure groups pulling the strings, theres something fishy.

The crowd, accepting this immediately, assumed the anti-Eurasian posters and banners everywhere were the result of acts of sabotage by agents of Goldstein and ripped them from the walls.

BAMozzy

@kyleforrester87 Raids require communication and some dedication to completing it as a 'TEAM'. Matchmaking would be fine if it matched players of 'equal' skill, spoke the same language and had a microphone for communication. Random Matchmaking doesn't work for this. Its still all inclusive but players have to make 'some' effort to find a group of people all wanting to participate, work together and communicate. Its not 'stopping' anyone from playing in a raid but, as its an 'end-game' and a co-operative part, then the player needs to get to a certain skill level and be wanting to participate, communicate etc. Unlike Sekiro, this is a co-operative experience and requires teamwork. If players cannot communicate etc, then it ruins the experience for others - it has a direct impact on players.

@JJ2 If you can't be bothered to read a few paragraphs then that is down to you. My point still stands that the devs can add lower difficulty modes and, at the end, encourage gamers to take on the game as they intended it to be experienced. That is very different to fundamentally changing the whole game by adding in a '3rd' person perspective. Tweaking few different health values of the main character and enemies (making you more resilient and enemies a bit easier to kill) doesn't fundamentally change the game - it just makes it a little easier, a little less challenging. As its also a Single Player, it has NO impact on anyone else whether they can or cannot complete the game. It makes it less annoying, less frustrating and more inclusive. The game is still playable in exactly the way devs want you to experience it essentially.

Its like 'football' where some people may only be a 'Sunday League' player but they can still play, still have the same rules and regulations, still fundamentally the same game and up against opponents at a similar level to you. All a difficulty setting needs to do is make the opponents more to your 'skill' level and maybe give you a bit more health to survive a few more hits. Another analogy could be 'boxing' where the player is a 'flyweight' and having to fight light heavy and cruiser weight fighters let alone the heavyweight bosses. A difficulty setting could bulk out the flyweight player to a welter/light weight boxer and bring the enemies down to middle weight with bosses now only Light Heavy weight. The 'easiest' difficulty setting could bulk out the player to Welterweight with the easiest enemy types being at Welter weight too, with the more tougher ones being Super welterweight or light middleweight. The bosses are now Middleweight instead of the 'normal' heavyweight. The rules are still the same, the rings are all still the same - the only difference is that the player is no longer coming up against opponents that knock them straight out whenever they get close. They can take a few more hits, survive a bit longer, use their size to duck and dodge to get a victory but its still a 'tough' game.

As an experienced player, you are going into games like Sekiro as a Light Middleweight, using your acquired skills and experience so the challenge is much less than someone else who has little/no experience. The difficulty settings can be used to bring just as much of a challenge to you as it would to a complete noob. Of course that makes a skilled gamer playing Sekiro on 'easy' less challenging but for a noob, that easy setting can be just as challenging to them as 'normal' is for the skilled player and for the very skilled, masochistic types, a higher difficulty could be like a Flyweight taking on Tony Bellew, Andre Ward etc and if they 'win' against those, the bosses are Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder etc.

What's challenging to one, may not be as challenging, even easy for another so why not have difficulty settings to adjust for players skill level, to make the game as challenging for everyone. Its not fundamentally changing anything and its not affecting the way the game is designed to be seen, to be played etc. The same rules apply - you are just tweaking the difficulty to match a wider range of players instead of making it for just a 'niche' group...

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

Feel free to add me but please send a message so I know where you know me from...

PSN: TaimeDowne

kyleforrester87

@BAMozzy but if players want to play with matchmaking why can’t they have the option to do so? You speak about them having to put the effort into finding a raid party themselves, why can’t people put the effort into learning Dark Souls gameplay systems instead of expecting the developers to change their vision to accommodate what is, essentially, a form of laziness?

I agree Destiny should not have matchmaking. The fact is, some experiences are not for all, and it’s better that way.

kyleforrester87

PSN: WigSplitter1987

BAMozzy

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

Feel free to add me but please send a message so I know where you know me from...

PSN: TaimeDowne

kyleforrester87

"I see it more as balancing the game to the skill set of the player rather than just making a 'game' that only a handful of players have the skill set to play without offering any way to put the 'effort' in, to learn how to play at a level that's still challenging to them."

But it's not a handful of players, loads of people are capable of playing Dark Souls and other equally challenging games. Even veterans of the Souls games struggle with Sekiro initially. In fact having muscle memory from those games can be counter-productive in Sekiro, putting them at a disadvantage. The games give you plenty of ways to succeed - in Dark Souls/Bloodborne you can power up your character by fighting lower level enemies to get a stat advantage against a boss. In Sekiro you can train against a specific NPC. In both games you can study enemy animations and tells. I literally get creamed against every boss during my first attempt, regardless of experience. Once you understand the enemies you're up against it's not "hard" anymore, it's just a different approach to victory over something like Uncharted. That's why being defeated is part of the core experience of the game. It's not something you should look at and consider a problem with the game design that needs to be solved.

My point is that yes, they could patch in other difficulty modes that dumb enemies down but if you consider that a core part of the experience is its unconventional approach to victory and defeat it becomes obvious to me that doing so is unnecessary at best. You would almost be playing completely different games.

[Edited by kyleforrester87]

kyleforrester87

PSN: WigSplitter1987

JJ2

@BAMozzy
Yea your not getting my point.
It's up to the studio to decide in the end and people are merely requesting (even though not taking into account journalists agenda)
Its probably way more complicated than you think.
It's the same and equally respectable request from people saying they would prefer a third pers view.
People expressing a preference. That's all what it is and up to the dev to do as they wish (knowing most fans don't want them to compromise)

Edit.
I agree with Kyle above. Adding an easy mode to BB would make it a very different game that is not meant to be, therefore probably not a very good experience that may backfire to the devs.
BB already as ways to allow you to find easier progression.

[Edited by JJ2]

The crowd, accepting this immediately, assumed the anti-Eurasian posters and banners everywhere were the result of acts of sabotage by agents of Goldstein and ripped them from the walls.

themcnoisy

Badam

Forum Best Game of All Time Awards

PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7

PSN: mc_noisy

themcnoisy

I think to wrap this up what I am saying is and contrary to popular opinion is thus;

Dynasty Warriors has always bombed with reviewers citing it is too easy. Because they play on Easy.

Ninja Blade bombed with reviewers as they said it was too Easy. As they played on Easy.

One of my favourite games this gen in Yakuza has been accused of being too Easy. Because the reviewers played on Easy.


These Japanese games amongst others should all ditch Easy mode completely as it's unfair on the developers. They are getting scored down at release for games being too Easy when the reviewers are not playing on the default mode of play (this isn't Pushsquare BTW) That then affects overall sales of the games in question.

So to answer everyone who keeps saying that adding an easy mode to future From Games won't affect people's enjoyment - yes it would and already does in other franchises.


With Celeste I am playing until the end on the normal difficulty starting tonight after the footy. What's the point of trying to collect all the strawberries now when I can just easy mode the mopping up after finishing properly which I will have a run at once I am done.

I'm disappointed and strangely has affected my enjoyment. Getting a strawberry on the normal difficulty is rewarding in itself. But I have admitted already with loads of other games vying for my attention super easy mode is too much of a pull. Especially as you are not penalised in any way wherever trophy locks, levels being locked etc etc.

Forum Best Game of All Time Awards

PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7

PSN: mc_noisy

themcnoisy

@kyleforrester87 OK I will stay. Only because you have put an obstacle in my way and I have no super easy mode to turn too.

Oh wait there's an ignore button somewhere here right?

Forum Best Game of All Time Awards

PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7

PSN: mc_noisy

Gremio108

What about if developers patched in an easy mode six months or so down the line? This would still be off-putting for some people, but at least they would eventually get to experience the game, rather than never bothering.

To be honest I'm in the camp which believes that From Software games are not all that hard, they just take patience rather than skill, although skill does help. It's very hard to express that opinion without coming across elitist or smarmy. But it's true. There was a point when I thought Demon's Souls wasn't do-able, and wasn't for me at all. I bought it in 2009 and I didn't finish it until 2011. It wasn't until Dark Souls 3 that I was really confident taking on From Software's games.

Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.

PSN: Hallodandy

Gremio108

@kyleforrester87 And I've been struggling with Simon since the late eighties so there you go.

Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.

PSN: Hallodandy

themcnoisy

@Gremio108 'What about if developers patched in an easy mode six months or so down the line? This would still be off-putting for some people, but at least they would eventually get to experience the game, rather than never bothering.'

But this is just it. Froms games were never popular when they did have an easy mode no matter how good the game was.

It's only now that the people who don't want to practice feel obliged to play the thing they want an easy mode.

I played far too much Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox. In fact I still have a copy of the game. Tecmo dumbed it down in Ninja Gaiden 2 and further still in 3 and the franchise is dead. What people are asking for is a load of codswallop. We have thousands of easy to play games - try one of them instead.

Forum Best Game of All Time Awards

PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7

PSN: mc_noisy

JJ2

@themcnoisy
Exactly.
Let's be honest. It's a legitimate request from people somehow interested in DS games. It's not a request from people who love these games. It's fair for people to ask but the way this was blown out of proportion by the press, (or more specifically a certain press making up a sort of outrage) is astonishing.
There are so many games, more than you can possibly go through, which are not meant to be too challenging and people say they don't have time. There s contradiction there.

The crowd, accepting this immediately, assumed the anti-Eurasian posters and banners everywhere were the result of acts of sabotage by agents of Goldstein and ripped them from the walls.

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