Much like Mass Effect 3, Mass Effect: Andromeda will feature a very easy difficulty option named 'Narrative', lead designer Ian Frazier has revealed over on Twitter. In Mass Effect 3, Narrative Mode made Shepard incredibly hard to kill - you'd essentially have to position the protagonist in front of a group of enemies and wait a couple of minutes for them to chip your health down to zero. It also upped Shepard's damage output to a degree where you could kill some of the bulkiest enemies in the game with just a handful of bullets.
It sounds a bit daft written down like that, but we certainly don't see any harm in such a difficulty level; being a role-playing property with a strong focus on characters and story, Mass Effect unsurprisingly attracts a diverse audience - and some of them simply aren't in it for the challenge of combat.
Those who are, however, may be happy to know that the Insanity difficulty level - the hardest there is - will be available from the start, meaning you won't have to unlock it or anything like that. "If you want your face kicked in by Insanity right off the bat, be our guest," Frazier writes.
What's your take on difficulty levels? Do you like to see games such as Mass Effect cater to all players, regardless of their skill? Try not to brag in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 25
I like to take my time with a game, especially an RPG, so I think I will start on Narrative and second play, Insanity.
Nice to know it's all there to start off with.
I beat 1-3 on Insanity and got the Plat for each game. That is my plan for Andromeda as well.
I hope they don't go crazy with the multiplayer trophies...
That said I'm totally fine with this.
I don't think the narrative level is just about people not looking for a challenge and just want the story.
Accessability in games is improving for people with disabilities for example and I would think this would cater to someone who might find the game too hard, physically to play.
I usually go for hardest first for the challenge and then if I'm going for trophies I will play on easy, unless there a harder mode I've unlocked
I would rather see a range of difficulties for all players and NONE locked behind a completion rule. It annoys me that games put in a 'brutal' difficulty that can ONLY be unlocked after completing the game on hard - forcing you to play through twice to get trophies!
How fair is the difficulty in Mass Effect games? I played through Dragon Age: Origins on PS3, and as much as I liked it, I had a pretty hard time on Normal and switched to Casual, which was way too easy. It was either a difficult Normal or very easy Easy there, so does Mass Effect ever feel like that?
@DerMeister Personally I found Mass Effect 2 and 3 to have pretty standard difficulty levels. Easier ones you can get through without dying as long as you know the basics of combat, harder ones force you to use abilities and teammates more wisely.
Insanity in Mass Effect 2 felt like a bit of a chore, though - enemies with huge health bars kind of took the fun away for me.
@ShogunRok Ah, cool. I kinda felt worried about jumping in the series with how odd Dragon Age's difficulty felt for me.
I love stuff like this. I'm 34 and have limited time to play games now. I don't want to repeat the same section half a dozen times because of a sudden difficulty spike. I really do play games for the immersion and the story more than the challenge nowadays.
I like a diverse range of difficulty, and typically prefer to play games on Easy / Normal because, well frankly, i grew up in the NES era and have since paid my dues. Lmao!
That being said however, if a game is great and/or rewards me with something awesome, I'll go for the hardest mode as well. I 100% ME1-3, and just recently platinumed Resident Evil 7. That No Box run is blah. Lol
@glassmusic My thoughts exactly, and I'm the same age! 😆 A lot of us 80s kids paid the difficulty dues, and now have families and little time to game. My backlog is insane.... I actually sold off my 360 and PS3 with backlogs still incomplete. Oh well. Currently I've got like 40 games backloged on the PS4 alone. My 3DS and Wii U are also sizeable.
Yeah with age, it's getting more difficult, at least to me, to play games on hardest difficulty. I usually now start on the normal or easy difficulty, and if i find it too soft, I change it to an upper level. And yes, lack of time too. I still try to find some time to replay my old games, like Bioshocks, Mass effects etc.
But I have a question to ask. I didn't understand the article where it says by choosing the narration mode in ME3, you could kill enemies more easily. I don't remember by now, was choosing the playing style actually choosing the difficulty level as well? Because I obviously chose having option to decide what Shepherd says.
@happypooya it was a choice at the beginning if i recall correctly. Said something like "do you prefer more story, more action, or more RPG?" Your choice there determined how the game played. Story was less fighting / easier fighting, action was less story, and RPG gave you more control over skill distribution / gear / dialogue (?)....
@happypooya I never played anything but RPG style. It was my understanding that the differences were kind like this.
Story - Telltale Point N Click adventure almost
Action - Call of Duty-like, battle to battle with little downtime
RPG - Mass Effect 1 style.
I usually play open world RPGs on hard but as this is not open world I'll probably just save my time and play narrative.
@B-I-G-DEVIL
This is a very good point. I never play on the hardest levels because I tend to suck at games and it just isn't fun for me. These types of levels can open up this type of game for those with disabilities. I have some of my own issues with that so can empathize.
More options are always better.
@glassmusic Completly agree with you!
The biggest difficulty spike of all was trying to watch Fem Shep getting it on with Thane in Mass Effect 3. That was not good.
I always play normal mode to enjoy the game first then, if the game is enjoyable enough, run through on the hardest setting for trophies.
@ShogunRok dude!
I was just thinking this.
And when you ended up fighting Vorcha with regenerating health it became a pain.
As per the topic: why not?
Doesnt affect me if someone else plays it on casual or whatever, I like a nice balance but Im glad the game is catering to a wider audience.
I think this is a great idea - accessibility in games is a good thing and all audiences catered for.
I usually start playing in normal mode if I'm not sure if I'll like the game. Then I usually regret it and wish I'd started on harder :/
Mass Effect 1-3 are probably the only games I've ever gone back and played through again on the hardest difficulty, and I absolutely loved it, so chances are I'll be doing that again. Always think it's good to have a narrative mode for those that want it, though.
@Dm9982 Couldn't agree more! I beat all of the Mega Man games up to 8 several times each, things like that. I get a pass. Hahaha
@glassmusic MM is one of my fave series. I've got the legacy collection on 3DS, and 1-7 plus MMX1-3 on Wii U. I usually go through MM2 (fave original) one every few months. Same with MMX1-3.
@Dm9982 Oh man, X1-3! So many fond memories. I wish we'd get them on PS4!
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