I haven't tried Elden Rings or the newest games in general but I'm old school. I think games should err on a fixed difficulty. There can be cheats and guides and things like that if that's too hard for some people.
My rationale though is not to punish people who aren't good enough. I would argue the same for a game that is too easy for some people, like the original Super Mario on Famicom/NES which is a fairly easy game to beat. I don't think it needs difficulty modes.
It's more of a quality argument. When a game has a fixed difficulty, that allows the designer and playtester to maximally focus on delivering a very specific type of experience. Typically no game developer has the resources to multiply the amount of resources dedicated to things like level designing and testing every single difficulty setting if they have multiple.
So what developers tend to do to offer difficulty settings is to take on a procedural approach just altering some parameters and calling it done. Then the playtesting is divided among all these different difficulty parameters, as well as the efforts on design. The end result can be a game that isn't very fun for anyone, like some games where the easiest difficulty kills a human soldier if you just shoot them in the toe while the hardest allows them to become bullet sponges taking 20 headshots between the eyes and still be fine. The medium difficulty might still feel off in those cases.
The way I see it is that some users always want more and more customizability options, but some of those options impose heavy costs that can dilute the entire product. Of course, a game should offer basic options like reconfiguring controls. Those barely cost a dime and don't require extensive playtesting and tweaking of the entire game in response.
But some options impact the entire game experience, like difficulty options, and I think too often devs who try to offer them lack the multiplied resources to do it ideally. So I prefer they err on the side of fewer options for those big options that impact the entire experience.
Otherwise, I think we can get the metaphorical equivalent of Subway sandwiches: maximally customizable but not all that great. It's fine and some people might love the customizability, but there's no way to offer that degree of customizability and match the quality of a French deli with a carefully-designed and tested menu.
Always should just be a thing you can choose. It does not effect other's gameplay experience if you alone decide to play it on a easier mode.
I love some games for been hard, and love some games easy. For example I love Silent Hill 2 easy options to basically just walk through the game no problem, reason? I prefer to get into the weeds of just walking around the astrosphere and story than care about the combat.
Something I wish the other silent hills had and even Re's tho RE2 remake does have this with a infinite ammo rocket launcher and Mini gun making it super easy but sadly you had to pay for that as a dlc which is pretty scummy lucky I got it on super cheap sale years later anyway. And Re3 remake did not have this sadly.
Then on the other side, I like HellBlade just playing that normally to make it easier or something would defeat the purpose for me. But it's not like the option been there for other players ruins my experience. And Prince of Persia sands before time had one boss that was super hard and I loved it taking a hour or 2 to beat it to say the rest of the game is easy lol.
Personally, there’s some fun in those difficult games bcs it creates drive and a memorable experience (bcs you have to replay it so much), I think the first really difficult game for me was dark souls 1 & it had a difficulty that worked perfectly bcs it was hard, but it’s doable if you give it time! BUT WITH ELDEN RING, GOD, it’s not fair to have one hit kill enemies. It really gets on my nerves & I wanna just throw tha whole console away -_- Still, despite the frustration, I stay cus the nice design, unpredictability & the competitive drive it gives me to destroy my enemies is sooo satisfying when you complete it 😵💫
I'm so sorry I can't answer, the only video games that I play are the Sims, Animal Crossing and a lot of Mario and even those I find it wayyy to hard 😂 But I stumbled into your question to see if you could recommend me a video game for my best friend? She is very good at it and even has a Twitch account. So I don't wanna mess up... again
What kind of games does she like?
I know for sure that she hates jump scares, that she play League of Legends and all things related to Nintendo and Zelda. But aside from that she doesn't really tell me about it because she doesn't want to bore me... So I tried researching but I don't understand a thing. Maybe I'm an idiot... Oh and I got Battlefield for my brother and she didn't seemed like very excited about the release
If she likes Nintendo switch i would suggest monster hunter rise.
Ok! Never heard of it but I trust you 😊 Thank you! And I hope you find an answer to your question!
Your welcome!
Opinion
61Opinion
All modern games are easy.
There are loads of interesting tricks that game developers use to give the illusion of difficulty, while actually making their games very easy - that way, even a very bad player can win, but it will still feel like a real achievement, and they'll still get the same satisfaction.
The most well-known example is probably "rubber-banding" in racing games, where AI cars slow down if they're ahead, or speed up if they're behind. There are also games where enemies get weaker or less accurate when the player is on low health, or they spawn less frequently (enemies are often programmed to intentionally miss with their first few shots anyway). Often the last few rounds of ammunition do more damage, and the last few hit points count extra - so the player feels like they're about to die more of the time, when really they're not in serious danger. Offscreen enemies are frequently slowed down or don't attack at all, so the player never gets blindsided. Random number generators in games are very seldom random - they usually favour the player, especially if they've had a couple of bad results in a row. And so on...
Old games used to be much harder. Winning an old school roguelike was literally a once in a lifetime achievement, but the games were still fun, even if you were almost guaranteed to lose.
What really bothers me though, is the prevalence of games that are either pay-to-win or grind-to-win, that are only difficult because you didn't pay real money or to hours of tedious grinding.
i mean not every modern game is like that, there's difficult ones but you have to search for them, big game studios are not going to make challenging experiences because their stuff is meant to appeal to everyone and sell to every single person, basicly im saying that you need to look outside of the big yearly releases to find a challenge.
This is the most precise modern gaming review ever.
It depends on the intent of the developer, the implicit expectations of the target audience. Elden Ring and Dark Souls can be as tough as they are, because the design is so deliberate that it implicitly self-selects for the type of audience who really appreciates that more opaque, insular, uncompromising approach to difficulty and progression. The design intent and audience 'taste' are perfectly aligned. Everyone knows that you play FromSoft games if you want punishing challenges and cathartic, hard-won victories, with lots of labyrinthine exploration and implied world-building that most "casuals" would miss entirely. Likewise, people know what sort of difficulty curve to expect from a Super Mario game, which is why nobody is demanding more difficulty modes for Mario, despite it having the same number of difficulty options as Dark Souls or Elden Ring (in that it has *none*). The problems start when the audience goes in expecting a certain experience, and then the rug gets pulled out with gameplay design that violates those expectations. I'd argue certain older games in the 80s and 90s had this problem. Like The Lion King SNES adaptation. You might pick that game up for your kid at the time thinking it'll be some light fluff to expand on the movie without being too taxing. But what your dear little son or daughter actually gets is a baptism of fire with some of the toughest platforming gameplay ever put in a side-scroller. In any case, I don't think multiple difficulty options should be some de facto universal standard. Devs should know their audience AND their own design philosophy as a dev studio, and balance the difficulty options (or lack thereof) accordingly.
It was kind of like this back in the NES/SNES days. Games like Ninja Gaiden, Battle Toads, Zelda II, Contra... all these games had one difficulty that couldn't be changed: HARD.
I think there should be a selectable difficulty system. But I personally think "Easy" mode should yield fewer rewards, while higher difficulties yield more exclusive rewards. But having a game that is only "Hard" mode can have its benefits. For one thing, these are the kinds of games that you don't forget... and it feels good to conquer a video game that really picks a fight with you.
Just don't make it so hard that I can't play the game for the storyline. I like games that make you feel like you're in the game. When I'm playing call of duty on the campaign, I want to feel like I'm being shot at and I'm running to cover and it's like a movie.
When I'm playing assassin's creed, I want to feel like I'm ezio. I want it to take a few trys on some of the levels because the whole story is supposed to be that you're using the animus to learn his skills.
If they decide to make a game hard as fuck, that's their decision. If a games main attraction is that it's hard, it's not for me. Maybe they can make an easy mode and I'd try it, I don't know.
I like games that pose a challenge, because I find there to be a lot of satisfaction in mastering the gameplay and learning the systems.
I'm not in favor of putting easier modes in challenging games, most challenging games are built around the challenge as an integral component of the game.
If you throw that away you will lose what the game is all about, and you may end up with an underwhelming experience.
And players who end up with an underwhelming experience may take to the forums and give the game a poor review as a result and that's only going to harm the game.
If you aren't into challenge just don't play the game, simple as that.
I thought Witcher 3 was trash because the combat was boring and I couldn't get over it, but I understand it's not a game that appeals to me so I just skipped it and went back to playing the things I do like.
Video games are meant to be challenging. That’s what makes it worth the investment in my time. If there is an easy mode there should be separate trophies gamers can earn depending on which difficulty they beat the game for recognition.
I always play my games at the highest difficulty rating. It really does prove the game to be worthy of a challenge. Easy modes takes the fun out of the game and allows others to conquer the entire game too easy with little to no difference of the elite gamers but a digital trophy to really show for it which I find BS.
If you’re going to play the game at a ‘mature’ rating then the gamer (who should be 17 years old or older) should develop the abilities to conquer the game the way it was designed to be conquered, a challenge.
No snot bubble blowing 6 year olds who can run through the game at god life health should really conquer a mature game and earn the same trophies as elite gamers who play the game for any recognition.
Ideally, every game should have basically three difficulties:
An easy/narrative mode for people who only care about the story.
A normal mode which is fairly balanced, more or less "the way it's meant to be played" from an immersion standpoint.
A harder mode which is more punishing and with a smarter/more adaptive AI. Most of the time, this is screwed up by developers because instead of making the game harder by design or the AI more intelligent, they just give your enemies BS statistical advantages. This is most easily seen in strategy games where the AI will rake in resources beyond what's even possible with what they have, or racing games in which an AI driver can crash and completely wipe out just to shoot all the way back to the front in a few seconds.
It all depends on the (type of) game and how they would make the game easy or what would the changes be between easy/normal/hard mode.
A game like Elden Ring or Dark Souls has "being challanging" as one of the genre defining factors, so an easy mode here would change the entire game, unless you only change little things, like making healing items more common or placing more bonfires...
i woulnd't change anything regarding bosses and the combat in general.
Other games, like Fire Emblem, only remove the permadeath feature, which i really like, espacially in a game like three houses, where you spent half the game talking to the students.
But in the end its about having fun, so if you play on easy mode thats totally fine.
And if the developers choose to not include an easy mode thats totally fine as well, its simply not a game for everyone.
I'm almost finished with eldin ring.
I did it out of spite, it's a booooooooring game and the WORST PC PORT OF ALL TIME. Hack, slash repeat... Zzzzzzzzzz..
I did it with a keyboard and mouse never using dodge the entire game as it's stupidly bound to the same key as sprint.
Why? Because like most PC gamers I can't stand crappy console ports and don't own a controller. Who ever designed the UI obviously hates PC gamers and never even saw a keyboard before or used a mouse.
After the insult called elden ring I'll never pay attention to a hyped up console port, in fact I'll probably avoid all console ports from now on.
Modern games are too easy and millenials are ruining what used to be a good series. From Software used to make some of the most hardcore and difficult games ever like King's Field, Lost Kingdom and the original Souls games. Now they're appealing to the casual gamers by toning down the difficulty, but of course millenials are still complaining that it's too hard.
They basically give you a bunch of free equipment and even a starting gift, but that's still not enough?
In King's Field you got a dagger and nothing else. If you died in King's Field that was it, you had to start over from the last save, no respawn, no autosaves, no second chances and no hints from other players. But kids apparently can't handle a challenge anymore.
I dont know the only people i see complaining about difficulty are games journalists and some reviewrs i think kids can handle it way better than most adults which is pretty funny, and again there are difficult games most of them seem to be indie games, speaking of from softwares older games have they just been doing games similiar to souls games?
From Software has been regurgitating Souls games over and over and it seems they have no plans to create another King's Field or Lost Kingdom.
I'm an indie developer and I'm working on creating a game with actual difficulty to it. I know that kids will hate it but hopefully hardcore gamers will appreciate the challenge. www.youtube.com/watch
The games were initially intended to have fun and spend your time relaxing. And that was so for a time. Then the cretens started making them harder and harder, on top of that they stopped releasing demos, so that you can't see personally what a crap they made and thus refuse to buy it. The Goddess bless the cracking groups, LOL Which is why I download a cracked from tor**** and try it. If I like it and/or I find out that it supports mods, I buy it. If it's too hard and doesn't support any variant of modding - "so long, baby, goodbye" and move on to the next.
ALL games should have difficulty settings starting with "Very easy" and ending with "Very hard"! It should be up to the player to decide the difficulty level, not to a bunch of autists with a god complex!
The thing with difficulty is that it's interesting if it's done right.
You mentioned Elden Ring, which is a good example of difficulty done right. It's challenging, because it requires skills, learning, adaptation.
Nowadays, most companies can't make difficulty right. For them, difficulty is just boosting enemies health and damage, or taking the same regular task and ask you to only do more of the requirement. And they call it a day.
Destiny 2, which I play now, did this. You have the same exact enemies, the same mission, they just boosted it, so it's harder to succeed. It's not a challenge, it's just wasting time, there's nothing interesting to it.
I started playing on old 16bits console, and back in the day, difficulty was normal. But then companies changed their view, they made the game easier, so it could be sold to a wider audience and make more money.
i recently played a game called outriders that suffered from that kind of thing, the enemies were just bullet sponges (granted its a looter shooter so thats kind of their thing) but somehow the devs think its a good idea to also have enemies that are also faster, interrupt your skills with every hit and can magicly turn around to hit you with laser guided accuracy even if you dodge, grinding doesent help since the difficulty scales with you also, very fun times ahead.
Difficult is appreciated! For all the souls virgins out there! They're usually harder! There were no summons, you couldn't even jump! And a mount was non existent. You have these three options + the freedom to explore other places, you can make it as hard or easy as you want
Margit will be the first wall to conquer which will either make you ragequit or hunger for the next challenge
margit is the boomer we need, he puts all those foolish ambitions to rest.
the real foolish ambitions were actually the fact that some people dont use all of the things the game gives you XD
Crucible knights were the most fun so far.
I don't think some games should have it.
Each game has its let's call it quirk. Games like Else Ring quirk is their difficulty. The same for everyone. Forcing the player to "get good" or not play at all.
Others don't have that. Actually are more about making you feel badass like Devil May Cry that has tons of different difficulties.
Then there are generic games like Uncharted, that have three difficulties and that is fine too.
Neither is better or worse. It must fit the games quirk. That is all.
Games like elden ring and dark souls are supposed to be difficult, if you don't enjoy difficult games, those are simply not for you. I'm not a fan - I want my games a bit more casual BUT I think games in general are becoming to easy, because people like that quick fix getting somewhere in the game. If it gets to hard, to much grind - to much work; people quit.
i think it's gotta depend on the type of game. I play an MMORPG where boss drops and loot are introduced into the economy and affect prices for ALL players. In that game, you can set some boss fights to easier levels, but it also decreases the loot that you can get from the fight. So difficulty levels directly affect your possible rewards, and I think that's how it should be.
I like having easier difficulty levels for games when possible, but it has to be able to lessen the "rewards" or it gives an unfair advantage in game to players for playing on easy level. Not sure how Elden Rings works, so not sure how they could allow an "easy" level without ruining the game experience
It's largely irrelevant. People game for different reasons. Some for the art work, some for fun, some to compete etc etc.
A timeless game resonates with its intended audience. This is why boardgames are still around despite digital variations on the same games being around.
I think there is room for all sorts of games, I don't play games to challenge myself, I am a exploration type of player, so I usually play on lowest difficulty because there is nothing worth exploring in replaying the same section over and over because it hard. I don't go for the hard games, but I don't want to forbid developers from making them. There is more than enough games for me to play even when I skip those.
Games should not have easy modes, all games should be difficult and require either practice or complex problem solving to master.
Games about combat or competition or platforming, should always require timing based mastery that needs practice.
Games with puzzles should have very mentally challenging puzzles.
What i dont like is that most video games the difficulty is just the AI cheating and its become so normal that even in "normal" or easy mode the ai cheats and extremely dislike that because its an indication that the developers were lazy and its a shitty way to learn how to play a game when the ai can do things you can't and leaves you confused
Some games are meant to be a challenge.
Some are meant to help you relax
Some are meant to be vessels for a great story.
And some are meant to be a social experience.
There's plenty in each category. If its too hard pick another. If its too easy, pick another. If its too boring... pick another.
I like difficult games. Enjoyed Dark souls 1 a lot. Look forward to playing ER at some point. People saying it's hard.
There are countless games out there. Many of them are easy. If one wants to play an easy game, have at it. Not every game should be easy, though. If you can't handle the difficulty, then improve or play another game.
Don't get your hopes up, Elden Ring compared to older Souls-borne titles is quite a bit easier. But I think the game is worth playing nonetheless.
Yeah, I like a challenge but some levels are just too much and it prevents you from experiencing the whole game.
The last level in Drakengard 3 is notoriously hard. The games framerate isn't good. But you're expected to beat an 8 minute rhythm game without messing up. If you miss one you die and have to start over. The camera moves too, so at certain moments you can't even see anything. Only reason I haven't 100% the game.
I haven't bothered with Elden Ring. But I agree a good game would have varying difficulties so anyone can enjoy it. As long as it isn't a bad difficulty modifier like Dark Crusade's campaign where it just changes the amount of health your units and the enemies' units have. Or Civilization II where it only changes the rate or likelihood that your citizens get angry over something.
If they didn't, I wouldn't mind, as I tend to play the most difficult settings anyways, I find it more satisfying. That being said, I think difficulty settings are good, as they allow for a broader audience. And more people get to enjoy what they otherwise would not have, and get to partake in the community. So I support them.
it's not a real debate. only for loser leftists on twitter
the far left hates any form of challenge or competition because it inherently results in hierarchy which is not allowed in their socialist view
in other words, ignore twitter. have fun
Lol @ trying to bring politics into a discussion about video game difficulty.
@Ironic_Method politics is a philosophical discussion, this is a philosophical discussion.
the underlying philosophy that governs their politics informs this difficulty non debate
I like dark souls games precisely because they are difficult.
Not everything needs to be easy. The difficulty and challenge are exactly why the games are so loved.
Also Elden Ring has an easy mode it’s called magic.
Even magic is not an easy mode when it comes to some bosses i think, that moment when you meet a boss that resists magic for example, and yes people buy souls games and soulslikes because they like the difficulty, basicly keeping it hard brings from software tons of money so i doubt that will ever change.
"basicly keeping it hard brings from software tons of money so i doubt that will ever change."
Good, I'm so tired of getting games and then being bored with them after 5 minutes because it's made for people who suck at games and don't want to improve.
@TheSpaceGnome Nah they won't they've been doing the same formula since DKS1 the only tweaks they make are usually ones that make the game more fun without decreasing the difficulty.
People will keep buy these games because on the inside we're all hardcore masochists who love pain and suffering and the explosion of oxytocin that follows after you beat a boss on your 10th attempt.
huh... someone told me a certain mage in a certain academy resists magic but i guess i was lied to, guess who is gonna throw some fire at it :P
im trying to avoid spoiling it for everyone so thats why im vague about the names XD
I'm already well past the academy.
If the appeal of the game is just how brutal it is, but this doesn't appeal to you, then this game simply isn't made for you.
To shoehorn in an easy mode for games that aren't build around that, doesn't seem necessary. I also don't like the idea of restricting creative freedom.
This coming from a casual gamer who's very familiar with "game over" screens. 😏
I want difficult games to stay difficult. That's why we have the olympics. Not every person can enter. But we live in the timeline where DMC3 had to be rereleased because people were throwing a tantrum for it being too difficult.
I like medium-hard difficulty. To make use of everything to win a game. Challenging enough to fail with some mistakes. But not so hard, that it makes me going to uninstall it and watch a speedrun of it.
i didn't play dark souls. I heard its a very difficult game to beat and that there's no easy mode or whatever. I'm at a stage of my life, where i don't have so much time and patience to play dark souls. I am busy making $$$ and enjoying life. Beaches, massages, girls, shopping...
I think there should always be options. Sometimes I want it to be difficult but sometimes I just wanna play for fun and not get frustrated that I can't get past a boss fight.
I think certain games should offer a specific experience for players who seek a certain style of game.
Thats pretty much how i see it too.
I'm just a casual so I don't know much about this stuff but I think hard-core competitive gaming might be very stressful but I like a challenge so I just prefer 'normal' mode. In my mind I think a normal difficulty is the way a game is intended to be played
I mean that makes the game for fun the harder the challenge That's the thing I don't like about video games now these days too. Like they make the newer games too easy. This generation has become too soft in every sense of the word.
like i have said before... there are still difficult games coming out, you just need to search for them.
im one of those weird pepole that hack the game and give myself "god mode😅 but thats only on games where i just want the story and combat is boring.
i think some difficulty is necessary to create the feeling of success. though there's mindlessly stupid difficultly that makes games not fun and then there's interesting difficulty that makes it actually more fun.
Well, for beginners getting into the game, yes. Kingdom Hearts and many other games have that option. Spiderman for the PS4 does
I'd say it's always good to have options to choose difficulty.
Sometimes I wanna be challenged and bring my A game but sometimes I just wanna chill and mow down enemies.
People are pussies.
If you're bad at video games? git gud. Or go play nintendogs.
If you're retarded? Too bad, this game is not for you.
Not everything has to be inclusive, especially if it detracts from the experience.
Two words. Elden ring. You can choose both hard or easy.
Some games need an easy mode, others don't.
Elden ring's difficulty is dictated by how much you explore the world. Some games don't have that luxury. For example, rythm games without multiple difficulties would be crazy.
i have the 100% achievements in elden ring. Difficulty is used to tell the story, it wouldn't be same if you could knock down everyone easy.
I like it! I play any game from beginner level to the hardest level I can do.
I think nowadays games are much easier than they used to be 20 or 30 years ago. Games didn't use to give you tutorials back in the days.
When I was a kid I always played on easy.
As I got older I opted for the more difficult modes
They cheat codes and VIP slots. That shouldn't be there. Takes away the dread.
I'm a strong believer that every single game should have an easy mode. Not everyone wants to spend 100 hours on a single boss or a single level.
Have a wide range of modes. I personally like ridiculous difficulty with great controls. A challenge where if you fail it's your fault!
sometimes too hard is awful. You should be able to use an easy mode on a specifically hard level. Some games allow you do get a pass if you fail too much.
ANY MAN THAT HAS DIFFICULTY IN VIDEO GAMES IS NOT A MAN WORTH DATING ANYWAY
Each game has it's own ideal difficulty.
Elden ring is not a mario game.
@kuladiamond I believe players should be able to play video games at any difficulty level of their choice.
There is a lot more things to worry about than a game
Want to fully experience a difficult game? Get good.
I like to play every game on the most difficult level
Love them because they challenge you. Japanese games are well renounced for this.
Sometimes I’m in the mood for it, but other times I’m not. Nothing really special about it.
Medium and difficult. But I always start easy to get used to the game
They should never be an easy mode in a FromSoftware game in my opinion
There are really easy if you don't play them...
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