[Venks]

It's an interesting topic.

On the one hand, easy games can give a great sense of flow, as well as make you feel unbelievably cool. This is a good thing, because it's often crucial to have that flow and feeling of power. Furthermore, easy games can be played by anyone, not just people who are willing to clench their teeth together and bear through it.

Of course, easy games also have the problem of simply being boring to play. After all, pressing a button to win isn't much involvement with an interactive medium. There's also the problem that if you make the game too easy, the powerful feeling instead makes you feel like your actions are meaningless in the game.

It's definitely no easy job to make your games that right level of difficult. And then you also have the fact that a lot of people who find your game too easy can't be bothered to try the game on a harder difficulty setting. I really like how the Megaman Zero games do it. I mean those games even at their easiest are still way too hard for most game players, but none the less I think the concept is great.

In Megaman Zero you are scored on a multitude of things, such as how fast you complete the level and how much damage you receive. Based on your score you're given a rank and the bosses you fight are easier or more difficult based on that rank. Instead of just upping some values the attacking behaviours of the bosses change and you might see the boss use more unique attacks. Basically by performing well you make the game even more difficult.

I do really like it when story and gameplay blend together well. I'm a member of Oddworld Forums for a reason. As for the Assassin Creed games I was very intrigued when the first one came out. But when I actually tried it out I found myself disliking how easy it was to kill everyone and was again disappointed that some missions require you to fight multiple people in plain sight. No option for stealth. I've tried a few of the newer games, but I've never played any of them longer then 20 minutes. When I want a game that takes stealth more seriously I find myself gravitating towards Dues Ex: Human Revolution.

Perhaps I haven't given the games enough time to shine, but they don't really feel like stealth games to me. I kind of went in expecting to be a stealthy assassin like the ninjas on good ol Tenchu(1998) for PS1. Stealth was the main concept. Perhaps that's not what I should be looking for.

Nope!

Seriously though, people with a little imagination can find ways of making an easy game more challenging. It's hard to do the inverse without outright cheating.

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying my Hero's Mode Three Heart Challenge in A Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. I've finally gotten far enough into the game that some of my enemies are starting to take out all three of my hearts in a single strike. It really forces me to learn the behaviours of my enemies as well as have a clear understanding of the properties of my own attacks. I have to be careful not to use anything that might leave me open due to how slow the attack is or if the move doesn't have much range.

When I 100% Super Mario 3D World I'm gonna do a 'mushroomless' run through. Should be a lot of fun.

Oh and yeah it is a shame that some games don't have a easy mode and are pretty hard by default. It's always unfortunate when I try to share a game with someone, but they are unable to enjoy it due to how high the difficulty is.

YES!

Seriously though, people with a little practice can manage to beat a harder game. It just takes a little bit of an effort. It's hard for them because they're usually totally lazy, and what they're searching for is not a game, but a movie. Interactive movie.

No idea why more people don't play visual novels. And I don't mean just romance ones. You can enjoy a very awesome story and influence it in any direction you want! Well if it's a good visual novel that is.

But yeah there are a lot of players who aren't very interested in getting better at certain games. They would rather follow a guide or watch a 'Let's Play' and just follow what they are told. There's nothing wrong with this in my eyes. As long as they are having fun then they are doing things right. But if they are finding something missing from the experience then well they are kind of ruining their own fun.

You can't say that people with an imagination will make it fun. If there's an easy way there 99% of people will take it. Expecting anything else is silly. Giving the player the option of taking the white tanooki suit is enough to make most people just give up and use it. Part of the reason I was so compelled to play through Super Mario Bros 3 was the immense difficulty (and even then I ended up savestating lots between levels once I ran out of lives because restarting an entire world is bs).

If you're designing a hard game you need to give the player the freedom to advance as they see fit. Rather than allowing them to subvert challenges, you need to encourage them to go and build their skill elsewhere if they get stuck.

Some games are killed by an easy mode. Some aren't. It's very much on a case-by-case situation.

Haha. Yeah. I prefer to always play any games with RPG elements as a 'paper tiger', but very often that kind of play style isn't really supported by the game. So with enough frustrating encounters I will eventually put some points into defence because it'll make my play experience much smoother.
I do love playing difficult games though, don't get me wrong. If you think Super Mario Bros 3 is hard then you should try out Super Ghouls n Ghosts. And I highly recommend not abusing save states. Otherwise you'll take all of the challenge out of the game and not have much fun in the long run. I do understand the want to not lose your progress, but in the end it'll make you a much better player.

If you're playing arcade mode in a fighting game and lose after a few matches do you instantly put in a new quarter to continue? Or do you wait the time out and start again from scratch? I mean now a days there aren't many arcades still standing, but hear me out anyways because I'm trying to make a point. If you continue at that same match then you're up against the same bar of difficulty with only the experience of your last bout to help you. But if you restart from the entire beginning you have some easier matches to play around in. You're learn more combos, improve your execution, and get a better understanding of how you play in these earlier matches. So when you go against that one character who took you out before you'll have much more experience to draw from to help you succeed.

As for the White Tanooki suit, I'm gonna have to agree with what MeechMunchie said. You can't really make games easier if you find it too challenging, that's up to the designers. And why do you view it as 'cheating'? If someone beats a game on easy rather than hard does that count as cheating? Or did they simply beat the game on a easier setting that the player found more comfortable?

I do also agree with you though. I really like how Super Meat Boy and Rayman Legends give you a lot of choices in stages. If you find a particular level too difficult you can always try a different one and come back later. I'd like to see this in more games. I feel it lets players who aren't as skilled enjoy more of the game's content. And of course, like you said, by playing the game longer they get more adept at it.

I definitely think games have become a lot more easy over time. Compare anything made today (specifically Super Mario titles) with those that came out for the NES/SNES such as SMB3 or SMW. It's always far more rewarding when there's a bit of challenge involved because you've actually achieved something. I feel like now many games will hold your hand and will give you a solution to a problem even if you've only failed a few times. That's just encouraging players to take the easy route instead of learning how to things the proper way. It does worry me slightly.

In regards to Final Fantasy XIII, I agree completely. As much as I do enjoy playing it there is barely any depth and I don't feel very proud after winning a battle like I would if I were to play another JRPG such as FF7. I hope FF15 doesn't follow in that path.

There's no doubt that games overall have become easier with time. Sure you have a few niche titles that pander towards the hardest of hardcore audiences, but the gaming populace is much larger then it was back in the NES days so the majority of games have a difficulty level that reflects these changes. I honestly have a very difficult time enjoying the bulk of the content in New Super Mario Bros. Wii U due to how easy it is. Sadly the Star World didn't provide much challenge either.

I'm pretty happy with Super Mario 3D World though. The bulk of the game is easy as well, but not quite as easy as NSMBWU. What really keeps me interested in this game is the sheer volume of varied content and interesting themes throughout the levels. The game feels very fresh, so even when I'm going through an easier level I'm still able to enjoy traversing through the game's world.

I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you agree with me about FFXIII. I can't tell you how much hate I get for ripping on that game. There's no depth to that game in any way, shape, or form. I'll probably write a giant article at some point about the 'customization' system in the game and how it's almost as linear as the pathways you travel across throughout the game. The experience costs dictating your choices, no interesting branching paths, and no option to choose only the stats you desire.

It's a real shame any Final Fantasy title could have such poor customization. How can the same company make games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Bravely Default. I mean yeah it totally depends on the actual designers and teams making the games, but surely the main franchise will still see some good games right? The 'Dream Team' left and formed 'Mistwalker' so I definitely have my doubts. And a copy of Blue Dragon for Xbox 360.

Even though XIII was so bad that I've had no interest in trying out XIII-2 or XIII-3 I think I can give XV the benefit of the doubt. The game had completely different people working on it. I'll be waiting for reviews and seeing what my friends think of it first. I do have hope, but if the game is bad I will in no way support it. I don't want to encourage the production of poor quality games.