Hopes for Soulstorm?

[Vlam]

By the way, Michael, OWI wants to "give players the tools to forge their own way through the game" which seemed like a good idea at first but there was only one way to solve a puzzle in AO and AE... Except in the beginning of RuptureFarms (it is some kind of tutorial). The risk is that the player might chose the easiest path to get to the next screen if there's no incentive like saving more Mudokons. Plus, the game could be easier (the last conference at the EGX made it clear that SoulStorm should be accessible to all kind of publics).

[Silver angel]

By the way, Michael, OWI wants to "give players the tools to forge their own way through the game" which seemed like a good idea at first but there was only one way to solve a puzzle in AO and AE... Except in the beginning of RuptureFarms (it is some kind of tutorial). The risk is that the player might chose the easiest path to get to the next screen if there's no incentive like saving more Mudokons. Plus, the game could be easier (the last conference at the EGX made it clear that SoulStorm should be accessible to all kind of publics).

If there will be several difficulty levels, I think it's ok.
When I played AO for the first time, cursed everything because got a feeling like I walk through hell and thought this game is just impossible to complete. Though in second walkthrough I found that it became too easy for me.

[Connell]

OWI are aware that they're known as "that super difficult PS1 game", so I think there will always be a mode for us hardcore fans that can play Oddysee without worrying about difficulty. Granted, what we knew as standard is now classed as "super-mega-hard", but it's still there for us. If anyone wants to play something easier, the option will almost definitely be there too. When there's difficulty settings, everyone wins

[Varrok]

The thing is Oddworld games aren't very hard, actually. They aren't Castlevania. They aren't Ninja Gaiden (NES or XBOX), not even Dark Souls. Nowhere close, actually.

[Manco]

They aren’t hard for the people who are good at them, sure. But they’ve also been out for nearly 20 years now, so the fans who play those games have had plenty of practice at this point.

Don’t forget that most of the more casual audience who remember those old Oddworld games played them when they were kids, and Oddworld wasn’t a kid’s game and was a lot harder than the games that were meant for kids.

Not to mention that the games industry today has moved in favor of easier games with lower learning curves.

[Fischkopf]

The thing is Oddworld games aren't very hard, actually. They aren't Castlevania. They aren't Ninja Gaiden (NES or XBOX), not even Dark Souls. Nowhere close, actually.

That's true. I never found Oddworld games to be very difficult. Maybe challenging and sometimes frustrating (i love frustration in small doses) but not infuriatingly difficult. Heart Of Darkness was very difficult for instance.

[Nepsotic]

That was mainly down to poor games design.

[Fischkopf]

That was mainly down to poor games design.

And unresponsive controls.

It looked nice though.