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Difficulty is a Dying Breed

March 18, 2011 in Blog comments 15

Video game difficulty has declined the past few years. With the introduction of the casual market, developers have had to find ways to entice a brand new audience, It's much easier for someone to pick up a game and enjoy it if it's easy. Check out two games that have stuck to their guns and remained difficult amid the rise of the casual market. Cheers!

jsmith21 via thegamerbuzz.com »
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  • 0
    Xander756 Mar 19, 11
    Try completing the Prologue of Call of Duty 4 on Veteran and then tell me game difficulty has been decreasing.
    • 0
      Xander756 Mar 19, 11
      Crap, I meant Epilogue LOL.
    • 0
      FinalFantasyFanaticc Mar 21, 11
      Been there, done that first time, insanely easy, dunno why you found it hard =|

      You want difficulty? Ninja Gaiden 2 on the hardest difficulty.
  • 0
    Shinobi_razor Mar 19, 11
    im really getting tired of games that have like 4 or 5 difficulties, i think its unnecessary. i prefer games having an invisible dynamic difficulty in place instead of letting players pick it, where it starts off fairly challenging, and if the player is doing really well and breezing by then the game automatically makes it a bit tougher. inversely if the player is struggling and keeps dying around the same part then the game loosens up and makes it a bit easier on them until they start doing better. only a few games have done this but i think all games should do this.

    then for those who want a really hard challenge, allow a "hardcore" difficulty to be unlocked upon beating the game that is still dynamic but starts off much tougher, and doesnt give the player quite as much of a break if they are struggling.
    • 0
      Big A2 Mar 20, 11
      That sounds too complicated. How about they just have a standard difficult that was what was intended to be played through, and then higher difficulties for anyone looking for more of a challenge?
      • 0
        Ded Valve* Mar 21, 11
        like what there doing right now?....
        • 0
          Fatal Error Mar 21, 11
          Easy->Normal->Hard->Very Hard is the new standard and all it usually changes is damage done to the player/damage done to the enemy. =/
      • 0
        Shinobi_razor Mar 22, 11
        its actually the exact opposite of complicated because the game makes it more or less challenging automatically. it would not be hard to develop once devs figured it out. simply have the game keep track of how long a player takes to get from point A to point B, how long it takes for them to defeat enemies, do a few calculations and voila...the upcoming enemies would be a bit more or less difficult to kill, have better aiming, do more damage, etc.
        • 0
          Fatal Error Mar 22, 11
          Making the difficulty isn't necessarily complicated in newer games because (as I said), all that changes really is damage done to player/damage done to enemy and AI turns from "completely incompetent" to "knows your every move".

          Issue with the "invisible" difficulty is that sometimes people just like playing through the game on a set difficulty and they don't like the game altering the difficulty because they messed up once or twice (typically in the case of achievements this can be a problem).
        • 0
          Shinobi_razor Mar 22, 11
          i dont so much have a problem with their being like 2 difficulties such as Normal and Hard, i just get tired of seeing 4 or more. "Normal" and "Hard" is enough honestly, the former for regular players and the latter for those who want a challenge. its really annoying in such games like DMC4 how theres 6 or 7 difficulties. i mean REALLY Capcom?!?!
  • 0
    Zero and X Mar 19, 11
    Demon's Souls kicked our asses, and it looks like it's spiritual sequel Dark Souls will follow suite, I think those games alone encompass all the difficulty we need for an entire generation, lmao.
    • 0
      Fatal Error Mar 19, 11
      Hah I remember not really being that bothered by the difficulty on Demon's Souls until I cleared the game the second time...definitely amps up the difficulty rating when you get to that point.
    • 0
      FinalFantasyFanaticc Mar 21, 11
      Demon's Souls is such a bitch it's so frustrating but at the same time >FANTASTIC< haha.
    • 0
      Shinobi_razor Mar 22, 11
      i might be interested in playing those 2 games if they werent so piss hard. one reason i never got into Ninja Gaiden, i dont care to have my ass beaten non stop when playing a game.
  • 0
    HalfMillennium Mar 20, 11
    Is there any gripe about modern games that people won't blame on the 'casuals'?

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