Yes they are, when you can just wait around for the blood to fall from your eyes as Yahtzee said, games are too easy. Games back in the day didnt allow for many mistakes or it was back to the beggining for your ass lol.
Poll: Do you believe games today are too easy?
- Thread starter Dusquad
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I think most games are very easy when you get into the grove of them. Any that look hard are just the ones that you can randomly die in in unfair ways. What we need is more of a difference in games "easy", "medium" and "hard" modes that isn't just "now this enemy takes twice as much bullets to kill and doesn't flinch when you kick him!". In the first DMC, playing it on different modes gave you a couple new enemies and gave the current ones new attacks or abilities. Why can't all games do this?
The last game I remember being ridiculously hard, but in a fair way, was Godhand. Dear lord, there was a part just before the last 2 boss fights were you had to take on a colossal horde of enemies some of which had weapons of demons inside them. BUT, each one was beatable and didn't have any crazy hax powers and ultimately you could beat them. And when you finally finish that game, you feel unstoppable which is what easier games lack.
Any other game I've spent long hours frustrating over was only hard because it would blind-side me with crappy camera angles, bugs, hax enemies or just bad design (not doing the level the way you wanted it to in Bloody Siren would make you repeat the last 3 levels).
The last game I remember being ridiculously hard, but in a fair way, was Godhand. Dear lord, there was a part just before the last 2 boss fights were you had to take on a colossal horde of enemies some of which had weapons of demons inside them. BUT, each one was beatable and didn't have any crazy hax powers and ultimately you could beat them. And when you finally finish that game, you feel unstoppable which is what easier games lack.
Any other game I've spent long hours frustrating over was only hard because it would blind-side me with crappy camera angles, bugs, hax enemies or just bad design (not doing the level the way you wanted it to in Bloody Siren would make you repeat the last 3 levels).
Some are too easy, yes, but different games do require different difficulty. Some games are really about the flow, a certain atmosphere and a story. If a designer forces constant deaths and restarts on a player, they run the risk of frustrating the player to the point where they don't finish. Plus, I think making games easier balances out the fact that there's a lot more happening in games.
In old school hard games where you had one hitpoint, you were probably fighting one character at a time who could only shoot or punch you at a set interval, and you only had about two things you could do; jump and fire. Nowadays, there are games like Prototype where you have dozens of different powers to call upon at any one time, and then you have AI that can dodge and counter your attacks or swamp you with dozens of other enemies.
Besides, most games now allow you to adjust the difficulty to your liking, even if the hard modes are still a bit of a walkover, so I think games are reaching a point where they can cater to everyone.
In old school hard games where you had one hitpoint, you were probably fighting one character at a time who could only shoot or punch you at a set interval, and you only had about two things you could do; jump and fire. Nowadays, there are games like Prototype where you have dozens of different powers to call upon at any one time, and then you have AI that can dodge and counter your attacks or swamp you with dozens of other enemies.
Besides, most games now allow you to adjust the difficulty to your liking, even if the hard modes are still a bit of a walkover, so I think games are reaching a point where they can cater to everyone.
I dunno I think it's some sort of learning curve. Like I can pop in a brand new shooter and do just fine, but wayyyyy back in the day I sucked at them all. So they would be a bit harder. Now if your asking if the game companies are dumbing them down, then no. We are just getting better at them. And the old ones we over think, thus becoming hard
The Search feature seems to be too difficult for most people.
No games are not too difficult, they are designed differently. The aim is to allow as many users as possible to complete the game. Older games were intended to make the user spend hours trying to complete a game that has just a fraction of the technical content of today's games.
No games are not too difficult, they are designed differently. The aim is to allow as many users as possible to complete the game. Older games were intended to make the user spend hours trying to complete a game that has just a fraction of the technical content of today's games.
I suppose this pretty much proves that for different players, difficulty presents itself in different ways. Not trying to sound pompous or put a downer on you KOSRN, but any mode of DMC4 was boring-easy in my experience- that said this could be down to the fact I perfected the original DMC3 in DMD mode (sheer thumb murder).knight of some random number said:
Also I never understood the problem with Mile High Club, I finished it first try on the difficulty just below veteran, and all that troubled me was the thought of "what the hell was that all about?"
I wasn't aware you could actually die on that stage...
I agree with the "old games were too hard" view.
But here is the thing: When you beat them, you felt PROUD.
Literally, when I beat Megaman X (SNES), I was ecstatic.
It seemed like the greatest accomplishment of my life. (I was like 9, ease up)
I had spent hours on the last level, perfecting it so that I could destroy Sigma.
Unfortunately, the ending was kinda lame.
But I haven't felt proud to beat a game in a long time.
I was talking about this with a friend not too long ago, he said he feels bored beating a game now, there isn't enough of a challenge.
But I do remember getting excited over the end of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
So I suppose it depends on the game.
But here is the thing: When you beat them, you felt PROUD.
Literally, when I beat Megaman X (SNES), I was ecstatic.
It seemed like the greatest accomplishment of my life. (I was like 9, ease up)
I had spent hours on the last level, perfecting it so that I could destroy Sigma.
Unfortunately, the ending was kinda lame.
But I haven't felt proud to beat a game in a long time.
I was talking about this with a friend not too long ago, he said he feels bored beating a game now, there isn't enough of a challenge.
But I do remember getting excited over the end of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
So I suppose it depends on the game.
The problem with most games is that they were ludicrously short, so they had to overcompensate by being ridiculously hard. Randomly placed (and sometimes invisible) traps, instant-death attacks that are barely dodgable... All things designed to make you start again. There's no skill in that (contrary to what people who love their rose-tinted nostalgia goggles will say), it's rote-action repetition. Luckily, we have also left the soul-destroying "Congratulations, you have got to the final boss! Now... Do it all again before you can fight them!" phase games seemed to have.
As for games now, Modern Warfare 2 has untrained barrios militia with X-ray vision and the ability to hit a penny at three hundred paces with archaic guns. Any Blizzard skirmish game will mob you with enemies far faster than they could possibly have made them. I accidentally left "Casual" (since when has 35 hours of straight play been considered casual, anyway!?) for "Normal" in Dragon Age : Origins and routinely got murdered.
Luckily, most games are more about the storyline and the fun than perfectly learning a bosses' attack times. In fact, if World of Warcraft moved past that, it'd be perfect.
As for games now, Modern Warfare 2 has untrained barrios militia with X-ray vision and the ability to hit a penny at three hundred paces with archaic guns. Any Blizzard skirmish game will mob you with enemies far faster than they could possibly have made them. I accidentally left "Casual" (since when has 35 hours of straight play been considered casual, anyway!?) for "Normal" in Dragon Age : Origins and routinely got murdered.
Luckily, most games are more about the storyline and the fun than perfectly learning a bosses' attack times. In fact, if World of Warcraft moved past that, it'd be perfect.
Yeah. Highest difficulty on games these days simply consists of "you die in fewer bullets". No improved AI, less items, more enemies/harder enemies etc.
Not to mention all the noob-tacular systems such as regenerating health (Halo 1 got it right by having a small amount of regenerating shield and a finite healthbar underneath), respawns (Bioshock, I'm looking at you), etc etc.
Not to mention all the noob-tacular systems such as regenerating health (Halo 1 got it right by having a small amount of regenerating shield and a finite healthbar underneath), respawns (Bioshock, I'm looking at you), etc etc.
I'd say there's a difference in culture.
Previously, you'd complete a game and that would be it. Nowerdays, there's hidden stuff to unlock, alternate endings (and even storylines), achievements etc that mean that players need to keep going. Doing everything on a game is still as hard as it used to be, but everything requires a lot more that just a completion now.
Previously, you'd complete a game and that would be it. Nowerdays, there's hidden stuff to unlock, alternate endings (and even storylines), achievements etc that mean that players need to keep going. Doing everything on a game is still as hard as it used to be, but everything requires a lot more that just a completion now.
Actually, you're wrong. A study recently showed (and i believe it was also posted on the escapist) that most casual gamers, and non-gamers actually struggle through the "easy" modes in games.Dusquad said:
As gamers, for us they usually pose no challenge and it's often considered in our circles to be a sign of weakness if you play anything easier than normal, but for other people who arent gamers, they find it difficult.
I will say this though. Too many games nowadays hold your hand and there's no point in even reading the manuals as they always have a freaking tutorial level that explains what the manual does (in effect, making it redundant).
If you get lost, or are having trouble defeating a boss, there's usually always an option to change the difficulty, or easily find where you have to go next in game.