Poll: Does difficulty turn you off from a game?

[krazykidd]

Personally i like challenge . I need challenge . I can't stand easy games . They bore me to tears . I just wish more games would make me think a little . The fact that challenge was the main sellig point of demons's /Dark souls is what led me to buy and love those games . The reason i can't play RTS games is not because they are too hard , but because i can't micromanage ( quick enough ) for my life . Sometimes i start games on Hard mode . Iv'e played so many games that playing on normal is boring .

 

[Llil]

No, it's the opposite for me actually. A game being too easy is what turns me off from it. I can still appreciate the other good parts in an easy game, but the lack of challenge takes most of the fun away from the actual gameplay.

An easy game feels like if you were playing for example chess against another person and they obviously make bad moves on purpose and then shower you with compliments when you win. It's condecending and it doesn't feel like winning. I want the game to play fair, not just let me win because it assumes I don't know what I'm doing.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

Not particularly, but the challenge has to be implemented correctly. If there's no rewarding feeling for completing a level or section and all that beating a level begets is frustration and resignation, then the challenge is done badly. Equally, games that call themselves 'difficult' but are actually tough not only from being a hard game but also because of poor controls and the like aren't worth my time either. Examples like Super Meat Boy fall into that.

If a game does challenge right, then I'm up for playing it. If it feels like I need actual skill to beat it, and I'm only failing because of my own lack of skill, then it's fine. If I'm still having fun even though I'm constantly failing, then that's good challenge. For example, Cave Story (especially near the end and the bonus cave), Devil May Cry, Hitogatta Happa or Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?!.

 

[EboMan7x]

Three obvious scenario's spring to mind:
1 - Game is difficult in an unfair way (ie Demon's Souls), I am turned off.
2 - Game is difficult fairly, and as part of the artistic experience (ie Dark Souls, Donkey Kong Country Returns), I love it.
3 - Game is difficult either fairly or unfairly, and the story has immersed me enough that I feel guilty about not being able to complete the challenges to save the orphans (ie XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Dragon Age: Origins, sort of Mass Effect), I will either become to stressed out within the game to want to continue, start a new file and make better decisions early on, or just push on through.

So yeah.

 

[VeryOddGamer]

No, not really, if it's just fair difficulty.

But if the difficulty is caused by bad design, then it kind of does.

 

[Strazdas]

difficulity turns me on.

XCOM on the consoles.

this turns me off.

 

[babinro]

Yes

I was able to beat some of the more challenging titles growing up (Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on NES for example) but those were days when a single game would have to last you about 6 months at a time.

These days I consider forced challenge to be the antithesis of fun.
I only play games on their upper difficulties when the game has earned it through excellent game play and sheer fun factor.

I'll play Starcraft 2 campaign on brutal only because of how fun the experience was on normal then hard.
If I was forced to play brutal from the start I never would have beat the game. The same could be said for games like Dragon Age or Rock Band (imagine learning drums or guitar on Expert from day 1).

 

[DanielBrown]

Depends on the game and my intrest.
I don't really like hard games and play games mainly for fun rather than challenging myself, but it can be fun at times.

 

[Legion]

Only BS difficulty like unavoidable instant kill attacks or the game being hard due to a poorly implemented mechanic.

I like XCom forcing me to think about my tactics and not rush in like an idiot. I do not like it when my best soldier dies because a basic enemy gets a critical hit through three walls.

 

[Sacman]

Probably the opposite for me... I love me some hard games... S.T.A.L.K.E.R. seris is one of my favorite... but if a game is too easy, I just get bored with it... it's why I just can;t play spunkgarggleweewee... as Yahtzee would put it... because it's pitifully easy boring... you're just sort of drug along by the belt while occasionally shooting at things that are a slightly different shade of brown than you...

Though, don't like obtuse games... you know games that are hard just because they're terribly designed... like the Witcher series... or Morrowind... stuff like that...<.<

 

[lRookiel]

Nope, give me a challenge and I will do it. Games like XCOM test players so I enjoy them alot. If a game is too easy I will get bored....

 

[Kingpopadopalus]

If the difficulty is legitimate and not just bad mechanic's/design, then no, I actually welcome it.

One game that's on the line for me recently is halo 4's legendary, you can shoot a grunt with an entire clip of a BR and not kill them. I hate to say it's a bit too difficult, but some of the parts are just so frustrating that I can't stand it. I like Halo's story but this game is the first one I think I'll have to skip legendary or maybe just take a much longer time.

 

[bossfight1]

There is a difference between a game being difficult and being bullshit. Difficult is when you die in a game to something that was your own fault, like running out of cover, or accidentally jumping off a cliff. Bullshit is when the game screws you over in a way that you couldn't possibly predict, like spawning a death trap that you had no idea was there, or giving you a task and an unrealistically short time limit to complete the task.

In XCOM, the closest thing to bullshit is when someone on my squad keeps missing shots that were in his favor. Other than that the game is pretty fair, if unforgiving.

 

[JEBWrench]

Absolutely. I'm in this for fun.

No reason the thing I do to get away from stress should be stressful.

 

[Elate]

I like challenging games, but I wish games would do exactly that, challenge me. Most "hard" difficulties on games just make it unfair. Best example of this would be the AI on Supreme Commander, I like playing against bots, but harder bots on that game aren't any more intelligent, they just got massive resource and build time boosts meaning they can pump out more crap than me.

That isn't hard, or challenging, that's just bullshit mechanics creating false difficulty.

 

[Torrasque]

No/yes.
Difficult games like Halo CE: Anniversary with it's slightly more difficult than the original Legendary of the original Halo CE, is really fucking hard. But it is fun because I've played the shit out of Halo CE and it is a comfortable challenge to me. Its the kind of challenge that you can get through if you play enough, eventually get good enough, or are just patient and methodical enough.

Then you have games like Kingdom Under Fire and it's Orc campaign. That campaign is listed as the hardest, and its not because you face a lot of enemies that all out-class and out-rank you, or because Orcs are bad in that game. Its because Orcs don't get a heal in the game. Every other race gets either instant or really good combat healing, Orcs get this shitty enrage which heals each individual soldier of a unit by a small amount... So when I got to the second (think it is the second, it's been a while) level and was facing against a whole lot of Liches and their meteor spells that took 15-35% of a unit's health if it hit (and it always hits) I couldn't get past the level just because of a goddamn lack of heal. I had 2 heavy calvary units-2 for fuck sake!!!-running around the map the entire time, racking up points to burn on enrage heals, but that still wasn't enough. If I was playing dark elves, their tree of healing would have won that level. If I was playing humans, their instant heal would have carried me through that. But because Orcs have a shitty heal that doesn't really do anything, I lost the level...

So you see, Kingdom Under Fire isn't hard because it is challenging and gets you to think in new ways or tests your skill, its hard because it is fucking stupid at times. Stupid-difficulty is what turns me off of games. Kind of like when you play a shooter and you can't come out of fire because all the enemies will instantly target you and instantly kill you as soon as you do.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Fun and a hard game is fine. But difficulty caused through crappy controls i hate because thats annoying.

 

[Hira]

This poll should have a 'Yes, if the difficulty is too low' option.
That said, I'm gonna go with the crowd on this one and say it depends on what sort of difficulty.
The sort of difficulty that requires you to take a step back after a fail or two, take a look at what's going wrong and adjust your strategy? Great! ^^
The sort that tests your response speeds and is only passable by actually becoming better at the game you're playing? Still great!
The sort that can instantly kill you by something that was practically impossible to foresee? ... Not so much. I don't mind losing, but I do want a fighting chance, however slim.

What game I actually play depends on my mood, though. Generally I'll go for something like Dark Souls or 'Any Bullet Hell Ever', but for actually relaxing I'll swap to WoW or Pokémon.

 

[Iwata]

A challenging game is an easier purchase for me than an easy one. I play games as much for the challenge as for the fun of the experience.