Difficulty of Games

Command & Conquer is harder then Red Alert. For some reason though, I can't expect the Red Alert series to challenge me every year, sure I'll need to adjust to the new AI's tactics, of how fast they build, and what they build, but it's a Strategy game, it isn't meant to challenge gamers to the fullest. I can't go into details because I'm half awake, and lack the time before work, but if gamers have already established Gameplay over Graphics. Then I wonder, why do they spend so much time on the new graphics, and only make Hard/whatever the hardest mode is, "enemies do double damage" that's ALWAYS what it is, and they think it's a challenge, when it isn't at all. So I think we either need multiple difficulties, (ie Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard/Extreme/Super/Whatever) or there should be questions before you play the game like Metal Gear Solid 3. "Is this the first game you played in the series?"

If you pick "Yes" you get easy mode, like Resident Evil REmake kinda,
If you pick "No" you get Normal mode,
If you pick the other choice, you get Hard.

It's just an idea, but they seriously need to separate the boundaries of Easy and difficult games. They can't expect us to play the same, what, handful of difficult games to death? No, we always need something new to balance out the present and old.

That is just my opinion afterall...and my opinion at 9:30 am. 😂

I mean look at Super Mario Bros. compared to Luigi's Mansion

Final Fantasy 1-3 (american) vs. Final Fantasy 9 (american)

Contrast OG game to now

Mario Bros. may of been one of the most vicious games I ever played.
I gave up on Final Fantasies after 10, way to long, but yeah I know what you mean. They can't seem to put good graphics and difficulty in the same package for some odd reason nowadays.

The very last mission on StarCraft: Brood War. I mean, I started yelling at the things on-screen. That is very frustrating.

goldeneye - 00agent setting in control. H-A-R-D.

i agree with newer games becoming easier. or maybe im just getting better. i got fable expecting at least 30 hours gameplay. i got 13 hours gameplay. too easy. the final boss? bah, i played against harder nymphs than that guy.

i just got the third age a few days ago, i played for 6 hours, 20% finished. i got through about 10% on normal difficulty (cause i didnt know how to change the difficulty) then changed it to hard. not much difference.

game developers need to understand that as time goes by, all those people who played games like goldeneye are getting older and need more challenges. crank up the difficulty i say! we all need a challenge! it increaeses the lifespan of a game.

Originally posted by Mist
goldeneye - 00agent setting in control. H-A-R-D.

i agree with newer games becoming easier. or maybe im just getting better. i got fable expecting at least 30 hours gameplay. i got 13 hours gameplay. too easy. the final boss? bah, i played against harder nymphs than that guy.

i just got the third age a few days ago, i played for 6 hours, 20% finished. i got through about 10% on normal difficulty (cause i didnt know how to change the difficulty) then changed it to hard. not much difference.

game developers need to understand that as time goes by, all those people who played games like goldeneye are getting older and need more challenges. crank up the difficulty i say! we all need a challenge! it increaeses the lifespan of a game.

No, Control was very easy, as long as you knew how to side-step and dodge properly. Aztec on 00-Agent was a nightmare.

I agree what you say about the lifespan. Your right, shooters are the prime choice for difficulty, action/adventure also. Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2 are fresh challenges on the Ps2 and GameCube, and GTA: SA is pretty rough at times, but do able. I suggest you all go out and buy Devil May Cry, and slap in the "Dante Must Die!" mode. I spent 2 months alone on Mundus 2, I went to GameFAQs, my player's guide, chat rooms, barnes & noble and looked at other guides, everything I could, and one day, I finally beat him. So it's all do able, just very difficult, atleast for DMC/VJ1 & 2.

jp, long time no see.
hey, i was 14 when i played control on 00agent!

first person shooters are the easiest to increase difficulty, just add in extra guys with bigger guns. rpgs, action, adventure are all the same. i was doing about 700hp damage to the guys in the third age on normal, switched it to hard, and i was doing 1000hp damage.

perhaps game developers think the difficulty setting is meant for the npcs, not for the player?

it's kinda a double standard.

You see a lower difficulty rate on certain games. like the zelda series, and the more franchised games.

then you see a FREAKING HUGE SPIKE in difficulty in others(viewtiful joe 1&2, ninja gaiden, ace combat 5, Halo 2 legendary ect I swear those games gave me blisters)

Maybe Im just not a very good gamer then, because, for the most part, games have a good level of difficulty, I usually play on normal.

It's a shame but I have agree with the majority here. Games have been getting easier. I recently borrowed my cousins SNES and a lot of games became really challenging as I played. Then I went and played a couple of my PS2 games and crushed them. It's really annoying that veteren gamers should have to look so hard for a challenge.

Originally posted by Mist
jp, long time no see.
hey, i was 14 when i played control on 00agent!

first person shooters are the easiest to increase difficulty, just add in extra guys with bigger guns. rpgs, action, adventure are all the same. i was doing about 700hp damage to the guys in the third age on normal, switched it to hard, and i was doing 1000hp damage.

perhaps game developers think the difficulty setting is meant for the npcs, not for the player?

Yeah, long time Mist.

I was 10-11 years old when I played every mission of Goldeneye, my entire neighborhood was into it, we were our own strategy guides, and had to help eachother.

You can't expect a huge challenge in Strategy games like Third Age, Red Alert etc. If they want to make them effectively harder on harder difficulties: You do less damage, enemies have more/double health, do more/double damage, and are smarter. That's how they should do it for Strategy games. Adventure games are not all the same, Gameplay>Graphics of course, so that's why they aren't always the same, along with hundreds of other reasons to separate one Adventure game from another.

Originally posted by Tptmanno1
Maybe Im just not a very good gamer then, because, for the most part, games have a good level of difficulty, I usually play on normal.

It isn't that your not a good gamer, it's that your probably not a "casual gamer." Anyone who can beat Ninja Gaiden, Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2, Devil May Cry, etc, is someone who's been playing for at the very least, a decade depending on their age. Most/all of us spent our youth getting our asses kicked by Nintendo games, began to beat games with the SNES/Genesis, and now are realizing how easy these games are, even on Normal/Hard/whatever difficulty.

Initially I've been gaming for 15 years, and I'm 18 1/2 come January. I played Zelda 1 when I was 3, ad was getting killed left and right. Then I got an NES when I was 4, and spent a few years being killed in Mario games and the such. Then I got SNES, and DKC 2 & 3, Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG, Super Mario World, Mario All-Stars, etc. and beat those games, along with the Mario trilogy on Nintendo when I was 8-9. Then Genesis, etc. So I'm someone who's been playing games for a decade and a half. That's basically what a casual gamer is, using myself an an example. Later on, I would also go back to SNES, and beat the Star Wars trilogy on Jedi mode, (Yes, it IS possible, I had no health left in my lightsaber when I beat Return Of the Jedi), and yes, Return of the Jedi is ruled to be one of the hardest SNES games ever made, so if you want a challenge, grab that trilogy and the such.

I'd have to agree with ya. Games have got alot easier to complete. There are a few games tho like metal gear solid that does have the odd hard section. but when thats over you can easily do it.

but most of the new recent games like knights of the old republic 2, i havn't had ne problem with that so fare. thats why i have a snes and megadrive emulator on my home PC, because theres nothing like going back to the retro style games that are a challenge!

You mean MGS1 on PSX, not The Twin Snakes on GCN. That is a clear proof of a remake gone EASY. I hated MGS2 so ridiculously much, and barely survived the RAYs on Extreme. All in all though, I beat it on Extreme in 3 days, since all I did was tranqulize the right guards and kept moving, then just used the HF blade at the end to deflect bullets while Snake shot the guards in the shoot-out. Then during the RAYs...I was just lucky that one run I guess. The choking had me a bit, but not much.

I haven't played MGS3 on Extreme yet, but reviews say it's still pretty easy, once you know what to do pretty well obviously.

I thought I was going to be alone in this argument. *phew*

It's not as thought the games are not fun... they just have no longevity. I played KoToR through 4 times 😮 (Evil and Good girl, Evil and Good guy) ... so what else is left?

... good marketing, I suppose.

It's not "length" it's "replay value" you mean. These games only have replay value if their a ridiculous type of fun.

Originally posted by JToTheP
It's not "length" it's "replay value" you mean. These games only have replay value if their a ridiculous type of fun.

That is what I meant by longevity, Pizzy.

Just being technical here. 😛 😂 Some of the harder games still have replay to, you beat the hardest difficulty once or twice, THEN go BACK to Normal. 😂

On the 11th, I'll be getting Resident Evil 4 due to my pre-order from EBgames. We will see if the last entry of the GameCube's ORIGINALLY-EXCLUSIVE trilogy, is as furfilling, and difficult as REmake, and Zero. After 3 long years of waiting.

could it just be that you're getting older, and the dated games just seemed harder?