Are Games Getting Easier? A love letter from a challenge-obsessed gamer

Ashley from GamersFTW writes: "For me gaming is as much about the challenge as it is about escapism. A seemingly impossible puzzle, once solved makes me feel like I’ve actually achieved something in my day, and in today’s overpopulated market it has come to my attention that these moments are becoming far sparser. This got me thinking: are games getting easier?"

[MrsNesbitt]

Gaming confession: I like to play on the easiest modes.

Otherwise, another controller visits the controller graveyard!

Nice article :)

[fermcr]

"Are Games Getting Easier?"

Most games have difficulty settings, so that sentence is invalid. If you find a game easy, just play it on harder settings.

Like it or not, some people just like to enjoy the game stress free... yes, they play on the easiest modes.

[Baka-akaB]

But the issue is that plenty recent games have been designed to be so easy , that harder setting are closer to the normal ones you'd find in older games . And likewise some people enjoyed and enjoy their challenge . It's why by default i never play normal difficulty anymore on a first playthrough , i just go to the harder modes , even if some rare times you get bad surprises doing that

And there is the issue of hard mode just beefing up stats and adding ennemies spawns , instead of genuinely designed as a different and new experience .

Hell it's kinda why some people are against adding an easy mode to the Souls/Borne games .. The minute an easier mode is conceptualised , most studios will design and define other modes based on it , rather than concurrently and separately .

[starchild]

Depends on the game. I've beaten some of the hardest games know to man, but I don't want all games to be that way. I play games for lots of different reasons, not just for a challenge.

[GamerCheese]

I agree that games are more fun with more of a challenge. Unfortunately, difficulty may attract hardcore gamers but it alienates casual gamers, which is bad for sales. Harder modes also test the limits of the game's mechanics, forcing the player to trust the physics and rules of the game. It means haphazard games can play better if the player relies less on precision. For example, take some B-rated titles and play through on the hardest difficulties. You'll see more and more the follies of development.

[Yukes]

In general, yes. Or at least usually the choice is there to change the difficulty level as you say.

[rainzor]

Not really since the developers are just giving you more options. If you want the game to be hard, then choose the most difficulty settings

[Chaosdreams]

No. But I think the standards of what we call journalism, certainly is. (Totally not bashing this article, talking in general here.)

[Shazz]

might just be that im getting older at nearly 31 but i was just struggling playing metro 2033 on xb1 earlier so i cant say they are getting easier lol

[OpenGL]

For the most part I would say they are.

Bloodborne is an exception and was quite refreshing to me as someone that has beaten the game 3 times. It was extremely frustrating at times but beating bosses actually felt rewarding due to how challenging it could be.

With that said, I do feel like the game's difficulty alienates newcomers who otherwise would have been interested in the game. When looking at the trophies, 1/3rd of Bloodborne players never even got past Father Gascoigne, the first mandatory boss in the game. Almost as many never beat Cleric Beast. The actual number might be even worse, as you can delete games from your trophy list if you have 0% of the trophies.

I'm not necessarily advocating for easier games, but I'm betting developers look at this kind of data when designing games, which is why most games are easy now.

[fenome]

Bloodborne actually drew in my wife though, she doesn't like Demon's/Dark Souls at all, but she loves Bloodborne. I think she noticed the fluidity and responsiveness of the combat when she was watching me play it and that's what got her to try it. She was over halfway through her second playthrough when the Witcher 3 came out and took over her undivided attention, now she's halfway through her second playthrough on that one as well. lol.

[Baka-akaB]

At least Bloodborne kept an easy out for people truly having troubles . Pretty much all boss encounters are easy if you powerlevel above them , wich the game allows easily , even if its tedious , at least through three various phases of the game , with 3 major grind/farming spots on top of the rest .

The same wasnt exactly true for all bosses and encounter in the previous souls game .

They also had options that most wont be aware of without faqs , like summoning npc allies for the first few bosses , or using some story related special item to stun Gascoigne .

And let's not forget how the amount of insight points tailored the AI behavior and difficulty of ennemies at least for a while

[OhMyGandhi]

for me, it really depends on my mood. I really am the kind of person who likes to "play the games for the story" more then anything else. Bloodborne proved to be a notable exception, a damned fun and rewarding game that would often drive me crazy. Sometimes, when my day sucks, the last thing I want is to have my ass handed to me time and time again.

[Ashistheking]

Great arguments, of course this is just my opinion, but I feel a lot of games take the easy route by just adding more enemies and giving you less life to make it harder, I recall Call of Duty World at War, literally just adding 5x more grenades being thrown during the later levels to make it harder with the final level being nearly impossible. I suppose developers have this in mind when designing it and cant really make it harder when still needing to appeal to the casual gamer. This is why im so glad the souls games do still exist!

[Bismarn]

I play on the easiest setting that still give me achievements. I don't have any lust for a challenge and I don't need to "defeat" a video game to create a sense of accomplishment. I play games to relax, not create even more stress in my life. I'm not casual, but it wouldn't even occur to me to play a game like Bloodborne. So different difficulty settings is perfect.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Why wouldn't it occur to you to play Bloodborne?

[KwietStorm_BLM]

lol games got easier years ago. Auto checkpoints, auto save, an arsenal in your back pocket, auto regenerative health, simple/no bosses, etcetera, etcetera. The whole reason the 'extra' difficulties like crushing, insane, impossible, and Dante must die modes became a standard is because the bar was lowered overall. Most of the time, I doubt these extra difficulties are even really tested because of how cheap they are. It's just health tweaks, for the most part.

As challenging a game as Demon's Souls was lauded to be, I guarantee you most of those journalist previews came from either newer generation gamers or people who just forgot how things used to be. DS is old school be design, whether it's starting a level over from the beginning, no checkpoints, or bosses that will make you grow hairs on your chest. The original Resident Evil was claustrophobic by design, and it was magnified by the lack of ammo on your person at any given time. RE today is..a joke.

But I guess some of this is kind of expected, in the greater scope. Gaming is several times bigger than it was yesterday, and studios need to fill those seats, so to speak, and the easiest way to do that is to make everyone feel welcome.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I like games easier. I can't even finish Killzone: Shadow Fall because of extreme difficulty. Which is a shame because I love the story and original trilogy.

[GamerGabs]

It's clear that different difficulty levels are required so as many people can get enjoyment from a game as possible. Certain franchises have certainly 'dumbed down' over the years to match with 'what the players want' but there are plenty of games dedicated to giving a serious challenge.

[cynicgamer]

Most games these days are far easier. I think it just reflects the different dynamic within modern titles. I wouldn't necessarily say it's anything to worry about. We still get our occasional Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden.