Topic: Are Games Getting To Easy?

[mjbd]

I have heard alot of complaints about games being to simple and easy to beat.  For the most part, games are not getting easier.  I have heard this complaint about Wind Waker many times.  What you have to realize is that for many people, games are completely new to them.  Of course a game like Wind Waker may seem a bit easy for someone who has played OoT and MM.  We build experience throughout the years, and developers dont want to turn away new gamers.  

[Berny]

Well, although there are some easy games out there like as you mentioned WW and also Eternal Darkness (unfortunately) there are some pretty hard ones as well. Metroid Prime certaily is especially in Hard Mode. I must have died at least 40 times trying to beat the Omega Pirate. Oh yeah and Vietiful Joe is quite possibly the most challenging game on the Cube.

[Cap]

wind waker was way too easy. experience had nothing to do with it, becouse the enemys hardly did any damage.

for most games though, i would say yes.  games i buy seem to be easier then they used to be, but i think its due to longer games rather then the game actually being easier. older games usually forced you to play through in one sitting. now if you die, you just load up your last save and try it again.

there are some exceptions that i've been playing recently. ikaruga and f-zero are both fairly recent gamecube purchases and are quite difficult, and advance wars 2 is giving me a hard time on the gba.  

[Flames_of_chaos]

Some games are easy, some are mediocre in difficulty, some are hard and some are insanely hard.  But all I care for is a great game with a great gameplay, higher difficulty is a treat sometimes exept if its that stupid "button mashing test of strength" in star fox adventures.

The only thing i think people are just doing this generation is moaning , whining and b*tching about things that they dislike about great games (ex. cell shading) and IMO great games should not be bashed but praised this also goes for great sleeper hits.

[Bill Aurion]

Hmmmm...I just might be the only person here who likes easy games...I play games to escape reality and to have fun, not to get frustrated...

*shakes fist at F-Zero GX's Diamond Cup master class*

[Grey Ninja]

It's ok with me if games are easy.  I don't really have a lot of time for video games anymore, and I don't really have the patience to play the same level 200X until I find the exact way to do it to win.  I am much more happy with a game that provides a moderate amount of challenge, but a very entertaining experience.

I have played F-Zero GX for a couple of hours since I got it, but the game is way too frickin hard to be fun.

[Moonwatcher]

While I'll admit that WW was not very difficult, it was not so easy as to be annoying.  It provided a few amusing puzzles and fun boss fights.  The enemies were typically easy to kill but I always had lots of fun doing it.  That is something I can't say for most games.  Viewtiful Joe is very challenging and requires you to really master the game.  The result is that beating the game is greatly rewarding and is an event you will not soon forget.  That kind of challenge has became less and less common in games as developers try to appeal  to the mainstream.  While us hardcores may appreciate the difficulty, I wonder how it will be recieved by more casual gamers.

[Pikkcuber]

Games to easy nah, i think easy is good, and there is a thing as to easy and most games arent near that yet.  Viewitful Joe is really hard, if it was easier and longer it would be great.

[joeamis]

games back in the day were not as long as they're now so most were harder.
in the early days they couldn't make games as long as they're now so they had to make them harder to preserve the game's life.  also there were much fewer games, so they were played more, and they were created to be played alot and mastered.

now with the technology to create very long games, and there being so many more on the market they have to adjust them accordingly, i.e. make them easier.  this is for the majority of games.  ofcourse exceptions are evident as some older games were easy and modern games are hard.
trying to appeal the games to a masser audience is also a factor in games being easier, they make them easier but longer...hoping to please everyone.

i believe including difficulty levels is something that should be more evident in games, although simply making enemies stronger is not enough for higher diff levels, they should up as many variables for the difficulty as they can-creatively.  the first game that comes to mind doing this, is Goldeneye 007 for the N64.  Harder difficulty included: stronger enemies, better AI, more+harder objectives, and less powerups, more cameras.

[mouse_clicker]

While on the whole I think game difficulty has declined a bit, you still have your incredibly hard games. Look at F-Zero GX and Viewtiful Joe just within the last few months if you don't believe me.

[honda_insightful]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill
I play games to escape reality and to have fun, not to get frustrated...

Ditto, but I also want to challenge myself to higher levels of achievement.  Give me a hard game that I can play again & again until I beat it.

Actually, the best games are those with difficulty settings (like DDR & fighters) so you can tailor the game to your own desires.  (I of course pick the hardest level.)

[vroenis]

it really has been a while since i've been here
i think at times games can appear too easy in retrospect.  for example if a game is short and has minimal replayability, it may seem too easy - it may (may) equate to brief content, no rewards, no longevity.
but short games can be great - i'd play ico again just to relive the atmosphere (yeah, if i had a ps2) - and back in my pc days i clocked myst in 4 days but played it three times again after that.
before i get flamed as an old-schooler,
i think perhaps people need to check their expectations of a game - what they expect to get out of it, whether there is just too much hype surrounding a certain game's technical development.
i'm reminded of miyomoto's (can't speeell) words on gta3 - it doesn't have the best graphics, it doesn't have the best gameplay, but it gives gamers an excellence sense of freedom (not his exact words, but you get the drift)
i think perhaps freedom is something more and more gamers are looking for instead of on the rails gameplay and/or plots/narration development.
that being said, just because a game is long doesn't mean it's hard or necessarily good.
gar - i think i lost myself in there somewhere.

[mouse_clicker]

Exactly, honda- games shouldn't have to conform to the lowest common demoninator (aka little Johnny who has no hand eye coordination), although they don't need to exclude them, either. Games that have an easy setting for novices and a hard setting for pros are the ones that will really sell.

[Rich]

Guys, I dont know what your talking about with F-zero about it being to hard, I love everything about it and I think the difficulty is just perfect.

[mouse_clicker]

Rich, play Grand Prix on Master, or Story Mode on Very Hard. THEN you'll see what we're talking about.

[The Omen]

Games back in the day were harder because of no saving and technologically limited level design.  Most games were side scrollers, which forced you to memorize the placement of every enemy before advancing.  So a lot of times, it was trial and error.  And when saving  was implemented, there were too few save points, usually having to beat the level first, which still caused that hit or miss frustration.  Just go play Ghosts and Goblins or Ninja Gaiden.  I also find games now seem to take longer for me to beat, but not because they're harder.  I just dont have the time or patience as i did back in the NES/SNES days.

[cheers69]

i think the reason y everyone is saying viewful joe is hard because its a new style of gameplay we r used to in this modern day. windwaker was easy because the gameplay was the same as ocarina of time but when i 1st played ocarina of time it was amazing and hard because i hadnt played those styles of games same as with goldeneye it was one of the 1st fps on consoles and it owned.

and by the way have RARE gone down the toilet lately anf not reappared or is bill gates just making them create games for his kids

[S-U-P-E-R]

With a couple of notable exceptions, I definitely agree that games today are WAAAAAAAAAAY too easy on average. I mean, even people that play recent games ALL THE TIME have pretty much no discernable talent at gaming unless they play VERY HARD and to WIN at something COMPETITIVE. Because there are almost no hard goddamn games like Ninja Gaiden that made pretty much 3/4 of the NES lineup. :S

[nolimit19]

my question is, "what is the deal with these lame ass threads?"

[S-U-P-E-R]

Quote
Originally posted by: nolimit19
my question is, "what is the deal with these lame ass threads?"

Get out of it

[S-U-P-E-R]

Also, to add onto my original mini-rantish post, I'd like to add that the oldschool/competitive crew gets games like Ikargua and F-Zero and TAKES IT LIKE A MAN, DAMMIT

[KDR_11k]

High difficulty won't work with everything. RPGs for example are often lacking in the gameplay department, thus a long, hard fight you have to train for can get REALLY frustrating.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Viewtiful Joe kicked my A$$ good, on 'kids'.  I'm the "Final Fighter" type, but not necessarily the "Street Fighter" type.  I beat it, though VJ was not easy -- truly awesome.

[joshnickerson]

To me, I don't care if a game is easy or hard, just as long as in the end, I enjoy it. That's how I love both Wind Waker and Viewtiful Joe.

[Plugabugz]

Amusement Vision are the masters of difficulty. Super Monkey Balls' 1 and 2 (Expert and Master Stages) are enough to drive anyone insane. Also very well knowing AV made F-Zero, that's going to be amazingly hard.

Being in Europe, I'll get my hands on F-Zero at the end of the month, and then I'll see for myself