gaming Is it me, or did video games get easy?

[Starstream 182]

Video games did get a lot easier over time. It has something to do with the newer generations lacking patience and expecting immediate reward for their actions, I suppose.

Now that's not completely fair, even the old generation lacks patience when playing new games, I see it happen all the time when someone calls a section in a game too hard and gives up because of it. It's not just new gamers and casual gamers, it also happens among people who have been playing for 20+ years. Expectations for games nowadays are just different from expetations back then.

[Cowl 128]

I've actually started getting annoyed with games being too easy.

 

Normally I don't really care, if a game is just really easy I turn up the difficulty 1 notch. But it is just so obvious with sequels. As the game becomes more famous the difficulty drops like a stone from game to game.

mass effect 1 (moderately challenging) -> mass effect 2 (fairly easy) -> mass effect 3 (was this a game or a movie)

assassins creed 1 (moderately challenging) -> AC2 (easy) -> AC3 (........?)

Dragon Age 1 (challenging) -> DA2 (press A to win, also every level is the same)

 

I don't really play FPS but I played call of duty 2 single player on an under powered laptop with mad lag on normal difficulty and didn't die, even though I couldn't see what I was doing or aim.

 

Game makers need to realize that a little bit of a challenge is appreciated more that nicely rendered scenes occurring every 5 minuets.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Cowl

[Алексей 110]

Dark Souls is not that hard. Granted, there are a few parts that make you want to pull your hair out, but you mostly just have to be patient because dying is such an integral part of the game. You're like a Cylon; you learn and become more dangerous with each death. Plus if you know how online play works you can summon people to help you.

On PC, for me, it is next to impossible. I had to Google the PC controls, since, the in-game hints give you the Xbox controls, and I still don't know how to parry. Although, I've learned a bit since then about the game. Like, how to beat the Taurus Demon that halted my every attempt at progress through my short time playing that game for, like, ten hours. I seriously need to get my Xbox controller hooked up to my PC so I can play that game now.

 

Anyway, on topic, for me, a guy who is absolutely horrid at most games(exceptions being RPG's and survival genre games), I find a lot of modern games hard, especially ones that involve a lot of puzzles and platforming.

[Circadian 1,273]

On PC, for me, it is next to impossible. I had to Google the PC controls, since, the in-game hints give you the Xbox controls, and I still don't know how to parry.

 

Don't fret; I've put almost 200 hours into Dark Souls still can't parry worth shit. I usually go for the backstab.

 

Other difficult modern games, huh?

 

Gears of War 2-3 on insane is incredibly fun, but can get ridiculous at times. The first Gears was pretty straightforward, but the vehicle sections in 2 and the final boss and lambent "gunkers" in 3 were soooo frustrating.

 

I also seriously underestimated the threat of this boss as well...

 

 

I must have fought this mo-fo over a hundred times. I know you can't really t-bag as Samus, but when I finally did beat it I did the best I could in morph ball. If you've played Dark Echos on Wii, know that they toned this fight down for the port.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Circadian

[Prismatic 49]

Too bad they discontinued the triology so quickly...I have it but I need to play it.

 

I think the only game that comes to mind that is significantly harder than its predecessors is Gradius V.  It's so mindnumbing that by default it enables instant resume from a death rather than restarting from a checkpoint (said option doesn't exist on any other Gradius game).

[~Lawful Jordo~ 2,066]

On average yes, they have gotten easier. As games enter the mainstream, developers have to account for the growing number of casual gamers emerging. Not everyone is willing to put hundreds of hours into mastering a game like us hardcore gamers.

 

Not to mention modern games are much longer. Not a lot of people would be able to make It through a 40+ hour game if it was insanely hard.

 

However, there are games out there like Dark souls that provide a fair bit of challenge.

Edited February 12, 2013 by ~Lawful Jordo~

[Starstream 182]

Game makers need to realize that a little bit of a challenge is appreciated more that nicely rendered scenes occurring every 5 minuets.

I'm going to agree, but also disagree. Personally I see no reason not to do both, and I don't think that it would be hard for developers to spruce up dificulty, but developers (in large companies) seemed to have lost sight of what a true "difficult fun" gameplay should be like. Sure, throwing up the damage and armor values on the enemies makes a game harder, but at the end of the day it's not all that much more satisfying when you beat them because if you weren't going to get hit by those attacks before anyway, then that "difficulty increase" didn't really do much to change your experience. Similarly, making an unblockable/undodgable/unpredictable attack also makes a game harder... and more frustrating, because at that point it becomes a luck based experience, you're just hoping that you'll only get the avoidable attacks. (I'm generally a lucky person, but I only consider luck-based gaming "fun" when it's gambling.)

 

My point is that sadly a lot developers don't see this and thus I simply don't really trust developers with the task to "make all games hard again". I think they could do it, and I think that it could blow some more life into gaming, but only if it's done right, and I simply dont trust them.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Zhinzo

[sLORT 28]

While there is the occasional exception, games are getting much easier. The game developers want to appeal to the "casual" gamers, people who aren't don't want a challenge but just want some quick thrills. 

[Алексей 110]

To be honest i think Fallout New Vegas is waaay harder than Skyrim, specially in hardcore mode, you can die from almost anything XD.

To me, it is the exact opposite. The only real trouble hardcore mode ever posed to me was ammunition having weight and not being able to heal my crippled limbs with stimpaks. And, the overall combat difficulty was never much, even in the infamous Dead Money(which, was my favourite of the DLC, actually). The inconveniences that came with very hard combat difficulty and hardcore mode were exactly that: nothing more than inconveniences. With NV, the combat wasn't that hard if you had enough supplies, and, of course, I am meticulous about gathering enough supplies. However, in Skyrim, the combat was often next to impossible on harder difficulties no matter what kind of kit you have. Especially with those freaking Draugr Deathlords!! >:C

 

That is, of course, not to say I found the difficulty levels in Skyrim better than NV's; Skyrim's difficulty was only frustrating. NV could've been more of a challenge, in my opinion, but maybe I am just really good at NV. 

 

 

 

Don't fret; I've put almost 200 hours into Dark Souls still can't parry worth shit. I usually go for the backstab.

I was told that parrying is essential to playing Dark Souls. And, also, not to trust giant bridges, or something like that...

[Circadian 1,273]

I was told that parrying is essential to playing Dark Souls. And, also, not to trust giant bridges, or something like that...

 

Nope. Parrying exposes you to your enemy if you time it wrong. It's just not worth the risk imo. If you raise your dexterity it gets much easier however I'm only able to do it consistently on low level enemies. Did do it on Lord Gwyn once somehow. That was pretty awesome.

 

*PARRY* RIPOSTE!

Edited February 12, 2013 by Circadian

[Алексей 110]

Nope. Parrying exposes you to your enemy if you time it wrong. It's just not worth the risk imo. If you raise your dexterity it gets much easier however I'm only able to do it consistently on low level enemies. Did do it on Lord Gwyn once somehow. That was pretty awesome.

 

*PARRY* RIPOSTE!

Regardless, I have absolutely no idea how to parry. I think it might be Tab, but no matter what, pressing Tab has never done anything but gotten me hit.

 

Either way, I am still having nightmares because of my mate informing me that you have to fight multiple Taurus Demons at once...

[Thundershock 310]

for me,the games i play would mostly be easy.Some i have are hard,too.But the games i have are besically the same amount of being easy or hard.

[Evilshy 5,093]

Mainstream games are, in general, getting easier. Like other have said, companies have to cater to the more casual crowd, who don't want to have to carefully craft a character or practice for hours on end to feel good at a game.

 

Look at the popular FPSs of yesteryear as opposed to the popular FPSs of today.

In Quake, Doom and Unreal, you had to practice for ages before you were good. You'd go online and get your ass handed to you over and over again by people who knew how to play the game. Eventually, you'd play enough to start getting the hang of things, and you'd start getting kills that weren't just luck. Eventually, you were fragging with the best of them.

Nowadays, we have CoD. Weapons kill in one or two hits, favoring spray 'n pray over being good. Autoaim out the wazoo, favoring spray 'n pray over being good. Put these together, and shooters no longer ask "who is more skilled?" but "who saw the other guy first?"

That's great for somebody who just wants to get a few kills in for a few hours after work, not so great for hardcore gamers who want to feel like we've achieved something.

[Sorte95 46]

Yes, I think that games have gotten easier over time. Even though some newer games are hard, most of them are a lot easier than many older games. I suppose it's because gaming companies are trying to make games more friendly to newer players.

I don't personally enjoy games nearly as much when they're too easy, it takes away half the fun of it imo.

[Veylon 255]

Easier over time? Yes, very much so. I'll grant that hard games still get made - I still haven't beaten Spacechem or FTL, for instance - but they are niche games now. The top-level AAA games are designed to be beatable by the average player. Compare and contrast with something like Battletoads, which was meant to launch a franchise, or the Ninja Gaiden trilogy (though I hear tell the new Ninja Gaidens are tough, too).

 

While I mostly think this is a good thing, it has also (probably separately) lead to a dumbing-down in the non-action genres. The strategy and RTSs are nigh-extinct and many RPGs have pared down exploration to an absolute minimum in favor of highly-linear storytelling. 

[Flareon 151]

The gaming world has gotten easier I mean I remember back when I used to play games on my SNES *drools with excitement in thought of old games* The games back then were ridiculously hard. I for one can count the number of games that made me just want to throw my controller at my tv screen constantly in a fit of rage. Like the Megaman X series so much fun yes but very frustrating and the final boss was always my kryptonite. But compared to the games of today it's no contest today's games are way easier to the point where it's almost insulting to me since I've been a gamer pretty much my whole life.

[Prismatic 49]

Just so you guys know, the most 'overpowered weapon of FPS games came in 1995'.  Granted I did grow up with ROTT and I still prefer its arcadeish gameplay.

 

[Gigachip 148]

video games got easier

 

I know for sure that the MMO area got really easy compared to before.

 

Now MMOs, pretty much hold the players hand towards the quest objectives and where to go if you want to level. 

[~Sugar Sprinkles~ 638]

In my opinion, more like more lame now a days. (Not trying to start an argument, but I am a classic gamer). I do like some of todays games...like Little Big Planet, Alice: Madness returns, Sly 4: Thieves in time, some of the wii games. But I will forever be a classic gamer.

 

As for the difficulty, I think some are harder now a days...or somewhat the same. All games are different difficulty and sometimes it depends on us. Some people think one game is hard and some think the same game is easy. I say it depends.