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[coffinbirth]

Meh, we need Dorito Pope for full impact. Also, still better than Nicky Minaj

Meh, we need Dorito Pope for full impact. Also, still better than Nicki Minaj!

 

[Lionel Richie]

Not a bad thread OP, I think some people are being unfair to you. The answer to the question isn't in the poll of course, but it's because it's a frustrating "it depends". For me, I'll play whatever, I like to balance out harder games with easier games, but I'm down for anything if it makes me interested. That being said, some people may not like hard games and that's 100% fine. It doesn't make them "lesser gamers", anyone can choose to play or not play anything.

What I DON'T find acceptable is people bitching about the lack of difficulty options. That is not reasonable. If a game appeals to you, try it. If you think it's going to overwhelm you, don't try it. If you really want to try but just want an experience that's tailored to you regardless of what the creative intent behind the game might be, please eat a dick and find a different hobby. Choosing is fine, bitching is not.

 

[Braag]

I don't mind challenging games, but as someone who is fairly tired at the end of the day, I don't always have the energy and patience for hard games. It's the reason I've stopped playing a lot of soulslikes.
I also understand that no everyone is super good at games, a lot of people struggle even with easier games.
So developers have to acknowledge that intentionally creating a challenging game and not giving players options to tune it, you are going to alienate a portion of players.

 

[Killer8]

The difficulty of Fromsoft's games is very explicitly part of the experience. Miyazaki has repeatedly said that he wants to create a feeling of overcoming a major challenge in his games. Take that away and there's no massive dopamine rush when you finally beat that boss you've been stuck on for weeks. You just sort of get a middling feeling of satisfaction otherwise. Going against Miyazaki's intent doesn't just shit on the designer (let's be honest though nobody really cares about that), but it does rob you of a better experience for yourself. People really need to learn to appreciate delayed gratification and be comfortable that they aren't going to clear a boss on the first, second or even twentieth attempt.

"Git gud" might sound like a very dismissive reply from the community, and I do think at times it isn't helpful when it comes to defending these games' difficulty level, but at the end of the day it's just a shorthand for "keep at it, learn some strategies, and i'm sure you'll get there eventually bro". Tough love basically. Step past the phrase though and I think there's a really strong community spirit behind the From games. I see a lot of helping people via jolly co-operation, detailed strategy videos and the deep wikis that spring up every release. There are very few games where the discourse online continues well beyond the confines of the game like that.

In terms of difficulty options, I can see an argument that what is just somewhat hard for one player might be extremely hard for another, but it's very tricky to tune difficulty in such a way that it's the perfect level for everyone. If a player picked a difficulty setting that is too low for them, that carefully designed challenge of the game will end up robbing them of the intended experience. I think Miyazaki's approach of giving the game a flat difficulty level, which is just universally hard for everyone, is much wiser. It keeps everyone on the same page when it comes to strategizing ways of overcoming it. This really helps the social aspect of the game. It also creates a bonding opportunity between players. If I tell you I just beat Malenia, you already know what i've been through and so there will be a mutual respect for each other. And everyone wanting to be part of that exclusive feeling "I beat Elden Ring" club adds a subtle amount of competition between people.

I also think there's evidence that developers can't actually make difficulty "too hard". Elden Ring is now one of the best selling games of all time, sitting at 30 million copies sold as of April 2025. It mopped up the 2022 awards season. Clearly a high difficulty level is not a deterrent for people's purchases or enjoyment of the game. Profoundly disabled people have been able to overcome Elden Ring. People playing on Donkey Konga bongos or Guitar Hero controllers have been able to as well. Really there ought to be no excuses. It isn't ever "impossible", which should really be an uplifting takeaway message, but perhaps people don't want to admit to themselves that the will to actually do it might take a modicum of effort. Which is entirely on them at the end of the day. So in a way I do view a lot of the begging for difficulty options as a sort of admission of personal weakness.

 

[Jesb]

Same here. I have about 10 hours a week to game. I get my ass handed to me at work 60 hours a week, why would I want to get it handed to me for my free 10 hours a week, too?

Thats basically it for me. And on top of that backlog is huge. Just onto the next one for me.

 

[Avid Reading Horse]

I approve of easy modes for small children, but it shouldn't be allowed for able-bodied adults.

 

[falling into hell]

I don't care if games have an easy mode. When buying games I never worry about difficulty. If I buy a game and it's too hard I just stop playing and forget that I own the game or if I own the physical edition I just sell it.

 

[Madjaba]

As a father of two young children, my gaming time has been reduced drastically.

My favorite type of games are JRPGs and I always start in Normal mode.

Why am I switching to Easy mode after 10 to 20 hours ? In order to actually reduce time spent in battle and to finish my game because that's the only way to get some time back to play and I don't want to play the same game for 6 months because "you know we made those gamedesign choices in order to make you spend more time with our game".

No thanks, let me choose when I want to move forward at the pace I may need and that's okay, we won't tell the gaming warriors anyway.

Why would it matters to let people choose an easier difficulty settings ? Just let people enjoy their free time how they want.

 

[Shubh_C63]

If the game is too hard, it won't sell that well and probably won't become a cultural hit that would make me miss it
If the game is too hard and sold well, then it is probably done right and deserves the git gud effort behind it

Let the developers do the gambling, if they wanna try hard and risk lesser sales or be confident in their skills to make a hard & fun game.

 

[calico]

Depends on the game. I think eg. Elden Ring is actually pretty mid if you hypothetically reduce it to a more normal difficulty level. I think some of the non-gameplay elements are significantly enhanced by that difficulty / danger, and are not of particularly high standard if you take it away.

On the other hand, if the only way you could play Exp33 was on some punishingly high difficulty, that would be annoying. The game doesn't need it.

 

[GulfCoastZilla]

I always pick story mode and I still get challenged in certain fights in games.

Also let's say I'm playing tales of arise right now. Been playing for 60 hours on story mode.
If I boosted it higher I would have been more frustrated and probably not see the game to completion.

Plus reality is my main games are COD and Battlefield so the quicker I get back to those games the better.

But I also am a firm believer in gamepass and ps + so a games biggest challenge is keeping my attention. I can't tell you how many games I just dropped because it did nothing for me in the first 15 minutes. Let's just say my attention is not story mode difficulty for devs.

 

[powder]

Maybe the fact there aren't any difficulty options means the game is meant to experienced as it is? It's gone through plenty of player testing by the time it ships.

When I booted up Cronos I didn't look for any difficulty settings because I'm more concerned with the narrative and progressing the story while trusting the developer to make a balanced experience getting me through the whole thing. If anything, difficult sections encourage the player to figure out their own way of getting through an encounter. Maybe learn how to play a game within the confines of the options the dev gives you. Not everything needs to have Last of Us accessibility.

 

[Danjin44]

I rather have devs to make whatever they want if they dont want to put easy mode thats their choice....if you dont like it then dont fucking buy it.

Accept the fact not every made for you, thats why you have a choice play other games.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Easy mode?

 

[AngelMuffin]

People always complain that FS games need an easy mode, but IMO they already have one, you just don't select it at the title screen. Summoning NPCs, Spirit Ashes, or co-op partners makes the game way easier, but it's up to the player to use those tools.

 

[Edgelord79]

Honestly games aren't that difficult. I mean, go back and play some of the old NES and SNES games. I have no idea how I beat some of those.

Would love difficulty settings too but it may also affect the experience. Thankfully there are thousands of games to choose from.