Are modern games "too easy"? (Essay warning)

[lestagio]

This has been a discussion for quite a while now and I was just talking about it with my wife. When you look at the NES era, up to about PS1, lots of games were extremely difficult. Into the PS2 generation up to now, most games have been easier after developers realized that people like to win. There's obviously difficulty exceptions, such as some of the souls games, Cuphead, etc, but for the most part, games have objectively become a lot easier.

Arguments about handholding taking away the exploration of a world (compare Morrowind, which has no quest markers, to Skyrim, which has precise markers) have existed for quite a while, and I'm curious what the stance is over here. Is this good, or bad?

As many of us know, a lot of the games from the 80s and 90s were created to be unfair, because of that coin-munching arcade philosophy, and to extend the length of a game from 30 minutes to instead be weeks, months, or even years. A lot of the "difficult" games that we discuss aren't difficult because of fair difficulty, but rather because the developers looked and said "Let's just throw some bullshit in there". Difficult platforming, one hit kills, crazy knockback, pixel perfect fights, etc. These create a game that is more unfair.

Now take a modern game like Sekiro. It's certainly a difficult game, but there wasn't many times when I was playing where I was thinking "I couldn't have possibly dodged that". Nearly every death was "I jumped instead of rolling", "I misread the attack", "I deflected at the wrong time"—A game can be hard but be fair. Many games have become "easier" in that sense because of basic quality of life features. Camera controls are much better, attacks feel tighter... But at the same time, some of these games I can just breeze through because there isn't much in my way.

Some people claim that games should have a single difficulty, but I'm reaching the point where I think games should have settings. I'm fine with difficult games, but sometimes I like to relax. On the other hand, I want to have to use a little bit of brain power to win. This is why Super Mario Wonder was a little upsetting to me, because there was very little difficulty. A very unique, fun game, but there wasn't too much challenge to even 100% the game. I don't like to be handheld and I like to figure things out myself. That said, I understand why some people would. I have an appreciation for games that have such settings to turn these things on or off, but so many games don't. On a different thread yesterday, I had a discussion about having checkpoints during bosses which, again, seems a little pointless to not allow a player to actually learn and accomplish a boss fight all in one go. The modern day problem is that many games are afraid to let the player fail.

My essay's over— What do you think? Are games too easy now, are they just the right difficulty? What's the best way to mitigate the dilemma?

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I don't think games are too easy nowadays (plenty of entries on the PS3 library kicked my ass), but that they were far too punishing back then.

For some games, I get it — they were either direct ports of arcade titles or Blockbuster exclusives whose sole purpose was to make you spend as much money as possible either playing them or getting them again and again.

But some others were just weird — why won't you have quest markers in a game as massive as Morrowind? Why have no life bar / hit points on console games? Games nowadays evolved and moved on from those principles because your ability to withstand punishment and to put up with unfairness wasn't a flex; it was just not fun... and what are games supposed to be? Exactly.

I'd take a game that's too easy over one that's too hard any day of the week.

 

[kbcinharoxa kbcinharoxa]

I think games were more faithful to their design back in the day because of their limitations. Most NES, SNES, and similar games were actually very short.
And since games back then were mainly made for kids, I think that also explains why they were so difficult. A game that could technically be finished in about an hour would take a child days or even weeks to get halfway through because of how challenging it was. xD
Nowadays, I'm not really sure what happened with game companies, but it feels like games have become much more casual. Personally, I prefer a balance, or at least having difficulty options. I enjoy a good challenge, and I like playing games in a hardcore way.

 

[Gabrinius]

I don't think they are too easy. (Well, i'm a horrible player, so...)

What really annoy me is the infinite tutorials and keep pausing every time to tell me how do to things. Most times you can't even skip those parts.

 

[lestagio]

I don't think games are too easy nowadays (plenty of entries on the PS3 library kicked me ass), but that they were far too punishing back then.

For some games, I get it — they were either direct ports of arcade titles or Blockbuster exclusives whose sole purpose was to make you spend as much money as possible either playing them or getting them again and again.

But some others were just weird — why won't you have quest markers in a game as massive as Morrowind? Why have no life bar / hit points on console games? Games nowadays evolved and moved on from those principles because your ability to withstand punishment and to put up with unfairness wasn't a flex; it was just not fun... and what are games supposed to be? Exactly.

I'd take a game that's too easy over one that's too hard any day of the week.

This is a totally fair take. That said, I honestly like the lack of quest markers in Morrowind, it makes it feel more immersive to me. Skyrim always felt a little too simple because you could just follow quest markers everywhere. Morrowind reminds me of how my DND campaigns (especially when I was younger) would be run— Following instructions people tell you and actually exploring. There's something that feels way cooler about "Go right on the fork in the road, and then turn when you get near the tall trees. The cave you're looking for is under the large arch." But again, I know many people don't like that sort of design. Thus why I think these are all things that should be in settings— "Quest markers - On/Off", "Health bars - On/off"

What really annoy me is the infinite tutorials and keep pausing every time to tell me how do to things.

Yup, pisses me off too, lol. I'm fine with the tutorials, but I like the idea of maybe having a menu somewhere if I need to revisit said tutorials instead of constant "Press L1 to grapple!"

 

[Elwiwi]

Its called making balanced games , there's no point in making insanely hard games , we are not in the 80's or 90's

 

[kbcinharoxa kbcinharoxa]

Its called making balanced games , there's no point in making insanely hard games , we are not in the 80's or 90's

95% evil? you finally found love?

 

[Elwiwi]

95% evil? you finally found love?

Oh I should change that , I'm 97% since last night

 

[kbcinharoxa kbcinharoxa]

Oh I should change that , I'm 97% since last night

i want to be evil now.

 

[Elwiwi]

i want to be evil now.

You can't be evil , you are the hero of time

 

[kbcinharoxa kbcinharoxa]

You can't be evil , you are the hero of time

its time for the villain arc

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

I think that the things are more balanced, the difficult settings makes a game more accesible for everyone, both for someone that wants to relax and someone that wants a challenge.
Also the industry is more focused to the casuals than the hardcore gamers these days.

 

[MorriganW0lf]

Yeah, i don't think it's that games are "easier" but rather that they are more streamlined because the corporate mandate to developers is "Do it for mass audiences" so that forces developers to drop deep system mechanics & hidden gameplay tricks the player could only find after having a deeper understanding of the game and instead hand everything to the player on a golden plate. Which sucks but i guess one can choose to support games that actually enable us to have skill expression & steep learning curves.

 

[ZeromusVX4]

I don't think games got easier per se, there's a lot of challenging stuff like soulsborne and SMT, it's just that there was a lot more bullshit in the past overall

 

[Anim8rDude Anim8rDude]

Nah games are definitely easier. Not only easier but simpler too, it really shows in action games nowadays & it's unfortunate.
Perfect example is take a look at Atlus. They we're once the king of hardcore jrpgs! But now? Persona has softened them up, not for the better, just for worse.

I guess it's good that more people are playing these game series but still... (like Nioh 3 being the most popular but also being the easiest, poor OG fans)

 

[lestagio]

Nah games are definitely easier. Not only easier but simpler too, it really shows in action games nowadays & it's unfortunate.
Perfect example is take a look at Atlus. They we're once the king of hardcore jrpgs! But now? Persona has softened them up, not for the better, just for worse.

I guess it's good that more people are playing these game series but still... (like Nioh 3 being the most popular but also being the easiest, poor OG fans)

It's nice that at least there are indies around, as well as some of the souls games that are pretty difficult because I do like a challenge sometimes. I mean, the gaming industry is bigger than ever before so it's understandable as to why developers would cater to a more "casual" group because it's likely a larger group of people, but I feel like it's a bit annoying for some of us who want more challenge.

As I mentioned in my post, Super Mario Wonder was annoying because there's already plenty of mechanics to make the game easier, between playing as Yoshi which makes you invincible, and all sorts of badges. But even without those, it's by far the easiest Mario game to date (in my opinion), even when you beat every level. You only need to beat about 1/3 of the levels to complete it which again, seems odd.

 

[Anim8rDude Anim8rDude]

You only need to beat about 1/3 of the levels to complete it which again, seems odd.

Which is usually fine since most people beat Mario games/platformers by going for 100%, but if you say the overall game is easy then yeah I guess it doesn't really matter.
There's a reason why a lot of us look fondly at Mario Sunshine, that games just some good'ol hard, frustrating platforming!

 

[Tsukishima]

Depends where you've been looking recently. With all the high fancy triple-A titles yeah there is no difficulty. I still have the memories of how a single dog removed every single speck of difficulty inside the Pikmin series with the fourth entry, but there's still a large chunk of videogames being made with difficulty in mind. Games like Pizza Tower comes to mind where it's unforgiving and intentionally designed to be a one-way highway of you overcoming the barrier of expectations it has for you, or there's quite frankly no entry.

I personally, have been playing games like Picayune Dreams which wasn't exactly a walk in the park, and games that are made in Korea, such as Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina which released in 2021 for arguments sake. Ruina's difficulty is damn well vertical with every mountain to climb after every stage and floor you progressively beat. With no mindless breaths of fresh air for relaxation either.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

No.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Yes.
No.
It depends.

Many games back then were only difficult and vague because of the existence of rentals and game booklets.

On the other hand, attention spans have lowered and barrier to entry has skyrocketed with prices which is why many people aren’t even playing on console, they’re playing the free gacha games that can run on their phones with little effort.

Which funnily enough is also why you don’t see more people pirate enough to hurt the industry. Many people see it as a chore and they just want playing their games to be easy.

 

[Sfjeov]

Idk if they're easy but they do be streamlined.

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

Games definitely have gotten easier, not even recently, this has been a conversation for over 15 years now. I've said this in other threads in the past, but I think this is large in part due to the homogenisation of games within the last 15 years or so. You ever notice how the majority of AAA games have almost identical control schemes? How they're all structured the exact same way?

I've always felt the best games are the ones that teach and require certain skills unique to that individual game. I think a large part of the problem is that people seem unwilling to engage with games on their own terms anymore, to learn a game and truly understand it, hence the homogenisation I mentioned above. It's why I can't take arguments about older games being "unfair" too seriously; even back then they gave you all the tools necessary to beat a game, it was just down to you as a player to figure out how to use them (to be completely fair however; I am aware a lot of games back then were sometimes altered across releases, specifically Japanese games released in places like the US, to be made harder to increase revenue from rentals, or arcades, though it must also be said these were often fringe cases and NOT a standard across all games).

Basically; bring back skill based games and make them feel satisfying and rewarding to play and learn would be my ideal solution to this.

 

[BrawlMan]

No. Also, depends on what game and who is developing/publishing it. So long as difficulty is balanced, I really don't care. There are plenty of challenging games out there, but most of them are on the indie and AA scene.

Also, there games which are challenging, but you have people who are really good at certain games, or action melee games in general, and the default difficulty is not enough for them. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is too easy my ass. You all know the game is gonna get harder when it comes out. Capcom should add a default hard mode, just so these fools can shut up.

Basically; bring back skill based games and make them feel satisfying and rewarding to play and learn would be my ideal solution to this.

Already happened and still does. Just don't expect it from the majority of AAA games.

 

[Bakuma1997]

Not too easy gameplaywise, but they got too handholdy, floods of tutorials instead of organic antepieces or, to my sadness, the manuals, as mentioned already games were hard because either they were short or in Arcade's case, they wanted your monys, but also because game makers got tunnel vision because they more or less got the game memorized, by contrast nowadays we have better software thus allowing better mechanics and more polish in gameplay, but also bigger games, thus making toturials more needed, while necesary, sometimes they go overboard

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

Already happened and still does. Just don't expect it from the majority of AAA games.

Doesn't happen nearly enough, and you can't keep using this cope of relying on AA or indie games for games like this. We should expect better from AAA given the amount of time and money put into them, and this problem isn't going to change until we do.

Also, perhaps this is a hot take, but speaking of indie games; I'm sorry but honestly 80% of them are just total dogshit that are almost always pale imitations of the older games their essentially copying. Yes, the more original stuff like Pizza Tower and Pseudoregalia (both of which I love and were my favourite games of 2023) subvert this, but games like those are rare and often one of a kind.

 

[BrawlMan]

Doesn't happen nearly enough, and you can't keep using this cope of relying on AA or indie games for games like this. We should expect better from AAA given the amount of time and money put into them, and this problem isn't going to change until we do.

It does, but stop looking in only the one direction or expecting more from the majority of AAA at this point. Aside from Capcom, Nintendo, Platinum, KT, Konami (getting better now), sometimes Square, Santa Monica, and a few others, constantly expecting most of the other AAAs is pointless and not worth waiting on them. AA and indie, or the niche Japanese studios have their issues, but most aren't afraid of what you're asking, or make whatever games they want to make without shitty corporate over sight compromises nor trying to make a "game for everyone".

You have fun waiting on a majority of them for nothing, while I always have something either challenging or fun. I got more than enough to keep me busy. I don't play ever indie game either, but I pick whatever interests me and nothing more. A majority of the AAA have almost nothing to offer me on a consistent basis aside from Capcom.