Easy Mode is now selectable, the best and worst difficulty modes

[Lee__Kanker]

The best difficulty mode to me is one that makes you re-learn the game, normal mode was just to give you the basics but now you actually have to tighten your belt and master the game's intricate mechanics or perish on the first enemy encounter
The best ones change enemy beheaviours, gives them new moves even, it's when the real game starts

I'm an avid devil may cry 1and 3 and Bayonetta 1 2 3 fan so; these games are like balanced around hard then scaled back for easy then the theres the EXTRA hard mode that once again introduces new stuff and makes you re learn the game
After a while normal mode will feel dull
You're much more likely to learn about jump cancelling thanks to dante must die, and bayonetta's infinite climax forces you to spot relying on witch time, experiment with weapon combos more, equip all those accessories, parry and perfect parry...

Silent hill 1 2 3; normal mode becomes quite easy once you finish it once, as long as you dont waste all your ammo on every enemy you're usually fine, with normal mode saving your healing items and ammo becomes Crucial or you're essentially fucked at the next boss fight unless you're a god at melee (though in 1 and 2 you can weasel you can do a trick by running out of ammo before the final boss starts and they will automatically die after a while because it's impossible to melee them )
Enemies become much more agressive and faster, NEW MONSTER LOCATIONS TO CATCH YOU BY SURPRISE that I love..

Biohazard 4 of course has the lovely lovely dynamic difficulty mode where the ganado will get stronger the better you play and vice versa, there will even be new spawns, and playing it on professional with no\limited merchant really brings back the survival horror aspect if you previously went through it with an arsenal in your pocket; you have to learn about how certain actions like roundhouse kick are invincible and use That as your crown control move instead of the shotgun, and how to do a quick headhsot+roundhouse without panicking in a clutch situation, recognize what move the ganados are gonna do depending on when they are in relation to you..



Bad difficulty modes: most big budget games aka "just double the numbers", they play like half an ass, because they were half assed

Fire Emblem Awakening Lunatic+; it's just luck really, you dont have to play any better

 

[Inkingsama]

I agree. Difficulty modes should present new ways of playing the game: Devil May Cry 3 on DMD is a completely different game from hard mode, in Kingdom Hearts critical mode you have to be careful and be aware of enemies sorrounding you, lest you want to get sniped and 2HKO.

One thing that bothered me about SMT Nocturne is that hard mode is not actually harder so much as it's actually a "fuck you" mode where enemies focus into demifiend, escaping is nearly impossible and shops are way pricier. For real, Nocturne is already somewhat of a bullshit game with the crits and the instakill spells, dialing up those aspects just makes the game way too frustrating to enjoy, "mudo" might as well be spelled "game over".

Fighting games are like this too. Selecting a harder CPU is the same as telling the game how many of your inputs do you want it to read. Call it a skill issue but i swear to god, everytime i played a fighting game with the CPU at hard or above, the enemy would block every single attack.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

I agree. Difficulty modes should present new ways of playing the game: Devil May Cry 3 on DMD is a completely different game from hard mode, in Kingdom Hearts critical mode you have to be careful and be aware of enemies sorrounding you, lest you want to get sniped and 2HKO.

One thing that bothered me about SMT Nocturne is that hard mode is not actually harder so much as it's actually a "fuck you" mode where enemies focus into demifiend, escaping is nearly impossible and shops are way pricier. For real, Nocturne is already somewhat of a bullshit game with the crits and the instakill spells, dialing up those aspects just makes the game way too frustrating to enjoy, "mudo" might as well be spelled "game over".

Fighting games are like this too. Selecting a harder CPU is the same as telling the game how many of your inputs do you want it to read. Call it a skill issue but i swear to god, everytime i played a fighting game with the CPU at hard or above, the enemy would block every single attack.

I especially like the introducing new moves, Lust in devil may cry 3 (red guys) seldom do their scythe uppercut move on normal, but they'll do it all the time on normal; so now if you knock them back prepare to dodge it, this makes em way moew dangerous because you cant just hit them and then move on to another enemy or they'll mess you up

Silent hill 3 has TEN DIFFICULTY MODES after hard by the way, I havent tried them yet

F.e.a.r. I highly recommend playing on hard first if you think you're decent at fpses; the game's whole thing is being 1 vs a highly organized team of enemies that will switch up their strategy on the fly depending on what you do. It makes the game so much more TENSE it's delightful!! That feeling of quiet anticipation as you approach them, silently crouch walking, as you hear their chatter in the dark their flashling in the distance; contemplating what your first move will be, it's so much better knowing that if you fuck up you're dead meat, and make Damn sure they're all dead lest the one sneaks up on you and avenges his fallen comrades


RPGs are interesting in that if you want you you Can make a full party of goof offs in dragon quest 3 and see what happens, or just do specific playstyles that are less effective but require much niecher strategies to make them work, or you can try never grinding

Metal Gearl Solid 1-3 too, hard mode is a completly different experience, you can spam rations and alert enemies over and over and you'll get through it in a very annoying way; on mgs2 hard you better save the rations for specifc points and learn the invulnerability frames for that assault jet boss fight
And now you gotta Caarefully use the scope, and look at your surroundings and stuff cause no radar mate, now actually act like a secret stealth agent!


Terrible one: Skyrim and Fallout 3

 

[Turbo Kid]

Personally, I would never design a game with difficulty modes. My game would be designed to provide an appropriate level of challenge for all players.

People who want more of a challenge could seek out optional dungeons, trials, or super bosses that I would plant within the game world. I don't like "difficulty settings" as much as I do having different types of challenges organically layered into the game's environment. Also, if I designed a linear game with stages, every level would have different ranks. Hardcore players can go after S ranks. Each level would have optional challenges too to push you further. Beat the level without using a certain weapon. Beat the level without magic. Beat the stage without taking a single hit. Beat the stage without any NPCs dying. Get through the level without killing anything, etc, etc, etc.

You don't need difficulty levels if you're a creative enough developer IMO. Difficulty modes almost seem lazy to me.

 

[snes9x]

>normal mode way too easy
>hard mode way too hard

 

[dropsmegamega]

Personally, I would never design a game with difficulty modes. My game would be designed to provide an appropriate level of challenge for all players.

People who want more of a challenge could seek out optional dungeons, trials, or super bosses that I would plant within the game world. I don't like "difficulty settings" as much as I do having different types of challenges organically layered into the game's environment. Also, if I designed a linear game with stages, every level would have different ranks. Hardcore players can go after S ranks. Each level would have optional challenges too to push you further. Beat the level without using a certain weapon. Beat the level without magic. Beat the stage without taking a single hit. Beat the stage without any NPCs dying. Get through the level without killing anything, etc, etc, etc.

You don't need difficulty levels if you're a creative enough developer IMO. Difficulty modes almost seem lazy to me.

I disagree, for example in a RPG early areas will be designed to make the player get used to the combat, teaching then new mechanics with every battle. But for experienced players that feels like wasted areas and enemies. A hard difficulty level let's the developer take all those areas to their full potential and even change the dynamic of the early game, while not boring players that are replaying the game. The real problem like the op said, is the "just double the numbers" attitude devs have towards hard modes.

 

[Jeff]

The difficult for me depends on how long the game is, focusing on the story and how many games I have to play due to schedule reasons.

Normal mode: Learn the basics and enjoy the challenge
Hard Mode: Already learn the basics? Here's some more challenges
Expert Mode: Too hard
Lunatic Mode: Get the Game Genie or just play normal mode if you have more games to play.

 

[Turbo Kid]

I disagree, for example in a RPG early areas will be designed to make the player get used to the combat, teaching then new mechanics with every battle. But for experienced players that feels like wasted areas and enemies. A hard difficulty level let's the developer take all those areas to their full potential and even change the dynamic of the early game, while not boring players that are replaying the game. The real problem like the op said, is the "just double the numbers" attitude devs have towards hard modes.

A game is supposed to be easy in the beginning. That's good game design. A well designed game scales in difficulty getting harder the farther you get into the game. Anyone "bored" by the beginning of a game being easy has some serous patience problems. That's a problem with the player, not the game.

Also, there is no such thing as "wasted areas and enemies". It's an rpg, you're always getting experience points.

 

[poppy_]

kingdom hearts critial mode makes you re:think your life. i think its the best difficulty setting of all time, esp in KH2

 

[CHEESE ENJOYER]

Ninja Gaiden reboot series (2004 onwards) does this the best. They start introducing new variants of enemies that didn't exist on lower level difficulties that have completely different patterns replacing the earlier difficulty enemies entirely with harder more aggressive versions, even new bosses that don't even appear on lower difficulties and new patterns for some existing bosses. Try Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox) or any of the Sigma versions based off of it and you'll see.

 

[dropsmegamega]

A game is supposed to be easy in the beginning. That's good game design. A well designed game scales in difficulty getting harder the farther you get into the game. Anyone "bored" by the beginning of a game being easy has some serous patience problems. That's a problem with the player, not the game.

Also, there is no such thing as "wasted areas and enemies". It's an rpg, you're always getting experience points.

Nobody is discussing these basic principles. It's about offering advanced players more replayability and that's never bad design. And yes lot of RPGs are way too easy at the beginning and take too much time to truly start and that is a design problem, one difficulty levels can fix. Getting experience points doesn't make easy combat any less dull.

 

[KaiserMk7]

Nobody is discussing these basic principles. It's about offering advanced players more replayability and that's never bad design. And yes lot of RPGs are way too easy at the beginning and take too much time to truly start and that is a design problem, one difficulty levels can fix. Getting experience points doesn't make easy combat any less dull.

Does Dark Souls 2's NG+ take it too far with the surrounding falconers that make it hard to just leave the normally-straightforward and skippable starting area?

 

[Turbo Kid]

Nobody is discussing these basic principles. It's about offering advanced players more replayability and that's never bad design. And yes lot of RPGs are way too easy at the beginning and take too much time to truly start and that is a design problem, one difficulty levels can fix. Getting experience points doesn't make easy combat any less dull.

You don't need difficulty modes to offer advanced players more replayability. Optional dungeons, optional super bosses, new game plus modes, etc. Difficulty settings are just lazy and unimaginative.

And I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on starting areas. I'm a patient gamer and I don't have a problem with the early parts of a game being easy. It's how you make a game accessible to every player of every skill level. I know that when I play a Final Fantasy game the hard stuff comes later with harder dungeons/bosses and optional areas and bosses for challenge seeking players. The best FF games were designed with every player in mind and didn't need pointless difficulty settings.

 

[dropsmegamega]

Does Dark Souls 2's NG+ take it too far with the surrounding falconers that make it hard to just leave the normally-straightforward and skippable starting area?

I dont play that series but I am sure that's exactly what their fanbase wants

You don't need difficulty modes to offer advanced players more replayability. Optional dungeons, optional super bosses, new game plus modes, etc. Difficulty settings are just lazy and unimaginative.

And I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on starting areas. I'm a patient gamer and I don't have a problem with the early parts of a game being easy. It's how you make a game accessible to every player of every skill level. I know that when I play a Final Fantasy game the hard stuff comes later with harder dungeons/bosses and optional areas and bosses for challenge seeking players. The best FF games were designed with every player in mind and didn't need pointless difficulty settings.

Optional stuff is nice, but is mostly endgame. Difficulty modes allows for more freedom to push the mechanics to the limit even mid game, in which the player will have to manage its resources and deal with enemies with their current limitations. Maybe it's not for everyone, but saying it's inherently lazy is something I could never agree (even if lots of times it is). There is plenty of early RPGs I wish had a hard mode just so I can fully engage with the mechanics rather than just breeze through everything except some optional super boss and judging by the amount of difficulty mods, I am not the only one.

 

[Turbo Kid]

I generally find hard difficulties not fun because they often go completely against the game's design or just fundamentally break your suspension of disbelief. Kratos the "God of War" nearly dying from one attack on Give Me God of War difficulty is absurd. He's KRATOS, the biggest badass alive, not a decrepit, 90 pound, 100 year old man. When you play Stranglehold on its hardest setting the game gets so hard that you severely limit how often you use Tequila Bombs, saving them for tight spots. Tequila Bombs are half of the fun of playing the game. When you're not using them it's just a generic shooter. In Resident Evil 4 on Professional difficulty, the part of the game where the guy in the helicopter comes to help you is stupid because he doesn't actually do anything like he does on normal difficulty. Why is he even there then?

I also find that in many games hard modes push the difficulty so high that it's really just for masochists. I'm not interested in playing something where I die from one hit. That's not my definition of fun.

Like I said, I prefer creative and thoughtful in game challenges rather than rigged "hard modes" that just ruin the game in some way. I'm speaking from the perspective of if I were to make my own video game. It's just not something that I would do personally.

 

[dropsmegamega]

I generally find hard difficulties not fun because they often go completely against the game's design or just fundamentally break your suspension of disbelief. Kratos the "God of War" nearly dying from one attack on Give Me God of War difficulty is absurd. He's KRATOS, the biggest badass alive, not a decrepit, 90 pound, 100 year old man. When you play Stranglehold on its hardest setting the game gets so hard that you severely limit how often you use Tequila Bombs, saving them for tight spots. Tequila Bombs are half of the fun of playing the game. When you're not using them it's just a generic shooter. In Resident Evil 4 on Professional difficulty, the part of the game where the guy in the helicopter comes to help you is stupid because he doesn't actually do anything like he does on normal difficulty. Why is he even there then?

I also find that in many games hard modes push the difficulty so high that it's really just for masochists. I'm not interested in playing something where I die from one hit. That's not my definition of fun.

Like I said, I prefer creative and thoughtful in game challenges rather than rigged "hard modes" that just ruin the game in some way. I'm speaking from the perspective of if I were to make my own video game. It's just not something that I would do personally.

I agree with most of this, but a hard mode doesn't need to be ridiculous like that. Many times hard is how the game was originally designed, but then it is made easier according to player feedback. Sometimes it isn't just numbers, but dumbing down enemy AI or removing moves. You know, stuff that is actually interesting to see. There are many different publics nowadays and the experience casuals want can be widely different from experienced gamers so I don't think is a problem that can be solved solely with optional challenges. But enough, let's agree to disagree.

 

[Turbo Kid]

I agree with most of this, but a hard mode doesn't need to be ridiculous like that. Many times hard is how the game was originally designed, but then it is made easier according to player feedback. Sometimes it isn't just numbers, but dumbing down enemy AI or removing moves. You know, stuff that is actually interesting to see. There are many different publics nowadays and the experience casuals want can be widely different from experienced gamers so I don't think is a problem that can be solved solely with optional challenges. But enough, let's agree to disagree.

That's an interesting point. Ultimately, developers should probably just know their audience. If you know a game is marketed towards a hardcore crowd than I'd say you can just make it super hard right from the get go and not even worry about having difficulty settings. God Hand comes to mind. Everyone knows that game is not for a casual crowd and if the game feels you're doing too well than it automatically ramps up the difficulty whether you like it or not. You get no say in the matter LOL

 

[Lee__Kanker]

That's an interesting point. Ultimately, developers should probably just know their audience. If you know a game is marketed towards a hardcore crowd than I'd say you can just make it super hard right from the get go and not even worry about having difficulty settings. God Hand comes to mind. Everyone knows that game is not for a casual crowd and if the game feels you're doing too well than it automatically ramps up the difficulty whether you like it or not. You get no say in the matter LOL

ACKKSHUALLY!! GoD HAND DOES HAVE DIFFICULTY FETTINGS MNYEHH!

 

[Turbo Kid]

ACKKSHUALLY!! GoD HAND DOES HAVE DIFFICULTY FETTINGS MNYEHH!

View attachment 104943

They're just a formality though. If you start doing well on normal God Hand automatically ramps up the difficulty to level Die difficulty. Essentially the game can just decide to put you on "hard mode" whenever it wants to.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

They're just a formality though. If you start doing well on normal God Hand automatically ramps up the difficulty to level Die difficulty. Essentially the game can just decide to put you on "hard mode" whenever it wants to.

I know, but pedantry is stronger than me

Bio4 did the same, professional mode is just "game rank is ramped up to the highest at all times"
Still makes for a unique experience!

 

[Turbo Kid]

I know, but pedantry is stronger than me

Bio4 did the same, professional mode is just "game rank is ramped up to the highest at all times"
Still makes for a unique experience!

Aside from the helicopter bit that I ranted about in a previous post, I have to admit I like how that game did Pro, it honestly never felt overwhelmingly hard. I actually did a no damage run as that's just a fun thing I like to do in some games if I really like them, so I have to assume it had the difficulty ramped up to the max but it never felt unfair. I actually didn't even know dynamic difficulty was a thing when I played it. It's only when I saw people mentioning it online long after I was done with the game that I learned about it.

I don't generally like difficulty settings as I've stated, but some games do a fairly good job of them and I like the extra bonus of the new game plus. Playing through Pro again with infinite rockets or the hand cannon is a blast. Bio4 is one of those games that is unusually good though. Many games just don't offer that level of quality in all aspects. It's one of the best games of all time. Most games have crappy, annoying hard modes.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Aside from the helicopter bit that I ranted about in a previous post, I have to admit I like how that game did Pro, it honestly never felt overwhelmingly hard. I actually did a no damage run as that's just a fun thing I like to do in some games if I really like them, so I have to assume it had the difficulty ramped up to the max but it never felt unfair. I actually didn't even know dynamic difficulty was a thing when I played it. It's only when I saw people mentioning it online long after I was done with the game that I learned about it.

I don't generally like difficulty settings as I've stated, but some games do a fairly good job of them and I like the extra bonus of the new game plus. Playing through Pro again with infinite rockets or the hand cannon is a blast. Bio4 is one of those games that is unusually good though. Many games just don't offer that level of quality in all aspects. It's one of the best games of all time. Most games have crappy, annoying hard modes.

Like I said, I like it when it gives you a completly different experience

Better yet, when the game is designed around hard, and normal is just to get you used to the game and unlock stuff; like devil may cry 1&3 or metal gear revengence

And both have those amazing Extra Hard modes, dante must die and reveangence

They introduce new mechanics (devil triggered enemies and the super powerful parries) that like I said give you a new way to play them

Hard and Dante Must Die require a very different approach

Even if you can combo well by now, you gotta know the ins and outs of the devil trigger enemies, how they each have knockback resistance, meaning now attacks with high stun values like stinger and shotgun are way more useful. And then you gotta learn how much knockback value every individual move has, its the only way to do air combos!

 

[Bakuma1997]

Since everything that i could say was already said, i will just say my takes:

BEST:

Zanac: The game lacks a basic difficulty setting, instead it will get tougher/fairer the more you ace/suck at it
LISA: New enemies, Save points explode literally making saving a limited choice, to compensate you get some more items from pick up and i think (Maybe just placebo) enemies give more EXP
Valkyrie Profile: Same as LISA, but here not only the extra EXP is actually advertized, also is the only way to get the extra ending
Blasphemous: Not exactly hard modes, but you get three cripplings on gameplay while giving a way to compensate, EX the Bleeding Heart or as i call it the Hollow Penitent setup makes you take a set amout of hits and enemies respawn when you leave istead of the Souls-like way, that actually makes the beggining tough, but in the Endgame you will tank most attacks and the respawn makes farming Tears faster

WORST:

Kingdom Rush series: I love the games, but i never beat them in anything higher than Medium since they fall on the "Make enemies tankier" trappings

 

[Turbo Kid]

I like the idea of a game offering players a choice of different routes or missions offering up different types of difficulty. Like classic Star Fox games would have some routes you could take that were clearly the hardest one.

I also thought it was neat how Final Fantasy XII had specific high level enemies in some areas that you had to be weary of. And sometimes you could stumble on to an entire map full of enemies much stronger than your party. The cool thing is there were ways to sometimes get through those places even with a low level party and maybe gain access to something powerful that you shouldn't actually have yet.

 

[KaiserMk7]

I like the idea of a game offering players a choice of different routes or missions offering up different types of difficulty. Like classic Star Fox games would have some routes you could take that were clearly the hardest one.

I also thought it was neat how Final Fantasy XII had specific high level enemies in some areas that you had to be weary of. And sometimes you could stumble on to an entire map full of enemies much stronger than your party. The cool thing is there were ways to sometimes get through those places even with a low level party and maybe gain access to something powerful that you shouldn't actually have yet.

*wary