Are video games today too easy?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010I spent some time checking out the user-movies over at Gametrailer and found this guy saying that easy games ain’t a bad thing and I agree it ain’t, however I still prefer harder games when it’s done right.
Lately when playing games, I’ve always gone with the hardest difficulty available upon starting a new game. Why? Mostly because I find that the normal difficulty doesn’t present a challenge unless the game is of a series that is known for it’s difficulty such as Ninja Gaiden. This guy “ChessRedEagle” over at gametrailers thinks that games like Demon’s Souls are unnecessarily hard and punishes gamers for the only reason of being hard. I agree that the game is hard but I don’t agree on the aspect of the game punishing only because the developers wanted the game to be hard. It’s clear to anyone playing the game for a lengthier time that the key to the game is timing and knowing the attack patterns of the enemy. Games like Demon’s Souls appeals to a certain kind of gamer, I’m that kind of gamer.
Even though I play a lot of games I really like the ones that are punishing because I find it to be a more rewarding experience when I actually succeed. That’s why I love Skate, it was really hard to learn but really satisfying when pulling of some realistic technical lines, not that the game is hard but to pull something really technical and realistic off that doesn’t look like Tony Hawk Pro Skater is without a doubt hard. Demon’s Souls is all about observing your opponent, being careful and taking it slow, it’s about learning how your enemy moves and its attack patterns. On the surface it might look like the enemies are brutal with no intelligent AI and yeah that might be so, but you still get your ass kicked. However I prefer that over “intelligent” enemies that you can run circles around. These types of enemies will attack you one and one, while the other watch, this won’t happen in Demon’s Souls it might be primitive but it’s effective, their primary objective is to take you out and that’s what they do. Games known for the easy difficulty like Fable have enemies that just stand around waiting for you to attack them or misses 70% of the time. That’s too easy.
If you like games that don’t present a challenge and lets you breeze through the game you might be more of a casual gamer. I like to work hard when playing a game though it depends what type of game it is, if the game is about a superhero I shouldn’t feel like I would have any trouble with the local ruffians but only when I meet my equivalent. However games like Demon’s Souls is meant to make the player feel like they are nothing special at all, and that issue is clearly presented at the beginning of the game. You need to work to get your character more powerful, in the end you need to rely on your wits to finish the game, wits and dedication to the game. However I feel like a game like Demon’s Souls could’ve been more interesting without the Hub-world element to it, making exploring a big factor of the game would be great.
I recently finished Heavy Rain as well, and it’s more of an interactive movie drama, I wouldn’t really call it a game. But it’s definitely a game that doesn’t present much challenge and I enjoyed it so I guess it’s a fine line between a game that is satisfying and ones that aren’t and that line might just be super-awesome storytelling. Whether it’s a game or not is up to you to decide. I myself define a game like this: A game is a problem-solving activity approached with a playful attitude. So the thing that makes Heavy Rain a game is the quick-time events, which barely makes a game.
In the end I like games that makes me feel like a nobody at the start, so that I can prove the game wrong by kicking its’ ass at the highest difficulty. Higher difficulties makes me concentrate more on the game, that concentration and fear of dying leads to a more immersive experience and that’s why I like it. I like to feel immersed the game, be it driving a car on the edge of a cliff whilst getting gunned down by enemies (Bad Company 2) or sneaking past some fearful creature in a fantasy world, the harshness of dying and fear of dying is what makes it interesting. That’s why I scream “Oh shit!!” when bombshells falls next to me or when I get surprised and chased by a minotaur. It’s all in the immersion, however higher difficulties = immersion can only be achieved as long as that sweet balance is in harmony. Too hard without logic/reason and too hard without reward makes every gamer put down the controller. You want to make the player feel like it’s worth it to invest the little time players have these days.
