Game Difficulty

[marcus]

How relevant is this to your buying/playing decision?

I cant say I usually give it much thought, however recently Ive found myself tending to pass by games that I would expect to either be very difficult to play or that require me to work to get anything out of it.

Examples of this for me have recently been Virtua Fighter 4 Evo, a game which clearly is brilliant but I have neither the time nor drive needed to do it justice, and Viewtiful Joe which by all accounts is rather difficult, and as such will be pushed down my games list somewhat accordingly.

Maybe my tastes gave changed and I prefer the more relaxing, less twitch based games now, but for the first time ever challenge has become an issue to me and a factor as to what I do and dont play nowadays.

Thoughts.

[Corrupt Rose]

Difficulty isn't a factor in my purchasing checklist... but fairness is. If a game it crammed full of unfair deaths, leaps of faith, and invisible spiked pits (a la Rick Dangerous) then it can go and take a long walk off a short pier as far as I'm concerned.

If the game is hard, but fairly so (you died but it was your fault due to lack of skill or speed) then that's a challenge I'll try to rise to. Unfortunately, as often as I reach for the stars, I explode in vaccuum, so it's kind of a moot point.



- Corrupt

[El Geet]

I'm finding myself getting all the 'must have' titles but perhaps I should be making decisions based on the criteria you mention. Whilst I can appreciate how good VJ is, for example, I have found myself playing other things instead...

VF4:Evo is the only example where I managed to reign in my rampant consumerism...the enthusiasm generated on this forum led me to want to buy the game. I realised that I would never have the time (or ability) to get the most out of the game and stopped myself from buying it.

I'm wondering if I should have done the same with FZeroGX...tough little game isn't it?

[Geoff D]

It's the challenge that spurs me on when I'm playing - but I totally agree with Corrupt Rose about the fairness of your impending doom - there are some tough moments in Viewtiful Joe but the game system is totally fair - it's possible to get through the whole game without taking a hit - if you have the skills (which I don't)

Outrageous difficulty for the sake of it is a bore - difficulty that relaxes as your skills progress is a great way to get me coming back to a game.

[dataDave]

The more difficult the better - I've had enough of games that cost ?40 and then last a day or two, it's just not worth the money these days. I've been wasting my money on that **** for what must be the most part of 7 years now.

F-Zero GX was a complete intake of pure oxygen for me. I couldn't remember the last time a 1-player experience was so challenging, yet rewarding at the same time.

Completing the cups on Master really did remind me of the days of old when if you died, you had to start again from scratch - no save files, no nothing. I lost count of how many times I crashed out and had to retire, starting the cup over again - all thanks to AV giving you a measly 2 lives to play with. It's these experiences that make you better at the game - and the unlockables are always there to keep you coming back for more like a rabid, swearing dog.

For 13 days I stayed awake until 4am playing and playing - regardless of work the next day.

The best ?50 on gaming I can ever remember.

Pure hardcore.

[SharkAttack]

I'd love to get more into some of the "Practise Makes perfect" and challenging games that I own such as PN03, Ikaruga, Wave Race times trials and Beach Spikers but instead find myself giving my time to easy to play through but enjoyable to do so games - Zelda WW, Mario Sunshine and Star Fox. I think at the moment though this is because I want to clear the backlog of games I own.

I seriously don't know how some people find the time to master and play the guts out of several challenging titles at once (VJ, PN03, F Zero, VfEvo etc).

[dataDave]

I seriously don't know how some people find the time to master and play the guts out of several challenging titles at once (VJ, PN03, F Zero, VfEvo etc).

Me neither - I don't think it's possible unless you're unemployed with around 5 hours spent on each of 3 games over the course of a day - I used to play like that as a child.

One at a time for me now though - as pre-mentioned, when playing through F-Zero GX (and still playing through now IMA) I won't touch another game at all until I unlock every single one of those bastard AX racers - even if I'll never use them, the feeling you get from completing a story mission on very hard is untouched. Beating a staff ghost you've been racing against for 2 days is a great feeling too.

I'll wait until I complete GX before I buy and play VJ.

[Saurian]

I prefer games which are in-depth and teach you skills, it's so much more rewarding to totally own a game with tactics it teaches you. Games like this are layered - as you get better, the game gets better. VF4 Evo is like this - just one new technique is all that is needed to change your whole play style. Playing different opponents who use the same character is amazing because they put a lot of their own personality into their fighter. As myself and my friends who challenge get better the game becomes so much more impressive to watch - a couple fights we had on Saturday look choreographed, nobody missed anything - a pure battle of wits. Viewtiful Joe is the same - as you master the skills the game opens up even more possibilities for you. F Zero GX is damn hard - and I love it for being like that - the escape from the burning tunnel in story mode had me hooked! I was proper hungry and tired but just had to have one more go (and this went on for hours! )

I cant sit there and just watch what's going on with little challenge, may as well watch TV.

[NeilMcRae]

I cant sit there and just watch what's going on with little challenge, may as well watch TV.

dunno mate - watching the abymsal ****e of pop ****wit/lame academy its a hard challenge not to want to baseball bat the tv into small pieces.

I'm sure that the Mi5 use pop idol as a torture method.

Neil

[Saurian]

I cant sit there and just watch what's going on with little challenge, may as well watch TV.

dunno mate - watching the abymsal ****e of pop ****wit/lame academy its a hard challenge not to want to baseball bat the tv into small pieces.

I'm sure that the Mi5 use pop idol as a torture method.

Neil

For real man!

[JibberX]

My trip to Japan sorted my views out. Watching people learning and beating game engines and systems was an eye opener. A game that involves technique and learning is my kinda game these days, naturally the likes of Zelda still gets a look in, but quite frankly if I want a good story I'll read a book. If I was an experience or adventure, I'll read a book. If I was to beat a game, engine and competitors I'll play a game.

I think slowly there are two fields opening up, the experience player, and the game player. I don't know if thats the right terminology but really its self explanitory. Some people like playing Grand Theft Auto or Halo, maybe 3rd person adventures and FPSs for another way of saying, and some people like playing games with a technique learning curve, where when you get better YOU get better.

Naturally its each to their own, it is after all an evolving, young medium.

[Kei]

It's all about Mars Matrix on difficulty level 8!




K

[scottcr]

As a result of my blind devotion to the cube, I've been "forced" into appreciating skill based challenge games lately...

Ikaruga is my current fave, I'm (foolishly) waiting for the the PAL release of FZero and VJ just because I've got enough games on my plate just now.

When you make it through a really tought part of Ikaruga with a high score... you feel great. That what gaming should be about.

[johnkiddier]

So long as the system is fair I have no issue with difficulty.

I found Metroid Prime to be too difficult and overly harsh and it got relegated to the bottom of the pile. Ikaruga on the other hand....

I play at least 1/2 hour a day and I'm still trying to beat the 3million mark on level 1.

This is a perfect example of a game where if you're no good, it's your fault, not the games.

VJ is similar but a little harsher and the less said about Metroid the better. If I had played it any longer I'd have broken my wavebird ft:

[Brats]

I think slowly there are two fields opening up, the experience player, and the game player. I don't know if thats the right terminology but really its self explanitory. Some people like playing Grand Theft Auto or Halo, maybe 3rd person adventures and FPSs for another way of saying, and some people like playing games with a technique learning curve, where when you get better YOU get better.

Naturally its each to their own, it is after all an evolving, young medium.

Oh I don't know, I quite happily play both. Most of my time is devoted to KOTOR at the moment, but before that it was mainly VF4:Evo and Dodonpachi. I can quite happily switch between the two and believe that the variety is what keeps me a happy gamer. I don't limit myself to any genre, country or difficulty level, a good game is a good game to me.

I can get equal enjoyment from both rock hard games and easy games, I find that I play different games at different times of the day. I find that when I get up early I start with an easier game and then play bit of hardcore action before going to work. For about six months I played Animal Crossing followed bvy Monkey Balls expert level every morning religiously.

If I'm tired, I prefer an experience type game as I get frustrated when my reactions aren't too sharp when playing twitch games. Before I go out on a Friday night though, VF4:Evo is a must.

I agree with Corrupt Rose about fairness totally. I loath games with unforeseeable deaths.