Busy gamers often play late at night to unwind when they're already pretty tired, so picking up a punishing game or even one that requires too much focus to learn can be a short-lived experience.
On Twitter, OnyxPrimal shared his late night frustration with Dark Souls, regarded as one of the most unapologetically difficult games of the past year:
A few minutes later, this came through:
That made me smile. Peggle is actually a great game, both relaxing and challenging as we've reported, but it's a 180-degree flip from Dark Souls.
So, what do you think about game difficulty:
- Are we less up for punishing games as we get older?
- Is state of mind a factor? (e.g., being well rested vs. burning the dwindling midnight oil)
- Is it that we already have enough stress in our lives, or that maybe we no longer convert game stress into enjoyment?
I've actually been blocked by an influential community manager for suggesting that there is no shame in lowering a game's difficulty if you still enjoy the experience - so clearly this is a divisive issue. Perhaps together we can shed some light on this game dynamic.
Personally, I've vowed to skip games that are designed only for people with "teh mad skillz" and don't consider gamers who have smaller blocks of time to devote to their passion, so Dark Souls and its precursor, Demon Souls, aren't even on my radar. Am I missing out, or playing smart with my time?
Shortly after posting this, I read this tweet by Ben Kuchera, former Ars Technica game reporter (now with Penny Arcade):
When even a successful game reviewer says it's OK to drop difficulty to enjoy a game, I feel like there is hope we can evolve past this dismissive attitude toward gamers who play for reasons other than to prove something.
Another Penny Arcadian, Mike Fehlauer, responded in agreement:
Some game players unfortunately believe that end-game is a reward you get for beating a game on hard mode. Not as something anyone should be able to see and enjoy. This is a selfish and narrow minded view in many ways, not the least of which is ignoring the fact that we all pay the same price to play. We should all be able to enjoy all of a game's content for the price of admission. That being said, a difficulty setting won't improve your platforming skills or your ability to aim so some end-game content will be out of reach for some players regardless of this, but it at least gives us all a fighting chance to enjoy the story being told.
On a related note, I find the difficulty setting on Skyrim to be laughable because it has nothing to do with skill, but the will and disposable time you have to grind out cash or mats to have enough potions to beat tougher enemies. It has nothing to do with strategy and forethought and everything to do with disposable time, and/or exploits. I was perfectly happy to set it do Adept and beat the game.