Are Games Crippled By Easy Modes?

[Venks]

When you start up some games for the first time you have a very important decision to make (once you've passed the loading screens and company logos). What difficulty to play on? Take it easy and make your way through the story? Or play it on hard to truly challenge yourself?

A rose by any other difficulty would smell as sweet?​

Rayman games are known, by the few people who play them, for their difficult platforming. Many platformers allow you to jump at various heights depending on how long you hold the button down, but Rayman is one of the games that will send you to the game over screen if you use your high jumps too frequently.
For a long time, in games, it has been a common principle that there needs to be obstacles for the player to overcome. By learning the rules of a game and honing their abilities, players can surpass any challenge.
But what if there is no challenge?

The original Final Fantasy XIII, which I wish was the last story of its saga, was the worst game I think I've ever played in my entire life. And I've played Barbie Super Model for the Super Nintendo.
In an attempt to make the game more accessible to new gamers, Square Enix cut out practically everything that makes a RPG a RPG. There are essentially no NPCs to talk to in the game, the bulk of exploration takes place in narrow hall ways, and each character only has three stats. The only thing the game has going for it is that its probably the most aesthetically pleasant game on the PlayStation 3. The lack of challenge and depth left me completely appalled and keeps me hesitant from trying newer titles in the Final Fantasy franchise.

There are games without challenge that I find myself able to enjoy. Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing are both games that I enjoy even though I don't have to dodge bullet fire.
These games do a wonderful job at presenting unique themes, introducing interesting characters, and placing the player in a role that generally can't be found in other games. In Animal Crossing I found myself really enjoying coming across the random villagers that made up my neighbors. These creatures all have their own odd behaviors and choice of words.
I could tell the game had a powerful hold over me when one of my favorite neighbors had moved away to a friend's town. I was so sad to see her go, but as an awesome last gesture she had sent me a letter along with a piece of furniture. That piece of furniture just so happened to complete the set I was going for. I couldn't of asked for a better memento to remember my virtual friend.

Master Of Your Own Destiny​

The white tanooki suit in Super Mario 3D World seems to be generating some distaste amongst 'retro' gamers. For those of you who don't know, the white tanooki suit is an item that appears after dying multiple times in a row within the same level. The item makes you invincible from enemies and spikes that would normally knock you out. The complaint I see the most is that people who beat levels using the white tanooki suit didn't 'earn' their victory. I honestly look at this as a very out dated line of thinking.
Back in the NES days there were a lot of very difficult games. Not everyone wants to spend hours upon hours learning the exact positioning and timing required for intense platforming moments. In today's age of gaming, developers try their best to make their games as accessible as possible so players of any skill level can have fun.
A very young player might get frustrated with a particular difficult challenge and the white tanooki suit is there to assist him. A more patient player who finds themselves failing a few too many times will also see the white tanooki suit appear, but by no means is the item mandatory. If you prefer the challenge and want to learn from your mistakes you can ignore the power-up and focus on the problems ahead. It's simply a choice for you to make.

It's not always apparent to most players, but ignoring certain items is a great way to ramp up the difficulty if it fits your fancy. I've yet to try a 'No Mushroom' run of a Mario game, but I have tried the 'Three Heart Challenge' in Zelda and 'Minimum Level' boss fights in Kingdom Hearts II. By keeping my health low in one game and my experience down in another, I'm able to turn simple hindrances into nightmare inducing spawns of true evil.
Player created challenges like these really require you to learn the ins and outs of the mechanics of the game. A single missed dodge or mistimed attack can be your last. This maybe exactly what you're looking for if you feel you need more challenge from your games.

Pick Your Poison​

Now some developers literally have you choose between modes of difficulty. Far too few games actually change the game in meaningful ways when you choose a difficulty setting. More times then not the game merely alters a few values such as damage and health.
I really enjoyed playing Tomb Raider with my partner in love and crime. When ever she was silly enough to put the controller down I'd steal it for myself and shoot some arrows through some unsuspecting hats. I eventually decided to give the game a go by my lonesome on the hard difficulty. It took me quite some time to figure out what the changes were. I was really hoping for end game enemies and attack patterns to turn up early alongside new threats. Much to my dismay the only differences I could note were my opponents dealt more damage and had more health.
Having already played the game a bit I was more then accustomed to dodging molotov cocktails and enemy projectiles. Increasing the damage of these attacks literally has no effect on me since the attacks are unable to land. I'm no Robin Hood but I was having no problem aiming for instant kills with my bow and arrow. Increased health, or not, a killing blow is a killing blow. Even on hard mode action scenes felt too easy and had become repetitive.

Then we have the beautiful game Catherine. This game has you climbing up a tower of blocks as it slowly collapses. You have to utilize several block pushing/pulling techniques in order to ascend. Trick blocks and annoying fellow climbers will slow you down as the tower seems to collapse that much faster.
If puzzles aren't your strong suit I heavily suggest playing it on easy. This game is definitely one of the more challenging ones made now a days. Rather then just changing the amount of time you have to climb the block towers, the difficulty settings actually have their own puzzles. The techniques you have to employ in order to rise from one level to the next change with each difficulty setting.
I really wish more games had differing content between modes. Not that I'd cheat on Catherine to be with them. That would be wrong.

 

[Primeguy]

Totaly agree with you on the new Tanooki suit. Not many games ive played have mastered difficulty, either the A.I. increases in health or our (the players) health becomes far too fragile. I like when the games themselves get harder an example would be in the Halo franchise even though the enemys health increases so does their A.I. becoming more agile, accurate, dodging grenades and gunfire, fllushing you out of cover with their own grenades, etc. Or when the levels themselves become more challenging adding new twists or handicapping the player. With the new Tanooki suit theres no challege and its like a kick in the face to gamers everywhere. I know that since gaming is becoming more main stream it might seem like a great idea to make games more noob friendly but it really just takes away from the gameplay especially with games that arent story or expirience(not exp for rank) based. What if chess had a piece that would instantly win you the game if it wasn't going your way? Sure you won, but its much more exciting when you actually win by out smarting your opponent.

Iv'e been playing this indie game lately it's a platformer with totaly fair randomly generated levels, each world gets harder and adds a new twist. Gameplay is real smooth, enemys are tricky and theres a plethora of items and equipment. But here's the catch once you die you have start all over from the very beggining, but it's so much fun/addictive and very well programed, that you never feel cheated out of a death and it pushes you to try and make it farther everytime. Spelunky really tries to teach you to become a better player and if you don't, well then you'll never make it out of the caves and discover the other worlds or any of it's cool secrets. If your looking for a test of your skills I highly recomend anyone whos looking for a fun challenge to try this game out.

 

[Slowy]

Well, that would be a yes and no. It's a yes because some may like a challenge, and some others may find it too easy; for them, easy mode may be too easy and/or boring. It's also a no because it's there to make things easier at the beginning; there're always going to be those who have never played the games before (everyone has been like that), so the easy mode is there as a starting point to get the hang of the games and, if ready, go up in the difficulty levels (that was probably the intention in the first place). In my line, it really depends on the person. One person may be best at puzzles, while another may have a better time at the action-packed games, for example. With all of these details in mind, this is one of those individual problems. If you can move up and are ready to, feel free to do so; if you find that easy is the best you can do, stick with what you know and can do. (This is my perspective; I hope I've contributed and helped out properly.)

 

[The Admiral]

Yes, of course, something completely optional ruins my gaming experience. Just knowing that there are some people who can't plow through I Wanna Be the Guy blindfolded on the highest difficulty makes me violently physically ill. I am literally incapable of sleeping at night knowing that Mega Man 2 in America had an optional "Normal" difficulty where the enemies were easier than they were in the Japanese original of the game. Kaizo Mario World is the benchmark that all games should aspire to at the bare minimum!

 

[WildHennaCharizard]

I say no; why ?well the easy mode or the golden Toonki suit are optional you can choose to use them or not. I remember back when super Mario 3 came out and the unlimited power wing that you permit flight for the level; You could you it to fly at the top of the screen and pass all the hazards of the level. One last thing to consider that kids ages 5 and up play video games too not just people who where played them since arcade times. Young kids can play the easy mode so they don't get frustrated and when there are ready to try a harder mode they can.

 

[The Admiral]

I say no; why ?well the easy mode or the golden Toonki suit are optional you can choose to use them or not. I remember back when super Mario 3 came out and the unlimited power wing that you permit flight for the level; You could you it to fly at the top of the screen and pass all the hazards of the level. One last thing to consider that kids ages 5 and up play video games too not just people who where played them since arcade times. Young kids can play the easy mode so they don't get frustrated and when there are ready to try a harder mode they can.

Some people would make the argument that you had to earn the P-wings, though. I mean, it's not like you get one for killing the first boss or someth--

holy shi'ite. it's like the reason for the bias has nothing to do with the content, but is instead grounded 100% in nostalgia.

 

[Auraninja]

The only time the golden Tanooki suit was really a bother was in 3d Land, where you could not get the glittery star rank by even seeing it. It's still not a big deal.

One thing good about easy modes is that it can inspire someone who is bad a the game to go through it and:
a. Play a game they normally wouldn't play or get through.
b. Play a game to learn how to play it on higher difficulty.

Sometimes, easy modes are discouraged. In the case of Mega Man X8, you didn't get the luxury of the real final boss. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance would crash Radiant Dawn if you had an Easy mode clear, which is a rare example of an unintentional one.

 

[SBaby]

Some people would make the argument that you had to earn the P-wings, though. I mean, it's not like you get one for killing the first boss or someth--

holy shi'ite. it's like the reason for the bias has nothing to do with the content, but is instead grounded 100% in nostalgia.

The difference with P-Wings and why I'm ok with them is because:

1 - There's a limited amount of them. In total, you can only get 7 of them if you go through every world. Once you use them, you're done.

2 - Some of them require you to do stupidly obscure things to get (like ending a stage with a certain time, or having an even number of coins). If you didn't know this in advance, you'd likely never know about some of the white mushroom houses. In other words, you have to already be skilled to get them and chances are, you won't get every one of them.

3 - They don't make you outright invincible. Get hit once, and you still lose it, like any other powerup (and often times end up in a pit because you can't modulate your fall). Plus, many stages have ceilings. So when you think about that, there are times when they don't help at all in the harder stages (two fortress stages that everyone remembers should come to mind here).


I'm aware that I didn't mention the 28 P-Wings you get by beating SMB3 as one of my points. The reason should be obvious.

 

[The Admiral]

That and, you know, that one ****ing level.

 

[Arvis]

It depends on the game.

If a game is complex, an easy mode helps the player become acquainted with the gameplay.

 

[Ohtachi]

No simply because no game I can think of REQUIRES you to play easy mode (assuming they have multiple different modes you can play).

 

[jireh the provider]

The only time the golden Tanooki suit was really a bother was in 3d Land, where you could not get the glittery star rank by even seeing it. It's still not a big deal.

One thing good about easy modes is that it can inspire someone who is bad a the game to go through it and:
a. Play a game they normally wouldn't play or get through.
b. Play a game to learn how to play it on higher difficulty.

Sometimes, easy modes are discouraged. In the case of Mega Man X8, you didn't get the luxury of the real final boss. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance would crash Radiant Dawn if you had an Easy mode clear, which is a rare example of an unintentional one.

Naturally, now that you remind me of radiant Dawn, I find the normal difficulty slightly more surprising this time as I just played it tonight. In easy mode, in every boss, you could just easily upgrade all of the daein characters to their second stage on the first act. But this time in normal where the bosses move around somewhat more and having better equipment and smarter AI compared to their easy level counterpart, I just find it difficult to really equalize the level of all Daein characters (which is what I like to do) unlike the other acts. Not to mention, you get less bonus experience in Normal mode.

On topic...

As a video game designer in training, I would say that Easy mode, as an achilees heel, is what makes a lot of today's games fall down a lot despite its realistic truth. In fact, if I was designing a difficulty setting, I just may ask a gamer if they have played a video game of this certain genre before or not? The beauty of putting options is actually very good. Well, look at Black 2 / White 2 as a simple example I guess. It's one of my favorite styles so far along side Fire Emblem's Cruel Difficulty to me.

 

[The Pokemon Broadcast]

If it's a game I'm not familiar with, I will start off on the easiest difficulty until I'm acquainted with the game mechanics.
Then, I would increase the game difficulty if I feel ready.