Forum > Gaming Discussion > What's the deal with "extreme" difficulty?
What's the deal with "extreme" difficulty?
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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:10:10
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I may be exposing myself as a huge pussy here, but I just don't get people who like the impossible difficulty levels.  I am currently playing Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the DS and it's "ok" nothing too special really, but I read on the wiki page for it that it got a lot of crap from people who thought it was not as difficult as the XB versions, and as a result did not approve of the game.

I played the original for, like 20-30 minutes and was like, okay, I get it, it's hard like a NES game.  Not fun.

So, what I am looking for here, is someone to explain to me why they like the extremely difficult games like Ninja Gaiden.  On the regular gametalk sites everyone fronts like they are all about it, but really, does anyone get off on this kind of thing?

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:25:32
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I hate it to be honest. In the past between the ages of 8 and 17 I would have loved it. I would have pushed myself to beat the game and I would have cried or chewed on the controller as I repeatedly tried to beat it.

I think in the past extreme difficulty was used as a cheap way of making a game last longer. You have to replay the same level 20 times just to beat it. Supreme sense of acheivement right? It's just masking a short arcade like game.

But then its carried through to modern, longer games which don't need difficulty as a crutch. Now as an older gentleman, if something pisses me off, I give up. I dont need to be beaten over the head. With a movie, if your eyes aren't fast enough to keep up with the action it still lets you see the end.

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:39:03
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I don't have the time for extremely difficult games. I never really liked them much anyway. Give me a good challenge, and I'm happy. Make it frustrating, and it'll go into the "for sale" pile quickly.

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:19:24
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One thing about NG Dragon sword, from the demo I found sometimes just scratching the screen randomly made it very easy to ryu to hack at people. You can get it for $12 on amazon.com and if I was USA I would get it.

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:49:03
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Ravenprose said:
I don't have the time for extremely difficult games. I never really liked them much anyway. Give me a good challenge, and I'm happy. Make it frustrating, and it'll go into the "for sale" pile quickly.

i agree totally.  except i don't sell games but stuff like that does make my "never to be played" pile very quickly.  i'm looking at you Devil May Cry 3.

multiple difficulties (where they apply) can go a big way in balancing out this issue.  For example God of War is too easy for me on medium/normal but it is just right on spartan and i enjoyed it much more than i would have if i was forced to play it at any other difficulty (lower or higher)

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:33:28
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I just don't have time to go through an extreme difficulty.  There's too much going on in life and very little gaming time as it is.  I didn't buy Ninja Gaiden till Black was released with a Nija Dog mode.
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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:19:47
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I can see how some freaks appreciate it.  I can't relate to it, but there are some people who derive satisfaction from playing uber hard games.  Let's talk MadWorld for a moment.  The main game is pretty easy though it ramps up to a fair level of difficulty towards the end.  The hard mode however. . . I died 3 times in the demo/training section at the beginning.  I played it on the hard mode for a while, but there's only so many times you can die before going. . . this just isn't fun.
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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:38:20
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I love hard modes, I understand there are some modes that are just wrong like the highest difficulty on NG or Legendary on Halo, stuff where you die every two seconds is not fun. But a hard mode that is balanced well is one of the best things in gaming. Gaming is a test of skill, I want to be challenged when I play, I dont want to just experience it, for that I watch a movie. I want to beat the game, when the credits role I want to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Right now I am going through RE5 on pro mode, easily the hardest mode in any mainline RE game and its so much fun. Everything nearly kills you in one hit. It requires you to be at the top of your game, to have that perfect run. Same with something like Sonic games, to actually master those games you need to be nearly perfect. You will die again and agains, it will be frustrating but the sense of accomplishment is unmatched.

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:43:53
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Did you and Skylock finish RE5 in Pro?
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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:44:37
The value of the difficulty is how it relates to design.  You can have a game that's brilliantly difficult or stupidly hard and I don't think it's a unilateral one or the other.  The problem can go either way.

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:07:47
There are no hard games. Either it's broken, or the player's a scrub who's out of practice. By most gamers' standards, Doom's a hard game... I bat away Cyberdemons on Ultra-Violence as if they were flys.
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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:14:36

Everyone has varying degrees of skill in different games and different genres so what may be frustratingly difficult for one person may be perfect for someone else. Just because you may find yourself dieing every 2 seconds on a particular game on a certain difficulty setting doesn't mean that others who may play at that level are. They may be going through at a comfortable, for them, pace with few deaths.

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:20:36
Dvader said:

I love hard modes...

Hard modes are fun when I've beaten a game on Normal (and the game is a good one) -- it can add replay value.

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:56:36

travo said:

Did you and Skylock finish RE5 in Pro?

No, he rented the game. I am playing it with a friend.

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Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:31:32
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Dvader said:


travo said:


Did you and Skylock finish RE5 in Pro?

No, he rented the game. I am playing it with a friend.

 

LOL That sounds kind of mean if you think about it. If you just rent RE5 then you are not a friend of dvader. Nyaa

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Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:19:08
It's to provide a challenge to those who really haven't much time to do anything else and play games...or for those just wanting a stupidly hard challenge.

That all changes when there are games, even on the easiest difficulty, are hard as shit - like the PS2 Shinobi, for instance. I cannot imagine anyone wanting to beat that on the hardest difficulty.

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Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:37:41
I don't like stupidly hard games, yet at the same time, I also hate it when a game has multiple difficulties, and does not let you play through on the hard one until you've already completed it!

Take Metroid Prime 3. I thought it was quite easy on normal and felt like I was just walking through the game. If hard was available from the beginning it would've probably been a much more rich experience for me.

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Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:23:37

Foolz said:
I don't like stupidly hard games, yet at the same time, I also hate it when a game has multiple difficulties, and does not let you play through on the hard one until you've already completed it!

Take Metroid Prime 3. I thought it was quite easy on normal and felt like I was just walking through the game. If hard was available from the beginning it would've probably been a much more rich experience for me.

I cant remember exactly but I think hard was an option from the beggining and that is what I chose because Dvader told me to. It was just right.

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Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:29:23

gamingeek said:

Foolz said:
I don't like stupidly hard games, yet at the same time, I also hate it when a game has multiple difficulties, and does not let you play through on the hard one until you've already completed it!

Take Metroid Prime 3. I thought it was quite easy on normal and felt like I was just walking through the game. If hard was available from the beginning it would've probably been a much more rich experience for me.

I cant remember exactly but I think hard was an option from the beggining and that is what I chose because Dvader told me to. It was just right.

I think only normal and easy was available, and hard was unlocked when you completed it.But my memory could be off. If that wasn't the case, then hard was too easy, and very hard should've been available from the beginning.

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Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:12:19
I am okay with difficult games as long as they are not cheap. A game like F-Zero GX is extremely hard, but with practice you get better and better. Games like these are very satisfying. I will not accept games where you die for no reason. You know you walk and boom you are death with no warning. Or you are attacked of-screen. Fuck that.
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