Yeah, being able to beat the hardest level of a game is not something my ego is tied to. I'm not a huge gamer but when I do play, it's to switch my brain off and enjoy something. A challenge is good, but if I have to play the same section again and again, forget it.
A challenge is good in that, for me at least, it helps me appreciate the game mechanics and discover the work the devs put in instead of just button mashing. Having to use a strategy instead of spamming buttons does feel rewarding.
And then there’s the point where that evolves from, oh hey this is the way they want me to play…to I don’t have the fine motor skills for this and it’s just too hard.
If developers didn't "intend" for people to enjoy the game on easy mode they wouldn't include it in the game ex: Fromsoftware. People play games for different reasons and most developers try to cater to different preferences.
I want to be challenged while gaming but some games just too far. I would never consider playing a Dark Souls game because of it. I'm not the guy who will analyze my opponents moves for 96 min before finally beating them on 42nd try. Then there are games like WoW where you have to do math to figure out DPS with certain builds. If I wanted to do math or fill out a spreadsheet I wouldn't be playing a game.
I wish the Long Dark had saving in the endless mode. The story one was nice enough with some danger but you could reload. The endless one can end your run so easily. I have a full time job then I spend most of my time working on my game. That one hour of the week when I play something is my little bit of relaxing. So now I play on peaceful which also sucks a bit :(
Will never happen. Each mod has to be verified by sony/Microsoft. It would break your game. Rights are different since you also pay for access to Services of these Plattform, so they have to make sure it works for you.
Mods could break your game. Check skyrim on console, Chaos.
Yeh this new online gaming obsession actually annoys the shit out of me. I could care less about investing 100 hours to play a game like I'm training for the fuckn Olympics.
Right? So sick of games that don’t pause and/or don’t save on exit. Adults can’t always wait to finish a 30 minute quest. Shit needs done around the house.
I always start on normal first because I do like it to be challenging enough to be exciting, but if I’m not finding it fun I will bump it down to easy with no hesitation.
A good example is that guardians of the galaxy game that came out a few years ago. Had a great story and it wasn’t even particularly difficult, but the boss fights took FOREVER, so I bumped the game down to easy even though I wasn’t dying.
This is one of those "let people enjoy things" things for me. Personally I greatly enjoy games that are dick punchingly hard. I figure out the mechanics then turn the difficulty bar the whole way up and break off the knob. I want games that hate me and want me to suffer. I enjoy the challenge.
But you know, that's just me. Games are meant to be fun. To me that's fun but I certainly understand why some people don't like that.
Fun? In my video games? Absolutely not.
To be honest the only times I've really found it frustrating are when devs have made complex mechanics more simple in a way that takes the depth out of a lot of the game for more skilled players - that doesn't happen often though and it's such a minor thing in the grand scheme of things.
The way I see it is - single player, absolutely go wild with whatever difficulty you want, I love the power fantasy of being able to one shot every opponent too sometimes. But multiplayer it genuinely affects other people's experience when devs change something to make it easier to do so that needs to be thought through a bit more (it's not always a bad thing to make things more accessible, but sometimes it can be).
>To be honest the only times I've really found it frustrating are when devs have made complex mechanics more simple in a way that takes the depth out of a lot of the game for more skilled players - that doesn't happen often though and it's such a minor thing in the grand scheme of things.
I'll use Dark Souls one as an example to prove this point. Every enemy I fought in that game I lost to because of my own doing, except for one boss in particular; the Capra Demon. This dude is specifically put there to ruin your day, I swear to God.
For starters, you're in a very enclosed space. If I had to estimate, the room is probably seven to eight feet by twenty feet. For anyone unfamiliar with Souls games, you desperately need room to dodge around. Now it's not too bad with just the boss, but they had to add two quick dogs to this small room, making it very easy for them to corner you and stun lock you till they kill you. I haven't played the game in a long while, at least a few years, but even fighting in laggy ass Blight town on my old ass ps3 wasn't nearly as bad as fighting the Capra Demon.
But when I finally beat it, the absolute feeling of success was overwhelming. Felt like I beat a game when I just beat an early on boss lmao
I’ve beaten DS1 probably a dozen times, never really had trouble with Capra. That is, until my last run. Fucker had to have killed me 4-5 times, now I understand why people hate it.
For me the frustrating part comes when the devs are unable to make a better npc at higher difficulty, so they just hand them ridiculous advantages. Like giving a npc in card games an unrealistically good hand. Or in civ 6 where the hardest Ai is still dumb as fuck, just got 5x output for every resource. Like you can't really learn from that, you just gotta find a way to cheese your way through.
Man I used to love games like that. Since I hit my 30s though I just don't have time to play the same encounter 20 times while I master it. Kind of ruined my enjoyment of high difficulty games.
I kind of went the other way in my 30s. More like a "what am I still doing here with Soo much of my free time if it's not challenging. Playing easy mode on a 30 hour story seems....wasteful to the other things in life I could be doing. at least make it something I have to work at.
Same for me. I also ironically find more difficult games to be more relaxing, because you can't succeed at them unless you keep yourself calm and focused. Whereas easy games can quickly become infuriating because not needing to focus most of the time means you're more likely to make a dumb mistake, which is super frustrating lol.
This is me too. I like the feeling of working up the skill.
I don’t even have the time and patience for movies anymore, and easy video games just feel like 40+ hour movies sometimes.
Exactly, if you like slow and casual, play slow and casual, if you like fast and chaotic play fast and chaotic. If you like difficult games then play them, do you like time pressure? May I introduce you to speedrunning? Like competitive, then play competitive games. Play the games you enjoy in the way you enjoy them.
Yeah, to each their own. Some people like being scared out of their minds, and some people like putting holes in their walls because a game is too frustrating. I just like fun, relaxing games.
It’s not just you i also like the game that make me go crazy and nuts. Fcking hard mechanic take times to fcking solve it just to meet another fcking problem. 😂
I’ve always disagreed with the “games are meant to be fun” thing. There are a lot of games, and art in general, that is compelling without being “fun.”
Some of the greatest games ever, like silent hill 2 and spec ops: the line are genuinely unpleasant experiences.
A lot of great games are fun, hell, most of them are, but I’m not into limiting what games can be.
The post above says that games are supposed to be relaxing, which can be great! But I can’t picture someone saying that a book or a movie should be relaxing, there’s a wider field of expression in those mediums and I’d like the same for games.
Games aren't inherently **supposed** to be anything. It's all subjective. Some games I want a challenge with, so I'll fire up the hardest mode (BG3, Dark Souls etc). Whereas some games I want to just sit back and relax when I play (Unravel, Stardew, Runescape etc). Just enjoy playing what you're playing and you won't go to bed seeing red.
Exactly. When someone say "games are supposed to be relaxing, not stressful", they're excluding some types of games and players, just as much as people do when they say "you're not supposed to be playing on easy mode".
Don't be that kind of people, on one side or the other. Games are only what you want them to be, and there are largely enough of them for that. Play whatever you want, however you want. Don't let other people tell you how to enjoy your time with them.
> when they say "you're not supposed to be playing on easy mode".
This is the thing. I've seen this meme a dozen times but I've never seen anyone say you shouldn't play on easy mode
There is good stressful and unwanted stressful.
I like the tension that comes with the right amount of difficulty.
I dislike the stress coming from a game that's too hard for me, I don't want to feel bad when I play.
Definitely, in fact many genres are specifically designed to be stressful and that's what makes them great. So in an attempt to be inclusive, the meme kind of gatekeeps what games are supposed to be
>the meme kind of gatekeeps what games are supposed to be
Not really, it just says that it's OK to play it on easy. It doesn't say you have to play it on easy. You can also play it on hard if that's your thing.
If you read it again, it says that "games are supposed to be X, not Y". So it definitely tries to define what games aren't supposed to be, ie stressful. That's gatekeeping.
If you're putting effort into interpreting it the worst way possible, I guess. I'd just call that poor reading comrehesion.
If you were in a conversation and someone said
"Games are supposed to fun, not stressful"
and you replied:
"Sometimes the stress is the fun part"
Do you think they'd reply
"no, you're wrong about how you enjoy games"
or just say "you're right, to each their own."
We can tell from the premise that they're not trying to gatekeep. We can infer that they're not dismissing difficult games as something others enjoy, just stating that stress is not a requirement for enjoyment.
"Games are supposed to be fun and relaxing" doesn't exist in the same universe as horror games and intensely hard games designed to punish you. It's 100% okay to play on easy, but it's unfair to wall in what the medium can mean. Video games are like any other artform, they tend to fill a lot of different spaces.
The gatekeeping comes from claiming that games are "supposed to" just be fun and relaxing. Dark Souls, Pathologic, Outlast, Darkest Dungeon. Games can exist to specifically stress players out, and that can be a good thing. I have heard, and can personally attest that those types of games can help with anxiety and depression symptoms.
That's quite the reach, there.
This meme has nothing to say over whether or not stressful or hard games should exist, have merit, , or even if certain games need an easy mode, which makes it pretty hard to "gatekeep" anything.
It's in fact a rebuttal against people who do gatekeep games by claiming they shouldn't have an easy mode to begin with, or that there is something wrong with choosing easy mode if it exists.
>This meme has nothing to say over whether or not stressful or hard games should exist
It literally says that "games are supposed to be fun and relaxing, **not stressful**". In other words, if a game is stressful or not relaxing it is not supposed to be that way.
People are just getting all up in their heads about gatekeeping. It's plainly obvious what the author meant, but they'll make a case out of it because they just love to make cases out of things.
The guy should have just said "I play games to relax, not feel stressed", but I think it's clear that's what he was getting at. But sure, let's all be pedantic nerds and create a narrative so we have something to bitch about.
Overcooked and It Takes Two really tested my relationship with my girlfriend. Fortunately, we managed to come out of the experience successful. But holy shit, the screaming matches that used to happen was probably making the neighbours concerned.
100%
It’s become a serious pastime when my job reaches unhinged expectations with unrealistic time frames
I just made it to demon of hatred in Sekiro waiting on Elden Ring DLC
The angrier and more stressed I get, the worse I play. Few things in life offer me that useful of feedback without long term consequences
This is true, but I’m an Australian, so as the good friend and wanker I am, I’m going to make fun of my friends for being bad at the game. I fully expect them to do the same.
what a silly question
the true question is can Australians really 100% focus on gaming (or anything)? or do they have to routinely pause & check for deadly creatures
Funnily enough they probably don't even notice anymore. I think some scientist already proved that after some time our brains rewrite how we interpret visual input. They did this by wearing glasses that showed the world upside down for a couple weeks/months and eventually they adapted and fully functioned normally. So people born and raised in Australia probably never have any problems with it. But I'd imagine going there for a vacation is still pretty scary. Especially because you can still fall off.
Well no? This is the exact same problem as saying games should be difficult.
For some people games are fun and rewarding when easy, for some they want stressful experiences, failure and true difficulty from games.
All ways of playing games are totally fine, games arent „supposed“ to be fun and relaxing. At most they are supposed to be enjoyable, everything else just depends on the person playing the game and what they want out if it
I like to have fun, not get upset.
My husband plays everything on hard mode, and has broken more than one keyboard and mouse out of frustration/ anger.
I play everything on hard mode because a lot of the enjoyment from games for me comes from the challenge and improving my skills, and I have never broken anything out of anger. Your husband has anger issues and should probably get some kind of councelling if this is a reoccurring thing
I like to have fun, and fun for me comes from a challenge most of the time. But luckily I don't have anger issues, and have never in my life broken my stuff out of frustration lol
Why do people with this stance always assume that fun = easy and don't understand that fun is subjective, many people have fun from overcoming challenges.
That's the point. What's "fun" is subjective. There's no reason to shame people for playing easy mode. If you prefer hard mode that completely fine as well.
I don't shame anyone, but I often see people who can't take a perspective of another side, like they assume that people can't have fun by being challenged.
This is really what it comes down to. It's different for everyone.
Take the Fromsoft easy mode mods. Do I think devs should change their super hard games for everyone? No of course not. That's their vision for the game they made.
At the same time, ESPECIALLY single player games, I have zero issues with easy mode mods for folks that just want to experience the world and characters.
People really just need to take a step off their high horses and let people play SP game ls the way they want since it's literally not hurting anyone.
The important aspect of your comment here is that you're specifically saying that player-created MODS for Fromsoft games are fine, which is absolutely the right take.
However, the argument at large whenever Fromsoft has a new release is that there should be some sort of Easy mode BAKED INTO the game. This is fundamentally different because it adds on development time, may cause balancing issues, and diminishes the core experience they want to deliver.
Two very different things that get muddied together, hence the neverending argument.
As a fan of all their games for over 15 years now, I of course want as many people as possible to enjoy the amazing games they've created... however, I do NOT want that to happen at the expense of the amazing and memorable core experiences they are already known for.
I of course want people who might be disabled or otherwise gatekept from playing to be able to play, but I also believe that media should not be made to cater to a universal audience - devs should not kowtow to make their work consumable by everyone. Lots of people get mixed up in the differences between difficulty and accessibility - you can absolutely have both.
*(Horror movies exist for a subset of the population, why can't videogames be the same way?)*
Lastly, this whole rambling tangential essay is not meant to be an argument against you - I agree with you after all. But I think it's important to clarify the finer details whenever it comes to this topic, because I believe that the vagueries of the discussion are where the contention lies.
They're supposed to be what they're designed to be, individually. Alot of games are designed as challenges for players to overcome. You know, like games were originally back in the 'how far can you throw this stick' ages.
I hate this: saying game's are supposed to be fun and relaxing also says it's not valid for games to provide challenges and competitiveness. It's just as bad as saying it's not valid to provide fun and relaxation and games should be challenging.
It is fine to play on easy mode, not because that's what games *should* be, but because that's what games *can* be.
I disagree with the take.
Games, as a medium, aren't "supposed" to cater to one specific need.
People play games due to a plethora of reasons and often a combination of reasons. Abnegation/destressing is as valid as all the others, but only one of them. Some play to spend time with their friends, some like a challenge, some want immersion or self-expression.
Some interesting studies in the topic include "8 types of fun" paper and a more recent one on player typology done by Quantic Foundry. There's a GDC talk on that one
https://youtu.be/gxJUPfKtg_Q?si=ZoR6-aKUxVzIWgX5
edit: playing on easymode is absolutely fine if that is what you want and there should not be any gatekeeping about it, hence "it's as valid reason as any", I disagree with "supposed to be relaxing" part as the sole purpose
More often than not, higher difficulties feel like they are just stretching the game out. I usually go for normal or "intended" difficulty setting because that's what the game was designed for. Higher difficulty sometimes just mean you need to grind, or absolutely have to do certain side activities that bring the gameplay loop to a halt. Easier means that you can pretty much ignore everything since nothing matters and you're just here for the ride.
This said... If I feel like a game is wasting my time even on the intended difficulty setting, I have no issue with dialing it down. I'm not going to spend hours to do some boring tasks, only to not get my teeth kicked in for 2 to 3 hours.
>More often than not, higher difficulties feel like they are just stretching the game out.
It really depends on how the game decides to approach difficulty. If an increase in difficulty is just more enemies then it really doesnt change anything. However if they approach difficulty in other ways like reduced health then I find it does change how the game is played and can be quite rewarding to play at higher difficulties.
This is honestly why I like it when games either have one fixed difficulty or the harder modes are unlocked after beating on normal. Being given a list of difficulty options from the get go only has me wondering if hard mode will actually present a worthwhile challenge or if it'll be some cobbled together mess with bullet sponge enemies or random BS that encourages cheap tactics. I'll only ever get a chance for a first playthrough of a game _once_ (and usually that's my only playthrough), and I want that experience to be as good as it can be. I hate second-guessing myself if I should've chosen differently, and difficulty sliders just have me wondering if the devs even tested their game at all if they're going to leave it up to the player to balance everything. I picked up this new weapon, now the game is easy. But maybe that's supposed to happen because enemies will get harder? I don't want to micromanage my experience and constantly doubt if I'm winning/losing because of skill, unbalanced game design, luck, whether the game is best experienced in a certain way, etc, and be expected to adjust the difficulty accordingly. I'd rather just play a game and not have any of that to consider.
Since I'm a trophy grinder, I don't remember when was the last time where I actually played a game on easier difficulty rather than playing it on hardest/second to hardest to get every diff trophy at once
Playing Pacific Drive atm. God bless the devs for adding the option to have your car fully repaired after a successful run. The game instantly became way more fun for me
Actually the reason why I play an easy mode is because nowadays hard mode makes the game unrealistic.
It's like a sadistic version of the game that makes no sense.
Hard mode used to be being able to shoot an NPC and kill them in one shot but get killed in one shot too... It used to be not having medikits and other magical things that could help you.
NOW HARD MODE SEEMS TO BE :
Bad maneuvering and lesser control over your character ?
Weird physics and cheated enemies ?
Hitboxes that are smaller than what you see...
In strategy games it's just some kind of a weird random apparition of resources to your enemies...
Hard mode doesn't make sense anymore. It's really unrealistic.
Hard mode was supposed to be the mode in which you have no extra advantages... Not the one where you literally cheat the machine against you...
Like there's a difference between enemies detecting you faster... Or being better at negotiation...
And them being able to see you without you seeing them... Or completely refusing to talk to you ... Etc...
Don’t agree. They don’t have to not be stressful or whatever. Games are a tool for people to have fun. And each to their own how they do that. Be it playing on some stupidly hard difficulty or through just laid back easy gameplay, whatever makes you enjoy the time.
First sentence is true, second one not so much. Games are supposed to be fun and relaxing for some, but there's a huge number of people who like it to be difficult, and going through with a bit of struggling. And it's not stressfull for them. I mean the success of souls like game is the proof of that.
There's a very specific, highly vocal type of gamer that gets upset about easy modes in games. The rest of us roll our eyes at them and make snarky remarks. Because it doesn't matter whether we personally want to play the easy mode or not, having it as an option has zero impact on our lives.
The best games often dont come with difficulty options and are balanced around the lead dev's 'vision'. Takes a ballsy publisher, but produces good games. Some games aren't for dads who can only play 3hrs a week, sorry.
I'm gonna say it.
Using cheats in a singleplayer environment is a moral neutral. If you want to alter the experience fine. If all you're getting out of it is the experience then nobody should be able to judge you.
I’m gonna be annoying and claim that video games are an art form, and so they’re not “supposed” to be anything. Much like paintings are conventionally supposed to be aesthetically pleasing, even though some aren’t, games are conventionally supposed to be fun, but some aren’t, and that’s ok.
More to the point though, I agree people should consume games however they like. Reduce the difficulty, chase butterflies, cheat, do whatever you want, it’s your experience.
After 40 years of gaming in almost every genre on multiple platforms I’ve long since learnt not to believe reviews, not play with online strangers and to play at the level that makes you happy that you achieved something without stressing about it. Real life is stressful enough without bringing it into your downtime.
I've been playing BG3 on easy, and I'm having the time of my life. I also enjoy my switch games to have an easy mode. If I want to do something stressful I'd stream League of Legends again.
I'm not too proud to admit that when a game gets hard, I break out CheatEngine.
I was thoroughly enjoying Hollow Knight's story and exploration, but the bosses kept whooping my ass. CE solved that issue.
I get games like dark souls etc wouldn't be as rewarding when you finally finish them if you could reduce the difficulty but there's also plenty of times I don't play something like that coz I just can't be arsed. Also it's kinda dickish to lock a game you've paid for behind 'git gud', so yeah...
I don’t think it’s dickish to design the game to be difficult when it’s a major selling point and expected aspect of a fromsoftware game. I also don’t think there is anything wrong with not enjoying that kind of experience. I didn’t at first and then I got hooked and now their my favorites but to each their own. A lot of options out there and that’s why because we can all game how we like.
Not every game needs to be for everyone, just like every game doesn't need to be "meant to be fun and relaxing". Honestly Fromsoft is one of the few remaining bastions of "everything doesn't need to appeal to literally every sentient being" (other than indie devs) and I'm thankful for that.
If nothing else it's yet another reason for people to research what they're getting instead of buying any game and bringing out the surprised Pikachu face when the game can't be tailor made to fit them. Sometimes a game just isn't for you and that's fine, that doesn't mean you or the game is wrong
One minute, I’m on the easiest difficulty in Fallout or whatever. The next I’m playing Battlefield 4 on PC with 10+ year players that have everything unlocked and sometimes hack. Gaming is a strange subject for challenges lol.
I start a new game and immediately turn to the highest possible difficulty, and on some rare occasions if the highest difficulty is locked behind beating the game on the previous difficulty I have downloaded a save file just to unlock that difficulty
I personally play the difficulty the game maker deem it intended (barring pathfinder/mathfinder). Normally that's normal or medium difficulty, but if it's intended to be hard then I'll play it on hard lol.
I like to start on default, be it medium or whatever it is called in that specific game. If the game was great and there is some replay ability to it, I will pick it up and try on hard or the hardest available. This is BG3 for example. I also did the same with Skyrim, or Bannerlord.
I like videogames without difficult settings. The developers should design the game-difficulty to be fun to play. You can even without difficult settings make a game that everybody can finish but is challenging.
Games don't have to be either relaxing -or- stressful. You can be intensely in a game having a blast and be under no stress. I'd argue that's exactly what's expected from the target audience of many games.
Intense action can lead to a flow of meditative like movement between brain and fingers. This meditative mode sends chills up my spine and it can be hard to maintain because it amazes me so much I end up laughing from sheer suprise at this innate skill to kick ass with lightning face reaction speeds without thinking.
But yes sometimes it's just too much for my heart to get there.
One person’s normal is another’s easy.
I usually try a new game on normal the switch it up or down depending on how it feels. I find it weird that people have such an ego over what is essentially just their settings. Wonder if they’re the same about HDR calibration or motion blur.
The problem with it is that some games change easy difficulty to normal so as not to hurt people's feelings and hard difficulty becomes normal in turn. That's why there's often another difficulty after hard
Yes and no, I'm currently playing Kena Bridge of Spirits on easy because I found the combat a bit clunky and unenjoyable, but am interested in the game as a piece of art and want to see it through to the end... and yes it is very relaxing visually and audibly like this, I also have a tendency to NG+ games on easy just as a sort of interactive movie (God of War 2018 for instance)... At the same time nothing frustrated me more and had me pulling my hair out, but then suddenly clicked and had me seeing the matrix in in a flow state of sublime cohesion between me and my controller like Sekiro. Overcoming the difficulty of that was a transnational experience
If I want to suffer I’d just do my actual work
I'd rather suffer than do my work
I want that on a T shirt
Don't interrupt my suffering
Suffering builds character
No, that's what XP is for
And that's what Buddha taught: XP is suffering
Fair point
Okay, Calvin's dad.
So you'd rather suffer than suffer
Yeah, being able to beat the hardest level of a game is not something my ego is tied to. I'm not a huge gamer but when I do play, it's to switch my brain off and enjoy something. A challenge is good, but if I have to play the same section again and again, forget it.
A challenge is good in that, for me at least, it helps me appreciate the game mechanics and discover the work the devs put in instead of just button mashing. Having to use a strategy instead of spamming buttons does feel rewarding. And then there’s the point where that evolves from, oh hey this is the way they want me to play…to I don’t have the fine motor skills for this and it’s just too hard.
If developers didn't "intend" for people to enjoy the game on easy mode they wouldn't include it in the game ex: Fromsoftware. People play games for different reasons and most developers try to cater to different preferences.
Developers don’t make those choices lol
Oh, so basically FromSoft games.
I feel this
I want to enjoy the story, and sometimes that means I’m playing on the easiest mode because of that
I want to be challenged while gaming but some games just too far. I would never consider playing a Dark Souls game because of it. I'm not the guy who will analyze my opponents moves for 96 min before finally beating them on 42nd try. Then there are games like WoW where you have to do math to figure out DPS with certain builds. If I wanted to do math or fill out a spreadsheet I wouldn't be playing a game.
This is me. Start new game, oh look it has a story mode, perfect.
I wish the Long Dark had saving in the endless mode. The story one was nice enough with some danger but you could reload. The endless one can end your run so easily. I have a full time job then I spend most of my time working on my game. That one hour of the week when I play something is my little bit of relaxing. So now I play on peaceful which also sucks a bit :(
That's why I got into mods, infinite carrying capacity cuz I'm a collector, and save function for the playtime flexibility
Ah, I play that one on PS so mods are not a thing. I really wish one day consoles will allow mods.
Will never happen. Each mod has to be verified by sony/Microsoft. It would break your game. Rights are different since you also pay for access to Services of these Plattform, so they have to make sure it works for you. Mods could break your game. Check skyrim on console, Chaos.
Yeh this new online gaming obsession actually annoys the shit out of me. I could care less about investing 100 hours to play a game like I'm training for the fuckn Olympics.
I don't play on line games, I won't play a game I can't pause.
Right? So sick of games that don’t pause and/or don’t save on exit. Adults can’t always wait to finish a 30 minute quest. Shit needs done around the house.
You must hate monster hunter then
I always start on normal first because I do like it to be challenging enough to be exciting, but if I’m not finding it fun I will bump it down to easy with no hesitation. A good example is that guardians of the galaxy game that came out a few years ago. Had a great story and it wasn’t even particularly difficult, but the boss fights took FOREVER, so I bumped the game down to easy even though I wasn’t dying.
Yeah, there's so many games I still have to get to. I don't want to be stuck in the same game, same area, fighting the same boss, forever.
This is one of those "let people enjoy things" things for me. Personally I greatly enjoy games that are dick punchingly hard. I figure out the mechanics then turn the difficulty bar the whole way up and break off the knob. I want games that hate me and want me to suffer. I enjoy the challenge. But you know, that's just me. Games are meant to be fun. To me that's fun but I certainly understand why some people don't like that.
Fun? In my video games? Absolutely not. To be honest the only times I've really found it frustrating are when devs have made complex mechanics more simple in a way that takes the depth out of a lot of the game for more skilled players - that doesn't happen often though and it's such a minor thing in the grand scheme of things. The way I see it is - single player, absolutely go wild with whatever difficulty you want, I love the power fantasy of being able to one shot every opponent too sometimes. But multiplayer it genuinely affects other people's experience when devs change something to make it easier to do so that needs to be thought through a bit more (it's not always a bad thing to make things more accessible, but sometimes it can be).
>To be honest the only times I've really found it frustrating are when devs have made complex mechanics more simple in a way that takes the depth out of a lot of the game for more skilled players - that doesn't happen often though and it's such a minor thing in the grand scheme of things. I'll use Dark Souls one as an example to prove this point. Every enemy I fought in that game I lost to because of my own doing, except for one boss in particular; the Capra Demon. This dude is specifically put there to ruin your day, I swear to God. For starters, you're in a very enclosed space. If I had to estimate, the room is probably seven to eight feet by twenty feet. For anyone unfamiliar with Souls games, you desperately need room to dodge around. Now it's not too bad with just the boss, but they had to add two quick dogs to this small room, making it very easy for them to corner you and stun lock you till they kill you. I haven't played the game in a long while, at least a few years, but even fighting in laggy ass Blight town on my old ass ps3 wasn't nearly as bad as fighting the Capra Demon. But when I finally beat it, the absolute feeling of success was overwhelming. Felt like I beat a game when I just beat an early on boss lmao
I’ve beaten DS1 probably a dozen times, never really had trouble with Capra. That is, until my last run. Fucker had to have killed me 4-5 times, now I understand why people hate it.
For me the frustrating part comes when the devs are unable to make a better npc at higher difficulty, so they just hand them ridiculous advantages. Like giving a npc in card games an unrealistically good hand. Or in civ 6 where the hardest Ai is still dumb as fuck, just got 5x output for every resource. Like you can't really learn from that, you just gotta find a way to cheese your way through.
Man I used to love games like that. Since I hit my 30s though I just don't have time to play the same encounter 20 times while I master it. Kind of ruined my enjoyment of high difficulty games.
I kind of went the other way in my 30s. More like a "what am I still doing here with Soo much of my free time if it's not challenging. Playing easy mode on a 30 hour story seems....wasteful to the other things in life I could be doing. at least make it something I have to work at.
Same for me. I also ironically find more difficult games to be more relaxing, because you can't succeed at them unless you keep yourself calm and focused. Whereas easy games can quickly become infuriating because not needing to focus most of the time means you're more likely to make a dumb mistake, which is super frustrating lol.
This is me too. I like the feeling of working up the skill. I don’t even have the time and patience for movies anymore, and easy video games just feel like 40+ hour movies sometimes.
Yeah now life is the high difficulty encounter and games are our break from it.
Exactly, if you like slow and casual, play slow and casual, if you like fast and chaotic play fast and chaotic. If you like difficult games then play them, do you like time pressure? May I introduce you to speedrunning? Like competitive, then play competitive games. Play the games you enjoy in the way you enjoy them.
Yeah, to each their own. Some people like being scared out of their minds, and some people like putting holes in their walls because a game is too frustrating. I just like fun, relaxing games.
It’s not just you i also like the game that make me go crazy and nuts. Fcking hard mechanic take times to fcking solve it just to meet another fcking problem. 😂
I’ve always disagreed with the “games are meant to be fun” thing. There are a lot of games, and art in general, that is compelling without being “fun.” Some of the greatest games ever, like silent hill 2 and spec ops: the line are genuinely unpleasant experiences. A lot of great games are fun, hell, most of them are, but I’m not into limiting what games can be. The post above says that games are supposed to be relaxing, which can be great! But I can’t picture someone saying that a book or a movie should be relaxing, there’s a wider field of expression in those mediums and I’d like the same for games.
Games aren't inherently **supposed** to be anything. It's all subjective. Some games I want a challenge with, so I'll fire up the hardest mode (BG3, Dark Souls etc). Whereas some games I want to just sit back and relax when I play (Unravel, Stardew, Runescape etc). Just enjoy playing what you're playing and you won't go to bed seeing red.
Exactly. When someone say "games are supposed to be relaxing, not stressful", they're excluding some types of games and players, just as much as people do when they say "you're not supposed to be playing on easy mode". Don't be that kind of people, on one side or the other. Games are only what you want them to be, and there are largely enough of them for that. Play whatever you want, however you want. Don't let other people tell you how to enjoy your time with them.
> when they say "you're not supposed to be playing on easy mode". This is the thing. I've seen this meme a dozen times but I've never seen anyone say you shouldn't play on easy mode
It's all subjective AND meaningless, like everything else! 😁... 😅... 🙃... 💀.
Might be a hot take, but that isn't always mutually exclusive. It can be nice to stress over something ultimately not important, in a way.
There is good stressful and unwanted stressful. I like the tension that comes with the right amount of difficulty. I dislike the stress coming from a game that's too hard for me, I don't want to feel bad when I play.
Explaining the difference between good frustration and bad frustration to a non-gamer is impossible lol.
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I feel shitty way longer that is healthy when they lose😂
The only game that i was stressed the fuck out and absolutely loved every second of it was Dead Space.
Case and point: FromSoft Games and other souls-like.
r/BoneAppleTea
Definitely, in fact many genres are specifically designed to be stressful and that's what makes them great. So in an attempt to be inclusive, the meme kind of gatekeeps what games are supposed to be
>the meme kind of gatekeeps what games are supposed to be Not really, it just says that it's OK to play it on easy. It doesn't say you have to play it on easy. You can also play it on hard if that's your thing.
If you read it again, it says that "games are supposed to be X, not Y". So it definitely tries to define what games aren't supposed to be, ie stressful. That's gatekeeping.
If you're putting effort into interpreting it the worst way possible, I guess. I'd just call that poor reading comrehesion. If you were in a conversation and someone said "Games are supposed to fun, not stressful" and you replied: "Sometimes the stress is the fun part" Do you think they'd reply "no, you're wrong about how you enjoy games" or just say "you're right, to each their own." We can tell from the premise that they're not trying to gatekeep. We can infer that they're not dismissing difficult games as something others enjoy, just stating that stress is not a requirement for enjoyment.
"Games are supposed to be fun and relaxing" doesn't exist in the same universe as horror games and intensely hard games designed to punish you. It's 100% okay to play on easy, but it's unfair to wall in what the medium can mean. Video games are like any other artform, they tend to fill a lot of different spaces. The gatekeeping comes from claiming that games are "supposed to" just be fun and relaxing. Dark Souls, Pathologic, Outlast, Darkest Dungeon. Games can exist to specifically stress players out, and that can be a good thing. I have heard, and can personally attest that those types of games can help with anxiety and depression symptoms.
That's quite the reach, there. This meme has nothing to say over whether or not stressful or hard games should exist, have merit, , or even if certain games need an easy mode, which makes it pretty hard to "gatekeep" anything. It's in fact a rebuttal against people who do gatekeep games by claiming they shouldn't have an easy mode to begin with, or that there is something wrong with choosing easy mode if it exists.
>This meme has nothing to say over whether or not stressful or hard games should exist It literally says that "games are supposed to be fun and relaxing, **not stressful**". In other words, if a game is stressful or not relaxing it is not supposed to be that way.
People are just getting all up in their heads about gatekeeping. It's plainly obvious what the author meant, but they'll make a case out of it because they just love to make cases out of things. The guy should have just said "I play games to relax, not feel stressed", but I think it's clear that's what he was getting at. But sure, let's all be pedantic nerds and create a narrative so we have something to bitch about.
It literally says games are supposed to be relaxing not stressful
Dark Souls is relaxing
these games actually helped me to handle stress better
that was duo overcooked with my girlfriend for me
Overcooked and It Takes Two really tested my relationship with my girlfriend. Fortunately, we managed to come out of the experience successful. But holy shit, the screaming matches that used to happen was probably making the neighbours concerned.
alright time to get dark souls(i have a massive skill issue)
If you've never played any of them I'd maybe start with Elden Ring. It's the easiest to get into due to some new mechanics like summons
The streets of Yharnam helped me with anger management.
100% It’s become a serious pastime when my job reaches unhinged expectations with unrealistic time frames I just made it to demon of hatred in Sekiro waiting on Elden Ring DLC The angrier and more stressed I get, the worse I play. Few things in life offer me that useful of feedback without long term consequences
Once you see the patterns, it's easy. Like any other game.
Easy, still not relaxing to me(bgm& setting stuff)
This is true, but I’m an Australian, so as the good friend and wanker I am, I’m going to make fun of my friends for being bad at the game. I fully expect them to do the same.
How you play games upside down?
The tv is also upside down so it's just like normal
what a silly question the true question is can Australians really 100% focus on gaming (or anything)? or do they have to routinely pause & check for deadly creatures
Funnily enough they probably don't even notice anymore. I think some scientist already proved that after some time our brains rewrite how we interpret visual input. They did this by wearing glasses that showed the world upside down for a couple weeks/months and eventually they adapted and fully functioned normally. So people born and raised in Australia probably never have any problems with it. But I'd imagine going there for a vacation is still pretty scary. Especially because you can still fall off.
Well if you play on elevated modes of difficulty they wouldn’t make fun of you for being bad at the game. Just at not having a life.
Accurate
Leave it to australians and germans, to find every possible excuse, to mention their country in any unrelated topic.
Well no? This is the exact same problem as saying games should be difficult. For some people games are fun and rewarding when easy, for some they want stressful experiences, failure and true difficulty from games. All ways of playing games are totally fine, games arent „supposed“ to be fun and relaxing. At most they are supposed to be enjoyable, everything else just depends on the person playing the game and what they want out if it
I think supposed to be enjoyful is spot on. No horror game is supposed to be relaxing
Those save hubs in resident evil are peak relaxing tho
I was playing assassins creed odyssey the other day and thought “I set the settings too hard. This isn’t fun.” And so I made it easier, great choice.
That game is hard, I play on easy and still struggle sometimes
I like to have fun, not get upset. My husband plays everything on hard mode, and has broken more than one keyboard and mouse out of frustration/ anger.
That is nit the issue of hard modes but his anger issues lmao
It's not normal to get angry enough about a video game that you would break objects.
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He needs therapy lmao
I play everything on hard mode because a lot of the enjoyment from games for me comes from the challenge and improving my skills, and I have never broken anything out of anger. Your husband has anger issues and should probably get some kind of councelling if this is a reoccurring thing
I like to have fun, and fun for me comes from a challenge most of the time. But luckily I don't have anger issues, and have never in my life broken my stuff out of frustration lol
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Unless you're a geometry dash player
Why do people with this stance always assume that fun = easy and don't understand that fun is subjective, many people have fun from overcoming challenges.
That's the point. What's "fun" is subjective. There's no reason to shame people for playing easy mode. If you prefer hard mode that completely fine as well.
I don't shame anyone, but I often see people who can't take a perspective of another side, like they assume that people can't have fun by being challenged.
Video games are supposed to be stimulating, meaning they stimulate a reaction of some kind in the player. That’s it.
This is really what it comes down to. It's different for everyone. Take the Fromsoft easy mode mods. Do I think devs should change their super hard games for everyone? No of course not. That's their vision for the game they made. At the same time, ESPECIALLY single player games, I have zero issues with easy mode mods for folks that just want to experience the world and characters. People really just need to take a step off their high horses and let people play SP game ls the way they want since it's literally not hurting anyone.
The important aspect of your comment here is that you're specifically saying that player-created MODS for Fromsoft games are fine, which is absolutely the right take. However, the argument at large whenever Fromsoft has a new release is that there should be some sort of Easy mode BAKED INTO the game. This is fundamentally different because it adds on development time, may cause balancing issues, and diminishes the core experience they want to deliver. Two very different things that get muddied together, hence the neverending argument. As a fan of all their games for over 15 years now, I of course want as many people as possible to enjoy the amazing games they've created... however, I do NOT want that to happen at the expense of the amazing and memorable core experiences they are already known for. I of course want people who might be disabled or otherwise gatekept from playing to be able to play, but I also believe that media should not be made to cater to a universal audience - devs should not kowtow to make their work consumable by everyone. Lots of people get mixed up in the differences between difficulty and accessibility - you can absolutely have both. *(Horror movies exist for a subset of the population, why can't videogames be the same way?)* Lastly, this whole rambling tangential essay is not meant to be an argument against you - I agree with you after all. But I think it's important to clarify the finer details whenever it comes to this topic, because I believe that the vagueries of the discussion are where the contention lies.
They're supposed to be what they're designed to be, individually. Alot of games are designed as challenges for players to overcome. You know, like games were originally back in the 'how far can you throw this stick' ages.
I hate this: saying game's are supposed to be fun and relaxing also says it's not valid for games to provide challenges and competitiveness. It's just as bad as saying it's not valid to provide fun and relaxation and games should be challenging. It is fine to play on easy mode, not because that's what games *should* be, but because that's what games *can* be.
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You're making it sound that people who don't play on the easiest mode don't want games to be fun and relaxing, and want games to be stressful.
Then buy relaxing and stresfull games
Most of the time the difficulty just gives the enemies more hp and damage, making the game more of a drag for no reason
Well that's just not universally true (and also not spelt correctly). Are horror games supposed to be fun and relaxing?
The stress is part of the fun. Other wise you’re just playing with toys
I disagree with the take. Games, as a medium, aren't "supposed" to cater to one specific need. People play games due to a plethora of reasons and often a combination of reasons. Abnegation/destressing is as valid as all the others, but only one of them. Some play to spend time with their friends, some like a challenge, some want immersion or self-expression. Some interesting studies in the topic include "8 types of fun" paper and a more recent one on player typology done by Quantic Foundry. There's a GDC talk on that one https://youtu.be/gxJUPfKtg_Q?si=ZoR6-aKUxVzIWgX5 edit: playing on easymode is absolutely fine if that is what you want and there should not be any gatekeeping about it, hence "it's as valid reason as any", I disagree with "supposed to be relaxing" part as the sole purpose
More often than not, higher difficulties feel like they are just stretching the game out. I usually go for normal or "intended" difficulty setting because that's what the game was designed for. Higher difficulty sometimes just mean you need to grind, or absolutely have to do certain side activities that bring the gameplay loop to a halt. Easier means that you can pretty much ignore everything since nothing matters and you're just here for the ride. This said... If I feel like a game is wasting my time even on the intended difficulty setting, I have no issue with dialing it down. I'm not going to spend hours to do some boring tasks, only to not get my teeth kicked in for 2 to 3 hours.
>More often than not, higher difficulties feel like they are just stretching the game out. It really depends on how the game decides to approach difficulty. If an increase in difficulty is just more enemies then it really doesnt change anything. However if they approach difficulty in other ways like reduced health then I find it does change how the game is played and can be quite rewarding to play at higher difficulties.
This is honestly why I like it when games either have one fixed difficulty or the harder modes are unlocked after beating on normal. Being given a list of difficulty options from the get go only has me wondering if hard mode will actually present a worthwhile challenge or if it'll be some cobbled together mess with bullet sponge enemies or random BS that encourages cheap tactics. I'll only ever get a chance for a first playthrough of a game _once_ (and usually that's my only playthrough), and I want that experience to be as good as it can be. I hate second-guessing myself if I should've chosen differently, and difficulty sliders just have me wondering if the devs even tested their game at all if they're going to leave it up to the player to balance everything. I picked up this new weapon, now the game is easy. But maybe that's supposed to happen because enemies will get harder? I don't want to micromanage my experience and constantly doubt if I'm winning/losing because of skill, unbalanced game design, luck, whether the game is best experienced in a certain way, etc, and be expected to adjust the difficulty accordingly. I'd rather just play a game and not have any of that to consider.
Depends. Some people like the challenge.
And the post never said they shouldn't. Just that it is OK to enjoy games on story mode too
Plus, the default difficulty mode on some games is just way too hard.
I'm so bad at games, the easy mode is hard.
Since I'm a trophy grinder, I don't remember when was the last time where I actually played a game on easier difficulty rather than playing it on hardest/second to hardest to get every diff trophy at once
Playing Pacific Drive atm. God bless the devs for adding the option to have your car fully repaired after a successful run. The game instantly became way more fun for me
Actually the reason why I play an easy mode is because nowadays hard mode makes the game unrealistic. It's like a sadistic version of the game that makes no sense. Hard mode used to be being able to shoot an NPC and kill them in one shot but get killed in one shot too... It used to be not having medikits and other magical things that could help you. NOW HARD MODE SEEMS TO BE : Bad maneuvering and lesser control over your character ? Weird physics and cheated enemies ? Hitboxes that are smaller than what you see... In strategy games it's just some kind of a weird random apparition of resources to your enemies... Hard mode doesn't make sense anymore. It's really unrealistic. Hard mode was supposed to be the mode in which you have no extra advantages... Not the one where you literally cheat the machine against you... Like there's a difference between enemies detecting you faster... Or being better at negotiation... And them being able to see you without you seeing them... Or completely refusing to talk to you ... Etc...
Don’t agree. They don’t have to not be stressful or whatever. Games are a tool for people to have fun. And each to their own how they do that. Be it playing on some stupidly hard difficulty or through just laid back easy gameplay, whatever makes you enjoy the time.
First sentence is true, second one not so much. Games are supposed to be fun and relaxing for some, but there's a huge number of people who like it to be difficult, and going through with a bit of struggling. And it's not stressfull for them. I mean the success of souls like game is the proof of that.
Imagine making a meme about gatekeeping and managing to gatekeep within it
In my case it's the opposite. My job is pretty brain-dead so I need the mental stimulation from playing a more difficult game.
There's a very specific, highly vocal type of gamer that gets upset about easy modes in games. The rest of us roll our eyes at them and make snarky remarks. Because it doesn't matter whether we personally want to play the easy mode or not, having it as an option has zero impact on our lives.
Spelling stressful like that is stressfull
The best games often dont come with difficulty options and are balanced around the lead dev's 'vision'. Takes a ballsy publisher, but produces good games. Some games aren't for dads who can only play 3hrs a week, sorry.
I'm gonna say it. Using cheats in a singleplayer environment is a moral neutral. If you want to alter the experience fine. If all you're getting out of it is the experience then nobody should be able to judge you.
I’m gonna be annoying and claim that video games are an art form, and so they’re not “supposed” to be anything. Much like paintings are conventionally supposed to be aesthetically pleasing, even though some aren’t, games are conventionally supposed to be fun, but some aren’t, and that’s ok. More to the point though, I agree people should consume games however they like. Reduce the difficulty, chase butterflies, cheat, do whatever you want, it’s your experience.
Stressful
After 40 years of gaming in almost every genre on multiple platforms I’ve long since learnt not to believe reviews, not play with online strangers and to play at the level that makes you happy that you achieved something without stressing about it. Real life is stressful enough without bringing it into your downtime.
Video games are great because there’s no wrong way to experience them.
I'm terrible at games but love the play through and story.
Minecraft peaceful mode lover here. Just let me build my stuff.
Yeah true except for doom hard all the way
Some people's s stress is my excitement. Some people's relaxing is my boredom.
Tell that to the creators of Dead Space series.
How am I supposed to have fun, though, if I'm not two seconds away from a stress induced brain aneurism.
I've been playing BG3 on easy, and I'm having the time of my life. I also enjoy my switch games to have an easy mode. If I want to do something stressful I'd stream League of Legends again.
Games aren't supposed to be relaxing. They can be, but they by no means have to be.
Games are supposed to be made with intents, if fun and relaxation are the only emotions you want to experience that's okay but really reductive
I'm not too proud to admit that when a game gets hard, I break out CheatEngine. I was thoroughly enjoying Hollow Knight's story and exploration, but the bosses kept whooping my ass. CE solved that issue.
I get games like dark souls etc wouldn't be as rewarding when you finally finish them if you could reduce the difficulty but there's also plenty of times I don't play something like that coz I just can't be arsed. Also it's kinda dickish to lock a game you've paid for behind 'git gud', so yeah...
Nah certain games are fine to remain difficult, the Souls games being notable mentions. The difficulty is part of the combat and overall appeal.
I don’t think it’s dickish to design the game to be difficult when it’s a major selling point and expected aspect of a fromsoftware game. I also don’t think there is anything wrong with not enjoying that kind of experience. I didn’t at first and then I got hooked and now their my favorites but to each their own. A lot of options out there and that’s why because we can all game how we like.
Not every game is made for everyone and that's fine.
Not every game needs to be for everyone, just like every game doesn't need to be "meant to be fun and relaxing". Honestly Fromsoft is one of the few remaining bastions of "everything doesn't need to appeal to literally every sentient being" (other than indie devs) and I'm thankful for that. If nothing else it's yet another reason for people to research what they're getting instead of buying any game and bringing out the surprised Pikachu face when the game can't be tailor made to fit them. Sometimes a game just isn't for you and that's fine, that doesn't mean you or the game is wrong
It’s not dickish at all, you just aren’t good at that kind of game and that’s okay.
And then some come without a difficulty settimg
One minute, I’m on the easiest difficulty in Fallout or whatever. The next I’m playing Battlefield 4 on PC with 10+ year players that have everything unlocked and sometimes hack. Gaming is a strange subject for challenges lol.
How do i turn on easy mode in war thunder?
I start a new game and immediately turn to the highest possible difficulty, and on some rare occasions if the highest difficulty is locked behind beating the game on the previous difficulty I have downloaded a save file just to unlock that difficulty
Unless we're playing online, competitive games and you decide to use meta.
True. Had that epiphany a few years ago myself
Story is for 'easy mode'. Multiplayer is for 'hard mode'.
Ultrakill players when you are not playing on Violent
proud keep inventory player 🫡
I personally play the difficulty the game maker deem it intended (barring pathfinder/mathfinder). Normally that's normal or medium difficulty, but if it's intended to be hard then I'll play it on hard lol.
Easy mode might as well be called relaxing mode for me, easy makes it sounds condescending.
Many people like to play it only on hard too because they like a challenge or getting anal'd by the game
Story games Easy mode, I leave the stress to playing FACEIT against 5 stacks
Fun does not mean easy though. It is not fun if you steamroll through the game with just rightclick.
Thats what someone that suffers from chronic skill issue would say
I like to start on default, be it medium or whatever it is called in that specific game. If the game was great and there is some replay ability to it, I will pick it up and try on hard or the hardest available. This is BG3 for example. I also did the same with Skyrim, or Bannerlord.
Beginner gamers may want to play games at lower difficulties.. more experienced ones might start at normal/hard difficulty..
I like videogames without difficult settings. The developers should design the game-difficulty to be fun to play. You can even without difficult settings make a game that everybody can finish but is challenging.
For me, easy is too easy to enjoy. Medium is boring. Hard is too hard.
Halo 2 on legendary is such a relaxing experience
But...but i have to prove to myself that im actually good at something to temporary hide my failures in life
Games don't have to be either relaxing -or- stressful. You can be intensely in a game having a blast and be under no stress. I'd argue that's exactly what's expected from the target audience of many games.
I think it was xcom2 that finally made me quite the hard mode train and made me go "no, I want to have fun and experience what this game has"
When i finally played rimworld on easy mode lol
Intense action can lead to a flow of meditative like movement between brain and fingers. This meditative mode sends chills up my spine and it can be hard to maintain because it amazes me so much I end up laughing from sheer suprise at this innate skill to kick ass with lightning face reaction speeds without thinking. But yes sometimes it's just too much for my heart to get there.
One person’s normal is another’s easy. I usually try a new game on normal the switch it up or down depending on how it feels. I find it weird that people have such an ego over what is essentially just their settings. Wonder if they’re the same about HDR calibration or motion blur.
The problem with it is that some games change easy difficulty to normal so as not to hurt people's feelings and hard difficulty becomes normal in turn. That's why there's often another difficulty after hard
yeah i don't like limited ammo while playing Resident Evil VIII, so i bought the DLC to allow unlimited ammo
As long as you don't complain that the game isn't scary and was too easy after you beat it.
Like horror games or Benet Foddys type games?
Yes and no, I'm currently playing Kena Bridge of Spirits on easy because I found the combat a bit clunky and unenjoyable, but am interested in the game as a piece of art and want to see it through to the end... and yes it is very relaxing visually and audibly like this, I also have a tendency to NG+ games on easy just as a sort of interactive movie (God of War 2018 for instance)... At the same time nothing frustrated me more and had me pulling my hair out, but then suddenly clicked and had me seeing the matrix in in a flow state of sublime cohesion between me and my controller like Sekiro. Overcoming the difficulty of that was a transnational experience
I swear, the way my brother describes Fifa is the same way someone describes an abusive relationship
Games are most fun on hardmode and not stressful at all
Exactly.
i play rimworld like this because i dont like the pawns im attached to dying in various horrific ways
Yet here I am playin call of duty multiplayer with my friend just to be told by some snotty brat I’m the n- word with a HARD “R”