Are Games Crippled By Easy Modes?

[Spinosaurus]

This. This statement right here is very true. Take example of Fire Emblem: Awakening. Try playing it on very hard and on classic. Its quite difficult.
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...Eh.

Way better example would be Donkey Kong Country Returns. Or Punch-Out!!. Or New Super Luigi U. Or Wonderful 101. Or every Mario game in the post-game. Or Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn.

 

[Cura]

...Eh.

Way better example would be Donkey Kong Country Returns. Or Punch-Out!!. Or New Super Luigi U. Or Wonderful 101. Or every Mario game in the post-game. Or Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn.

I was using it as a spur of the moment type of situations. I looked to my right and checked what was in my 3DS at the moment, so I went with that example, but yes. Donkey Kong Country Returns is a prime example, I've still been unable to beat it, heck for example.

I wanted to defeat the final boss again and just skybound barrel rocket is hard on its own. Then comes the boss, should he looks like Andross a bit but he is utterly random in attack patterns and gives a second of warning when he attacks, his eyes and gems on his hands flash for a moment. Even than, he may trick you, do a little laugh at you, suddenly you are dead from the attack that originally faked you out.

I actually learned that he even tricks you when he puts his hands against the side of the battlefield and tries to crush you in the center of the screen. He'll charge and then stop laughing at you for a second and SLAM. Dead. Its pretty nuts when you think about it for a moment, how Retro Studios gave a proper example of a game's final boss.

 

[Altairis]

Yeah, I think it can cripple them, but there are almost always ways to turn off the setting or avoid it so that it doesn't cripple your experience. For example, in Zelda, the "Sheikah stones" which basically give you hints on what to do can just.. not be used. The EXP share in Gen 6 can be turned off and O-Powers don't have to be used. Fire Emblem plays can choose Hard / Classic instead of Easy / Casual (I would like to note though, without Easy/Casual I probably would not have gotten into FE, because I suck at those types of games, and for me being able to play through the game once easily allowed me to get a hang of things and beat it on Hard/Classic)

Okay, also, reading this thread I do think there are plenty of examples where it does cripple the game =/ I haven't played DK Returns but my brother has and at parts isn't there an option to have the game play for you for a certain amount of time or something? How is that even considered beating a level, haha.

I just think it's really hard for gaming companies because when making games for popular titles they now have to appeal to a wide range of fans (specifically, I'm talking about Mario, Pokemon, Kirby, etc) ranging from older kids like us who are experienced, kids like my brother who have played games before but aren't the sharpest, and kids who are still new.

 

[Razer302]

I used to play games on the hardest difficulty just to feel a challenge, but then I just learnt to enjoy the story of games rather than the difficulty.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Depends... if the game requires more playthroughs I usually go for Normal 1st playthrough and Hard/Maniac 2nd playthrough.
If only one playthrough is required I go for Normal to enjoy the story =)
And if the difficulty is poorly done (e.g. you get 2HKO against boss no matter what you do) I do not feel the need to beat the game on highest difficulty.
I think games without difficulty option are most balanced.

 

[TY]

Easy modes are there to get people accustomed to the game if they are entirely new to it.
I dont mind those, cause it are those modes who can get people into a game and eventually play it on a higher difficulty, heck i even do this.

People really shouldnt complain because you can always play on a higher difficulty, and someone else plays is on Normal or Easy. Its quite normal nowadays since they want more people to play their games, even those who never played it or know how to play.

 

[Venks]

it seems to be the general consensus that easy and hard modes only add to a game, rather than reduce the experience. Glad to hear all this feedback. I play a lot of games that are for the most part bereft of story so the gameplay is the only interesting aspect. For games like that I generally play them on the hardest difficulty.

Actually I consider storylines in games over the board to be pretty bad. I vastly enjoyed the story and atmosphere in Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, but I find it hard to enjoy the story if its too simple. Ni No Kuni's story was very interesting and kept me guessing for most of it, though there were a couple of weak moments. I really enjoyed my entire play through of that game even though it was very easy(I don't think it had optional modes). If a game has characters that are fun to talk to and a world that I can enjoy exploring then the difficulty isn't really that important.