What are your thoughts on Easy Mode?

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

I think good points were made on both sides here. On one hand, Ninja Gaiden wouldn't have near the legacy it does if the game had an easy mode. On the other hand, accessibility modes (sometimes an easy mode like Funky in Tropical Freeze or one-button mode in Super Smash Bros) can allow for a wider audience to engage. It's not an issue that some people can't play some games but it would be an issue if easy mode were mandatory. Taken to extremes, I would prefer all video games were too hard for me rather than video game companies be forced to include easy modes.

In many games, it doesn't hurt my enjoyment to have an easy mode and it allows other people to enjoy them, but in some it can take away from people's enjoyment. It's a personal problem to be sure, but that doesn't make it any less of an issue if many people have the same negative experience. Back in the day, when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I ruined several games for myself by learning cheat codes. Risk is removed from Age of Empires II if I can just drop a Furious Monkey Boy or a Gatling Cobra into the battlefield on a whim. I have no incentive to beat a really tough level of The World is not Enough if I can just look up the code to skip to the next level. And then why not just skip to the end to fight the final boss?

I'm old enough to have cultivated a little self-control now and having the option to switch to easy mode just to kill that one deathclaw doesn't ruin the game for me (because I know that if I do, I'll use it on the yao guai and then the raider and then just to travel from place to place to make it quicker and then before long, I've taken the fun out of the game) but it does damage the experience for some people. The fact that somebody isn't self-controlled doesn't mean you shouldn't make games with easy mode and the fact that somebody only has one thumb doesn't mean you shouldn't make Dark Souls.

I can see where you're going with this. I feel similarly when it comes to the antenna in the new Mario Kart, it's essentially driving itself. They way I learned Mario Kart when I was a kid was just ramming into every wall and falling off of every ledge until I learned, using the antenna won't teach you anything. I think this is more of a problem for games that don't have a strong plot. Because if you're not playing for the story, and you're going to cheese your way through the action, why the heck are you playing it?

 

[ExLight]

Optional settings are always good. Enforcing non-optional changes so it appeals to a broader audience is kinda bad.
I'll assume this discussion is regarding optional settings?

I'm not sure why people seem to think accessibility and preserving the essence of the game aren't compatible.
Modern good game design also includes being able to provide a similar experience while balancing out the skill level, or while making up for disabilities.

I honestly despise the idea of games that created a legacy over being "hard" rather than because of other aspects such like graphics, innovation, fluidity, story, mechanics. Like, literally any game can be hard? If the vision of the creator is for it to be hard that's probably an artistic direction I find extremely lame because it's just a strange form of gatekeeping the experience to a certain audience, unless it's intentionally a rage game like Getting Over It or I Wanna Be the Guy where the point is to make everyone frustrated.
And whether or not someone will find it hard depends on the skill of the player? I didn't find Dark Soul, Cuphead, nor Hollow Knight hard despite it being labeled by the media as such, on the other hand I find games that even kids can play like Fortnite and Minecraft extremely tough to learn.

Why bother if the person is experiencing the game the same way as you? I think it's bizarre y'all kinda putting words in the creators mouth on how they wanted it to be. The core essence of the games is for the player to have an enjoyable (even in a masochist way in the case of the previously mentioned rage games) and remarkable experience above all. And as a form of art? The creator expresses themselves, and they leave room for the audience to interpret, that's how art works. Even if your argument is that accessibility damages the experience, it's allowing a huge part of the experience to reach people it would never before. I don't see why it's bad to give those people a major taste of something they couldn't before, why deny them it? It just sounds selfish.

And like, what even is this experience in the first place? If you're tweaking a single aspect while maintaining others, why should you assume they're playing something like a completely different game? It's simply not? Even if they played with the exact same settings as you they'll explore differently and make different options. They'll use items differently, they'll farm stuff differently, they'll do quests in different orders, they appreciate areas and characters in different ways. Your experience won't be the same even if they play it identically like you, button press by button press. And why should it bother anyone? Let people experience things in their ways.

And, like, I really don't understand why it's being overlooked that players a lot of times need a more accessible gateway to get where veteran players are. What's even stopping a player, if they really enjoyed playing on an easier mode, to replay the game on a harder difficulty now more prepared for what to expect? I feel like literally everyone here has done that before? By cutting off people from accessible media you're preventing new people from ever being able to have the content you deem as the proper one, so I don't really understand the point? Shouldn't you be supporting accessibility if it's what enables that?

if anything I can see it the question of accessibility being more of an issue in multiplayer games, because it's definitely unfair that people with extremely different amount of dedication to the game to be equally rewarded. An example is auto-combos in fighting games, or the antenna mechanic in MK that Uwu just mentioned. Those are tougher to balance while still giving different skill level players a chance to compete against each other, and is probably a discussion for another day. But damn, on solo content? Just let people enjoy how they play their stuff.

 

[Dizzi]

A vid on the subject


https://youtu.be/ybJMZ7SRAYA

 

[FierceDodongo]

And like, what even is this experience in the first place? If you're tweaking a single aspect while maintaining others, why should you assume they're playing something like a completely different game? It's simply not? Even if they played with the exact same settings as you they'll explore differently and make different options. They'll use items differently, they'll farm stuff differently, they'll do quests in different orders, they appreciate areas and characters in different ways. Your experience won't be the same even if they play it identically like you, button press by button press. And why should it bother anyone? Let people experience things in their ways.

The actual process into making an easy mode for some games would be ridiculous, especially in a game like Dark Souls. If you just change numbers in dark souls, the game will still be challenging. You'd have to completely rebalance the entire game in some cases. There are some parts of games like Dark Souls that would still kick your ass even if you drastically changed some numbers, so you might have to remove those, and if you keep thinking about it it would be a ridiculous task that would ultimately end up as a much worse version of a game. It goes a lot deeper then just changing a "single aspect".

 

[ExLight]

The actual process into making an easy mode for some games would be ridiculous, especially in a game like Dark Souls. If you just change numbers in dark souls, the game will still be challenging. You'd have to completely rebalance the entire game in some cases. There are some parts of games like Dark Souls that would still kick your ass even if you drastically changed some numbers, so you might have to remove those, and if you keep thinking about it it would be a ridiculous task that would ultimately end up as a much worse version of a game. It goes a lot deeper then just changing a "single aspect".

I'm confused as to why you think it's so impossible to make it more accessible to players. What's so absurd about rebalancing the entire game then? If it the idea is to allow less skilled players to be able to partake into the experience, then I don't see why they wouldn't gladly make another mode for that. What I'm seeing being defended in this thread is not for the audience to able to enjoy the experience, but rather defense of an idealized legacy of a game memed into a "hardcore gamer" status by game journalists.

The point of an easy mode isn't even to no make it not-challenging, it's to put the challenge bar at reach of the ones that are less skilled. Just because this game mode isn't challenging to you it doesn't mean it can't be challenging to them. Hell, sometimes this can simply be done just by tweaking the difficulty curve at the beginning, leaving most of the game untouched, making so some of the challenge stay untouched.

And are we really gonna ignore that the game already utilizes some techniques to make it easier for some players, like summoning phantoms? Players leaving written hints for others (although this clearly ended up being used more for trolling)? Even quality of life like fast travel and shortcuts are part of this overlap between good game design and making it easier/more accessible.

And it's not hard at all to make the game slightly easier. Changing the amount of enemies that spawn in certain areas, lowering attack rate, tweaking hitboxes, rescaling damage (including fall damage) and soul drop, NPCs that don't stay aggro'd, better item drops, restoration points that linger after you die more than once, quest dialogue that is more clear, a tutorial/practice area or mode, temporarily buffed stats. In like 5 minutes of thinking I could come up with some examples. These are all small tweaks that can VERY easily be implemented and that would help the players massively. Implementing a few of these, as well as other more clever suggestions that the professionals can probably come up with, would easily be enough to make the game accessible enough to more players.

 

[ExLight]

I was refering to the fact that you acted like it would only change a single aspect of the game, which is doesn't. And yes, Dark Souls does already have a lot of things to help make the game easier.

By single aspect I kinda meant like the difficulty as a whole. As opposed to the other aspects I had mentioned earlier (graphics, innovation, fluidity, story, mechanics, etc). Our brief misunderstanding on what I meant by aspect is probably a semantic point that wouldn't be fruitful if we insist on it. Hope it clarified what I meant.

 

[GrooseIsLoose]

If someone buys a game and plays it only on easy mode they're wasting money

 

[Ninja]

I am a full time dad, with a full time job and not much escape into gaming as much as I’d like. I really appreciate an easy mode when I am going through a good story, if the game is exceedingly difficult, or if I do not have the patience that day.

Certainly not a waste of money for me.

Edit: grammar

 

[A Link In Time]

I have no shame in using easy mode, especially in franchises that I'm bad at. I wish more series had easy modes even if they're geared towards more seasoned players. Maybe I'd finally be able to beat a Metroid game. I think easy mode is excellent for people to dip their toes into new experiences, and it's definitely not only for younger players.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

Usually if it's my first time playing the game series, I would pick easy, but if it's a game series I know, and gameplay I know I'm getting into. Hardest difficulty right away. Unless I'm playing just to take in the scenery. For example, the first time I played Kingdom Hearts. I got stuck somewhere in the game after a while, went back and played on the hardest difficulty, and manage to beat the game.
I may not have beaten the game my first time around, but at least I knew what I was getting into the second time when I chose the hardest difficulty.
I say that's really a good reason to put a easy difficulty in the game. So those that aren't used to the control scheme, can get used to it, and have the game able to switch difficulties mid game for when they get a feel for it.
Another reason is if you just don't feel like fighting the enemies, but you want to take in the scenery. Developers put a lot of time in making the level design, and I always find myself just relaxing under the trees or looking at the entire level from a high vantage point in games.
Plus, if one ever wants to get into game design, it's always good to take notes from some of your favorites. Having an easy or peaceful difficulty, just makes doing so easier.
But that's just my thoughts.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

Its one thing if a game is made to be easy for a specific age demographic, that's fine. But I tried new game + and easy mode and thought they were very boring. Easy mode is optional though so, its whatever.

 

[spookyheart]

useful and fun simple as that