Perfecting Video Game Difficulty
Added 2023-08-22 17:26:12 +0000 UTCCan we design a game that's perfectly difficult for everyone?
Music Used: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB41KjBc4ASI37gNG9p29A11_9_CsIG87
Frogwater- https://www.youtube.com/@bigfreakinfrog
LauraKBuzz - https://www.youtube.com/@LauraKBuzz
Totally Blind Gamer Plays The Last of Us Part 1 - https://youtu.be/qqNuOjQUZ88
Comments
Awesome video! If everyone makes games with good difficulty, whatever that means for their game, then we wind up with a marketplace where everyone can find something they like. No one will be catered to be every game, no more than you can walk into Target and expect to fit into every garment. That’s ok. We don’t talk about difficulty for other art forms, but not everyone will “get” every movie or every painting. Even books—if you can read this comment, then you can read Infinite Jest or Gravity’s Rainbow with enough patience. But will you enjoy them? Will you have enough skill to detect what they are doing, to keep track of character interactions as complicated as a Factorio convey belt mess?
Max Goldstein
2023-08-23 15:15:26 +0000 UTCOk, I think I get what you're saying and I agree. I'd be really disappointed if Ganon's health was halved. Especially because the build up to him was ridiculously difficult for me as well! Gosh, all that time I spent getting good gear would have been a real waste if he was weaker... I guess I have a hard time truly understanding why the existence of a suit takes the joy of winning away? Like, if there was a button to make Ganon only have a single phase and half his health, and I didn't even use it...wouldn't that kinda feel extra good? Like "hell yeah, i didnt even need that dumb suit!"...I suppose it's all up to personal preference...and requires a level of skill I can't imagine having 🤣 maybe if I ever play bloodborne I'll feel differently!
Actual jeff bezos
2023-08-22 23:37:01 +0000 UTCThat's part of why I mention that there's two conflicting camps on this. Not everyone believes the bomb suit would ruin the game. It's just that enough people do that you can't appease both sides or make something truly perfect for everyone. On another note, I did try to highlight the difference between ways the game helps the player through the mechanics, and ways it does so through options and modes. The sages are a built in feature of the game, much the same way that co-op in Souls games is. On the other hand, if TotK had an easy mode that halved the final boss's health or prevented them from using certain attacks, I think there'd be a different reception to that, even if it makes the game as easy as the sages do.
Lextorias
2023-08-22 23:18:35 +0000 UTCOn the "having a bomb suit" analogy: I find it interesting that simply having one and not using it takes away from the sweetness of victory. For me, it's the opposite. I am BAD at video games but I love them. I've never played a game above "normal" and I have no intention of ever being good at games since I sort of enjoy being bad anyhow. It feels silly and rarely do I get frustrated because games often are helpful to players like me and they give lots of hints and cues after dying so much. I still feel happy when I win a fight even with all the extra hand holding. My best example is Tears of the Kindgom. I beat it a week or so ago and that final boss was HARD. Probably one of the few times I was actually getting frustrated with myself and my lack of skill. When I was playing the game, I knew I relied too much on my sages, but I thought "Hey, Nintendo gave them to me - might as well use 'em!". Now, I did try to limit use of the whole squad in some combat situations but rarely was it because I wanted to fight alone. I liked the idea of fighting with buddies plus I REALLY needed that extra help. But that final boss took me like 2-3 hours to beat, which might be funny to some of the more skilled players here, but I'm really just not that good. I was overjoyed to win (thank you lynel bow ft bomb arrows), but relying on the help of my sages didn't really take away the sweetness of victory. I loved beating the other temples with my sages, it felt like battling alongside friends and honestly heightened the experience for me! I believe that the experience of disappointment the "bomb suit" exists might only be for very skilled players like yourself. If Souls games were at all appealing to me beyond the soundtrack, I'd TOTALLY use the mods to make it easy. It looks neat and no matter how easy the mods make it, it will still be extremely hard for players like me who just aren't good at games. Anyways, I liked this video and the message you had behind it! I also think your suggestion for optimal difficulty settings is neat and I'd totally play a game designed that way!
Actual jeff bezos
2023-08-22 22:53:13 +0000 UTCHot damn this is good! Bloodborne is my favorite piece of media all time and I wish I could recommend it to more people, I wish it was more accessible so everyone could experience that story. But like you said it's not as simple as changing numbers, and when even the gameplay and the way the game is teaching you to play it are part of the storytelling, where do you even begin to make things more accessible without fundamentally changing the narrative? You brought up a lot of good points, especially that L4D ai director shout-out. Fantastic stuff!
VikingRobotNinja
2023-08-22 18:32:58 +0000 UTC
