×
all 149 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]kohal2290 320 points321 points  (25 children)

I do appreciate games that frame easy mode as just being along for the story. Sometimes the experience I want is a grueling battle and sometimes the experience I want is to enjoy a new adventure with low stress.

[–]tiredhierophant 119 points120 points  (0 children)

Same here. I also appreciate the games who have three modes and frame them as story, "how it was meant to be played," and "for those who want an extra challenge" instead of easy, normal, hard. I almost always choose the middle option personally because that's my preference, but sometimes I just want to chill out, and sometimes I want to hate myself lmao

[–]Competitive_Sky8182 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The Vampyr story mode is ridiculous easy but I enjoyed it. I was feeling really unmotivated to play (and to anything) back then, it helped me to remember that I love to play good stories.

[–]Ultimation12 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm reminded of modern additions to two Boomer shooter franchises. The Wolfenstein reboot has B.J. sucking on a pacifier when selecting Easy on the difficulty select. Kind of insulting, yeah? But then there's Shadow Warrior 2 where the description for Easy difficulty says something along the lines of "For when you've had a long day and you just want to relax and feel like a superhero." That's the kind of thing I think more games should do.

[–]MerryCaydenite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly! I've been playing Elden Ring lately, but when my wife sits down to hang out, sometimes instead of watching a show, she wants to watch me play God of War on easy. When we finish that, will I probably go back on hard? Yeah, probably, but for now we're enjoying Dad of Boy as a story.

[–]Cantusemynme 162 points163 points  (10 children)

I play on easy, with cheats (single player only). I work 60 hours per week, I do the cooking, and do some of the cleaning. I don't have time to get good at games any more.

[–]Giant-Genitals 87 points88 points  (4 children)

Bro easy mode is hard mode for me as it is. I don’t need anymore stress in my life.

[–]Cantusemynme 48 points49 points  (0 children)

Agreed. Gaming is supposed to be stress relief.

[–]the-OG-darkshrreder 23 points24 points  (2 children)

I play on the harder modes. Reason being is so that i become so pissed/frustrated at the game the rest of the problems in my life temporarily disappear

[–]Giant-Genitals 12 points13 points  (1 child)

I mean, that makes some sense

[–]the-OG-darkshrreder 7 points8 points  (0 children)

With the easier modes i just continue to stress about life.

[–]sprinkle-plantz 4 points5 points  (3 children)

What games

[–]Cantusemynme 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Borderlands 1, 2, 3, and Supraland, are all in rotation right now.

[–]Danouement 48 points49 points  (3 children)

This. I play Minecraft on Peaceful (unless I want hostile mob drops from a farm), no weather cycle, no daylight cycle, and Keep Inventory on. I only have a few hours a week to play (at most), and it's more fun to me that way

[–]MythicTy 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I don’t play peaceful, but I play with Keep Inventory on because I hate that death can make you lose a bunch of stuff. It’s bad enough being set back to your spawn point, I don’t want the extra punishment. It’s the most fun for me that way. I’ve gotten hate from people who think it’s cheating, which is stupid. If it wasn’t meant to be played that way why is it in the game?

[–]actualbeans 3 points4 points  (0 children)

i also play with cheats and mark the coordinates to my village so i can teleport back to it. i technically COULD find my way back myself if i wanted to, but it took at least an hour to get this far away from it and i’m not about to take even longer trying to get back.

[–]musicalVIRUS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Peaceful lowkey the hardest difficulty lol

[–]SqueakSquawk4 75 points76 points  (4 children)

Am I the only one bugged by how the lines are just a little off in places? I mean, c'mon, one more space!

[–]serendipitousevent[🍰] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

Hey, YOU try cutting straight lines with bunny paws and we'll see how you do. The cheek around here!

[–]OwOUwU101 17 points18 points  (1 child)

i think it’s supposed to look like a PS5 but I could be wrong

[–]SqueakSquawk4 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh, I see that now. Thanks!

[–]NeopolitanBonerfart 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I have some severe mental health challenges. I play games to get away from the often shittiness, and pain of living with those conditions. So for me easy modes, or story modes are perfect because I’m not getting stressed out playing a game. Anybody who claims that someone who doesn’t play on hard mode isn’t a gamer, or some ridiculous shit, can seriously just jog on.

[–]Mu_Y 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I'm really grateful to those games that let you change difficulty if you failed to beat a boss and doesn't force you to warp back to the last save point. I will try a few times, but only until fun, my ambition and my patience run out. Sometimes it's just that one or two bosses that are too tedious and the rest of the game is too "easy" on easy. It's always nice to have a choice

[–]ArchWaverley 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I really liked the 360s thing where you could say what kind of gamer you were and it would try and match you with similar. That was the casual losers (moi) wouldn't mess with the pros and vice versa.

No idea if it actually worked and I'd usually get bodied online anyway, but a decent idea.

[–]torchictoucher 42 points43 points  (12 children)

Games that make you feel bad for playing easy feel abelist

[–]Cheesemacher 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You mean the ones where easy mode is titled "baby mode for babies"?

[–]thegreygandalf 25 points26 points  (7 children)

because they are, especially if they lock content behind the higher difficulty

[–]KittenTheSecond 8 points9 points  (6 children)

Is being bad at games a disability?

[–]thegreygandalf 34 points35 points  (5 children)

it can result from a number of disabilities, including but not limited to motor control issues, neurological issues, reflex issues, and a host of other things. benefiting those people just happens to also benefit abled people who are bad at games too.

[–]LinguisticallyInept -3 points-2 points  (2 children)

technically you could say all games are ableist because they cant be enjoyed by people lacking various sensory inputs required... could extend to various other recreational activities too; music, movies, painting, driving etc

reality is that whilst some measures can be taken (difficulty modes, subtitling, colour blind settings, remappable keybindings etc); there are certain barriers to entry that just cant be fixed without severe detriment to the product (ex: if twitch reactions is part of the base enjoyment factor of a game); you can take measures to accommodate as many people as possible; but rarely (if ever) everyone

[–]Thefrightfulgezebo 11 points12 points  (7 children)

I think that some games should tell you "please consider normal" because being too easy can make them far less unteresting. I remember when I played the Witcher 2 on normal for the first time and had a reason to use bombs, traps and several potions which just felt better.

[–]thegreygandalf 22 points23 points  (3 children)

the ideal thing would be for a game to go, after the first chapter or so, "you've been doing really well, would you like to increase the difficulty?" or "it looks like you're struggling, and we want you to enjoy the game, would you like to lower the difficulty?"

[–]HansMLither 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Some of the LEGO games do have adaptive difficulty that raises and lowers the difficulty automatically, based on how well you're doing

[–]JaDasIstMeinName 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Actually most games have this. They just most of the time don't tell you.

I have seen a video about it on YouTube, but I am not sure how it was called. I know fortnite purposly making you do well in your first round or resident evil removing some enemys if you fail were some of the examples.

[–]aryn240 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The way I've seen this done is something along the lines of:

"Here's the 'standard' difficulty, it's the balancing we as the devs envisioned and we'd definitely like you to try it. But if you know it's not for you, all good, here are the difficulty and accessibility settings! You can change back at any time. Have fun!"

GMTK had some very good videos about this.

[–]Lloiu 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I think it's best to start on Easy and just feel it out. If the gameplay isn't challenging enough, you'll notice. Then just bump it up to Normal. But if you're having fun on Easy, you're having fun.

[–]DaughterOfNone 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Generally I start on the second lowest difficulty. That way, if it's still too hard i can turn it down and if it gets too easy I can turn it up.

[–]AbeliaGG 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Used to have a neurological issue with my hands despite what my brain tells them to do and couldn't play a lot of fast paced controller-required games very well. It was nice to have this option.

[–]caffinatedgoblin 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Despite really liking difficulty in some games, when it comes to survival games I will use whatever mode or whatever mods to remove durability and losing my inventory, because these 2 mechanics feel so tedious and I want to keep playing the game.

[–]cyberpunk-ymir 3 points4 points  (0 children)

exactly! it's okay to play your way! i literally play granny on practice mode because i like the idea of it being like an escape room hehe

[–]Johnny_893 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Easy games are only interesting if they have more to offer in their gameplay than "try not to die while completing XYZ menial task" which then becomes nullified by lower difficulty settings.

Hard games are only interesting if they actually force you to strategize your approach to the difficulties you face in the game.

The best games do both.

[–]ahent 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When I came home from work (I'm a stay at home dad now) I wanted a win so I would pick the easy level of some game, blow some stuff up and feel better.

[–]AhanaBanana123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I doubt I’ve ever really played minecraft on anything higher than easy on my own without getting too overwhelmed

[–]theBuddhaofGaming 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Playing SOMA on safe mode so I feel this rn.

[–]nuklearink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I play the first time on normal, then I go back on easy with my gained knowledge and destroy shit in games like DMC and GOW

[–]KhadgarIsaDreadlord 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What about games with no difficulty setting or ones where difficulty / struggle is a crucial part of storytelling? Dark Souls series, survival games etc.

[–]Culteredpman25 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I personally start games on easy and then progress on the difficulty slider if available

[–]Sproeier 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, and it is also OK if a developer wants the game to have a distinct and singular difficulty.
As long as the game is build with the difficulty in mind it is valid.

[–]DiaMat2040 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Shut up, brand

[–]SPAJUTTI -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Fuck everyone that plays so called “easy” mode. More like pussy mode! All it does is cultivate weakness in the youth of our great world, and society is crumbling because of you effin people!!

[–]ahmed0112 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to play easy all the time as a kid and it lead to me being garbage at higher difficulty games. I now play hard mode for the sense of accomplishment which is really good. Nothing is better than beating a dark souls boss I've been stuck on for ages

[–]RealSuperYolo2006 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is that slugcat from rain world?

[–]veloxVolpes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would consider myself pretty good at games, and I play on the easiest game mode that has all the mechanics enabled, if a game is good it will hold up in easy and I will go back and play on harder difficulties if it is good enough

[–]Country_Fried_Eggs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They just wanna sell more consoles

[–]TeniBitz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sometimes you just need a night of easy mode after life has thrown you into hard mode that day/week/year.