I don't have a ton of time to play video games (mainly I just do not want to spend that much time sedentary) and I certainly don't have time to grind away at a game to progress in a story gradually. I just do not have enough time for that!!
(btw I am not talking about "casual" games with no death / mobile games / etc though those are fine and valid also I suppose, I specifically mean story-based / signle-player campaign games)
props to easy games (the most recent Dragon Quest I'm looking right at you) and games that let you scale the difficulty (especially the ones that let you adjust it on the fly). also easy modes get bonus points for making the worst gamers mad.
shout out your favorite easy games here
I liked that Psychonauts 2 had a "I don't give a shit about combat button" so you could just take zero damage during combat. You still had to defeat the enemies, do the platforming, and solve puzzles. But I like platforming a lot more than I like combat, so being able to ignore a part of the game that would have been otherwise frustrating was nice.
I didn't use it, but Hades is a really good game and it has an easy mode.
The "godmode" where every death buffs you without any other changes made that game so much easier to enjoy while still being a fun challenge.
The way they did it was really elegant, too. For anyone who doesn't know, whenever you fail a run with God Mode on you get a scaling damage reduction, not a damage boost or bonus XP or anything like that. It means you still have the chance to learn how to do the fights, since Hades is mostly a game of "dodge the telegraphed move/big red circle."
I had it on so long I maxed it out, and even then I forgot was on at times, but even an old like me could get to the end and feel accomplished. A really talented studio all around made that.
Celeste’s extra settings were great and kept me from bouncing off the game.
good shout, great way to balance out the frustration of repeat failure
It’s why Nintendo exists. Most of their games are quick and decently fun
yar harr, the nice thing amount the switch being low spec is its super easy to emulate. I kinda miss the online mode in some games, but hey, its free.
Obviously, not every game is meant to be some kind of test of mechanical skill, but when it comes to stuff like combat, I find that a lack of meaningful challenge completely kills my immersion in a game and deflates the whole experience
Most recently, I thought I would hate atomic heart because of the tanky enemies, but after easy mode as too easy I tried the normal mode and had a lot of fun. It forces you to treat the combat as more of a dance (which fits the vibe of the ballet trailer) darting forwards to strike before darting back in time with the enemy. Hard mode was obnoxious though.
That's what hard mode is for, which is also a good thing, as long as they don't do dumb shit like lock the real ending behind it.
I got a real kick out of the challenge of Elden Ring, but even with the cheesiest of magic builds and a lot of cave grinding, it took me 3 weeks of solid 4 hour a day playing to take Rennala down.
Well renalla has 80% magic resist so that's your problem
This is why I love games like Rimworld and Project Zomboid. Every single eensy beetsy tiny little detail can be adjusted, either by default or through mods. Wanna go through hell? Boom, crank those numbers up and instantly game over. Wanna have a nice relaxing time basically just playing the Sims but as a survival/base building game? Just turn down the difficulty or threats and play until bored.
love starting out with spacer tech in rimworld and just vibe with my transhuman demon girl lesbian cult
Kirby is a series that I simply can't imagine being hard at the base level. Some of the fun little side challenges? Sure, but a "hardcore Kirby" would be the dumbest thing in the world.
I also refuse to play Dynasty Warriors types of games at a difficult setting, I just want to blast through enemies with cool visuals.
if/when I get the time and patience to set up emulation on my xbox one it's definitely kirby time
same. I dont want to spend time repeating things I just did or being frustrated. Im there for the story most the time.
Yes. I am very sick of good gamers and game reviewers saying there should only be one, correct difficulty. Like options in a game ever hurt anybody?
My personal preference is hard game with cheat codes >> easy game without cheat codes.
One of the things i like about the DSDA source port of Doom is that it gives you the option to rewind by a few seconds so you can just rewind if you die and you’re not in the mood to grind out the level
Hot take - I think a of games that don’t have Easy Modes do it because their game would not be fun.
That said, I want Easy Mode in the Souls genre.
YES LET ME JUST WALK AROUND AND EXPLORE WITHOUT DYING I WANT TO SOAK IN THE WORLD AND SCENERY
Edit: in case that wasn't clear, not sarcasm - I'm enthusiastically agreeing. I've played a few hours of every souls game just cause I LOVE the scenery, but I cap out around 6 hours due to frustration.
YES LET ME JUST WALK AROUND AND EXPLORE WITHOUT DYING I WANT TO SOAK IN THE WORLD AND SCENERY
That's what wandering around the landscape that you've strewn with dead monsters is for. Also, it's for getting your heart rate down after a stressful encounter.
Having a sun-buddy does help make the games considerably easier. I've been playing Elden Ring and love the new feature that lets you post your gold summon sign all over the place with a single click.
I spent like 20 hours in the intro plains + forest+ swamp area of elden ring baked as fuck enjoying the vibes. It was great tbh, I was so overleveled when I finally decided to progress.
I mean, any game with a half-decent story could be fun with an easy mode. Which means the vast, vast majority of games.
I've dropped more than one RPG because there was just no balance between the normal battles you then also have to grind endlessly and the boss battles that just kill you until you memorize the right pattern to beat them. So yes, a proper easy mode would really improve things.
