What Makes A Good Difficulty Option?

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Game difficulty is hard. It's tough to strike the right balance between a game that plays too easy or too hard. The sweet spot is a constantly moving target, different for different players and even for the same players at different times. Let's talk about what goes into designing video game difficulty options to be the most fun for the most people, most of the time.
Featuring:
God of War Ragnarok
Bubsy
Halo
Metroid Dread
Resident Evil 4
Beat Saber
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose
Cuphead
Goldeneye
A Hat in Time
Pizza Tower
Bug Fables
Hades
Kid Icarus Uprising
Super Smash Bros 4
Also Featuring clips of Vernal Edge at 0:32 and Freedom Planet 2 at 10:44
Mark Brown's video on the challenges of designing difficulty in a game you're making: • Don't make this assump...
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[@DesignDoc]

Go to brilliant.org/DesignDoc to get a 30-day free trial + the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual subscription!

[@ZacBobisKing]

No

[@donut1446]

L sponsor

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Interesting take on the difficulty options!!

[@vierco1005]

Design Doc:"Who is Gonna memorize bubsy" Me: "Are you sure about that(I have over 6000 hours in original bubsy)

[@SimoneBellomonte]

@@donut1446 Its actually a W sponsor, but im not paying for that lol, especially if theyre not even releasing actual certificates that are industry-recognized (if this is misinfo, pls feel free to prove me wrong).

[@RobertF-zj2rm]

I think 200cc in mario kart 8 is a good example of an increase in difficulty that leads to fundamentally changing how players have to interact with the game to be successful.

[@SuspiciousScout]

I agree, 200cc was the most I've felt challenged by a Mario Kart in a long time. Of course the faster speed is one thing (meaning getting hit will have enemies zoom past you faster), The fact that it requires you to brake while drifting in a lot of instances is quite novel, but also the fact that boosts from ramps and items can sometimes be detrimental if it just makes you hit a wall or fall off a ledge.

[@RobertF-zj2rm]

@@SuspiciousScout exactly *flashes back to dragon driftway and mk8 rainbow road*

[@bojordan64]

Yeah, suddenly needing to brake was an adjustment. I love it personally, but I can see a lot people being turned off immediately.

[@jasonreed7522]

​@@bojordan64so that's how you're supposed to handle the ridiculous speed of 200cc, I've been trained to only press B to reverse and others hold A and drift. My solution was to build a car with max acceleration and min speed and that mostly worked when combined with practicing the courses at those speeds. (I'm used to Double Dash where the small cars with max acceleration were the best so i decided to return to that mentality)

[@jarredlucas4000]

Irrelevant for anyone who isn't a child though

[@unvergebeneid]

In terms of adaptive difficulty levels, what I really hate is when a game judges you at the very start, like the first encounter or even tutorial fight. You're still figuring out the controls, maybe remap buttons, see if you want to go controller or mouse and keyboard... and the game goes: "Oh, so you suck at games huh? No worries, I'm just going to treat you like a child from now on."

[@Haganeren]

Even without that, i actually like myself trying to overcome a challenge. So dying a second time to something often mean to me that i won't be able to overcome that wall ever, the wall just lowered instead. It's quite frustrating.

[@5persondude]

Similar flaw with Resident Evil 4’s dynamic difficulty. Minor spoilers ahead: So during the Krauser fight near the end of the game, I had absolutely no clue that you’re actually supposed to fight him with your Knife instead of unloading lead into him (only discovered this maybe a year ago). So I’d go from several failed attempts due to the timer running out to suddenly defeating him almost instantly. I vividly remember on my first playthrough, where the first time I actually killed him with *less than 1 second remaining* only for the timer run out and give me a game over… then the next fight I finish him off in less than 40 seconds and it kind of pissed me off because it felt like the game was pitying me While the game _sorta_ subtlety hints at using the knife, the rest of the game heavily disincentivizes using it unless for knocked down enemies or item boxes

[@Nebukanezzer]

Lmao bro its not exactly subtle

[@lolmanmagee2785]

yeah im actually not a big fan of most adaptive difficulty in terms of scaling down the game. i might have failed on my first try but i still want to confront your challenge instead of you just immediately turning it down! i much prefer when the game asks you if you want it to do so such as in MGSV when you restart a checkpoint it leaves the same marks on. it is still adaptive difficulty but the game tells you its doing it and if you restart the mission manually it will unmark them and allow you to do it the True way.

[@arandomcommenter412]

Just don’t encounter anything hard! You can’t lose if the game was never trying to make you lose.

[@matchanavi]

I think an important game series to point out is Kirby. The usual trend with mainline Kirby games is that they'll be relatively easy on the surface, but beating all challenges or an Extra mode will get very difficult. The extra modes will change the appearance of bosses, change their patterns or even replace enemies in levels. It's crazy to me that this was a thing since the very first game too. And not to mention that bosses always have a pattern where they spawn stars and you can use those to beat them without copy abilities, which can be a self-imposed challenge on its own.

[@avanelletheclockfriend2515]

I was thinking this exact thing! Return to Dreamland Deluxe’s Extra Mode is the best example in the series IMO; besides just halving your health and changing aspects of some enemies and all the bosses, it replaces almost every single healing item in stages with one star. It’s a massive improvement over the original, as it used to just feel like playing the story mode again with a bit of fresh paint. Now, the extra pressure brought on by the sheer infrequency of recovery items forces players to be much more careful; in the original you had wiggle room when it came to chip damage, but now that you can go multiple stages without finding any food it can add up significantly. If it’s too much for someone, you can still use Magoland items too! Then, you have the True Arena… Not gonna get into spoilers but if you know, you know.

[@anegwa]

Its in the gameboy game? Kirbys dreamland?

[@cjrecio5702]

​@@anegwa Yeah, if you beat the game you unlock EX Mode.

[@anegwa]

@@cjrecio5702 thats actually really cool

[@dazcarrr]

true arena no copy abilities is always a fun challenge

[@mollywantshugs5944]

For the original Doom the hardest difficulty was originally Ultra Violence but when people were complaining online that it wasn’t hard enough, the devs added a special difficulty mode specifically to troll those players: Nightmare. The enemies are faster and they gain the ability to respawn. Somehow it turned out to be a really interesting challenge for expert players, in large part because of how you almost have to speedrun to survive

[@birdg4]

Do you mean doom 1993 or 2016?

[@flamestoyershadowkill6400]

@@birdg4 probably 1993

[@multey]

​@@birdg4original means first

[@LethalLuggage]

​@@birdg4I love the people who reply to you and don't realize that in 1993 there wasn't really an online marketplace to respond to devs nor a way for devs to patch the game...

[@cericat]

​@@LethalLuggage I love you fools that know nothing about the history of the internet or the software you're talking about. Doom is famous for being the first game to heavily market via the internet (public ISPs like AOL, Prodigy, and Compuserve [actually serving businesses since 1979] have been a thing since the 80s thanks to standards like X.25), hell users downloading the shareware release of Doom from UW-Madison's FTP server crashed it, Carmack literally patched the netcode overnight as LAN games were causing massive headaches for university system admins. But yes we had "no way to respond to devs", I'd refer you to to the event called Eternal September and internet forums being a thing already and phone in BBSes being widespread even in places where we didn't yet have widespread general access to web 1.0. Services like Steam made online purchasing and maintaining updates easier, they did not develop the frameworks for it.

[@SocialisedMedicine]

My big problem with the intensity option in Smash Ultimate is that it increased every fight you won, and decreased if you died. This was a problem for me cause it was *impossible* to stay within the perfect sweetspot of difficulty for my skill level. I'd win too much, it would get too hard, I would die, then it would revert to being too easy. I really really wished there was a way to just lock it at the level I wanted.

[@SonicTheCutehog]

That's something Smash 4 did right

[@EWOODJ]

3DS did it best actually feels satisfying to play. They even had color based difficulty paths: Blue: Easier but less rewards Green: Medium with moderate rewards Red: Harder with more rewards Black: Adds Crazy Hand (and beyond) to the final boss and of course, better rewards. Solo Master Hand is a blue path.

[@FireallyXTheories]

You mean Smash 4? I don't remember any systems like this in Ultimate

[@ethanknowles8977]

@@FireallyXTheories No, that's how Ultimate works. You can only set the slider as high as 5.0/9.9 at the start and it changes from there based on your performance. If you complete a fight, it increases. If you game over at any point, you need to spend gold or a classic mode ticket to continue. Spending gold lowers the difficulty. A classic mode ticket keeps it where it is.

[@damienearl8302]

*Almost like the game right before it-*

[@javonyounger5107]

I like difficulties where enemies gain new capablites.

[@cosmicspacething3474]

Pizza tower was originally going to do that I think

[@selfloathingweekly]

[NIOH has entered the chat]

[@theoaremevano3227]

I can't get enough of that. :D Ninja Gaiden Black not only added new enemies to later settings, and threw stronger variants at you earlier and earlier in the game, but they had direct additions to some of their movesets too. There were even a couple of cases of an old enemy getting a new move that made them a lot more dangerous. All of them were carefully and attentively crafted to pinpoint natural weaknesses in a player's approach to dealing with them.

[@elekunt]

​@@cosmicspacething3474 yeah with the heat meter

[@mercenarytao7930]

Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and Nioh all love to do that. My favorite being Devil May Cry. Dante Must Die mode remixes the types of enemies in each area and gives all enemies Devil Trigger which grants them super armor, health regeneration, faster speed, and new attacks. Then there is Legendary Dark Knight mode which changes enemy placement and increases the quantity to an absurd amount without giving enemies Devil Trigger. The best part about these games is that you must complete the game on each of the lower difficulties before you can unlock the higher ones; you must prove that you are ready.

[@Stephen-Fox]

I like it when games break down difficult into multiple concepts. Even stuff as simple as Danganronpa's (and Silent Hill's) separate Action and Puzzle difficulty sliders, for example.

[@marscaleb]

The one time I played a Silent Hill game, I put the puzzles on the highest difficulty and the action at the lowest. I knew EXACTLY what I was there for, and i was so glad the game let me play that way! It would be interesting to see this concept approached in other genres. Maybe in an action shooter you are fine with dropping less ammo, but there is just that one enemy type that is a tremendous pain to deal with no matter what? A linear difficulty option could drop in too many of the things you hate, but the easier difficulties don't challenge you on what you really want. I'm also reminded of why I stopped playing the Warcraft games. (The RTS, not WOW.) I came to discover that Warcraft reduces the strategy the AI uses when you lower the game speed. At some levels the enemy will never even build certain types of units. This infuriated me and I can never go back and play them anymore. I liked the challenge they presented with having to out-think your opponent and come up with new strategies, but I don't like being required to memorize button combos and keyboard shortcuts to be able to play. All I wanted was to actually turnt he game speed down so that I can send my orders at a reasonable pace, but instead the game dumbs itself down.

[@Stephen-Fox]

@@marscaleb The game that does the best job of it, IMO, is in an Asteroids-like indie from the mid 90s. IIRC Spheres of Hell? As well as some default settings with default appearance frequencies of everything, it lets you adjust the appearance frequency of every enemy in the game, drop rates for power ups, and I think a bunch of other settings as well. There are some things that games from later years, e.g. Celeste, would start putting into accessibility settings that I'd like if it had them in as well but I'm not entirely sure how feasible some of those would have been when this game was made. And, yeah, that's basically my experience of Silent Hill as well. My one critique of Silent Hill's sliders is that it doesn't really tell you how it's going to alter the difficulty of the puzzles or the action. There's a difference between making a puzzle harder by using more obscure cultural references when clueing them vs one that makes it harder by requiring more advanced logical techniques to solve, you know? Both are valid approaches to puzzle design and difficulty calibration - Both crosswords and sudoku are popular at a wide range of difficulties - but the approach that appeals to one group won't necessarily appeal to another.

[@bengarrett4984]

Assassin's Creed has separate difficulty options in some games for combat, stealth, and exploring.

[@Adam-cq2yo]

Some games, such as Project Zomboid and Stellaris, give you a plethora of options for customizing different aspects of the game before starring. The amounts of resources, the numbers of enemies, aggressiveness, stuff like that. In Stellaris (a grand strategy game), you can choose when the mid-game and end-game crises happen, as well as when the winner is decided. You can choose how many AI opponents get advanced starts, and whether they can spawn next to you. Tons of stuff. On the simpler end of things, there's Terraria. It still ain't totally simple though. You have two difficulty options: one for your world (Classic, Expert, Master) and one for your character (Classic, Mediumcore, Hardcore). Your world's difficulty can bump up enemy stats and give them better AI. Your character's difficulty determines what you lose when you die. (Drop your coins, drop all items, or your character is deleted.) What complicates this a tinge is that Expert worlds give a bit of exclusive loot (both vanity and equipment) and let you equip one extra piece of equipment (after a permanent character upgrade), which incentivises you to try Expert for the _sick loot._ Character difficulty is just for shits and giggles though. There's also a point roughly halfway through a world's progression where you convert the world to _hardmode,_ which isn't a difficulty _option_ but does make the game a lot more difficult (and, y'know, unlocks the second half of the game's content and changes the world in a significant way and eventually leads you to godlike power).

[@stormy_does_stuff]

​@@Adam-cq2yo and then there's secret seeds And FTW/legendary mode...

[@TheRealBatabii]

I love how Terraria's Expert Mode actually gives enemies entirely new attack patterns

[@eclipset.9683]

Games like that are the best. Destiny 2 changes behavior in the legendary modes for campaigns. Terraria also has different seeds which can change the experience or make it more or less difficult.

[@damienearl8302]

Then Master mode adds onto the risk=reward rule, then there's *Legendary* which is only used on a single seed, set to Master mode, for the most intense experience you can possibly have in the base game-

[@shadowflamelightburst4503]

@@damienearl8302aster mode doesn’t really add to the risk=reward, the only special item is the relics and I believe legendary mode is also technically in for the worthy

[@Pikamarmot]

Expert Mode is the sweet spot difficulty of the game. The rewards outweigh the risks in the form of increased drop rates and the cool exclusive items from treasure bags. Master is just Expert on steroids and the boss statues don't really mean much.

[@williamj.2695]

@@damienearl8302 I was honestly a bit disappointed with Master mode. Expert mode did a lot to make the difficulty interesting, most notably having all the new patterns different enemies have, while Master just increased enemy damage and health. In my opinion, the Calamity mod had a fantastic approach to the increase in difficulty with Revengeance. It did a lot of the same techniques that expert did and gave you more gameplay altering rewards like beating a boss in expert does

[@zodayn4767]

The adaptive system in RE8 saved me when I killed a boss with the very last bullet. The game probably registered that in order to not have me die on purpose when the boss was nearly down they just gave the kill. Since surviving on your last shot is much more exciting than needing to restart the fight

[@Pravanul]

I wish games did this more often. It always feels bad for an enemy, especially a boss, to survive by 1HP and even worse when they then kill you. Especially as it's usually because of RNG that they happened to narrowly survived.

[@izuthree]

A fun mechanic to this effect is how in Gears of War, the last bullet in a magazine in SP deals more damage for this exact purpose. Functionally, it results in the player doing vulnerable reloads less often and works as a neat little hidden difficulty modifier.

[@hugofontes5708]

I had a similar thrill when I first beat Artorias e DS1 I couldn't survive any two hits, was running dex pyro and did the maths: I had to boost my damage to the max and hit nearly every spell so I could maybe finish him I was down to one estus and healed - he started to power up but I hesitated to rush in, it was all over... But then I remembered he would jump and that I don't need to live, only to kill him. I cast chaos firestorm as he leaps at me, we both die. It felt awesome.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

It didn't save you though, the only reason you were bad off in the first place was that adaptive system. It is like someone breaks into your house and steals everything but returns tomorrow with everything and returns it. They aren't a hero, they are a thief.

[@hugofontes5708]

@@Buglin_Burger7878 sounds more like drunk Florida Man ™

[@ravenstales6457]

Hey, can we talk about how certain games handle variety? Like how some games can give too many options for a player, and others are way too simple

[@dabmasterars]

metal gear solid v is a great example of having too much options

[@nykita427]

When you have lots of different systems but you can just ignore them because game is so easy

[@ogpandamonium]

Skill trees are the ultimate form of too many options from me. I end up not making an informed choice and just picking whatever is cheapest because there are too many things

[@lordeilluminati]

​@@dabmasterars i think it is good in this case because all the options relate to the same genre of the game, so you can get creative with it. My issue is when a game is so diverse to the point of lacking focus. That is why I dont enjoy Banjo Tooie. Kazooie was very tight in its platforming, Tooie dilutes that with giant maps and a lot of minigames sprinkled that cover a lot of genres.

[@r1_ob724]

Too much gameplay variety is what prevent me from playing nier

[@zenebean]

It is not advertised up front, but "overleveling" in games like Pokemon and Darksouls is a decent way to decrease the difficulty. It in turn allows players to do things like level 1 runs and such. Maybe something the implements these fan made kinds of challenges right into the game would be fun (level caps you can turn on, for example)

[@NotLordAsshat]

Also Dark Souls gives many options for weapons and spells that trivialize the game. Most of the time the main thing that makes the original dark souls difficult is the obtuseness and obscurity of its mechanics. I remember watching a DJ Peach Cobbler video where he talked about how he basically beat his head against a brick wall of difficulty because hardcore Dark Souls fans at told him it was extremely difficult game, so he assumed the absurd challenge he faced was part of the game rather than the game telling him to go the other direction lol

[@Rexxxed]

​@@NotLordAsshat DJ Peach Cobbler is an underrated gem in the KZbin landscape. He's so absurd that it cracks me up with every video

[@baronobeefdip8075]

To expand on the level cap idea, the Bravely Default series (Final Fantasy spiritual/side games) lets you turn off xp gains, for both Jobs and character levels (independently, too, iirc). I know at least one YT channel used that to beat the game with lv1 characters (and max Job levels tbf), to prove to people that those levels aren't that important for beating the game.

[@nlb137]

And is the root of the complaints about modern Pokemon games. The games level curve and xp yields haven't been rebalanced around the permanent exp multiplier from the party-wide exp share, so if you aren't actively avoiding fights (or rotating your team, barf) you end up overleveled without trying.

[@the_vine_queen]

This is a really good method of difficulty management. It's heavily player-controlled and doesn't change the fundamental mechanics of fights either.

[@johannhowitzer]

A good idea I had for adaptive difficulty is a recurring villain. If you beat him, he learns from what you did last time and your strategy doesn't work the next time. If he beat you, or you failed to beat him before he ran away or something, then next time, he hasn't learned from the previous encounter and more tactics will be available. The basic idea is if you win, he levels up... if he wins, you "level up." Maybe if you beat him enough times, he tags out and his superior steps in to up the ante.

[@mr_sauce_cooks]

The concept sounds really great and quite unique however from a technical point its very difficult as the strategies depends on the game type so if we were to have a movement game, it would be extremely difficult to account for every strategy

[@samkomododragon782]

Reminds me of the Alien in Alien: Isolation: if you repeatedly use the same tactic or tool, such as using the flamethrower to scare it away, it will slowly become less scared by it, which at best results in you burning (literally) through more of your fuel to scare it in late-game encounters with it, and at worst resulting in your death and having to have another attempt. A great way of having adaptive difficulty within the game's difficulty settings.

[@Otoshis]

There is actually a game fully based on that idea. It is named "Echo". I think what was not said in the video is that it depends on the game. It was said we had options, we talked a bit about what makes a good difficulty level, though even the "perfect" system won't suit every game. I really hate immortal enemies chasing us all the time(like in metroid or resident evil) and I think that your idea would be great alternation to that system. Instead of enemy you can't beat that just force you to move and put a time pressure, it would be better(for me at least) if they were not chasing us all over the place, but be occuring event that we can beat, but it can come stronger like in your example. I like to go with my own pace in each game and as I understand a chasing sequence, having an enemy on my back all the time when I am just simply exploring normal region is something I see more as punishment. Like examples in video where they punish you for choosing lower difficulty, here I feel punished for choosing my own pace and the game puts unnecessary pressure on me to change that. What is great about your idea is that it would require from us a different apporach because of the enemy learning, though we would be able to overcome it, instead of having to deal with it all the time.

[@queercandy1]

​@@mr_sauce_cooksit could be really simple, for example if you use a certain weapon type a lot, it is much more quick to dodge or block it

[@mr_sauce_cooks]

@@queercandy1 that might do the trick but i was thinking about more of a complex behaviour like you use a weapon too much, it uses a defence that counter it But it all genuinely comes to the game we're talking about

[@FaelumbreProject]

The "intended difficulty" option really needs more telegraphing sometimes. Say, in Hi-Fi RUSH, the difficulty that has demand for good timing but doesn't shoot the damage up is Hard, not Normal (which lets you through duels if you miss one or two prompts). But if you choose Hard on, say, Bayonetta, you're getting your ass kicked. Or even when the difficulty labeling changes, like the problem with original DMC3 where _all_ difficulties were made harder during localization. It is improving at least on being transparent about it tho - HFR as mentioned above, while not saying it's the intended difficulty, does have Rhythm Timing, Enemy Health and Recieved Damage on the same screen you pick them on the first time.

[@Genasidal]

I think Capcom have been thinking about this more with their recent RE titles (come a long way from the infamous "yellow or gold" in DMC3, huh?) I like how every difficulty option comes with a description that often gives a small suggestion on what type of skill level should be tackling said difficulty!

[@lpfan4491]

Gaming would be a lot better if "normal" actually meant "normal". As in, the difficulty the game was clearly designed around for a normal playthrough. Instead, it is often mindnumbingly easy to the point where a good chunk of games don't bother having an easy-difficulty.

[@FaelumbreProject]

@@lpfan4491 That ends up being because people get easily insulted if told to play on easy, but then they go on normal and it's too difficult for them. It's a vicious cycle of first impressions and I don't blame the devs for making Normal the true easy; but that's why distinctions like "enjoy the story and won't challenge your skills too much" end up helping more.

[@lpfan4491]

@@FaelumbreProject It is the larger evil tho imo, because it is straight up false information at that point. It's like if I made hard easier than normal and easy harder because I felt like it and I don't care about what these words mean anyways.

[@CiromBreeze]

@@FaelumbreProject Yet I've seen the opposite happen - I know players who'll nope out of a game if Easy isn't an option. (Admittedly, one of them is ten years old, but still) Having the difficulty options start from "Normal" can actually be pretty intimidating to those unfamiliar and show that the game's trying to be harder than your standard fare.

[@g24eva27]

I remember once celebrating a friend's birthday and we all took turns trying to defeat ghosts and goblins. We only made it past the first level. But it felt so satisfying even getting that far. But yeah......after that it got too difficult

[@veghesther3204]

I never got passed stage 1 in that game on EASY MODE and the SUPER version on the SNES could NOT beat ITS first stage on EASY MODE EITHER.

[@SystemBD]

Oh... and remember that, at the end, it makes you play the entire game again with a specific weapon to unlock a 10 second long ending. Even with save states in an emulator that game is brutal.

[@Thornbloom]

A fair few games like Ghosts'n'Goblins are ports of arcade titles and those are MEANT to be unfairly hard so you'll dump quarters into them.

[@damienearl8302]

@Donhimesama Daifutari Uhm...Gengetsu *what* now?

[@damienearl8302]

@Donhimesama Daifutari I get why you're upset, but the part that caught me off guard was the name itself- (hence, Gengetsu *what* Time?)

[@PangolinMontanari]

Bethesda games tend to have a really... *blunt* way to adjust difficulty. They make enemies harder to kill and deal more damage. But really this only effectively changes how long you fight and how many healing items you have to carry around.

[@tatri292]

Luckily you can just mod a simple universal damage multiplier. So instead of the enemies taking 1/5th damage on legendary, everyone can take the full 5x. Or just keep enemy health unmodified I guess, my preference is influenced by using other mods at the same time.

[@Ghalion666]

It's cheap and lazy but I'm ok with it because they require basically no time or money to develop/impliment. So it's just a player option th at they can ignore if they like, or tweak if they think it's not set right to begin with. I know a few games where I just feel like I plow through all the enemies effortlessly, often killing them before they make a single attack, and wish I could make them a LITTLE bit tougher so that I'd actually have to worry about them attacking to provide SOME challenge.

[@amanawolf9166]

Vanilla FO4 comes to mind. The bullet sponge motif gets on my nerves. When you face an enemy on the hardest difficulty and their health drops by the smallest of fractions, it gets annoying fast. It's one reason why I'm not fond of FPS games as of late. The whole idea with some of them is just increase enemy health, lower weapon damage, and the developers don't add any new mechanics into the game. It just feels so stale.

[@officersoulknight6321]

My personal favorite is the Rain World slugcats. Rain world is a speculative evolution survival game set in the far future, with you playing as a Slugcat, which, as its name suggests, plays a catlike role in the ecosystem. You start with the Survivor (classic rain world experience) and the Monk (herbivorous slugcat that needs less food and gets a bit of better PR from scavs). Instead of being dead-up weaker, the harder difficulties pose you in harder ecological niches. For example, the Spearmaster, one of the hardest slugcats, is purely carnivorous and plays a sort of hunting role. The creature lack a mouth and instead feeds by tubes attached to the spears it grows from its tail, so it’s forced to hunt the biggest of baddies daily to continue living. All of the slugcats also provide different perspectives, snippets of one collective lore across all the slugcats.

[@Stiathirs]

Interestingly, the generally easier option of Monk can actually be more punishing to the player and more difficult option of Hunter rewarding the player. Sure, as Monk it's easier to tame creatures or to survive in general, but you do (on average) 0.66 damage (not even enough to kill a pole plant with one hit) with spears, compared to Survivor's 1 and Hunter's 1.25, as well as a lung capacity of 1.2 (0.83x standard, higher values = less capacity), meaning you can't swim as long (assuming you don't use the Remix modifier that makes that number 0.8).

[@officersoulknight6321]

@@StiathirsYes, but that’s what makes it interesting. It’s both a different experience for seasoned players and a lowered difficulty for newbies.

[@Kyrephare]

I personally always like The World Ends with You's difficulty slider. Because you could basically set it at any time, try out a few random battles, and adjust it some more, it was easy to find that sweet spot instead of being locked into it for a whole stage. Dangling rare item drop rates/ unlocking certain rare items tied to difficulty level was a good incentive (which I hadnt seen previously). Hardest difficulty I cleared was Lunatic + on Fire Emblem Awakening in Classic mode with all my characters alive at the end (without looking at any guides or external help). Never again... but it did end up meaning I created some really unique strats that I never used in any Fire Emblem game before or since.

[@JJSquirtle]

I genuinely despise replaying awakening because of its difficulty options. Normal and hard are way too easy, but early game lunatic and like the walhart chapter exactly are the only hard parts of lunatic and everything else is still very easy in comparison. Lunatic + adding a bunch of resets didn't help that imo

[@positronixartandlife4545]

Same re. TWEWY's difficulty, it helped that you also had the four standard difficulty modes, then the slider to decrease your level (and how much HP you had). Then it balanced out by being able to eat foods to increase stats so you could theoretically put the game on ultimate difficulty, reduce your level down to 1, but load up on attack and be a glass cannon

[@baronobeefdip8075]

Just commenting here to support a TWEWY comment. Absolutely my favorite game ever.

[@formy52]

I lived how TWEWY did difficulty. Being able to level down to increase your drop rate felt scary at first but as you got better and got better stats and pins you could even beat bosses at a low level and get their rare pin.

[@TopCurls]

I’m glad bug fables got the shout, it’s difficulty system is pristine, those rewards are actually incredibly rewarding

[@demopan1067]

I played through bug fables twice, and hard mode let me experience it again with difficulty as if i was going in blind again!

[@chanderule605]

Cant help but disagree, the difficulty curve in Bug Fables is entirely messed up

[@TopCurls]

I can see someone complaining about certain bosses difficulty (fucking Devourer) but frankly I felt hardmode was handled really well balance wise Granted I didn’t really play the base difficulty so maybe I can’t tell how much of a jump of difficulty it is from one to another, I just know hardmode felt rather fair at most all times (fuck you devourer)

[@chanderule605]

@@TopCurls Not sure how it is in hard mode but basically Normal mode is really easy, and I never had to strategize and do cool badge combos because I could sort of bruteforce my way through everything without any trouble, so I did because I mainly.played it as a spiritual successor to Paper Mario However, the tank (and I imagine the final boss especially) is a massive difficulty leap and suddenly I couldnt get past it, leaving me to choose between going back, looking up/coming up with badge strategies, actually collecting them etc just to finish the game or just dropping it

[@wrmsnicket]

It sucks that “challenge” is so often linked to things like harder bosses. With your Goldeneye example, it showed that challenge can literally just be doing more in a level than the basics, even outside a platformer. The only modern western titles I can think of that do this kinda thing often are Ubisoft. Ever since AC:Origins, there’s be a consistent focus on treating “exploration” and “combat” as two separate but interlocking parts, rather than something that is adjusted with the vagueness of a single slider or difficulty selection. We really need more of that.

[@literallyaspider1508]

For Hades, I might even add the option to buy rare materials like Titan Blood and Diamonds in the last world: if you hoard a bunch of money that you'd otherwise use on buffs, healing, or upgrades, and make it near the end, you can buy a resource. So even if you're having trouble turning up the heat, there's another type of challenge you can pursue to get stronger instead

[@birdg4]

But it’s rng to get the material you want from the Styx temple shop.

[@furiouscorgi6614]

​@@birdg4if you dont get what you want, you can still trade items at the Broker

[@kiwikarp9509]

I feel like RPG's are a lot harder to balance, especially if they give you a lot of party members to choose from. It's hard for me to think of ways to hit that goldilocks zone with set stats and numerous unit combinations.

[@MrNovascar]

I think it comes down to 2 things: First: Strategy. Can you immediately switch units? How much do you get from it?(like pokemon with type advantages nearly trivializing all fights with the right pokemon you can conveniently catch near the gym) Second: exp. Most RPGs get easier with level ups and depending on how easy you get these, the game becomes easier the longer you take(assuming the game let's you keep all the exp when you die). I currently struggle with triangle strategy, but I can just retry the fight because the strong enemies give dozens of exp and I can keep them,so my 30min attempt was not worthless and brings me closer to beat the game

[@Serlock4869]

Valkyrie Profile do this very poorly. Hard is actually easier than easy, or to be precise, you can enhance your characters better in hard than easy since at hard everyone starts at level 1. And you need to play hard + follow exact guidelines for true ending

[@wesnohathas1993]

@@MrNovascar Still in my first playthrough, and man Triangle Strategy's hard mode is brutal. I wouldn't even consider sticking with it if getting a game over forfeited the exp.

[@misamisaa4547]

Games with a lot of party member options also end up with OP characters and Useless characters... Or when you know one of them will die and you don't get a replacement (eg Aerith from FF7 who is just gone vs Galuf from FF5 who is replaced by his granddaughter who keeps all his stats, exp & abilities)

[@phineas81707]

And then there's my favourite difficulty slider, Pokemon. It tried it once, with the Key System in B2W2. Aside from (most) bosses for Challenge Mode, the game only adjusts the *levels* of the Pokemon you fight. Pokemon has a complicated internal system of base stats, IVs and EVs. Somehow- I have absolutely no idea how- changing the levels *does not actually change the base stats of your opponents*. Easy Mode drops the levels of Iris's level 59 Haxorus, but internally, it has the same stats- while your Pokemon's level *is* a factor in damage calculations, it only really counts at 4 levels out of 10 (0, 3, 5 and 8 levels). Thankfully, the game was merciful and reward EXP scaled to the original levels. Challenge Mode gives you EXP scaled to the Pokemon's *new* levels, even if the stats haven't changed. The difficulty modes also boast the appropriate AI tweaks, although I'm not sure what form these take.

[@HendorneEndohRoth]

I personally really liked the way Star Wars Fallen Order handled difficulty settings, since it didn't touch enemy health, but just the damage they deal, their aggressiveness and the precision required for timing blocks. I love difficult games, but when the higher difficulty settings makes enemies tankier, it just feels tedious rather than properly increasing the challenge.

[@jacksonhoiland2664]

Reminds me of a diablo game, I don't remember which one that gave bonus XP on higher difficulties so the game wasn't actually harder but just took longer since enemies had more health but still didn't do enough damage to hurt the player.

[@FreyZwei]

I also think it is also important the other way around. That you are able to tone down a game to prevent it from getting frustrating. For me I loved that Control and Dead Cells let me make it easier with a lot of granularity, as I simply don't have the time to play until I get better. I adjusted some settings, until it was still challenging but not frustrating. I really appreciate that.

[@arogustus3984]

It's the same for Don't Starve for me. I can't stand things like the random wildfires in Summer or the frog rains of Spring, so having the option to simply turn them off is an absolute blessing for me.

[@dinoaurus1]

​@@arogustus3984 quick tip in case you dont know, you can make a thing called an "ice-fling-o-matic" that automatically puts out fires when its turned on if you want to give wildfires being on a shot at some point. Of course you could already know this and just hate wildfires but better safe than sorry, right?

[@arogustus3984]

@@dinoaurus1 I know about it, yeah, but than I'd have to build my bases with the thing in mind. Turning off wildfires is mostly for the sake of giving myself freedom to design how I want.

[@Stratelier]

I remember one version of _Cave Story_ having a difficulty mode, with "Hard" removing all the Life Capsules from the game, trapping you permanently at 3HP and forcing you to play the game as a no-hit run. HOWEVER, due to the structure of the game's weapon XP system, this also meant your weapons were permanently at maximum power level, too!

[@vinkita7550]

Talking about Hades, I also enjoy the god mode in the game. Every time you die, you gain 2% resistance towards damage and it caps out at 80% For me and my poor coordination skills and generally being bad at games, this mode made Hades not only playable, but enjoyable. The resistance stacks slowly and now that I've capped it, I also feel like I've grown comfortable with the game and it's just difficult enough for me to find it challenging, but also fun.

[@seqka711]

I also like that God mode doesn't lock you out of the Pact of Punishment. You can still fine-tune the difficulty, the starting point is just lower, and I like that. To me, God mode turns Hades from a roguelike into a hack and slash RPG. Which is great, because I don't like roguelikes, but I do love hack and slash RPGs.

[@Genasidal]

It feels like Hades' take on the concept of Adaptive Difficulty, and just like the best examples of that, it is non-intrusive to your gameplay experience, nor condescending/takes away from your own merits! You still get to learn and master the mechanics just like everyone else with the resistance stacked on, just at your own, slower pace, and I think that's such a thoughtful implementation on the developers part! A great job indeed

[@Xpwnxage]

Never heard of it but that game looks pretty awesome

[@ingonyama70]

@@Genasidal The condescension is there, but it's only in character dialogue, and only after you fail a run, which makes it MUCH more tolerable, even motivating to some degree. The more Hades jeered snidely towards me about how THERE IS NO ESCAPE, the more I felt in tune with Zagreus' desire to show up the old man.

[@Ageleszly]

@@seqka711 The term "rougelike" doesn't refer to difficult games, it refers to the game "rouge" and the way how it was designed. That means "procedually generated level layouts and content" & starting over from the beginning when you lose, losing all of your progress. However Hades isn't a "rouge-like" it's an "rouge-lite", "lite" means you still have metaprogession, things that are saved between your runs, like the permanent upgrades and storyline that develops over the course So most likely you don't like rouge-like games because they are often times too hard for you, but not because the way how they are structured.

[@sandwichboy1268]

Adaptive difficulty is designed to feel less like it's patronizing players, but nothing feels more patronizing than the game saying "you can't beat this unless I turn it down." Be VERY careful with adaptive difficulty

[@cobrabear6497]

The best adaptive difficulty is when you dont even know there is adaptive difficulty. Like in RE4 or RE2 Remake.

[@FireStormUnleashed]

@@cobrabear6497 Thats only true as long as you don't know. Even if you learn about it after playing/completing the game game, it can leave a sour taste in your mouth. Having no ability to turn it off (apart from choosing the hardest one) sucks imo. Limiting how many times you can retry an encounter before the wiese devs decide for you, that you're too bad, is really not that cool.

[@randomprotag9329]

adaptive difficulty should be on its own difficulty setting where its stated to be happening. adaptive difficulty ruins the overcome a set challenge expierence but works if someone want a constant feeling difficulty. giving it a story reason also can help with the main antagonist putting less or more effort and resources into stopping the player depending how well the player handles the current effort

[@MissingNovice]

Im a big fan of how The World Ends with You and NEO The World Ends With You handle difficulty - by default, all battles outside of story fights are optional, and you have the ability to adjust your difficulty, and willingly level yourself down, which results in giving you more EXP and item drops in exchange. Theres also a ranking system for fights like a lot of platinum games have. Its possible to mash your way through the games, but getting high ranks on fights relies on actually knowing how the systems work and fighting optimally. I really love it in NEO, where each ability has a specific trigger for when you can combo it into a different ability, and certian abilities do more damage based on the enemies status (if they're in the air, if you're behind them, if they've got a condition on them, ect) so crafting your loadout matters a lot. If you do it right, you're smoothly transitioning between your moves in a way thats super satisfying... but button mashing still works if you just wanna get through the game quick.

[@StarlightNkyra]

In cuphead, I would think it would be cool if you were able to beat the game with only simple mode. However, after the devil fight, instead of winning the game, the devil is barely even scratched and the devil takes your soul by force (getting the bad ending) because you were too weak.

[@Liljinks]

In theory that’s cool, but I spy 2 main problems 1. Unless explicitly told, it may be hard for players to understand the difficulty is what’s screwing them over, and may try to do something else (for instance, buying everything) 2. It can be discouraging to work and beat the devil and then be told “you wanted an easier time? Fck you bad ending!” Find a way to squash those problems and it’d be a great idea

[@bubdad12]

Personally I actually love the fact that the simple mode has a drawback. I got so frustrated while playing cuphead that I would have never put the work in to complete it if I could have just chickened out and picked simple. In that way, the game's systems helped with my lack of self control. In other words, normally I would have picked the easier difficulty but I loved the game so much that I persevered in order to get the most out of the game.

[@marsverb]

Oh wow, I didn't realize there was a team of brothers behind this channel! I always wondered why the narrator referred to himself as "we"

[@shadowvincent8718]

I personally really love how alot of Kingdom Hearts games handle difficulty in that if you pick the easier difficulty levels the game is easier but you have to do more stuff in order to unlock the secret ending. While picking the hardest difficulty makes the game extremelly challenging but rewarding you by having more abilites at the start as well as getting the secret ending just by completing the story or by defeating all secret bosses in the case of KH2.

[@inazumarai7690]

KH2's critical mode increases your damage by 25%, which is nice; having more damage helps the fights (where it's easy to die) not last too long

[@ArcCaravan]

I like it when hard modes give the players a boost or bonus of some sort that affects gameplay.

[@liamlikepotatoes]

I was looking to see if someone had said this.

[@Oneiroclast]

@@ArcCaravan It's a very dangerous line to walk, because if the bonus is too powerful, you've just made a hard mode that's easier than normal mode. Persona 5 Royal's Merciless difficulty comes to mind.

[@jintonic4860]

I really liked the assist modes in Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. They had a variety of options (taking out pits, lowering the required rings by a percentage, and total invincibility) that made it so I could adjust the think levels to be possible for me but still challenging, so I didn't have to totally give up but wasn't getting frustrated either. Plus they were super easy to adjust level by level.

[@rheenusthebeanus4559]

Actually extremely refreshing to see a difficulty video that doesn't spend half its runtime on only dark souls. I think the games are amazing and they handle difficulty well but different. They're good examples for built in difficulty solutions but I really enjoyed seeing other varied examples of this sort of difficulty!! Great video

[@fatyoshi696]

my favorite difficulty option in any game is the extra hard mod for into the breach, it doesn't make enemies stronger or spawn in many more of them, but rather improves their ai, enemies are much more strategic about their movement and they force you to think multiple steps ahead because they can and will see if you leave yourself vulnerable, I found the vanilla game was too easy even on hard mode so this is a fun, super well-designed challenge option if you go out of your way to look for it online and install it

[@Asherbird25]

As someone who strives to be a game designer this channel is the absolute best

[@ravenstales6457]

Same

[@keybladeapologist.1131]

Agreed he's the best

[@HenshinFanatic]

Give Masahiro Sakurai's channel a look as well.

[@keybladeapologist.1131]

@@HenshinFanatic it's also really cool

[@alondite215]

Richard Terrell at Critical-Gaming and Design Oriented would take this guy to school and make him look like he's never even heard of a video game. There's not another human being alive who has put as much time and effort studying game design, and who has as thorough and _objective_ an understanding of its principals as he does.

[@ForumArcade]

I usually don't like it when difficulty settings amount to changes in numbers. More enemy health, more enemy damage; that sort of thing. Fundamental gameplay remains the same, it's just slower and less forgiving. But there are exceptions to that. MGR:R did a great job, I think, by increasing EVERYONE'S damage, including yours. If you're good at the game, you burn through enemies. But if you slip up and get hit, you're pretty much dead. What I usually prefer though is when something about the WAY you play changes. Requires you to THINK more, play better, and adapt to emergent situations, without making the game less fun.

[@VanceHelw]

Revengeance mode is not the hardest difficulties in MGR, everything died in second it's pretty easy to just restart and try again. It's a fun mode somewhat like Heaven orHell in DMC but more thoughtful. The best difficulties adjustment in MGR is going from Raiden to Sam DLC, a lot of thing you do with Raiden did not work for the same enemies in Sam DLC.

[@appelofdoom8211]

Heaven and hell mode from devil may cry 3 my beloved. You kill everything in one hit and everything kills you in one hit. It's dumb but oneshotting tough enemies with a single bullet is kinda fun.

[@sevret313]

Changing numbers will change gameplay if it requires you to play differently as you don't get away with as much. Fallout 4 survival difficulty made everything quite different despite me modding in two quality of life improvements like being able to save in beds without sleeping in them and the ability to travel between settlements by building vehicles and paying fuel for travelling. When you die easily and deaths aren't as cheap anymore you have to change up how you play.

[@Capiosus]

(Bad) Example: minecraft, litterally just changed a few damage and loot numbers, most players don’t even notice!

[@masterofdoom5000]

Kirby Return to Dreamland has Extra Mode, unlocked after collecting enough of the games main macguffins. Half max health, EX version of all the mini and major bosses with both expanded and new attacks.....and one boss even get an entirely second form unique only to Extra Mode. Not only did it provide the challenge I desperately needed, it was also cool as hell seeing attacks be made more threatening.

[@SynthDepress]

i wish you could put the title of the game each time they are shown in your vids....

[@EvaristoH]

My philosophy with difficulty options like those in recent Metroid games is that, if you can simulate it yourself (less hp, no hit runs) then it's worthless to have as an option

[@Liljinks]

Not necessarily, since by doing so you can add rewards for doing it. Plus it will help ripple since then you can determine if it’s reasonable, and can sort of “train line” the challenge, since anyone wanting extra difficulty can simply simulate it further through that already made difficulty

[@comicsansisagoodfont2634]

13:12 I think the simple mode is supposed to be a practice mode, where you can see certain parts of the boss and train on an easier level to prepare for the full thing.

[@88Factor]

I think that's fine, but if so, it needs to be sign posted better that it's a practice mode, not simply an easier difficulty.

[@the_vine_queen]

Sure, it can be used as a practice mode, but since it removes phases of the bossfight, you essentially can't practice those parts. To make this system work, you should be able to play the full bossfight, and the setting should be renamed to "Practice" to clear up confusion as to why it doesn't count the fight as complete.

[@mac_bomber3521]

​@@the_vine_queenthen it would be the exact same as the regular mode

[@SleepDepJoel15]

My favorite difficulty system was God Hand's dynamic scaling. It was an absolute rush to watch the meter rise and level up on the fly, but you could also beg for mercy to lower it in the middle of combat.

[@coreymyers5321]

The dotted line boxes in Super Mario World act like difficulty settings for some platform sections. You probably could make a jump, but with the green dotted box filled it is easier.

[@zjzr08]

In a way I agree especially when there was a time the only Switch Palaces I was able to go through are Yellow and Red I think.

[@marscaleb]

But the problem there is that it isn't presented in a way that the players properly recognize. When you play the game, you are compelled to do everything, to beat all the levels and find all the secrets. The dotted line boxes feel more like a punishment because you failed to find this bonus.

[@zjzr08]

@@marscaleb Isn't another point of view is that the dotted blocks aren't necessary and unlocking the Switches are bonuses here?

[@marscaleb]

@@zjzr08 But that's the point of the problem I'm addressing. Unlocking the switches "are necessary" in the player's mind. But the end result of meeting the challenge the game presented you is that you have made the game easier.

[@zjzr08]

@@marscaleb It depends, because if your goal is to just get to beat Bowser, then the Switches aren't necessary; if you are to complete, then they are necessary.

[@zelatoth]

I like how Elden Ring does it. Yes you can fight Margit with a club and no armor if you want or you can upgrade a sword, summon Rogier and use the lone wolf ashes spirit summon to make the fight much more doable. You can also just summon a random player.

Getting someone else to play the game for you isn't exactly what I would call a "difficulty setting".

[@DarkDragonProductions-]

Elden Ring in general did it really well - with you being able to just go a different way and level up in other locations before trying again. Margit may be the "first" boss, but you could go anywhere and fight anything then come back when you're stronger, removing the roadblock feel it might've had when you first encounter him

[@Mordalon]

@ Summons have reduced healing and summoning also increases boss HP. Also, summoning players opens you up to be invaded. It's a difficulty adjuster that comes with it's own consequences.

[@VerbalLearning]

Another Shinji Mikami game that utilizes adaptive difficulty like RE4 is God Hand. God Hand does also have your standard initial difficulty setting of easy, normal and hard (with hard only unlocking once you beat the game on normal) but once you're playing the game there's a dynamic difficulty system that changes based on your performance AND it's part of the UI of the game itself. When playing God Hand, you'll see a skeleton face in the bottom right corner, with a meter or a bar curving upwards around it. This meter will fill up or decreases as you either hit, dodge and defeat enemies or get hit/defeated yourself. This system starts out at Level 1 and caps out at level DIE (yes that is what it's called) with levels 2 and 3 inbetween (maybe there's a 4 as well i don't quite remember). Not only does this self adjusting difficulty ramp up the challenge if you're styling too hard, but it will also naturally get easier as you get your ass handed to you untill it reaches the appropriate level for you much like RE4 as mentioned in this video. These increases in level don't just increase the damage enemies deal though, it also changes the frequency with which they block/dodge your attacks but also how aggressive they are both on and off screen. Which means at lower levels you might not have to worry about getting jumped from off camera, but at higher levels you might and therefore have to be aware of and pay attention to and keep track of every enemy, not just the one in front of you. Increases in difficulty also ups the chance that a demon will spawn when you defeat an enemy, which are really challenging pseudo boss enemies. These demons also have different strengths, appearances and moves depending on what the level was at when they spawned. To offset all of this, at least partially, the game gives you the ability to enter the God Hand state in which you're completly invincible, all your moves are unblockable and you attack a lot faster. This state is temporary and can only be activated when your TP meter reaches certain thresholds. This state is obviously very desirable and as such if you want more TP you can taunt enemies which comes with the built in risk/reward of giving you some amount of TP but making the enemy you taunted angry at you (their face turns bright red) which temporarily makes them hit much harder. God Hand even goes a step further when it comes to difficulty management, as you have special moves that utilize a limited resource (most of which deal huge amounts of damage to help you clear rooms or severely damage bosses) and one of these special moves is called "Grovel" which does what it says on the tin and has the main character grovel at the feet of his enemies. This might just seem like a silly comical addition but it actually serves the purpose of resetting your adaptable difficulty back down to level 1. Given you're willing to face the shame/embarrassment of groveling. All in all, while God Hand is still a fairly difficult game, i really love how it at least tries to (and in my opinion mostly succeeds) at handling an in-game adaptive difficulty system. Side note: If you pick up health items in God Hand while you're at full hp you get money (which you can spend to buy moves or upgrade your health etc) and this is such a small mechanic but i wish almost every game did this. It's feels amazing to at least get something out of a resource that would otherwise just to go waste and it serves to work as an incentive to play better as well.

[@TheAlison1456]

That's true!

[@shreeshfuup7058]

I believe that Terraria has a both an excellent example of a higher difficulty and a terrible one in its Expert mode and Master modes respectively. In Expert mode, the game adds in new attacks and AI changes to all the preexisting enemies in addition to increasing their hit points and damage. Even without the longer and less forgiving fights brought about with the stat increase, however, the difficulty provides the player with additional difficulty that feels natural and well-designed, as the AI changes provide new avenues through which you can explore the game -- you have new attacks to learn instead of needing to simply be better at the game's Classic difficulty. In addition, the difficulty provides you with incentives to play on this higher difficulty by making all bosses drop one new unique item. Many of these items are so helpful that they completely change how you play the game, like the Shield of Cthulhu's ram dash allowing you to dodge some boss' charge attacks simply by ramming into them at the right time or the Demon Heart expanding the amount of accessories you can equip at once. The higher difficulty provides the player with new content, both through how it buffs the enemies and the unique items it grants the player. On the other hand, Master Mode is literally only a stat increase. While this worked in Expert because bosses had new attacks to learn in addition to the stats, so longer and less forgiving fights could still be fun because they allowed the boss to show off these new AI changes properly, Master does no such thing. The stat changes only make it so you're fighting a less balanced version of Expert mode, not necessarily more difficult because the enemies are harder to dodge but moreso because you just need to be better at those fights for longer. Even worse, Master doesn't provide many item incentives to choose it over Expert or Classic -- bosses will drop new fancy trophies and cute cosmetic-only pets, which despite looking cool are completely useless in-game. Instead of adding in any new creative or fun items, the developers just add on an extra accessory slot to your character -- and because the bosses aren't any more complicated, this extra slot that lets you add on an additional character-buffing accessory sometimes results in those bosses being actually *easier* than in Expert mode despite the higher stats! When a difficulty mode is making certain parts of your game easier than on difficulties beneath it, you've definitely done something wrong.

[@sevret313]

There is benefit to this approuch. First of all it's easier to make, the alternative would probably be that the master mode didn't exist rather than the mode being better. But having the highest difficulty be more about reward in the challenge itself and not the rewards themselves let you set the difficulty where you want without making the majority of the players feel like they're missing out on something.

[@orangetabby7122]

I feel like both master mode _and_ expert mode both trivialize parts of the game. While master mode adds a new accessory slot to the player, expert mode goes a step farther by not only adding another accessory slot to the player, but also adding equipment which can trivialize entire parts of the game by existing, such as the soaring insignia, for a singular example. On classic mode, The only infinite flight you have is the UFO. With the soaring insignia or the Shrimpy Truffle, you no longer have to farm through events to get any infinite flight. If you get the Shrimpy Truffle early on in hard mode, that can further trivialize the rest of hard mode as you no longer have to build actual arenas to fight any of the bosses (except for Plantera). Other buffs given to the player in expert mode include enemies dropping more items, NPCs doing extra damage, the travelling merchant having a chance to sell an extra item, increased item drops for enemies, pots, fishing quests, Hard mode Dungeon enemies, buffed defense and banners, and more. While master mode still can be easier than expert mode at times, expert mode can still be easier then normal mode as well, and is still easier than master mode most of the time. Then, if you create a master mode world with the getfixedboi/fortheworthy seed, it becomes legendary mode, which is definitely harder all around compared to expert mode.

[@ss3nm0dn4r8]

@@orangetabby7122 wdym you dont have infinite flight theres the cosmic car key

[@orangetabby7122]

@@ss3nm0dn4r8 completely forgot about that, I almost never do martian madness lol however my point about being able to skip most of hardmode still stands, as martian madness can only be triggered after golem while you can fight duke fishron whenever (if you're good enough at the game) and the witch's broom can be obtained during the pumpkin moon which is around the same progression point as martian madness, I'm going to edit my comment to reflect this

[@ss3nm0dn4r8]

@@orangetabby7122 yeah even with golems major buffs its still easier than plantera so the pumpkin moon and martian madness are unlocked back to back duke fishron has by far the best mount if you make an arena with water

[@beepbeepo1542]

Something to watch out for with adaptive difficulty, is how you're judging how well a player is doing, and how you change the difficulty to accommodate them. Some examples in roguelikes: -In ADOM, monsters get stronger the more of a single type you kill, this system led to some enemies that would come at you in swarms have the potential to get incredibly powerful if you weren't careful, making normally weak monsters kill you in a few hits and there wasn't much warning about them becoming stronger. -In IVAN, you can get polymorphed into a very strong form, which can make the game spawn very strong enemies which you will be unable to defeat when your polymorph runs out of time. In a guide I've also seen someone recommend not boosting your HP too high because you'll make the game spawn too difficult enemies.

[@PewPew_McPewster]

I'm surprised you didn't mention The World Ends with You during the "challenged slider" section- one of my favourites, it lets you challenge at your comfortable difficulty level but at higher levels, rare item drop rate is higher and some equipment are only available at higher difficulty modes.

[@adiksaff]

TWEWY shoutout!! Hell yes! You can also choose how much enemies to chain right?

[@qster4]

TWEWY is a master when it comes to difficulty balance. You have many enemies in the bestiary that have different item drops and shows the base drop rates per difficulty option that can be changed at any time before battle, along with being able to lower YOUR level to increase the drop rate. You can also choose how many fights to take on at once by chaining them, which will MULTIPLY your drop rate, leading you to be able to make a 1% drop into a 75+% if you chain and lower your level enough. Heck, there's even an AFK experience for leveling your pins, which can have them evolve in different ways. TWEWY is amazing, and NEO: TWEWY is pretty great too.

[@koanos2448]

Hades is the gold standard of difficulty, you can make it harder but never get locked out of content, unlike Cuphead.

[@dondashall]

My biggest pet-peeve when it comes to difficulty is not being able to alter difficulty in-game. I'm expected to make a decision at the title screen without 1 second of game play and I can't do anything after. This is a game design "idea" that should have been left in the bin 10-20 years ago, but it still crops up, fairly often. I like a challenge, but as an autistic gamer I also have accessibility concerns so if you put that system there I'll never pick anything other than normal because I might not be able to complete it. Wargroove was a game I absolutely HATED how they did it. It's similar to cuphead. You get points after every mission, depending on difficulty (and maybe other factors, it's been a while) those points are used to unlock future missions, which is fine, there's no problem progressing normally. At a certain point I reduced the difficulty because the game is very weighted against you with enemies getting units 2-3 tiers over you at many levels which wasn't fun. Then you get to the final mission (or maybe it was just the ending cutscene, again been a while) not enough points to access even though I did every level. I was eventually able to unlock, but yeah bad design. For a game I did like Cosmic Star Heroine. One of few games I've actually played on hard, didn't start out that way but the combat system was so fun to engage with, but the difficulty didn't force me to do so on a deep enough level so I actually increased it and I'm glad I did.

[@arahman56]

Speaking of which, more games need "Accessibility" options that allow tuning individual elements of the game.

[@dondashall]

@@arahman56 Definitely.

[@mjc0961]

I have just outright stopped playing games because they don't let me change the difficulty mid game. If I'm getting my ass kicked or am utterly bored, and the only option is to start the game over again, I'll just quit playing. I have no patience or respect for games that waste my time, and this crap is definitely a big waste of time. I'm not kidding, either. Even something as simple as Metroid Prime taking 5 seconds to give me the A prompt to close the "game saved" or "item acquired" text box is pissing me off. How f***ing slow do they think I read?! Give me the button _immediately_ and let slower readers just, and this might blow Retro's mind: NOT PRESS IT UNTIL THEY'VE FINISHED READING. STOP WASTING MY TIME!!! Sure it doesn't really matter on just one box, but over the course of a 10 hour game full of items to collect, it adds up!

[@dondashall]

@@mjc0961 Yeah, me too. If the difficulty is really too much for me and I can't change it I stop. I made it to the final boss at Environmental Station Alpha (well one of the final bosses, lol) and stage 2 couldn't do it and no way to change, I quit and finished via youtube. Same thing with another game recently. My personal favourite for text bullshit is games that when there's an "emotional" scene the text advances LETTER BY LETTER. I'm not kidding. Not just one dialogue box either. Small, but constant wastes of times annoy me like nothing else and a lot of games are so bad with it.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

This is why I was surprised that Kirby and the Forgotten Land allows you to change the difficulty mode any time between levels and even encourages you to do so based on your recent performance! They give it a little tradeoff in that you can receive some extra coins in the harder mode, but then again, you lose coins every time you die... I managed to resist the temptation to ever try the easier mode as a Kirby veteran, but I wouldn't shame anyone who needs it for The Ultimate Cup Z, where those bosses throw _so_ much at you.

[@lukeblaker8009]

Wake up babe new design doc vid just dropped

[@MrChipathenIsMyDoggo]

wait wha huh wha what’s going o-OH MY GOSH HOLY COW YOUR RIGHT!!!

[@edoardospagnolo6252]

It feels so incredible that just a few hours ago I was replaying through "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back" on the PS1 for the first time in... 15 years? And I was so surprised when I realised for the first time ever that during some tough secret gem levels that in addition to a system that rewards you with a free "mask" (aka a power up that protects you from one hit) on respawn if you die a few too many time on the same level, *the game spawns additional checkpoints in the middle of the level* if you die even more times inside of it. The idea of discovering something like that after so many years already felt like a neat happenstance, and shortly after a Design Doc video about difficulty options is released? Magic!

[@PrincessFelicie]

I tried replaying kid icarus uprising recently because it used to be one of my childhood favorites, but I legitimately have no idea how left-handed kid me managed to beat even _some_ of the levels on 9.0 difficulty. The control scheme is outright hostile to us southpaws. Wish this game could get a remake already, it's in dire need of one.

[@duscarasheddinn8033]

I'm also left handed... but I never even tried 9.0.

[@beensjamin]

Though I’ve only ever played on Standard, the Kingdom Hearts series will make certain postgame content harder to unlock on easier difficulties, with the only requirement on the hardest difficulty being to beat the main story.

[@tatri292]

Only the secret movies afaik. The more interesting tidbit to mention is that Critical (hardest difficulty but isn't available in every game) usually also increases your damage output and gives you extra abilities and ap right at the start of the game. It also doubles the damage you take *and* halves your max hp. So uh, good luck. KH2 on crit is peak gaming.

[@grummdoesstuff2983]

One of my favorite ways that games get harder is by forcing you to use systems that are there on every difficulty, but at necessary now. The Horizon games do this well. Ultra hard bumps up enemy health and lowers your elemental damage, but what makes it challenging is that it removes enemy heath bars. So now those health based changes that enemies have, like new attacks, higher aggression, limping/sparking robots or humans clutching their wounds, because both a gameplay feature you need to account for and a sort of health bar to let you know how low an enemy is, making you pay mor attention to what your doing.

[@Azure9577]

Ah yes, ultra hard for horizon being standard in monster hunter

[@grummdoesstuff2983]

@@Azure9577 the two games are so wildly different that that comparison means very little. MH is a series about dealing general damage and focusing specific parts, and using elements to deal more damage effectively. The Horizon games re games about managing your resources, landing precise hits to break or sever parts, and using elements to cause effects instead of damage. In MH, limping tells you that you either have. Bit more damage to deal, your close to being able to trap them, or they’re about to run away. In Horizon, it makes you consider if the expensive, high damage ammo is worth using to finish the fight fast but potentially waste resources, or if you should stick to the weaker cheaper stuff and stick it out. I love both games, but they are built and play do differently that even the mechanics they share do different things.

[@Azure9577]

@@grummdoesstuff2983 yes

[@ArcCaravan]

I recall Viewtiful Joe having a similar thing in Ultra V-rated (hardest difficulty) where it removed skull marks that tell you where attacks go so you can dodge. Instead it makes you pay attention to how enemies move or sound if you want to dodge properly.

[@TwirlingFern]

I really appreciate games with assist mode like rogue legacy 2, dead cells, and Celeste. It lets me tailor the difficulty as I want to play, how it is fun for me.

[@tobikat8865]

I remember a Half-Life 2 achievement where you needed to go through an area whilst using a special gun which can attract and shoot nearby objects. The area was made with the requirements of that achievement in mind (a fair bit of objects you could shoot), but you can just ignore them all if you wanted to (there were also ammo crates for normal guns).

[@MartinPurathur]

Beating the Ravenholm level with the Gravity gun Really fun challenge that one

[@AndroxineVortex]

How do I adjust my life's difficulty setting?

[@somerandomkidplaysvideogames]

You have to restart your run, and hope to get the right class from the start. More wealth= easier

[@AndroxineVortex]

@@somerandomkidplaysvideogames why didn't I start with Vikings 😭

[@somerandomkidplaysvideogames]

@@AndroxineVortex I don't know man, there +15% gathering speed bonus is pretty good...

[@pennysantana247]

I ruined my save file with my character having no money and too low job XP to get into the jobs around the area. I think I might have to delete my character and try again guys any tips?

[@somerandomkidplaysvideogames]

@@pennysantana247 I would recommend trying to go into the Scammer subclass of tech work. The low entry level and high reward is really helpful for the early game,

[@Nefnoj]

Ocarina of Time's Master Quest is a good example, remixing everything. I'd love to see more games get something like that. One problem I have with the Banjo-Kazooie games is that after the first playthrough, it's too easy. I did a run without collecting any health upgrades and it was fun, but there aren't many more ways to make the game challenging. If it had a Master Quest mode, it would be amazing.

[@berryjam3324]

I really appreciated how mila's turnwheel in fire emblem echoes (and similar mechanics in later fe games) works to create a kind of middle ground between the classic permadeath mode and casual mode. I like the challenge of classic mode, but I don't always want to have to restart an entire chapter just because a character died from unexpected reinforcements or something, so the ability to rewind a few turns is a great tool to have

[@cerealbeforemilk3566]

I totally agree with you, though it is no excuse for the developers to place 4 wyvern lord same turn reinforcements with silver axes on a desert map just because the player can reset turns. Turnwheel should be used to mitigate unfair situations like bad timed misses or remediate a turn. Not to allow the developers to place ambush spawns

[@ryangallagher9723]

fire emblem should be designed around assuming the player will never reset, and fire emblem fan analysis should also not take resetting into the equation. treating save scumming like it's an intended feature of the game grandfathers in and normalizes a lot of terrible practices and shitty game design.

[@berryjam3324]

@@ryangallagher9723 While I agree that turnwheel mechanics shouldn't be used as an excuse for poor game design, I think there's a big difference between individual/personal experiences with the games vs broader analysis. Just because some players don't ever want to undo mistakes doesn't make that the only way to play the game. There will always be times where a unit dies and some players may want to go back to fix their mistake, and those players will certainly appreciate mechanics that make it less of a punishment to do so. Players who don't like those mechanics aren't forced to use them.

[@crunchybanana6489]

I actually liked how Dread handled the difficulty option because I was trying to get faster times while also learning the layout of the map better and given less room for error in battles while also becoming more familiar with the combat system. I will concede that it doesn’t really make sense for 1 play-through though. I think that Cuphead has a similar idea, where you are meant to learn the patterns in simple mode and defeat the boss in regular but its implementation (ie removing phases and certain attacks) could have been done better

[@GiftedContractor]

If that is what Cuphead was going for I feel like it made more sense to just slow the bosses down in simple mode. Time to think is a rare and valuable resource in bullet hells and if that mode is meant for learning the bosses patterns giving a bit more time with the same patterns to spot openings and work out where to go and how to get there seems way more useful of a learning tool.

[@crunchybanana6489]

@@GiftedContractor I agree, that would probably have been better for an easy difficulty that locks you out of progression

[@randomprotag9329]

cuphead is limited in how it can actually make the game easier since if the boss is too hard it has to has the problem moves removed that the player can't deal with..

[@theelitemyt8253]

For me, the GoldenEye & Perfect Dark difficulty modes are the best implemented. Not only does the game get harder, but it changes the same level up in ways that encourages players to play through the game on every difficulty. Add to that the unlockable rewards for doing so and you have a great system that allows you to start on easy and just get better at the game. Once mastered, you then have the bonus difficulty mode so you can create your own LTK/DLTK challenge. It's really surprising we didn't see more of that style of difficulty in other games, as only a handful bothered to copy it.

[@slapbass9125]

And on top of being able to add you your own difficulty options, you could also earn cheats, and really customize it to be whatever you want. I think so many modern shooter campaigns would have so much more replay value if you could just pick whatever guns you wanted to use after you beat it. It wouldn't be hard to do!

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

Valkyrie Profile staight up says when turning it on "To see the true ending, you need to beat the game in hard mode". A good way to scare off some players if nothing else lol

[@dondashall]

If a game clearly communicates this, I have less of a problem. I still don't like them gating off content, but at least they communicate the player at a time where they have not gotten emotionally invested, wasted time, and they can still refund the game.

[@SuspiciousScout]

@@dondashall I personally think gating an ending behind a difficulty is just something that should never be done. I guess I do agree that if the game is directly advertising itself as a hardcore experience that's one thing, but for the most part, difficulties are there so players of all skill levels can experience the main story at the very least. Hiding challenges or post-game stuff behind harder difficulties is fine, but not the main experience.

[@dondashall]

@@SuspiciousScout I agree, I just meant as a less bad, but still terribly thing. Both are still bad. Even Gucamelee! 1 & 2 which skill-gates the true endings behind challenges (in both I just barely didn't make it) annoyed me and those endings just amounted to slightly different flavour text to mostly the same ending images, I still would have liked to see it myself.

[@ki7roy]

always love when people talk about beat saber and i’m glad you covered it in this video because i’ve always felt there was lots of difficultly options to make the game always feel challenging (especially on custom songs which i have found are very hard to find a ‘perfect’ song on, perfect being one which is in that sweet spot of difficulty you mentioned)

[@de_oScar]

My problem with harder difficulties offering more rewards is that it may create a feedback loop in which you just overcome a couple challenges at the beginning and the rewards carry you through the rest of the game; or the rewards outweight the challenge entirely. Some modern racing games are guilty of that, Racedriver Grid is a good example - for every difficulty option like toggling traction control or ABS off or less flashbacks available (aside from obvious setting of AI pace), you get more credits or reputation (don't remember exactly), which lets you buy better cars and enter further challenges. Being one of those people with thousands of hours across different racing games, it just makes an already not long game half as short (which maybe isn't that big of a deal since I'd complete everything anyway), but then I have to rely on self imposed challenges and race-to-race basis, with the whole aspect of managing a small racing team thrown out of the window. Another difficulty related issue (highlighted by other commenters) is communication, and I'd focus on just naming things - I suck at shooters and, to some extent, platformers, and don't wanna be called a wimp for not getting my butt handed to me. There's a positive trend of naming the easiest options in action rpgs something like "casual mode", with a description "choose this if you want more story and less challenging battles". Good example wood be Dragon Age 1, which iirc had casual / easy / normal / hard modes, and also on easy and casual you don't have to worry about friendly fire (primarly with AoE magic attacks). Looking at RTS genre there was an old (and kinda flawed) game "Cultures - 8th Wonder of the World" with difficultes of easiest / easy / normal. While lowkey patronizing, you knew exactly which setting is the "default" experience and each option described what is changed - on 1 or 2 easiest settings your citizens wouldn't suffer hunger or there would be less danger from wild animals or barbarians or something.

[@HazhMcMoor]

Damn I never thought I'd encounter someone mentioning 8th wonder of the World on the wild. Really my Nostalgia rts game

[@Shockwerk]

I often choose "normal" or "the middle option" in games with a difficulty selection because it is not too easy and not too hard.

[@skyyswaggstudios2934]

I often do that or hard if the game doesn’t explicitly state what the intended experience is as those are normally the difficulties with the most thought. Really helps when they say what’s intended though

[@selfloathingweekly]

I just pick normal because that is how the game is meant to be played

[@Walamonga1313]

I always pick 1 above normal cause I find it too easy, but the highest is usually always bs like unstaggerable enemies or sponges

[@kentknightofcaelin4537]

You're an NPC :D

[@anthonyduffy6953]

I always play on normal, unless it's a second play through

[@laggalot1012]

Of the games I've played that are represented in this video, Bug Fables, Hades and Kid Icarus: Uprising are the games where I most enjoyed their take on difficulty. To start, I enjoy how Bug Fables feels clearly balanced with its hard mode in mind, around the assumption that the player who takes on this challenge will likely be open to engage with all the mechanics and systems the game offers to explore the depth of its combat. And when you do, it rewards you by further expanding its depth. When a game is balanced around a lower difficulty or has to assume many of its players will simply refuse to engage with more involved mechanics, strategic depth tends to erode and higher difficulties will often just be tedious instead of more challenging in a fun way. Hades's Pact of Punishment is a little too hardcore for my skill level and/or playstyle, but I do think it's a very good idea. Customiseable increases in challenge to counterbalance increased reward are a great way to suit various skill levels and invite players to push past their comfort zone. I just think the extensive list of options is pretty daunting and a lot of the choices seem really severe at first at each step. I beat a full Extreme Measures run once (somehow, barely) and I'm satisfied there. That's probably the worst I can handle and even then I kinda think I just got lucky. Uprising does kind of the same thing as Hades, in a way, but it simplifies the way difficulty is adjusted while adding tension via an initial cost. It's not as elaborate as Hades's Pact of Punishment, but it's much more approachable and is IMO the ideal way to create customiseable difficulty when it's based primarily on changing stats. As the intensity rises, enemies deal more damage, take more damage and most notably will move and attack faster. While what is effectively 100 difficulty levels appears excessive, I like that, as a result, you can adjust the level of challenge either by small or large steps as you prefer. You can pretty easily find your own sweet spot and then ramp up at whatever pace suits you best if you want to seek out challenge.

[@demi-femme4821]

Uprising also adds special doors that can only be unlocked if you're on a high enough Intensity, which really made me want to go back and play the stages on a higher intensity in order to open those doors and get the sweet loot within.

[@QvsTheWorld]

One of the things that make Tetris's design genius, is how the difficulty of the game is integrated in it's mechanical aspect. You quickly go through level of lower difficulty to you and as it start matching your skill level where you naturally spend more time. The amount of time you spend playing at a level of difficulty is also quite short in comparison.

[@JustinoElArtista]

I have a soft spot for adaptive difficulty in multiplayer games. The most recent update to Sea of Thieves just implemented this. World events in the game now increase or lower the difficulty based on how many players are present, offering a fair challenge to whomever is nearby. Gone are the days when only an experienced solo slooper could take on something like the Ashen Winds, locking out newer solo players from experiencing the full game.

[@Zetact_]

A really interesting balancing act in stylish action games is how oftentimes many strategies to more smoothly get through hard fights will incentivize the player to get better at the game and possibly, counterintuitively, do something more risky and stylish. It's not just about the brilliant idea of ranking systems rewarding players for using more mechanics, avoiding damage and being fast at killing enemies - although that is a very blatant part of it. There also are frequently fights that say, "Yeah, you COULD do this in the same way you've been fighting everyone else, but if you get out of your comfort zone and try more advanced mechanics, the reward will be immediate and noticeable because it will also make the fight easier." To use an example, Agni and Rudra do this MULTIPLE times across MULTIPLE difficulties which is part of why their fight is so neat. In general, to calm down, pay attention to timing because if a player has been mashing through the game up until this point, that simply won't work against the brothers - they'll push you away if you attack into their blocks, attack you from behind, and hit you with attacks that require at least a basic knowledge of your defensive options in order to avoid. And of course there is the aspect where if you take one out too early without weakening the other first, he'll pick up his brother's sword and become way stronger. It's not a hard fight if you know what you're doing, but that's the key - you need to know what you're doing. The brothers telegraph their attacks like crazy and aren't particularly aggressive even on high difficulties, but if a player is being careless then they CAN get their ass kicked. On Normal difficulty, they likely will test the player into getting more comfortable with parrying. The only other Devil Arm you'll have at that point is the multi-hitting Cerberus, which is good for parrying. And if you parry one of Agni or Rudra's attacks - something that might happen accidentally - the demon will drop his weapon and be wide open for attacks for a LONG time. They'll also learn about elemental weaknesses if they didn't notice by now, since it is apparent, crystal clear, that Agni takes extra damage from Cerberus. You might even learn how to manipulate them into attacking into each other and getting both to drop their swords at the same time which is a more skillful move to make but also really funny and satisfying. On Hard, you likely will be able to realize how good Royal Guard is against Agni and Rudra since in particular their jump attacks are pretty easy to perfect guard and if you take advantage of jump i-frames, you won't be punished for screwing up. This CAN be something that is taught on Normal mode but most likely a first time player will be using Trickster or Swordmaster and won't have Royal Guard leveled up to have air block. On Very Hard, the brothers' larger health bars and damage will probably make a player realize that they really would like a reliable way to damage both of them at the same time to avoid a long dual-wielding phase... And thus, be rewarded if they get a taste of DTE, before it becomes a necessary mechanic for their DMD run.

[@Serlock4869]

And watching someone doing no damage dmd boss with styles is really satisfying. Really shows the full utilization of game's mechanic instead of cheesing it with one or two attack patterns only

[@EidoEndy]

I'm reminded of Silent Hill 2's puzzle difficulty setting. Where they had a different setting for puzzles than fights. Maybe GOd of War could have used that?

[@charmeleonevolves5553]

I think there's a very nice balance of difficulty in open world games like Breath of the Wild (and now TOTK), where the intended way to play is to just do whatever you want, but also complete certain main objectives to fully experience the game. Doing so also makes the final boss easier, but for players who have already experienced the game and want more of a challenge, they can skip these objectives completely and head straight to the final boss since that's all you need to do to actually beat the game. A very good way to extend playtime through speedruns and challenge runs without directly encouraging it

[@averagewhiteguy2]

I was kind of hoping you would mention how Silent Hill allows for difficulty levels for combat AND puzzles as separate options. It's a really cool way to customize the two different main aspects of survival horror.

[@Shockwerk]

I think the good difficulty in a game is that it raises the difficulty as the game goes on. The first levels/missions in a game that uses the system I talked about might be a breeze, but in the last levels/missions, it will be an ultimate test of previously learned skills.

[@arahman56]

You're talking about a difficulty curve here, which is also a related discussion. There's games that gets easier with progression, while others just slam you into a difficulty _wall_ .

[@Shockwerk]

One of my favourite KZbinrs, Appromies (previously called Approman, he is kinda like Caddicarus, but Finnish) has mentioned in his "Knack" video that he likes difficulty curve system, here is a translation of what he said as I remember it, I do not remember well what he said, but here is what I remember: "first start simple, then raise the stakes, until the player spurts snot and tears. Let the player to be entertained with the challenge."

[@lpfan4491]

@@arahman56 I honestly really hate it when games combine difficulty spikes(or even walls) with a standard difficulty curve. You already get an unfair disadvantage and then it still linearly increases from there until yet another major jump where you are definitly screwed. It breeds frustration and unfun grind-gameplay.

[@TheMetalOverlord]

The original Resident Evil 4 does that, if you are good at the game and never die, the game gets harder and harder, making enemies more resistents and more aggressive and you fin less and less ammo, instead if you die alot, the game become easier and easier, with weaker an more passive enemies and you will swims in ammo.

[@zjzr08]

I'm not sure if that's exactly difficulty but progession, as it is expected a game gets harder for a player as the game goes on and the player becomes more skillful or knowledegable, but difficulty is about choosing the baseline of where a player would start with and what progression would be best for such a baseline.

[@gabrieltheboy3598]

I never really played around with difficulty settings, but added personal bindings to make the game harder. For example, I beaten Yo-Kai Watch with only Yo-Kai you befriend from the story or non-post side quests. It was fun with trying more strategic teams and this tiny grandma I found. I even got through most of the Infinite Inferno - a post game area to test your metal on powered up bosses. Unfortunately, I stopped playing when I got to Wobblewok, the last boss in it.

[@zibbitybibbitybop]

The indie action RPG CrossCode does variable difficulty better than any other game I've ever played: at any time, you can open the pause menu and adjust the enemy attack rate and damage separately, as well as the speed of the puzzles (all of which involve bouncing an energy ball off of stuff). If you leave the sliders at their default of 100%, the game gets very punishing later on, but I was able to gradually scale the difficulty down as I went along so that it always felt challenging but not TOO challenging. The final boss forced me to turn them all the way down to the minimum in order to win at all, but I still had fun and it never felt unfair due to me not being the best at action games. To me, this is game design perfection.

[@Liggliluff]

Games with difficulty options like "easy / medium / hard" doesn't really say anything. Using creative names like "baby / tough / hell" isn't giving much help either. Worse is when I can't change the difficulty mid-game and have to start all over.

[@Blanktester685]

?

[@apotatoman4862]

@@Blanktester685 late reply but you havent played a game if you havent started it yet so you dont know the difficulty

[@Lorraine202]

Some games are difficult by design and I think these games do well with what I call an “entry fee” instead of difficulty adjusting. If you can learn to get past xyz thing, you’ve proven you can continue. I often think about the False Knight in Hollow Knight, (who you can technically skip but I didn’t know that). It’s a fight on 5 health, 1 soul, no spells, the worst weapon, and practically no to 0 charms or charm notches. It was a wall for me until I learned how to really maneuver around and be more confident with nothing. So instead of the game adjusting it’s difficulty, it set expectations for how I need to perform to have an enjoyable experience. (Of course Hollow Knight also has the Godseeker pantheon with a hidden, but not true ending, bindings in the pantheon, dream bosses, Grimm and NKG, Steel Soul mode, etc. for hardcore gamers but the lowest difficulty is not for everyone)

[@armandostockvideos8386]

I only wish devs were more transparent about the "intended difficulty" difficulty, it's confusing when normal mode is basically just an extra easy mode. A case in point would be Halo where Heroic is considered as the intended difficulty. Another example is Iconoclast, I played the game on normal, but I had to start a new playthrough because the game was too easy and too forgiving, hard mode was basically the more balanced and challenging difficulty. Another similar experience I had was with the game "Phoenotopia awakening", seemingly the devs added "difficulty options" because people complained about it being too hard, I ended up choosing the normal difficulty, but then realized they labeled the "intended difficulty" as the hardest one, in this case was worst because the easier "difficulty options" straight removed mechanics from the game.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

Problem is, some will disagree with what difficulty should have been "intended" anyway. I know one reviewer who hates that Infernax actually labels Classic Mode "Intended Difficulty" because it's not harder in an interesting way but just more tedious with the loss of progress that won't be as fun for newcomers as Casual Mode. Or like, "Why did you even make multiple difficulties if you didn't intend for all of them to be played?"

[@armandostockvideos8386]

@@BagOfMagicFood Isnt Infernax supposed to be inspired/a homage to NES games such as Castlevania? So it makes sense Classic mode is the intended difficulty. Also, usually those games with Loss of progress are about mastering the journey from point A to point B, I havent played any classic NES game and enjoyed the intended difficulty. As for, "Why did you even make multiple difficulties if you didn't intend for all of them to be played?", difficulties are usually about making your game sell as many copies as possible. Also, one could say "Why did they make such a complex and deep gameplay if players will barely take advantage of it on easy mode"

[@BagOfMagicFood]

Well, it was his opinion that just because you're copying an old game style doesn't mean you have to bring back all the unnecessary frustrations of that era.

[@percyblakeney5283]

​@BagOfMagicFood it's often very clear which level is the intended difficulty based on how well the game flows. Its clear which version of the game enemies were tested on and which versions were afterthoughts.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

​@@percyblakeney5283 Is that like how someone supposedly deduced that most of Super Castlevania 4 wasn't designed to have the directional whip control?

[@starflame34]

Surprised you didn't talk about Fire Emblem, and how the inclusion of "Casual" mode in Awakening practically saved the franchise.

[@mabelpines8500]

Hollow Knight’s version of a difficulty option is how much punishment the player is willing to go through for lore

[@Mordalon]

While Hades gives some lore by using certain Heat options, prior SuperGiant Games more explicitly provide additional lore for using their predecessors to the Heat system.

[@Siinory]

I love those kind of difficulties, heck I love doing self imposed challenges like 4 Job Fiesta and nuzlockes. And randomziers can also add some nice tweaks

[@draghettis6524]

CrossCode is one that did difficulty options great, I'd say. On starting a playthrough, you do not have to choose a difficulty. Instead, the game tells you it was intended to be hard, and makes you aware of the Assist Mode. Assist Mode consists of three sliders, that are at 100% by default but can be reduced. Those are enemy damage, enemy attack frequency, and, because CrossCode is a puzzle game as much as it is an action game, puzzle speed, that affects timers and the other time-based elements in puzzles

[@binsworth7217]

I love extreme difficulty, but only when it challenges skill and strategy. Whether it's the cold face of Bennett's mountain or the heated P-rank attempts in Ultrakill's prime sanctums, there's something to be said about a bar that can only be cleared through mastery, even if it's the only option a game permits you to play it by.

[@ethanhawkins3391]

Would’ve liked for you to have included trophies/achievements in their own section as often times they add specific challenges and requirements that ramp up the difficulty of games. The reward is not only accomplishment, but branching out with different playstyles allowing you to engage with the game in new and exciting ways

[@DeliberateZero]

He did talk about self-imposed challenges. There's no real difference between coming up with your own objectives, following a set of ironman rules from the community, and following the description text to get an extra cheevo. It's all the same principle of a self-imposed challenge, it just changes who is presenting you with the rule-set.

[@samueldimmock694]

@@DeliberateZero There is one difference: the effort required on your part to come up with the objectives.

[@Smoldragoncat]

The existence of Celeste and Crypt of the NecroDancer. I usually try to 100% every game, and it’s really nice that I proceeded to choose like 5 games that are the hardest to complete

[@NagKai_G]

A great thing I like about dead cells is how customizable your experience can be. You can play through the game normally, gradually obtaining harder difficulties until you get the last one and unlock a secret final biome and boss. If the game is too hard you can use assist mode and set the enemies stats to be more forgiving (or if it's too easy make them harder). Or if you want a specific playstyle to be a little easier, you can use mutations available at the start of a run to obtain some special boosts such as longer running duration or curses no longer being insta-kills. And that's cool and all, but if after doing that you still want more you can hop into a custom save file and modify the game in a great variety of ways; from prohibiting some weapons and abilities from appearing, to making every weapon legendary, or making some special biome or difficulty mechanics (such as darkness or infection) be there in every step of the run, ¡or all of them at the same time! Messing with this Is really fun and extends the replayability of the game by a ton.

[@piboiindahouse5169]

The thing with Cuphead though, using simple allows you to progress with what the boss unlocks for you, allowing you to go into other isles to get more coins, and better weapons.

[@beyonddbz]

Kingdom Hearts 2 has my favorite max difficulty in any game. It makes the enemies more aggressive and cranks their damage to 11, but it also buffs your damage slightly and gives you more far more tools than the other modes do. It completely changes the way you play the game, especially earlier on.

[@error.pleaseremove4308]

Plus you gain less XP on critical mode, encouraging you to play skillfully instead of grind

[@wind9331]

you always have half hp too

[@TheMetalfreak360]

Man, I haven't noticed it before (never played Metroid btw, only watched people play it from time to time), but you seeing Samus while fire impacts are close to you in the helmet is a really cool detail.

[@wisemeowster]

I found that the cuphead simple mode gives new players some experience in the game so that hard sections have an option to be built up to. It also provides a way to progress if they are stuck for awhile

[@SuspiciousScout]

I think it's safe to say most people start on the "Normal" difficulty for their first playthrough, and if they feel like it, play again on a harder one. Although, it often feels like harder difficulties go one of two ways. First one is, some games will have a description along the lines of harder difficulties being "If you're familiar with/good at *genre of game*". This likely implies the game expects you to learn and have pretty good knowledge of all the game mechanics and use them to nearly it's full potential; whereas easier difficulties might make encounters beatable even if you ignore certain mechanics. However, the second one is that some games see harder difficulties as being for second playthroughs only. This can feel like you're just flat out not able to get through the game because you're not intimately familiar with it on your first playthrough for obvious reasons. I think the first option is always the better one, because testing the limits of your knowledge of the game naturally will feel more rewarding.

[@SaberToothPortilla]

I think a pretty good middle ground for this is to have the absolute hardest difficulty be unlockable and of type 2, but to have hardest difficulty you can start with be type 1. With the default highest difficulty being hard enough to where you have time to learn the systems, but you better figure it out and the unlockable hardest being hard enough to where you basically have to be playing close to optimally from the beginning to even get through the game.

[@SuspiciousScout]

@@SaberToothPortilla I also think this is the best way to do it in most cases. The Devil May Cry games have been built around multiple playthroughs and unlockable difficulties from the start, each one being balanced around your experience and the skills/upgrades you've accumulated.

[@coreymyers5321]

In Ghost of Tsushima, hard mode doubles the damage for you and your opponents. Less room for mistakes, but faster fights.

[@tatri292]

hard mode as in lethal? Or does hard already increase your damage? Lethal also reduces successful deflect windows, which are the same on all other difficulties. (and then there's lethal+ which is ng+ exclusive)

[@averyodowd6448]

Another thing about Hades' difficulty tweakablity is the optional God Mode, which, against the assumptions you might make based of of the name, doesn't make you invincible, but instead adds an adaptive difficulty function that increases your base damage resistance by 5% every time you die, maxing out at 80% Base DR. Gradually increasing your survivability without ever making you actually immune to damage, (as further increases to DR% gained during runs shaves off that remaining 20%, rather than adding to the 80%) Personally, I waited to turn it on until after my first successful run, to act as a sort of reward, Zagreus "earning" his Godhood. But having it available from the start lets people choose it if and when they want to alter their gameplay experience, if it will increase enjoyment for them.

[@Jedipilot_]

At first Darksouls 3 was not fun in my eyes but after I beat the first boss I got addicted to overcoming challenges lol. It didn't matter how hard the game was I would never quit even after getting stuck on bosses for days. Fav game of all time by far it literally changed my life.

[@jatt1129]

In Rain World, difficulty is signified by the characters you play as. The Survivor is the normal difficulty, with competent wildlife and a good amount of it for your first playthrough ; the Monk is the easy mode, with enemies that ignore you most of the time and a reduced amount of them. Also, when you pass to a different region, the requirements to access it are removed. Lastly, when you beat any of these two, you unlock the Hunter. A hard mode where there are completely new and vicious enemies (one bird has a harpoon, for God's sake) and a time limit of 20 days to complete your mission and the game before your run is deleted.

[@Xpwnxage]

I've been a proponent of high difficulty since I fell in love with Dark Souls back in 2012. In 2020 I realized I would rather a game be too hard than too easy. I was fighting the Hell House in FFVIIR and it was brutal, I was pushed to the brink multiple times. It turns out I wasn't utilizing magic correctly to target his changing weaknesses and that's the main reason it was so difficult. The entire battle took like 45 minutes but I did pause a couple times to take a breather. And I didn't game over once but it almost happened multiple times and it was then I came to the realization that I would rather a game be too hard than too easy.

[@tomoroboros]

Difficulty in souls games is an interesting topic, despite the fights (the boss fights in particular) often being brutally hard you actually have a couple of ways to adjust the difficulty. Why not summon a friend to help? Level up more? Use a different weapon? Respec into magic or pyromancy? Even the music is a subtle hint (the bosses generally time their attacks to the rhythm of the music, giving you a subconscious tell of the right time to dodge)

[@Xpwnxage]

@@tomoroboros Yeah I agree that's why I was perplexed at people calling Spirit Ashes in ER as an easy mode addition. That easy mode has always existed as Co-op summons. Now the Spirit Ashes offer some single player utility and most of them are not overpowered.

[@Walamonga1313]

The problem is most games don't understand the difference between challenging but fair and hard for the sake of it. Demon's Souls never felt unfair, Dark Souls 1 had a particular inescapable death that was bs (unless you knee previously) but it was also pretty fair. But then 2 doubled down on bullshit to make it hard rather than be fair, which is why gameplay is super sluggish, s aren't universal but a level up, there's lots of ganks everywhere... And that's how most other series view difficulty too. By making it annoying. I just beat Code Vein and it was everything wrong with "lets make a hard game" mentality, same sluggish gameplay and bs enemies as DkS2

[@slapbass9125]

@@Walamonga1313 The problem is I think a lot of people were introduced to the the series with Dark Souls 2. I was, and I fell off it pretty quick. It wasn't until I got for free Bloodborne on PS Plus, and gave it a try, that I fell in love with the series. Not everyone will give a series that second chance. I hear some of the BS comes from the Scholar of the First Sin Edition, which is the most readily available version. I'm interested in looking into that, because there are somethings about DS2 I really like!... but god is it fatiguing!

[@tatri292]

@@Walamonga1313 Code Vein truly is an enigma. "Hey let's make Dark Souls but anime, but also make it slow and sluggish"

[@sicarius4749]

My favorite "difficulty option" in any recent game I've played has been with the Yune Fire Emblem Randomizer. You get a ton of fun options for how you want to retone the game, and it's fun to learn the rules of a new run each time. It's super easy to set to your exact level of difficulty, restarting if things don't feel right. I've played on a ton of different seeds, and while I usually restart halfway through, the ones that're fun enough to continue are really amazing. The furthest I got was three chapters before the final, where one of the infinitely respawning enemies on a defense chapter got a 50% crit weapon - they've since added an option to cap crit increases and change the weight on how often certain abilities appear. It was stupidly easy to set up on steam deck too. Playing with a controller instead of a keyboard feels so nice.

[@graysongdl]

Here are some things I think are important for designing a good difficulty selection, that I've seen plenty of games neglect: - Clear indication of who a difficulty is designed for. Indicators like "for people who just want to experience the story", "for people who have played a game before", and "for people who think they know everything about this game" are some good examples, and can make it clear to the player whether their first playthrough should be on normal or hard. Because it's really hard to tell sometimes. Some games really crank up the difficulty on normal, and it's the intended experience, while hard mode is a masochistic 1-hit-kill mode. Other games are still easy on hard mode. There's really no way to tell without some kind of descriptor for each difficulty option. - As stated above, the goddamn ability to adjust your difficulty mid-playthrough if it's the kind of game where having to start over completely isn't the intended experience. For run-based games like Touhou or any roguelike ever, you can just do 1 run to see how the difficulty feels, but a lot of story-based games don't even let you change the difficulty mid-playthrough, which can sometimes make me afraid to pick the hardest difficulty, because I'm worried about the idea of having to start over if I get stuck. Also something I forgot to say in my first comment is that I think it's really interesting the way Getting Over It discusses the problem you bring up at the start. That, as a developer, it can be impossible to tell whether something being too hard is a failure as a developer, or a failure as a player. Do you alter the challenge to make it easier? Or do you just persevere and beat it as hard as it currently is?

[@simonhede4381]

I feel like Nioh has an interesting approach to difficulty. Going through the base game is fairly challenging, being a souls-like, but the thing is that there is a ton of systems and you can beat the game using most of them on only a fairly rudimentary level. But once you beat the final boss it unlocks newgame, or way/dream of the strong as it calls it, which ups the rarity and level of gear, unlocks new modifiers for gear, and even adds a whole new gear type in the form of the scroll. The enemies in the levels are tougher, have subtly different move sets, and spawn in new locations. At this point you need to start to learn the more advanced mechanics to beat the game, you need to start making a proper build, and incorporate elemental damage, debuffs and combos. Beat newgame and you unlock newgame+, which adds more new stuff in the previously mentioned categories, allowing for even more specialized builds and even tougher enemies and levels to make it necessary. By the end, it's not enough to be intimately familiar with the games myriad complexities and nuances, you also need to be good enough at executing them, which to me is the real mark of a good difficulty system, it should allow the player to engage with the complexities of it's systems at a steady pace.

[@redsilversnake]

The part about cutting stuff in lower difficulties reminds me of Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, where the Japanese version has a somewhat shorter script that also altered dialogue to be more expository for new players on its lowest difficulty while the two higher ones had the normal, much better script. This wound up creating a problem for the overseas fanbase, as those releases only got the shorter script localized, meaning non-Japanese players missed out on both characterization and plot that they HAVE to look up in order to know about as opposed to experiencing it themselves.

[@robertlupa8273]

That's just stupid.

[@ryangallagher9723]

funny how you never hear about this sort of thing when fe fans whine about localization