Choking on difficult games – Reader’s Feature

A GameCentral reader is fed up of being beaten by choke points and difficulty spikes, and demands that games prioritise fun over challenge.

[PersonMan]

When a game is too difficult, I tend to stop playing it because it becomes more of a chore instead of having fun.

[dirthurts]

Hard Reset, and Warhammer 40k Space Marine, for me these games nail the difficulty.
Hard enough for me to fight for survival, but not soo hard that I'm replaying levels over and over.
Rage on Hard was a really great experience.

[Grimhammer00]

I'll play a game ...fighting my way through. But, if it has difficulty spikes or artificial difficulty like infinite enemies unless you reach area x......it deminishes my enjoyment greatly.

Thinking back to all the wasted gaming due to feeling that I had to finish....

[Grimhammer00]

Rage on hard is excellent!
My worst exp was Conan on xbox360.....I blew through having a good time then hit the final boss who was so cheap and difficulty spike to max! I never finished it.

Shinobi (last one on PS2) was also spiky....so annoying.

[Fateful_Knight]

I tend to believe that a difficulty spike that comes out of nowhere and is inconsistent with the rest of the game is a product of poor design on the dev's part. As well, it's a disrespect to the player and a big FU on their part. I recognize those, and i'll give those hard parts a few chances before i hang up the game for good.

[ambientFLIER]

The Xbox indie game Lumi was amazing, but insanely difficult on the boss battles which frustrated the hell out of me. Dead Nation on the PS3 was fun until I reached a spot with infinite enemies that frustrated me and killed my enjoyment to the point where I stopped playing it.

I get enough stress in everyday life, I don't need to be pulling out my hair while relaxing. If you're into being abused...more power to you...

[StrawberryDiesel420]

I love Demon's Souls and Dark Souls' difficulty. At times, it seems like a boss is impossible and you may be stuck there forever, but with a little perserverance and strategization, progress comes inevitably. Faster for some than others, but it does come eventually.