Difficult Doesn't Always Mean Good

Chris Hyde of Dealspwn writes: "It seems 2013 was the year that Matt Gardner (Senior Editor of Dealspwn and resident Slash lookalike) revealed his hatred for me, or perhaps more specifically his passion for seeing me suffer. Just a simple trawl back through the games he assigned me to review last year yield a collection of games that in the main were harder than your average. Couple it with the fact that 2013 was also the year I finally finished Dark Souls and a look back on the year makes me realise what a ruddy hard slog it was.

Not that I’m complaining of course – some of those games were bloody brilliant – but such exposure to challenging games made me take a big step back. Often in gaming we praise the difficult game, the one that is a challenge, to the point where difficulty has become almost synonymous with quality in a game. But in reality, is this really the case? Throughout 2013 ,the difficulty in the games I reviewed has been high, but the quality hasn't always been th...

[DanielGearSolid]

If there is an objective to be completed, and there's no challenge in completing it... I can't see how anyone would find that fun

[Wni0]

You dont have to take things to the extreme to make a point. If the developers of Alone im the Dark remake a few years back made that game as hard as DS it wouldnt make it suck any less. The point of challenging games most of the time is to make completing them rewarding. Each level each section. Im dark souls fighting new enemies and beating them is rewarding I'll admit but it still could have been a much better game.

[DanielGearSolid]

I think the author is taking things to an extreme... Gamers dont automatically praise all difficult games...

The gameplay mechanics have to be solid first of all... Then comes the challenge, Dark Souls is that total package

[starchild]

Yeah, but Dark Souls also lacks in terms of narrative and character development, which are a big part of what RPGs are about. I think the Souls games have good gameplay, but they lack in a lot of other areas. I think they do tend to get overhyped by some gamers.

[Sketchy_Galore]

There are many different types of experiences provided in gaming, more and more as the technology gets better.

The most popular at the moment are probably the cinematic experiences that any reasonably okay gamer can get through without dying too much except for maybe at certain big set piece moments that give the occasional real challenge. This type of game is based around the idea that an audience gets a rush of adrenaline just sitting and watching Indiana Jones get chased by a giant boulder so making it so that the audience member has to actually make the hero run away from the boulder or it'll crush him can only increase that adrenaline rush. It's easy to screw up the creation of this type of game by making the simplicity of the game too obvious, flashing ledges to jump to or the inability to die but as long as the illusion is maintained and we get the occasional moments of challenge these cinematic games can be a good way to experience a story.

On the other end of the spectrum you have games like Dark souls, which are all about the challenge. They're about venturing out into this hostile environment and seeing how long you can hold up. Dark souls would suck if it was too easy because it would just be a case of walking up to random things and tapping a button. It would also suck if there was a heavy story element that was told through cutscenes. A game that is mostly focused on experiencing a linear story can be ruined by excessive difficulty because the constant deaths can really drag you out of the story and remind you that you're just playing a game.

[Wni0]

Dark Souls has a great responsive combat system, it also however has some of the laziest level design of any game that year or any year. Aesthetically the art direction is good, I'm talking about mission structure and the layout of the actual levels.

[bennissimo]

DS... meh.

I got up to the Ornstein/Smaugh battle and then realized just how much time I was wasting playing DS. Haven't picked it up since.

[DanielGearSolid]

You mind elaborating what about the game is "meh" to you?

Also Ornstein / Smough is pretty far in before realising you were "wasting your time"

Tbh your comment comes across as an obligatory "I'm cool because I don't like something everyone else likes" comment

[bennissimo]

If other people think I'm cool or not, makes no difference to me.

RE: time wasting realization... better late then never. I've got better things to do than beat my head against a wall just to beat one boss.

[Tex117]

No, difficult does not always mean good.

However, when difficulty is used to accentuate and intensify an experience demanding your full at utmost attention, that magical "immersion" moment tends to happen more often.

The Souls games are a perfect example of that to me.

[Master-H]

Dark Souls isn't even hard. Those are the kind of noobs that developers dumb down games and make em easier and less challenging and more accessible for.
Get back to GTA or Assassin's Creed if you want god mode.