I'm enjoying Darksiders III a lot more since turning down the Difficulty to Story

[Dr. Feelgood]

Hey folks,

Huge fan of the first Darksiders. One of my all-time favourites. I played through Darksiders II but wasn't really as into it as the first. The third looked amazing, and I was really hanging out for it.

I got it on release and was immediately met with quite a harsh difficulty spike in the few opening levels of the game. I started it on the default difficulty, and was just getting my ass handed to me by standard enemies, then getting frustrated at the respawn way back at some point through the level and then slogging through respawned enemies I barely made it through the first couple of times. It was super-annoying, and quickly leaving a bad taste in my mouth as I've been looking forward to this game so much!

I'm not the best when it comes to skill-based games. I've heard a few reviews say they've adopted more of a Dark Souls approach to combat, with the timed dodging and difficulty. Having never played those games, I can only assume this is probably why I'm having such a hard time.

The first game made you feel like a god stomping around the place, whereas Darksiders III feels like you've got as much health as some of the pleb enemies.

I turned the difficulty down to Story the other night, and I gotta say, it's totally turned this game around for me. I'm 100% enjoying it so much more, and feel like I'm getting a proper Darksiders experience more a-kin to the first.

If you feel like you're having the same issues as above, I'd highly recommend Story Difficulty. Like I said, it's turned this game around for me, and I'm loving it.

[Cryiox]

To be honest, the game was brutally difficult before the two patches tweaked iframes and how/when you are invulnerable. The game should be more manageable on higher difficulties now that it's patched.

[Kapteeni Moukku]

I did that too on my first playthrough, i was getting really frustrated about midway of the game when i decided to turn down the difficulty because if a game makes me very frustrated too many times it will kill my interest to play the game at all and i didn't want that to happen with this game.

As of now i have finished the game 3 times in total. 2 times i have finished it with normal difficulty without any problems at all. My first playthrough was difficult because i didn't fully understand how the game mechanics work, now that i understand it and know the enemies i really enjoy the combat.

[Cryiox]

Now wait for NG+ then go for that Apocalyptic run that you know you can do now ^.^

[INƑESTISSVMΔM]

"suit yourself" ; )

[Kadra]

Makes you wonder how people enjoyed games back in the day of NES. Those didn't have checkpoints at all! The brutality of it!

I remember Indiana Jones and the last Crusade to this day. You complete the game and then it turns out you should have memorized that grail sketch you saw way back. So you choose one and it's not the right one. BAM! Game Over. Alright.

You start again, this time you memorize it but turns out there are more details to memorize than you thought, so you choose wrong, game over, start all over again. You try another time. Doesn't work out.

Next time you are being a smart kid about this and you hold some transparent paper over the TV screen and make an outline of that bloody grail (I think you could pause the game, probably because it was a Chinese NES clone that allowed it). But it doesn't work out too well for some reason that I can't remember now.

So in the end I think me and my buddy that I was playing the game with ended up having detailed hand drawn sketches of quite a few of those Grails before we were able to identify the right one and finally complete the game.

And you are upset about having to kill a few mobs over again because the checkpoint is too faaar awaaaay. Oh, am I laughing at that :-)

[Astronimo]

Originally posted by Kadra:

Makes you wonder how people enjoyed games back in the day of NES. Those didn't have checkpoints at all! The brutality of it!

I remember Indiana Jones and the last Crusade to this day. You complete the game and then it turns out you should have memorized that grail sketch you saw way back. So you choose one and it's not the right one. BAM! Game Over. Alright.

You start again, this time you memorize it but turns out there are more details to memorize than you thought, so you choose wrong, game over, start all over again. You try another time. Doesn't work out.

Next time you are being a smart kid about this and you hold some transparent paper over the TV screen and make an outline of that bloody grail (I think you could pause the game, probably because it was a Chinese NES clone that allowed it). But it doesn't work out too well for some reason that I can't remember now.

So in the end I think me and my buddy that I was playing the game with ended up having detailed hand drawn sketches of quite a few of those Grails before we were able to identify the right one and finally complete the game.

And you are upset about having to kill a few mobs over again because the checkpoint is too faaar awaaaay. Oh, am I laughing at that :-)

Battletoads FTW!

[FreshRevenge]

Apparently no one here has played a Demon Souls or Dark Souls game or even Bloodborne? I played on Apocalyptic and made it through and I am 40 years old. It wasn't as difficult as some people make it out to be. It's a learning curve. The first two games were easy because the game held your hand throughout the game. Here it really doesn't hold your hand. I still enjoyed the story while playing on apocalytic mode. Now the only time when difficulty becomes an annoyance is when you beat the hardest difficulty and it offers a new hard challenge mode which makes you hate the game(The Evil Within 1 and 2). I was like screw it. I don't need the trophies or achievements that bad.

I remember playing Outlast on insane mode and I was able to beat it but it took forever to beat it because I kept dying a lot. The last portion was a pain in my nutz. Dying restarts you from the beginning. Some areas I flew around in the complete darkness not seeing anything but I played so many times that I basically had each area memorized. But never would I do that again.

[Eze]

Good to know. If I ever get a new darksiders, is because I wanted a power trip like the first 2 games. I'm supposed to be one of the feared 4 horsemen of the apocalypse, not a tormented character ahead of more torment in a direction of a bad ending (yes, Souls like)

[Kapteeni Moukku]

Originally posted by Eze:

Good to know. If I ever get a new darksiders, is because I wanted a power trip like the first 2 games. I'm supposed to be one of the feared 4 horsemen of the apocalypse, not a tormented character ahead of more torment in a direction of a bad ending (yes, Souls like)

The next patch is also adding optional combat mode that changes some mechanics to be more similar to DS1-2.

Imo this isn't nearly as punishing or annoying as dark souls is. I have tried to get into dark souls and i couldn't finish neither 2 or 3 because they just made me angry and frustrated i just don't enjoy those kind of games.
I have finished Darksiders 3 3 times now and i enjoy the combat very much.

[Vetto]

Originally posted by Kadra:

Makes you wonder how people enjoyed games back in the day of NES. Those didn't have checkpoints at all! The brutality of it!

I remember Indiana Jones and the last Crusade to this day. You complete the game and then it turns out you should have memorized that grail sketch you saw way back. So you choose one and it's not the right one. BAM! Game Over. Alright.

You start again, this time you memorize it but turns out there are more details to memorize than you thought, so you choose wrong, game over, start all over again. You try another time. Doesn't work out.

Next time you are being a smart kid about this and you hold some transparent paper over the TV screen and make an outline of that bloody grail (I think you could pause the game, probably because it was a Chinese NES clone that allowed it). But it doesn't work out too well for some reason that I can't remember now.

So in the end I think me and my buddy that I was playing the game with ended up having detailed hand drawn sketches of quite a few of those Grails before we were able to identify the right one and finally complete the game.

And you are upset about having to kill a few mobs over again because the checkpoint is too faaar awaaaay. Oh, am I laughing at that :-)

Ok.. that cool and all but.. What does any of this have to do with the post other then you kinda acting like a Jerk. I grew up with the NES to and well so what? Game back then were made harder cause they were SHORTER it wasn't how skilled you were it was to make a 2 hour game take 20-30 hours from difficulty, which made the game more open for people to spend 40-50 dollars. ((Yes game were costly as hell back in are youth by today standards 50 bucks seems like nothing but it was a A LOT in the 80-mid 90's)).

But now that game can be longer with less limitation why do you care so much how some one else plays a SINGLE PLAYER game, does it effect you at all.. I mean LITERALLY Not a damn thing he doing effect you at all, But seems your insecurity needs you to boast where it not needed.

So who care if he play on "Story" aka easy mode, if it making him enjoy the game, MAKING THE GAME WORTH THE MONEY HE SPENT, and helping us lead to another entry into this game instead of it ending here. Then WHY DO YOU CARE.

To Quote Shadow Warrior 2.

"Easy Difficulty

This difficulty level is for people who don't feel like they need to prove anything to themselves or anyone else. Playing Shadow Warrior 2 on Easy is perfectly fine, if by the end of a exhausting day all you need is to feel like a goodamn superhero".

[Teran]

Originally posted by thefreshrevengehaven:

Apparently no one here has played a Demon Souls or Dark Souls game or even Bloodborne?

Plenty of us have played and beaten those games. That doesn't mean that's what we come to Darksiders for.

I actually play for the story because these kinds of games don't appeal to me as much as they used to, but I loved the original Darksiders themes and stories and just want to see it continued. I also prefer to support the developers who make the games I like in one way or another which is why I don't just watch a cutscene compilation on youtube for the story.

[Teran]

Originally posted by Vetto:

Ok.. that cool and all but.. What does any of this have to do with the post other then you kinda acting like a Jerk. I grew up with the NES to and well so what? Game back then were made harder cause they were SHORTER it wasn't how skilled you were it was to make a 2 hour game take 20-30 hours from difficulty, which made the game more open for people to spend 40-50 dollars. ((Yes game were costly as hell back in are youth by today standards 50 bucks seems like nothing but it was a A LOT in the 80-mid 90's)).

But now that game can be longer with less limitation why do you care so much how some one else plays a SINGLE PLAYER game, does it effect you at all.. I mean LITERALLY Not a damn thing he doing effect you at all, But seems your insecurity needs you to boast where it not needed.

So who care if he play on "Story" aka easy mode, if it making him enjoy the game, MAKING THE GAME WORTH THE MONEY HE SPENT, and helping us lead to another entry into this game instead of it ending here. Then WHY DO YOU CARE.

To Quote Shadow Warrior 2.

"Easy Difficulty

This difficulty level is for people who don't feel like they need to prove anything to themselves or anyone else. Playing Shadow Warrior 2 on Easy is perfectly fine, if by the end of a exhausting day all you need is to feel like a goodamn superhero".

This is one of the best defenses of playing a game on easy I have ever seen posted on the Steam forums. Games appeal to different people for different reasons. I personally used to play games like this on harder difficulty settings but lately my interests lie elsewhere and I'm just here for the story because I love the story in this series.

I have played harder games like Dark Souls and beaten them... but I don't play games like that for story. I also loved Shadow Warrior 2... didn't play on easy but I loved their explanation for its existence. It was downright philosophical. Of course I like the other extreme like the Wolfenstein games that make fun of you for playing on easy... but it's nice to know some developers out there get it.

[Dante-Quietus]

A couple points on this:

- You should play on whatever difficulty level you enjoy. Period. The more people that can enjoy this game, the happier I am. The happier all fans of the franchise should be.

-The Dev team shouldn't nerf the difficulty because everyone wants to feel like a pro by beating Apoca and Challenging. It ostracizes the so called "better players" (I know this wasn't your point, but while we are on a semi related topic, I'll just throw this out there). I personally enjoy games that kick my ass. They demonstrate a weakness in my thinking, coordination or skills as a player. They force me to get better.

-Pre-patch I played and beat Apocalyptic, as did quite a few other people. Maybe it's too hard, but I think people give up too easy. There was a steep learning curve, but it was fair. One thing I learned from playing games AARPG (Nioh, Darksouls series), RTS (WC3, They are Billions, etc.) , MMOs (ESO) as a raid leader is to be self-reflective about my playing, to be critical in my thinking, and to be persistant. These are great skills for life. I use games to teach my 3 year old daughter these values, while having a great time.

- I am 41 - I know another player mentioned that they were 40, but I got you beat!

Cheers.