Why are todays games so incredible difficult?

[stefan.klaus86]

I mean seriously?

I have this game here "Monster Boy". It started out quite simple, but now - after some progression in which it got more and more difficult I´m in the volcano. There are scenes that require an incredible reaction time from the player. You have to react in like "on second" literarely and ... there´s no real chooseable difficulty.

Next there´s a game I played called "Divinity 2 Ego draconis". It´s old... but there´s a pure-logic riddle in it and the level this one is on is just... discriminating?

I´m having a weak spot when it comes to logical puzzle solving. Was never good at math but am Okay as it seems in remembering stuff, since this is my 2nd language - German main - and it´s allright... isn´t it?

They give you 5 Figures you should name call and a figure says for example "Figure called Chaos is not in the same Room as Figure called Destruction" and so on and so on pure logical riddles. I´ve tried hours (!) to solve this riddle. I´ve opened ms paint and made drawings from the figures and put in their statements. I´ve tried it over and over and over aggain but I was NOT able to solve this riddle... I mean... seriously? I´m here to play a game not to take an IQ test or play a game on challange mode. Where´s the good old "select difficulty" switch, that just lets me enable to play it on noob mode and continoue / make progression?

The same goes for the current "Divinity 2" game. I´ve played the first level 12+ hours but left it with some riddles open (I just couldn´t solve them and I was on a point where it was just click everything to click everything and hope it will solve it).

I know this is not the game´s "problem" that I lack skill here but... why is it supposed to be like that? I´m working in a demanding / hard job. When I want to play games I just want to play a game and not take a "how good can you perform" test...

Dunno... probably just ranting because - before I rage deleted it - I just wasted another hour into this Divinity 2: Ego draconis game.

I´ve read in an article that todays teenagers are 30IQ points smarter than 90´s kids - and I´m a 90´s kid... so...

Cmon devs, please make games for "old people"...

It´s even more frustrating when I struggle with a game like "Monster boy" because having had like 100 deaths in it or so and Forum´s from the game´s full of "Will this game ever get difficult?"

Just saying... any other 90´s kids experience the same problems? I know being a scalie I´m kinda stuck to "special" games that are usually played by people who have the required IQ... still... anyone else out there?

[luciferous]

I personally feel like games are getting easier, but I see your point.

[Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍]

Make games for old people?

Holy tits. I'll see your whatever the hell monster boy is, and raise you the Ninja gaiden games. I'll slap super Castlevania on top of that.

There have always been incredibly hard games. If you're not good at them don't play them.

[Jej]

Honestly games are EASIER nowadays. I grew up playing Mega Drive and arcade games and their difficulty was far greater than anything released now as they often used difficulty as padding or to wring more coins out of players (I'm looking at you, Magician Lord).

Hell, back then when you lost there was fanfare as opposed to today's easy going fail states.

[SMIFFY]

That's two games.

[Random Ryan (RETURNING SOON!)]

Have you ever tried older games like TMNT, Super Mario Bros Lost Levels, or Castlevania? Back in the 1900s, that’s when games were truly rough. Nowadays most of them aren’t that hard.

[Count_Dandyman]

Hell if you want to talk about hard puzzles a single name can be uttered to show those have always existed though at the price of making many older gamers wince and shudder.

Sierra

[Tony Twist's Thunderous Right]

Battletoads, bby. Battletoads.


Oh, and Friday the 13th for NES.

[Crazy Tiger]

Someone hasn't played the adventure games of yore. Actual logic didn't work in those.

[Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍]

I think I might have the bike level from battletoads burned into my brain for forever. I only had to replay it like 500000 times. Same for the mile high club achievement.

Good Lord I can list nightmarishly hard games all day.

[erratic_gamer]

Maybe that is what you get for playing genres you aren't familiar with and not having required skills. Nothing to do with being old it just requires certain skill sets. Games show an understanding between the developer and player.

[White Knight]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DØC:

the answer is simple.. they do it to piss you off op...

This is actually true. Part of it is game design. If you piss people off, they tend to play longer. Keeping you engaged is how they measure success.

A bigger part is egos, I suspect. On the player's part, they flood forums like this one to complain "it's too easy" and then brag about how wondrous and amazing they are (they rarely mention their mods and the cheat codes though). For the devs, this hurts their feelings and they respond by making their games more "rogue-like". It's a vicious cycle.

Once upon a time, games were about having fun. Nowadays it's about proving how marvelous you are...because games are for people who don't ever leave the house and do marvelous things...apparently?

[Albemouff]

The thing is that most of hard old games were hard because of technical flaws (no beta test back then).

Recent games, when they're hard, are hard by design.

[Sixtyfivekills]

I dare you to dig out your old NES/SNES or whatever you played and beat one game.

[Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Sixtyfivekills:

I dare you to dig out your old NES/SNES or whatever you played and beat one game.

What a fun challenge. Pick a game. You can also add the turbo graphics and Sega machines.

No Ninja gaiden. I almost want to say no gradius but I really like gradius so I'll allow it, but I'm using the Konami code.

[Albemouff]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย fauxtronic:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Albemouff:

The thing is that most of hard old games were hard because of technical flaws (no beta test back then).

Many 8-bit games got progressively difficult by design (assuming they weren't frustratingly difficult from the outset) and were deliberately designed that way to prevent completion by the majority of end users. As for beta testing, it's been around for almost as long as computers. Certainly since the 1950s.

Really ? Interesting. I thought that most video games from the 1980 era were not tested by people from outside the developing team.