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?

[Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Albemouff:

Początkowo opublikowane przez fauxtronic:

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.

Commodore and Atari days definitely. They actually used to write In the instruction manuals that bugs were actually special features.

Once the video game resurgence in 1984, the development teams would actually test their games. But not extensively. Still had that 3-month development time got to make some money quick problem.

Nowadays developers just don't even give a ♥♥♥♥ about testing the game properly. that's real sad to think that the heyday of game testing was in the mid-90s.

[Grim Reaper]

games got easier really

[Yasahi]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Parrhesiastes:

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?

Challenging games are fun, easy games are boring.

You're doing some serious projecting there, thinking that those that say new games are easy are here to brag. New games are for the most part easy. They're made for the instant gratification clamouring masses.

It doesn't take mods or cheat engines to beat games. It just takes a little bit of patience and the ability to think. If all you do is run around in circles screaming for the next fix of dopamine, no wonder games feel hard.

[Tony Twist's Thunderous Right]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Sixtyfivekills:

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

I finished 2 games:

Wizardry IV (which wasn't so hard once I found the farming trick on the first floor of the dungeon)

Friday the 13th (which I still consider my greatest gaming achievement. Youtube the final fight with Jason. It was insane)

[White Knight]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Albemouff:

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

Thing is, beta-testers were a part of the development team. That used to be a thing. They did it in-house to ensure that their products were stable and ready for the market. People would get a game, pop it into their system and played it.

All of this nonsense we have today is specifically because companies realized that they could save money by not bothering with that.

In the early 90's I was offered a job as a Beta-tester for Electronic Arts. They wanted me to play sports games all day long so I refused the job. I don't think that is a thing anymore?

Some games do get a bit of beta testing with a select group of fans, but those titles still get released as glitchy messes anyway, so I'm not really sure how seriously the programmers take it? Of course, in all fairness, things are more complicated now with all of the different consoles and systems out there.

That's how this old gamer sees it anyway?

[gugnihr]

To be completely honest, Monster Boy is (much) more difficult than Symphony of the night, which was the most famous Metroidvania game in the '90 and defined the genre for most people back then, and it is also more difficult than any Castlevania game after SOTN - at least the ones that I have played.
First of all, there are almost no real puzzles at all in SOTN and other Castlevania games, while Monster Boy is filled with puzzles.
I'm not saying that he is right (I was born in 1980 and I know how hard older games could be) but I think I can see where he's coming from.
If you want immediate satisfaction RPGs and Metroidvanias in general are not the best choice usually anyway

[Sixtyfivekills]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍:

Początkowo opublikowane przez 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.

Thing that prevents me from beating old games is their length and lack of saving. You either beat it in one sitting, or you leave the console powered on to get some rest and try again.


Even games like Mario and Sonic which were aimed at children were really difficult, mostly because of Game Overs.

[Crazy Tiger]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Sixtyfivekills:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍:

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.

Thing that prevents me from beating old games is their length and lack of saving. You either beat it in one sitting, or you leave the console powered on to get some rest and try again.


Even games like Mario and Sonic which were aimed at children were really difficult, mostly because of Game Overs.

Playing Mario on the Game Boy, suddenly suffering from empty batteries. No saves were brutal back then.

[AdahnGorion]

Games today hold your hand, gives you instant glorification and have so gravely dumb AI that a 4 year old would most likely survive most games.

You should try some of the old Atari and NES games.. Go see how far you can get in Top Gun.. I doubt you can complete all 3 stages... yes it only has 3 simple stages...

[AdahnGorion]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Influential Dolphin:

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.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ I still have nightmares from TNMT, Festers Quest and even Castlevania.. I mean.. you litterly had to buy magazines just to get hints about whatever to do..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Bc69J6tSU

Ths sad part is that TNMT most likely is better than 80% of what is on steam today

[pasa]

the what? I see all the games got dumbified to catch up with the idiocracy and desire for rewards-without-effort. also for being "cross-platform" with consoles.

though I'm talking about strategy and rpg mostly where thinking would count, not just reflexes

So IME the games are created for "new people" and we "old people" from old pc gaming are left with nothing

[Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍]

Top gun isn't fair. The game is easy as hell except for one part. Landing. I have landed my f-14 a grand total of once. And I was using a special controller to do that.

Which I'm glad didn't kill me. It was a flight stick that used Mercury to detect movement. Damn you NES. You haven't killed me yet.

...

[AdahnGorion]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍:

Top gun isn't fair. The game is easy as hell except for one part. Landing. I have landed my f-14 a grand total of once. And I was using a special controller to do that.

Which I'm glad didn't kill me. It was a flight stick that used Mercury to detect movement. Damn you NES. You haven't killed me yet.

...

I never completed the landing before the late 90's. I agree it was easy before that.. But still.. it showcase how frustrating games could be back then.. As for castlevania etc.. you litterly had no help at all.. I even found Zelda hard.

I also had my struggle with Metal Gear... Imagine some of the new age players who likes Metal Gear series, but they never tried these hard old classic games


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvA-0JfbHOQ

[Abisha]

game more difficult now then in the past?
i don't know if this is true but i not feeling this trend.

Początkowo opublikowane przez The_Unknown_05:

lol for divinity2 you dont even have to think.. its no puzzle game at all o.0.. you just smash everything

ah not true their are quite a few puzzles if they worth doing is secondary

[Count_Dandyman]

Początkowo opublikowane przez gugnihr:

To be completely honest, Monster Boy is (much) more difficult than Symphony of the night, which was the most famous Metroidvania game in the '90 and defined the genre for most people back then, and it is also more difficult than any Castlevania game after SOTN - at least the ones that I have played.
First of all, there are almost no real puzzles at all in SOTN and other Castlevania games, while Monster Boy is filled with puzzles.
I'm not saying that he is right (I was born in 1980 and I know how hard older games could be) but I think I can see where he's coming from.
If you want immediate satisfaction RPGs and Metroidvanias in general are not the best choice usually anyway

SOTN may be the most well known Castlevania game but the hardest ones came before it most people call out Castlevania 2: Simons Quest and even claim it's part of the reason Nintendo thought we couldn't handle games that Japanese players could.

Of course most of that came from an incompetent translation that meant we weren't given the right information in the game.