You made a lot of great points here. Difficulty is an important tool that game developers can use to enhance the desired feel they are looking to have in their games. I think a lot of people don't see it that way, and I'm glad you pointed it out. Great video, I loved watching this 😁
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Thank you, I really appreciate your comment 😄 Yeah, I agree with you, that’s my take on it at least, I’m glad you had a good time with the video!
@MCharlesPainting
Ай бұрын
The deeper reason difficulty is important is that without difficulty at all, there is no sense of progression, conflict, or reward. Imagine the easiest game possible. It wouldn't really be a 'game' at all. For this reason, a board game like Snakes & Ladders is not seen as a 'game' by many, as the definition of a game require player choice and skill ceilings (different human outcomes), not mere randomness. Likewise, slot machines and game loot box systems in themselves cannot be games under normative conditions, as they are driven entirely by RNG/luck. Although the easiest possible game is likely still a game in terms of player choice, there's no designed ceiling. You'll still find better players in speedrunning and otherwise, but the core game itself won't have a sense of difficulty or reward or progression beyond the linear story and gameplay (i.e. moving from the beginning to the end). Such games often have only one very visible correct action/answer, so player choice is almost non-existent. They are also often simpler with fewer branches and choices in general, as they are extremely linear and built for kids. Certain Nintendo games fall into this camp, and certain indie and online games. Obviously, most games of the 1950s through early 1970s were easy due to hardware limitations. The only difficulty was in the controls, not the game design. Most early games didn't have save or pause functions, or timers or high score trackers. You only got games with difficulty and a sense of progression and actual player competition in the late 1970s with things like Breakout, Space Invaders, and Asteroids, and certain PC games. Difficulty was measured almost entirely with timers and high scores, though often the core gameplay loop itself required skill, memorisation, and reflexes. But, that's true with the early games of the 1950s, as they were often Tennis sims or other sports, as with the 1970s. However, this is not a measure of in-game difficulty so much as simple player skill. So, they are games, but very limited -- and offer the exact same experience to every single player, as you cannot actually change the base game state (which I actually like, though sometimes a difficulty mode is vital for a game). The notion of difficulty modes (e.g. easy, hard) didn't exist until the 1980s. For example, Adventure (1980) for the Atari 2600 had difficulty settings (three settings, I think). However, many games still only had the default difficulty, where game difficulty naturally increased throughout the gameplay/story, as with most arcade games and most console games, and a large number of PC games. By the late 1990s, we shifted away from the arcade model almost entirely. It became necessary to include difficulty settings, so the base game wasn't too difficult or too easy for every single player. Since games were more open-world and longer duration, there was no need to enforce high difficulty or extreme difficulty spikes in-game. However, if a PS1 game was easy by default, it would be boring for many players and completed too quickly (or not fun enough to complete). There are edge cases, though -- typically aimed at kids and very story-driven and RPG in nature, such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001). This game had decent progression and difficulty spikes built into it, but I believe it only had one overall setting, and it's easy in general. Good game, though. What matters is progression and well-designed difficulty spikes baked into the story and gameplay, and ideally a variable core gameplay loop (meaning, it can appeal to all kinds of players. You can either use it in an easy, basic manner, or a difficult, advanced manner, depending on the exact actions you take and techniques). High scores and timers for speedrunning are ideal, as well. I have mixed feelings about difficulty settings, for a few reasons. First, it makes balancing sometimes impossible. Secondly, it creates a vastly different game for different players. Thirdly, it can actually change or even break the base game, if the difficulty is too easy or too hard. Sometimes, there's no other option, though. Ideally, difficulty settings shouldn't change the game in any fundamental way, they should only make the A.I. more advanced (though this itself can sometimes change the way you play the game). The devs must be careful that a game doesn't break on easy or hard mode. For example, if a game wants you to be stealthy, then being stealthy must be the best possible option on all difficulty settings. Sadly, what often happens is, so-called stealthy games are best played via non-stealthy means, and so that's how most players play them. This is a big mistake devs often make: they assume the player knows what they know and will accept a social agreement of playing in the designed spirit of the game, even if it's technically a worse way to complete the game. In reality, most players will play in the most efficient way possible, even if it ruins the game. The dev has the job of punishing players for playing efficiently or, better, designing the spirit of the game to be the most efficient way. This does have the issue of punishing players who want to play differently, but that's their choice. If you buy a stealth game and want to play in a non-stealthy manner, you either need to accept that it's going to worse/harder, or buy a non-stealthy game. The failure of devs at this level, and in not correctly enforcing the spirit of their game, is what makes most stealth-based games fail. The same is true for many other genres and core mechanics. RuneScape has this problem fairly often: they create a new and tell the players to play in x manner, but the players play in y or z manner, instead, as it's more efficient, then the devs get upset and make y or z worse or impossible. Only if they get a major backlash or the players actually prefer their way do the devs simply leave it or lean into it. This is because the devs didn't take into account how efficient the players want to be, and how they might exploit their update. They need to playtest and stress-test it much more before updating. Often, this sort of thing is due to lack of oversight, bad devs, lack of expert play testers, and/or lack of time (rushed update).
@Igones
Ай бұрын
Yep, a lot of great points. Developers do tend to think the players will play the way they, who designed the game, play, which is why play testing is so important. The differences in difficulty from old games to modern games is really interesting, I even touched on the subject a little in my latest video. And about your point on stealth games, I’m not usually so engaged with stealth games, but with games that offer me the possibility of the stealth approach, it becomes so much more interesting because I am the one going out of my way to go unnoticed.
@jacrispybbq
Ай бұрын
that thumbnaill is probably the best ive ever seen
@Igones
Ай бұрын
Wow thank you! I put a lot of effort on them, I’m glad you liked it😄
@Welter117
Ай бұрын
That thumbnail is crazy good!
@Igones
Ай бұрын
Thank you! I try really hard to do something cool with my thumbnails, haha
@beartrap3400
5 ай бұрын
Maaaaan that thumbnail is dope and in it are 3 of the most fun combat systems of the last decade.
@Igones
5 ай бұрын
Thank you! It took some effort, haha
@Brotelho
Ай бұрын
“Sekiro has the single best progression in all video games” I agree 100% It’s as perfect of a game a game can be. Super focused.
@Igones
Ай бұрын
Yeah, Sekiro is amazing! (me with great games in my backlog and suddenly feeling the urge to play Sekiro again 🤡)
@poopikins
6 ай бұрын
Good stuff. Can't believe you don't have more subs
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Thank you! I’ll keep trying my best! I’m really happy you enjoyed it😄
@ramirocortavarria
6 ай бұрын
These keep getting better and better
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Thank you! 😄
@axel9473
26 күн бұрын
I think the point you made about the troll in TW3 is really important. In most games that allow you to be evil (TW3 doesn't really, but the example with the troll still works), there is not actually any incentive to be evil. It's just for the sake of being evil. It's often even a disadvantage as you turn npcs and factions against you, lock yourself out of quests and good loot, etc. I think it should more often be like that situation in the witcher 3. Doing something evil should be a shortcut to becoming more powerful (or rich, or whatever other equivalent there is depending on the game). But to get back to the topic of the video: for that incentive to work the game has to be difficult. The player has to be struggling, tempted to take the easy and evil way. Doesn't mean that it should be as clear cut as: Being good = hard, being evil = easy, but at least in terms of short term benefits the evil way should be more rewarding. That's how it is in real life as well. Crime and corruption is a short cut. Lying and cheating is often easier and seemingly better for you than telling the truth. But in the long term that might not be so true...
@Igones
26 күн бұрын
That’s true! A few games play with that concept, but more should do it for sure! I think Infamous does this to a certain degree by giving us really cool looking and powerful abilities if you are evil. In games like Baldurs Gate 3 and Mass Effect, trying to save your friends, other people and do the right thing is usually harder than just doing the objective. Not saving everyone is usually the easy and less risky way out. There is another situation in the Witcher. Morkvarg, that werewolf who doesn’t die, if you remove the curse he gives you the password to a merchant so he can give you a unique reward, some treasure of his. But before he was cursed, Morkvarg was a sadistic murderer, and has no intention of stopping that. So you are given a choice, kill him or free him. Most games would only give you these choices, one being obviously bad and the other obviously good, but I tried to free him, take the information and THEN kill him and it worked! Love those little details. The witcher doesn’t allow you to be cartoonishly evil, but it definitely allows you to make some pretty evil and selfish choices, haha.
@Kung_Fu_Junkie
2 ай бұрын
Really great video and I agree. I really like my games to be difficult and challenging. Also a good point for the Witcher playing on death margin actually makes you utilize your potions and crafting.
@Igones
2 ай бұрын
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, playing on death march was a great experience, also enjoy a good fair challenge.
@chrisn3819
6 ай бұрын
exploration in GoW is extremely stifled by the slow locomotion. I actually hate how slow they made the game.
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
I like it because it feels like more of a personal story experience, but I definitely understand your point of view given how fast the movement was in the previous titles
@SelfRevolution-lv4zr
6 ай бұрын
awesome vid Dude. my main feedback is the audio. It could be me, but i had a hard time hearing your voice, had to raise the volume very high up just to listen properly and when auto play kicked in, the next vid nearly perforated my ear drums lol. Other than that, great content!
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Thank you! I’m happy you’ve enjoyed the video! I’m so sorry about the audio, I’ll definitely take a look at that, thank you for your feedback on it!
@itatreeneetee
6 ай бұрын
True about the NG+.
@rotanick8800
6 ай бұрын
Never thought of fromsoftware's games that way! Great video
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed! Their games really do have a lot of depth, I like them a lot
@leticiazts
6 ай бұрын
Great video as always! Loved everything, keep doing this!!
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. I’ll keep at it😁
@vincenthychow1119
6 ай бұрын
Yeah, I like difficult games. To an extend that I normally prefer games without a difficulty option. The reason is that those games with one, in a lot of cases, higher difficulties simply mean the damage I receive scaled up and the damage I deal scaled down. And this is not really what I prefer. By the way, Sekiro is not a Samurai game, but a Ninja, or Shinobi game. Difference between Ninja, or Shinobi and Samurai, is similar to the difference between a knight and an assassin.
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Definitely, and it’s really hard to tell which is the best and more balanced option. I just look it up online, because sometimes normal is just way to easy and sometimes hard is just frustrating because of the reasons you listed. And I’m with you on your point about Sekiro, did I say that it was a samurai game in the video? Sorry, a little oversight, thanks for the correction
@MCharlesPainting
Ай бұрын
It's actually a better system than having enemies that linearly progress with you, as WoW has a problem with. Making enemies very difficult a few levels above you is not ideal, but it's a solid system that has proven to work and interest humans. Nobody likes the other system. It's boring without progression or skill spikes or a sense of reward/accomplishment. The trick is properly balancing this system in terms of level gaps, weapon options to help you, time required, skills required, and in-game rewards. RuneScape's system is very good, for example, though it has some of its own problems. It rarely gets to the point where you completely destroy the enemy every time without issue, and most of the time, when that does happen, there's no motivation, as those enemies are worthless to you. This is more fragile and even more important when you take central XP systems into account, as RuneScape does.
@Igones
Ай бұрын
Yeah, you are right. I don’t think level progression of enemies is the main problem. In god of war it bothers me because it’s too abrupt, enemies have 4 or 5 levels you know? In the souls games the difference is there, but you don’t see it, you feel it. I think its more organic because on top of that, the enemies do progressively more damage, little by little, instead of you just seeing a purple enemy and knowing they will kill you with one hit. I’m fine with level progression, but it has to be done right. One of them makes the enemies progressively more difficult and the other just makes enemies 2 levels above you insanely difficult and 2 levels below you insanely easy. It’s not the worst thing in the world you know? But I think it could be better
@shanemacbike2
5 ай бұрын
Good work man, heres a comment for the algorithm
@Igones
5 ай бұрын
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it😃
@eddebrock
3 ай бұрын
Wow, someone who likes Dark Souls admitting that they're trial n' error?? Never thought I'd see the day...
@Igones
3 ай бұрын
I mean, the whole concept of the games is learn and overcome, even the toxic part of the fan base use a bad variation of that in “get good” (which I don’t agree with). Do people really dispute that? Thank you for watching, hopefully you enjoyed it😁
@gnosis_gaming
6 ай бұрын
Just saw this new vid. Grabbing my popcorn 😎
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Nice, haha. Recommended your channel to a friend last night, we both enjoy essays and your content is pretty cool
@gnosis_gaming
6 ай бұрын
Oh nice! I appreciate the support. I see you put a lot of effort into your thumbnails. Actually, I have a friend who's got the same taste in games as you. He's obsessed with Souls games and Sekiro. I'll share this vid with him! @@Igones
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Thanks you, I appreciate that a lot! Yeah, I try my best, my first ones weren’t great, but I’ve been improving little by little and learning. I like your approach also, it’s simplistic and direct, it really draws attention. The theme for the ffvii vid of it being a lonely game was brilliant!
@gnosis_gaming
6 ай бұрын
A lot of my early videos were marketed in a really 'academic' way and I found that it is doesn't draw people in. You have to market your videos around a solid hook! 🤣@@Igones
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
That’s definitely true, and it ends up getting us to think of really interesting themes
@Clonewhopunchedadroid1
6 ай бұрын
Banger video bro
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Thank you!😄
@nenadmilovanovic5271
6 ай бұрын
I highly disagree with almost everything you said about Witcher 3. 1. All gear is made pointless by witcher sets. You can just get the cat set and weapons at the start of the game as most players do and sometimes upgrade it and you are done. I don't know why they bothered putting so many weapons and armor in the game when it all sucks compared to any witcher set. 2. Death march difficulty is cool when you are fighting mobs. But then you get to a large enemy like the golem and it one-shots you without even touching you. Hit-boxes are messed up and large enemies do so much damage it results in you just getting one-shotted and it feels unfair because character model didn't actually touch you. It just becomes annoying after a while. 3. Game just throws xp at you by just playing main missions. I was overleveled constantly and I didn't even explore points of interests like monster nests. It invalidates progression and enemies having levels when I encountered enemies higher than me 3 times in 130h. I loved the story, graphics, music etc but the gameplay systems are busted.
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
I highly disagree that most players use cat set from the start, because most players go in blind and don’t know what set to get. And the whole point of witcher sets is to be superior, they are made for witchers. You have to go after them, doing the quests, then get the parts to craft, during this time you still have to use other sets. Then you need to find their upgrades. Having an armor that changes, looks better each time and gives you more defense is so much better than just changing armor, and adds more progression. If the player don’t want to go after them(like most players actually do), they can use the other armor sets. It’s just another thing that you can but don’t need to spend time with. People play the game in multiple different ways. You also said that bosses 1 hit you on death march, and that you end up not needing potion with cat armor, which is contradictory, since getting one shot by the enemy clearly shows the opposite. Some bosses might one hit kill, but there very feel and none that I can remember(and I just replayed half of the game on death march), not even the hardest one in blood and wine does that. And I never died to a golem killing me unfairly, maybe you are talking about the area attacks? Golems can be easily defeated using quen and elemental oil, but you have to be careful. My point is that you need these in death march. And you just stated that you don’t play on it, and that potions are useless when you have cat set, which is also contradictory. Finding enemies higher or lower lvl than you is not a god thing, and the game actually provides an option that bump the enemies level to yours if their level is lower. Monster nests aren’t supposed to level you a lot, they just give us some good monster parts and gear. Highly disagree about the cat gear, have found tons of better weapons in the game and I don’t even think its the best armor set. Usually use bear or wolf ser for the style, don’t remember the sword I liked before DLC, but I changed constantly, and my favorite overall is the Aerondight, also really like the sword you get from hearts of stone. RPG games throwing more xp at you in main missions is a staple also (look at skyrim) since they have to account that a lot of players will only focus on main missions, that’s why they show the lvl in the missions tab, so you can do the side missions when you are at the same lvl (or play it on your own pace if you use the lvl balance option). But I mean, I’m just countering with my own experience you know? Each have their own and their own way of playing. These were the reasons I made the points I made, but it’s all subjective to each person and you have to play the way you enjoy the most, maybe the game failed you on that. So if that’s how you feel, more power to you, I also love the game and don’t think it’s perfect. And thank you for watching the video, hopefully you had a good time even if you disagree with some of it, thank you for providing another point of view😁
@sanzau8669
6 ай бұрын
The 1 thing I truly despise about Sekiro shadow die 2 million Is its a game that is built around, dying as it’s a mechanic yet you get punished if you die to much that boss you just took half a day too finally defeat, and all that experience you just got from that fight can be lost due too a simple mistake or a power failure I can NEVER understand the sense of accomplishment ( for completing a hard video game ) I mean seriously getting a drivers license or a diploma a degree a certificate when you are told you’re entire life, you’ll never accomplish anything now that’s a sense of accomplishment What dose beating a hard game really prove other than really good reflexes and muscle memory and dragging rights and then you have the fully on shaming and the GIT GUD toxicity At an interview for a job when you are asked what is the greatest accomplishment you have achieved in your life? you can not honestly be telling me you are going too say I managed too beat a really hard game you will be laugh at After Sekiro shadow die 2 million The Witcher 3 death match is a walk in the park and I love that game so much I platinum it twice on PlayStation and same with the Xbox and too get all the achievements or platinum trophy you have too complete it on death match at lest once and blood and broken bones 1 time too ..if you did not do the death match run 1st . Then I can not understand how a person changing a difficulty setting is in a game is going too affect the difficulty setting on another person playing the same game ..
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
I understand your side, but I truly believe that for the target audience, it does have that effect. Didn’t you ever try something hard that made you feel truly good about it afterwards? And yes, some of the souls community members can be unwelcoming and have that “get good” mentality, but not all you know? The games design actually go the other way, you get to adjust the difficulty inside the game. Sekiro is different, but the combat is the point, and I believe that changing difficulty in a game that has a carefully crafted experience could cheapen the experience. Its not about bragging rights, but its hard to put yourself through a hard boss when you’ve got the option to make it easier. Kinda like instead of adapting to the game, you adapted the game to you. Don’t get me wrong, there are tones of games that benefit from that, but this one in particular I don’t think it would. Thank you for watching! I appreciate you point of view
@Ghorda9
6 ай бұрын
the punishment isn't really noticeable and doesn't affect the main story, also the enjoyment is with actually fighting the boss rather than beating it, beating it is just a tangible way of saying that you got good enough.
@sanzau8669
6 ай бұрын
@@Ghorda9 what I meant by punishing you is losing half the experience you have gained half the money you have and I spent ages on the guardian ape once I finally beat it as I had resurrection on cool down and had no prayer beads, left or the pallets left a simple enemy, killed me I lost half the experience I got from that fight dying more often you get the dragon rot like the game is built around death as it’s a actual gameplay mechanic were is the accessibility options? Ok you do not want too add a easy mode that’s all good but you can add options like adding a boss save point like say you have gotten half the boss heath down or are on the 2nd stage of a 2 stage or 3 stage fight instead of forcing you too start over you start from that point of the fight.
@Ghorda9
6 ай бұрын
@@sanzau8669 losing half your experience doesn't mean anything, you don't lose levels, just experience. losing money also doesn't mean anything either.
@Ghorda9
6 ай бұрын
@@sanzau8669 getting checkpoints in the middle of a boss fight also defeats one of the main facets of the game, which is achieving perfection through perseverance.
@domagojkersun9630
Ай бұрын
Witcher 3 isn't difficult at all even on death march. The game is a casual level of difficulty. GoW and Witcher 3 as difficulty games, my God, lol. What a noob.
@Igones
Ай бұрын
Almost like the video isn’t about difficult games and more about “difficulty” and good game progression. I have played all souls games and Sekiro is my favorite from them, not a stranger to hard games. This is an essay and these are the games that best exemplify the points I am trying to provide, not a tier list of the hardest games out there. The Witcher isn’t hard on death march, but its the best difficulty to play it because it makes you want to use all of the game’s features. You managed to see the thumbnail and not only judge without watching, but also interpreting the title incorrectly.
@o0TraceuR0o
6 ай бұрын
you lost me at fromsoftware games are made to be hard which couldn't be farther from the truth, they're made to be fair of course you can brake said games by overleveling content but at their core they are fair games. The real issue is developers either focus too much on difficulty or too little (just by doing a few sidequests you're overpowered for the rest of the game) and the excuse is always "who cares, it's a single player game". To this day i never played a game that keeps me on my toes for the entire duration it's always a bit more challenging at the start when you don't have access to lots of gear and abilities but after say 5 to 10 hours it always becomes too easy.
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
I agree that they are made to be fair, but they are challenging by design. i totally agree with you on how fair they are, “they are difficult, but fair” was the point I eventually get to in the video
@peterlawson8040
6 ай бұрын
Comment
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
Why are you commenting “comment”?😂 Hopefully you enjoyed the video😁
@peterlawson8040
6 ай бұрын
@@Igones for you're efforts.
@Igones
6 ай бұрын
@@peterlawson8040 aw thank you! I take it you’ve enjoyed the videos, thanks for showing your appreciation 😁
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