Summary
While abrutally hard and punishing difficulty settingin a video game used to be regarded as a downside, it’s been seen in a very different light over the years, with many players enjoying the challenge that comes from facing a menacing boss or figuring out a tricky puzzle. Still, this hasn’t stopped some games fromgoing a little overboard with the challenge they presentto the point where it ends up getting in the way of the intended experience, and can even ruin a game completely.
The majority of these games luckily have Easy modes to fall back on, and while dropping to the simplest version of a gameisn’t usually something to brag about, in the case of these games, it’s necessary since it makes them much more enjoyable to play. These are all the games that really do benefit from being played on their easiest difficulty to experience everything they have to offer the player.
SOMAis anincredibly compelling survival-horror gamethat amassed a huge dedicated fanbase since it was released back in 2015, but while it has an amazing story, the game can often slow down to a crawl due to the hide-and-seek gameplay loop. This can be frightening at first, but it very quickly feels quite repetitive and loses the scare factor because of how much it’s relied on. While this definitely encourages a lot of tension, the amount of times players need to hide away and the lack of other escape options can really get in the way of a truly compelling story.
“Safe” mode isSOMA’s version of an Easy difficulty where the player cannot die or be damaged, butthe scary monsterswill still appear. Anyone who still wants to experience the horror that developers Frictional Games were going for should still at least try it on a higher difficulty first, but Safe Mode still definitely makes for the much more engaging and fun experience.
When booting upMinecraft, players are usually going to either start a new world onHard mode to test their survival skills, or they’re going to hop into Creative to make a map of their own. The game is especially unforgiving in Hard mode, with each mob dealing a considerable amount of damage and hunger being a real problem, and this can quickly become pretty overwhelming for anyone who isn’t familiar with the mechanics and all the tools at their disposal.
Luckily, there’s an Easy mode that players can choose, and it makes for a much less stressful experience which grants the player time to experiment with the building mechanics without having to constantly worry about themobs lurking around them. That isn’t to say that the mode isn’t still at least somewhat challenging as they will still be able to take damage, but the mobs are much easier to handle and hunger becomes far less important, allowing players to explore the world a little easier.
Mass EffectandMass Effect 3feel more or less perfect in their difficulty, but there are several points in the second game where the difficulty experiences a massive spike, resulting insome missions that become truly frustrating, even on Normal difficulty. The Horizon mission is one example of this where the game throws what feels like endless waves of Collectors at Shepherd and the party, all of them equipped with deadly laser weapons and tons of armor.
On Casual difficulty, players will get to experience the story and build relationships with their crew without having to worry about getting stuck at these encounters which sporadically pop up throughout the game. Shepherd will also be noticeably faster and stronger in this mode which helps to make the so-so combat gameplay inMass Effect 2a lot more bearable.
Resident Evil 0is often regarded among the fanbase as being the hardest game in the series, with there beingplenty of bosses who lean on the side of being unfairin their challenge. The Giant Bat and Queen Leech are just a few examples of this, but there are plenty of moments where the player’s health can be melted due to a boss who just can’t stop letting out a flurry of attacks.
There’s also the partner system which hadn’t been seen in the series before, and while it’s certainly unique and fun to play around with, it also means players would need to keep bothRebecca and Billyhealthy and stocked up on ammo for the intense encounters that await them. This can be a little overwhelming to play on both Hard and Normal, but Easy makes the difficulty a lot more lenient, providing much more ammunition and First Aid Sprays which drastically reduces the chances of players running into yet another annoying boss and dropping the game entirely.
TheUnchartedgames gradually got better over time at balancing the difficulty so that they wouldn’t end up becoming a simpleGears of Warclone and more like an action-adventure game, but this is something the first game really struggled with. There are several moments where the game throws constant enemies at Drake which can slow down the pacing and unfortunately makes the game feel more like a typical third-person cover-based shooter more than anything else.
In fact, the easy mode for the firstUnchartedwas still seen as just a little too difficult, so The Nathan Drake Collectioneven introduced an “Explorer” difficulty which is a lot easier and allows the player to use aim assist and makes the enemies much less tanky. If players choose one of these easier modes depending on what version they’re playing, they’ll be able to experience the game in the way Naughty Dog most probably intended, a thrilling action adventure with a few small shootouts, but mostly full of exploration and wonder.
Despite being regarded as somewhat ofa hidden gem among Atlus fans,Catherine’sfantastic story about the troubled love life of Vincent Brooks, unfortunately, doesn’t pair too well with the gameplay since it becomes insanely difficult in little to no time.Catherineis a puzzle game where players will need to maneuver around building blocks as Vincent climbs up the stage, eventually reaching the end. However, it’s all too easy to pull out the wrong block and go in the completely wrong direction from the objective, and while there is an “undo” option, these are very limited.
As mentioned previously, these stages really don’t pull any punches and will start pushing the player to their absolute limit after the first few nights, and for anyone who isn’t a master at puzzle solving, these can end up getting in the way of the story. The good news is, that there’s an easy mode that makes the Nightmare stages a lot more forgiving and also allows the player to have more Undos at their disposal, but there’s also a secret Very Easy mode which has a few alterations to lessen the challenge even more.Catherineis undoubtedly a much better experience when being played on easy difficulty, or even the Safety difficulty that wasintroduced inFull Bodywhere Vincent can never take damage or die.
There are many points inYakuza 3where the game feels needlessly difficult, almost like it’s trying to test the player’s patience on purpose. There are many factors that contribute to this including the nerfed Heat Attacks and bosses with gigantic health bars, but by far the biggest contributor is the blocking system which every enemy in the game will use constantly throughout a fight. This can waste a lot of time, but it can also make Kiryu feel incredibly weak compared to regular street thugs which can even end up distorting the immersion a little bit.
A lot of fans agree that the combat only starts becoming manageable after spending several hours in the game seeking out the Komaki moves andHeat Abilities, but even getting to this point is a lot easier said than done. Overall, because of how broken and unfair its challenge is,Yakuza 3massively benefits from having an Easy option, and it’s really essential to pick this setting for anyone who wants their experience to be as fun as it can be. Not only does it make the combat a lot more fluid and fun, but it also means the player won’t have to constantly use janky game-breaking mechanics just to make it through encounters in one piece.
