dtgreene: Also, why is this thread "low rated"?

dtgreene: Back on topic, one thing I dislike is when a game starts out hard and gets easier when you progress; that is the exact opposite of what should happen.

Hrymr: Hmmm, so every RPG on this plane of existence? You should also remember that player's skill is growing with time played, so relatively to it game is getting easier and easier.

OldFatGuy: DYING RUINS IMMERSION.

Navagon: What I'd like is an RPG where there are no bullet-sponges and armour counts for more than your character's level when it comes to absorbing damage (although stats and skills still have plenty of upgrades and potency in other ways). Something where dumb blundering got you killed but it's perfectly possible to survive as long as you take your own survival seriously.

dtgreene: Try Wasteland and Dragon Wars. Both those games fit your criteria.

In fact, in Dragon Wars, upgrading your HP is actually not a particularly good use of skill points, as you have to pay 2 SP for 1 HP, and the skill Bandage only heals you up to an amount rather than by an amount.

Hrymr: Hmmm, so every RPG on this plane of existence? You should also remember that player's skill is growing with time played, so relatively to it game is getting easier and easier.

dtgreene: Actually, the player's skill growing with time played is the very reason that the game should get harder as you progress. A new player is not going to be good at the game, so the early stages should be easy so the player can learn the mechanics and get better at the game. Then, later on, you up the difficulty in order for the player to actually use the skill she's developed over the course of the game.

Nirth: I like it when you can change in-game so if it becomes too hard or too easy, you change it.

Nirth: Agreed. I particularly dislike the beginnings of most RPGs but the endings are no fun either (just the opposite). The sweet middle when you have learned the basics but there is still things to look forward to. :)

dtgreene: Back on topic, one thing I dislike is when a game starts out hard and gets easier when you progress; that is the exact opposite of what should happen.

dtgreene: Let's discuss the difficulty (or lack thereof) of video games.

This topic came up in the GamerGate topic, where somebody mentioned the new Star Fox having a "watch the game" difficulty. Other examples of this are "phoenix mode" in recent Fire Emblem (your units auto-revive the turn after they're killed) and Casual difficulty in Dust: an Elysian Tail (in addition to the game being easy and having infinite dust storm and Fidget energy (makes the game quite fun), you get unlimited revives if (note, if, not when) you somehow manage to die). Do you think such difficulty settings are good to have in a game?

Anyway, I have here an example of a game that has a difficulty selection, but lacks what I consider to be the ideal difficulty setting. The game is Metroid: Zero Mission.

Normal: Game is too easy. You will not die unless you're not paying attention (assuming a casual any% playthrough, not 100% (which powers up the final boss) or low%).

Hard: Game is way too difficult. Enemies do double damage to you *and* energy tanks give you only half the health. This means you effectively get killed 4 times as fast. Also, your ammunition is cut in half on this mode. (Incidentally, this mode has one issue: If you attempt a hard 9% run on the US version, you will get permanently stuck late in the game. The EU version made a small change to make hard 9% possible.)

There really should have been a difficulty between Normal and Hard. I'm thinking something like Hard, but without the increased damage, would have worked well.

In case you are wondering, there is an easy mode in that game, which I describe as follows:

Easy: You will not die unless you deliberately try to die, and even that takes too long. If you are simply not paying attention, you will still survive. (Note that lava is the most dangerous obstacle on this mode because the damage from lava was not adjusted on this difficulty.)

It's worth noting that Hard mode has to be unlocked by beating Normal, but Normal is available from the start. Also, to get an ending picture other than the worst one, you have to be playing on at least Normal.