STATE OF GAMING: DIFFICULTY CAN BE REALLY HARD TO GET RIGHT!
Completing a game used to be an actual achievement that took patience, practice, and skill. That's still the case in some rare instances, but video game difficulty has changed a lot…
Read Time: 6 Minutes
Difficulty in video games is something that's gone through a major evolution over the years. In the 70's and 80's, arcade machines were a dominant force, and the role difficulty played there was an economically-motivated one: the game had to tread a fine line between being fun enough to engage players, but hard enough to make sure the machine was fed more and more coins and be profitable. They existed to make money, after all.
It led to games like 'Dragon's Lair', which was an utterly unfair slog that basically required players to memorise what button would need to be pressed, and when. Quick-time events that require players to press a button within a specified amount of time or face repercussions, are the bane of many gamers today—but at least modern games actually tell you what button to press. 'Dragon's Lair' was notorious for letting players just lean on trial and error. The game was hard, but mainly because it used cheap tricks and required precision moves despite very imprecise and clunky character animations.
When you think of arcade difficulty though, the most notorious game is 'Ghosts 'n Goblins'. Sir Arthur is tasked with rescuing Princess Prin-Prin, and must traverse levels infested with zombies, demons, and other nasties. It can be mastered, but the first hit he takes robs Arthur of his suit of armour, and the second hit kills him outright, forcing players to either start the level again, or take another crack at it from a checkpoint partway through.
Sir Arthur adorned in his suit of armour, making his way through the first level of ‘Ghosts ‘n Goblins’. (Source: ‘VG Junk’)
What made 'Ghosts 'n Goblins' notorious, even among difficult arcade games, was that you had to beat it twice to actually see the ending. Defeating the final boss the first time around resulted in him telling players that it "was all an illusion created by Satan," and dropping Arthur back at the beginning of the very first level again.
Early video games on home consoles were renowned for being quite difficult as well. In some cases, it was because difficult arcade games were just ported across so fans could pay for them once and play them at home at their leisure. But difficulty also ensured a game had a longer lifespan once it was in a consumer's hands. Early home consoles were very limited, and played cartridges that had very miniscule amounts of memory. As such, a steep difficulty curve allowed the game to get away with a few levels or less to do, as players would have their playtime artificially extended by having to repeat things over and over again to make progress.
Another issue was, as a result of the limitations within the cartridges and systems used, player progress was rarely saved. Meaning players had to start all over again every time they played. That, coupled with the difficulty of a game, made it so that reaching a new level was often an achievement that was drawn out. It also forced players to get efficient at the earlier levels, in order to work their way to a later one with enough playtime to spare for what came next.
Over time, the difficulty in games changed, and became a far more nuanced topic than it used to be. The need to artificially inflate playtime is still a thing in some genres, but by and large, difficulty is used for different reasons now. And in spite of everything, it's not always implemented well.
A lot of developers these days treat difficulty very lazily. A harder difficulty might just manifest as more enemies appearing, character gear degrading quicker, items like ammunition being scarcer, or the most egregious of all, enemies hitting harder and having increased armour and health. These things certainly make things much more difficult, but in a contrived way, that really doesn't take much thought.
The difficulty slider in ‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’, which reduced game difficulty to how much damage the player-character did to enemies, and vice versa. Sliding it all the way to the right made it so players would only deal 1/6 of the damage they should, while enemies dealt 6 times their regular damage. Hardly the best kind of difficulty. (Source: ‘Reddit’)
Whereas games that use difficulty in clever ways are appreciated more for doing so. First-person games like 'Perfect Dark' and 'Thief' give players additional objectives to complete during a level, as an example. The platforming game 'Megaman 10' changes enemy placement throughout stages, as well as giving bosses different attack patterns. And rhythm games like 'Guitar Hero' introduce new buttons into the catalogue of songs.
When done well, the implication of additional elements of difficulty can make a big difference. Making enemies "smarter" and employ different tactics as difficulty increases, rather than just making them stronger, goes a really long way. A lot of games incorporate that sort of thing now, but usually in addition to enemy buffs that just make them more cumbersome to deal with.
There's been a concerted effort by developers to make an easy mode for the sake of accessibility these days. Video games are an entertainment product, and a lot of people expect to be able to experience at least most of what the game has to offer despite their level of competence. In fact, many modern games can give players a hint, or the chance to outright skip a section if completing it is continually proving to be a problem. Storytelling is an important feature in a lot of games, and those players out there only interested in the narrative want to be able to actually get it.
I don't particularly mind things like that. Gamers do a good enough job of tailoring the difficulty of a game to their liking, if they're given enough options to do so. And I get it, I'm a father now, sometimes I just want to get through something without too much fuss to experience it, and move on quickly.
All the rage these days is dynamic difficulty, that’s designed to keep the player in a given state. Often this is used regardless what difficulty setting a player chooses, to respond to their actions and level of skill appropriately. A survival horror game the likes of the 'Resident Evil 2' remake will adjust how much ammunition players will find in areas they're about to explore, depending on how they're doing and how much they already have. It's seamless, and allows for tension and excitement to be controlled so the player feels the way the developer intended them too.
Many gamers actually complain about this. Those that do want games to be something to conquer, and I can understand that, but in-game trophies and extra game modes can cater for that. Dynamic difficulty is so subtly implemented that we're all no doubt blind to just how pervasive it is in the games we play today. Lots of things are orchestrated to give us the illusion that we're better than we are, or to manufacture a sense of relief or some excitement.
Adding difficulty to games is a delicate balancing act, that can be tough to get right. Because the overwhelming majority of modern games have been built to be beaten, that's for sure. A few games genuinely punish players, but the age of quest markers, numerous checkpoints, skippable sequences, and games that hold your hand aren't going anywhere. The majority of players out there not only want those things, they depend on them...