ellis123 posted... Yes. It is why you will commonly find me posting every time a CRPG topic comes up.
And the ability to get stuck somewhere is utterly irrelevant in this context. I could say "older RPGs aren't hard at all because they don't require you open the floor texture in a photo editing software in order to get to the end like in a new game" and it would be just as valid. In that vein the act of pointing out that the Internet didn't exist back then is just as valid as saying that you have no friends to talk to now: it does not matter when talking about the difficulty of the game in a vacuum. In all cases if a guide trivializes something is irrelevant when talking about the difficulty of a game as it creates a ridiculous bias against anything that is based on logical solving over mechanical. Like, King's Quest 3 is definitely the hardest game I've ever played but it is definitely something that isn't all that hard with a guide. The fact that you could do it then with a Prima, or whatever, doesn't matter: the game was brutal.
Similarly bringing up examples is irrelevant. "Old games are so easy with all the handholding because Crystal Project doesn't give you any" is just as dumb. Just because it is correct as an inverse of yours doesn't make it any less absurd. There are vastly more old RPGs along the vein of Earthbound and Final Fantasy than there are ones like Phantasy Star 2, it's as simple as that.
What? The ability to get stuck in old rpgs will stop you from progressing, and therefore beating the game. You consider a game that can do that easier than one that has handrails?