Current Events > Thoughts on "Story" difficulties in games?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I do think playing on story mode where it just removes all challenge said person may as well just watch a Let's Play; but if that's what someone wants then so be it. I figure easy would be easy enough.

Maybe it's what little pride I have left, but I try to stick to normal unless I feel like I really get the game and putting it on hard will make it more challenging, but not unfair. Also when a game let's you save almost anywhere then dying doesn't have much meaning either. For example a game like Soul Hackers 2.

Pikachuchupika posted...

There should be a Story difficulty for the next Souls game.

Hehehe

holy shit Id love to see that just to see the amount of git gud rage exploding from here and YouTube. Servers would go off like nuclear bombs from the nerd rage.

Pikachuchupika posted...

There should be a Story difficulty for the next Souls game.

Hehehe

That would actually be waaay harder than the current one. A "story difficulty" implies that you understand the story by the end of the game.

Sometimes if I want to replay a game I've already beaten I like these modes and similar things like NG+.

alfred_ashford posted...

You are irked at options???

I explained myself earlier in the thread. I don't mind the option itself.

You also want to make america great again OP?

Irrelevant, but no. America was never great, so even if it were to be made great, it'd be great for the first time, not again.

ellis123 posted...

That would actually be waaay harder than the current one. A "story difficulty" implies that you understand the story by the end of the game.

Funny. I shoulda came armed with some humor to this topic.

Pikachuchupika posted...

There should be a Story difficulty for the next Souls game.

Hehehe

the community wouldn't even care.

IceCreamOnStero posted...

Its not so luch the option itself so much as what it says about the game, like my "audio only movie" example. It may just be an option, but an audio only movie suggests that either A)There was so little work put into the cinematography, acting, effects etc. that the visual aspect is superflous, in which case the filmmakers have failed to take advantage of the medium and should'e just written a script and given it to a better director, or B)The filmmakers did put work into the visuals and know that the "audio only mode" is a worse experience, in which case I ask why bother including the option at all.

Then it sounds like you're misunderstanding what accessibility options are intended to do. There are movies with versions that include additional audio elements meant to benefit the blind and/or visually impaired. It will usually include additional audio narration of what's happening. Not because the visual elements are superfluous, but to aid those that wouldn't otherwise be able to see what's happening on the screen. Very much not the lack or work and effort that you're making it out to be.

And for a lot of games, the difficulty options just change the health and damage values of enemies. It doesn't change the core mechanics of the gameplay.

Why would that be an indication that the developers didn't put much work into the gameplay, story, or visuals?

Honestly, feels like a "story mode" player will be better off watching the game on youtube.

Save money and time for a more entertaining experience.

It's extremely helpful in games like Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous where you want to breeze through certain segments you've done a million times like the first act.

Not all games sell themselves on challenge and no matter how much people want to say "you might as well watch a movie" it's not true. You don't interact with a movie the same way you interact with a game, even a game with no challenge. You can't immersive yourself the same way, there's no cause and effect to your actions in a movie.

It's just a really dumb thing to say

IceCreamOnStero posted...

Anyone else kind of irked by this?

no

Even Devil May Cry back in the day had Easy Automatic mode for people who found normal to be way too hard.

Why would you want to limit the audience of your game by making it inaccessible for casual players?

It's an option. You never have to use it. It shouldn't bother anyone how other people play a single player game.

I usually play on normal, and occasionally enjoy a tougher challenge. But, that's me. If a "story" option gets more people into the game, that's great! Seeing more people enjoy the hobby I love makes me happy.

This topic reminded me, I should really get back to Divinity: OS2.

I put that game down because I couldn't beat a certain fight after a few tries.

I fully intend to continue with a lower difficulty but then got bogged down by a slump.

I ended up beating Forbidden West on story mode because I legitimately cared more for the story than the gameplay loop.

Very thankful for the option. Games these days have immersive graphics and often some very impressive stories, but that doesn't mean the gameplay will click with me. Being able to turn the combat into a negligible difficulty means I can focus on enjoying the game's other strengths without having to deal with the tedium of grinding through the parts I don't enjoy.

I went through Fallout 3 with God Mode switched on and enjoyed every minute. Control, too. Fallout 3's combat made very little sense to me (New Vegas was much improved in that regard, my bullets went where I pointed!) and Control kicked my ass. Those games were both still amazing after I made myself invulnerable.

Story Mode should remove the gameplay, literally just a sequence of cutscenes.

More difficulty options is always a good thing. Everyone should be able to enjoy the game in the way that brings them the most enjoyment.

Ideally there should be multiple difficulties, and the difficulty should be changeable during the game. That way you aren't locked in and have to potentially restart or stop playing the game if a section of the game becomes too difficult.

If you don't want to play on easy mode, don't. Problem solved.

BlackOmnimon posted...

Story Mode should remove the gameplay, literally just a sequence of cutscenes.

Persona 5 is just phone conversations and no dungeons until the end of the game. I kid honestly but wouldn't that be a kick in the teeth. Like those old games where you can't see the proper ending unless you play on normal or higher.

IceCreamOnStero posted...

Anyone else kind of irked by this?

Nope. I wouldn't use it. I don't know the stats on how many would. But if people want to, have at it. I'm always in favor of multiple difficulties.

I'm surprised they're still around, honestly. Did you guys ever try a game on one of those? They're extremely boring.

I like when they multiple difficulty sliders so you can set it to your personal taste. Like I'm not a fan of FPS games so I would turn that down. But if it also also includes puzzles, I'll crank that all the way up so it won't give me unwarrented hints or highlight the interactive objects.

You seem like the kind of guy who would complain about accessibility options.

Isn't story mode just easy mode?

Story mode is a step down from easy mode from I usually gather. I am about done with this topic, because someone mentioned Divinity Original Sin 2 and there is a story mode there I think but that's a super hardcore PC rpg. They just used story mode as a sort of catchy name and didn't want to call it super casual mode or how story mode I see in a lot of games I've tried or played.

I just think I stated what I needed to do generally and from now on would just post for the lols.

*edit* I guess that sounds douchey a bit and I can post more, but I have nothing new to bring to the table essentially.

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Isn't story mode just easy mode?

Most of the time it's an "easier than easy" mode. For some things like CRPGs, however, it can remove many stat-checks entirely and make it so you basically only interact with the story as a form of interactive novel (something that probably also happens in some visual novels, but I'm not privy to any that exist).

I won't use a story mode, but I have no qualms with it existing. How other people enjoy their single player games has no effect on me, which is also why I don't care about people using dupes, glitches, whatever

Not everyone has the same skill level, but they might all still like the interactivity of a video game.

I don't play on such a mode, but to boldly say "games are all about challenging your skills" is completely subjective. Story, characters, lore, etc are absolutely reasons people can play video games. They're some of the reasons I do. They are long form like TV shows, but playing them gives you a different type of engagement than either shows or movies.

What challenge do we even mean when we speak of the challenge? It usually seems to mean having the hand-eye coordination to engage in precise combat or platforming. Does that mean puzzle games aren't games? Or is Disco Elysium not challenging because it's all built around dialogue choices rather than how good you shoot things?

Trying to define what is or isn't a video games always seems to boil down to "Do I like this type of game?"

It's also pretty ableist to suggest video games are only supposed to be for people with l33t sk1llz or whatever outdated childish shit we're going on about.

IceCreamOnStero posted...

"audio only movie"

You mean an audiobook, radio show, podcast? Or one of the other various audio based forms of story telling?

There are musical as well, which can convey a visual story through an audio only format.

Simply put: how other people play a game has no bearing on my own enjoyment of that game.

I've recently gotten to know a bunch of people who didn't grow up with video games, but enjoy them a lot these days. It's dawned on me on how much video game skill I just take for granted, but it's really tricky for beginners. Things such as seamlessly controlling a camera while controlling your character at the same time. Watching for enemy patterns. Noticing points of interest. And so on. It's all learned, and there's so much. For a beginner, it's really daunting to just learn the controls of a game like, say, Horizon. So yeah I think Story mode is great for such players to be able to get the hang of things at their own pace.

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Isn't story mode just easy mode?

its a step below easy mode for most games.

everything is a one shot kill and you take no damage pretty much.

I tried it once for Uncharted 4 when I just wanted to get collectibles but I got bored

I literally couldn't give a fuck.

It's a single-player game, why shouldn't people feel free to choose whatever difficulty option makes it into a more enjoyable and fun experience for them, whether that's making the game easier or harder?

GATTJT posted...

"Audio only" for movies actually exists:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_description

This.

How does TC think blind people enjoy movies? With the power of imagination to fill in the gaps where there's no dialogue to listen to?

I feel it is designed for the old, or people with disabilities.

It's not for me personally but more people being able to play games the better.

Neutral. I don't care if a game has one, and I also don't think it's imperative for games to have one

I'm currently doing Story difficulty for Stranger of Paradise. I just want to see all the classic FF1 locales redone and the far out there plot. I don't want to get stuck on an overly tough fight.

They're bitch difficulties. For bitches, by bitches lol

https://youtu.be/UhcHY4BMgcM?t=13

NoxObscuras posted...

Then it sounds like you're misunderstanding what accessibility options are intended to do. There are movies with versions that include additional audio elements meant to benefit the blind and/or visually impaired. It will usually include additional audio narration of what's happening. Not because the visual elements are superfluous, but to aid those that wouldn't otherwise be able to see what's happening on the screen. Very much not the lack or work and effort that you're making it out to be.

That's not the same thing. Accessinility features and assissting viewers (captions, audio descriptions, etc.) Aren't the same as games giving you a mode where its all trivialised.

By contrast, I have no issue with standard easy modes. Toning the challenge down and giving the gameplay a smaller barrier to entry is fine. Explicitly trivialising it isn't.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Why would you want to limit the audience of your game by making it inaccessible for casual players?

Because being inaccessible can make it a better experience? A really scary horror movie/game is innaccessible to me because I don't like horror/being scared. And yet despite that, it makes it that much more fun for people who do like. I don't want horror made accessible to me. Just like I don't want games to sacrifice aspects to be accessible to people who don't care about the game anyway.

Do you not like difficulties period?

I dont see a problem with it. I never play "story" difficulty, but it doesnt hurt me that it's there as an option.

my only pet peeve is when handicap mechanics intrude on gameplay without my input. Like one of the Mario games that gave you a "beat the level for free" box if you died enough times.

Like sure you could just ignore the box but just fucking dont even let it pop-up unless Im playing an easy mode or something lol

hockeybub89 posted...

Not everyone has the same skill level, but they might all still like the interactivity of a video game.

That's why easy modes exist. Easy modes still retain the core challenge and interactivity, just at a lower level. They don't explicitly trivialise it.

I don't play on such a mode, but to boldly say "games are all about challenging your skills" is completely subjective. Story, characters, lore, etc are absolutely reasons people can play video games. They're some of the reasons I do. They are long form like TV shows, but playing them gives you a different type of engagement than either shows or movies.

Enjoying games for those things are fine but at their core the thing separating games as a medium is the interactivity.

What challenge do we even mean when we speak of the challenge?

The challenge the game presents. "How good are you at clicking heads" "Can you pick the right dialogue out of this set of options?" "Can you jump your way across this obstacle course". Its how the game tests the player and their engagement with the game's system. If these questions are trivialised, I am no longer forced to engage with the game, and am now playing a glorified movie.

It usually seems to mean having the hand-eye coordination to engage in precise combat or platforming. Does that mean puzzle games aren't games? Or is Disco Elysium not challenging because it's all built around dialogue choices rather than how good you shoot things?

It's also pretty ableist to suggest video games are only supposed to be for people with l33t sk1llz or whatever outdated childish shit we're going on about.

I bever said any of these things.

Who cares?

let people play how they like

IceCreamOnStero posted...

Anyone else kind of irked by this?

no. what genuine reason does anyone have to be upset over difficulty selections? same deal with people who dont think dark souls should have multiple difficulties. they are just elitists/gatekeepers and aren't interested in what will actually improve the game or make it more accessible