Just last night I had an experience that inspired me to write this post. No, I'm not bad at grammar. I wrote the title like that on purpose. This post is about difficulty settings in games.
I bought Dragon Age 2 the day it came out, but due to my STLF trip mentioned in my last post, I had about a 9 day break from playing it. Not long after I got back and finally had time to just sit down and lose myself in it, I found myself in a boss fight that I just couldn't get past. I repeatedly got my ass handed to me.
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| F*ck this guy. |
It was getting irritating.
And I was only on the Normal difficulty setting.
I tried over and over again to emerge victorious but I could not. I stopped playing for the day and resumed the next day, still to no avail. It was looking as though I would have to turn the difficulty down to Casual in order to get past this boss.
In the end it's what I decided to do.
And I don't feel bad about it.
My roommate was very disappointed in me for giving in like that, but I had had enough. Dying over and over again was clashing with how I like to play my games; I like to enjoy them.
Losing over and over again isn't fun. I don't have a problem with turning the difficulty down on a game if it means I'll have less frustration and irritation in my life.
You shouldn't be afraid to turn the difficulty down in a game either. I want you to be happy, and if you're sitting there pulling your hair out in frustration, something can, and should, change.
One of my favorite elements of RPGs, and Bioware games in particular, is the story, and you'll still get the same story regardless of what difficulty you play on. You'll likely just have more fun and experience a story punctuated with less 'Game Over' screens if you play on a lower difficulty setting.
Some will argue that they like the challenge of playing a hard game, and that’s great, I do too now and then. I've beaten Mass Effect 1/2 on the hardest difficulties.
A game should always present you with some challenge, or else it won't feel as rewarding.
But for now, I plan on playing through Dragon Age 2 for its story and not for its challenge. When I play through it again and again, then I'll turn up the difficulty.
[Note: I did end up putting the difficulty back up to Normal after defeating the boss that was giving me trouble.]
Don't be afraid to turn down the difficulty if it means eliminating frustration from your life.
Enjoy your game.
Enjoy your life.
There are times that I will put a story based games to the lowest setting for the first play through, then once I complete the game for the first time I will decide if I want to play through on a higher level. Not all mind you just some, on that note Ninja Gaiden: Black can go smash itself upon a wall.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice. It seems like more and more games are making the enemies level equally with your character, so no matter how powerful your character becomes, you are still struggling through the whole game. Play the hard level for the achievements, but other than that, play on easy. Show the bad guys what it's like to be smashed by the hammer of justice.
ReplyDeletePS - Timmy, amen to you NG comment!