In defense of “easy mode”

Hard games have come back in vogue in recent years, largely due to the success of the Dark Souls franchise. This counters a past trend that saw games become progressively easier as studios tried to court more casual players. This ruffled a few feathers among the hardcore community. They wanted a serious challenge, FromSoftware answered the call, and they got it. Praise the sun!

Then they did something that many fans of the franchise considered unforgivable. They added an easier mode for Dark Souls III, and have been doing this with subsequent games.

Now, I grew up on the tail end of “Nintendo Hard”. A lot of games in the 8-bit era were made challenging on purpose in order to extend playtime of what were otherwise short experiences. Some were difficult to the point of absurdity, like the infamous Silver Surfer game for NES, which the AVGN covered in detail many years ago, or King’s Quest if you’re a long time member of PCMR.

By the time the 16-bit era rolled around though, games were starting to become a little more accessible. Sure, you still had difficult games like Contra: Hard Corps and Alien Soldier, but I think a nice middle ground was struck during this time, which persisted into the 32-bit era of gaming. However, many hard aficionados began complaining that games had become too easy. Seems there’s no pleasing everyone.

So some studios brought back the classic Nintendo Hard formula, just updated for a new era. Games that rely on quick reflexes and memorization to get through. Dark Souls ended up being a surprise cult hit, spawning three sequels and a bunch of imitators. Which is great for fans of the genre.

But, what happens when games start to become too hard?

I think to Cup Head, which is a game that would normally be right up my alley. I love its art style and its run and gun gameplay. It’s just, hard. Very hard. And that’s deterred me and a lot of other people from giving it a try.

That’s not to say I don’t like a challenge in my games. Ones that are too easy quickly get boring. That said, there’s a fine line between a game being fun, and being frustrating. These “hard” games often wander off into that latter category. When that happens, I tend to put the game down. As an adult gamer, my play time is limited. So I tend to pass up experiences that will have me raging. Call me a filthy casual, say I need to “git gud”, whatever. I game to relax these days.

The problem is that many of these games are, indeed, good and unique experiences that I know I’m missing out on. Which is why having an easier mode isn’t a bad thing. Maybe not too easy, but something that appeals more to intermediate gamers. That nice middle ground I was talking about earlier. One that offers a reasonably decent challenge while toning down some of the more absurdly difficult elements.

Of course hardcore hard fans poo poo such a suggestion as they think such a thing ruins their experience. Which is ludicrous. I’m not saying take the hard mode away. They should indeed leave it in there, if that’s what the game’s core audience wants. Even make it the default. However, I’m not sure what the problem is with having an alternate mode to make things more accessible. In fact, it might turn on more people to the genre, and convince them to try more difficult games. That’s certainly not a bad thing. Though perhaps fans are just mad that an easier game mode will take away bragging rights, and fake internet points.

Not to attack them, but I just fail to see the logic in their argument that games have to be hard, and only hard. Games should be fun, and the more people having fun with a game, the better.