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sfried 520th Post

 
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| "Do you play easy games?" , posted Sat 17 Apr 07:24
Does anybody here sometimes suffer from a case of difficulty/dedication/frustration burnout when playing?
I think I might have recently experienced one when I "crashed" from playing Strange Journey (no, my save file is okay thank you): I just fought the second/third boss in the Bootes sector, and my mind suddenly craved for something of a "light distraction", hence why I started to ask recommndations for a Kirby game (since I've played Super Star to death).
I remember my childhood experiences only dedicating myself to one game until I have completed it 100%, so easy games would naturally be a turn off for me if I wanted to get more meat out of a purchase, but nowadays I just find myself going with whatever I feel is entertaining. The Kirby games, for one, are like those titles you return to like chicken soup (especially at spring). I don't know why I sometimes develop a fondness/obsession over a certain genre for a certain period, even sometimes having an urge for something very difficult or very easy depending on the mood.
I know most people tend to shy away from anything that is too easy (even labeling those with the derogatory "casual" term). I'm not sure how others are able to "binge" from one big budgeted title to another, so I'm curious to hear your habits.
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Pollyanna 2902th Post

 
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| "Re(4):Do you play games?" , posted Sun 25 Apr 10:36
I play a lot of different games from a lot of different genres, but I generally don't like easy games. If a game is too easy, it doesn't feel fulfilling to me. It's not just "easy", but "engaging", really. There are some games that are "easy" in terms of overall difficulty, but give you so many things to do that you feel challenged (or at least engaged) on some level at all times.
That being said, I will not pass on an otherwise excellent game because of lack of challenge. Although I don't ever crave easy games, I sometimes need to take a break from more difficult ones. After a particularly tough boss, for example...I might step away for half an hour or so. Then there are times where a game asks too much of something annoying from me, and I won't bother.
I hope I don't sound like I'm trying to be "hardcore" or anything. I'm really not terribly good at games to begin with (despite how much I play), so "challenge" is kind of relative. The only games in recent memory I can think of that I play on higher difficulties are Bayonetta, Ouendan and Tales games.
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Spoon 1935th Post

 
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| "Re(3):Do you play games?" , posted Sun 25 Apr 12:11
I know that there are games that I would find easy now that I would've found pretty damn hard in the past, and that there are games that I found hard in the past that are still pretty damn hard now.
During the 8-bit days, I played everything I could get my hands on. Having a Famicom in North American meant that it was hard to get ahold of games, so if I got a game, it didn't matter if it was too easy or too hard: it was something new, and therefore something worth playing.
Incidentally, I ended up with a lot of games that I'd consider challenging, and as a result one of the things that has colored my perception of a gaming experience is that it has to matter that I was there, that I was the one playing. One of my most favourite moments in all of Ninja Gaiden is a ridiculous jump in Ninja Gaiden 3 where you have to leap off of a moving platform down a nearly screen-tall vertical shaft that is only slightly wider than your character and is lined with electrical things that will shock you and make you die if you touch them... and you have to land onto a moving platform below. I'm not actually sure just how difficult that jump is, but it is so harrowing, and escape seems so narrow, that it creates a bowel-clenching moment that is always cathartic. I don't need every game to be like that all the time, but moments like that really leave me with the feeling that I had experienced something that was worthwhile.
One of my favourite PS2 games is Sky Gunner. I could harp about any number of things about it that are excellent, but there's one tiny touch in it that really strikes a chord with me. When you take a bunch of damage, you have to mash buttons/wiggle the stick to regain control of your plane. When you do that successfully, a popup appears informing you of your success. In really, really tiny text on that pop-up, is a message saying something along the lines of "it was possible because it was you". One of the reasons why competitive games are fun for me is because there is an understanding that victory or defeat comes about as a result of ME playing; if anybody else played, the outcome would've been different. With many RPGs, victory often comes across as an inevitability, and instead I'm supposed to just enjoy the ride. If that's the case, then that better be a DAMN GOOD RIDE.
I'd say that I've had a good time with a bunch of RPGs that I'd consider easy. FF3 (or 6) on the SNES wasn't hard back then, and I immensely enjoyed it. Chrono Trigger's new game+ was fun, and the game certainly isn't hard when you do that. But games which manage that have to have quite something around it in order for them to captivate me. Flower, Sun and Rain isn't exactly hard, and isn't exactly fun, and is somewhat questionably designed, but for me it is certainly engaging and interesting.
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