At what point does a hard game stop being fun?

[chrisbg99]

Or maybe the better question is: When does difficulty take the fun out of a game?

I ask because I just beat Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts for the first time ever. I had it on the SNES but never beat it there so the VC version with the interrupt feature made it possible for me to get a feeling for each level endlessly without having to go through each level again on a further play through.

Part of the reason why I never beat SGNG when I was kid was that it was so difficult, it just wasn't any fun to play at a certain point and knowing that when you get near the end, you'd be sent back to the beginning again to play through again and even harder. I can imagine that for many people, much like myself, this turned people off from ever finishing the game outside of using emulators or taking advantage of other available means. And not only that I was playing on normal, I couldn't imagine hard or professional and what kind of crap you have to put up with.

Many of the users here who grew up on these kinds of games and certainly know what I'm talking about. They were all over the NES/SNES/Genesis and often didn't have saves to alleviate things. A lot of these were vestiges of gaming's arcade heritage. Which usually meant lots of continues (quarters spent) and doing your best to memorize every little intricacy of each stage. Overall the games are short but this difficulty usually meant that hours could be spent on each stage.

Now I'm just rambling. I guess my point is, when does it stop being fun playing games that have brutal difficulty? When it feels like no matter how much you try you just can't beat the danged game is what I'd say and that is certainly how I felt back when I was kid playing SGNG.

[Amelie]

When you cant get past the first level because you die so fast. Simple answer ^^ Thats when it stops being fun for me.

Ghouls N goblins is WAY to hard.. perfect example of a game that is just to hard ><

[Skull_Kid]

Super Ghouls n'ghosts is one of my favorite games ever... I mean, i don't think that a game that is too hard loses fun... I get more interested if the game is hard, and hardness has no limits for me(i think I will regret saying this)

[Y2K3]

If it's hard to the point where I can't do something, and get extremely aggitated, I lose all hope. This is also when I stop playing the game for months on end. :P
The game that I am currently avoiding due to this, is MM. I was in the same room for probably at least a half hour, and still unable to get any further.

[El Bagu]

I am an impatient person but when it comes to games I can become somewhat obsessed. I can spend 2 or 3 hours on a boss/enemy or a puzzle. Maybe 4 or 5 hours if it is about finding something. But after that I need a break, if not I will get mad or furious (or both).

If I should try beating a boss and spent 2-3 hours on 10 occasions (20-30 hours in total) and still couldn´t find out, I would give up (and feel like the worst noob ever!). That doesn´t happen very often :D.

[LucarioMaster]

I am an impatient person but when it comes to games I can become somewhat obsessed. I can spend 2 or 3 hours on a boss/enemy or a puzzle. Maybe 4 or 5 hours if it is about finding something. But after that I need a break, if not I will get mad or furious (or both).

If I should try beating a boss and spent 2-3 hours on 10 occasions (20-30 hours in total) and still couldn´t find out, I would give up (and feel like the worst noob ever!). That doesn´t happen very often :D.

kinda same here but i try for DAYS on end and if it gets so hard i end up looking for cheat codes for that game

[Master Link]

I agree with Amelie. It's when you can't beat the first level.

[Josh]

Since I'm a very impatient person, I die like 3 times right away, I'm done. Put the game down, don't play it for another month. Exact thing that happened with AoL and is why I don't want to play it.

[LinkOwnsYou]

when you cannot pass the first level it's because of that that I haven't beated ALttP I can't pass the first temple in the Dark world... yeah I don't play it too much.

[Zero]

When the game becomes aggrivatring, it stops being fun. You can't have enjoyment and anger at the same time, it's an oxymoron.

[bellum]

yes if you can't enjoy it or cant continue in the game for example Rock band hard I cant get my next finger on the frikin guitar I fail every time

[linkman8]

Generally I like a challenge, but when the game decides to get aggravating and thwart your every attempt to enjoy the game, then I usually set the game aside for a while.

[Matthew_79]

Super Ghouls n'ghosts is one of my favorite games ever... I mean, i don't think that a game that is too hard loses fun... I get more interested if the game is hard, and hardness has no limits for me(i think I will regret saying this)

Go play "I Want to be the Guy" (google it)
and that cat mario game (Syobon)... but thats easyish because of infinte lifes, still unforgiving.

I dont mind a hard game but SGAG is not one I like. Hard games are fine as long as they are atleast forgiving to a point. Also Hard game =/= broken control/design

[zeldafreak]

For me, the point where a hard game stops being fun is when you do some major stuff in the game, don't save, continue playing, and all of the sudden, your game crashes. *insert loud screaming*

Yeah, that's me.

[mewtwolord]

The ultimate thing that makes a game less fun for me is when i get stuck and keepz dying dying dying untill i get mad enough to throw the controller
Edit: Doing all this.For me, the point where a hard game stops being fun is when you do some major stuff in the game, don't save, continue playing, and all of the sudden, your game crashes. *insert loud screaming*I say DAMN then i have to punch something.

[skullkidsreveng]

When it gets final level of ninja gaiden 2 hard...

[Myungster]

A game isn't fun anymore when you throw [insert expensive item here] at the wall.


That reminds me of I Wanna Be The Guy...
Oh, wow.
I searched it on Wiki, and I knew the game was based upon complicated patches of SNES + NES.
One of them was Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts.
Also featuring LoZ, Megaman, Super Mario, Tetris, and Metroid.


If you haven't tried this game and you seriously have nothing better to do, download it here... No Emulation required; http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/downloads.php


The only 2 things that kept me playing were the awesome levels (Some are funny XD)
And the amazing Bosess; Mike Tyson, Mecha Birdo.
I won't get into details. Just try it for yourself.


I laughed when this happened to me:
http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/ss/_sword.png (http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/ss/sword.png)

Matthew_79;

Go play "I Want to be the Guy" (google it)
and that cat mario game (Syobon)... but thats easyish because of infinte lifes, still unforgiving.

So I'm not the only one.

[Kybyrian]

A game that is too hard stops getting fun right away, because typically when a game is too hard you can't progress through the first part of the game and then you get mad and it's not fun to play anymore. I've only had a few experiences where a game has been so hard that it makes me lose all desire to play it any further.

[Matthew_79]

I attempted to play battle toads just resently. I can only get to lv 3 w/o cheating.
With cheating, it still kicks my ***....hard. :(

[zeldatwilight]

For me its when one plot ends and another, more deep plot begins. take Zelda, Twilight Princess for example. It was really fun going through the Forest and Kakariko and the Lake for the first time in the game. Once the new plot saying that you should find the Triforce, i kinda said to myself that I dont want to do this. Once I figured out that the mirror of Twilight was split, I just wanted to stop playing. Just get the game over with. dont forget when you had to search for the sky. That was really ocward. so ya, thats what i think.

[lonely_moon]

I think a hard game stops being fun when it goes Mario Kart on you and the computer goes:

Power = OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it cheats.

Games also stop being fun if my brother is playing, no matter what the usual difficulty level is, because he goes:

Power = OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!

And he wins. Always. I think he is a computer...

[Hachi]

I actually have a pretty low-tolerances for difficulty in games, mostly because I have a short attention span, so if I cant' get any further I get quickly frustrated and bored. XD

BUT, you know I mostly get over it.

What I really can't stand is when I game is difficult simply because controls/gameplay/take your pick was executed poorly. Great example of this is the Orange Dance in Okami, you either get it or your stuck forever at that part. It was both difficult in the PS2 and (I hear even more so) Wii version, though I can't even imagine trying to do it in the Wii version as it's so incredibly picky.

I'm a huge fan of Okami too, it's just that part of the game was ridiculous. x.x It was even at like the very beginning of the game for goodness sake!

[Onilink89]

actually this is a tough question.
I personnaly like games with a high difficulty.
But yeah, if a game is really really difficult at some point that you replay over and over again, and then you get really frustrated, then it gets annoying. But then again it depends if you enjoy the game or not.