What are your thoughts on Easy Mode?

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

I'm bringing this up because I came across an opinion recently that was easy mode in games is primarily for younger players. A lot of gaming now is about making it as hard as possible. We've all seen the "I beat _______ with one hit point in 5 minutes with my eyes closed and only using a leaf as my main weapon." And I totally respect that.
Personally, I like easy mode. If it's an option, I tend to choose it (unless it's an easy game to begin with). As I see it, if Samus had the option to die less easily she'd definately take it. Playing a game on easy doesn't undermine the experience of it. You still beat the same trials, just with less handicaps. So for me, knowing I beat it in easy mode doesn't detract from the fact that I still beat it. I just don't feel like struggling for the sake of struggling.
That's just me talking about me a lot though, I want to know what your guys' take on this is. I don't know if you guys ever use easy options (we're all "hard-core" gamers here umu) but I would like to know if using them makes you feel less accomplished or not, or when/who should use it.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I would think we're past that mindset of easy mode being only for young or casual players but I guess not

nah these day, I play on easy a lot, I've beaten plenty of hard games in the past that nowadays, I just want to enjoy what I'm playing rather than banging my head on a wall b/c I'm stuck somewhere

easy is for anyone that wants to use it for whichever reason

 

[Chevywolf30]

The "easy" mode should be the base mode imo, but add in things to the game that can give it more challenge if you are so inclined

 

[Dio]

I don't think games necessarily need an easy mode. Elden Ring was very popular and it had one difficulty. Hard. Part of the achievement of beating such a game is that everyone is playing the same game at the same difficulty. There are ways and play styles to make things easier but there is no variation in base game difficulty, the player has to figure out how to progress either to become more skilled or get better items or level up or get help from co-operative play.

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

Games that offer different difficulty challenges are essentially giving options for the player.

That's okay, and in my opinion, shouldn't diminish your enjoyment of the game.

That said, I do think that games like Dark Souls/Sekiro/Elden Ring/Bloodborne should have one difficulty: hard. Part of the appeal of those games is rising to the challenge.

 

[FierceDodongo]

I'm glad lots of games have it. Some people just need the easier difficulty and that makes games more accessible, which is good. There are definitely exceptions though, like some games (like the souls games) are just meant to be really hard games that require a lot of patience. I'm still glad that a lot of hard games like Doom Eternal have an easy mode though.

 

[Killjoy262]

Personally, if a game has a multiple difficulty levels, I'll normally go with normal mode first. and then go on master mode on a new play through later. After that, I tend to try a 100% grind on both/all.

E.G. I've played normal mode and master mode a number of times on BotW, and am now working on a 100%(Korok Seeds included) on both, Master Mode is left.

 

[thePlinko]

My biggest issue with having different difficulty modes in general, not just easy mode, is that it rarely feels well made.

It’s very hard to make a game feel both fleshed out and balanced at the same time when you have to balanced it for multiple difficulty modes. Usually most developers take the easy way out and just turn the amount of damage dealt up or down. That’s not making the game itself harder or easier though, that’s just making the amount of hits it take to kill the player different. The player doesn’t have an easier time learning the games mechanics, they’re just having an easier time brute forcing the game. At that point why bother playing the game at all?

 

[MW7]

I really like having multiple difficulties. The first two games that come to mind are Skyrim and Goldeneye 007. I love the slider difficulty in Skyrim as it has a default difficulty but you can customize it however you'd like. You can choose from virtually unkillable to dying to the weakest enemies.

Goldeneye has an even greater approach to difficulty as many levels have different objectives depending on the difficulty level. Playing Bunker 1 on Agent compared to Secret Agent to 00 Agent all have different objectives the optimal path through the level changes depending on the difficulty. Then when you beat the game on 00 Agent, you unlock 007 mode which introduces the sliders like Skyrim for various attributes impacting difficulty. The speedrunning community for Goldeneye has 5 main modes for difficulty that are tracked for each of the 20 levels which is really like having 100 levels. Having a large amount of customization around difficulty essentially multiplied the amount of "content" by five.

Easy modes in general I like as well. It makes games more accessible and can also save the player a lot of time since sometimes difficulty just feels like trial and error.

 

[Hyrulian Hero]

Plenty of people give up gaming when they take on responsibilities in life as they get older. I don't have much time to play anymore so easy mode is a viable option for me to experience a playthrough in half the time of a hard playthrough. I still can't bring myself to play easy mode but I see the point in having one available.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I've never used easy mode in a game. but I appreciate that it's there. The whole point of a game is to try finding a way to make it as enjoyable as possible, and if the player is someone who maybe cares more about story and exploration over combat, than they at least have a way to experience the game without needing to get stuck by enemy or boss battles.

 

[twilitfalchion]

Having multiple difficulty options is hardly a bad thing, even if I'll rarely take advantage of the extreme options in either direction. If it lets more people enjoy a game, more power to them.

 

[Jimmu]

More options is a good thing in my eyes. Having the ability to play through on easy mode can make it more accessible to young children who might struggle with harder versions, it can make it quicker to play through for adults who are strapped for time but still want to experience the game, or it can just be a general preference too which is fine. If I’m presented with three options I generally pick the middle one out of habit but will not usually play through most games more than that one initial time.

 

[accio boomerang]

I like to have multiple options, I don't particularly like games that are really hard partly because I don't really have the time or energy to play games in hard mode. I'm glad its there for people who want to have a challenge.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Easy mode should be an option in every game. Accessbility is paramount in video games regardless of a series' goals of being the hardest thing on the market. To cite a somewhat personal hypothetical situation: I'm a big Dark Souls fan (except for the second game, but that's hardly an uncommon opinion). I've played all the games multiple times and Elden Ring was easily my favorite game of 2022.

For those that don't know, I spent about five years in the army doing boring cool military things. Part of that necessitated some times spent overseas during combat deployment. Although I emerged from that deployment unscathed, there was a genuine risk of me coming back with life or limb damaged.

If I'd returned with one of my hands missing, how would I have played Dark Souls or Elden Ring? While there are options like Xbox's adaptive controller, the Soulsborne games require pretty fast reflexes that would make such a controller miserable to use without a difficulty option. I'd be forced to either give up on a franchise I love or resort to unofficial easy mode mods.

So, yeah. Gimme easy mode options in all games.