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Game Difficulty As a Virtue
The Wii and various mobile gaming platforms have done wonders for the trend toward casual or "easy" games. But the success of a few recent titles, despite their difficulty, has caused some to wonder whether the pendulum has swung too far; whether a little frustration can be seen as a good thing. Quoting:
"The evidence is subtle but compelling. For one example, look to major consumer website GameSpot's Game of the Year for 2009: Atlus' PS3 RPG Demon's Souls, which received widespread critical acclaim – none of which failed to include a mention of the game's steep challenge. GameSpot called it 'ruthlessly, unforgivingly difficult.' Demon's Souls was a sleeper hit, an anomaly in the era of accessibility. One would think the deck was stacked against a game that demanded such vicious persistence, such precise attention – and yet a surge of praise from critics and developers alike praised the game for reintroducing the experience of meaningful challenge, of a game that demanded something from its players rather than looked for ways to hand them things. It wasn't just Demon's Souls that recently flipped the proverbial bird to the 'gaming for everyone' trend. In many ways, the independent development scene can be viewed on the macro level as a harbinger of trends to come, and over the past year and into 2010, many indies have decided to be brutal to their players."
I haven't played Demon's Souls (hell I haven't even heard of it), but I've been noticing lately that every time I get a new game that I'm excited about playing, it's over in about two days.
It's not all that difficult, and it's not fast paced. This game is a slow battle of attrition. Can you collect enough shields/extra lives to make up for the unavoidable damage you'll gradually accumulate? What's more, it runs at 50fps, which guarantees jerky scrolling on any common monitor. This is a very bad game.
For a Free shooting game that's actually fun, try rRootage:
http://rrootage.sourceforge.net/
"Normally, it took me eight hours to get through the whole game."
Precisely what's wrong with today's games industry.
Hiding behind AC are you?
I was probably playing RPG's before you were a stain in your father's pants. If you understood anything about proper RPG's you would know that you cannot compare one player's game experience with another. Every player makes different choices throughout the game, no 2 games will ever be alike. Unless you cheat by using a walkthrough or hacks.
PC Gamer UK mentioned the difficulty very specifically, as have several other reviews.
When I was a lead tester...
Dude, you really shouldn't do that.
I heard its really bad and can make you ill and stuff.