I've never been afraid to state my opionion about something, thats why people get a kick out of reading every single blog I've had on a website. Sure people will post negative comments because their obviously *bleeps* to say what they really think about something. Unless its in public somewhere because who's going to insult you in a game store if you said something sucked? lol never happened to me even when the stores were full of people that heard me say it.
Anyway my point is to get on topic about the people who create video games to be really difficulty and then the ones who make video games really easy but they still manage to be more fun than a game thats overly hard for a novice player to get into it.
I've been playing video games for as long as I can remember, and I started out on the Sega Genesis and worked my way up to Super Nintendo then back to Regular Nintendo. Every console I owned in the 1990s I had difficult games for them but always kept my cool because I was too young to even get pissed at how difficult a game was. Until I turned 9 years old and played Street Fighter 2 for the very first time with all the stars set to the max from the option menu. M.Bison is the reason why I became enemies with challenging games, and Shinobi II just made me hate them even more. After that I was introduced to Contra and Castlevania which were both very difficult games at the time. And I still cant even beat Dracula X or Revenge Of Shinobi without dying a dozen times.
Although there are games I can play on very difficult, die a few times and still manage to avoid getting pissed at it. I've died 239 times in Metal Gear Solid 2 on Extreme but didn't get angry once. I've also died several times in Silent Hill 2 on hard but never got mad at the game. Likewise I've played just about enough video games to know that difficulty isn't all that important to some people. Halo 3 isn't a hard game unless you try the highest difficulty level but playing difficult games "coop" with another person to help you out can be more fun than going at it alone. I wouldn't mind playing Fable 2 on very hard if it had one, because Fable is simply a fun game anyway. Maybe its worth being a little hard. But...Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry? These are games people will get easily bored of after playing their second or third time through.
I can't stress out enough how hard it was for me to finish NG on Hard so I gave up. And I never finished the first Devil May Cry on Dante Must Die Mode. Of course after realizing how boring video games were getting due to their difficulty I began to realize that video games aren't for everyone. For one thing playing a game on the highest difficulty doesn't do much, its not like accomplishing a hard exit exam, or graduating from NASA. Who gives a sh*t if you can beat a boss in NG sigma without dying? I've seen many youtube.com videos of people playing video games on their hardest difficulty. Some people even handicap themselves to the point where it seems almost impossible for them to win. I've seen a guy kill Nobunaga in Onimusha 2 on hard with the regular sword, zero healing items, and no life left. Basically he would get hit on purpose so he wouldn't have any life left. Which means if he were to be hit, he would die instantly.
I've also seen people play other games that felt almost impossible for me to beat. But I only play fighting games now even if they are old. Fighting games are still fun to play at least, of course the only game I really want to play is MGS4, Fable 2, maybe Halo 3, and of course GTAVI. But thats pretty much it, I don't care much for Devil May Cry 4 or Ninja Gaiden II. I am aware of the fact that I actually seen a guy beat Ninja Gaiden Sigma on the hardest difficulty and he didn't die once. These sort of achievements were impressive to see at first. The first time I seen someone do this was in Castlevania 3. Course Streets Of Rage 2 on Crazy mode is impossible to beat without getting hit. You can repeat the same attack but the gameplay is far to fast for the CPU but still very slow for you. Its a challenge that most people have tried but still can't do it. The game isn't set up for that. Most games today that are very difficulty isn't really created to challenge people.
I am sure that if game developers didn't notice this, people can easily play NG 2 on its 12th difficulty and beat it without dying. Would it be impressive to see? No, because its been done in plenty of games that are a hundred million times harder than that. I still believe that video games that are overly difficult are made to make novice players mad or complain. I don't see why anyone get joy out of a person hating their video game because its set up to make you want it but strongly dislike it once you play it.
Basically I have a huge variety of every fighting game you can think of, because its all I ever play now. Fighting games can get boring and they're also difficult if they're set up to be difficult. Like I still can't play the Tekken series as good as some people can. TO me the controls never felt responsive when trying to pull off some of Kings moves but I somewhat mastered Yoshimitsu.
For me I can sit around and watch people play any game on the hardest difficulty without them getting upset at the game. THe reason for it, is because they never lose, they never die. To them the game feels rather easy so they can post up videos and novice gamers are the only ones impressed with it.
Most girls don't like video games unless its something they know how to play or something they can easily pick up and master. I can understand this clearly, because I feel the same way. If i pick up a game thats too easy or too hard, its pointless and not worth playing at all. I prefer an equal level of difficulty such as I die sometimes but not all the time. But if I never die? Then I feel like the enemy isn't doing much. I Do enjoy a good fight in a game, but not to the point where I can't do anything about it. I watched a chick play Urban Reign on very hard, she literly threw the controller at the window and broke it. Course I busted a fan when playing Suikoden III and had to fight the last boss. I was so eager to see the ending but the *bleep* wouldn't let me.
Games I do enjoy playing are simple and easy to play. Like Shenmue is very easy yet very fun. Nobody can deny the fact that Shenmue was a great game despite how easy it was. Fable was also easy but very fun, I can't think of one single difficult game I actually had fun with besides playing Metal Slug on Hard with my brother. Or Contra Shattered Soldier. Maybe it just depends on the game. For me I thought Ninja Gaiden was fun when I first got it, but the game was worthless due to the lack of rewards. Unlocking the original Ninja Gaiden classics wasn't worth getting especially if you own the games for the consoles they were originally for.
If you asked me my all time favorite game, I'd easily say "Shenmue 1 and 2". It had a great story, interesting characters, excellent voice acting which means anyone that says "American voice actors are horrible compared to Japanese" were obviously *bleep* morons that spend too much time watching Anime and Manga's instead of paying attention to shows and video games that actually do have great English voice overs.
I had fun with Shenmue regardless of how easy it was, I did expect somewhat of a challenge but nothing that would feel rather unfair and pointless once I finished the game. I could care less about posting my scores on XBOX LIVE, because bragging about your accomplishments in a game is foolish. Almost anyone can beat a game on the highest difficulty and accomplish it with no item use, no deaths, no continues, and etc. I've seen it a million times. I know I can't do it myself, but I dont even have the time of day to spend in front of a video game trying to out best the difficulty level. I have a hard enough time trying to keep up in Math class. College alone is all ready too hard, why should I care about impressing someone with my gaming score when there is always someone else out there with a score thats even better than the people who made the game in the first place?
So why do I find challenging games boring or pointless? Because easy games can be just as fun or even better. I have a short temper so I deffinately don't get into video games as much as I use too. I remember when I was 16, I cursed out the team of Namco and Capcom through fan mail like crazy. At age 17 I eventually sold allot of my games and started collecting classic games only. As of now I currently own all the king of fighters, Metal Slugs, Fatal Furys, Street Fighters, and etc. Those are the only games I can actually enjoy playing. I mean sure the graphics aren't as good as Next Gen, and I still want to roam around the world of Albion in Fable 2, face off against the Beauty and Beast in MGS4 (in which case they look challenging but I doubt I'd be mad at the game if I Died by them allot unless MGS felt sloppy like the previous games were when fighting against bosses). I also hope for a new Shenmue 3, maybe a Parasite EVE 3 or remake of FF VII. Other than that, I don't have any other reason to pay $600 for a console. Money I could use to save up and travel someplace nice with. Sure does beat pissing off at a game I can't enjoy playing.
Plus I still like hand helds.
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