Originally Posted by
Kentarou
Something that I think is partly the cause of games being easier is the fact that games now have a lot more to them when it comes to story-telling, atmosphere, and making sure everything flows. When a game focuses on things like that, making the game tough as Megaman Death-Nails isn't a great idea, because then it would hinder the other pieces of the experience. The problem is that there are still games that focus on things like combat, so for them to be fun, they have to be challenging.
So, in Prince of Persia's defense, I'm going to say that not having a Game Over screen in a game like that is a good decision. During their presentations they've made sure to point out that the game is all about atmosphere, and not so much about surviving. But with a game like Devil May Cry, which ranks you on how well you did at the end of each mission, and during each combo you make, making the game easy is just a step in the wrong direction. You'd have to do more than a few things to DMC's formula to make it a good easy game.