Today's RPGs are too easy

[Formalhaut]

Also, cut it out with the walkthroughs and guides. They are another reason games are getting too easy. Heck, I know a few people that will read the damn guide as they play their first playthrough. :rolleyes: How is that any fun?

I have to admit I am guilty of doing this sometimes, particularly with larger games with many hidden secrets. While I wouldn't want a guide punch me in the face and force me to use it, I like the *option* of choosing a walkthrough, should I feel I want/need it.

I think with RPGs it's hard to judge difficulty because often there's no scaling involved, no difficulty level. With action, hack n' slash etc type games, there's often a difficulty level scaling. Therefore a player can adapt to their skill level. With a non-difficulty level scaling system, the game makers often have to "guess" how hard their game should be.

This is why you get top heavy games like FFX. Virtually the entire main game story is really quite easy, therefore they might have gone "oh snap", and made the sidequests much more difficult. Therefore, you get a top-heavy game where the main story is easy but elements like mini-games, monster arena are alot more difficult.

Course, this is just theory.

[ShinGundam]

In FF1, you had to spend 60k for a spell that you had NO idea what it did. You also had to hope you could kill a boss, because there were no save spots in the dungeon.

But some of old school JRPGs had save states and full healing spots.

[edczxcvbnm]

I don't miss any of that trout. The challenge came as an exercise in patience by and large. Want to spend 100 years battling imps to max out your level as much as possible in FFI....go for it. I don't generally care for all of that time. I prefer how Xenogears and Chrono Cross handled it. In Cross the normal battles didn't help you worth a jack and it was the boss fights that leveled you up thus making sure they could give you a good challenging fight. Xenogears accomplished this same thing with Mech Boss Battles by limiting the equipment you can buy.

[Formalhaut]

I don't miss any of that trout. The challenge came as an exercise in patience by and large. Want to spend 100 years battling imps to max out your level as much as possible in FFI....go for it. I don't generally care for all of that time. I prefer how Xenogears and Chrono Cross handled it. In Cross the normal battles didn't help you worth a jack and it was the boss fights that leveled you up thus making sure they could give you a good challenging fight. Xenogears accomplished this same thing with Mech Boss Battles by limiting the equipment you can buy.

Actually, come to think of it, FFXIII did limit your levelling too with the whole crystarium level system. That was quite good, and meant you couldn't accidently get overpowered.

[Ouch!]

While a majority of the game isn't especially difficult, some of the super bosses in Xenoblade Chronicles are downright mean. Maxed level? Good for you. The strongest enemy in the game is still 21 levels higher than you and requires quite a bit of strategy and preparation to take down.

[Mirage]

I've found a lot of more recent RPGs are super easy story wise and put all the difficulty in the additional dungeons or DLC. Take Mirage's example of Disgaea: the story mode is a joke, but it's the addition post game bosses that destroy you, your hopes, your dreams and your grandchildren, all in one turn.

However, you can still pass ten "stronger enemies" bills the very first time you attempt the story mode, and have a pretty hard time. You could say the disgaea games are as difficult as you want them to be, but that is kind of the case for most RPGs.

After all, even many new RPGs are kind of hard if you don't spend even a single hour at grinding combined through the entirely of the story mode, or don't do any side quests where you get lots of levels.

[Pete for President]

Older RPGs may have been harder, but that doesn't mean they were any better. Many times, the only solution to challenge back then was just to grind. Grind and grind and grind, rather than strategy trial-and-error.

But yes, RPGs are much easier today. I often avoid new games anyway because they are often condescending and will hold your hand the entire time. No thanks.

Games have come a long way. So have gamers. Stop being so condescending to us and let us play the damn game. Change trout up and let players learn on their own which strategies work the best.

Also, cut it out with the walkthroughs and guides. They are another reason games are getting too easy. Heck, I know a few people that will read the damn guide as they play their first playthrough. :rolleyes: How is that any fun?

Agreed with all of this!