The Difficuly Factor: How Difficult Do You Want It?

by Shawn Bruckner 

Final Fantasy VII's difficulty has seemed to become an issue of great debate. There are those who claim it is an extremely easy game, and those who claim it is one of the most difficult they have ever played. These viewpoints are so contradictory that it is hard to know which side to trust.

Which side do I side with? Despite the fact I believe Final Fantasy VII to be relatively easy, I'm not going to take sides on this issue. There are those like Don Wang, who made a good point in saying we are role-playing and that heroes do not stop to "level up." Even then, there are those, such as me, who seem to have a intuitive grasp of RPG combat, even if this intuition has been fine-tuned for Square games. So, no matter what, we are left with this issue... with any RPG.

It has to difficult for the designers of these RPGs as well. Generally, the RPG genre has been to only one to use systems where fighting gives the characters more strength and ability. Therefore, difficulty still is different depending on a player's aggressiveness. Those, like me, who rarely back down from a fight, and who would charge in where angels fear to tread rather than sneak around, have an easier time later in the game. But some players, especially those who have more trouble anyway, run away more often, sneak in... and they have more difficulty.

It's a backward situation, but there is a partial solution... a way we can all get near the difficulty we desire out of any RPG, regardless of our skill. In fact, it's already in use... just we have to leave the RPG genre to find it.

Since I know no official term for the system, I'll call it a variable difficulty system. It is commonly used in fighters and arcade style games, yet rarely in RPGs. It's a simple system. You select the difficulty that you think matches your desire for difficulty. Then you play, and hopefully, you will have selected correctly.

This system does not even have to be difficult to program. I'm an ameteur programmer, and just off the top of my head, I can already think of one way to do. A professional programmer, who would have far more training than I, should be able to add a variable difficulty system into a RPG with little extra coding.

In fact, it seems so simple, I cannot even understand why it isn't done.

The system would allow any player to get a challenge out of the game, and would even allow you to play in different ways while getting the challenge you want. Maybe the first time through, you want to experience the story and not bothering with much exploration. Just select an easy difficulty level, so that you won't need the powerful secret weapons and attacks to play.

Now you finish the game. You play again, but this time you want to find those things you missed, yet you don't want to give up the challenge just because you'll have stronger weapons and attacks. Just select a higher difficulty level.

Perhaps there is an objection because a variable difficulty system might make a RPG seem more unreal. After all, if you can change the strength of your enemies at the beginning of the game, then you lose that element of realism. Perhaps.

But I feel that a variable difficulty system can make a RPG more real. Sure, we can all enjoy a good story when the game is easy, but isn't it more fun when you actually feel that your characters are in actual danger? Isn't it more fun when you actually have to fight as the underdog, rather than be stronger just because you fought hard in the beginning? Doesn't a good fight enrich the story behind the fight?

To my mind always comes the example of Zeromus as compared to Kefka. Final Fantasy II is well recognized as one of the more difficult of the Square RPGs. And wasn't defeating Zeromus a more vindicating feeling than defeating Kefka? Part of the reason did have to do with the respective stories of the game, but another part of it, at least for me, was that I knew that Zeromus could put me on the defensive... leaving me trying to recover, and he could take me out from there if I wasn't successful. With Kefka, I was never even worried. (Well, Fallen One did worry me a little the first time I fought him, but never again.)

Maybe it's time we suggest this to our game producers, especially Square. After all, every RPG enthustist should be able to experience the difficulty they desire. Adding a variable difficulty system is one large step in that direction.