|
RPGs tend to have one difficulty. How hard that difficulty is varies greatly with the game but also tends to be non-negotiable. RPGs feature a wide gamut of reasons to replay (at least some do) but challenge is not often one of them. Player-manufactured challenges such as a low-level game or not using specific characters/techniques don't count in what I'm talking about here; what I'm thinking of is something omnipresent in action/fighting games - the difficulty select.
What does a difficulty select do that cannot be self-selected by the player? Well, it gives an excellent incentive to replay. Beating any game on the Very Easy selection is hardly a badge of pride for a player to wear (unless that game is something like Ghouls 'N' Ghosts, in which case even the easiest difficulty is for the sadistic). An RPGamer convinced that she/he is able to handle it can automatically pick the hardest difficulty available and need not be concerned about the perceived tendency of modern games to be 'too easy.' Or the inverse for anyone feeling overwhelmed. I haven't tried it yet, but Hoshigami Remix's institution of a difficulty select seems to have been a major plus (though not addressing the myriad other issues in the game would seem to be a major minus).
There is a third option which I learned about from Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 1 and 2: that of having the player set the difficulty through performance. In those games ancillary goals to the missions as a whole exist called 'Battle Masteries.' Attain enough of them and the game adjusts difficulty to Hard, get few of them and the game adjusts to Easy. In those games the attendant effects of 'Easy' and 'Hard' are not what they would be in numerous other series, and yet the mere concept alone is somewhat fascinating. Absent more actual difficulty selections, having this system present in other series would be quite worthwhile and interesting.
|
RSS feed
iTunes