Difficulty in Games

Call me old fashioned but I don't like this new trend of difficulty in games. It seem like now everything wants to be like Darksouls, which is known for its punishing difficulty. That's all well and good, but it makes the games feel unfair to me. Having to memorize what one enemy does when you're surrounded by hoards of enemies just doesn't seem fair to me. I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast let alone which enemy attacks which why, when, and how.

Dark Souls Stephen Totilo Kotaku

  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't like difficult games, on the contrary, I love a good challenge, but there is a fine line between being cheap and being hard. This, of course, isn't anything new in games. It's been around since the days of text adventure games. Also, I know some people may like games that are frustrating, and if that's you, more power to you, but that doesn't mean that the game isn't cheap and unfair. Before we go too far, however, let's define difficulty:
When you have enemies that can kill you in one to two hits regardless of your health, while you, as the player, have to hit that same enemy 20+ times to kill it, that's what you call unfair. There are exceptions of course, like during boss fights, which are supposed to be a test of all the things you've learned. Even they, can be frustrating sometimes, especially when the instant death moves comes out of no where.  I can understand dying five six, even ten times to figure out how to beat a boss, but after 20, 30 or even 100 deaths the game just stops being fun. I'd like to say that this solely applies to bosses, but in many games (like the aforementioned Dark Souls) it applies to every enemy. Some games allow enemies to attack you from off screen. How am I supposed to defend myself if I can't see that I'm being attacked. There are some games that fill the screen with so many things that you can't even see where you are and die as a result. Then of course, you have stun locks which is when you are hit by an enemy, stunned for a brief second, and then hit again by another enemy, wash and repeat, until you're health is gone. 
We can't talk about difficulty, though, without also addressing the opposite side of the spectrum, easy hand-holding, difficulty. This is when a game does things for you automatically, like blocking or dodging, or some other move to help you. The problem I have with that is that you don't learn anything from that, because, if the game is doing it for you, there's on reason to figure out how to do it. It can be helpful sometimes, especially if you are new to a series or franchise, but, at least for me, If I want to play a game, I want to learn it. I want to get good. I play on easy my first play through to get the ropes of the game, and learn the ins and outs, and then I switch to normal, and if I enjoyed it, to hard difficulty. But games that hold your hand, make it harder to learn, and in some games, even normal difficulty is ramped up way more than it should be, even after playing the game on easy.
So what makes a fair challenge?
People love Form Software Dark Souls, saying that once you take the time to learn it, it's very fun. Personally, I've never played it, so I can't really conform or deny those allegations. But what I have played are games with that Dark Souls formula, NioH for example, which I did not enjoy at all. My biggest gripe with those games is that they are punishing from the start. There isn't an option to play on easy to get better, you just have to die and try again, and that's not fun for me.
What is fun, in my opinion are games like Devil May Cry (the original) and Ninja Gaiden Black/Sigma. To me, those are the epitome of fair difficulty. I admit I was frustrated when I first played them, and I'm not even ashamed to say that I had to switch to Easy Automatic/ Ninja Dog Mode. Now before we jump to conclusions, these are not hand holding difficulties. In Devil May cry Easy mode means that more moves are unlocked at the beginning, and that you don't have to hold down the "charge shot" button. Also you are stronger and take less damage. In Ninja Gaiden, you are given more healing items, and more accessories as well as more defense and higher attacks.
In those modes, you're still playing the game though, things aren't being done for you and you still have to learn to be a better player, especially as you begin playing higher difficulties. In those games what makes them hard, for one thing, is enemy placement. As you play through the game the enemies you fight, even on easy, become progressively harder. On higher difficulties, those enemies can show up sooner, often when you are ill equipped to fight them. Even though they are harder enemies that doesn't mean that they do insane amounts of damage, or that they kill you in two hits. As a player you still feel like you have a fighting chance, and that's whats important.

Variety is also important. In Ninja Gaiden there are so many enemies that it's hard to count them all, and each one fights just a bit differently, keeping you on your toes at all times. Devil May Cry, while it has fewer enemies, the ones you do fight can be very tough. Devil May Cry has variety too. Some bosses, for example have a limited move-set on lower difficulties, meaning that when you play on higher difficulties they can do things that they couldn't do moves that they couldn't do on lower ones.
Also, I should note, that both games do punish you. In Devil Ma Cry there are certain enemies that you especially have to watch out for because they have Fatalities. This means that they can grab you and do massive amounts of damage. I should not here that while these moves may kill you outright at the beginning of the game (hence the name Fatalities) as you play through the game, and increase the size of your health bar, getting caught by these attacks will do tones of damage, but WILL NOT outright kill you.
In Ninja Gaiden, if you hold down the block button for too long some enemies will vault over you and skewer you with a sword. Others will knee you to the face. They don't do that much damage, but it is a lesson learned. There are some foes around mid game that can skewer you with the bayonet at the end of their gun, or throw you down to the ground. What's more, the attacks come out pretty quickly. If you aren't paying attention you can be seriously hurt several times in a row. It's absolutely infuriating, but it's also fair.
Fighting these various enemies, it forces you to change your play style. It forces you to actually learn the GAME not just learn what time to dodge a specific enemy attack. And once you've mastered it, you feel like you can take on the world. You feel powerful. That, to me is what difficulty should be.
To conclude. Easy mode should be just that, easy. I should be able to plow through enemies with out blinking, but once I get to a boss, I do want to be tested. That doesn't mean I want to die 100 times though, there needs to be a balance. Challenge me, but make it clear what I need to do, and give me the tools to do it. If I have to use all my potions, so be it. When I play a game on higher difficulties, I want to test my skills. That doesn't mean EVERY enemy should have instant death attacks, on or might, but they need to be well marked, like being a different color than all the rest so that you can tell them apart. They can be more aggressive, sure. They may be more nimble, that's cool. They may even have different moves sets on higher difficulties, and I'm okay with that. Maybe even surprise me by making me fight an enemy from a later part of the game sooner. Make me think on my toes.
What a game shouldn't do is hold my hand or punish my for playing.

The Future of Final Fantasy

I Just finished playing Final Fantasy XV after over 100 hours of game play. I am a completionist. and didn't want to finish until I had done absolutely everything. That means all the dungeons, all the sidequests (monster hunts) all the upgrades, weapons, clothes, everything.


That is the beauty of a Final Fantasy game. I love to avert my attention from the main quest and take on all the side quests, which usually happen near the end of the game. Take Final Fantasy VII for example. Near the end of the game there are three optional boss fights, one against Ultima Weapon, Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon. These fights are insanely hard and at least one of them is timed. In order to remove the time limit you have to go on a whole separate side quest. There are other quests that happen through out, like getting a gold chocobo and acquiring everyone's final limit break, some of which are found in game and others that, most likely, you've started at some point or another.


The point here is that, while Final Fantasy XV had side quests, most of them were fetch quests. Not to say I'm complaining, I did them all because I wanted to do EVERYTHING before I moved on to the next chapter in the game and I had a ton of fun doing them. The quests really aren't the issue here. In fact, I enjoyed the game a lot, much more than Final Fantasy XIII which I admit I only played some of XIII-2 and just couldn't really get into it. I think the Kingdom Hearts combat sorta ruined turn base battles for me, but anyway....


My problem with Final Fantasy XV actually had nothing to do with the game play. I will agree that the game is super easy and that they made dying next to impossible, but whatever, less load times. My gripe with Final Fantasy XV actually comes in the form of the story. To put it simply: I didn't get it.
SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK


I understand that Noctis and Luna were childhood friends/ lovers, and that when she died Noctis was upset, and I get that Arydin or whatever his name is, is playing the long game, finally revealing his plan to Noctis and locking him away for ten years.


Here's the thing though. Noctis and Luna's relationship is glossed over, at best. What's more, Noctis's attitude makes it seem like he's not really into her at all. So when she dies, while sad, I wasn't grief stricken in the least. Compare that with Areis's death in Final Fantasy VII, and I was a mess. I'd spent time with her, leveled her up, been on a date with her in Gold Saucer, even found her final limit break. Then the game stabs you in the heart as she falls dead. I'll admit, I cried, I'm not ashamed of that.


But with Luna, I didn't really care. Even after watching King's Glaive, which I made sure to watch right around the time I got to that point in the game, I still didn't really care that she was dead. Then, after her death, I'm supposed to believe that Noctis is grief-stricken despite the fact that he barely talked about her, and no, sending messages via dogs did not help me care in the least.


Then we have Ardyn. You could tell from the word GO that he was a bad guy. I have no problem with his character. He's the one who captures you on the train. Can't remember how he got there though, or if it's ever even explained. He steels Prompto who by the way turns out to be a demon or something, oh and by the way Ignis is blind after Luna dies. Yeah, that's never explained.


So, anyway, Noctis saves his friend and meets up with Ardyn who turns out to be the original King Lucias Ciam something something, I don't know. I'd lost the story some way back. I had to look it up. the jist is that he was supposed to be king, but after taking on the demons via sucking their souls into his own body, he became corrupt, and the gods told he couldn't be king so doomed him to live forever, or at least until the True King showed up to kill him. That, of course, being Noctis.


Before that, however, Noctis is shoved into the crystal and spat back out ten years later. There were are treated to a scene of him in a world of night/ ruin. We start out at Cape Ciam and are picked up by another NPC. As he drives us to Hammerhead (the starting point of the game) we see a world in darkness. In Hammerhead we meet up with our old friends and then head straight for Insomnia and the end game. No more exploring, no more talking with Cindy, no more side quests nothing.

That is, not until the end credits roll. Let me back track a little. The only other game in which there was a world of ruin was Final Fantasy VI. That whole scene starts out with one of the main characters thinking all of her friends are dead. She climbs to the top of a cliff and jumps off. The current carries

her back to shore where she finds the scarf of one of her team mates, prompting her to search the world for her friends. The scene is touching and dramatic, and there was no voice acting in the series at the time. What's more, you get to travel the entire world after it's been destroyed. I feel like Final Fantasy XV should have let you explore. Also, It talks about how Cindy had done all this stuff to help people, but when you get to Hammer head, she's not even there.


After you return to Insomnia Noctis finds Ardyn and they fight, but Noctis chooses to leave his friends behind, I guess so they can be king when he's gone? Again, never really explained. Anyway, Noctis and Ardyn fight and Noctis sacrifices himself. Then, at the end credits a cut scene Noctis and his friends comes up. I have no idea when this happened because In ever camped out, as far as I know, on the way to Insomnia. If that's when I happened then that scene was totally out of place and didn't make any sense since Noctis was already dead at the time.


At the end, he is reunited with Luna and the logo changes, and so does the music at the title screen. Personally, I like the sad vocals better but whatever.


In the advertising for this game it showed us the flying car telling us you could fly around the world like in the days of the old Final Fantasy. Throughout the game, in the several dungeons of the game, there were closed doors that the characters would talk about needing a key for. It's only now, after the credits that you get any of this stuff.


This bothers me on two levels. The first, is that I can remember a time, even up through Final Fantasy XII that there were hidden areas, treasures, bosses, all within game. Fighting/ getting/ finding these areas would get you ultimate weapons, summons, or in some games just the satisfaction in knowing you'd beaten the hardest boss in the game. What's more, it hall happened in game. You didn't have to wait until after the credits or to get a new game plus or DLC or any of that bull crap. All of that stuff was included. It made the game feel complete.


The second thing is really just false advertising. Sure you DID get the flying car, and you COULD fly around the world, but only after you'd beaten the game. And you could only get into the secret dungeons when you'd beaten the game too. The problem with that is this. Once I beat a game, I'm done. I usually don't pick it up again because, chances are, I've completed everything there is to complete. I don't care about.


I actually really like how Batman Arkham Knight approached this. The game "ended" after Batman beat Scarecrow, but he said something like "When I give the signal, begin Knight Fall Protocol" or something to that affect. This was your chance to complete any side quests that you hadn't finished. I had finished them all in game though (With the exception of the DLC) so by the time "Knight Fall Protocol" happened, I was done. It was only then, that I was treated to the TRUE ending of the game.


I guess what I'm trying to say here is that, while I enjoyed Final Fantasy XV it just left something to be desired. I'm still playing, doing the secret dungeons now, and I'm still having fun with it, but, I don't know, it just feels like something is missing, or that the game was rushed, which is weird, considering they were working on it for ten years. I realize they had to scrap a bunch of stuff. I mean hell, the game was originally part of the Fabula Nova Crystalis and it was called Versus XIII. The story had to be completely revamped. It's still part of it, I think, though the comparisons are Easter Eggs at best.


I hope the next Final Fantasy is not plagued by DLC or by waiting until end credits to go back to secret areas. That was part of the charm of the game. For me, I would get to the end of the game, get everything, and start over because I'd have read about something that I missed previously. That, to me, is the best way to play Final Fantasy. To me, that is replay value. Don't pack stuff in at the end of the game, pack it in WITH the game. Make it so that when people read about some secret weapon or boss or item that can only be acquired by doing X instead of Y they go and start the game over. That is what you want from a game. That's replay value. Sure, you can still have DLC, down the line, but do something unique with it. Don't hide content away on the disk or make people pay for the dungeons. Have all that stuff in there to start, then use the DLC for extra stuff, like a VS mode, or timed trial or something. That's my two cents anyway.


 Even though I had to wait until the end credits to get to fly, and go to secret dungeons, it's still a fun experience. Maybe next time, make a cohesive story, but otherwise, great job Square Enix. You've put my faith back into the Final Fantasy franchise.

Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Final Mix++ HD

“A far off dream that’s like a scattered memory, a scattered memory that’s like a far off dream, I want to line the pieces up, yours, and mine.”

Dammit Square you consistently make it difficult for me to hate you.  After several years of playing Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ and pretending I understand the squiggly lines that make up the Japanese language, you finally cave in and give me one in English. How can I hate you for that? Anyway, This really is the definitive edition of the game. Rather than go through the entire game and pick it apart, as I have done in the past, I’m simply going to go over the new content. If you are reading this and would like to know my thoughts on Kingdom Hearts 2 then you are reading the wrong article.

                This game does, most, everything right. Not only are there fun things to collect, like crown pieces, but there are some great, challenging, puzzles to solve as you collect them. Also, there are more conversations between the organization. That was one of my biggest gripes with Kingdom Hearts 2, that, with all the shit that was happening, the player never saw the organization planning anything, not once. And the scene at the end of the game with Siax and Xemnas doesn’t count. Also in this game we get to fight the other organization members. The game kind of just does a half ass job of explaining it saying something like “Hey remember when— oh right you went to sleep for a year and forgot everything, no worries though teleport through these randomly placed data portals and you will get to fight the people you’ve forgotten.” It makes no sense what so ever but it’s hell-a fun to fight them.  In this game you are also given a new form, which is supposed to be Sora remembering his past or something ridiculous. Really, it’s just an excuse to let you use some of your abilities from the first game. In all honesty though, Quick Run makes Dodge Roll obsolete. In Birth By Sleep Quick Run was changed to Air Dash, but whatever, it’s the same thing. Probably my favorite part about this new game is the Cavern of Remembrance. I love that place. It is so fun and so vast and so hard and just great. The main reason for this is because in order to survive you have to utilize all of your skills. I don’t just mean fighting either. One of the other things Kingdom Heart 2 lacked was in making the player use the cool skills they learned in their drive forms. High Jump, Ariel Dodge, Quick Run and Glide were all great abilities but not at all necessary to learn in the whole of the game. Yeah, sure they helped in the final battle, but still, I never really felt like I needed them. The Cavern of Remembrance amends that entirely. Not only do you need to learn all of these abilities, but they have to be leveled up to the max. If not, then you will find yourself stuck in certain areas. Oh and not mention the music in here beautiful. Then the caves open up to a long white hall reminiscent of Castle Oblivion. I have no problems with this, not really. It can be quite challenging trying to get through this part of the game, but it’s also a phenomenal place to level up your characters, especially when you can get upwards of 25000 experience with both experience boosts equipped.

The only real issue in this game is the enemies. It’s a shame that Square couldn’t do something to make them a bit more fun to fight. Half of them just annoy the crap out of you while the other half make you want to break your controller. Sure there are some fun enemies to fight, but they are so few and far between that I can scarcely remember them. Also I’ll admit, playing on proud mode doesn’t help either. The only reason I did it though is because I knew that, in doing so, I wouldn’t have to deal with the utter bollocks that is Jimminy’s Journal. Seriously, that little bastard just makes me want to step on him over and over again. The mushroom quest is a great example of this. Some of the quests are easy, while others jut suck. Trying to land a hundred and fifty hits on one mushroom is just stupid and time consuming and not fun at all. Knowing the ‘secret’ on how to do it doesn’t make it any less tedious, and that goes for all the other ones as well. Once I learned that the mushroom in Christmas town would give me one of every item I opted only to do that one.

Now, this game also came with a Birth By Sleep hd remake, which happens to be the Final Mix version of that as well. As far as I can tell there wasn’t a whole lot added to this. There are some re-colored enemies. I think there might be an extra keyblade somewhere. There are some new abilities and finishers. Ventus has the coolest one called Skydive or something like that. He rains down like comets from the sky. Aqua’s teleport has her moving around the enemies shooting spheres of light around them. Terra’s meteor is the hardest to pull off, having to position where you want it to land while the enemies are still moving, often resulting in hitting nothing. The other thing this game has is a second secret episode. In it we travel the realm of darkness with Aqua until we meet the Behemoth in the world. After that the game flashes Birth By Sleep 2.0 on the screen.

The last thing I will talk about is the much better, and very long, recoded movie. After watching the movie I almost wanted to play the game again. Then I remembered how awful it is and it makes me glad I opted to watch the movie instead.

The only games I have left to play now are Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, which I really want to play, and the mobile version Kingdom Hearts X. I suppose I really should get back to Kingdom Hearts Unchained, but I kinda got stuck in the Hercules world and just haven’t bothered with it since. I have played Dream Drop Distance and Birth By Sleep 2.0 but it’s been a while and I want to play them again before I write about them, so it’s going to be a while.