Should Difficult Games Have An Easy Mode & Is Cheating OK?

Should difficult games have an easy mode and is cheating OK?

[PatTheNESpunk]

What do you think about cheating in games? What about easy modes for hard games?

[SomeOrangeCat]

I just meet the developers half-way. If their games don't suit my tastes, including difficulty, I just don't buy them. Its a revolutionary way of thinking that I hope will catch on.

[Twie]

I used to play gta3 and vice city JUST to use cheats and cause chaos, it wasn’t until years later I thought about actually playing the game 😂

[Jolamprex]

If its your own, personal, single player playthrough, then do whatever you want.

[TheJadeFist]

Cheating, in a single player is fine, cheating in a multiplayer setting is just ruining the game for every one else.

[wcoleman]

Or how I still haven't beat the 1st 3 ninja gaiden games after 30 years.

[yellowzoiid]

We live in a day and age where people base their entire self-worth on their proficiency in playing video games...

[tbirum]

I think a lot of it comes down to the term "Beating the Game" If you used the "Konami Code" back in the day on the game "Contra", then you "finished" the game, you didn't "Beat" the game. If you use cheat codes to get through a game, then you "Finished" the game, you didn't "Beat" the game. There is a difference.

[BmanHall]

People are meant to play games to enjoy them. If you enjoy beating a game on the hardest difficulty, good for you. If you enjoy cheating your way through a game, that's fine too. As long as your choices do not affect the way another person chooses to enjoy their game, have at it. I'll be damned if someone is going to lecture me on the way I choose to enjoy a game I paid for.

[spawncalibur]

Hidetaka Miyazaki: "We don't want to include a difficulty selection because we want to bring everyone to the same level of discussion and the same level of enjoyment, "
"So we want everyone … to first face that challenge and to overcome it in some way that suits them as a player."
"We want everyone to feel that sense of accomplishment. We want everyone to feel elated and to join that discussion on the same level. We feel if there's different difficulties, that's going to segment and fragment the user base. People will have different experiences based on that [differing difficulty level]. This is something we take to heart when we design games. It's been the same way for previous titles and it's very much the same with Sekiro."

[squarepainter]

Play video games in whatever way makes you happy

[flowerpower]

It's about enjoying the game. easy, hard, cheat, whatever. Ian, I 100% agree with you. How you game is how you game. If you are thinking you are a cooler person for beating a game on the hardest difficulty...let me let you in on a little secret...you aren't cool. "you ain't cool, you're fucking chilly and chilly ain't never been cool." - George Carlin

[ryannelson]

I think it should be up to the developer. This particular game was made to be hard though. That's what the developer is going for.

[BF-Gator]

Bragging about beating a game with cheats on, what the hell is your problem pat
There's a difference between cheating to win and cheating to have fun

[JonT]

I've been playing the Mega Man Legacy Collection on the Switch, and I use the rewind feature constantly. The games are sometimes just too difficult to be fun for me. But by 'cheating', I'm able to progress and see every level in a reasonable amount of time. The game still isn't simple, but now you aren't getting a game over screen after every couple of deaths and having to start back at the beginning.
I wish the rewind feature would catch on in other games.

[strangevision]

I don't know why Ian's stance would please nobody. It seems the common sense stance, don't force developers to put in an easy mode, but don't care if they do and don't care how somebody else plays a game.

[darkserge]

The only time I would be against cheating in a game is if you do a review for that game. I sometimes cheat after I beat the game as I just like to mess around afterwards(Also getting revenge on tough and annoying enemies >:) ). Also let the developers do what they want(long as it's not a broken mess). There's plenty of games out there for both hardcore and casual gamers.


To people who want to experience those types of games, you got options. You can cheat or watch the lets plays. I can understand the cheating yourself argument as your skills improve over time and I can understand the other argument as people sometimes don't have time to get good.


However I do have issues with mainstream gaming sites that constantly complain about games like Dark souls and Sekiro being too hard. I do get annoyed with the hardcore gamers too(mostly Jealousy) but when the mainstream AAA companies caters mostly to casual gamers. We really shouldn't complain too much as AAA companies don't give people who look for a challenge a lot of options. I did get amused when one forbes article complained "Sekiro needs a easy mode" and another forbes article says "Sekiro doesn't need a easy mode".


Though I did find it disingenuous that people online used disable people as an argument, when there are people who are disabled that still beat these types of games.

[BeezeeChutter]

My problem with video game difficulty is that if given the choice, we would all just go the easy route even if we want it to be difficult.

[RagPlaysGames]

Completely up to the game designers. Cheating is okay if, and only if it's a single player or Co-Op game.

[g]

Oh yeah, this means I have a new podcast to listen to tonight at work!


I was re-listening to an old one this morning, forgot to look for the new one haha. It's really nice having new ones come out mid-week, helps considerably with the 'fucking tired of bullshit' Wednesdays.