Secret auto-altering of game difficulty? Acceptable?

I think this kind of thing was implemented in SIN episodes 1, at the end of the game you would be given a skill rating, so you could see how much the game had assisted you compared to other players. It actually added to the replayability as you had a target to beat the next time. Sadly Episode 2 was canned :(
 
Briton said:
Did you ever play Shadow of the Beast II ? I found that too hard...although maybe I just didn't like it enough to persevere.


Good idea as long as there's a choice. If you play on Hard, then it should be off.
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Certainly did, along with many other great hard games like PP hammer
 
Depends on the difficulty setting imo...

If you're playing it on Easy, sure, drop the difficulty marginally each time you fail.
If you're playing it on Medium... maybe, but drop it less each time obviously.
If its on Hard/Extreme/Nightmare, no. If your failing, lower the difficulty or stop sucking.

Dumbing down easier difficulties is fine so long as they don't start spoiling harder ones.
 
Seems a good idea only for the easy difficulty setting....

Or what would be the point in choosing to play at a medium difficulty setting only for the enemies to be downgraded to easy kills if they kill you..
 
its been done a few times even some 90s games had it.

i remember when racing games used to give the ai card a boost if they were losing and a penalty if the player was losing.

it used to **** me off no end one of the nfs games had it at a ridiculous setting so it was better to stay behind the leading car until a few corners from the end of a race
 
arknor said:
its been done a few times even some 90s games had it.

i remember when racing games used to give the ai card a boost if they were losing and a penalty if the player was losing.

it used to **** me off no end one of the nfs games had it at a ridiculous setting so it was better to stay behind the leading car until a few corners from the end of a race
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yep i remember that need for speed underground 1
 
I just played through Tomb Raider Underworld and could have sowrn this happened to me at one part. Kept dieing to a combo of the area enemies. After many deaths...there were no more enemies! Altho that isnt quite the same i suppose...
 
arknor said:
its been done a few times even some 90s games had it.

i remember when racing games used to give the ai card a boost if they were losing and a penalty if the player was losing.

it used to **** me off no end one of the nfs games had it at a ridiculous setting so it was better to stay behind the leading car until a few corners from the end of a race
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Well Mario Kart had a similar system where the powerups were likely to be worse if you were winning compared to if you were losing a race.
 
Smit said:
Well Mario Kart had a similar system where the powerups were likely to be worse if you were winning compared to if you were losing a race.
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Not exactly, that was to keep it interesting, especially as some of the powerups were extremely good. Nothing quite beats being in first place regularly with the frantic item setting on... i've never been hit by so many frickin' blue shells...
 
As mentioned this was one of the main selling points of SiN Episodes: Emergence, except that it wasn't hidden from the player.

Personally I don't see the value in making it a secret, have it as a toggleable menu option instead.
Things like changing the physics so that players jump further, without telling them, is inherently bad IMO. Essentially it means that they could get even more frustrated when they get used to be able to jump a certain distance and then it gets nerfed back to the default later on.
 
I feel displeased with myself as I prefer to play games on the harder difficulties. I wonder how many games have adjusted to my mistakes and made it easier for me. I don't like this one bit, as I like the sense of accomplishment when you complete a game on the hardest difficulty.

I would not be happy if this was being done without my consent. If there was an option, I'd gladly turn it off, but I still do not fully support the idea. If people can't complete a game on the current difficulty, then drop it down a notch. If they can't complete the game on an easier difficulty then they should sort their act out. Games are not hard these days and are dumbed down for the majority.

The only game I have really found difficult recently was DA:O on Nightmare. Some parts required so much micro-management and patience that I ended up putting it on hard - which was too easy. I would reload saves on parts and boost up to nightmare again because I felt no sense of accomplishment. Maybe this is just me, but I'm not exactly someone that has a lot of time on their hands either. I spend more time at work in a week than I do sleeping at home and rarely have spare time to play games for a good session.
 
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As others have mentioned, this was implemented very will in Sin Episodes 1, and I loved it. You could switch it off though. I wish it was in Batman AA, as there's a fight i just can't get past and I'm not willing to start over on an easier difficulty just for that.

Regarding the idea that the developer would implement this and hide it from the player: how long do you think it would be before it would ne revealed in reviews or forums? They can't keep something like that secret.
 
Sleepery said:
I'm pretty sure I've experienced this too, and thank god! I could handle repeatedly replaying the same stuff over and over when I was a lot younger, now if it takes more than five tries to get past an enemy, I usually just toss the game and play something else.
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Haha, yeah I know what you mean. I remember playing Goldeneye on the N64 and completing just about all difficulties etc on it but I wouldn't bother with all that now. I just play a game through if I like it, finish it, and unless it has substantial replay value (like stalker imo), I move on to the next title.
 
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