Why are hard modes usually so badly balanced?

[JirinPanthosa]

Before I start, I will say there is nothing wrong with playing on easier modes if that’s the way you roll, and this thread is not for arguing about how hard video games should be.

But in games that have hard modes, why do they never put any effort at all into balancing it and making it a fair but satisfying challenge? They usually just take normal mode and add a constant multiplier to enemy stats, resulting in some parts of the game not harder at all and others so hard it’s impossible to progress without gaining more levels.

I’ve been playing games for 30 years, so most games normal mode are just really easy for me, and what I get from games is the thrill of overcoming challenge. Metroid Dread is an example of the good kind of challenge. I lose the first time, I learn from my mistake, get better, and finally win just by raising my skill level, without having to do any tedious grinding.

Most games aren’t like this though. You play on hard, you are just statistically outgunned. Most recently I’m seeing this in Triangle Strategy. Playing on hard, you die in 1 or 2 hits, and need to land 4 or 5 just to take down regular enemies. There’s no strategy or recourse except to raise your levels, which is slow and boring.

Developers seem to either assume anyone who likes to play on hard just loves the tedious grinding, or just don’t care whether more experienced players can enjoy the game just as much as less experienced ones.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

My example of this is XCOM, but they do it the opposite way.
There you have a default difficulty and they name that hard.

then they add stat and probability modifiers in the player‘s favor to create room for error.
And then they add one more difficulty where the most difference is in time and resource management. You have to make do with less, Essentially.

An interesting effect for new players is, that they start on normal and easy, which have both hidden crutches, and get into bad habits because errors are mostly consequence free. they have a hard time dealing with the actual default difficulty because margin of error is a lot smaller, and the game doesn’t teach redundancy methods directly. You only learn those from losing first.
But when losing doesn’t have negative consequences, you don’t take the lecture to heart. You do it again and expect to get away with it.

All in all I like this approach.

 

[Jax]

Hard modes are just about pitting the odds against you and making the game unbalanced. It's just the easiest way of increasing difficulty. Also the most boring way of playing a game IMO.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Hard modes are just about pitting the odds against you and making the game unbalanced. It's just the easiest way of increasing difficulty. Also the most boring way of playing a game IMO.

Why does it have to be that way though? Why is the only well balanced mode always the one designed for genre beginners? Why can’t experienced players have a balanced challenge too?

 

[Owain Taggart]

Why does it have to be that way though? Why is the only well balanced mode always the one designed for genre beginners? Why can’t experienced players have a balanced challenge too?

That's the way it originally was. Games were a much more balanced challenge. The very difficult games are a relatively new thing, unless you count the very early games. And while some people might enjoy very difficult games, it honestly feels more like devs have become lazy about doing proper balancing to make a game enjoyable without it being frustratingly hard.

 

[Malicia]

I used to play shooters on easy setting but would complete the game in a few hours so started playing on maximum difficulty to make them last longer. Games like Deus Ex and Project IGI that was too complicated to work out how the difficulty affected the game. Just get ahead of the game and the best way to do that is grind at the start and make money to buy the best gear. I don't factor in how the difficulty affects the game I just try to stay alive and keep one step ahead. Against computer AI it's very easy to do even against the most fiendish enemies.

 

[Owain Taggart]

There are also games that adjust difficulty on the fly depending on how the player is doing. Some games also have no difficulty levels at all, like Rockstar's games, which aren't generally very difficult. Rather, the missions you get just increase in difficulty along with increased challenge depending on what the game is scripted to throw at you.

 

[Jax]

Last of Us: Part 2 let you customize the difficulty of various aspects, which for me should be used more often rather than generic easy, medium, hard.

 

[BillJ]

Last of Us: Part 2 let you customize the difficulty of various aspects, which for me should be used more often rather than generic easy, medium, hard.

Control is the same way.