Psychonauts 2 will feature an invincibility toggle to enable "all ages, all possible needs" to enjoy the game - Game journalist mode ahoy!

[Dom Cruise]

BTW I don't hate Tim Schafer, I actually got to meet him by chance while in San Fran and he came off a decent enough fellow. I just recognized him at a restaurant and he talked to me, a total nobody for at least 20 minutes. But I do hold a small grudge towards him. I think it was lousy of him to use Kickstarter to raise money for what appeared to be a spiritual successor to his LucasArts Adventure games. And he turned around and delivered Broken Age, a game that I at least feel holds no resemblance to Day of the Tentacle or Monkey Island.

I know what you mean about Tim Schafer, I still like him but he does say and do frustrating things sometimes.

Broken Age was too frou frou and not at all what I was expecting either.

You got a lone autistic rating because you're acting like beating an ordinary game is something to be truly proud of. Also when I read "stolen valour" my mind instantly connected it with those pathetic shitheads who get military clothing from a surplus store and are caught as frauds by actual vets. I think what you meant to refer to is the SJW jargon "cultural appropriatiation."

But anyway let me give a solid example of why devs will encourage players to move up to higher difficulties, and why it can make for a stronger experience. Let's discuss a game that appealed to all gamers including casuals, Guitar Hero 2.

In Guitar Hero 2 you play thru the campaign by successfully passing each song. There's several difficulties, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert. But you can't unlock all the songs if you just do Easy mode, no you have to play it on Medium at minimum to get to the "Encore" songs. Yes Harmonix did what SJWs like to call "gatekeeping", if you can't get past easy you're shit outta luck. This all culminates in the last song of the career campaign; Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird. Before you even play the song the game gives three silly warning prompts over how difficult Freebird is.
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Freebird is a pretty tough song. I remember failing it a few times on Medium, losing a lot on hard but eventually overcoming it, and never getting close to beating it in Expert Difficulty. Still it was satisfying to complete it and see the whole career mode. Here's a player perfectly completing Freebird on the highest difficulty.

If you watch the ending you see this guy pump his fists several times. That right there is the true magic of video games, to give you the illusion that you did something truly amazing. At the end of the day we all know he was just following along to floating notes on a Fisher Price style guitar. But when we play a good game one suspends disbelief and you feel like you're in a virtual world. You felt like you actually played Guitar.

By all means the successors to Guitar Hero 2 were superior as they had more songs and the Drum set was awesome. But I look back at that whole short lived subgenre of Western Developed Rhythm games and my memories of Guitar Hero 2 remain the strongest. I'd argue because it pushed the player to master the songs. Something that Harmonix and Activision decided to move aside as they then retooled the franchises into being a more party friendly game.

Man, this is a great post that really nails something about video games.

 

[UnsufficentBoobage]

They should just make separate versions of everything that are cutscene-heavy walking simulators with extra-dexterous character customisation.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

I don't know why people care. I think it's good to include a "movie" mode to watch games that have a story you want to experience, or this type of invincibility mode just to get through bullshit.

I also like the inclusion of extreme difficulty modes/options for people seeking some masochistic challenge. I want no part of either one but they're both fine.

Personally, I play on normal unless the game is unbalanced and/or too easy/hard or requires grinding. I think Trophies/Achievements should not be obtainable with invincibility though, that's the only part I think is dumb.

 

[The Last Stand]

I would think they would at least add a couple achievements that require thought.

 

[Pissmaster]

oh boy, it's gonna be a bad game by virtue of gaming journos praising it for a very benign reason and therefore preemptively heading off criticism by just calling people gatekeepers

that's a shame, psychonauts 1 was ok, though it got really boring after the milkman conspiracy level and I never beat it

 

[The Last Stand]

Racing games can be hard by default because of rubber banding.

 

[Gig Bucking Fun]

Psychonauts? More like Psychoniggers.

 

[No Exit]

You know why I'm against making games so easy that even drooling retards could complete it? Let me put this in language the SJWs will understand: stolen valour. Y'know, the thing you accuse people wearing native American headdresses at rock concerts of? I earned that damn ending, if they want to see it they should put in the work too. This would be somewhat mitigated by trophies and achievements for completing the game in normal or hard mode, but apparently that's too exclusive now as well. Sooner or later every game will just say "Game Over, You Win!" the second you start it up.

Holy shit man, touch grass.

 

[The Last Stand]

If @Cyclonus is getting Psychonauts 2, everybody here should play on invincibility mode just to "steal" from him.

 

[Cyclonus]

You won't be stealing from me, you'll be stealing from yourselves. I oppose this for the same reason I oppose abridged novels.

 

[Fagnacious D]

You know why I'm against making games so easy that even drooling retards could complete it? Let me put this in language the SJWs will understand: stolen valour. Y'know, the thing you accuse people wearing native American headdresses at rock concerts of? I earned that damn ending, if they want to see it they should put in the work too. This would be somewhat mitigated by trophies and achievements for completing the game in normal or hard mode, but apparently that's too exclusive now as well. Sooner or later every game will just say "Game Over, You Win!" the second you start it up.

At this point they just need to let the game play itself from start to finish with no player input whatsoever (like an expanded version of The New Super Mario Brothers guides) or have ctrl+w like Money Island did.
What does ctrl+w do? It wins the game for you instantly.

 

[Toolbox]

Now Persona 5 fans can actually beat the game.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

You won't be stealing from me, you'll be stealing from yourselves. I oppose this for the same reason I oppose abridged novels.

Stealing what? When I used a save state so I didn't need to beat Super Mario 3 in one sitting what did I steal from myself? When I used fast forward during every grind session in old JRPGs, what did I lose? When I played Metal Gear Solid 2 on hard my first time through did I rob myself of experiencing the creator's vision, presumably normal? Or would that only happen if I chose easy because every difficulty option EXCEPT easier ones are all the creator's vision?

Really trying to figure out what this thinking entails. The only valid reason I can see for opposing easier modes is to piss off libtards, they seem really stuck on it.

 

[The Last Stand]

Games are meant to be fun. There's the option to cheese it if you want. It's not like the developer is forcing everybody to use it. Be glad that it's a feature and not being sold as DLC.

 

[Bussy Catalog]

You know, when I was a kid basically every game had a God mode cheat or some other way to completely cheese the game and remove all challenge. It was only in the 2000s that that fell out of style because it wasn’t immersive. I’m fine with bringing it back, it’s not like other people playing on baby mode detracts from your experience playing on hard.

 

[The Last Stand]

1980's/1990's - Hey you fucking pricks, here's some hard-as-balls games to torture yourself with! If you beat the game, you have officially become a man!

Games were harder back then so that they wouldn't be beaten easily. If you knew what you were doing, those games could be beaten in an hour or two. Super Mario Brothers could be beaten in five minutes.

 

[Celebrate Nite]

Games were harder back then so that they wouldn't be beaten easily. If you knew what you were doing, those games could be beaten in an hour or two.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Have you ever had the feeling of working hard to finish a game and enjoying the experience you've had with it, especially if said hard game was a good one? The skills you pick-up and knowledge you learn over time... the accomplished feeling you get after getting past a tough point because you used your big boy brain all by yourself because back then your only option was video game magazines to help you, IF that... you don't find that rewarding?

 

[Snekposter]

You got a lone autistic rating because you're acting like beating an ordinary game is something to be truly proud of. Also when I read "stolen valour" my mind instantly connected it with those pathetic shitheads who get military clothing from a surplus store and are caught as frauds by actual vets. I think what you meant to refer to is the SJW jargon "cultural appropriatiation."

But anyway let me give a solid example of why devs will encourage players to move up to higher difficulties, and why it can make for a stronger experience. Let's discuss a game that appealed to all gamers including casuals, Guitar Hero 2.

In Guitar Hero 2 you play thru the campaign by successfully passing each song. There's several difficulties, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert. But you can't unlock all the songs if you just do Easy mode, no you have to play it on Medium at minimum to get to the "Encore" songs. Yes Harmonix did what SJWs like to call "gatekeeping", if you can't get past easy you're shit outta luck. This all culminates in the last song of the career campaign; Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird. Before you even play the song the game gives three silly warning prompts over how difficult Freebird is.
View attachment 2339242
View attachment 2339250
View attachment 2339252
Freebird is a pretty tough song. I remember failing it a few times on Medium, losing a lot on hard but eventually overcoming it, and never getting close to beating it in Expert Difficulty. Still it was satisfying to complete it and see the whole career mode. Here's a player perfectly completing Freebird on the highest difficulty.

If you watch the ending you see this guy pump his fists several times. That right there is the true magic of video games, to give you the illusion that you did something truly amazing. At the end of the day we all know he was just following along to floating notes on a Fisher Price style guitar. But when we play a good game one suspends disbelief and you feel like you're in a virtual world. You felt like you actually played Guitar.

By all means the successors to Guitar Hero 2 were superior as they had more songs and the Drum set was awesome. But I look back at that whole short lived subgenre of Western Developed Rhythm games and my memories of Guitar Hero 2 remain the strongest. I'd argue because it pushed the player to master the songs. Something that Harmonix and Activision decided to move aside as they then retooled the franchises into being a more party friendly game.

God, I did that song in Rock Band once. On Easy. My fingers hated me for minutes afterwards. That man is a legend.

 

[Marissa Moira]

Psychonauts? More like Psychoniggers.

I'd buy a South Africa Simulator.

 

[The Penultimate Warrior]

You say that like it's a bad thing. Have you ever had the feeling of working hard to finish a game and enjoying the experience you've had with it, especially if said hard game was a good one? The skills you pick-up and knowledge you learn over time... the accomplished feeling you get after getting past a tough point because you used your big boy brain all by yourself because back then your only option was video game magazines to help you, IF that... you don't find that rewarding?

Different people find different things rewarding. Sometimes it's fun to turn on things like god mode or no clip in a game like Doom or Fallout and just mess around, or if you fancy replaying a particular mission or level without having to go through everything else to get there.