Are games becoming too easy?

Paying attention to alot of Witcher 2 reviews, I'm seeing alot of complaints that there is no tutorial and that its relentless and doesn't help the player out.

However they seem to not realize that there is a manual made that explains everything, as well as a comprehensive list of gameplay elements in the in game journal.

The game however IS lacking a tutorial and doesn't pull any punches, leaving many to complain that the game is "too hard."

Now maybe its just me but I thought it was a fun challenge that encouraged me to actually think, kind of like Demons Souls.

But I'm seeing alot of complaints over the lack of hand holding. Are gamers nowadays expecting hand holding? Are games becoming too easy?

What do you think guys?

I'm not sure if they're really getting too easy (sometimes it seems like they're getting harder), but a tutorial really isn't too much to ask for.

Minecraft doesn't have a tutorial, and it isn't bad.

UN JOUR JE SERAI DE RETOUR PRÈS DE TOI

The manuel and the tutorial tips in the journal told you everything you needed.

Games aren't becoming easier, it's gamers becoming more demanding.

"Wait, it's IV. Of course they are. They'd make IV for Dreamcast." - Enlong, on yet another FFIV remake

Maybe? I couldn't really say.

Sometimes I find games that have puzzles or something that are so easy I end up over-thinking them which ends up making them difficult like in Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

On the other hand some of the puzzles in Alone In The Dark (2008) left me completely stumped.

In terms of action games (I mostly play FPS), I find the higher difficulties to usually be hard, but not to the point that I would break the controller, I might curse a bit in frustration though.

Tutorials should exist, but should be optional.

Sakamoto demands an explanation for this shit.

Well, in your Witcher2 example, it's also a matter of players becoming more and more lazy...a manual is there. It's part of what you paid for. So make use of it!

edited 26th May '11 7:41:39 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

Then people will be "OMG THERES NO TUTORIAL" Cuz they're stupid enough not to look in the options.

edited 26th May '11 7:40:35 PM by thespacephantom

UN JOUR JE SERAI DE RETOUR PRÈS DE TOI

In addition, the manual should cover more in-depth information as a supplement.

How'd I get ninja'd by two separate people?

edited 26th May '11 7:41:32 PM by SpellBlade

Or there could be a thing that asks "Do you want to play the tutorial?".....

edited 26th May '11 7:42:10 PM by TwilightFalchion

^^ I miss classic manuals which would do things like give you a backstory and history and inventory of stuff. Those things were the shit.

edited 26th May '11 7:42:26 PM by MajorTom

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

Gamers have forgotten that a manual used to actually have important information as well as lore and other fun things.

None of this "Legal crap, a picture of the controller, and a sentence explaining each mode" crap.

edited 26th May '11 7:42:59 PM by Thorn14

It could be that they didn't think that there was a manual because so many games don't provide one.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

And be printed on nice thick paper, in color.

Sakamoto demands an explanation for this shit.

Classic manuals are on the way out due to sites like Game FA Qs.

But even there there's some stuff that deserves RTFM-ing.

"Wait, it's IV. Of course they are. They'd make IV for Dreamcast." - Enlong, on yet another FFIV remake

And yet right there on the launcher, it says "VIEW MANUAL"

edited 26th May '11 7:43:35 PM by Thorn14

^^^^^^ In most RP Gs, those are found in in-game libraries you can check most of the time. Of course, most gamers today don't bother looking into them anyways...

---

Speaking of tutorials. It's a matter of Unpleasable Fanbase.

In the earlier Monster Hunter games. People bitched about having to learn about the mechanics and the basics themselves instead of just trying the game out.

When they added a series of tutorial missions in Monster Hunter Tri, people bitched about there being tutorials teaching them the game mechanics!

edited 26th May '11 7:46:10 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

I really miss old manuals...I used to spend a good deal of time looking through them. Now I just ignore the things. THEY AREN'T COOL FEELY AWESOME THINGS OF COLOR AND BACKGROUND INFO ANYMORE. D:

A lot of the time anyway. Some are.

edited 26th May '11 7:45:22 PM by Aondeug

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

I knew who-

Wait... you're not Signed. This feels weird. I even had the video lined up.

Anyhow, I think easier most certainly, now that games are becoming more expensive developers are afraid of wasting money because you can't get through or you miss things.

But really, does it really matter? I'm still of the feeling that it' less of "Becoming easier" and more of an "We're getting too used to video games so they feels easy to us."

edited 26th May '11 7:45:47 PM by MousaThe14

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I doubt it. Because then the Witcher 2's difficulty would not be such an issue.

People suddenly aren't being hand held by a forced and usually out of place tutorial and suddenly are throwing fits.

I highly doubt this. Contra was hard when I was a kid. And it's just as hard as it always has been now.

Until I learned there was a Konami Code...in which the game became even harder because I had to fight off the temptation to cheat with it whenever I played the game again!

edited 26th May '11 7:48:53 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

Also forced tutorials are Satan spawn and those who program them should be castrated five times and fed their bits.

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Seriously, tutorials only make sense if the character is honestly learning it.

Why should Geralt, an honest to god Witcher, who kicked alot of ass in Witcher 1, suddenly have to listen to, I dunno, Triss go "PRESS LEFT MOUSE BUTTON TO LIGHT ATTACK"

It kills immersion, and is annoying.

I liked how FFVII did it. It was Cloud teaching NP Cs how the game world worked, not the reverse.

"Wait, it's IV. Of course they are. They'd make IV for Dreamcast." - Enlong, on yet another FFIV remake