Difficulty Options

[Maximz]

Oh these are fun ideas I personally liked how Order of Ecclesia handled difficulty:
- Beating the game would unlock New Game+, but difficulty only went up if you selected Hard on your next playthrough.
- Hard mode enemies hit harder and had more health, but the areas also had additional monster placements, some of which were pretty cool. Same thing was done in DS2's NG+, lots of new enemies that would show up when you least expected it.
- You could also cap yourself at Level 1 in OoE. Beating the game on Hard while capped at Level 1 gave you a cool hat

I haven't though about updating enemy AI in new difficulties, we'll have to wait and see what happens

im personally all for updating enemy AI in new difficulties i understand it maybe harder or more time consuming to do, but i honestly feel it poses more of a challenge in the higher difficulties if not only does the hp and dmg increase a bit but if theres something new for you to worry about.

[Konohamaru]

I honestly think that hard difficulty or new game difficulty would be nice additions, but these are not necessary to make the game better. Look at Dark Souls series or Super Meat Boy - both of them didn't need to ask the player the difficulty he/she wants to play, yet somehow both are challenging and very enjoyable. If I could suggest anything it would be to focus on creating balanced normal mode that would be challenging and at the same time was not frustrating.

Bumping up enemies' HP is rather a cheap way out. When you think about it, it doesn't raise the difficulty, but only makes the killing process longer.

BTW: has any one of you guys found a game where changing difficulty setting made the game significantly better or worse?

[SHODANFreeman]

BTW: has any one of you guys found a game where changing difficulty setting made the game significantly better or worse?

A lot of old games had easy modes that were essentially just a demo of the game, and when you beat the massively shortened simple version of the game, it would basically tell you that you suck and should play the normal difficulty instead.

[Konohamaru]

True, but did it made the game better?

[Maximz]

i have played quiet a few where bumping the difficulty made things harder! like starocean 2...YEA I SAID IT! gawd daymn! it also had this side quest that if you did it you unlocked some chiz on a boss that ends up making it unbelievably hard i was like OMG O.O! it wasn't bad enough the boss already did 9999 damage aka ALL YOUR LIFE but then it was like we changed the ai patterns and gave it a new move or two enjoy the beat down of your life HOLY FARK! but it wasnt AS hard in normal lol the game had its difficult times and the final boss did hit for 9999 but not often enough to where u had to really worry if you were quick enough you beat him before he'd land that hit

[fulldepwell]

What i do hope is that the boss will have more then one pattern, like for example each time you start a fight he could jump or attack right away or even just move toward you. For speed runner getting THE pattern is what we want it's what we dream of. If each boss is always the same the challenge will be less and the run could become boring quickly.

[Vipes]

I am ALL for harder game play, AND stacking difficulty in new game plus.....now lets throw this idea into the ring. Lets say you beat the game on normal, the D (difficulty) level moves from 0, to 1. Beat it again, goes from 1 to 2...and so on until it caps at whatever D level Bodie decides. BUT...lets say you start the game on Hard...that would automatically start the game at D level 1...completely skipping D level 0. A fun way to round this how D level topic all together....BUT What if we go one step further...and say that the D level cap for hard mode is one level above normal mode...and in this final play through, you will find certain things you couldn't find in the last play through? Now of course, this would mean many play throughs, if Bodie even decides to go this route. Lets say he makes 3 D levels...accounting for 4 play throughs on either mode you play. Normal would get 0-1-2-3 and Hard would get 1-2-3-4.....4 being this, REALLY hard play through (couple hits till death) but upon beating it, it gives you something special for the whole game, including any new file you may start...skins or something.....hmm....I think I will need to bring some of these ideas over to the new game plus area....I hope Bodie gets a chance to read this.

[Bodie]

Sounds like fun, we'll have wait and see if it works with the game

[Vipes]

Indeed Bodie. There are a lot of factors that need to be set in stone before something like that can be taken seriously. How you grow stronger for example. I will continue trying to come up with things. Just played the demo...VERY smooth feeling, and I'm sure it will only get better. I've already gave a short list on trophy ideas. Haha, Lizzie liked the names I came up with for the trophies.