Should games have a "Very Easy" mode?

[Your Mom]

I read an article on Kotaku about a guy whos wife sometimes liked to watch him play games and was a really big fan of Ni No Kuni. He said it might be nice if all games had a very easy mode for people like her and others who werent good at games could just enjoy the experience.

I for one think this is a wonderful idea. I know we make jokes on here when I have trouble with games and it's fun, but I have been brought to tears after looking forward to a game for months and getting stuck to the point I don't get to enjoy it anymore.

For some reason people on the site are against it. One guy even said people who can't learn how to do it should just "go read a book". I don't get that. It doesn't effect other people at all. It just opens games up to everyone. Isnt that what we want?

What do you guys think?

[Ruki]

I would be all for it. Anything to create more gamers.

More gamers=more money

more money = more games

[KevinStorm]

There are some games that I've intentionally played on easy just to get through the story, so yeah, I can see the reasoning.

[King Ellis]

I guess people just think that since we're already 'too casual' since the Wii, that if we start catering towards lesser skilled gamers then it's only ever going to keep going in that direction and eventually we wont have any difficult.

[TEOL]

Everything on Kotaku gets tons of negative comments, so I wouldn't worry too much what they say about it.

[Bobfoc]

I almost always play through story-driven games on the easiest settings the first time round. If I enjoy them enough to feel compelled to play through them again, I might ramp up the difficulty a little in order to freshen things up. There are plenty of cynics on the Internet who express disdain for that kind of approach and seem to operate under some kind of sacred "hardcore gamer" pact that obliges them to strive for bravado by powering through games the peasantry "casual" players apparently can't handle, and there's really no good reason for it in my mind. Ideally, a game ought to have both a difficulty setting easy enough to be handled by even the most inexperienced and unskilled of players and a gameplay mode challenging enough for the absolute best players around, with several incremental variants in between.

[Quom]

I'm all for it. I have always had a console in my house (atari, nes, onwards) so games are second nature. Countless times I've got to a hard part and just stopped because there are new games and I can't be bothered trying to work out what the developer intended.

[Mancuerda]

I like games that have varying levels of difficulties that affect gameplay as well as rewards/awards/trophies/add-ons/etc. the best. I'm talking about games where you can unlock extras for playing on other difficulties or even other "modes" with different characters or story arcs or other shifts in the game's dynamic. It increases replay value and enjoyment in the game for me.

[tenaciousg]

Agreed, but only if it's an option and not an overall easing-down of an entire game.

[DMN in the House]

While I prefer a challenge even in story heavy games, I don't see any reason it shouldn't be an option, as long as there was also a challenge for someone like me.

[Mick]

For most games, yes. For RPGs and Visual Novels, no.

Though, the very easy mode can be deceptive. There was this one on the NES, Nobunaga's Ambtion (Koei game during feudal Japan). After you select your ruler, you get to choose the difficulty. The game is difficult enough as it is on 1 (The easiest level), I hate to think what it's like on 5.

[Quom]

Also I probably meant more 'skip this section' more than super easy.

[Your Mom]

Also I probably meant more 'skip this section' more than super easy.

Yes! That would be so great. There are so many games I am sure I could finish without like one or two areas

[Baddar]

All for it.

My girlfriend likes the idea of Uncharted but can't get on with the shooting, so is overwhelmed by the enemies on even the easiest setting.

[Lint]

All for it as well. If someone doesn't like it, they don't have to use it. Anything that gets more people into gaming is good IMO

[Skummy]

Definitely. As much as "hardcore gamers" shit on it, I love that recent Nintendo games have a "guide" where, if you die on the same level multiple times, you get the option of letting a CPU character go through the level for you. You can still jump in and take control at any point. There's nothing forcing you to do it, it's just an option.

For most games, yes. For RPGs and Visual Novels, no

Why not? I can see it being an issue for some games that involve a lot of puzzles and detective work, as you'd end up having to either cut out a bunch of puzzles, or write a whole different set for different difficulty settings, but Curse Of Monkey Island managed it with Normal and "Mega Monkey" mode. I don't see why the majority of RPGs couldn't benefit from an easier gameplay setting.

Ultimately, video games aren't supposed to be a means of proving your superiority by "beating" something your friends couldn't. They're supposed to be fun. And anything that makes a game more fun is fine by me.

Dara O'Brien had a bit on Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe a few years back, where he said something that stuck with me. You fork out between £30 and £50, potentially, on a new game. But if you can't get past a boss halfway through, you're missing out on half of what you've paid for. No other media does that.

You don't get halfway through a book on your Kindle only to find that your access to the next chapter is restricted unless you can answer a series of questions to prove that you understand the themes of the book so far.

[Benji]

I like the idea for things like Mass Effect. I love that the story is so rich, so sometimes you just want to play it for no reason other than to see what you can do differently, so the very easy setting is basically just for you to explore the storylines.

[Lint]

Yea. I can't remember the game it was, but there was one game where I got to a point and got completely stuck. After a few days of trying, I put the game aside and never touched it for a few months, until I went back and tried it again. Of course, on the first try after months, I got past that point in 1 try..

[Noah]

I play pretty much everything on the easiest setting.

Yes, even Fifa. :/

[ZJ Penn]

Recently my gaming backlog has been so huge Ive played a few on easy so I can breeze them and enjoy the story. It also helps if a game is terrible or hasnt aged well. For example, I played through the first 2 FEAR games on easy because the idea was interesting, but I hated the execution.