It's Easy, So It Sucks: Difference between revisions
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[[File:burntherope.jpg|link=You Have to Burn The Rope|frame|Burn the rope? That's it? Man, this game sucks!]]
{{quote|''"People don't spend sixty bucks on a game they know they can beat."''|'''George Wood''', ''[[Gaming in The Clinton Years|Flights of Fantasy]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4i6QoWONLQ Toy Story review].<ref>Immediately after [[
Sometimes a gamer plays a new game only to find the level of challenge is less than what [[Most Gamers Are Male|he]] expected - sometimes considerably so. To some gamers, this shall not stand! [[Video Games]] are about overcoming ''challenge''! Without challenge, a game is little more than a pointless exercise.
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[[I Thought It Meant|No, this has nothing to do with sexual promiscuity or oral sex.]]
{{examples
=== General ===
* Many old school gamers in general generalize all modern games to be easy, with modern elements such as checkpoints, saves, (near) unlimited lives, and most importantly, a lack of [[Fake Difficulty]]. (The latter often being a result of the [[Nostalgia Filter]] and the [[Unpleasable Fanbase]].)
* [[Moviebob|TheGameOverthinker]] revealed that [[Nintendo]] patented [http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/2009/02/episode-nineteen-third-way.html a technology] that would give hints to players who are apparently stuck in a game and allow gamers to bypass difficult sections altogether, playing them as semi-cutscenes instead. Cue the whining.
** This ultimately came to a climax with the new "Super Guide" being added into ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'', which can, after you die eight times in one level, take over for you and show you how to finish a level. It is theoretically possible to beat the game simply by dying and continuing enough to activate it (although doing so is definitely more tedious than just playing the game yourself). Needless to say, there's been a lot of backlash from this one...never mind that
*** Of course, Nintendo seems to have used this feature as an excuse to make the games that include it much harder in general, so that players who don't want to use the guide will get the greater challenge in games that would otherwise be made easier so that people could finish it. Also, using the guide typically results in [[Easy Mode Mockery]] of some kind- in ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'', even having been ''offered'' use of the guide results in the [[Lost Forever|loss]] of a [[Bragging Rights Reward]] of sparkles on the stars that mark your completion level. Also, using it in ''[[
* [[Your Mileage May Vary|One could argue]] that this is the mindset of pretty much every ROM hacker that makes a [[Nintendo Hard]] or [[Platform Hell|even harder than that]] ''[[Super Mario World (
** Whenever a mod doesn't ramp the difficulty up to [[Platform Hell]] levels, it doesn't matter ''how'' thorough the ROM-Hack was or ''how'' revamped it is; if it's not [[Platform Hell]], it sucks. This is probably due to the fact ROM hacks are always played on emulators, which make the game easier ("tool-assisted").
* During [[The Golden Age of Video Games]], particularly 1982-1983, many Atari2600 titles had "easy" game difficulty levels (among several difficulty levels), which allowed children or others with less mental acuity to get acquainted with the game and succeed. To an experienced gamer, the "child" variation – often it was marked with a teddy bear – was absurdly easy and the more challenging variations would invariably be chosen.
=== Action Adventure ===
* ''[[Castlevania]]: [[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night|Symphony of the Night]]'' angered many fans of the series' incredible challenge factor. The [[Metroidvania]] installments of the series tend towards easier difficulty in general.
** Indeed, there are so many possible [[Game Breaker
** That was reversed in the last Metroidvania, ''[[Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia|Order of Ecclesia]]'', where the considerably shorter dungeons are populated by ''very'' angry and powerful enemies; careless players will never be able to reach the now scarcer checkpoints. Even Igarashi's detractors agreed that the game, while not perfect, is much more challenging and closer to the older ''Castlevanias'' than any of the games since ''Symphony Of The Night'' or ''[[Castlevania: Circle of the Moon|Circle of the Moon]]''.
*** ''Circle of the Moon'' was still [[Sequel Difficulty Spike|significantly more difficult]] than its predecessor.
** Playing the trope straight, [[Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance|Harmony of Dissonance]] gets flack for being the easiest game in the series, among other things.
* Many ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' fans complain how the games have steadily gotten easier over the course of the series. Especially after going into 3D. The series added more and more interesting puzzles but included easier combat, fewer traps, and less dangerous [[Boss Battle
** ''The Legend of Zelda: [[A Link to The Past]]'' started the trend by actually showing you where the dungeons are instead of leaving you to go find them yourself, as well as making the controls more intuitive and the enemies far less numerous and powerful. Also, one of the more difficult challenges in doing a 000 game is that you cannot Save and Quit (this requirement was removed in the GBA port), but even without that requirement it takes a whole lot more skill to do that in the two NES games. Once the 3D installments rolled around it got even easier to do a 000 game. (In Zelda games, the number of restarts - usually caused by a Game Over, but some games add one if you save and come back - is counted by your name. In the NES games your number will be [[Nintendo Hard|astronomically high]]. The later ones, not necessarily.)
* ''[[La
** Ironically, NIGORO (the developers of ''La-Mulana'') is toning down the difficulty (at least of certain elements, like the save system) for the WiiWare remake, citing the need to make the game more accessible for most WiiWare customers. [http://la-mulana.com/en/blog/about_difficulty.html They're also aware that this trope is going to be a potential reaction from some players.]
** The [[Brutal Bonus Level]] on the other hand is apparently going to be [http://la-mulana.com/en/blog/question_from_many_country.html harder].
* This was a complaint leveled at ''[[Okami]]'' a lot, and it ''was'' an easy game: The items were cheap and powerful, and a plentiful [[Auto Revive]] was built into your abilities. It was still critically acclaimed and sold decently. Indeed, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but considering that it was made by [[Viewtiful Joe|Clover Studios]]...
** Speaking of Clover Studios, this is what a lot of fans said about ''Viewtiful Joe 2.'' And the DS one. And the Gamecube [[Mascot Fighter]]...
** Which is ironic considering that Clover Studios was also behind ''[[God Hand]]'', a game criticized for [[
=== Action Game ===
* ''[[Devil May Cry]] 2'' was criticized for a lot of design choices, the too-easy fights being just one of many. [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|And then came]] [[Sequel Difficulty Spike|the sequel.]]
** ''[[Devil May Cry]] 4'' is being criticised by long-time fans of the series due its significantly lower difficulty compared to the third game.
* ''[[Gungrave]]'' and ''Nightshade'' got this, as their challenge was mainly based around getting a high score or equivalent, and they were fairly easy if you wanted to just charge through to the end. Oddly, the more traditionally difficult ''Gungrave: Overdose'' and ''Shinobi'' instead get complaints about being ''too hard''.
** In Nightshade's case, it managed to feel more like a traditional Shinobi game due to easy levels, but relatively hard bosses. Of course, ditching the health-draining sword mechanic of [[
* The [[Freddi Fish]] series arcade styled spinoff ''[[Freddi Fish]] and Luther's Water Worries'' gets a lot of this. Being a children's game, you shouldn't expect much to begin with, but it's very hard to actually lose in it at all, [[Pandering to
* The ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' series prided itself on being some of the hardest games around. This changed in the reboot version of ''Ninja Gaiden 3''. Critics and fans hated the game for taking the strategic fighting elements from the first two and toning them down to a simple one button hack & slash. One common complaint being that you can close your eyes and still kill all the enemies.
=== Adventure Game ===
* This was a major complaint levelled at ''[[Leisure Suit Larry]] 5: Passionate Patti Does A Little Undercover Work'': The designer's intention was to make the game play more like an interactive cartoon rather than a complicated adventure game, and make sure as many people as possible finish the game, therefore removing old Sierra adventure game standards such as [[The Many Deaths of You|death]] or [[Unwinnable]] situations. Despite ''Larry 5'' being, for these reasons alone, significantly better than the games that preceded it, adventure game fans cried foul as their beloved genre was being dumbed down for the masses.
* Hardcore Sierra Enthusiasts and [[
* And even when another Sierra adventure game called ''[[
** The minmaxing, powergaming types are compelled to use every tool at their disposal to their advantage for maximum gaming efficiency: [[Game Breaker]] weapons, physics glitches, you name it. Those people ''did'' have to use the in-game hint feature, simply because it was available to be used, but they don't have to like it.
* The new [[Telltale Games|Telltale]] game [[Back to the Future: The Game|Back to The Future]] has been called this by many gamers. The puzzles are very simplistic and the games short, however, the dialogue and story were written by Bob Gale, the writer of the films, and the voice talent is top-notch. This results in a [[Broken Base]] between fans of the film and hardcore gamers who want a challenge.
** Telltale Games are usually like this. The ability to have a hint system in [[The Adventures of Sam
=== Driving Game ===
* ''[[
** [[Mario Kart]] 7 more so, since not only is the drifting like Mario Kart Wii, but the star rankings have been made much easier to get and things like wheelies, bikes and much of a single player mode have been removed as well.
** This is all while [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|the AI is poised to make things not so easy for you]].
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* [[Forza Motorsport]] 3 gets this because of its unlimited rewind feature, which is optional, not available in multiplayer, and a detriment for your leaderboard standings.
=== Fighting Games ===
* Many fans of [[Street Fighter]] derided Virtua Fighter, and later Tekken, as being too easy because characters had full limb movement and the game didn't require you to learn combos to win. Nevermind that 3D games have a far larger variety of moves and thus less of a need to stick to a strategy, old school players still deride it as 'button mashing'.
* A common criticism with newer fighting games, particularly those by Capcom, is their alleged simplicity compared to older titles. Particularly, fans of [[Marvel vs. Capcom 2]] commonly cite this trope as a reason they dislike [[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]].
=== First Person Shooter ===
* ''[[
** While ''[[System Shock 2]]'', which ''Bioshock'' is the [[Spiritual Successor]] of, had resurrection chambers, the difference was that there was only one on each level and you had to find and activate it first. And it costs you- no nanites; you stay dead!
* When ''[[Halo 3]]'' isn't being bashed for gameplay modifications or whatever, it's being bashed because it's too easy. The developers have freely admitted that Easy difficulty is purposely developed so that "my grandma can complete the game if she wants". However, try it on [[Harder Than Hard|Legendary]].
** While still being a challenge, Legendary in ''Halo 3'' in itself is still toned down compared to Legendary in ''Halo 2''. There are only, at best, a handful of Sniper Jackals in the entire game of ''Halo 3'' (likely because they were [[Demonic Spiders]] in ''Halo 2''), and while the Brutes are significantly improved from 2 to 3, the Brutes are not even close to being a replacement for how fierce and challenging the Elites could be.
*** More importantly, the Sniper Jackals who are still in the game don't seem to be armed with "I can kill you in one shot if you are ''driving a vehicle''" Beam Rifles anymore. [[Halo 3: ODST]] feels like the same end result at times, since you are not a SPARTAN super-soldier, and you have less overall health.
*** Of course, this could be a bit of [[Fridge Brilliance]] in the fact that Brutes are tactical idiots. The Fleet of Retribution destroyed the Covenant fleet above the ark when outnumbered ''three ships to one''.
**** You can get by without as much tactics if you have numbers and strength, and you as the player usually face a lot more than three Brutes at once anyway.
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* [[Regenerating Health]] is usually looked down upon as making modern FPSs too easy in comparison to the traditional health system in older ones. Never mind the fact that it helped to remove nigh-[[Unwinnable]] situations in which your character was dangerously low on health and there were plenty of enemies in sight, but not enough (or even ''any'') health packs in sight.
===
* In the [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] genre, a vocal minority loathe ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' because, compared to other MMORPGs of the time, it was too easy to grind to max level, the penalties for dying [[Death Is a Slap
<!-- comment Guys, cut out all the Justifying Edits. Please. Just list the facts. -->
** Starting raids were too easy. Epics were too easy to get. ([[Memetic Mutation|"Purples are the new blues!"]]) Stats were simplified too much. Never mind that Blizzard ''wants'' more players to get into raids, citing as examples the 2% or less of the player base that ever entered Naxxramas at level 60, or Sunwell Plateau at level 70. Never mind that all raids since 3.1 have featured "hard modes" that award better gear and [[Cosmetic Award|Achievements]].
** In many cases raid bosses will be released harder than intended, either because of [[Game Breaking Bug
*** The developers responded to complaints that raiding was "too easy" by adding Algalon "the Raid Destroyer" the Observer, who took over a month for players to first kill, and is generally considered one of the hardest bosses (for deliberate reasons, not because of a bug or because the boss was temporarily overpowered because the next one wasn't ready yet) ever introduced in the game. (It should be noted, also, that you need to beat the hard mode of the "final" boss of the dungeon Algalon appears in in order to reach Algalon - and the toggle resets weekly - and that that hard mode is ''also'' considered one of the legitimately hardest fights in the game.)
** There have also been complaints, of all things, about Blizzard's attempts to simplify the stat system, under the premise that players shouldn't have to consult a strategy guide, develop spreadsheets, or run third-party simulation programs to figure out if a piece of gear is an upgrade for them or not. (As well as removing stats that were redundant and making Intellect work ''the same way as Strength and Agility'' did for DPS classes.)
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** And now with issue 16 players have more options for setting the difficulty. Ranging from normal spawn number to spawns ussualy set for 8 people and same level enemies to over four levels higher.
* There's a vocal part of the ''[[Gaia Online|zOMG!]]'' fanbase that insists any nerfing of any quest or enemy is ruining the game by making it easy. This includes the parts of the game that were honestly too difficult for the CL it was meant for. And the game is ''still in beta''.
** The update in the first half of December 2009. Enemies (including bosses) were universally weakened, and many buff rings had their duration increased and/or recharge time drastically shortened as well as given an area of effect that reached all players visible on the screen ''without using any Rage Ranks''. The tutorial has also been stripped out, which gives veteran players the impression that newcomers aren't bothering to learn basic mechanics of the game such as swapping rings or ''leveling up''. Oh, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|gold rewards have been increased]], but it's still a pittance compared to what other methods on the site can earn.
* ''[[
** An upcoming (as of June 2010) update is set to remove the [[Fake Difficulty|level caps]] from the ''Chains of Promathia'' expansion, widely regarded as the hardest series of missions in the game mostly because it's impossible to find help for them since most players cleared the missions five years ago and never looked back. Once the announcement of the cap removal was made, [[Internet Backlash|queue throngs of whining elitists who will literally not be affected by the change in the slightest because it "takes away from the game's difficulty"]].
* This happened quite a bit with ''[[Guild Wars]]''...Even ''Factions'' received this complaint when it was new! Nevermind the amounts of [[That One Level|missions declared as "Newbie Traps"]] that happen ''very early in the game'' compared to even Prophecies's [[That One Level|annoying levels.]]
** And a lot of things in the game catch hell for precisely this reason. Heroes, PVE Skills, inscriptions for weapons (never mind that the previous system ''sucked ass''), specific weapons becoming more common, etc etc...
* ''[[League of Legends]]'' is often considered by ''[[Heroes of Newerth]]'' fans to be a "noob game" due to its lower skill cap and newbie-friendly features at the expense of player skill and the competitive scene. True to this trope, ''LoL'' went on to become one of the most successful online games in the West while ''HoN'' experienced very limited growth in it's playerbase after the open beta and was forced to adapt the same free-to-play model as ''LoL'' a year after it launched. The hostility of the [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|community]] towards new players was likely one of the key reasons for this(though having a price tag for over a year compared to ''LoL'' being free-to-play the whole time didn't help matters).
=== Platform Game ===
* The ''[[Mega Man (
** To this day, ''[[
** Subversively ''9'' is a throwback to the [[Nintendo Hard]] era. It's short, but very difficult.
*** And then along came ''10'', with the addition of an Easy Mode. Cue rage from the [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys]] (Never mind the fact that ''[[
** The ''[[Mega Man Zero
* ''[[
** ''[[
** The ''[[
** [http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=105540 Miyamoto himself has stated]{{Dead link}} that he regrets making ''[[New Super Mario Bros
* ''[[
** However, some bonus stages like catching melon blocks slowly can be quite difficult.
* The ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario]] [[Video Game Remake|Advance]]'' series is often accused of this, what with things such as your number of lives being saved. To ''Super Mario Advance 4'''s credit, it had an e-Reader card that replaces the enemies with harder versions, but that [[No Export for You|never made it out of Japan]].
* A lot of people hated ''[[Metroid]] Fusion'' for giving you the location of your next destination and closing off alternate routes, claiming that it destroyed the series's emphasis on [[Metroidvania|exploration]]. Gamespot [[
** The ''Fusion'' example is made even more ironic in that the game was anything but easy. <s> Some</s> Most of the bosses (such as [[That One Boss|Nightmare]]) were incredibly frustrating. There are some sections of the game where you have to run from the SA-X which is not a cakewalk in some cases.
** People complained about ''Super Metroid'' back in the day, saying the inclusion of an automap feature was a travesty against everything ''[[Metroid]]'' was about.
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* The 2008 ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' game has also been criticized for being very easy, as the companion saves you from any death while platforming or fighting, though you're brought back at the beginning of whatever platforming, or after the enemy regains a good chunk of health. For all intents and purposes, this means that the game establishes checkpoints at every safe platform, rather than forcing you to go back to some arbitrary checkpoint and waste time redoing five minutes or so of platforming just to get back to where you were before.
** Another complaint about the 2008 ''Prince of Persia'' has to do with the changes to the series platform running, climbing, and jumping. It feels much more hand-held than before, and things like direction and distance and timing feel less important. As long as the buttons are pressed in the correct order, it is difficult to screw up a maneuver. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npb34fHDIwc As this review comments], it has been reduced to a quick-time-event.
* ''[[
* ''[[Nintendo Power]]'s'' only complaint about ''[[
* In ''[[Donkey Kong Country (video game)]]'', visits to Cranky's Cabin are accompanied by Cranky ranting about how newer games have been dumbed down for new players.
** Which is somewhat ironic because the series is [[Nintendo Hard]]. Especially the second one.
* For some reason, this is usually averted with ''[[Kirby]]'' games, even though [[Just for Pun|they're easy, and he sucks.]]
** The reason for the aversion is that many Kirby games heavily apply [[Easy Levels, Hard Bosses]]. Kirby Super Star is usually considered to be harder than most other games in the series, and its expanded remake includes the maddeningly difficult [[That One Level|True Arena]]. ''The Amazing Mirror'' isn't a cakewalk either, and ''Kirby's Pinball Land'' is pretty damn hard. However, ''Kirby's Epic Yarn'' actually ''has'' been suffering from this trope: mainly because, in ''Epic Yarn'', you don't have health and lives in the usual sense, or even what is standard for Kirby games; instead, taking hits merely causes you to lose some of your in-game currency. This makes bosses almost laughably easy. [[
*** This makes a lot of sense when you consider that the developer for ''Epic Yarn'' also developed ''[[Wario Land]]: Shake It!'' (see the [[Wario Land]] entry above).
* This was the main complaint against the first ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' game. ''[[Nintendo Hard|Jak II]]'' fixed that.
* Fans of the newer ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]'' games (especially ''The Legend of Spyro'') are prone to saying this about the original series.
** The second game introduced the ability to save anywhere in the level. This, coupled with the lack of dragon statues, changed the game into somewhat of a standard platformer. It's still quite hard in places but far more childish.
* ''[[Jett Rocket]]'' received some flack for
* ''[[Jumper (
* ''[[
** Hell, Yuji Naka, creator of Sonic and lead developer up until Sonic 06 (when he quit) claims Sonic games aren't as fun any more, as the new games lack the challenge of the Classics.
* ''[[
** Partly averted with the Extra Levels.
* ''Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout'' (NES): It is
=== Puzzle Game ===▼
* Part of the backlash for newer ''[[
▲== Puzzle Game ==
▲* Part of the backlash for newer ''[[Tetris (Video Game)|Tetris]]'' games comes from [[Game Breaker|infinite spin]], then there's the purists of older versions of ''Tetris'' that denounce the piece generator in newer versions, saying that surviving a wave of S and Z pieces and going 50 pieces without an I piece is what ''Tetris'' is all about.
** ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3'' implements floor kicks, which allow an I block on a flat surface to rotate upright, allowing it to more easily slip into holes one block wide. This feature was not in ''TGM3'''s predecessors, which has led some players to believe that this ruins the challenge of the ''TGM'' series.
* There were complaints about the introduction of 'Super Hints' in [[Professor Layton and
** The complaint is a tad silly given that, at least, it uses a game mechanic and expends a finite supply of
=== Rhythm Game ===
* When ''[[Guitar Hero]]: World Tour'''s track list was announced, fans complained that there was no song on par with "[[That One Boss|Through The Fire and The Flames]]". Fan backlash and [[Flame War|flame wars]] are expected as those fans realize that "Satch Boogie" is not on that level, and that's the only really hard song in the game.
* ''[[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]: [[Rock Band]]'' earned its fair share of this before it was even out; players who cut their teeth on ''[[Guitar Hero]] III'''s "Through the Fire and Flames" decried ''<small>TB:RB</small>'' as "just a bunch of tier 1 songs."
* ''[[DJMAX]] Portable 2'' reuses a few songs from the original ''DJMAX Portable'' such as "Blythe" and "NB Ranger", and gives them new, usually-easier charts. Fans complained about the new charts.
** Some players don't like the new Fever system in ''DJMAX Portable Clazziquai Edition'' and ''Black Square'', because they lack the distracting tinting of the playfield when you get a x3 Fever or more going, the x5 Fever mode in both games doesn't cause your speed multiplier to increase, and the x7 Fever mode only causes it to do so when you hit x7. Some even go as far as to wish that the x7 Fever feature had ''two'' increases in speed multiplier. It Doesn't Have [[Fake Difficulty]], So It Sucks.
=== Role Playing Game ===
* ''[[Ar
* Though the ''[[
** This even happened to ''[[Dragon Age]]''...never mind that ''it has difficulty settings''; and several bosses are ''still'' difficult on Easy Mode.
*** Then [[Dragon Age 2]] is criticised for being easier than the first one.
* ''[[
** In the same vein, ''[[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles]]'' was bashed for, among other things, ease of play, which contrasted directly the much-hyped difficulty of use. It's not a hard game by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not supposed to be.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]] 2'' got this type of criticism because of its simple reaction commands and the addition of Drive forms, and the almost total removal of any platforming or puzzles whatsoever.
** Which was probably why [[Square Enix]] decided to program ''[[Birth By Sleep]]'' as it was. One troper's response to the whining about the difficulty of the Mysterious Figure optional boss:
{{quote|
* ''[[Grandia II]]''. Like, beating the game for the first time without losing a single winnable battle (there were some [[Hopeless Boss Fight|uniwnnable ones, Millenia and Melfice]])?
* [[Hype Backlash]] aside, a common complaint against ''[[Fable
** This was extended even further with ''[[
* The remakes of ''[[
** Later remakes were stuck in "easy mode" (the PSX version had to option for "old-school" difficulty or easy mode). In addition to making level ups easier to achieve (level 2 takes 12 XP instead of 40, for example), it replaced the [[Vancian Magic|"x spells per level" mechanic]] with a straight MP mechanic. This ended up seriously unbalancing the game towards the player, who could now cast NUKE (Flare) many, many times per dungeon, as opposed to two or three times. However, the developers DID realize how devastatingly powerful this is: all enemies have increased magic resistance, and bosses are almost entirely immune to attack magic (except Lich with Dia. Go. Fucking. Nuts).
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]: Chain of Memories'' has been criticized for being somewhat easy, as on many boss fights against enemies with decks (for example, the Organization members), the player can repeatedly dodge the boss's sleights (which remove one card from the deck) to drain the boss' card reserves. Eventually, the boss will be unable to make more than a few attacks without reloading, will hardly ever use any of the sleights, and most likely will have used up its Enemy Cards, so it will be relatively easy pickings.
** Not to mention the fact that your deck was never shuffled. Why is this noteworthy? Because you can stack it so that you only have to mash the buttons to pull out sleight after sleight, during some of which you are invincible, then once your deck is badly depleted via sleight depletion, reload it with an Elixir (which reloads used cards as well). Ouch.
** Although amusingly, ''Chain of Memories'' actually had complaints for being too ''hard'' at the same time. (No, not ''just'' the Playstation 2 version; which upped the Difficulty, despite rewarding the player by exploiting the heck out of sleights even ''more'') During late 2004 (When the game was relased in North America), several boards were complaining about [[Goddamned Bats|Neoshadows, bandits, fat bandits, and defenders]], [[That One Boss|any of the Vexen fights, the fourth fight with Repliku, the first fight with Marluxia, the final fight with Repliku and final boss on Reverse Rebirth]].
* ''[[
** The remakes ''HeartGold'' and ''SoulSilver'' copped flack for not really bumping up the initial difficulty all that much, and because Whitney's Pokémon dropped one level. Never mind that everything after the Elite Four got a boost, many of the Gym Leaders received a level boost as well, rematch battles against Gym Leaders and Elite Four reach into the 70's, Red's team almost hits 90's, Ghost Pokémon no longer work against Whitney and the AI in general has been greatly improved from the original games.
** The main games in general get this accusation from [[Serious Business|more competitive players]] who have every last bit of the system memorized. Most fans seem to forget that the series tries to appeal to ''all'' ages.
* One of several complaints against ''[[Mana
* [[Gaiden Game]] ''[[Suikoden Tierkreis]]'' is often bashed by a portion of ''Suikoden'' fans for being much easier than the main games. And that's just one of the reasons why they refuse to support this game...
* ''[[Lunar Silver Star Story Complete|Lunar: Silver Star Harmony]]'' has gotten shit for being easy than previous versions of Lunar.
** The limit-breaks have been criticized. Never mind that one, they're actually optional, two, unless you unleash them all at once, only trivialize trash mob fights (With the exception of Mia's Mist Barrier. A [[Challenge Gamer]] doing a low level run's wet dream), and, notably, the fact that Luna was actually ''useful'' when you had her with you. (She wasn't that useful in the Playstation&Saturn versions, and was absent in the Sega CD)
* ''[[
** The later bosses in [[
** Also surprisingly, many people don't have an issue of the game being easy; sometimes people cite it as [[Tropes Are Tools|a good way to introduce people to the genre]].
** ''[[
* [[The Elder Scrolls]] Oblivion has players complaining about a lot of things, but one of them is that the (optional) travel system makes the game too easy, since you can evade random encounters after you first found a location.
* ''[[Avadon]]'' is an interesting case in that it's not much easier than most other recent western RPGs, but the default difficulty is significantly easier than [[
* One of the main complaints usually raised against [[Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]] is this trope. How [[Egregious]] is it? Well, when in a game, whose main appeal is the action oriented combat system, players have to actively try to gimp their characters to feel any semblance of a challenge, it's pretty [[Egregious]]. Items that can be made through the crafting system are so ridicilously overpowered that health potions become obsolete because your health will never go low enough to make them necessary, all lootable items will be inferior to the one's you can make yourself and you are also given a quite literal "I win" button in the form of "Reckoning Mode" which turns any given fight into a [[Curb Stomp Battle]].
=== Shoot Em Up ===
* Subverted with ''[[Gradius]] Gaiden''; despite being one of the easiest games in the series, many ''Gradius'' fans still regard it as the best ''Gradius'' game around.
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* [[Thunder Force|Thunderforce]] VI received this reaction from many fans.
=== Simulation Game ===
* After several games which gradually raised the difficulty and complexity, culminating with the [[Nintendo Hard]] ''[[
=== Sports Game ===
* The ''[[Backyard Sports]]'' series, to IGN at least. The scores just get lower and lower because the games get easier and easier (and cheesier).
* ''[[Nicktoons MLB]]'' suffers from this, even on the hardest difficulty.
* An interesting example is the Tony Hawk's Series. The first game's goals are much easier than later games, but it is harder to score more points due to the lack of mechanics available. In later games, it is easier to score more points but the goals are harder. Unsurprisingly, the highest rated game in the series is Tony Hawks 2, which is easily the hardest.
** The remade classic levels in Tony Hawk's Underground 2 and American Wasteland are good examples. In the original Tony Hawks Pro Skater, it is quite hard to get up the mountain in Downhill Jam, in Underground 2, it is possible to just get off your board and climb up there. Similarly, in American Wasteland, the Downtown level is made easier with the ability to just climb the raised areas at the beginning of the level rather than having to go up the ramp to get to them. The mall level in American Wasteland features an steep ramp to the left of the fountain, that would have been almost impossible to get up to in the original game. But in this, it is possible to get up there and get off your board.
=== Stealth Based Game ===▼
▲== Stealth Based Game ==
* One third of the complaints about ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]: The Twin Snakes'' were that the addition of the tranquilizer gun and first-person aiming made the game too easy. The other two-thirds were about the voice acting and cutscene changes.
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' similarly received flack for including a silenced pistol from the get-go. In previous games, the tranq gun was stealthy but only temporarily incapacitated the enemy, while the standard handgun was lethal but loud. Combining the two removes much of the challenge, as you can just shoot enemies with wilful abandon.
* Many longtime fans of the ''[[Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (video game)|Rainbow Six]]'' series complain about the series' shift from hardcore "one-shot kill" tactical shooters to standard [[First
=== Survival Horror ===▼
▲== Survival Horror ==
* When ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'' was ported to the Wii, aiming became much easier due to motion controls. While much of the fanbase was pleased with easier controls, purists went on ranting about how the game was ruined because it was too easy to shoot things.
* A common complaint about ''[[Silent Hill Homecoming]]'' was that its updated controls made combat less threatening, since you could actually dodge. In an interesting twist for this trope, many also suggested that making it easier to fight things made the game less scary, since traditionally fighting enemies just led to you dying, so it was smarter to run.
=== Turn Based Strategy ===▼
▲== Turn Based Strategy ==
* A lot of people complained about ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Blazing Sword'' being easier than the previous games. ''The Sacred Stones'' was even easier than its predecessor. Then came ''Radiant Dawn'', which brought back the difficulty in full force.
** Ironically, ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius
** ''Sacred Stones'' made up for it with its [[Brutal Bonus Level]] Lagdou Ruins though, whose last few floors were full of caster monsters who all hit obscenely hard or could twoshot someone from halfway across the map. Heaven help you if you attempted it on Hard difficulty.
* The ''Advance Wars'' series (part of the ''[[Nintendo Wars]]'' series) has become much easier across all four games. The first game's campaign was moderate, but the hard campaign was nigh impossible. ''Advance Wars 2'' reduced the difficulty in both game modes, and ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike''...well, thanks to [[Game Breaker|skills]], the hard campaign was easier than the normal one. Even though ''Advance Wars: Days of Ruin'' increased the difficulty a bit, it is nothing compared to the first game's difficulty.
** However, the AI has improved too. In the first game, the AI had the intellect and commanding skill of a toddler: as a result, the maps in the later games often give the player less of a handicap. This leads to the curious situation where the later games are easier to ''beat'', but harder to write a walkthrough for due to less manipulable AI.
* ''[[
** It also didn't help that the game had [[Game Breaker|so many ways to make the game easy without trying to make it easy]].
=== Visual Novel ===▼
* ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations]]'' was far easier then the previous games which was one of the complaints fans had with the game. In fact the game is so easy that it's almost
▲== Visual Novel ==
▲* ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations]]'' was far easier then the previous games which was one of the complaints fans had with the game. In fact the game is so easy that it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a game over unless your purposely failing, mainly due to penalizes being very small (the standard is 5% while the highest in the game is only 20%).
▲=== Non-video game examples: ===
==
=== Collectible Card Game ===
* ''[[Magic:
** The removal of Manaburn means that the odds of dying to one's own manaramp deck have been all but nullified. Naturally, this takes a good chunk of the fun out of playing said decks.
** Ironically, this practice makes it amazingly easy to tell exactly how long individual players have been playing. By taking the point of what they felt was the downfall of "challenging" Magic and the going back two years to the last Standard format before that set/block's release, you usually get the entrance point. This leads to hilarious conversations between players about how the latest sets are too dumbed down and have too many cash grab rares, without either realising that the "good old days" that they both think they are discussing are actually fifteen years apart.
** Of course, it also doesn't help opinions when a lead designer goes on record with, [http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr255 "The real question isn't "Are we dumbing down the game too fast?" It's "Are we dumbing down the game fast enough?" "]
*** Then again, we mustn't forget that he ''previously'' established in that interview that the game was actually ''getting more complicated with every new release'', making it not just a straight case of dumbing down, but more of a balancing act between it and overcomplicating.
** In a metagame example, the color Green often gets this treatment. All the other colors have cool spells and flashy effects to throw at you ([[Kill It
===
* Some people have this attitude even in Table Top Roleplaying games. If a Game Master refuses to have Player Characters die, then they (and the players) are wusses.▼
* This is one of the main complaints about the Space Marines and their variants in Warhammer 40,000. The 5th Edition Space Marine Codex and its variants are all full of viable units that can be easily mixed and matched to create powerful lists. Because of this, many people (especially those who play armies one or two editions behind) see people who play Space Marines as being less talented at playing the game than others.▼
* [[Dungeons and Dragons]] 4th edition took many measures to make itself "newbie friendly" and in turn drew vicious ire from fans of the third edition who actually enjoyed the complexity in 3ed and find the "simplicity" in 4ed makes the game boring.▼
** Tabletop games as a rule are divided between players who enjoy them for their strategy aspects and [[Scrub|players who view strategy as a barrier to "roleplaying."]] The former group is likely to despise almost anything the latter enjoys for this reason.▼
== Real Life ==▼
* Different type example: LARP (mainly, fantasy). Many old-school larpers whine a lot about modern games to be "tamed", because organizers don't take the risk to allow some props or actions. While it's not a real problem (it is easy to find a small, hardcore group that plays with hard weapons and allows full contact), the difference between old players and new players is big.▼
* Some longtime fans of ''[[Jeopardy (TV)|Jeopardy]]'' criticized the show for seemingly getting easier over time, particularly in the early 2000s. While it's very much subjective in this case, the purported "easiness" may just be the result of learning more material by watching the show for an extended period of time.▼
** Similarly, when the current version debuted in 1984, there was criticism (mostly, by fans of the NBC series) about the show's material during the first season, especially during the first few months. The producers admitted such was the case, deliberately so so as to acquaint new viewers with the show's concept and to allow time for the question writers to come up with more challenging material.▼
* Similar criticism is held against sister show ''[[Wheel of Fortune]]'', which has gradually introduced more and more specific categories over time (for instance, something that would've previously been just a Thing might now be Around the House, Living Thing, Food & Drink, etc.). What's more, the daily Prize Puzzles are often themed to vacations or beaches in some way.▼
* Fans criticized the American version of ''[[Who Wants to Be A Millionaire]]'' during its original ABC run when the game was easy enough that a Millionaire was crowned in a matter of ''months'', or even ''weeks'' or ''days''. The show upped the difficulty of questions when the show moved to syndication (although this was the result of a lower budget) [[Unpleasable Fanbase|yet the fans still complained]] [[Its Hard So It Sucks|about the difficulty which results in droughts of million-dollar wins that can last for]] ''[[Its Hard So It Sucks|years]]'' and fans are screaming that difficulty should be lowered. All we can say is [[Be Careful What You Wish For]].▼
* Some programmers look down on Visual Basic because it's easier for beginners to create working programs in compared to the likes of C, C++, and Java. This is sometimes extended to other languages (notably Python and Lisp) as well.<ref>Being easy is what programming languages were designed for, otherwise we would write in machine code.</ref>
** A related complaint is that it makes it easier to make a "badly written" program that still "works". That becomes a problem when another programmer has to modify said program.
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===
▲* Some longtime fans of ''[[Jeopardy
▲** Similarly, when the current version debuted in 1984, there was criticism (mostly, by fans of the NBC series) about the show's material during the first season, especially during the first few months. The producers admitted such was the case, deliberately so so as to acquaint new viewers with the show's concept and to allow time for the question writers to come up with more challenging material.
▲* Similar criticism is held against sister show ''[[Wheel of Fortune]]'', which has gradually introduced more and more specific categories over time (for instance, something that would've previously been just a Thing might now be Around the House, Living Thing, Food & Drink, etc.). What's more, the daily Prize Puzzles are often themed to vacations or beaches in some way.
▲* Fans criticized the American version of ''[[Who Wants to Be
=== Sports ===
* Often, many sports teams at the high school and college levels – most commonly, football and basketball – will schedule at least one non-conference game where there is great disparity in talent levels between the two teams. For the "superior" team, it often becomes an exercise in rote gameplay, particularly since the game is expected to be one-sided; however, the winning coach's objectives may be to allow their team to perfect certain plays and assess talent in an actual game situation, and virtually guarantee younger players (those who will likely make up the junior varsity for most of the season) playing time once the expected one-sided score is established. While sometimes players of the supposedly better team will complain about the game's easy difficulty level, the trope is more often applied by fans and the media (i.e., sportswriters and broadcasting), disparaging the winning team for their choice of (their hapless) non-conference opponent.
=== Tabletop Games ===
▲* Some people have this attitude even in Table Top Roleplaying games. If a Game Master refuses to have Player Characters die, then they (and the players) are wusses.
▲* This is one of the main complaints about the Space Marines and their variants in Warhammer 40,000. The 5th Edition Space Marine Codex and its variants are all full of viable units that can be easily mixed and matched to create powerful lists. Because of this, many people (especially those who play armies one or two editions behind) see people who play Space Marines as being less talented at playing the game than others.
▲* [[Dungeons
▲** Tabletop games as a rule are divided between players who enjoy them for their strategy aspects and [[Scrub|players who view strategy as a barrier to "roleplaying."]] The former group is likely to despise almost anything the latter enjoys for this reason.
▲=== Real Life ===
▲* Different type example: LARP (mainly, fantasy). Many old-school larpers whine a lot about modern games to be "tamed", because organizers don't take the risk to allow some props or actions. While it's not a real problem (it is easy to find a small, hardcore group that plays with hard weapons and allows full contact), the difference between old players and new players is big.
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[[Category:Audience Reactions]]
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
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