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[ZealousD]

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a great game. Everybody should play it. It's a shooter for people who loves shooters and it's got a great story. I haven't played all the way through it but I've loved everything about it.... except for this screen.

Why is this even here? What is even the point of having this kind of super-easy mode if you're going to insult anybody that might actually want to pick the easiest mode? Is this a joke difficulty that's so easy that bullets don't actually hurt you or something? I know it's a reference to earlier games in the series, but it would have been just as weird back then, too. The imagery only seems appropriate if you are designing a mode that is actually designed for a baby to play! (Note: Babies should not play Wolfenstein: The New Order).

I don't know of too many other games that do this, but Ninja Gaiden Black is somewhat infamous for its "Ninja Dog" difficulty that is even more blatant in being an insult. It just strikes me as very weird. If you're gonna include a difficulty that's so easy that you basically insult any players that might wish to choose it, than just cut it so that it's not there at all. Nobody wants to pick a difficulty level that makes fun of you.

 

[SargerusBR]

You are overthinking this. I don't see anything insulting about those.

 

[@MUWANdo]

You haven't played Wolfenstein 3D, have you? It's just a reference to the original difficulty descriptors with a funny image of BJ Beefcake in a baby bonnet. Whatevs.

 

[Creaking]

It's just poking fun at you. A bit more creative way of naming difficulties than "easy, medium, hard, extra hard". After all, you are playing as macho Nazi slaying machine BJ Blazkowicz

Is that the face of a man who does things on Easy?

 

[Yuuichi]

Not everyone wants a challenge in games? You're reading waaay to far in to this.

 

[PerezDeCorcho]

I think you're reading into that a bit too much.

 

[DiscoJer]

It's a throwback to the original game (er, original FPS named Wolfenstein, not the old Apple 2 game as far as I can remember).

Still insulting, but that's the reason for it.

 

[ZealousD]

You haven't played Wolfenstein 3D, have you?

You haven't read my post, have you?

 

[60EffPeeEss]

How can you take it so personally? Its only a joke, and its a pretty good one.

God Hand has the main character mock you for picking Easy, says "That's what I expected" for Normal, and I forget what he says for Hard.

 

[SerTapTap]

It's just a cute callback to that 90s edge of Doom/Wolfenstein difficulties. It's in fact the exact same name as the Wolfenstein 3D ones.

 

[Saintguine]

How can you take it so personally? Its only a joke, and its a pretty good one.

God Hand has the main character mock you for picking Easy, says "That's what I expected" for Normal, and I forget what he says for Hard.

Because he's Too Young To Die.

 

[dapperbandit]

Not sure if it's exactly what OP is complaining about but I found the mere existence of difficulty modes in Oddworld: New and Tasty insulting.

 

[@MUWANdo]

You haven't read my post, have you?

I absolutely skimmed your three paragraphs of kvetching over an innocuous menu screen, yes.

 

[Son Of D]

Does Devil May Cry 1 and 3 unlocking Easy Mode for you if you die multiple times count? It doesn't switch to those difficulties by force, but it does give you the option (although I think it only asks once if you decline).

 

[Phocks]

The chicken hat in MGSV is worse, they make you wear a dumb hat throughout the game because you're a huge scrub.

 

[Bishop89]

People take offence to anything these days. Lighten up.

 

[ZealousD]

How can you take it so personally? Its only a joke, and its a pretty good one.

If this was actually a joke difficulty... like you're literally invunerable and enemies shoot you with water guns and hit you with rubber mallets, I could totally get behind that.

Otherwise it just seems like you're insulting potential players who might want to choose the easier difficulty.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

 

[Brian_FETO]

The Evil Within's easy mode is described as being "for the weak and fearful gamer". Even funnier because that's the difficulty Bethesda PR urged reviewers to play on

I understand why someone could be a bit bummed at the game poking fun at them, but I see it more as the game urging you to challenge yourself and to try a higher difficulty. They included the easy mode for those who want it, but that's not how they intended for the game to be played.

 

[GravityMan]

LOL, you're taking this way too seriously. Games like that just poke fun at the player. It's a throwback to the old-school Doom days.

 

[Zukuu]

 

[hiex_]

It's a joke from the first game, lighten up. Or git gud

 

[Nakkilokki]

Me playing dozens of Civilization V games on Settler difficulty is an insult to mankind, but I just can't stop doing it. I just don't like to risk not winning most of the time.

 

[SenorArdilla]

 

[TemplaerDude]

Ha ha ha man OP you need a sense of humor.

 

[Miguel81]

I wouldn't take it too seriously, and I doubt the devs were actively trying to insult the player. Easy modes are for when you want to relax and breeze through the game while enjoying other aspects of it, which would be much more difficult to do on harder difficulties. That screen is more cheesy funny than anything.

 

[Velikost]

ahahahhahahahahahaha

 

[Zareka]

It's just a joke, Christ. I really wish people could learn to laugh at themselves.

 

[60EffPeeEss]

If this was actually a joke difficulty... like you're literally invunerable and enemies shoot you with water guns and hit you with rubber mallets, I could totally get behind that.

Otherwise it just seems like you're insulting potential players who might want to choose the easier difficulty.

You've obviously got issues with your own self-confidence if you can't take it as a joke, and see it as some sort of projection by the creators at people playing the game.

And what IF the creators are sitting in their leather chairs giggling at Easy difficulty selectors? So what? They obviously balance the game so as that Normal is Normal, and requiring any less is seen as ridiculous.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Taking this way too seriously.

 

[ZealousD]

...wow. That's really bad. Is there a CoD that actually did this?

 

[Icyflamez96]

I find it funny

 

[Manu]

Well, I felt Tomb Raider 2013's difficulty insulted me by having the game tell me what I need to do aloud, tried to get me to use hints or the special Batman mode if I hadn't found the solution to a room by myself after 30 seconds (and sometimes doing it anyway), extending my jumps, showing every ledge painted white so I know they can be climbed, and writing "SECRET TOMB NEARBY" whenever I approached 100 ft close to one.

But probably not what you're looking for.

 

[Augemitbutter]

always loved the ninja dog mode. more games should be like that.

 

[NomarTyme]

lmao.

 

[banefirelord]

This isn't real, right?

 

[EventHorizon]

I recently introduced a four year old girl to Diablo 3 on its easiest difficulty, and she loves it.

 

[Floridian]

That image is very offensive to my masculinity tbh. I can't really find anything else i've experienced.

 

[Kouriozan]

Not a game but related to it :

 

[Dusk Golem]

The first one off the top of my head was Shadows of the Damned, strangely. Its easy difficulty was named, "Lemon Hunter", while the normal was Demon Hunter, the hard difficulty was Legion Hunter (yet the unlockable difficulty was titled Very Hard Mode, always struck me as strange).

The Evil Within's easy mode is described as being "for the weak and fearful gamer". Even funnier because that's the difficulty Bethesda PR urged reviewers to play on

I understand why someone could be a bit bummed at the game poking fun at them, but I see it more as the game urging you to challenge yourself and to try a higher difficulty. They included the easy mode for those who want it, but that's not how they intended for the game to be played.

In Evil Within's case, to many's surprise, myself definitely among them, the normal difficulty in that game is actually pretty challenging (I usually play horror games on hard difficulty the first time I play them, TEW's normal difficulty feels like a lot of other horror game's hard difficulty).

 

[mazpratim]

What an overreaction

 

[legacyzero]

I think its awesome. Also LOL girlfriend mode. My wife actually looked at that and said "hmmm I might actually play that.."

 

[Zareka]

Well, I felt Tomb Raider 2013's difficulty insulted me by having the game tell me what I need to do aloud, tried to get me to use hints or the special Batman mode if I hadn't found the solution to a room by myself after 30 seconds (and sometimes doing it anyway), extending my jumps, showing every ledge painted white so I know they can be climbed, and writing "SECRET TOMB NEARBY" whenever I approached 100 ft close to one.

But probably not what you're looking for.

It's stuff like this that makes me genuinely irritated at a games difficulty setting, when it actually treats me as if I'm brain dead instead of just poking fun at the fact that, yes, I probably suck at the game if I chose the easiest difficulty.

Ahahahaha oh wow. I'm guessing this is based on the comments from that Gearbox guy in regards to one of the Borderlands 2 characters skill trees?

Edit: I'm assuming this is a shop. This can't be real right?

 

[M.Bluth]

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with Wolfenstien's. It's a pretty comedic game, so it's completely fine to be silly with that sort of thing. I find the other difficulties to be just as ridiculous.

However...

...this can't be real. No way!

 

[SodiumBenzoate]

Game designers design a game with a particular difficulty curve in mind, then tailor the game they have designed and its mechanics to these specs. Then, the publisher and/or the marketing team force them to make a mode where it's basically impossible to fail just to cater to a wider audience. If I was on that dev team I really wouldn't have much sympathy for that.

I think a little harmless ridicule isn't out of order. It's a huge flashing sign saying "WE DIDN'T INTEND YOU TO PLAY THIS DIFFICULTY". What's the harm?

People will be more insulted by spending $60 on a game they can't get past the first level on than a guy wearing a bib and pacifier.

 

[Zeliard]

A gently mocking low difficulty is far less insulting to me than Normal masquerading as moderately challenging, as we've so often seen over the past several years. Those "baby" difficulties are at least honest.

And this is clearly light-hearted stuff.

 

[Mr-Joker]

I don't mind it really, I mean Viewtiful Joe normal mode is called Kid and it doesn't bother me.

What does bother me if I can't switch difficulty level on the fly.

I am proud to say that played The Wonderful 101 in normal mode and I am okay in not playing it in hard mode.

 

[gelf]

Its funny and if I was really struggling with a game I'd have no issues with picking such an option as I don't take myself so seriously that I can't take a gentle ribbing from a game option screen. I wish more games did things like this, adds personality to normally dull menus.

 

[ArjanN]

It's there to let you know you can probably do better.

 

[THRILLH0]

Somethingsomething I can tell by the pixels.