"Hard mode"

>"Hard mode"
>Enemy just have twice as much HP
>Still same shit AI

Exactly what artificial difficulty mean. We all knoww but why won't Devs get it?

i'm always thinking that we're at 40% in AI potential, maybe that's because I'm not in the industry..

>Hard mode
>Is actually challenging

They do get it, they're just too lazy to give a shit about fixing it.

Give me a good example of the opposite. Where a "hard mode" actually adds new mechanics or scenarios to make it more challenging as opposed to just making enemies stronger/faster/have more health.

>Hard mode
>It's actually the best way to play AND gives the best ending

Sup Valkyrie Profile.

IIRC Fire Emblem 7 HHM was completely different from the other modes

I thought artificial difficulty were moments in games that were cheap for the sake of padding and making the game longer. Damage sponges barely feel like that, but they're still a step in the wrong direction.

Goldeneye 007 (N64), yeah enemies do more damage, have more health, but are also smarter and the added objectives to many levels are challenging.

Ninja Gaiden and Bayonettas has enemies actually comboing you to your death.

>Gracious and Glorious and Climax

>design a really good AI
>pull out features for lower difficulties just so you can say that higher difficulties are a different experience

I enjoy your work.

"hard mode" is the difficulty setting that is most rigorously tested and balanced, and then HP is reduced for other difficulties. On hard mode you might have to land an attack, avoid a counter, the finish the enemy off, whereas on easy mode you can just rush in and OHKO without fear of retaliation. Despite the HP being the only change, this can significantly affect how the gameplay works.
Sup Forums will pick easy mode and claim that hard mode is "artificial difficulty" or whatever but you should know better.

>'hard' mode
>'ultimate' mode
>enemies become bullet sponges +1
>enemies need to be afflicted by a specific element if you want to deal moderate damage
Guess the game

Nope, that's artificially lengthening the game. NG+ can fall into this category if done wrong.

killing floor 2 does difficulty right

more enemy variety, special enemies unlock unique attacks, and spawning behavior is more erratic as difficulty progresses

Ah, alright then.

Dunno, but mentioning Ultimate Mode reminded me of the first trip through PSO Ver2.

>need level 16+ spell disk to do damage if you're a FOrce class
>enemies take little to no damage, have buffed up health and resistances unless you have high tier weapons grinded out at max
>low drop % of any new weapons that outclassed older weapons

>Hard mode is unlockable

>Easy mode is unlockable

>hard mode
>drop rate decreases

Fuck off French Bread

>hard mode
>EXP gain rate is halved
Not sure if it's a bad thing

>Dunno
Borderlands 2

>hard mode
>less heals, weapons, and ammo
>enemies do more damage and have more health
>different enemies in some areas
>more locked doors
>key item locations are different and harder to get to
>puzzles have different solutions
Guess the game

Resident Evil? Shit, I dunno

Can it be considered hard mode if you and the enemy do more damage?

>cheap for the sake of padding and making the game longer.
>Damage sponges barely feel like that,
>Enemies that literally just take more bullets to kill dont feel like padding.
you wot

Resident Evil Outbreak

>Hardest mode
>Gameplay is fair and balanced and plenty difficult

S.T.A.L.K.E.R still blows my mind to this day because of that. I haven't played many games that act like this.

Both grind my gears, but Easy mode moreso.
Say a game is already plenty difficult, then that makes Hard mode all the more appetizing because you can try it out after beating the game the first go round and want to experience the game again but with more of a challenge.

Unlocking a more passive and less aggressive mode after beating it normally?
What's the fucking point?

STALKER does this.

>Overall increase in damage done to everything, bar mutants
>Damage taken also increases
>Enemies use cover more often and will try to sneak and flank you
>They run from grenades and other projectiles
>Aim is slightly better without being L4D A.I bullshit

Although the game was built around this difficulty. It only got lower difficulties because of that dickhead Sergei.

>hard mode
>Lots of good changes to the game to make it harder... But enemies take 4 times as long to kill ruining the whole feeling of melee combat because they just tank like 15 sword hits to the neck


Yeah nice one, I played on normal at least it was fun to kill shit

The Devs are going to put the best AI they have on the main part of the game. If Devs had good AI, why would they then choose to fill the majority of the game with shitty AI?

Do games actually do this?

Because good AI would make the game harder, so on easy difficulty you make it dumber for the casuals?

Did you honest to god expect an AI improvement on harder difficulties?

The first Megaman Legends game did it.

You had to beat normal mode. Then hard. Then you could unlock easy mode.

>hard mode
>even the first stage becomes an arena of death

Thief.
>normal usually only have one or two objectives being as "only steal X object and win this level"
>Hard and Expert modes adds more objectives to complete like steal X amount of gold, stealing another couple of unique items AND getting out from the area.
>Guards do have more damage but hey there is an objective to not kill anyone that isn't a monster so it's useless buff anyway because you don't want to get spotted anyway.

literally fallout 4

enemies just become bullet sponges and nothing else

Mega Man Legends did.

But Easy Mode was essentially "Hey, here's a maxed out buster"
So it was more of a reward + the ability to enjoy it from beginning to end of a playthrough.

Is there a bigger offender of this sort of fake difficulty than Civilization?

Wasnt this the case for all main series halo games 1-3?

Sure, for easy mode. They put the best AI they have on the main game, then dumb it down for easy mode, but you can't expect them to save their best programming for a part of the game most people aren't going to play, so they find other ways to increase the difficulty.

Ninja Gaiden did it and it was great. If you died too many times on normal you unlocked "Ninja Dog mode."

This depends entirely on the genre. Some enemies need to be unrealistically stupid for it to be playable for the casual audience. Stealth and FPS games often crank up the AI on the hardest difficulties.

>legendary sniper jackals

Not bad at all. I'm constantly overleveled in MMOs because I always try collecting everything from an area before going to the next one, it's annoying. I'd take half xp anytime.

you are fucking retarded

enemies doing more damage/having more hp is more often than not a fair way of making the game more difficult. It just leaves less room for error, and in action games that usually means you can't get away with button smashing but actually have to time/space your moves.

Artificial difficulty is a cancerous term, what you are looking for is simply badly designed difficulty, there is nothing non-artificial even in the best designed difficulty

Halo did it.

>"Hard mode"
>It's just normal mode, but the RNG is tilted to fuck you over even more

>Hard mode
>Enemies hit harder and AI is fucking obnoxious, giving you no reaction time whatsoever

>Racing game
>The AI is exactly the same, but your opponents are faster and for some reason your car seems to be pulled towards walls and cliffs and your items are always shit

It's made me rage quit a number of times in the games that do this.

Well RE7 madhouse maybe could qualify

Different key items placement, less ammo and consumables, different ennemy spawn (although thoses fucks are also quicker, more resilients and deal more damage)

who is this semen demon

>hard mode
>enemies have new moves

Beatrice. Re:Zero. Not for sexual.

This is honestly the best way.

Silent hill's puzzle difficulty setting

My sex partner

not really

Fuck SH3.

>not going for her lewd mom instead

The Halo games, especially CE and Reach

It was the case for CE. Sort of for 2 and 3 but not nearly as much.

Reach does it a fuck ton and amazingly well, Legendary elites in reach have the best AI of any vidya enemy i've seen

More damage has this effect but more health does not. Without an extra element to mix up the fight all it does is make you repeat what you've already done more time arbitrarily which, unless you only got by on luck, it's more difficult.

I like STALKER's system where higher difficulties just increase global damage, increasing the risk so that you have to play more carefully without enemies needing to eat a magazine before they'll fall over.

>Hard
>Very Hard
>Expert
>Insane
>Hell
>Lunatic
>Impossible
>God

>it's more difficult

Isn't*

>easy mode
>just start with dubble money
>AI is still bullshit hard

>hard mode
>fps rate drops

monster hunter
in higher ranks the monsters get lots of new moves, and changes to their old movesets with delayed strings

>Bravely Default Hard Mode with highest encounter rate
>End up overleveling so much the whole game was piss easy

>Did you honest to god expect an AI improvement on harder difficulties?
Fortune Summoners does that

>hard difficulty
>enemies are just sped up

>Hard Mode
>Enemies are higher level than normal, attack, cast, and move 30% faster than usual, and some have extra skills.

Why did it have to end?

Commandos 2
You can no longer revive your team and there are new enemy soldiers added, requiring different and more complex approach.

Castle in the Darkness did it

>die too many times
>unlock easymode
>puts a bow-tie on you, gets rid of all enemies and bosses, bridges all death pits, and the game is only 2 minutes long

also everything is bright and happy and there's smiley faces on everything

>Hotline Miami 2
>Guns cut down half the ammo
>Maps are reversed
>No locking onto enemies
>Picking up guns reduces its ammo
There are also the extra added enemies but yeah

>You unlocked: NOTHING!
I had a very good laugh there.

In turn-based combat this can make all the difference, you fucking idiot.