All articles tagged with #difficulty
Housemarque's Saros adds Carcosan Modifiers—Protections (bonuses) and Trials (nerfs)—unlocked a few hours in to let players customize difficulty with a point-based dial (min -3); you can enable tougher Trials or use Protections to ease runs, and even disable the Second Chance revive, effectively letting you create an unofficial Easy Mode or a brutal challenge without an official option.
Crimson Desert’s patch 1.04 adds Easy/Normal/Hard difficulty options with a more challenging Hard mode, introduces new combat patterns for certain bosses and teases a boss rematch feature later, and expands storage and housing through items like the 1,000-slot Sturdy Gatherables Chest, Collectibles Chest, Kuku Cooler variants, and wardrobe upgrades. The update also brings new pets (birds and five new cats), new outfits and weapons, housing improvements, and various quality-of-life tweaks and NPC adjustments, all detailed in the patch notes released on 2026-04-23.
Thirteen years after its PS Vita release, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2+ finally has a Platinum trophy owner: PSN user Tqvry, who completed the final mission during a 10-hour livestream. The grind is infamous due to Turbo-difficulty co-op challenges with an AI partner, and a rare in-game bug that allowed a three-on-one boss encounter to be beaten; PSNProfiles notes only a small portion of players have verifiably earned the Platinum, and only this livestream provides undeniable proof.
Crimson Desert's Version 1.00.03 patch brings major control improvements, reduced enemy health and stamina costs, easier ambushes, added storage and faster travel, plus a wide range of bug fixes and quality-of-life tweaks; it's rolling out on Steam now with PS5 coming later and Xbox on March 26, and will also reach Mac and the Epic Games Store.
Marathon’s Steam launch drew a peak around 88k players but has since drifted down into the low‑70k range. To shore up momentum, Bungie is rebasing in‑game currency LUX so a $10 purchase now yields enough for a skin (1,120 LUX), with refunds for affected bundles. An upcoming update will also ease the game’s difficulty by increasing navigation waypoint distance from 10m to 20m, boosting Perimeter loot spawns (Med Cabinets and Munitions Crates), and raising starting ammo for certain free kits, aiming to balance value with challenge and attract a broader audience.
The latest update for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 introduces highly challenging boss battles in the Endless Tower, including a reimagined, more difficult version of Simon, leading to widespread player frustration and praise for its difficulty, alongside new content and expansions.
The upcoming Elden Ring Nightreign DLC, The Forsaken Hollows, is designed to be slightly more challenging than the main game, with a focus on balancing difficulty for both new and veteran players, influenced subtly by previous DLCs like Shadow of the Erdtree, and introduces new areas and enemies, launching on December 4th.
Bandai Namco announced an upcoming update for Shadow Labyrinth that will improve difficulty levels, checkpoints, and controls to enhance the overall player experience, making the game more accessible and enjoyable.
Baby Steps is a quirky, challenging physics-based walking game that combines hilariously frustrating controls with a bizarre story and charming characters, offering a unique and rewarding experience for players who enjoy humor and difficulty.
Team Cherry explains that the steep difficulty in Hollow Knight: Silksong is intentional, emphasizing player freedom and exploration to overcome challenges, with the game designed to allow players multiple ways to approach obstacles, making the experience both punishing and rewarding.
Team Cherry acknowledges that Hollow Knight: Silksong has moments of steep difficulty but encourages players to explore and learn to overcome challenges, emphasizing that there are multiple ways to approach the game, including circumventing tough sections through exploration.
Team Cherry's Hollow Knight: Silksong emphasizes player freedom and exploration to mitigate difficulty, allowing players to avoid getting stuck by choosing different routes and strategies, while also increasing enemy complexity to match Hornet’s agility.
The article discusses the challenging nature of Hollow Knight: Silksong and suggests alternative, less difficult Metroidvania games for players who find it too hard, emphasizing that game difficulty is a developer's choice and offering options for different skill levels.
The article discusses the controversial mechanic of boss runbacks in video games, particularly in Soulslike titles, examining their evolution, purpose, and whether they still hold value or are outdated. It highlights differing opinions from developers and players, noting that while some see them as useful for learning and mastery, others find them frustrating and time-consuming, especially in modern games like Silksong. The debate continues on whether runbacks are a vital part of challenging gameplay or an archaic design element that should be phased out.
The article discusses the ongoing debate in gaming about difficulty levels, highlighting that players play for different reasons—some for challenge and mastery, others for progress and story. It emphasizes that developer intent shapes game design, such as in Hollow Knight: Silksong, which is intentionally difficult. The piece advocates respecting both approaches, acknowledging that players should be free to enjoy games in their own way without being forced into a single perspective.