Joystiq

Pid receives 'Easy Mode' on PC

Sinan Kubba — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 08:00:00 EST

Might & Delight patched a new 'Easy Mode' into puzzle-platformer Pid earlier this week. The Swedish studio redesigned levels to lower the mode's difficulty and shortened boss fights. Normal Mode also sees some tweaks, with the developer saying changes were made based on feedback from critics and fans.

In our review, Garrett Martin grew frustrated with the game's difficulty spikes, and Might & Delight now says those spikes are "lessened" thanks to the update. Overall, Garrett rated Pid at two and a half stars, saying the game comes alive when it sprinkles puzzles on top of its straightforward platforming, but also "makes a few crucial mistakes that similar recent games avoided."

If you want to try but not necessarily buy Pid for yourself, the game now has a demo available on Steam.

Continue reading Pid receives 'Easy Mode' on PC

Pid receives 'Easy Mode' on PC originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 04 Dec 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Mann vs Machine update adds new difficulty settings and matchmaking options

Mike Schramm — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:00:00 EST

Valve has released a big update to Team Fortress 2's 'Mann vs. Machine' game mode this week, which of course pits human players against an army of invading robots. The update adds two new difficulty settings called tours, one tougher and one easier than the current mode, along with some new loot found throughout the two tours.

Players will also be able to search for multiple missions or tours at a time. Matchmaking updates should make it easier to find and keep groups while playing: once you find a team and defeat a mission, teams will stay together. Good thing, too - those robot hordes aren't going to destroy themselves.

Mann vs Machine update adds new difficulty settings and matchmaking options originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Diablo 3 Inferno Difficulty monster damage balance tweaked

Mike Schramm — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:00:00 EST

Blizzard is making a few tweaks to Diablo 3's Inferno difficulty yet again. The developer added more high-level drops to the difficulty before, and this time it's effectively reducing the damage monsters will do in that mode. As Technical Game Designer Wyatt Cheng says, Blizzard is reducing the potency of player defense spells and reducing the monster damage, which means that monsters in Inferno won't hit as hard overall.

Why? Some defensive skills, Cheng says, were made so effective that players consider them essential. Energy Armor, for example, is used by 83 percent of level 60 wizards, and War Cry's Impunity modifier is used by over 87 percent of barbarians. Nerfing the monster damage and the effectiveness of these spells is supposed to let players go to other options, rather than just walling up defense all of the time.

Cheng says there are more changes coming: A new "monster power" option to up the difficulty for higher rewards; and a tweak to the monk's One With Everything skill. We'll stay tuned for those.

Diablo 3 Inferno Difficulty monster damage balance tweaked originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Atlus toning down Catherine's difficulty with upcoming patch

JC Fletcher — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:15:00 EST

Apparently, Vincent's "nightmares" in Catherine are a bit too scary. In a post on the official Catherine blog, director Katsura Hashino noted that fans have been complaining about excessive difficulty in the "Nightmare" climbing puzzle segments, even when playing on the easiest difficulty setting.

Hashino and the team wanted the climbing segments to convey the "thrill of a nightmare" and leave the player with a "clear sense of accomplishment," admitting that perhaps the staff had become too well-versed in the game to realize that it had become too hard for the people who didn't make it. A patch is currently in development at Atlus, aimed at balancing out this difficulty, so people can follow the story instead of merely falling from illusory block towers.

Atlus toning down Catherine's difficulty with upcoming patch originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Red Dead Redemption adds 'Casual' and 'Expert' difficulties

Andrew Yoon — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:40:00 EST

Was Grand Theft Auto IV mind-numbingly easy for you? Or controller-throwingly frustrating? Rockstar is attempting to scale the difficulty of its next open-world game, Red Dead Redemption, to accommodate players of all abilities. "We've implemented levels of difficulty into the game that employ different types of auto-aiming," a new Rockstar Games blog post explains. "Casual mode gives you a full auto-aim system (and faster regenerating health). Normal mode features snap-to-target with precise aiming using the right stick. Expert mode implements free aim with no lock-on at all."

According to the post, this is actually the first time Rockstar has implemented multiple difficulty settings in its open world games. It's certainly an interesting approach to take: changing the actual method of gameplay, versus simply scaling enemy and player health. Will it be successful, though? Even Rockstar seems uncertain: "We will be interested to see what people think having played with each option."

Red Dead Redemption adds 'Casual' and 'Expert' difficulties originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Playing invisible instruments more complex than you think

Chris Greenhough — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:28:00 EST

Filed under: Interviews

That's according to Reggie Fils-Aime, at least. The Nintendo bossman thinks that his company did Wii Music a big disservice when it was displayed at E3, and feels the game is a lot more complex than people realize.

In fact, Reggie believes that Wii Music, like all the best music games, will be simple to pick up, but a tricky beast to master. "We may have done that title an injustice at E3 by showing something that looked so easy," stated Fils-Aime to technology and media site Venturebeat. "Now we're showing the tremendous variety of instruments and tones and how challenging it is to make music that sounds good."

Reggie also revealed that Nintendo expects Wii Music to become one of the "top sellers" on the system. We can totally believe that, but "challenging"? Really? We don't want to jump conclusions without a few major Wii Music sessions, but these assertions do seem to go against the evidence we've seen so far.

[Via Eurogamer]

Playing invisible instruments more complex than you think originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rock Band 2 song list ranked by difficulty

Kyle Orland — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm

[Update: Gamespy has a post with the official, tiered, in-game rankings for each song and instrument.]

If you're anything like us, you've been gearing up for Rock Band 2 by poring through the track list and carefully studying YouTube performance clips of the songs to gain an edge in your own virtual rocking. But staring at grainy video is only so useful for determining which songs are really going to put blisters on your fingers (and uh, vocal chords). Luckily, IGN has come through with a set of comprehensive difficulty rankings, for all 84 RB2 songs, ranked by individual instrument and as a full band.

We're not entirely sure where IGN's rankings are coming from -- we can only assume they're based on the difficulty rankings provided by Harmonix (don't ask us how ties are broken). That said, based on our extensive knowledge of all things rock, it seems pretty accurate -- any group that can pass Judas Priest's Painkiller on Expert without turning on No Fail Mode should just start a real band already.

Rock Band 2 song list ranked by difficulty originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

DS Daily: And then the DS accidentally fell right under my shoe.

JC Fletcher — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: DS Daily

With Contra 4 about to give us a heart attack, and Ninja Gaiden also on the way to make us doubt our ability to do things, we thought we'd ask you about the difficulty of currently-available DS games. There are some brutally hard games out there, and we're sure you've run into one of them. Some are difficult for not-so-great reasons, like control issues, but some are just hard.

What's the most difficult game you've played on the DS? And did you enjoy it? Bonus points if the game isn't Trauma Center.

DS Daily: And then the DS accidentally fell right under my shoe. originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 20 Oct 2007 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Action games are broken, let's fix them!

John Bardinelli — Tue, 01 May 2007 14:22:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Action

While playing Halo 2, how would you feel if you were suddenly forced to play chess against a tough computer opponent? That kind of interruption wouldn't fly in an action game, yet every day we play non-action titles that inject twitch gameplay at every turn. Gamasutra takes a look at the whole "action" game thing and discusses toning down the difficulty to make games more accessible.

The trouble with putting tough action sequences in RPGs, sims, and puzzle games is that not every gamer has spaz-like thumb reflexes. It's the nature of action games to try to defeat the player and force him/her to start over, a throwback to the days of quarter-munching arcade machines. The problem is that these action sequences are distracting gamers and do little more than pile on the frustration and force us to throw a controller through the wall.

Should action games stick to their own genre and leave brainy games alone? And if not, do you think action games as a whole are too difficult?

Action games are broken, let's fix them! originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 01 May 2007 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins video review

Andrew Yoon — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 14:30:00 EST

You may remember that the 1UP network wasn't too pleased with Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins' horrifying difficulty. Now, you can see their complaints in video form in the latest episode of The 1UP Show (available as a video podcast). There's a lot to go over, such as the dated controls, the randomly spawning enemies, and the unpleasant rings system, which can nullify all the hard work a hapless player may have endured through. Will this stop you from picking the game up, or is the masochist in you raging for a beating?

Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins video review originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 20 Aug 2006 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Preview of new Guitar Hero II co-op mode

Dan Choi — Mon, 08 May 2006 15:21:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, E3, Peripherals, Rhythm

In case you missed it on Friday, IGN posted a pre-E3 hands-on preview of Guitar Hero II's new co-op mode. It's a departure from the first game's multiplayer mode in that the two players have to depend on each other a lot more to pass each song and thereby make beautiful music together.

While the old multiplayer option will still be around in the sequel, the new mode mixes distinct lead guitar and bass or rhythm parts where each player affects the other in various ways, whether by failing if either performance slips (as in DDR), sharing the same Rock Meter (with mistakes from either player resetting the score multiplier), and needing to both go vertical at the same time to activate the shared Star Power. Thankfully, different difficulty levels can be assigned to each player.

The Joystiq team out in L.A. will probably find something to do until they get their sweaty paws on a guitar controller or two on the E3 show floor (maybe one of those wacky press conferences will help pass the time), but we're sure the wait to try the latest build of this rockin' series will be worth it. The seven songs available at E3 are listed below.

[Thanks, murph]

Continue reading Preview of new Guitar Hero II co-op mode

Preview of new Guitar Hero II co-op mode originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 08 May 2006 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments