This is motivated by kind of a need to vent. Without going into much detail, there's this game I tried to get into, only it's more difficult than I'm used to. This by itself is probably not that bad since I might get used to it after practise, and I can always change the difficulty setting to something easier (though I keep hearing the easy setting is too easy). The thing that's getting me is whenever I try to look up tips on how to play better I always run into dedicated hardcore types that think the hard mode is too easy and can't seem to help writing off people that are having trouble as brainless casual kiddie consoletards.

I think we need to consider how there can be multiple axes of difficulty in a game. Two axes I'm thinking of are strategy/tactics based and reflex/reaction based. By strategy/tactics based I mean the number of options available and the need to weigh your options depending on the situation. By reflex/reaction based I mean the physical, real-world motor skills the game demands of you.

A game that just has strategy/tactics based difficulty would be any turn-based strategy or RPG game. Civilization or X-COM can be hard. However, they're manageable by many people simply because the lack of time constraints allows you to take your own time to assess the situation, weigh your options, and maybe double-check the manual.

A game that just has reflex/reaction based difficulty would be most shoot 'em ups. These are not difficult strategically since in a lot of these you just have to hold down the fire button and dodge the enemies. They compensate by filling the entire screen with bullets and other crap that will kill you if your ship's movement is a pixel off.

The point is that different people may be able to handle one axis of difficulty better than the other. Someone may have the reflexes to handle intense action games but may struggle with the planning and forethought required by slow-paced strategy. Conversely, someone may be able to handle the logistics and planning needed by strategy games but struggle with action games because they simply don't have the reflexes to keep up.

And then there are games that have both high strategic difficulty and high reflex difficulty. Not only do you have to juggle a multitude of situations and options, but do so under a time limit. This can be overwhelming to people. For example, I can't handle RTS's no matter how much I try to like them. I can get past a few single-player missions, but eventually feel like I need Korean-level reflexes to stay on top.

I think Starcraft 2 handles this balance very well. The same goes for the multiplayer part, but lets talk about the single player part.

Casual: this is for those that don't know what is the difference between a mouse and a keyboard. Enemies are idiots and die almost instantly.

Normal: this is for those that know how to handle strategy games, but don't want to lose or be challenged. Enemies are somewhat easy to kill.

Hard: this is for those that want to be challenged by the AI, but aren't ready for high end online play and fast micro-ing and macro-ing. Enemies are similar to your units (most even better), and if you aren't careful, they'll kill you. This requires you to use your brain.

Brutal: this is where all hell breaks lose. Enemies not only gather resources faster, but their units are always better than yours. This requires massive thinking about your strategy, and a lot of fast micro-ing and macro-ing. You should be able to get through SC2's campaign on Hard with some difficulties.

The Korean level reflexes are required with the Brutal difficulty.

Few missions where you need to survive for some time are a good example of this. You have to manage the resources, build things almost without losing sight of the combat, use abilities, train more units without wasting seconds, and so on.. :)

On Hard? No way. I only got through the Terrain and Zerg campaigns in SC1 by massive turtling that would extend a mission for several exhausting hours. I don't think I'll ever get past Command & Conquer 3 on normal difficulty. Hell, even Total Annihilation felt overwhelming last time I tried the demo it in spite of it supposedly not requiring micro.

I guess there's also social pressures at play. People may not want to switch to easier difficulties, even when their current difficulty setting is too hard for them, because that would feel like admitting that the game is too hard for them and leaving themselves open for all the hardcores to laugh at them, or something. :/

Come on, which game is it, please:)

The new, DRM'd as hell, Silent Hunter had neat difficulty settings, a lot of options, making it an arcade shooter with infinite fuel and all on the easiest setting, and a die hard sim on the hardest. Gotta love options.

Witcher 2?:P

I'm hesitant to say, because it seems many "normal" gamers are having trouble with the difficulty of even normal mode in this particular game, which is doing little but feed and feed the smug hardcores. I don't want to contribute to that any more than I already have.

10 billion GoGs, it's Witcher 2. ;p

And, SC 2 is actually not very difficult on Hard. I suspect that was on purpose, as there are a number of achievements tied to that difficulty level, and they didn't want to make the achievements unattainable by a large portion of the playerbase.

That said, reflexes do play some part, so perhaps similar games to RTS like the Civ series which is completely turned based would be a more rewarding experience.

SC2 is "easier" on Hard because the enemy doesn't play at its mathematically best level, which more or less was the case with SC1.

EDIT: It should be noted that most of today's difficulties are misleading!

Take Half Life 2 for example, the difficulty setting doesn't make enemies smarter, just harder to kill (more hit points). A trend with many new games. :(

See attached.

It would be nice if more games included individual settings for different aspects of the enemy AI. For example, Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood had separate sliders for "enemy accuracy", "enemy tactics", and "enemy resistance to suppressing fire" (however, these settings were only in the skirmish mode, not the single player campaign).

Are there any other games you've seen that let you set enemy accuracy/reflexes and intelligence/tactics as separate values?

I don't remember any game with that type of setting (since in most games difficulty doesn't affect the AI).
The only game I remember that offered more than one type of settings on difficulty is System Shock. IIRC, you could set the difficulty of the combat, the puzzles and the cyberspace thingy separately.

According to gaming studies, gamers spend 90% of their time failing and 10% actually succeeding. I would imagine "hardcores" just means "has a higher tolerance for successive failures".

The last truly hard game I played was Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, in which normal enemies can be as daunting as any boss, especially if they surprise you. On anything above Easy the game had to be played as intended, or you would fail.

I never played Demon Souls (or whatever the title is) I hear it is brutal.

Penny Arcade had this to say about TW2: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/5/25/

So if it's that, don't sweat it, a lot of people new to the gameplay are having problems not understanding how the mechanics fit together and the tutorial isn't much of one (I actually do appreciate this - or Section 8 Prejudice's method of making you the assistant trainer for new recruits; anything to keep someone who supposedly is the best of the best from seeming like a moron).

Do you rate that game any good? I'm a pretty big fan of Castlevania but haven't got around to picking it up yet.

On a side note I'm listening to the Castlevania Judgement soundtrack right now and it is mindblowingly awesome (I've never played the game though, but I'm tempted to just for the music).

It was one of the best, if not THE best, games to come out last year. I'm not kidding in the slightest, it lived up to every single expectation and then some. Patrick Stewart really pulled off his part well, as well.

Watch the end of the credits to see why you need to play the DLC.

Try Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. You can customize matches as much as you want without a level editor.