If you hear a game is too hard or too easy when you're thinking about purchasing it or trying it does it affect your decision at all and in what way?

Personally, I don't think I really care if I hear a game is really hard however if I hear a lot of chatter about oh the game is too easy I do wonder how much I can enjoy it which is exactly why I don't ever try to get into kirby games I've tried playing a few and it's to easy to a point that I just find it boring, to be honest. That being said I'm not drawn to super hard games either like hearing how hard Elden Ring is didn't make me think man I really wanna play it now though I have played it a bit and difficulty wise I think it's a little bit overhyped I don't think it's the hardest game I've ever played but I'm still early in so that could still change of course.

I would say no but when thinking about it… I never bought dark souls, I never bought Elden Ring. Friends bought it and I’m game sharing these games. Thinking about this thread I probably would say that it may have some affect to some degree. I do play them but I probably won’t buy them if I had the option to. Don’t get me wrong I do like a difficult challenge with trial and error but sometimes my patience wears thin. Don’t get me started with silver surfer for nes…. that’s not difficult that’s cheating and I don’t regret breaking that cartridge ten years ago when I bought it in a garage sale

Not really. I always heard about Fire Emblem being a very difficult series and then that ended up becoming my favorite and I always wanted to get into the Dark Souls games for the RPG aspect. If a game ends up being too difficult, I might just trade it in without beating it, but I doubt difficulty would influence the purchase.

I have played some hard games over the years. To answer the question the answer is not really. If it is a game from one of the franchises I like the answer is no. I play Mega Man games. Some of them are difficult. If I heard a Mega Man Game was hard I would still get it because I like the franchise. If the game was easy I would still get it to enjoy it. So for the most part difficulty does not effect if I get a game or not.

However, If I hear that the game is difficult for the wrong reasons I might reconsider. A good example of a game being difficult for the wrong reasons would be if the game was difficult due to control issues or glitches. That would factor into my choice.

I usually play the same type of games - jRPG or strategy games like Civilization. Therefore I know what I'm in for.

I only really know about the difficulty once I start playing. Had I known about its difficulty, I don't think I would have purchased Final Fantasy V. I couldn't get passed the boss in the first part, which always changed its elemental weakness.

As for Civilization IV, I must say I was surprised about its difficulty for the chieftain level. It would at least be the equivalent of Warlord or Prince for Civ II

Difficulty, in and of itself, says nothing about a game's quality - it's just one of the many elements that goes into a game. I enjoy difficult games that have an addicting "just one more try" nature about them like VVVVVV, Crypt of the NecroDancer, Celeste, etc. I also enjoy difficult retro games like Battletoads and Ninja Gaiden and Ghosts 'n Goblins, though I have to admit that save states make these games MUCH more tolerable. Long, long stretches where you can't save can really get on my nerves - I get why it was a thing back in the NES days, but with modern games there's no excuse. For example, I've been really hesitant to play Neir: Automata because I've heard that the FIRST LEVEL is an insanely difficult romp where you can't save at all and it takes around FORTY MINUTES to complete (assuming you don't screw up and have to start all over again). Yeah, my time is precious to me and I don't know if I have so much time to invest in that.

Also, if a game is difficult for the wrong reasons such as bad controls, that's another story altogether. If I'm fighting the controls instead of testing my skill, I'm not having fun. And of course, some games just troll you (see I Wanna Be The Guy).

Not at all. I do agree that extremely difficult games can sometimes affect my motivation to play them, but it won't affect if I purchase it or not as I will discover that later on.

I care more for the gameplay and the time needed to complete it, because that's what actually matters for enjoying a game in my opinion. If it's enjoyable to play and it requires some decent time to get everything in the game, then the difficulty is a secondary factor as you already know you'll spend a good time playing it (in both meanings of the word).

The only exception would be if the difficulty affects the controls. A game that has too many difficult mechanics has its gameplay negatively affected and thus it's not as enjoyable to play. Haven't yet encountered examples of this in the games I'm interested in, though there have been some close calls.

Sadly it doesn't. I am not a Souls player but I bought Dark Souls III because I wanted a challenge, and I ended up spending 30 hours dying in the first couple areas, then I never touched the game again. It was a day-one purchase too, and now the game is barely $10.

I also got Elden Ring day one, but I loved the game so much that I learned to get better at it. After 100 hours, I'm well over halfway through the main game and can handle a decent amount of bosses.

It doesn't affect my purchasing decisions. I like a challenge sometimes. even if it means turning up the difficulty in a game and playing through it again. Though i have never played a soul's game, that's just personal preference.

The only thing i hate about difficulty is if its hard for the wrong reasons and just being straight up unfair for the sake of it. Grinding can be discouraging when i hit a big difficulty spike (reason i haven't beaten Yakuza Like a Dragon lol), and i hate moments when you have to rely on RNG to get through a point in a story.

I think difficulty is a very minor factor. I tend to prefer more difficult games as I like the challenge, but I know the new Pokemon games are stupidly easy and I still continue to buy them. I can still get enjoyment out of an easy game. I think I am more likely to buy a game if I know that it is difficult, but I am not less likely to buy a game if I know that it is easy.

It doesn't, I'll buy a game if I think its fun or if it looks good. I enjoy easier games and they're more likely to be higher on my Wishlist, so I suppose I'm more likely to buy them since I know about them, but the difficulty of a game isn't going to turn me away from it.

I bought and played a ton of Elden Ring, which is a seriously hard game, and I enjoyed it. I wasn't able to complete it, or really beat all that many bosses since I'm so bad at the game, but I still had a ton of fun playing it.

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