Yes. A screwed up difficulty curve is a flaw that deserves a call-out. Nobody wants a pathetic weakass final boss, nor do they want the difficulty to spike so amazingly hard that very few see level 4 (see: Battletoads on NES).

Thank you for reminding me Fable 2's final boss. :(

The problem as I see it is that different players have pretty different skills. So, for example, in Souls games, I can really see why some people find them impossible, or too much time demanding. I'm pretty sure that with an easy mode implemented, some people would have the exact same experience as I had with the normal setting. And that pretty much apply to any game. So that's why I think that every game should have a variety of difficulty settings, just as there are a variety of players. Let players decide which difficulty suits them.

You really never met the guys that demand an easy mode for Dark Souls? And in my opinion Mario games are too hard, while I find Dark Souls relatively easy. They are just different, Souls games demand patience, while Mario demands timing. I'm bad at timing, but I do have some patience. So difficulty really is relative.

So, then people are bickering about something being too hard, it is because they get frustrated. And if they think a game is too easy, it bores them because it offers no challenge. And yes, Mario is fucking frustrating if you miss the jump again and again and again. But should I therefore damn Mario as a bad game or demand an easy mode? How should an easy mode even work? Mario flying instead of jumping?

It has to be clear, that the perception of difficulty is subjective. So you should say: This game is too hard/too easy for me. And if it is being seen as subjective, it is clear that this perception doesn't say if a game is good or bad, only if it is a game for you or not. I mean people doesn't criticise games because they are a puzzler, and they don't like puzzles. We should apply the same wisdom to difficulty.

Be careful, this is an impostor, Rabbid Peach would never post that way. Way too less quirky. It must be the real Peach posting there.

Your answer is quite odd to say the least. First you are asking how platformers could get an easy mode, then you ridicule any answer because platformer levels are perfectly balanced and don't need these options that would make a level easier.

By default it's better if a game is too easy rather than too hard. If it's too hard for you then you'd never complete the game (without a guide or looking online) or if you ever tried replaying it you might still not enjoy it that much. If it's too easy but the game has more facets to it and plenty of value in multiple areas then those games are fine. Also, it depends on all the parts of the difficulty. Dying too easily or not ever dying by itself isn't the end all be all of difficulty in a game. There's also puzzles and particularly in some RPGs other things you can do or focus on even in the battle system. Many layers.

If the difficulty level doesn't fit the game, sure.

The easiest way is to offer a rewind feature or put your own checkpoint anywhere. That's how I have been playing Donky Kong country with my wife on the snes mini. The game is fun, doing the same stuff over, or going back to the early levels to stock up on lives isn't.

The worst way to do it is how Mario on the WiiU did it. The watch the level being played and skipped is a terrible solution, as well as the invulnerability suit in the 3D version.

You could also make the game logic run slower or faster based on difficulty, larger jump or more forgiving button timing.

Difficult games should make sure restarting is fast and frustration free. A long load screen on death has me quickly lowering the difficulty if possible. My time is better spend than watching load screens. If the game resets instantly I don't mind trying again and again until I get it. As long as you don't have to do half the level over first. Which is the reason why I never bothered with the Dark souls bosses solo. Put a damn fire next to the boss then I'll try. The long load times have scared me off playing Bloodborne even though I have it.


Should games be criticized for being too hard. Depends on how they handle death, with long load times, yes they should be criticized.
Should games be critizized for being too easy. Perhaps it's not meant for you, leave some games for my kids to enjoy!

Ridicule? Why demonize a reply that was just meant to bring up counter points to a reply. It's not like im saying they are objectively wrong or that platformers can do no wrong, just that from my personal experience they all seem pretty balanced and the solitions listed like adding longer jumps or making checkpoints seemed odd. No need to make this seem ugly, the point of the reply was to see clarification on how these expand the games to better products. When someone asks a question they are not always looking for a one sided done deal answer, but rather discussion. 

Besides, I do think things could be done to make them easier in a good way. A life system for instance is pretty arbitrary in platformers