Wolfenstein: The New Order

Video Game Difficulty is Hard (But It Doesn't Have To Be) | Extra Credits Gaming

Traditional difficulty settings in video games often fail to serve players effectively because they require users to commit to a specific challenge level before they have experienced the game’s mechanics.

• Traditional difficulty settings often fail because they force players to make a permanent choice before they have experienced the game's mechanics or pacing.
• Player ego frequently prevents users from lowering difficulty settings; developers report that many players would rather quit a game entirely than switch to 'easy' mode.
• Adaptive difficulty systems, such as the 'game rank' feature in Resident Evil 4 or 'automatic challenge tuning' in Ratchet & Clank, secretly adjust mechanics like enemy health and item drops based on real-time player performance.