What is it that defines a given game? Some would say its story and characters. Others would say that a game is defined by its gameplay. Then there’s its difficulty. While there are many games out there known for being “hard”, I doubt that many of would venture the opinion that a game is defined by its difficulty. Yet for some reason many of us gamers insist on attaching a great deal of value to difficulty. We tend to look down on easy games, and even go so far as to consider “easy mode” an illegitimate experience. Is difficulty really all it’s cracked up to be though? I don’t think so. I fact I’d say “easy mode” actually has several merits to it. Continue reading Dialing Down the Difficulty →