CBU3. Please respect your players.

[IkaraGreydancer]

They mentioned games like Cuphead and Mass Effect as if that's a gotcha.

Cuphead is already a difficult game at its normal base difficulty. And Mass Effect has Veteran mode at the start which is its equivalent of Hard mode. Hardcore and Insanity are just Very Hard and above.

The problem isn't just that the hard mode is locked behind a playthrough. It's that the first playthrough is extremely easy, AND full of cutscenes and little gameplay, AND the hard mode is locked behind a playthrough, AND hard mode itself is piss easy still (40% in so far). It's the combined effect of these multiple decisions the game devs made that makes it horrible design.

Even then though...anyone with any 3rd person shooter chops can get through normal or veteran with ease. Hell imo I'd say Insanity isn't even insane. I can't objectively claim an easy game is bad design. It's just not what I'd personally want. What I consider easy may not be for the next person. Same for XIV. Btw a game not winning GOTY doesn't mean it's bad. Nor does GOTY even matter lol Normies care about that crap

But I have to ask...why not take XVI talk to a XVI dedicated space?