I definitely feel like the game dropping more heals when you’re nearly dead or more ammo when you’re fresh out is very much welcome, keep all that. But fiddling with damage numbers on the fly undermines the difficulty selection you made; as you said. Especially if it can adjust so much it is effectively a different option all-together!
The best dynamic difficulty systems are the ones that aren't publicized and go unnoticed. That's the magic balance that OG RE4 managed to strike. Also I'd say Left 4 Dead's director system is more about pacing of the experience to have dips and peaks than adjusting the difficulty.
I am fairly certain the Director does make things easier if players are struggling. If the Director sees it as challenging the players, it will then make things easier for the next few actions it takes. EDIT: I just checked, the Director looks at player health and resources. It is 100% DA, making things less intense (read: easier) if players are struggling. Also, the whole point of DA is to tweak player experience into something the developers think will be more fun. At the end of a day, even pacing how encounters happen is a form of difficulty adjustment. Having 3 difficult encounters then two easy ones in a row is completely different to having the two easy encounters in between.
Hey, nice to see you here. Love your videos @RubyofBlue Yeah, OG RE4 indeed had that magic balance in regards to DA. I hope to see a discussion between you and Maxylobes. Me and the modding community discovered the RE4 Remake is that hands down the worst and awfully programmed DA, AI behavior, and gameplay mechanics in the game. One example: Leon's running speed is reduced 20% once he enters the 1st house at the start of the game and it stays that way. PSVR2 version, however, doesn't seem to suffer from that. The remake in terms of gameplay is constantly inconsistent and RNG based (having a DA worsens that and you still get punished for your skills). I know a few speedrunners that gave up on doing no damage, single segment runs on Professional difficulty for the exact reasons I've posted.
I always thought re2re was just terribly balanced and you weren't meant to kill zombies, just headshot to stun them or kneecap them because otherwise why would it take 3 full clips to take them out with headshots? I never knew the game was just going "oh you picked up 3 bullets? Aight, next zombie will take an extra 5 headshots to kill" I knew da existed but I didn't know it was that aggressive. I always knew the games since 4 gave you ammo if you needed ammo and health if you need health but I thought it stopped at that.
Aside from zombies before police station. I always play re2, clearing all zombies, there are a lot of tricks you can do to kill zombies and save ammo, 2shots knee cap then headshot zombie with shotgun. You can knife most of tyrant 1 and 3 fight and also best to knife lickers, especially after using acid round first. But yeah you still feel the game trying to go against you still with its da ballshit
Good video, dude! I feel DA was probably better before consumers knew about it. I'd wager it was originally meant to provide players with a sense of overcoming the game without realizing it got easier. Now that more people are privy to its existence, I agree it's a mechanic that should be scrapped or reworked. Not much point in having a curtain when people know how to peak behind it!
the people who care are the "above casual" gamers, the people who play a few hours per week dont care, people like me and you who play 10 hours per day because we are unhinged and have no life, do care but even for us there are ways to mitigate DA.
I don't mind DA as something speedrunners can game and manipulate for runs, as I think it can add another layer to what makes a good run so special. But most DA systems are fairly simple, making manipulating them often as simple as "I will take a hit/death from this enemy at this place to make this next thing a bit faster." I think I prefer the "director" style that L4D and DS remake utilize, as it's a bit more nebulous and its differences are less "you deal slightly more/receive slightly less damage" and more about whether or not certain event triggers fire off at certain places. Of course, that's more RNG and runners often dislike RNG if it has too heavy a hand in things. But RNG can be fun for viewers, at least!
that 20 headshots commentary shook me to my core 😂 no wonder it is never consistent in RE2R😮 makes it tougher for speed-running a game but I love a challenge😅 Great Video!!
Well in RE2R, all shots deal the same damage regardless of location. It's just that headshots have a small chance of critting and popping the head. It actually works out very well, with shooting legs staggering the zombies so you can run by, center mass being the easiest to land, and headshots having a rare but powerful critical effect.
@dc8836 The average player isn't going to be affected by this. Most people are going to aim for the head, so when you're suddenly emptying multiple magazines into a zombie that won't die, it ruins the experience because the average player won't understand why the game suddenly got so difficult.
@jesse89jensen that's kinda the problem though dark souls doesn't really tailor the enemies difficulty to the players performance so it's hard to get good when the game gets "harder" the better you are and I don't consider bullet sponge enemies and resource drops disappearing or being empty as difficulty anyway it makes the game feel inauthentic lime someone is deciding when you open a box if there's something in it
I personally dislike DA. Sink or swim, i want the difficulty i chose at the start. Sometimes i want an easy or hard experience, the game forcing me to play harder or easy nullifies the point in making the choice at the start imo. Especially the heavy handed DAs.
The thing is that it helps to prevent softlocks, which is a big worry in these sorts of linear games. Overall, the goal is not to be a challenge you need to overcome, but to let you win while still testing you. The resident evil games are not dark souls. Hardcore is still noticeably harder than standard, but its unlikely to stop you for hours on end, make you put the controller down, and come back another day. It's effectively a form of skill based matchmaking, where you'll settle into the difficulty area you're feeling up to at the point.
@@sauceinmyface9302yeah it’s definitely easier for development too. Playing single player games in the past was much more of a gamble. I do like having insurance against hard failing games in the first 15 minutes and only finding out hours later (like the zork games) and from getting into situations where a heroic amount of effort is required to continue on the latest save file or going back an arbitrary number of saves is required to make progress. I think even if there’s charm in the old ways, modern audiences justifiably don’t have the patience to deal with unforgiving game mechanics.
@@ilikeshiba It obviously varies a lot from game to game. In a jrpg, you probably can grind levels, or swap gear, or swap party members, or use items to get through a fight. In a game like Halo, you regenerate health, and you can restart level if you get stuck without ammo or something. But RE games dont have either of those options, really. Theres no chapter select, infinitely regenerating health(on most difficulties), and infinite amount of other gameplay options to try. And so if you get to a hard spot, with no ammo, money, or resources, you legitimately could be stuck. And if you had just one save file, you can go back a chapter or something. And that's a problem that DA tries to solve.
With how excellently balanced the RE games have felt with DA I don't think it should go. If I boot up these games on Easy I will still have a noticeably easier time despite the DA being ratcheted up a bit. And as another commenter pointed out, because RE games are survival horror games without the option to grind for more resources, some level of grace like DA is necessary to avoid softlocks. But, I do think there should be at least one difficulty option that locks it in place for consistency's sake, like RE4 Professional.
So glad that you mentioned Code Veronica man! Made me feel less embarrassed about the fact that I got stuck on that aeroplane tyrant fight with no resources
Let me be the first to tell you: there is a whole lineage of us who got softlocked on that stupid Tyrant fight in the cargo hold. It is an INFAMOUS softlock for RE fans, to the point where it is the only instance of a boss I will spoil for friends ahead of time to warn them to NOT use the grenade launcher early and to definitely go pick it up. I hate spoilers, but I feel that's one of the only places providing a spoiler to someone is justified, for their own sake.
@@Genasidal haha hearing that has made me feel a whole lot better about myself, if it's infamous then I'll give myself a pass. It was the first of the old style RE games I played so I assumed I was just bad. On my second play through now so hopefully I'll fare better this time lol
@@JamesWolf2001 It's a very easy trap to fall into. The game doesn't really communicate ahead of time that you're gonna have a b2b bossfight with the same enemy, nor the kind of condition you fight him in, with the 2nd encounter in the cargo hold. It's one of the weaker designed bossfights from the original games and this is coming from someone who defends quite a lot of the ones people dislike! Plus, though I hadn't myself, I know it's very common to completely miss out on the grenade launcher and the dual SMGS, BOTH of which are very, very useful for that fight (seriously, the GL makes that fight an absolute joke. Just start spamming it at him and you'll be in a victory cutscene in less than a minute.)
@@Genasidal Ah see I got the dual SMGs but I don't remember getting a grenade launcher...unless I just used up all its ammo but either way by the time I got to the fight I had nothing but bow darts and pistol ammo. I think the biggest problem for me was having no healing items and being 1 hit away from death. Basically impossible at that point!
@@JamesWolf2001 I had the EXACT same issue with my first try which ended in a softlock. Had the ammo, but was literally one-hit, thanks to the Bandersnatches beforehand that absolutely kicked my ass and drained me of all my heals. It's certainly much easier when you KNOW he's coming though. 2nd time around? 0 issue, fully prepared.
I think DA comes down to the player chosen experience. A player will often select Normal difficulty because despite their skill level they often don't want to select an easy mode. In this scenario I think a DA system is helpful for your average player and keeping them engaged. However; if someone picks a difficulty that is above Normal then they are looking for a challenge, there is no need to adjust them. If they really must use DA for difficulties then I feel soft upper and lower caps make the most sense. Just some thoughts I've had on the subject.
It varies on the game but in general, picking the hardest option for the more modern RE games tends to just lock the DA at the highest tick. It essentially turns the system off. Admittedly I'm someone that enjoys challenging games, so my recommendation is always to play the game on a difficulty that's higher than your usual because you can never remove understanding of gameplay systems, map layouts, etc once you've experienced them.
@@dc8836 I think that's an extremely valid opinion when it comes to experiencing a game for the first time. When someone says they want a challenge, then the game should accept that at any difficulty above normal. However there is also a large playerbase who is in it for the story, aesthetics, experience, or whatever, over a challenging experience, and I think the DA system works for. Inclusivity is good as it allows more people to become part of the community and fandom. But as you rightfully point out, someone whos here for a challenge doesn't want the helping hand, they know what they want, so let them play without assistance. I think DA might just be a little too eager to help out.
The final boss for RE3R really felt balanced around using shop items, which I hate. I only beat it without shop items after dying a lot. I then immediately tried it out with the STARS manual and the defense coins to see how hard it'd be, and I completed it first try. -_-
Left4Dead2 is a fantastic example of DA done to perfection. In L4D2, "the Director" is directly referenced as not just adjusting the difficulty, but also making sure the experience is tense and exciting, with proper allowance for rest and relieving that tension so the players do not become fatigued or numb from too much action.
Spyro 3 also has DA it turns out, and that kinda made things annoying when my friend played it for the first time. Whenever she'd die, a bunch of enemies would despawn, or the racing minigames would get pathetically easy. Thankfully there's a cheat code to max the difficulty out, but in the end what it meant is that she'd die and instantly have to pause to input it, determined to actually overcome the challenge herself. Just a bit frustrating for players looking to actually improve.
This was a very informative video! Never realised Resi 2 remake had dynamic difficulty and I didnt even realise it had checkpoints I dont think. I only ever logged off after a full save.
There's a ton of hidden stuff behind the curtain with the RE games, but a lot of it isn't noticeable for most players. I'm just a turbo nerd who knows a lot about these games and wanted to inform people like yourself. Thank you for watching :D
This makes a lot of sense now. Not gonna lie, I struggled with RE2 Remake. Emptying a full clip of ammo all headshots on a standard zombie just for it to keep getting up meant I had nothing on me for the next room or boss fights
Watching this video reminded me last year when I played the RE2 remake, I decided to count how many bullets it takes to headshot the zombies in order manage my ammo. I found it was so inconsistent I couldn't rely on it at all but also I had no idea what was causing it and this video finally sheds a light on this unknown feature. I can see DA being good for casual players and games with one difficulty but if I choose normal or hard, I don't want this feature present at all least of all an RE game.
Huh, that could explain some things. I remember hearing RER2 was notoriously difficult, even on standard, and I had a tougher time with it than RE3R & RE4R on my first go. One reason I always assumed was due to the environment; RE2R placed you in tight corridors, with little to no space for running around zombies, whereas RE3R & RE4R's locations were often more open and had more opportunities for you to escape a group and have a few seconds to catch your breath. Guess that wasn't the case, after all. 😅 (Well done with the video, btw - it was well thought out and informative)
Well, tight spaces are part of the reason. It's often impossible to avoid enemies, so you need to either tank damage or kill them. If you decide to kill, you increase difficulty for yourself. If it's high enough already, you lose ability to tank damage, because you will die before leaving the room.
RE2R is the only one where the DA feels punishing and annoying more than helpful, because enemies get too spongy and ammo gets too scarce. Sometimes I wanna blast through the game with an abundance of ammo, but also not make it *too* easy by playing on assisted or with infinite weapons. if I wanted a stressful challenging time I would have picked hardcore mode.
Dude now I understand! Im playing RE2re and its been a rollercoaster or total scarcity with sudden peaks of ammo to all-out zombie aggresiveness. I didn't get it now I do and it's not the best. Knowing the game is purposefully not giving me healing items is even worse
Noooo shit!? Been wondering why the game just randomly got 1000x harder when I was so careful getting through the police station. As soon as I got to the garage I noticed a massive decrease in findable items and the enemy aggression got way more intense
But the healing drops in RE2R are always the same.. it’s not variable like RE4R with breakable objects and enemies dropping stuff, the healing items are part of the map and don’t change depending on difficulty. Same for ammo too but the amount of bullets you actually get vary based on difficulty and DA, but the healing items are always the same and always in the same place regardless of DA.
@@chrismuratore4451 yeah i struggled a bunch early learning and when i felt a little more comfortable with the mechanics i did a pretty clean run through of the police station only to use everything id collected on the first few enemies in the next area and be left with nothing and feeling hopeless because if even that wasnt enough shit im just not cut out for this. I might go back eventually and ig just be shittier early on so the harder areas arent brutalizing me?
i KNEW there was something massively wrong with the remakes and difficulty.. i played good and managed to get messed up by 1 single mistake in standard i played like shit and it felt like it was actually balanced also in standard but i lacked ammo or hp only thing that felt normal was professional difficulty in re4r which i thought i'd die instantly on
Idk, in re4r standard and hardcore still feel about the same to me as it did my first couple playthroughs. You seem to have oneshot protection a lot of the time, so as long as you keep a big heal like g+r, its very hard to die. As long as you dont keep getting wombo combod in an encounter, that is.
That's why all speedrunners play on professional for OG RE4, yeah it's harder but drops and enemies are always the same because the DA is locked to the maximum no matter what, if I'm not mistaken, it's the same for the remake, If you play marginally well on hardcore you'll reach maximum DA anyway, so after some chapters the game is the same as professional except auto-saves.
@@brenomedeiros8460 Professional DA in remake I think is locked between two levels, so theres a little bit of wiggle room but its basically always maxed out
RE4R's most consistent difficulty ends up being assisted as opposed to the original where Professional was the most consistent, due to how both games handle their DA per difficulty. It's honestly wild how inconsistent RE4R's Professional diffiuclty is compared to the original. It's so obvious to me too, bc I basically only play either on Professional (and casually speedran both a lot too, which is a GREAT way to feel the DA messing with you, trust me...) On the other hand, RE4R's assisted is consistently easy, no matter how well you perfom, bc it's so much more lenient on everything DA related in the player's favour.
that shit with the perfect dodge is just unbelievable i mean okay, it makes sense from a developer standpoint if you're dodging basically everything but that shouldn't effected damage values i always wonder why dodging felt so inconsistent in RE3make now i know why...
I feel like the best solution is to not goof around with the damage numbers and instead just give heals when you're low on health because stuff like that is great and feels natural but when I can shoot a zombie and kill it in two hits then 10 minutes later it takes 15 shots to kill a zombie it just sucks. Like, why even pick standard when it will just make it pro anyways
Great video! I had a basic concept of how DA worked, but had no idea so many variables could be involved or how drastically it could change my playing experience (my first playthrough of RE2R makes a lot more sense now 😅). The editing was great, but your script was fantastic, too. I appreciate the effort you put in to ensure that even those of us with minimal knowledge of DA could easily follow along and understand. (I also appreciated the volume warning, not many are that considerate! ❤)
The thing is that, even though I'm a fixedish skill, the standard difficulty and hardcore difficulty are very different experiences for me. After all, the maximum da of standard is 7, which is the minimum for hardcore. They don't ofcupy the same space. While I'm in Hardcore, I don't pay attention to if the game is noticeably easy of unfairly hard all of a sudden, it really does feel like a smooth progression where the game doesnt have any weird spikes or rough edges. I am not the best player, I'll still miss shots, get grabbed, get shot by crossbows, so my DA is probably not always maxed out. Idk man, it just works for me. The item DA is a little too blatant for my liking, and makes resource management feel less important, but I understand its really important for stopping frustrating softlocks.
Also thank you for all the DA info, DA is often asked about in streams and I hope this video gives all who ask about it all the info they seed on it. ❤
Ooo i loved this. I've heard yourself and Bawkbasoup bring up some of these DA complaints in the recent titles, but i never fully grasped the details of it. Great job illustrating it!!
I was just replaying the REmakes again for Halloween and this video actually helps explain why I found the 2 playthrough "off". Because I remember thinking that when I was coming close to finishing it, I thought "Maybe I am just too used to RE4 REmake since I have mostly been playing that one ever since it came out. But something about this game just doesn't feel right. Like some moments feel like they are crazy hard but I don't know why and it doesn't have the enemy drops to make up for the resources when those moments hit". And then you went and pretty much said those exact vibes are because of this very thing. Also this explains something I saw a while back. I remember skimming through a guide when I was doing a specific run of RE4 REmake(I forgot what the challenge was specifically I was going for) and Der Lago was mentioned as "Not a big deal, even on Professional if you throw harpoons fast and hit with each one you can kill him before he ever even submerges because it doesn't take many harpoons". I was like "It didn't take that few did it? Do I just miss a lot" but then when I got to it for that playthrough I had to hit him with so many before he died so had no idea what they were talking about.
I remember when I first learned about the system from the RE5 strategy guide, well after I had beaten the game multiple times. I could have guessed that RE4 had something similar, with how I'd almost never see a randomly dropped green herb unless I had none left.
I loved inferno difficulty completely up until the last boss, after playing every other difficulty it's blatantly obvious the only way they knew how to make that fight harder was by just making it unfair
In the water room in the original Re4, in my first play through, I kept resetting before I died and didn’t let the DA works itself out. It was a nightmare to beat it I didn’t know about DA, obviously.
I have only the gist of how DA works, and after seeing this video I understand more what it feels like to do challenge runs on these games (No damage runs etc.) and how it effects the consistency of the strats like the mentioned RE 3 Inferno mode were the strats I've seen sometimes fail.
I kinda feel that as an idea DA makes total sense, because difficulty is such an arbitrary concept, what is normal and what is hard and what is easy? And what about that other very similar game? Why that feels harder than this one? I think it's a tricky thing to get right, but I welocme it in most games. I do not like the overlapping of difficulty tho, if you choose easy it should never bleed into other difficulties, it should a hard range where they do not meet.
I always thought my experiences in each play through was different on the same difficulty. But that sheds some light on why I struggled with Del Lago in the remake on hard core and flat out wrecked it on my professional s+ run.
I knew there was something going on when I played RE4R. When ever I had low health, the game would throw me more health items. It felt unnatural. I didn't notice that DA was implemented in RE2R and RE3R too. I kind of understand why this system exists, but I'd like it if wasn't implemented in the games at all. I want to choose my own difficulty and not punished for doing well, not getting hit and killing every zombie.
I knew RE4 has it but I never considered how it affects item drops in RE2 Now I understand why I kept not having any ammo in that game Thank you, awesome video
I like DA when it effects things like item drops or enemy spawns. Keep things like damage/health consistent so a player can get a vibe for things and then alter 1 variable and make it noticeable so players can tell where they’re at.
For my last trophy on my platinum on RE3, I saved Inferno since I was very familiar with the game by then. I wasn’t ready for the BS I was put through, I nearly gave up on the final boss but at 1:05 am on a Sunday morning I did that shit. Memorized his moves like a dark souls boss
While I fully understood what you were explaining from the get go, I feel the term Adaptive Difficulty works better than adjustment. It’s accurate, but it’s easier when I explain to others as it being adaptive, which implies it adjusts on the fly, based on an ongoing analysis of player performance.
I super enjoyed this video! It's nice learning about DA and why certain games feel the way they do. With DA being a hidden mechanic it does make sense to get rid of it if a company can truly balance their games.
man i used to hate speed running, especially on RE, but after watching this video, i’ve changed my mind about it, great video, very informative about the games i played in the past and loved, well edited.. great stuff… u got a sub. stupid question, have you played the original RE games ?
@@TheStrokeStrokeri hate the idea of speed running not the people that’s speed runs it… i should’ve said “speed running” instead of “speed runners” 😅 miss spelled
I like DA when it works properly, give me more ammo when im nearly out, give me heals when im almost dead, and when im doing well on both give me some money or something. Win win.
I agree with just getting rid of it. But one difficulty comes to mind and that's inferno, VOS, madhouse and re4makes professional are just fine to me but inferno, I don't mind the DA. But getting rid of it would be best.
Interesting I didn’t notice it in REE3 remake, maybe because it’s so short, but I got frustrated in RE2 remake and never finished it. I’ll try it again with this information - thanks!
That was great, well explained how it works, the editing, sound. This video is the one I will reference when I play these games! I wouldn’t have been able to explain DA that well. The mechanic works well when done right but well… when done wrong… oh boy…
Not sure if there's DA in The Evil Within games, but I always enjoyed just how, for the most part, consistent the damage output of my weapons seem to be throughout my overall gameplay experience. And I could rely on the upgrades I spent my resources on, too, without having to worry much about the game scaling an enemy's health pool beyond a reasonable amount. While I enjoy the various implementations of dynamic difficulty in games, I do think picking a difficulty should, at the very least, have a floor and ceiling of the range at which the difficulty can adjust itself.
I hate the DA in Max Payne. Its so frustrating when you're punished for playing well and at some point basically every enemy will start instakilling you
I'm very grateful for DA! I know I'm not an amazing player. I would say I'm pretty okay. I feel I'm definitely not on the same level as other players, and that's okay. If it weren't for DA, I'd probably never get past some parts in RE4. DA allows a player to actually enjoy the game because it lets them continue on, instead of being stuck on one part. It would suck all the fun out of it to just keep on dying and never getting anywhere (imo). I can definitely understand why people don't like it, though. I know that feeling of accomplishment after finally beating a really difficult part in the game, and some people would prefer it to be just due to their skill, not because the game helped them. I think there should be an option to enable or disable it, so that everyone can play how they'd like.
Honestly, I don't think it should be scrapped entirely... But I do think it should be kept simple or fairly negligible. Like in the case of games like Resident Evil, I think it should only affect enemy damage, spawns, and aggression. Keep health values and stagger triggers the same for a given difficulty, and keep the player damage the same across all difficulties. And whatever dynamic is added to the difficulty, it is not above the baseline for the next higher difficulty or below the current one. Oh, and keep it to just keeping track of damage output and kills versus damage taken and deaths. I think RE4 Remake's DA system would have been fine had the two point systems remained totally separate and not interdependent on one another to determine difficulty. Also, sidenote not related to DA, stop tying to damage to frames and tie it to time in-game... While it's fun to learn that you can cheese a lot of fights in RE 2 and 3 remakes with the knife with cranked frames, that comes off as a pay to win thing to me and I don't really care for it... Getting a $5000 PC specked out with top of the line add-ons just to cheese a boss fight running at 200 fps. (I know it's capped at 120 fps for speedruns on PC, but seriously...
but I was under impression that the more bullets you had and less shots fired is what raised the difficulty. Especially since there isn’t enough ammo to kill every zombie. I had no idea this was actually how it worked, it’s terrible
I knew about re4 DA but didn't think they kept using it in future titles. But I did get suspicious because I'm playing re8 now and watching game grumps play it and.... Its just so different. I find every treasure, conserve ammo with knife, reload if I do bad in a section, but Arin just funbles through the game, wasting resources, with no money, and is just fine, enemies die with half the shots, even bosses. Now I get it. 😅
As someone who platinumed RE2R, I never knew about this! I always assumed every enemy had a random amount of health to discourage guns blazing playstyles. I personally liked the bullet spongy enemies because it made the enemies an actual threat that couldn’t be pushed around. It’s weird to note that despite almost never getting hit and always hitting my shots, I never found the game too hard at all. I always had an abundance of health and ammo and still found it hard to struggle in the game. If someone could explain how I wasn’t getting shafted by insane difficulty, I’d like to talk about it
Thank you so much, I felt so dumb playing Re2 remake the first time and eventually having to switch to assisted. Never had the same problem in the others
I honestly despise adaptive difficulty because it ruined the RE2 remake experience for me. I didn't enjoy having to shoot a zombie 20+ times in the head to kill it or even just 10 to knock it out. The games should just react to what the player has on hand rather than making enemies tougher or weaker. If I have a ton of ammo and no heals, let me keep fighting until I need a heal ergo making me expend some of my ammo, or if I'm low on ammo and have a ton of heals, don't give me a ton of ammo until Ive used a couple heals. Having the game double or even triple in difficulty makes literally no sense and removes any point in having a difficulty selector to begin with.
Go back to the old ways, man. REmake doesn't need DA to be good. If they wanted to make sure players know what they're getting into, add some bullet point tips about each difficulty setting - like hard would explain that you *will* need to evade and bypass monsters because you simply will not have the ammo to kill em all. It puts more work on the devs to fine-tune and balance things prior to launch, but that's what playtesting is for among other things.
For RE2 Remake, when I realized how much ammunition it takes to kill a Zombie by aiming for the head, I quickly changed my strategy by simply breaking their leg and making them much less dangerous. People can complain about the amount of ammunition it takes to kill a Zombie, I had never felt so helpless in a survival horror since the remake of the first one on Game Cube. Being able to systematically empty all the rooms of the monsters because the game gives us enough ammunition for that even in the highest difficulty, that's not what I call survival. And unfortunately, the number of survival horror games that drown you in ammunition as long as you are at least a little economical and know how to aim are plethora and it was good to finally have one that requires us to be at least a little resourceful and to know how to make the necessary choices. That still didn't stop me from finding this remake quite easy in normal difficulty while it becomes interesting in hard. Resident Evil 4 also became interesting on Hard. We roll on the game on Normal. If the game seems poorly balanced, before throwing stones at it, it is better to think about whether it is not our own approach that is the cause. What I find unfair, however, is to never give us the choice to play with or without this famous DA because as practical as it can be to feel comfortable playing the game, this system is a huge obstacle to improving our gameplay and going through a difficult time that took us 6 or 7 tries no longer has the same flavor when we know that the game has just decided to take pity on us whether it is well balanced or not. At least, giving us the choice to activate it or not at any time in the game would really allow us to choose the conditions of the challenge that we want to impose on ourselves at any time, even if it means activating it if we are really tired of being stuck. And it would even create new Speed Run categories.
I feel like they don't even try to hide the DA in many games. RE4R and the Last of Us Part 2 will eagerly provide you with tons of extra ammo after you expend it all during a harsh fight. Its almost comical how RE4R will start putting 3 separate items in barrels and boxes when you're running really low.
I've played every Resi game since it began, except for Gaiden, that Umbrella themed competitive multiplayer third person shooter, and Resi 3 Remake (w/c i bought but haven't gotten around to playing yet). I've known about DA since the original RE4. But i don't know about the specifics. After watching this, i realize that a few of the weird things i've encountered in Resi games may be attributed to DA causing it. I usually do a run of all the games on their hardest difficulty so hard difficulty really isn't much of a problem for me, but i remember encountering a basic molded in Re7 and it depleted all of my ammo and it still didn't die. 😅 I also remember fighting del lago in Re4 remake on the hardest difficulty or maybe it was second to the hardest, and the fight took about maybe 30-45 minutes. 😅 i can't recall exactly but it was so spongy. Those memories stand out. I'm sure there may be more DA caused weirdness in all my time playing the games but it seems those couple of instances always remain in my memory.
I'm a bit ambivalent on DA, on one hand, I prefer games to be consistently challenging, on the other, it can make repeat playthroughs more interesting. I understand why this would annoy Speedrunners tho
When you play a game just once, you can have a good time without even noticing the DA. When you love a game, you want to replay it multiple times and you want to learn the game mechanics and engage with them. So, when you then notice that the best strategy is to just die, this isn't a bad game design, the game is simply broken. (I write a book below) Among many other examples, it partially ruined Re4 remake for me. I really liked the game, and thought I'm going to replay it multiple times, so after completing it on pro, I set out to on an experimental run, to find answers to many questions I had about this game. I was testing stuff like, which crows drop random items and which have pre-determined drops, how many eggs can a chicken lay (answer: it's not tied to a chicken but to an area where a group of chicken is, and is different in every chapter.), can you save scum to get a blue gem from every novi in the game (you can!) and stuff like this. I was also testing out what affects the drop from the boxes and from dead enemies, and this is what ruined the game for me. The DA will ALWAYS make sure you get handgun ammo, not only making the bolt thrower a literal scam, but also making you feel stupid for trying to save up your bullets. The worst thing was, that the average ammo drop, when sold, is worth more than an average money drop.... So the best way to make money is just selling all your handgun ammo whenever you have a chance. You can enter a combat intense area with fully reloaded gun an no bullets in your inventory, kill all the enemies, only picking up ammo when you need to reload, break all the boxes, and only then pick everything up, and more often than not, you'll have 100+ handgun bullets to your name. My player agency was taken away, I could carefully line up headshots and finish the enemies off with kicks, or I could blast my gun like a maniac, it didn't matter, because the game would handhold me through the whole experience. The only way I could wrestle my agency back, is by engaging with this stupid, backwards system. Wanna more money? - Just run back to the merchant after every encounter and sell. Wanna more bullets for an upcoming boss fight? - Just don't pick up item drops and back track to pick it all up before entering the boss area. Mind you, all of that on top of a system that already dictates how much damage I take and do.
In the case of RE2 Remake, I think the dev team had the goal to spell it out to the players at all times possible that killing every zombie is not the way forward. Between Mr. X encouraging you to run away even if a room is filled with other enemies, zombies not dying to headshots quickly _but_ losing their limbs with more ease and the DA, the game is encouraging to make your shots count where it matters: puzzle rooms with enemies and boss fights. Another element is that players, specially casual ones, love the feeling of overcoming the odds, by their own hands of thinking it was by their own hands. They won't knwo the DA values after, for example, the very first village fight in RE4 Remake, and maybe they'll die one or two times, but in the third one they finally win, the bell tolls and the encounter is over. The reality is that the game helped them out and they experienced the encounter to learn more of the game, but for them it was all their achievement, they beat the part and they're awesome. In the end, this really showcases how each team at Capcom treat the DA. RE7 and Village are using it as a safety net, for a really new player perhaps. RE2 Remake uses it to push you down an intended gameplay style and RE4 Remake wants to maintain the thrill at all times, illusion or not.
I dont like the DA in re4 remake. Especially when I notice it. I dont feel accomplished when i get past a part that a life ago it felt like the game cheated
I would be really interest to see how the game "ranked" my gameplay. Maybe a graph of the DA rank shown as a function of time played at the end credits would be fun. Also there has to be a disparity between PC and consoles, right? While I mostly play on console, you can definitely aim better on PC so if missed shots lower your DA rank then is the game on PC "harder" as a result?
DA has always been bad IMO. One thing people look for in video games is consistency. What DA does is throws consistency out the window. Now a limited DA that effects a few variables, like if DA only affects aggression of the AI and how much damage they deal thats fine, but it also effecting item drops, and the damage they deal on top of the others then the game becomes too inconsistant.
I definitely feel like the game dropping more heals when you’re nearly dead or more ammo when you’re fresh out is very much welcome, keep all that. But fiddling with damage numbers on the fly undermines the difficulty selection you made; as you said. Especially if it can adjust so much it is effectively a different option all-together!
The best dynamic difficulty systems are the ones that aren't publicized and go unnoticed. That's the magic balance that OG RE4 managed to strike. Also I'd say Left 4 Dead's director system is more about pacing of the experience to have dips and peaks than adjusting the difficulty.
I am fairly certain the Director does make things easier if players are struggling. If the Director sees it as challenging the players, it will then make things easier for the next few actions it takes.
EDIT: I just checked, the Director looks at player health and resources. It is 100% DA, making things less intense (read: easier) if players are struggling.
Also, the whole point of DA is to tweak player experience into something the developers think will be more fun. At the end of a day, even pacing how encounters happen is a form of difficulty adjustment. Having 3 difficult encounters then two easy ones in a row is completely different to having the two easy encounters in between.
Hey, nice to see you here. Love your videos @RubyofBlue
Yeah, OG RE4 indeed had that magic balance in regards to DA. I hope to see a discussion between you and Maxylobes.
Me and the modding community discovered the RE4 Remake is that hands down the worst and awfully programmed DA, AI behavior, and gameplay mechanics in the game.
One example: Leon's running speed is reduced 20% once he enters the 1st house at the start of the game and it stays that way. PSVR2 version, however, doesn't seem to suffer from that.
The remake in terms of gameplay is constantly inconsistent and RNG based (having a DA worsens that and you still get punished for your skills). I know a few speedrunners that gave up on doing no damage, single segment runs on Professional difficulty for the exact reasons I've posted.
I always thought re2re was just terribly balanced and you weren't meant to kill zombies, just headshot to stun them or kneecap them because otherwise why would it take 3 full clips to take them out with headshots? I never knew the game was just going "oh you picked up 3 bullets? Aight, next zombie will take an extra 5 headshots to kill"
I knew da existed but I didn't know it was that aggressive. I always knew the games since 4 gave you ammo if you needed ammo and health if you need health but I thought it stopped at that.
Aside from zombies before police station. I always play re2, clearing all zombies, there are a lot of tricks you can do to kill zombies and save ammo, 2shots knee cap then headshot zombie with shotgun. You can knife most of tyrant 1 and 3 fight and also best to knife lickers, especially after using acid round first. But yeah you still feel the game trying to go against you still with its da ballshit
Good video, dude! I feel DA was probably better before consumers knew about it. I'd wager it was originally meant to provide players with a sense of overcoming the game without realizing it got easier. Now that more people are privy to its existence, I agree it's a mechanic that should be scrapped or reworked. Not much point in having a curtain when people know how to peak behind it!
the people who care are the "above casual" gamers, the people who play a few hours per week dont care, people like me and you who play 10 hours per day because we are unhinged and have no life, do care but even for us there are ways to mitigate DA.
@@garryarganis5801 "we are unhinged and have no life"
I assure you I am not like you if that is what you think of yourself.
DA is nonsense
I don't mind DA as something speedrunners can game and manipulate for runs, as I think it can add another layer to what makes a good run so special. But most DA systems are fairly simple, making manipulating them often as simple as "I will take a hit/death from this enemy at this place to make this next thing a bit faster." I think I prefer the "director" style that L4D and DS remake utilize, as it's a bit more nebulous and its differences are less "you deal slightly more/receive slightly less damage" and more about whether or not certain event triggers fire off at certain places.
Of course, that's more RNG and runners often dislike RNG if it has too heavy a hand in things. But RNG can be fun for viewers, at least!
@@DECosmicRunsit is you, my little pussy fart. Accept it and move on
that 20 headshots commentary shook me to my core 😂 no wonder it is never consistent in RE2R😮 makes it tougher for speed-running a game but I love a challenge😅 Great Video!!
Well in RE2R, all shots deal the same damage regardless of location. It's just that headshots have a small chance of critting and popping the head. It actually works out very well, with shooting legs staggering the zombies so you can run by, center mass being the easiest to land, and headshots having a rare but powerful critical effect.
@dc8836 The average player isn't going to be affected by this. Most people are going to aim for the head, so when you're suddenly emptying multiple magazines into a zombie that won't die, it ruins the experience because the average player won't understand why the game suddenly got so difficult.
@@AusVtuberyou could get good
@jesse89jensen that's kinda the problem though dark souls doesn't really tailor the enemies difficulty to the players performance so it's hard to get good when the game gets "harder" the better you are and I don't consider bullet sponge enemies and resource drops disappearing or being empty as difficulty anyway it makes the game feel inauthentic lime someone is deciding when you open a box if there's something in it
I personally dislike DA. Sink or swim, i want the difficulty i chose at the start. Sometimes i want an easy or hard experience, the game forcing me to play harder or easy nullifies the point in making the choice at the start imo. Especially the heavy handed DAs.
The thing is that it helps to prevent softlocks, which is a big worry in these sorts of linear games. Overall, the goal is not to be a challenge you need to overcome, but to let you win while still testing you. The resident evil games are not dark souls. Hardcore is still noticeably harder than standard, but its unlikely to stop you for hours on end, make you put the controller down, and come back another day.
It's effectively a form of skill based matchmaking, where you'll settle into the difficulty area you're feeling up to at the point.
It just limits the difficulty from going too high or too easy.
@@sauceinmyface9302yeah it’s definitely easier for development too. Playing single player games in the past was much more of a gamble. I do like having insurance against hard failing games in the first 15 minutes and only finding out hours later (like the zork games) and from getting into situations where a heroic amount of effort is required to continue on the latest save file or going back an arbitrary number of saves is required to make progress. I think even if there’s charm in the old ways, modern audiences justifiably don’t have the patience to deal with unforgiving game mechanics.
@@ilikeshiba It obviously varies a lot from game to game. In a jrpg, you probably can grind levels, or swap gear, or swap party members, or use items to get through a fight. In a game like Halo, you regenerate health, and you can restart level if you get stuck without ammo or something. But RE games dont have either of those options, really. Theres no chapter select, infinitely regenerating health(on most difficulties), and infinite amount of other gameplay options to try. And so if you get to a hard spot, with no ammo, money, or resources, you legitimately could be stuck. And if you had just one save file, you can go back a chapter or something. And that's a problem that DA tries to solve.
With how excellently balanced the RE games have felt with DA I don't think it should go. If I boot up these games on Easy I will still have a noticeably easier time despite the DA being ratcheted up a bit. And as another commenter pointed out, because RE games are survival horror games without the option to grind for more resources, some level of grace like DA is necessary to avoid softlocks.
But, I do think there should be at least one difficulty option that locks it in place for consistency's sake, like RE4 Professional.
So glad that you mentioned Code Veronica man! Made me feel less embarrassed about the fact that I got stuck on that aeroplane tyrant fight with no resources
Let me be the first to tell you: there is a whole lineage of us who got softlocked on that stupid Tyrant fight in the cargo hold. It is an INFAMOUS softlock for RE fans, to the point where it is the only instance of a boss I will spoil for friends ahead of time to warn them to NOT use the grenade launcher early and to definitely go pick it up.
I hate spoilers, but I feel that's one of the only places providing a spoiler to someone is justified, for their own sake.
@@Genasidal haha hearing that has made me feel a whole lot better about myself, if it's infamous then I'll give myself a pass. It was the first of the old style RE games I played so I assumed I was just bad. On my second play through now so hopefully I'll fare better this time lol
@@JamesWolf2001 It's a very easy trap to fall into. The game doesn't really communicate ahead of time that you're gonna have a b2b bossfight with the same enemy, nor the kind of condition you fight him in, with the 2nd encounter in the cargo hold. It's one of the weaker designed bossfights from the original games and this is coming from someone who defends quite a lot of the ones people dislike! Plus, though I hadn't myself, I know it's very common to completely miss out on the grenade launcher and the dual SMGS, BOTH of which are very, very useful for that fight (seriously, the GL makes that fight an absolute joke. Just start spamming it at him and you'll be in a victory cutscene in less than a minute.)
@@Genasidal Ah see I got the dual SMGs but I don't remember getting a grenade launcher...unless I just used up all its ammo but either way by the time I got to the fight I had nothing but bow darts and pistol ammo. I think the biggest problem for me was having no healing items and being 1 hit away from death. Basically impossible at that point!
@@JamesWolf2001 I had the EXACT same issue with my first try which ended in a softlock. Had the ammo, but was literally one-hit, thanks to the Bandersnatches beforehand that absolutely kicked my ass and drained me of all my heals. It's certainly much easier when you KNOW he's coming though. 2nd time around? 0 issue, fully prepared.
I think DA comes down to the player chosen experience. A player will often select Normal difficulty because despite their skill level they often don't want to select an easy mode. In this scenario I think a DA system is helpful for your average player and keeping them engaged. However; if someone picks a difficulty that is above Normal then they are looking for a challenge, there is no need to adjust them. If they really must use DA for difficulties then I feel soft upper and lower caps make the most sense. Just some thoughts I've had on the subject.
It varies on the game but in general, picking the hardest option for the more modern RE games tends to just lock the DA at the highest tick. It essentially turns the system off. Admittedly I'm someone that enjoys challenging games, so my recommendation is always to play the game on a difficulty that's higher than your usual because you can never remove understanding of gameplay systems, map layouts, etc once you've experienced them.
@@dc8836 I think that's an extremely valid opinion when it comes to experiencing a game for the first time. When someone says they want a challenge, then the game should accept that at any difficulty above normal. However there is also a large playerbase who is in it for the story, aesthetics, experience, or whatever, over a challenging experience, and I think the DA system works for. Inclusivity is good as it allows more people to become part of the community and fandom. But as you rightfully point out, someone whos here for a challenge doesn't want the helping hand, they know what they want, so let them play without assistance. I think DA might just be a little too eager to help out.
inferno's last boss is straight up unfair
@@TrueHDR definitely. They basically want you to play perfectly to beat it, it's dumb
Always thought it was beyond stupid, but never knew by how much
@@nachos1162 i mean you can't even "just" be perfect, you gotta be lucky at times
@@TrueHDR Yeah he will just randomly go "No I'll attack differently this time :D"
The final boss for RE3R really felt balanced around using shop items, which I hate. I only beat it without shop items after dying a lot. I then immediately tried it out with the STARS manual and the defense coins to see how hard it'd be, and I completed it first try. -_-
Left4Dead2 is a fantastic example of DA done to perfection. In L4D2, "the Director" is directly referenced as not just adjusting the difficulty, but also making sure the experience is tense and exciting, with proper allowance for rest and relieving that tension so the players do not become fatigued or numb from too much action.
Spyro 3 also has DA it turns out, and that kinda made things annoying when my friend played it for the first time.
Whenever she'd die, a bunch of enemies would despawn, or the racing minigames would get pathetically easy. Thankfully there's a cheat code to max the difficulty out, but in the end what it meant is that she'd die and instantly have to pause to input it, determined to actually overcome the challenge herself.
Just a bit frustrating for players looking to actually improve.
Oh hi Tetra! Wow, Spyro 3 eh? Never knew that one had a variation of DA. I wonder how many other late 90s and early 2000s platformers have it.
This was a very informative video! Never realised Resi 2 remake had dynamic difficulty and I didnt even realise it had checkpoints I dont think. I only ever logged off after a full save.
There's a ton of hidden stuff behind the curtain with the RE games, but a lot of it isn't noticeable for most players. I'm just a turbo nerd who knows a lot about these games and wanted to inform people like yourself. Thank you for watching :D
This makes a lot of sense now. Not gonna lie, I struggled with RE2 Remake. Emptying a full clip of ammo all headshots on a standard zombie just for it to keep getting up meant I had nothing on me for the next room or boss fights
Watching this video reminded me last year when I played the RE2 remake, I decided to count how many bullets it takes to headshot the zombies in order manage my ammo. I found it was so inconsistent I couldn't rely on it at all but also I had no idea what was causing it and this video finally sheds a light on this unknown feature. I can see DA being good for casual players and games with one difficulty but if I choose normal or hard, I don't want this feature present at all least of all an RE game.
Huh, that could explain some things. I remember hearing RER2 was notoriously difficult, even on standard, and I had a tougher time with it than RE3R & RE4R on my first go. One reason I always assumed was due to the environment; RE2R placed you in tight corridors, with little to no space for running around zombies, whereas RE3R & RE4R's locations were often more open and had more opportunities for you to escape a group and have a few seconds to catch your breath. Guess that wasn't the case, after all. 😅 (Well done with the video, btw - it was well thought out and informative)
Well, tight spaces are part of the reason. It's often impossible to avoid enemies, so you need to either tank damage or kill them.
If you decide to kill, you increase difficulty for yourself. If it's high enough already, you lose ability to tank damage, because you will die before leaving the room.
RE2R is the only one where the DA feels punishing and annoying more than helpful, because enemies get too spongy and ammo gets too scarce. Sometimes I wanna blast through the game with an abundance of ammo, but also not make it *too* easy by playing on assisted or with infinite weapons. if I wanted a stressful challenging time I would have picked hardcore mode.
Heck of an editor you got there my dude! Great video
Dude now I understand! Im playing RE2re and its been a rollercoaster or total scarcity with sudden peaks of ammo to all-out zombie aggresiveness. I didn't get it now I do and it's not the best. Knowing the game is purposefully not giving me healing items is even worse
Noooo shit!? Been wondering why the game just randomly got 1000x harder when I was so careful getting through the police station. As soon as I got to the garage I noticed a massive decrease in findable items and the enemy aggression got way more intense
But the healing drops in RE2R are always the same.. it’s not variable like RE4R with breakable objects and enemies dropping stuff, the healing items are part of the map and don’t change depending on difficulty. Same for ammo too but the amount of bullets you actually get vary based on difficulty and DA, but the healing items are always the same and always in the same place regardless of DA.
First true survival horror?
Damage output and gunpowder ammo will change based on your inventory. The in game items stay the same.
@@chrismuratore4451 yeah i struggled a bunch early learning and when i felt a little more comfortable with the mechanics i did a pretty clean run through of the police station only to use everything id collected on the first few enemies in the next area and be left with nothing and feeling hopeless because if even that wasnt enough shit im just not cut out for this. I might go back eventually and ig just be shittier early on so the harder areas arent brutalizing me?
i KNEW there was something massively wrong with the remakes and difficulty..
i played good and managed to get messed up by 1 single mistake in standard
i played like shit and it felt like it was actually balanced also in standard but i lacked ammo or hp
only thing that felt normal was professional difficulty in re4r which i thought i'd die instantly on
Idk, in re4r standard and hardcore still feel about the same to me as it did my first couple playthroughs. You seem to have oneshot protection a lot of the time, so as long as you keep a big heal like g+r, its very hard to die. As long as you dont keep getting wombo combod in an encounter, that is.
That's why all speedrunners play on professional for OG RE4, yeah it's harder but drops and enemies are always the same because the DA is locked to the maximum no matter what, if I'm not mistaken, it's the same for the remake, If you play marginally well on hardcore you'll reach maximum DA anyway, so after some chapters the game is the same as professional except auto-saves.
@@brenomedeiros8460 Professional DA in remake I think is locked between two levels, so theres a little bit of wiggle room but its basically always maxed out
RE4R's most consistent difficulty ends up being assisted as opposed to the original where Professional was the most consistent, due to how both games handle their DA per difficulty. It's honestly wild how inconsistent RE4R's Professional diffiuclty is compared to the original. It's so obvious to me too, bc I basically only play either on Professional (and casually speedran both a lot too, which is a GREAT way to feel the DA messing with you, trust me...)
On the other hand, RE4R's assisted is consistently easy, no matter how well you perfom, bc it's so much more lenient on everything DA related in the player's favour.
@@Genasidal Professional in re4r is locked between 2 levels of DA, I believe, while standard and Hardcore each have 4 levels. Assisted has 3 levels.
Great video, Maxy! I love being able to explain mechanics of the games I run and this will help take my DA explanation to the next...rank.
This was very cheeky, mister.
that shit with the perfect dodge is just unbelievable i mean okay, it makes sense from a developer standpoint if you're dodging basically everything but that shouldn't effected damage values
i always wonder why dodging felt so inconsistent in RE3make now i know why...
I feel like the best solution is to not goof around with the damage numbers and instead just give heals when you're low on health because stuff like that is great and feels natural but when I can shoot a zombie and kill it in two hits then 10 minutes later it takes 15 shots to kill a zombie it just sucks. Like, why even pick standard when it will just make it pro anyways
Great video! I had a basic concept of how DA worked, but had no idea so many variables could be involved or how drastically it could change my playing experience (my first playthrough of RE2R makes a lot more sense now 😅). The editing was great, but your script was fantastic, too. I appreciate the effort you put in to ensure that even those of us with minimal knowledge of DA could easily follow along and understand. (I also appreciated the volume warning, not many are that considerate! ❤)
The thing is that, even though I'm a fixedish skill, the standard difficulty and hardcore difficulty are very different experiences for me. After all, the maximum da of standard is 7, which is the minimum for hardcore. They don't ofcupy the same space. While I'm in Hardcore, I don't pay attention to if the game is noticeably easy of unfairly hard all of a sudden, it really does feel like a smooth progression where the game doesnt have any weird spikes or rough edges. I am not the best player, I'll still miss shots, get grabbed, get shot by crossbows, so my DA is probably not always maxed out. Idk man, it just works for me. The item DA is a little too blatant for my liking, and makes resource management feel less important, but I understand its really important for stopping frustrating softlocks.
Also thank you for all the DA info, DA is often asked about in streams and I hope this video gives all who ask about it all the info they seed on it. ❤
Ooo i loved this. I've heard yourself and Bawkbasoup bring up some of these DA complaints in the recent titles, but i never fully grasped the details of it. Great job illustrating it!!
Great vid, Can't believe this hasn't been talked about more
I was just replaying the REmakes again for Halloween and this video actually helps explain why I found the 2 playthrough "off". Because I remember thinking that when I was coming close to finishing it, I thought "Maybe I am just too used to RE4 REmake since I have mostly been playing that one ever since it came out. But something about this game just doesn't feel right. Like some moments feel like they are crazy hard but I don't know why and it doesn't have the enemy drops to make up for the resources when those moments hit". And then you went and pretty much said those exact vibes are because of this very thing.
Also this explains something I saw a while back. I remember skimming through a guide when I was doing a specific run of RE4 REmake(I forgot what the challenge was specifically I was going for) and Der Lago was mentioned as "Not a big deal, even on Professional if you throw harpoons fast and hit with each one you can kill him before he ever even submerges because it doesn't take many harpoons". I was like "It didn't take that few did it? Do I just miss a lot" but then when I got to it for that playthrough I had to hit him with so many before he died so had no idea what they were talking about.
I remember when I first learned about the system from the RE5 strategy guide, well after I had beaten the game multiple times. I could have guessed that RE4 had something similar, with how I'd almost never see a randomly dropped green herb unless I had none left.
I think DA is a genius mechanic until you realize it exists
I loved inferno difficulty completely up until the last boss, after playing every other difficulty it's blatantly obvious the only way they knew how to make that fight harder was by just making it unfair
In the water room in the original Re4, in my first play through, I kept resetting before I died and didn’t let the DA works itself out.
It was a nightmare to beat it
I didn’t know about DA, obviously.
Great vid maxy glad to see more videos from you
I came into this thinking it was another rant on easy or hard game difficulties ruining a game, but it was actually an extremely compelling argument
I learned that you can royaly screw yourself on runs when you overcharge that DA lol great video and very informative.
I have only the gist of how DA works, and after seeing this video I understand more what it feels like to do challenge runs on these games (No damage runs etc.) and how it effects the consistency of the strats like the mentioned RE 3 Inferno mode were the strats I've seen sometimes fail.
I kinda feel that as an idea DA makes total sense, because difficulty is such an arbitrary concept, what is normal and what is hard and what is easy? And what about that other very similar game? Why that feels harder than this one?
I think it's a tricky thing to get right, but I welocme it in most games.
I do not like the overlapping of difficulty tho, if you choose easy it should never bleed into other difficulties, it should a hard range where they do not meet.
Excellent video. Explained a lot of quirks I dealt with when playing RE2:Remake.
I always thought my experiences in each play through was different on the same difficulty. But that sheds some light on why I struggled with Del Lago in the remake on hard core and flat out wrecked it on my professional s+ run.
I knew there was something going on when I played RE4R. When ever I had low health, the game would throw me more health items. It felt unnatural. I didn't notice that DA was implemented in RE2R and RE3R too. I kind of understand why this system exists, but I'd like it if wasn't implemented in the games at all. I want to choose my own difficulty and not punished for doing well, not getting hit and killing every zombie.
the OSRS attack sound got me while doing some slayer in osrs :)
1:49 is that the dance from henry stickmin?
Very informative. Never had a problem with DA, but I could see how it would be annoying having to deal with it as a speedrunner
Editing is fantastic, quality video and dropping into I've Been Losing You by Akira Yamaoka had me feeling some typea way
DA in R4 is awesome. It's creates unique and memorable moments that are truly nail bitting.
I knew RE4 has it but I never considered how it affects item drops in RE2
Now I understand why I kept not having any ammo in that game
Thank you, awesome video
Even if done right, having a well balanced set difficulty will always be a better experience
I like DA when it effects things like item drops or enemy spawns. Keep things like damage/health consistent so a player can get a vibe for things and then alter 1 variable and make it noticeable so players can tell where they’re at.
For my last trophy on my platinum on RE3, I saved Inferno since I was very familiar with the game by then. I wasn’t ready for the BS I was put through, I nearly gave up on the final boss but at 1:05 am on a Sunday morning I did that shit. Memorized his moves like a dark souls boss
While I fully understood what you were explaining from the get go, I feel the term Adaptive Difficulty works better than adjustment. It’s accurate, but it’s easier when I explain to others as it being adaptive, which implies it adjusts on the fly, based on an ongoing analysis of player performance.
I super enjoyed this video! It's nice learning about DA and why certain games feel the way they do. With DA being a hidden mechanic it does make sense to get rid of it if a company can truly balance their games.
Another great video, Maxy! ♥️ Glad to see you uploading to YT again.
That dam DA made me cry during my RE4 remake professional run
Theres no DA in professional, its always fixed
@@arcky4137 oh shoot, even worse then. It’s just a get good angle
Awesome vid Maxy! Informative and entertaining would love to see more! Much love!
man i used to hate speed running, especially on RE, but after watching this video, i’ve changed my mind about it, great video, very informative about the games i played in the past and loved, well edited.. great stuff… u got a sub. stupid question, have you played the original RE games ?
Played all of them. Even the weird ones like Gaiden, Survivor, and Dead Aim.
@@Maxylobes Same. I have a guilty pleasure of playing Survivor with a lightgun every so often lol
Why did you hate people for simply playing the game differently then you. genuinely curious
Games are to have fun, who cares how someone else plays their own game
@@TheStrokeStrokeri hate the idea of speed running not the people that’s speed runs it… i should’ve said “speed running” instead of “speed runners” 😅 miss spelled
the hardest part of resident evil 9 will be accepting the fact that jill won't be the protagonist
I like DA when it works properly, give me more ammo when im nearly out, give me heals when im almost dead, and when im doing well on both give me some money or something. Win win.
So I really wasn't imagining all of those times I'd get damn near 1 shot from full health and be like, "Ok what the hell was THAT!?"
I agree with just getting rid of it. But one difficulty comes to mind and that's inferno, VOS, madhouse and re4makes professional are just fine to me but inferno, I don't mind the DA. But getting rid of it would be best.
I’ve been playing a bunch of re games as of late and this video explained a lot of scenarios I ended up in so thank you for explaining!
No problem. Seems like many other people are in the same boat as you recently. Glad this can clear some stuff up.
Interesting I didn’t notice it in REE3 remake, maybe because it’s so short, but I got frustrated in RE2 remake and never finished it. I’ll try it again with this information - thanks!
That was great, well explained how it works, the editing, sound. This video is the one I will reference when I play these games! I wouldn’t have been able to explain DA that well. The mechanic works well when done right but well… when done wrong… oh boy…
Not sure if there's DA in The Evil Within games, but I always enjoyed just how, for the most part, consistent the damage output of my weapons seem to be throughout my overall gameplay experience. And I could rely on the upgrades I spent my resources on, too, without having to worry much about the game scaling an enemy's health pool beyond a reasonable amount.
While I enjoy the various implementations of dynamic difficulty in games, I do think picking a difficulty should, at the very least, have a floor and ceiling of the range at which the difficulty can adjust itself.
I hate the DA in Max Payne. Its so frustrating when you're punished for playing well and at some point basically every enemy will start instakilling you
3:04 wtf was that transition 🤣
I'm very grateful for DA! I know I'm not an amazing player. I would say I'm pretty okay. I feel I'm definitely not on the same level as other players, and that's okay. If it weren't for DA, I'd probably never get past some parts in RE4.
DA allows a player to actually enjoy the game because it lets them continue on, instead of being stuck on one part. It would suck all the fun out of it to just keep on dying and never getting anywhere (imo).
I can definitely understand why people don't like it, though. I know that feeling of accomplishment after finally beating a really difficult part in the game, and some people would prefer it to be just due to their skill, not because the game helped them.
I think there should be an option to enable or disable it, so that everyone can play how they'd like.
Honestly, I don't think it should be scrapped entirely... But I do think it should be kept simple or fairly negligible.
Like in the case of games like Resident Evil, I think it should only affect enemy damage, spawns, and aggression. Keep health values and stagger triggers the same for a given difficulty, and keep the player damage the same across all difficulties. And whatever dynamic is added to the difficulty, it is not above the baseline for the next higher difficulty or below the current one. Oh, and keep it to just keeping track of damage output and kills versus damage taken and deaths. I think RE4 Remake's DA system would have been fine had the two point systems remained totally separate and not interdependent on one another to determine difficulty.
Also, sidenote not related to DA, stop tying to damage to frames and tie it to time in-game... While it's fun to learn that you can cheese a lot of fights in RE 2 and 3 remakes with the knife with cranked frames, that comes off as a pay to win thing to me and I don't really care for it... Getting a $5000 PC specked out with top of the line add-ons just to cheese a boss fight running at 200 fps. (I know it's capped at 120 fps for speedruns on PC, but seriously...
I’ve aways heard DA referred to as AD (adaptive difficulty). funnily enough, RE2Re is the first time I learned about this mechanic
but I was under impression that the more bullets you had and less shots fired is what raised the difficulty. Especially since there isn’t enough ammo to kill every zombie. I had no idea this was actually how it worked, it’s terrible
I knew about re4 DA but didn't think they kept using it in future titles. But I did get suspicious because I'm playing re8 now and watching game grumps play it and.... Its just so different. I find every treasure, conserve ammo with knife, reload if I do bad in a section, but Arin just funbles through the game, wasting resources, with no money, and is just fine, enemies die with half the shots, even bosses. Now I get it. 😅
Never even knew DA was a system and i dont know how to feel about it
DA is a mechanic that comes arcade games, usually just called rank, often seen in shmups in particular.
As someone who platinumed RE2R, I never knew about this! I always assumed every enemy had a random amount of health to discourage guns blazing playstyles. I personally liked the bullet spongy enemies because it made the enemies an actual threat that couldn’t be pushed around. It’s weird to note that despite almost never getting hit and always hitting my shots, I never found the game too hard at all. I always had an abundance of health and ammo and still found it hard to struggle in the game. If someone could explain how I wasn’t getting shafted by insane difficulty, I’d like to talk about it
Thank you so much, I felt so dumb playing Re2 remake the first time and eventually having to switch to assisted. Never had the same problem in the others
we need more youtube videos maxy! i saw the upload notification and was life yaaaaasss
I honestly despise adaptive difficulty because it ruined the RE2 remake experience for me. I didn't enjoy having to shoot a zombie 20+ times in the head to kill it or even just 10 to knock it out. The games should just react to what the player has on hand rather than making enemies tougher or weaker. If I have a ton of ammo and no heals, let me keep fighting until I need a heal ergo making me expend some of my ammo, or if I'm low on ammo and have a ton of heals, don't give me a ton of ammo until Ive used a couple heals. Having the game double or even triple in difficulty makes literally no sense and removes any point in having a difficulty selector to begin with.
Go back to the old ways, man. REmake doesn't need DA to be good. If they wanted to make sure players know what they're getting into, add some bullet point tips about each difficulty setting - like hard would explain that you *will* need to evade and bypass monsters because you simply will not have the ammo to kill em all. It puts more work on the devs to fine-tune and balance things prior to launch, but that's what playtesting is for among other things.
For RE2 Remake, when I realized how much ammunition it takes to kill a Zombie by aiming for the head, I quickly changed my strategy by simply breaking their leg and making them much less dangerous.
People can complain about the amount of ammunition it takes to kill a Zombie, I had never felt so helpless in a survival horror since the remake of the first one on Game Cube. Being able to systematically empty all the rooms of the monsters because the game gives us enough ammunition for that even in the highest difficulty, that's not what I call survival. And unfortunately, the number of survival horror games that drown you in ammunition as long as you are at least a little economical and know how to aim are plethora and it was good to finally have one that requires us to be at least a little resourceful and to know how to make the necessary choices.
That still didn't stop me from finding this remake quite easy in normal difficulty while it becomes interesting in hard. Resident Evil 4 also became interesting on Hard. We roll on the game on Normal.
If the game seems poorly balanced, before throwing stones at it, it is better to think about whether it is not our own approach that is the cause.
What I find unfair, however, is to never give us the choice to play with or without this famous DA because as practical as it can be to feel comfortable playing the game, this system is a huge obstacle to improving our gameplay and going through a difficult time that took us 6 or 7 tries no longer has the same flavor when we know that the game has just decided to take pity on us whether it is well balanced or not.
At least, giving us the choice to activate it or not at any time in the game would really allow us to choose the conditions of the challenge that we want to impose on ourselves at any time, even if it means activating it if we are really tired of being stuck. And it would even create new Speed Run categories.
I feel like they don't even try to hide the DA in many games. RE4R and the Last of Us Part 2 will eagerly provide you with tons of extra ammo after you expend it all during a harsh fight. Its almost comical how RE4R will start putting 3 separate items in barrels and boxes when you're running really low.
Great video Maxy!! Very interesting and super informative!
This explains alot, great video!
Nice to see you again 👍🏽
I've played every Resi game since it began, except for Gaiden, that Umbrella themed competitive multiplayer third person shooter, and Resi 3 Remake (w/c i bought but haven't gotten around to playing yet). I've known about DA since the original RE4. But i don't know about the specifics. After watching this, i realize that a few of the weird things i've encountered in Resi games may be attributed to DA causing it. I usually do a run of all the games on their hardest difficulty so hard difficulty really isn't much of a problem for me, but i remember encountering a basic molded in Re7 and it depleted all of my ammo and it still didn't die. 😅 I also remember fighting del lago in Re4 remake on the hardest difficulty or maybe it was second to the hardest, and the fight took about maybe 30-45 minutes. 😅 i can't recall exactly but it was so spongy. Those memories stand out. I'm sure there may be more DA caused weirdness in all my time playing the games but it seems those couple of instances always remain in my memory.
Instantly agreed. DA made me reset RE5 parts so much that I swapped to other activities instead
d/a is wack. 20+ bullets to a zombies’ skull is ridiculous. RE4 does it best.
In RE2 Remake, I was able to avoid the invincible zombies by just using the knife after I knocked them down the first time
I'm a bit ambivalent on DA, on one hand, I prefer games to be consistently challenging, on the other, it can make repeat playthroughs more interesting.
I understand why this would annoy Speedrunners tho
When you play a game just once, you can have a good time without even noticing the DA.
When you love a game, you want to replay it multiple times and you want to learn the game mechanics and engage with them.
So, when you then notice that the best strategy is to just die, this isn't a bad game design, the game is simply broken.
(I write a book below)
Among many other examples, it partially ruined Re4 remake for me.
I really liked the game, and thought I'm going to replay it multiple times, so after completing it on pro, I set out to on an experimental run, to find answers to many questions I had about this game. I was testing stuff like, which crows drop random items and which have pre-determined drops, how many eggs can a chicken lay (answer: it's not tied to a chicken but to an area where a group of chicken is, and is different in every chapter.), can you save scum to get a blue gem from every novi in the game (you can!) and stuff like this. I was also testing out what affects the drop from the boxes and from dead enemies, and this is what ruined the game for me. The DA will ALWAYS make sure you get handgun ammo, not only making the bolt thrower a literal scam, but also making you feel stupid for trying to save up your bullets. The worst thing was, that the average ammo drop, when sold, is worth more than an average money drop.... So the best way to make money is just selling all your handgun ammo whenever you have a chance. You can enter a combat intense area with fully reloaded gun an no bullets in your inventory, kill all the enemies, only picking up ammo when you need to reload, break all the boxes, and only then pick everything up, and more often than not, you'll have 100+ handgun bullets to your name.
My player agency was taken away, I could carefully line up headshots and finish the enemies off with kicks, or I could blast my gun like a maniac, it didn't matter, because the game would handhold me through the whole experience.
The only way I could wrestle my agency back, is by engaging with this stupid, backwards system. Wanna more money? - Just run back to the merchant after every encounter and sell. Wanna more bullets for an upcoming boss fight? - Just don't pick up item drops and back track to pick it all up before entering the boss area.
Mind you, all of that on top of a system that already dictates how much damage I take and do.
Here we go. Another maxyy video!!!
Wait. Devil May Cry 3?
pretty well implemented, i never noticed it and i've played the whole series
I always quit out and reload a clean save or ideally quit and reload when I know I'm going to die
the music got me dancing while watching
idk if you mentioned but, reloading your game to your last save will raise your DA in re4 and i think others
I remember finding out Difficulty Adjustment was in RE4 and it made a lot of sense.
great vid and editing, very informative 👍
In the case of RE2 Remake, I think the dev team had the goal to spell it out to the players at all times possible that killing every zombie is not the way forward. Between Mr. X encouraging you to run away even if a room is filled with other enemies, zombies not dying to headshots quickly _but_ losing their limbs with more ease and the DA, the game is encouraging to make your shots count where it matters: puzzle rooms with enemies and boss fights. Another element is that players, specially casual ones, love the feeling of overcoming the odds, by their own hands of thinking it was by their own hands. They won't knwo the DA values after, for example, the very first village fight in RE4 Remake, and maybe they'll die one or two times, but in the third one they finally win, the bell tolls and the encounter is over. The reality is that the game helped them out and they experienced the encounter to learn more of the game, but for them it was all their achievement, they beat the part and they're awesome.
In the end, this really showcases how each team at Capcom treat the DA. RE7 and Village are using it as a safety net, for a really new player perhaps. RE2 Remake uses it to push you down an intended gameplay style and RE4 Remake wants to maintain the thrill at all times, illusion or not.
I dont like the DA in re4 remake. Especially when I notice it. I dont feel accomplished when i get past a part that a life ago it felt like the game cheated
That it crazy. I did not know about DA. Good stuff. They should get rid of it.
Hell yeah, some of my favorite Maxy Content
I would be really interest to see how the game "ranked" my gameplay. Maybe a graph of the DA rank shown as a function of time played at the end credits would be fun. Also there has to be a disparity between PC and consoles, right? While I mostly play on console, you can definitely aim better on PC so if missed shots lower your DA rank then is the game on PC "harder" as a result?
DA has always been bad IMO. One thing people look for in video games is consistency. What DA does is throws consistency out the window. Now a limited DA that effects a few variables, like if DA only affects aggression of the AI and how much damage they deal thats fine, but it also effecting item drops, and the damage they deal on top of the others then the game becomes too inconsistant.