man I had the same experience with bloodborne. it just kicked my ass over and over and over again and then suddenly something just clicked and now I can beat it with my eyes closed on a Logitech PS2 steering wheel
One of the most creative ways I've seen a game do difficulty settings is Perfect Dark on the N64. Upping the difficulty didn't just boost enemy health and damage--it did to a degree, but it wasn't that noticeable and headshotting enemies still instakilled them. But what it did was cause the level itself to change in a variety of ways. Every level had at least one new mission objective added per level of difficulty. And in addition to that, depending on the level, raising the difficulty could do things like add new enemy spawns, add new puzzles, lock doors that were previously open, add new areas to explore, place new obstacles, add new scripted events, change the player's spawn point, and in the case of the Cetan Ship level change the map entirely. Sometimes it would even make it so the things you did in previous levels affected the current level. Increasing the difficulty setting in Perfect Dark was almost like playing a whole new game.
Thief 2 is also great in that regard. Higher difficulties not only reduce the tools you have at your disposal to do a mission, it also adds objectives that will change your experience of a level altogether.
This idea was first in Goldeneye 007, with the agent, secret agent, and 00 agent difficulties. Perfect Dark is ostensibly a spiritual successor to Goldeneye 007.
That's pretty interesting. Opening new sections of the level could encourage me more to play on higher difficulties instead of just increasing enemy health and damage. Because in instances like that I find the fights tend to get dragged for too long. I haven't played that game but it sounds interesting.
@@enlightenmentdoesntcomeeas5337 What's more interesting is, if you are a small dev or studio then instead of releasing a DLC or a sequel, you can just release a new difficulty for the game. It doesn't take as much effort, practically changes the entire game so people can do NG and not feel like doing the same thing, and can keep the game fresh. Given, the game is already at a stable and mostly positive review state.
Terraria Expert mode is amazing cause it isnt just enemies having more health and taking more damage they have new AIS and you get new items and rewards Master mode on the other hand sucks. It takes everything bad about too hard games and somehow makes it worse, Its complete horseshit For the worthy is the same as Expert mode but its also so hard you are probably never gonna get through it without cheesing everything
(I know this is old but) Too true. The actual cerebal aspects of OW are not hard. Don't use 5 ultimates to win a single teamfight that isn't the last one. Don't shoot sleeping enemies, shoot hacked enemies. The thing that makes it hard is room-temperature-IQ teammates that don't understand the simplest of things without being told it and-worse- arguing you down about it when you tell them (nicely).
@@chuggaa100 It is that simple. Sleeping enemies are not high -priority targets. Why? Because pose no threat at all to you while asleep, so shooting them is a waste of time. Instead of shooting sleeping enemies, you shoot their very-much-awake teammates. Then you collapse on the now-awake enemy that is now surrounded.
4:24 back then when developing games it was hard to code the game to start at a specific mission or part of the game which is why a lot of games just sent you back to the beginning despite what stage you were on. This is actually why cheat codes were invented, so the developers can just skip past levels super fast and then untoggle once they got to the stage they wanted. Obviously we don’t need cheat codes anymore because of advanced coding now but I think it’s an interesting history lesson for gaming :)
Really interesting to think that cheat codes are just debugging tools left over. I always felt like I had some divine underground knowledge whenever I found one. Like I was changing the game/hacking it. It wasn't until I started to think how I could implement certain cheats that I was told that the cheats are just debugging tools left in by the developers.
Just glad we have save states, fast forward and rewind nowadays, with most collections having at least save states (or auto save). 3:28 lol mega man 11 thankful for newcomer mode
Those spikes had me so fucking butthurt. I wouldn't have minded if it wasn't a 5 minute trip back to the spikes only to fail again. Watching those lives tick down to the inevitability of you just buying the item that lets survive spikes.
A Person With a Name I’ll never understand why spikes kill you instantly in Megaman games. I’m a reploid who’s made out of metal, why do metal spikes affect me?
A Person With a Name I mean just in Megaman games when you step on spikes. I know metal can cut metal, but only if enough force if applied. Zero or Megaman just taking a step shouldn’t be enough to hurt them when you think about it
I played bloodborne but towards the end meeting the old enemies I thought to myself: "How the fuck were these hard to me back then?". I come back a year later and the game is almost just as hard as when I first played it, and I wonder: "How the fuck were these easy for me back then?".
@@a-ha4940 Chalice dungeons were a mistake. I didn't fight the final boss because "I want to do everything" and lost interest in the game in the dungeons.
@@WhiteZet1 To each their own. Chalice dungeons were what prolonged my love of the game. The basic pre-set ones are pretty boring, but the higher level ones have some really unique layouts, enemies and traps. They easily scale until your character is lvl 200+
All memes aside, masterful video that touches on a lot of things wrong with the industry. You're one of the most relevant figures in gaming. Never change Dunkpac!
1:20 Gigguk just took inspiration from this one part for his "The Manga was better" Video. It's cool how Dunkey's videos to this day, still manages to inspire these kinds of jokes in other videos
"For Silent Hill 2, the easier difficulties cause the puzzles to make 4% more sense." "This is where the game goes from 'tough, but fair' to 'tough, but fuck you'" "I died so many times I thought I'll run out of infinite lives... " This video is so quotable, I swear to God
I think the best part about challenging games is the soul in them. Dark Souls is a dark world that feels real and the challenges feel natural as a part of the world while Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy is an emotional journey about self acceptance and moving on. The games aren't good because they are difficult, they are difficult because they are good. When a game comes around and decided its gonna try to piss off as many people as possible it misses the mark completely. People don't wanna play a game to die a thousand times, they wanna get to what comes after the thousand deaths.
Thanks to this video, I learned of Ikaruga's difficulty options and finally gave the game a chance recently It is now one of my favorite shooting games ever, and I'm eternally grateful Thank you, Dunkey 🙏
I really think the solution to checkpoints lays in Dark Souls where the checkpoints themselves become a dedicated mechanic that interacts with the level design and stuff
"Even the titles that were directed specifically to younger children make Dark Souls look like fucking Duck Tales, except that Duck Tales is probably harder" I scream internally when I hear a clever joke. And let me tell you, I screamed and creamed.
The fact that you somehow can balance actual insightful and thoughtful remarks on video games and other material and still maintain a solid level of humour shows why you are one of the best content creators on this site.
Man dunkey usually acts like such a meme lord it takes me a while to appreciate just how much time and though has gone into these videos, and how well considered and well comminuted all his lines are Seriously respect man. I don’t appreciate this channel enough. It takes a lot to be this funny and meme-y but also present stuff so well and talk about and present meaningful arguments/views/opinions on stuff so well
These game design analysis videos are my favorite things from your channel. They've got that good ol' Dunkey humor all the way through, and they leave something for future game designers to think about. I'd definitely have to say both the challenge and artistry of difficult games makes them exciting, as well as how compelling the gameplay is. One immediate example that excels in all of these attributes is Super Monkey Ball; it's tough to master, its character and scenery style is memorable, and it's so unique in its demand for precise analog movements just to roll a monkey in a ball to the goal strip.
"Normal" implies that's the standard difficulty setting for the game. "Heroic" tells you that's how the game is actually meant to be played. And that's why single difficulty settings are better.
Makes me so happy that dunkey talks about the important of accessibility. Nothing is more annoying than people who rail against easier modes as if that'd somehow affect them
Yes! As someone who absolutely sucks at anything but stealth and has very little patience, games that are incredibly difficult and offer no easier options make me so angry, and much more inclined to drop the game:/
they arent friends anymore apparently. dunkey and leah unfollowed him and he did the same. sky mentioned it in a video. hope the band gets back together though
1:14 When I was a kid I used a Game Genie to give myself god mode so I could see past the first couple levels of Contra for the NES. When I was using cheats the game only took around 20 minutes to complete, so making the game without cheats super difficult effectively extends the life of the game, which is exactly Dunkey's point. The problem was is I'm not that patient or determined, I just wanted to see everything the game had to offer.
Allen Rubin there was a business insider article that had the link to it. I had it bookmarked but for some reason neither of those return in my search anymore which is weird. I showed it to a bunch of people.
Dunkey, wtf. ive been watching you consistently for the past two four years and so much effort is put in every single one of youre videos. The ideas, the strong mindset, your consistency (very important in my opinion), your creativity. You might know that in the bottom of your heart but you have inspired many people (including me) to become a better person not just related to videogames but in general. I just want to thank you for being the person that u are and doing what your doing the way you do it. Your my favorite content creator by far and will always will be.
I love games with difficulty spikes. The more crushingly demoralizing that the game is, the better, because when you finally beat it the feeling is like nothing else you can get from games.
That's a mere illusion. You're not necessarily "mastering" a game so much as "dragging you dick and balls across a mile of gravel and broken glass." Yeah. You'll get there, but you won't necessarily enjoy it except by contrast of comparison. It's like taking a huge shit after being constipated for a week. It's "relief" you're probably feeling. Not enjoyment.
Welcome to every fighting game ever, and I totally agree with this statement. Sucks at first but once you learn the right mindset and improve they become easily the most fun and strategic games.
i still will always say this - metro 2033 had the best difficulty system by far for me. you want to casually experience the story? play on easy difficulty. but if you want to have a challenge and actually master the game and accomplish something, play on ranger mode and it takes away the hud and makes things scarce such as bullets to make it truly force you to survive, and gunfights are more "take cover plan your fights have quick reaction" than "just walk in and shoot everything that moves".
Underratedly, MarioKart is kinda like that. (Although it’s not a particularly hard game) Example: 1st place for the whole race, ur 20 ft from the finish and then your get hit with the Blue Shell from Hell. Two guys pass u and ur thinking “well I can still make 3rd” Nope! “ITSA ME DA TRIPLE REDAH SHELL!!!” And next thing y’know ur in last place.
man, you really make me feel good about life sometimes. you have a great way with words, and are an artist when it comes to conveying your point. Thank you for making my night a lot better than it could have been
Randy Hanna it is a brief analysis of a broad spectrum of video games, which is not only a nice summary but a tribute to those who have seen the difficulty of games progress as their developers have
I really love when dunked throws a binding of Isaac reference in his videos he does it surprisingly often but doesn’t ever name drop the game or do a one-off video on it and I appreciate that for some reason more
I can proudly state that I did beat *one* NES game when I was a kid. Some batman beat-em-up of which I don't remember the name, but the last boss is Penguin
its slightly different than arcade machines. back when you physically couldn't fit much onto hardware, the best way to make an engaging experience was to make a fast paced, addictive, and challenging game. and people loved them because of it. (you also did not have to pay $25 to go into the arcade if i do remember correctly) Now, the games are specifically designed to be so *edit: tedious* and manipulative to the point where you do not want to finish them without paying more money. See the difference? one is a result of limitation, while the other is a result of exploitation of the medium and customers. They 100% could be making amazing experiences people want to pay to be able to experience. But their greed and bad business philosophies lead to them making yearly cash-grabs using bland games and manipulative practices to suck as much money out of the industry as possible.
@@MrBrimstone nope, you're completely wrong. Most games are fun, very rarely do i see a "boring" game. They lock things behind VERY long grinds so you pay for them to get them FASTER. your logic is entirely flawed. Why would anyone pay to progress in a game they find inherently boring?
Man, it's been 4 years since the last time I saw this video and I can now relate to it, I've been playing like what? 140 Minecraft Maps? And I finished them all but only some of them were actually embedded in my memory. For example, I tried an Adventure Map called Across The Time 1 & 2, it was really hard but I can't forget how masterpiece the project really is and how the creators put huge effort into it, and Then I remember WAYYYY back to an MCPE Adventure Maps called Avira (which turns out to be antivirus name lol), that was created in 2015 but I still remember the map to this day because of how exciting the map truly was. So, in conclusion, Difficulty plays a MAJOR role in the long term for games, being too hard is making the game too challenging but it keeps the thrill, and too easy, yes, you'll get the satisfaction of winning, but it feels like a child play Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk :)
one of my favorite video game companies is FromSoftware and all of their games are just so incredibly challenging. at first they wanted to make a game difficult but not so much for a western audience so they tone down the difficulty of some of their games but of course it didn’t really matter because u would still die like 10 hundred times before u even get better at the game. Death is a big part of the experience of FromSoftware games, the point of death is for u to see what u did wrong and how u can improve, this is very clear in the dark souls franchise, u are constantly dying and the game forces u to see what ur doing wrong and improve on it before u die even more. But theirs a secret behind these games that make them so special. The satisfaction of beating a difficult boss. U been killed over and over and over again that once u get that one victory against that boss, it’s addicting and it becomes even more addicting beating even more difficult bosses. Everyone cusses at these games but deep down they know they like the satisfaction of beating that one difficult boss. What i especially like about these games is how Fromsoftware moves away from the souls games and finds new and exciting stories and Game mechanics for u to experience. In Dark souls u could block attacks and even Dodge attacks, u could use magic or use different types of swords. But in Bloodborne the main function was dodging wish did make things a lot more difficult for players as the available fighting styles were no longer their. Then Sekrio came and completely changed everything. u were no longer dodging, u were deflecting and this takes months and months to master and even more to perfect. Fromsoftware has developed one of the hardest games in all of video game history and we are all craving for more.
The solution to checkpoints is to have skips and shortcuts located in levels that are either unlocked after you've encountered the end of level boss the first time, or just make a really difficult to execute level skip that rewards the player that has taken the time to figure it out. Megaman X series is a perfect example.
Spyro 3 levels almost always give you a shortcut to the start of the level after you beat them, it makes backtracking much easier, turning the level into some kind of "circle".
That's a great way to do checkpoints for various reasons, but it doesn't really address what he's talking about, which is how much do you punish a loss state. You're always gonna have to redo something after you lose, shortcuts or not. You could put shortcuts that make a loss trivial, or shortcuts in spite of which losing and trying again is way too bothersome.
The first dark souls was like that. If you spent the extra 5 minutes exploring and found the short cut, it would save you a lot of headache if you died. Game was still equally as hard, but man was it nice to have a short cut past at least 1/10th of the bull shit. And the bonfire spacing in the first one was perfect. It wasn't too close, and it wasn't too far. Also, not being able to teleport between them until like 1/2 way into the game was nice. Dark souls was done right. Parts of it was just outright unfair, however, it was evenly difficult throughout the game. It didn't gradually get easier, nor did it just suddenly become impossible out of nowhere. It was just difficult at all points. This is all on your first 1-2 play through. It becomes a lot easier after that, as it should. But even on your 3-4 play through, you still die if you aren't careful.
Personally, I think your answer, while not bad, only works for certain types of games; games of the platforming kind I think apply more to what you mentioned. However, longer "levels" like in RPGs (I'd say Bloodbourne and the Dark Souls series are good examples), you need more mid-level checkpoints to be able to push through an area, and not be as punishing for less skilled players.
I feel like ultimately it boils down to what kind of experience you want a player to have. In games with serious stories and lots of twists and turned, meant to be played for at least a few hours at a time like each play session is one movie in a Star Wars or LotR marathon I appreciate as many checkpoints as possible and even being able to skip frustrating parts, because I feel like I'm intended to be taking part of an event. In some intense action/horror game fewer checkpoints definitely raise the tension and ideally each time you die you'll swear, wipe the sweat off your hands, crack your knuckles, maybe take a sip of a drink or grab a snack and then go "this time I can do it!". And then there are more arcade-y games and roguelikes that often work best when they don't allow you to save at all, because I feel like they're often allowed to be played regularly in short sessions, like on your daily lunch break for example. Derek Yu's book on Spelunky explains how this was fully intended: he explains how him and his roommate would each play one round of the game every day, and one round only, which made it very intense and exciting. That is why he implemented the "daily challenge" mode in the HD version and the sequel; it's a perfect "once a day" game. Again, I think the best things to keep in mind when balancing the difficulty of your game are questions like "how, when, and for how long do I want people to play my game?" and "how do I want players to feel when they fail?".
Dude this channel is too much. I've been dying from the Bloodborne and Dark souls videos. But even the random content is just as funny. Take my subscription lol much earned
(5:40) Although I agree with the statement, you could make that point for any game. All 2D Mario games consist of running and jumping, with some minor things added in for a few of them (such as different power-ups, game mechanics, etc), but nothing ground breaking.
I don't know how someone can be as well rounded as the dunkster, he's so funny and silly while also so smart and serious when he wants to be. great analysis. 0/5
Steven Universe's hardest boss is Rebecca Sugar's stack of child porn that the fandom dug up when the co-creator told them to stop bullying fan artists they didn't like into suicide. (I'm not making any of this up)
Even though that after stage 19 in Pac-Man no longer affects the ghosts after eating the Power Pellets, it still is beneficial to get them since it changes their pattern, giving you an easier route to figure out
Can we get a moment of recognition to all the epic gamers who beat Mile High Club on Veteran in COD 4? Shit took me an hour and a half for a minute long mission.
The trick to beating Mile High Club on Veteran is binding the flashbang to a mouse button or trigger, and to never reload just pick up guns. Regardless it still took an hour but damn did it feel good to beat.
Despite it giving me an hour of grief I always feel proud I completed it and got the Achievement. Especially since I figured out it takes Flashbang Timing and using the pistol when you spend an MP5 magazine. Just like Gaz said "Remember, switching to your pistol is always faster than reloading."
![คณะขวัญใจ - นางสาวขวัญใจ [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/a8zn5pGlRUY/mqdefault.jpg)
“You can’t just say something and say it’s a pac quote”
- Pac
"Don't believe everything you read on the Internet" -Abraham Lincoln
@@1337m4n "I hate it when people post images of me saying stuff I never said"-Albert Einstein
“Gay”
-Ghandi
"I faked my death." - Tupacman
Chicken peanut butter is a sandwich, BOULDER- PAC
He spelled "more dunkey" correctly. We can all go home now
he occasionally does on serious videos like this
edit: oh it’s gimr hi
I'm packing my bags.
Man, this reminds me of the time that Gimr killed PM in smash.
that's a typo
hi gimr
"Pacman was truly the first Strand-Type game" - Pac
"I neva said that" -Pac
UnLImITeD ? “I neva said that I neva said that”-Pac
JacobyObi “I neva said that I neva said that I neva said that.” -Pac
"I actually did say that" - Sun Tzu
Saop Sun Tzu (from the art of war) is overrated, I myself prefer the book “Mastering the Art Of War” over “The Art Of War”.
“You probably can’t even beat bubble bob, look at you” I feel attacked
To be fair, you need to beat it with two players to see the ending.
- Pac
Bubble Bobble
Anyone know the name of the game at 6:49-6:51? Not gungeon or isaac
@@derekgardner1861 nuclear throne
man I had the same experience with bloodborne. it just kicked my ass over and over and over again and then suddenly something just clicked and now I can beat it with my eyes closed on a Logitech PS2 steering wheel
when's the next vid hot boy :0
It's the man of the hour!
booyah
Hey I love you I hope you go on the official podcast again
Can you beat all the bosses without levelling up?
The comedy videos are great, but these essays on gaming are so well written and insightful that it really adds an awesome depth to your channel.
Love you content as well 😊👍
Which one of you is this.
It's like there's artistry hiding beneath
It really makes you FEEL like batman
Pac.
3:58 best dunkey quote of all time
"If you gonna lock me in a hell fuck with a fucking hitler bitch." What an amazing quotation
5:46 is pretty elite
@@chovda9 real
@@chovda9 That's not a Dunkey quote though, that's a Tupac quote. Dunkey even cites Tupac and put the quote on screen right after he says it.
So true
One of the most creative ways I've seen a game do difficulty settings is Perfect Dark on the N64.
Upping the difficulty didn't just boost enemy health and damage--it did to a degree, but it wasn't that noticeable and headshotting enemies still instakilled them. But what it did was cause the level itself to change in a variety of ways. Every level had at least one new mission objective added per level of difficulty. And in addition to that, depending on the level, raising the difficulty could do things like add new enemy spawns, add new puzzles, lock doors that were previously open, add new areas to explore, place new obstacles, add new scripted events, change the player's spawn point, and in the case of the Cetan Ship level change the map entirely. Sometimes it would even make it so the things you did in previous levels affected the current level.
Increasing the difficulty setting in Perfect Dark was almost like playing a whole new game.
Thief 2 is also great in that regard. Higher difficulties not only reduce the tools you have at your disposal to do a mission, it also adds objectives that will change your experience of a level altogether.
This idea was first in Goldeneye 007, with the agent, secret agent, and 00 agent difficulties. Perfect Dark is ostensibly a spiritual successor to Goldeneye 007.
That's pretty interesting. Opening new sections of the level could encourage me more to play on higher difficulties instead of just increasing enemy health and damage. Because in instances like that I find the fights tend to get dragged for too long. I haven't played that game but it sounds interesting.
@@enlightenmentdoesntcomeeas5337 What's more interesting is, if you are a small dev or studio then instead of releasing a DLC or a sequel, you can just release a new difficulty for the game. It doesn't take as much effort, practically changes the entire game so people can do NG and not feel like doing the same thing, and can keep the game fresh.
Given, the game is already at a stable and mostly positive review state.
Terraria Expert mode is amazing cause it isnt just enemies having more health and taking more damage they have new AIS and you get new items and rewards
Master mode on the other hand sucks. It takes everything bad about too hard games and somehow makes it worse, Its complete horseshit
For the worthy is the same as Expert mode but its also so hard you are probably never gonna get through it without cheesing everything
He just quoted Tupac while showing a picture of Kanye West dressed as a water bottle.
Jesse Maldonado That was a Sprite bottle...
Julian Febres shhhhhh
Because Tupac is actually Kanyes fursona
@@user-kw2je5os9i He wants that Sprite sponsorship. He does all the tricks.
@@user-kw2je5os9i right, water..
Everyone knows the real difficulty in Overwatch comes not from the enemy team, but your own team
- pac
(I know this is old but) Too true. The actual cerebal aspects of OW are not hard. Don't use 5 ultimates to win a single teamfight that isn't the last one. Don't shoot sleeping enemies, shoot hacked enemies. The thing that makes it hard is room-temperature-IQ teammates that don't understand the simplest of things without being told it and-worse- arguing you down about it when you tell them (nicely).
Amen
@@noboty4168 You do need to shoot sleeping enemies if it's a high priority target. The game sense is more complicated than you're presenting
@@chuggaa100 It is that simple. Sleeping enemies are not high -priority targets. Why? Because pose no threat at all to you while asleep, so shooting them is a waste of time. Instead of shooting sleeping enemies, you shoot their very-much-awake teammates. Then you collapse on the now-awake enemy that is now surrounded.
4:24
back then when developing games it was hard to code the game to start at a specific mission or part of the game which is why a lot of games just sent you back to the beginning despite what stage you were on. This is actually why cheat codes were invented, so the developers can just skip past levels super fast and then untoggle once they got to the stage they wanted. Obviously we don’t need cheat codes anymore because of advanced coding now but I think it’s an interesting history lesson for gaming :)
Really interesting to think that cheat codes are just debugging tools left over. I always felt like I had some divine underground knowledge whenever I found one. Like I was changing the game/hacking it. It wasn't until I started to think how I could implement certain cheats that I was told that the cheats are just debugging tools left in by the developers.
Just glad we have save states, fast forward and rewind nowadays, with most collections having at least save states (or auto save). 3:28 lol mega man 11 thankful for newcomer mode
wtf are you even saying that doesnt even remotely make sense
@@c0smo709 Read it again, but slowly.
@@Vezur-MathPuzzles its not the comprehension that im having issues with, but rather that what he says lacks any roots in truth or logic
"once you understand that it's dodge and hit, you realize that the game aint shit"
- Pac
Nice amount of likes
-pac
And he kicked in the music one sentence in that was actually fire
Those first two examples in Mega Man 11 are LITERALLY Difficulty Spikes.
Those spikes had me so fucking butthurt. I wouldn't have minded if it wasn't a 5 minute trip back to the spikes only to fail again. Watching those lives tick down to the inevitability of you just buying the item that lets survive spikes.
Woah.. you got a like from the Dunk himself.
A Person With a Name I’ll never understand why spikes kill you instantly in Megaman games. I’m a reploid who’s made out of metal, why do metal spikes affect me?
@@newdivide9882 Ridley's tail went straight through his torso.
Also Metal things can still cut through Metal
A Person With a Name I mean just in Megaman games when you step on spikes. I know metal can cut metal, but only if enough force if applied. Zero or Megaman just taking a step shouldn’t be enough to hurt them when you think about it
Kirby's difficulty curve:
90% of game *flat line*
final boss *speed bump*
True final boss *Mt. Everest*
Too fucking true
Boss rush: OH GOD MAKE IT STOP
You literally go from "cute big tree with a face" to "reanimated soul of a planet destroying being"
Angus Jameson
90% of game: Flat plains
Final boss: A little mountain
True final boss: *_THE GREAT WALL OF FUCKING CHINA_*
Real shit yo me and my lil bro make it a competition between the two of us to see who can beat the true arena first every time.
"Pacman is the first survival horror game"
- Dunky
- Pac
O . O
He's kinda right, tho...
I played bloodborne but towards the end meeting the old enemies I thought to myself: "How the fuck were these hard to me back then?".
I come back a year later and the game is almost just as hard as when I first played it, and I wonder: "How the fuck were these easy for me back then?".
@@a-ha4940 Chalice dungeons were a mistake. I didn't fight the final boss because "I want to do everything" and lost interest in the game in the dungeons.
Thats called leveling I guess
@@WhiteZet1 To each their own. Chalice dungeons were what prolonged my love of the game. The basic pre-set ones are pretty boring, but the higher level ones have some really unique layouts, enemies and traps. They easily scale until your character is lvl 200+
PAC-MAN = Survival Horror Game
_yeah, that checks out._
Daniel Sambar 🗿
-tupac
2pac man
I don't care how hard the game is, just so long as it makes me FEEL like Batman.
Álvaro Uribe Vélez you’ve never felt like batman huh?
@Álvaro Uribe Vélez it was pretty funny bud
Like Spider-Man *
1:20 is the most accurate description of the NES that exists
@Tom Ffrench no “seem”, we DO and it’s ok
1:42 “makes dark souls look like duck tales, except duck tales is probably harder”
*my mind has been split in two*
1:02
*FUN FACT:* That's a young Dunkey, on the left.
Charge Beetle Godamnit I just got that
wait.... isnt he fat and white?
no
@@XzhiTBK I don't believe you
@@akshaypatel1362 He's fucking right
All memes aside, masterful video that touches on a lot of things wrong with the industry. You're one of the most relevant figures in gaming. Never change Dunkpac!
agreed
Agreed
In fairness, not just touching what's wrong with the industry, but pointing out some things a few did right,
I love Dunkey. But I love Dark Souls. And Dunkey does not.
0/5
*Thank You, Frame Gride*
Makes you glad he was banned from league of legends else thats what he'd still be doing
1:20 Gigguk just took inspiration from this one part for his "The Manga was better" Video.
It's cool how Dunkey's videos to this day, still manages to inspire these kinds of jokes in other videos
"For Silent Hill 2, the easier difficulties cause the puzzles to make 4% more sense."
"This is where the game goes from 'tough, but fair' to 'tough, but fuck you'"
"I died so many times I thought I'll run out of infinite lives... "
This video is so quotable, I swear to God
-pac
“How can a game be hard if you can’t technically die?”
*Geometry Dash flashbacks intensify*
what if dunkey plays Geometry Dash ?
@@WaffleToast same
Dukky NEWS FLASH! Geometry Dash exists on PC
Toxic.
@@WaffleToast toxic
Who cares about difficulty, I want the game to make me feel like I'm Batman
You wanna feel like batman, you gotta train like him.
I too want to lose both of my parents at an adolescent age
Well Arkham Knight on Knightmare makes you feel like a badass when you're good, so difficulty and power to players isn't mutually exclusive.
Kedrick W I want the game to make me feel like Spiderman tho
Being Batman is pretty difficult.
I think the best part about challenging games is the soul in them. Dark Souls is a dark world that feels real and the challenges feel natural as a part of the world while Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy is an emotional journey about self acceptance and moving on. The games aren't good because they are difficult, they are difficult because they are good. When a game comes around and decided its gonna try to piss off as many people as possible it misses the mark completely. People don't wanna play a game to die a thousand times, they wanna get to what comes after the thousand deaths.
- Pac
"The idea of accomplishment doesn't stem from beating the game, but rather mastering it"
This is so damn true!
Maybe the real difficulty is the friends we made along the way...
BOOO
Oof
What friends?
or lack thereof...
I always love when Dunkey does serious vids like this.
He has such a way with worms.......
@Zedrin
So true
yeah 🐛
- Pac
Worm Odyssey
I know what you mean, he's so down to earth.
“I can’t wait to meet you all on the battlefield in fortnite on nintendo switch.”
-pac
3:45 I love this picture because it implies Kirby was harder before you were paying it
Teacher: what do you look forward to most in 2019?
Me: Dunkys best of 2018
I'm literally checking my subscription feed every second waiting for it.
"Dunko is not too bad at TH-cam," -2pac
Well shit if 2pac said it then it must be true
*PAC*
Vocal percussion on a whole 'nother level, coming from my mind!
That's his best song
Correction: twopac
Thanks to this video, I learned of Ikaruga's difficulty options and finally gave the game a chance recently
It is now one of my favorite shooting games ever, and I'm eternally grateful
Thank you, Dunkey 🙏
i love that you specifically used robotron 2084 to describe the absurd difficulty of arcade cabinets from the eighties, its such an underrated game
I never realized Tupac was such a wise man 5:45
He made don't mine at night, he's a fucking masterful rapper and a true genius.
Walshie I love to orange justice on that song
6:55
- Jerry Seinfeld
"Dunkey is the greatest channel"
- Pac
Hork
2pac?
@@miloisdebeste 3pac
I think he spells it correctly on his serious videos
I really think the solution to checkpoints lays in Dark Souls where the checkpoints themselves become a dedicated mechanic that interacts with the level design and stuff
The most difficult part of a game is the people that yell at you when you're trying to have fun in an online game.
"I died so many times...that at one point I thought I might run out of infinite lives."
Oh cool you watched the video too
-Pac
man
That was easily one of the best lines.
Ikaruga
We all know Dunkey had this recorded 2 weeks ago and uploaded it now so he could play the new smash uninterrupted.
he likes his smash
Understandable
He needs to practice so he can beat Sky again
Reminds me of the time Dunkey beat Sky in smash
B A M B O O Z L E D
After all these years I still think the man himself Reggie really said it best.
"If it's not fun, why bother? If it's not a battle, where's the fun?"
"Even the titles that were directed specifically to younger children make Dark Souls look like fucking Duck Tales, except that Duck Tales is probably harder"
I scream internally when I hear a clever joke. And let me tell you, I screamed and creamed.
The thing about dunkey is that it makes you feel like dunkey
that's dunkey appropriation
Therefore: Dunkey clones
Joe Donovan this right here, ladies and gentlemen, is what will get us to E3#
Joe Donovan *Mastery of dunkey may be video gaming's greatest and yet most rewarding*
*challenge yet.*
*Pac.*
Can you please remove that extra space in your original comment, Thank you.
The fact that you somehow can balance actual insightful and thoughtful remarks on video games and other material and still maintain a solid level of humour shows why you are one of the best content creators on this site.
- twopac
on this site or in sight? heh
site*
Caleb Efemuai Thanks for the correction! Good catch
@@af7865 c'mon
“Dunkey is my favorite black TH-camr”
- Pac
Man dunkey usually acts like such a meme lord it takes me a while to appreciate just how much time and though has gone into these videos, and how well considered and well comminuted all his lines are
Seriously respect man. I don’t appreciate this channel enough. It takes a lot to be this funny and meme-y but also present stuff so well and talk about and present meaningful arguments/views/opinions on stuff so well
These game design analysis videos are my favorite things from your channel. They've got that good ol' Dunkey humor all the way through, and they leave something for future game designers to think about. I'd definitely have to say both the challenge and artistry of difficult games makes them exciting, as well as how compelling the gameplay is. One immediate example that excels in all of these attributes is Super Monkey Ball; it's tough to master, its character and scenery style is memorable, and it's so unique in its demand for precise analog movements just to roll a monkey in a ball to the goal strip.
Cuphead comes to mind too
3:25 Did they get Spongebob to voice Mega-Man?
ye
DogeAnimate
Then it’s like Spongebob at puberty
The voice actor of spingebob
No, they got his cousin Stanley.
They got Ben Diskin, voice actor of Joseph Joestar, not kidding.
"Normal" implies that's the standard difficulty setting for the game. "Heroic" tells you that's how the game is actually meant to be played. And that's why single difficulty settings are better.
Doing that lessens the replayability of a game
@@blankspotato7848 games like dark souls and hollow knight prove your statement wrong
@@cynicalgold9992 well played
Wrong. It depends on the developer.
@@blankspotato7848 if a game is designed with that in mind , replayability won't be an issue with single difficulty settings. Like mario 64
Makes me so happy that dunkey talks about the important of accessibility. Nothing is more annoying than people who rail against easier modes as if that'd somehow affect them
Yes! As someone who absolutely sucks at anything but stealth and has very little patience, games that are incredibly difficult and offer no easier options make me so angry, and much more inclined to drop the game:/
@@a-ha4940 Souls fans are some of the biggest A-holes in gaming.
TwoPac always had such great words of wisdom about difficulty in video games. Rest in piece. ☹️
I think it's Toopak
Shirayone actually it’s Tubesock because he wore long tube-like socks
Yeah, toothpick is alive in Cuba. It’s a conspiracy
toothpaste rip
More like rest in Pac. Haha Am I right, I mean c'mon.........😂
Ok I'm sry
so when are you gonna beat skye williams in smash ultimate?
HE ALREADY DID BABY, SKY'S JUST A KNIFE IN A GUN FIGHT WHEN COMPARED TO DUNKEY BABYYYYYYYYYYYY
I could beat Battletoads before that happens
This reminds me of that one time dunky beat sky in smash
they arent friends anymore apparently. dunkey and leah unfollowed him and he did the same. sky mentioned it in a video. hope the band gets back together though
I'm assuming the only reason the smash ultimate video isn't out yet is because Sky is physically incapable of taking any more beatings
megaman death sound never gets old
*If you haven't fought me yet in Gold and Silver you don't know the meaning of difficulty*
This should have been top comment.
Youngster Joey this made my day
Will someone explain, please? It's been a while since I played a Pocket Monster video game.
Omg, im dead now lol
thanks guys.But remember to play Pokemon Gold and Silver and battle me..
*Even if it means to lose against me and my Rattata*
If diffuculty in video games part 2 is so good ,why isnt there a difficulty in video games part 2 part 2 yet ?
Difficulty in video games part 2: electric boogaloo is supposed to come out tomorrow
I’m always disappointed when somebody beats me to making this comment.
Ah Sheeeeiit
A trailer is coming this week, reports says.
1:14 When I was a kid I used a Game Genie to give myself god mode so I could see past the first couple levels of Contra for the NES. When I was using cheats the game only took around 20 minutes to complete, so making the game without cheats super difficult effectively extends the life of the game, which is exactly Dunkey's point. The problem was is I'm not that patient or determined, I just wanted to see everything the game had to offer.
I love these essay type videos, i can watch them again and again, and it makes me want to play certain games
Bookworm Adventure Deluxe's difficulty is almost impossible when illiterate.
Literally the most skill-based game in existence.
@@Klokinator Nah, chess
~30% of students at top 10 high schools in the us are illiterate per standardized test data. That’s an actual stat.
Visit FlagrantViolationsDotCom sauce?
Allen Rubin there was a business insider article that had the link to it. I had it bookmarked but for some reason neither of those return in my search anymore which is weird. I showed it to a bunch of people.
Dunkey, wtf. ive been watching you consistently for the past two four years and so much effort is put in every single one of youre videos. The ideas, the strong mindset, your consistency (very important in my opinion), your creativity. You might know that in the bottom of your heart but you have inspired many people (including me) to become a better person not just related to videogames but in general. I just want to thank you for being the person that u are and doing what your doing the way you do it. Your my favorite content creator by far and will always will be.
Gédéon Bouchard-Plante youre*
*people
- pac
Dinkster*
black*
This would be bias fanboying if it wasn't true but since it is then i agree
1:31 if that isn't the truest statement ever
I love games with difficulty spikes. The more crushingly demoralizing that the game is, the better, because when you finally beat it the feeling is like nothing else you can get from games.
That's a mere illusion. You're not necessarily "mastering" a game so much as "dragging you dick and balls across a mile of gravel and broken glass." Yeah. You'll get there, but you won't necessarily enjoy it except by contrast of comparison. It's like taking a huge shit after being constipated for a week. It's "relief" you're probably feeling. Not enjoyment.
Welcome to every fighting game ever, and I totally agree with this statement.
Sucks at first but once you learn the right mindset and improve they become easily the most fun and strategic games.
Difficult games be like "time for my die move"
League be like "Time for my bye move too haha"
I like difficult games but I absolutely cant stand when it feels like a game is purposefully cheating you out of succeeding.
i still will always say this - metro 2033 had the best difficulty system by far for me. you want to casually experience the story? play on easy difficulty. but if you want to have a challenge and actually master the game and accomplish something, play on ranger mode and it takes away the hud and makes things scarce such as bullets to make it truly force you to survive, and gunfights are more "take cover plan your fights have quick reaction" than "just walk in and shoot everything that moves".
Underratedly, MarioKart is kinda like that. (Although it’s not a particularly hard game)
Example:
1st place for the whole race, ur 20 ft from the finish and then your get hit with the Blue Shell from Hell. Two guys pass u and ur thinking “well I can still make 3rd” Nope! “ITSA ME DA TRIPLE REDAH SHELL!!!” And next thing y’know ur in last place.
@@mav.- For some reason I couldn't get into metro it felt really janky and awkward. Maybe I'll try again sometime.
World of Light kicks my ass because I didn’t equipped kid before I started
@@acewarrior319 Merio Carte has always had rubberband ai and a troll engine that determines what powerups everyone gets
6:28 YOOOO MAD RESPECT FOR PLAYING OUTRUNNERS MUSIC
@@freezeburn1 SPLASHWAVE FROM OUTRUNNERS ARCADE
THANK YOU SO MUCH, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIND THAT SONG FOR SO LONG!!
This video made me realize that Outlast and Pac Man are essentially the same thing
-Pac
Pac man is scarier
This might be my favorite Dunkey Video. Great job!
Wrong. Knack 2 was better
@@08Shade80 KNAAAAAAACK TWO BABYYYYYYYYYYYY
It's up there with game critics for sure
Wow surprised to see you here! Love the vids
*KNACK 2 BABY*
My boy dunkey knows video games. He turned me onto Knack, and for that I am forever grateful. Thank you dunkey.
I’m so thankful for my Knack
Thank you, next
Its a mastapiece!
man, you really make me feel good about life sometimes. you have a great way with words, and are an artist when it comes to conveying your point. Thank you for making my night a lot better than it could have been
4:23 hey it's dead rising! Love that game
👍🏼
Dunkey hitting us with some gaming philosphy today.
Randy Hanna it is a brief analysis of a broad spectrum of video games, which is not only a nice summary but a tribute to those who have seen the difficulty of games progress as their developers have
Is it the humor that makes Dunkey’s videos so exciting or rather the artistry hiding beneath?
-twopac
Both.
-twopac
I really love when dunked throws a binding of Isaac reference in his videos he does it surprisingly often but doesn’t ever name drop the game or do a one-off video on it and I appreciate that for some reason more
I can proudly state that I did beat *one* NES game when I was a kid. Some batman beat-em-up of which I don't remember the name, but the last boss is Penguin
difficulty in 2018:
be so tedious that you don't want to play them and just pay to have them finished.
Mr Brimstone just like arcade age?
its slightly different than arcade machines. back when you physically couldn't fit much onto hardware, the best way to make an engaging experience was to make a fast paced, addictive, and challenging game. and people loved them because of it. (you also did not have to pay $25 to go into the arcade if i do remember correctly)
Now, the games are specifically designed to be so *edit: tedious* and manipulative to the point where you do not want to finish them without paying more money.
See the difference? one is a result of limitation, while the other is a result of exploitation of the medium and customers.
They 100% could be making amazing experiences people want to pay to be able to experience. But their greed and bad business philosophies lead to them making yearly cash-grabs using bland games and manipulative practices to suck as much money out of the industry as possible.
@@yaricoo
Yup video games going back to their roots!
I feel like you're just playing the wrong games
@@MrBrimstone nope, you're completely wrong. Most games are fun, very rarely do i see a "boring" game. They lock things behind VERY long grinds so you pay for them to get them FASTER. your logic is entirely flawed. Why would anyone pay to progress in a game they find inherently boring?
Kirby games are clearly the most difficult
Its obvious Hotel Mario is the hardest game made by knackkind yet.
Wii sports is hardest
I was sweating so hard!
Get it because its.. Its sport and...
Sport is...
Ok dont look at me like that i get it!
New DLC for Star allies is... more difficult? I mean they have true arena now.
This is the type of game reviewing we so desperately need, thanks be to you dunkey
Man, it's been 4 years since the last time I saw this video and I can now relate to it, I've been playing like what? 140 Minecraft Maps? And I finished them all but only some of them were actually embedded in my memory.
For example, I tried an Adventure Map called Across The Time 1 & 2, it was really hard but I can't forget how masterpiece the project really is and how the creators put huge effort into it, and Then I remember WAYYYY back to an MCPE Adventure Maps called Avira (which turns out to be antivirus name lol), that was created in 2015 but I still remember the map to this day because of how exciting the map truly was. So, in conclusion, Difficulty plays a MAJOR role in the long term for games, being too hard is making the game too challenging but it keeps the thrill, and too easy, yes, you'll get the satisfaction of winning, but it feels like a child play
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk :)
Welcome xD
Dunkey is trying to pretend smash ultimate isn’t out rn
He's waiting for sky to get it so he can... well, you know.
He's grinding to become the best
Jesus, level 19 on pac man? I think I made it to level 4 once.
American arcades had it tougher to learn the game. The secret to outsmarting the ghosts lies in their Japanese names.
D Deeross THERE ARE LEVELS TO PAC MAN??!!?!?
r/wooosh
@@wulfulk1000 I don't think age has anything to do with it. I am 17 but I did play Pac-Man and other good arcade titles. Thanks to my granddad.
D Deeross highest I’ve gotten is 27
one of my favorite video game companies is
FromSoftware and all of their games are just so incredibly challenging. at first they wanted to make a game difficult but not so much for a western audience so they tone down the difficulty of some of their games but of course it didn’t really matter because u would still die like 10 hundred times before u even get better at the game.
Death is a big part of the experience of FromSoftware games, the point of death is for u to see what u did wrong and how u can improve, this is very clear in the dark souls franchise, u are constantly dying and the game forces u to see what ur doing wrong and improve on it before u die even more.
But theirs a secret behind these games that make them so special. The satisfaction of beating a difficult boss. U been killed over and over and over again that once u get that one victory against that boss, it’s addicting and it becomes even more addicting beating even more difficult bosses. Everyone cusses at these games but deep down they know they like the satisfaction of beating that one difficult boss.
What i especially like about these games is how Fromsoftware moves away from the souls games and finds new and exciting stories and Game mechanics for u to experience. In Dark souls u could block attacks and even Dodge attacks, u could use magic or use different types of swords. But in Bloodborne the main function was dodging wish did make things a lot more difficult for players as the available fighting styles were no longer their. Then Sekrio came and completely changed everything. u were no longer dodging, u were deflecting and this takes months and months to master and even more to perfect.
Fromsoftware has developed one of the hardest games in all of video game history and we are all craving for more.
One of your best videos I come back to every once in a while.
The solution to checkpoints is to have skips and shortcuts located in levels that are either unlocked after you've encountered the end of level boss the first time, or just make a really difficult to execute level skip that rewards the player that has taken the time to figure it out. Megaman X series is a perfect example.
Blodborne did that too
Spyro 3 levels almost always give you a shortcut to the start of the level after you beat them, it makes backtracking much easier, turning the level into some kind of "circle".
That's a great way to do checkpoints for various reasons, but it doesn't really address what he's talking about, which is how much do you punish a loss state. You're always gonna have to redo something after you lose, shortcuts or not. You could put shortcuts that make a loss trivial, or shortcuts in spite of which losing and trying again is way too bothersome.
The first dark souls was like that. If you spent the extra 5 minutes exploring and found the short cut, it would save you a lot of headache if you died. Game was still equally as hard, but man was it nice to have a short cut past at least 1/10th of the bull shit. And the bonfire spacing in the first one was perfect. It wasn't too close, and it wasn't too far. Also, not being able to teleport between them until like 1/2 way into the game was nice.
Dark souls was done right. Parts of it was just outright unfair, however, it was evenly difficult throughout the game. It didn't gradually get easier, nor did it just suddenly become impossible out of nowhere. It was just difficult at all points.
This is all on your first 1-2 play through. It becomes a lot easier after that, as it should. But even on your 3-4 play through, you still die if you aren't careful.
Personally, I think your answer, while not bad, only works for certain types of games; games of the platforming kind I think apply more to what you mentioned. However, longer "levels" like in RPGs (I'd say Bloodbourne and the Dark Souls series are good examples), you need more mid-level checkpoints to be able to push through an area, and not be as punishing for less skilled players.
The most difficult game for 9 year olds not to play is Forknife
kremit the frog i have seen you in just2good
9 year olds dont play Fortnite. We only play Dictaror simulators
U mean how long can I go without my juul
No its easy if you don't feed them.
Mister jordan peterson we truly are in the belly of the beast
I feel like ultimately it boils down to what kind of experience you want a player to have. In games with serious stories and lots of twists and turned, meant to be played for at least a few hours at a time like each play session is one movie in a Star Wars or LotR marathon I appreciate as many checkpoints as possible and even being able to skip frustrating parts, because I feel like I'm intended to be taking part of an event.
In some intense action/horror game fewer checkpoints definitely raise the tension and ideally each time you die you'll swear, wipe the sweat off your hands, crack your knuckles, maybe take a sip of a drink or grab a snack and then go "this time I can do it!".
And then there are more arcade-y games and roguelikes that often work best when they don't allow you to save at all, because I feel like they're often allowed to be played regularly in short sessions, like on your daily lunch break for example. Derek Yu's book on Spelunky explains how this was fully intended: he explains how him and his roommate would each play one round of the game every day, and one round only, which made it very intense and exciting. That is why he implemented the "daily challenge" mode in the HD version and the sequel; it's a perfect "once a day" game.
Again, I think the best things to keep in mind when balancing the difficulty of your game are questions like "how, when, and for how long do I want people to play my game?" and "how do I want players to feel when they fail?".
Dude this channel is too much. I've been dying from the Bloodborne and Dark souls videos. But even the random content is just as funny. Take my subscription lol much earned
This ain't Dunkey...
The end card is spelled correctly
Ikr how hard is it to spell Donsly
Dino The TRex him and the devs behind Knack II.
He has it spelled right in numerous videos
It is a Dunkey clone!
@@masquerade3497 👀
(3:40) This is the truth, ladies and gentlemen...
The Final Solution in a nutshell
3:45 yoshi’s story in a nutshell
I took a chug of me tankard when that came on.
Holy fuck did I nearly die.
(5:40) Although I agree with the statement, you could make that point for any game. All 2D Mario games consist of running and jumping, with some minor things added in for a few of them (such as different power-ups, game mechanics, etc), but nothing ground breaking.
340 likes for 3:40 mark. Don't doooo it.
You're a very good reviewer with no bias. What you're saying are pretty much how everyone feels. Love the content
0:54 "I mean look at this, can you describe to me what is happening here?"
I don't know how someone can be as well rounded as the dunkster, he's so funny and silly while also so smart and serious when he wants to be. great analysis. 0/5
It has a little something for everyone.
Knack 2 does not challenge your skill, it challenges your soul
- twopac
Underapreciatedeed coomnet
I gotta say, this was the best gift I got for my birthday last year!
Can't wait to so what you do for this year Dunk! : )
Now I know that Fix It Felix and Wrecking Ralf are canon in the real arcade cabinets. Thank you Dunkey
Mr. Dunk,
I demand to know when you intend on rebooting Bubberducky. It has been 4 years since Bubberducky 2, it is time to finish the trilogy.
The most difficult boss in gaming history is sans from Steven Universe
Sans is from Mother 4: The Under Tales
-Pac
Sans from cuphead
It’s actually the sans boss in the family guy DLC for dark souls 3
Steven Universe's hardest boss is Rebecca Sugar's stack of child porn that the fandom dug up when the co-creator told them to stop bullying fan artists they didn't like into suicide.
(I'm not making any of this up)
Even though that after stage 19 in Pac-Man no longer affects the ghosts after eating the Power Pellets, it still is beneficial to get them since it changes their pattern, giving you an easier route to figure out
i always come back to this video, by far my fav of dunkeys vids
Can we get a moment of recognition to all the epic gamers who beat Mile High Club on Veteran in COD 4? Shit took me an hour and a half for a minute long mission.
The trick to beating Mile High Club on Veteran is binding the flashbang to a mouse button or trigger, and to never reload just pick up guns. Regardless it still took an hour but damn did it feel good to beat.
@@halo7oo Nothing quite like blazing through the entire mission faster than you ever have, and shooting the hostage by accident.
Much appreciated.
Despite it giving me an hour of grief I always feel proud I completed it and got the Achievement. Especially since I figured out it takes Flashbang Timing and using the pistol when you spend an MP5 magazine. Just like Gaz said "Remember, switching to your pistol is always faster than reloading."