What draws us toward the insanely difficult games? What makes us wanna keep going?

I ask myself this question as I sit here staring at the game over screen in Ikaruga, I was never intending to purchase this title yet here I sit after having enjoyed the hell out of those 3 stages my meager skills got me through(on easy I might add) and I can't wait to jump into it again.

I didn't even wanna spend the points, I was saving them for the Halo 3 maps, but I downloaded the trial, got through the first stage and I wanted more, the twitch game design, the polarity mechanic, the memorization required, its gaming that requires a degree and I want more.

But why? I've always been the kind of person who's not a huge fan of difficult games, they should be fun after all and this is fun, I speak as a man who is NOT a fan of shoot-em-ups so m sheer love of this game is puzzling to say the least.

Of course the answer is simple, excellent game design. A hard difficulty and a well designed game go hand in hand, sure it will bring you frustration as you try to get over a major hurdle but when you do, you're happy and feel satisfied.

I recall a few years ago when I was slogging through DMC 1 on Dante Must Die mode, I was stick on nightmare for about 2 weeks, normally when someone says they died hundreds of times you think they might be exaggerating , I am not when I say it, I around 500 yellow orbs when I began my fight with Nightmare, I had 120 when I finally defeated him, I hugged my visiting friend, I went around the room dancing like a jackass and then I finally beat the rest of the game. Yet another excellent example of great game design.



But the granddaddy for me has always been Ninja Gaiden Black, this wasn't about magically spawning enemies, this wasn't about taking more damage, it was all about reflexes and defeating your enemies in a symphony of clashing swords and blood.



This bitch caused an untold amount of hurled controllers and a string of profanities and defeating her is one of the best moments of the game, moreso when you get her down so well that you can finish her without taking damage.

Upon having played some games with well balanced difficulties, I wonder why companies always get this wrong, its not about giving every single advantage to the enemy, its not about dying in 3 hits, hard difficulty should not be a giant fuck you to the gamer, it should be about something that tests the skills you've gathered through playing on all the difficulties.

I really wish more game designers took the time to make well balanced difficulty levels, it would go a long toward replay value as far as I am concerned.