@coolboymew i also didn't finish every single game i played, some games cannot be finished as they are endlessly replayable or don't have victory conditions. Some games have endings that are not worth it or have difficulty spikes.

That being said, portal isn't one of those.

@hj Sure, and some games are too long, some games are too hard, sometimes you just gotta drop a game

But Portal?...

@coolboymew @hj The only way you can not have finished Portal is if you don't like Portal.

@guizzy @coolboymew or you have mixed feeling about it, i certainly do about splatoon - game sure is pretty and nice, but actually playing it - ugh. Same with Hexen.

@hj @guizzy I remember struggling in Hexen because I was the Mage, and I recall super strong monsters appeared in the lobby and I just had no fucking mana anymore

I wouldn't exactly put Hexen in the "easy" category, I remember some ridiculous jumps for a relic

@coolboymew @guizzy hexen gameplay is also boring with all the switchhunting tbh, still cool atmosphere tho

@hj @guizzy Nice multiplayer on the N64

@hj @guizzy Actually it's funny for Doom clones. Everyone look down upon save scumming on emulator games, but as far as I'm aware, especially if you play the high difficulties of these, you ARE supposed and expected to save scum in these games

Didn't realize this until watching civvie play these games

@coolboymew @guizzy idk i don't look down on savescumming on emulated games, but it really depends on the game and context, really. I recently finished Lost Vikings 1 on megadrive, and i savescummed quite often because
a) game is really an asshole at times
b) the "action" side of action puzzle is pretty bad, and there are no mid-level checkpoints - often you make one mistake and you have to restart the level. I don't see much challenge or bragging rights in saying "i beat lost vikings 1 without savestates" and I value my time more.

I'm guessing people get butthurt from the fact that they wasted their time doing it "the hard way" back when "easy way" wasn't a thing, without realizing that there weren't as many games either back then.

@hj @guizzy @coolboymew another thing to consider is that back then some games were hard for the sake of it, to pad time.

@hj @coolboymew @guizzy https://pl.beefyboys.win/notice/APEMoqZOtXEPduGEcq slightly related

@MischievousTomato @guizzy @hj @coolboymew depends on the game. most of the time it just makes increasing enemy damage just makes mistakes more punishing and just tantamount to "simply playing better" . Other times it may actually require genuinely changing strategy and mind set on how you approach, even if it's as simple as increasing the amount of enemies on screen.

@Nelenese @guizzy @hj @coolboymew i would love a game that forced you to change your way of playing if you made it harder of it it got harder.

Perhaps having a pool of different types of enemies, categorize them, make the engine see that if the player does too well against some kinds of enemies, throw some others into the mix and see how they fare, et cetera...?

@MischievousTomato @guizzy @hj @coolboymew i was thinking about a game that becomes significantly harder that learned playstyles have to be reevaluated and changed as it's no longer viable anymore likr kingdom heart 2's jump from normal/proud to critical mode forcing players to use and exploit tools such as spells and drives they otherwise neglect as the premier strategy of mashing X no longer works since you can die in 1 or 2 hits.