D
Darth Tagnan
Guest
Normal in both PoE and PoE 2 is like super-casual once you have a few party members, imo.
If you find a tactical challenge interesting at all, I would say Veteran is the bare minimum in both games - but, as I said, they're both relatively trivial once you break the power curve - which is both about the amount of party members and about their level.
I find it impossible to accurately establish PRECISELY which game is harder (post-PoE 2 balance changes) - but I suspect PoE 2 is easier - even when compared to a heavily micromanaged PoE. But I think that's mostly because of multi-classing and how many options they decided to put in there. It's just too easy to come up with a build they didn't truly account for - or bother to account for. For instance, I found my own Berserker/Streetfighter build pretty absurdly powerful after I got the named sword which nullified the confusion penalty.
Such is the nature of rich and fun CRPG systems - and you can't really find one that doesn't have such exploits or broken builds. Well, if you do - it's usually the result of years of balance patches and watering down all the fun of the game, and then what do you have?
4E D&D perhaps
Even so, it's key to remember that PoE 2 is born with much better party AI, pathfinding and seems less rigidly reliant on the ZoC mechanic. So, the default impression WOULD be that it's easier - no matter what, because you're not struggling with a substandard interface or a stupid AI.
Personally, I honestly don't feel challenged very often in CRPGs - and it's not really what I find most interesting anyway.
The only reason challenge really interests me - is that I need to feel the weight of my progression choices. Other than that, I find challenge in a singleplayer game something that predictably and inevitably will be overcome - because games are DESIGNED to be overcome.
Certainly, games of the modern age are designed with that specific goal in mind - because otherwise you might as well not bother to sell any copies.
Back in the day, you could sometimes find a game that was designed for the smaller enthusiast crowd - and which required a rather large investment in new and unfamiliar mechanics - but, even so, you would ALWAYS reach a point where challenge became relatively trivial if you really put your mind to it. It's just a matter of time, really.
After all, what fun would a game be if - after utterly mastering the intricacies of the mechanics - it was still extremely hard? In that case, it would just be an excercise in sadism on the part of the game - and any enjoyment would be masochism on the part of the player.
Now, I understand that many gamers don't think like that. That's why Dark Souls and games designed around the illusion of challenge are so popular. They're designed, specifically, to make even mainstream gamers feel good about themselves for mastering something that's "hard" - and it obviously works as long as you don't realise what you're doing (playing a computer game with only one difficulty level, zero physical requirements and which absolutely wouldn't sell if it really required an above average mental capacity to succeed - rather than just an investment of time)
But that's another story.
If you find a tactical challenge interesting at all, I would say Veteran is the bare minimum in both games - but, as I said, they're both relatively trivial once you break the power curve - which is both about the amount of party members and about their level.
I find it impossible to accurately establish PRECISELY which game is harder (post-PoE 2 balance changes) - but I suspect PoE 2 is easier - even when compared to a heavily micromanaged PoE. But I think that's mostly because of multi-classing and how many options they decided to put in there. It's just too easy to come up with a build they didn't truly account for - or bother to account for. For instance, I found my own Berserker/Streetfighter build pretty absurdly powerful after I got the named sword which nullified the confusion penalty.
Such is the nature of rich and fun CRPG systems - and you can't really find one that doesn't have such exploits or broken builds. Well, if you do - it's usually the result of years of balance patches and watering down all the fun of the game, and then what do you have?
4E D&D perhaps
Even so, it's key to remember that PoE 2 is born with much better party AI, pathfinding and seems less rigidly reliant on the ZoC mechanic. So, the default impression WOULD be that it's easier - no matter what, because you're not struggling with a substandard interface or a stupid AI.
Personally, I honestly don't feel challenged very often in CRPGs - and it's not really what I find most interesting anyway.
The only reason challenge really interests me - is that I need to feel the weight of my progression choices. Other than that, I find challenge in a singleplayer game something that predictably and inevitably will be overcome - because games are DESIGNED to be overcome.
Certainly, games of the modern age are designed with that specific goal in mind - because otherwise you might as well not bother to sell any copies.
Back in the day, you could sometimes find a game that was designed for the smaller enthusiast crowd - and which required a rather large investment in new and unfamiliar mechanics - but, even so, you would ALWAYS reach a point where challenge became relatively trivial if you really put your mind to it. It's just a matter of time, really.
After all, what fun would a game be if - after utterly mastering the intricacies of the mechanics - it was still extremely hard? In that case, it would just be an excercise in sadism on the part of the game - and any enjoyment would be masochism on the part of the player.
Now, I understand that many gamers don't think like that. That's why Dark Souls and games designed around the illusion of challenge are so popular. They're designed, specifically, to make even mainstream gamers feel good about themselves for mastering something that's "hard" - and it obviously works as long as you don't realise what you're doing (playing a computer game with only one difficulty level, zero physical requirements and which absolutely wouldn't sell if it really required an above average mental capacity to succeed - rather than just an investment of time)
But that's another story.
