[Talbain]

I totally 39-credited (on MAME) Metal Slug 3 with some friends the other day. It was awesome.

Somewhat more seriously though, I'm beginning to think that making a game "hard" or "easy" doesn't really do much for the game itself. The gameplay's usually the selling point for me, and if it's good (which is not a measure of how hard or easy it is), I can keep playing the game. Obviously, if I keep playing a game I'll get better at it. That's how games work, pretty much like everything else (writing, reading, math, etc.), at least in theory. Also, difficulty should be a consequence of gameplay; this is the problem with most RPGs (mostly in that the game puts few limits on you, SRPGs and simulation games tend to be the opposites of this, where many restrictions are put on you, resulting in a need for thought and strategy-of course, this need for thought, if too excessive, can also kill enjoyable gameplay).

The only other point aside from gameplay is narrative; engrossing stories always help, just like a well-written research paper has a certain structure to make it more edible for the reader.

As for BoF:DQ... yeah, it's Breath of Fire. It's a game you play through a few times at most to get what you can out of it. After that, it's just ego stroking, like completionists who have to get 200% or whatever in SOTN.
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[Talbain]