Inconsistent difficulty giving me trouble.

[BadMrFrosty]

Hi there.

I realize alot of people are probably going to just tell me to shutup and stop whining or whatever, and thats cool with me but I would like to just point something out.

I was able to fairly easily get through 43 of the 45 songs required to 'complete' the Solo Guitar Tour on "hard" difficulty. I was able to complete all of the songs on easy and medium, and I was able to complete 18 of the songs on expert.

I dont feel I will ever be able to complete the song by The Outlaws or Molly Hatchet on hard because they are exponentially more difficult than any song on that same difficulty level, by a degree of possibly 4 or 5. The only other song that I had to do more than once is Enter Sandman.

I try not to compare similar games, but in Guitar Hero III after I beat the game on Medium I tried to play it on hard and was immediately destroyed by the first song over and over, I couldnt even pass it with any stars __at all__ so I knew right then and there that it would be a total waste of my time to try and beat it on hard.

I spent a great deal of time working through the hard difficulty level over the 4 day weekend only to run into two songs which should really be in 'expert'. The particular portions of the songs are the solos, but the parts prior to those solos are also ridiculously difficult, I five starred many of the previous songs in the hard difficulty level but i cannot complete these two songs at all.

I've tried to do these guitar solos over and over in practice mode but it doesnt seem to help, I dont expect them to go back and fix it, because I am sure alot of people dont have a problem with it, but i'm not the best 'video game guitarist ever' I just wish the difficulty at the beginning would've been indicative of the difficulty throughout as not to waste my time, I could've been playing Mass Effect or working on the Drum solo tour during that time.

Thanks,
BMF

[Rook_x51]

Hi there.

I realize alot of people are probably going to just tell me to shutup and stop whining or whatever, and thats cool with me but I would like to just point something out.

I was able to fairly easily get through 43 of the 45 songs required to 'complete' the Solo Guitar Tour on "hard" difficulty. I was able to complete all of the songs on easy and medium, and I was able to complete 18 of the songs on expert.

I dont feel I will ever be able to complete the song by The Outlaws or Molly Hatchet on hard because they are exponentially more difficult than any song on that same difficulty level, by a degree of possibly 4 or 5. The only other song that I had to do more than once is Enter Sandman.

I try not to compare similar games, but in Guitar Hero III after I beat the game on Medium I tried to play it on hard and was immediately destroyed by the first song over and over, I couldnt even pass it with any stars __at all__ so I knew right then and there that it would be a total waste of my time to try and beat it on hard.

I spent a great deal of time working through the hard difficulty level over the 4 day weekend only to run into two songs which should really be in 'expert'. The particular portions of the songs are the solos, but the parts prior to those solos are also ridiculously difficult, I five starred many of the previous songs in the hard difficulty level but i cannot complete these two songs at all.

I've tried to do these guitar solos over and over in practice mode but it doesnt seem to help, I dont expect them to go back and fix it, because I am sure alot of people dont have a problem with it, but i'm not the best 'video game guitarist ever' I just wish the difficulty at the beginning would've been indicative of the difficulty throughout as not to waste my time, I could've been playing Mass Effect or working on the Drum solo tour during that time.

Thanks,
BMF

Shutup and stop whining..

Now that we have that out of the way:

Keep at it man, unfortunately songs in real life don't have a difficulty assigned to them and sometimes it's hard to order them correctly.

BTW, the shutup part was a joke.

[macafied]

Practice practice and more practice. It's really the only way.

[espher]

Much the same as in the GH games that aren't GH3, upper tier songs on one difficulty are comparable to earlier songs on the next difficulty.

[Bakkster]

I spent a great deal of time working through the hard difficulty level over the 4 day weekend only to run into two songs which should really be in 'expert'. The particular portions of the songs are the solos, but the parts prior to those solos are also ridiculously difficult, I five starred many of the previous songs in the hard difficulty level but i cannot complete these two songs at all.

I've tried to do these guitar solos over and over in practice mode but it doesnt seem to help, I dont expect them to go back and fix it, because I am sure alot of people dont have a problem with it, but i'm not the best 'video game guitarist ever' I just wish the difficulty at the beginning would've been indicative of the difficulty throughout as not to waste my time, I could've been playing Mass Effect or working on the Drum solo tour during that time.

I agree that they are harder, but that's the point, isn't it? When GH came out, I worked my way up to Expert. Finally I got stuck at Bark at the Moon. That song killed me. For about 2 weeks I worked to beat the song, playing it 5-10 times a night. I finally got it and felt great!

Then came GH2. I got to Freebird and couldn't beat it. I wasn't having fun anymore trying to beat it, so I stopped. Simple as that. I didn't feel like I wasted my time, I didn't wish I had done something else. I enjoyed the game while I was playing, and stopped playing as soon as I stopped having fun.

I guess I'm saying you shouldn't feel forced to finish the campaign mode if it's not fun for you. Yes it's hard, they've got blistering solos! If you would rather play the drum campaign or solo drums, go for it! Those songs will always be around for you if you ever want to come back to them.

[BadMrFrosty]

No,

I get that difficulty should be progressive; but why not make it gradual instead of like hitting a brick wall?

I got through 43 songs and then it just became totally impossible...

BMF

[Bakkster]

No,

I get that difficulty should be progressive; but why not make it gradual instead of like hitting a brick wall?

I got through 43 songs and then it just became totally impossible...

BMF

This is an artifact of the song selection process. There are some very difficult songs on the list that are only difficult for one instrument. There are few other hard guitar songs that would have been fun to play on the other three instruments, hence the jump in difficulty.

Again, if you don't like the songs, don't play them.

[BenGmanUk]

The problem I have with RBs difficulty in comparison to GH is that when a new solo/rhythm is introduced in GH, you usually have to spend time in practice mode in order to pass the song.

With RB, even though I clearly hadn't grasped some of the songs harder parts, I was able to fluff my way through it. Because of this it doesn't feel like Im 'worthy' of the next song.

I'm now around 15 songs into hard and havn't failed a song yet, despite the fact that I clearly need to 'clean up' lots of the sections that I fluffed my way through.

This aside, it's a fantastic game though!

[That_One_Dude]

I felt the exact same way trying out Guitar Solo Mode on Expert.

I just can't do the solos for Highway Star and Green Grass and High Tides.

I have no problem with Flirtin' With Disaster, Run to the Hills, or Train Kept-A-Rollin'.

The funny thing is I can fully combo Welcome Home on Expert if I want to, but can't even complete Highway Star on Expert? Hmm :\

[BadMrFrosty]

I felt the exact same way trying out Guitar Solo Mode on Expert.

I just can't do the solos for Highway Star and Green Grass and High Tides.

I have no problem with Flirtin' With Disaster, Run to the Hills, or Train Kept-A-Rollin'.

The funny thing is I can fully combo Welcome Home on Expert if I want to, but can't even complete Highway Star on Expert? Hmm :\

That is exactly what I mean, i realize its going to be difficult i just dont like that the difficulty is inconsistent.

BMF

[ManOwaR]

I dig that Hatchet song. It too was one that gives me trouble, But Ill manage it.

Point one. Save your friggin power up overdrive. If you get through the tough tough solo, you can make the end.

[jonfitzsimon]

I have passed every song on expert except for GGHT and i fail out every time at 95%. Its so freaking frustrating! I always seem to miss the last energy phrase and if i were to have it, i would definitely be able to pass it. I think i have failed at 95% about 12 times now. The pain in the ass thing about it is that i have to go through the entire 6 minutes or so to get back to that point. Very frustrating.

[Edgehopper]

That is exactly what I mean, i realize its going to be difficult i just dont like that the difficulty is inconsistent.

BMF

Well, we could solve the problem by making all songs have exactly the same guitar part...

Some songs are harder than others. Some of them are insanely difficult. However, none of the brick wall songs are preventing you from unlocking easier songs. This is the case in nearly every music game; sometimes you hit a wall, and have to practice a lot to get over it. I breezed through GH3 expert right until I hit Raining Blood, which took about 30 tries to pass, and then the Battle against Lou, which took even longer. On GH2, it took a lot of practice to get the hang of Rock this Town and Freebird. On GH1, it was Cowboys from Hell.

Practice more!

[surgesnugs]

Probably everyone has different things that they find difficult in a song, but the problem I've had while working through Hard with the guitar is that the song progression just seems to be out of order a bit. For example, I got to Suffragate City and that song was just kicking my ***. I practiced it a ton, and finally scraped my way through it to get to the next venue and was surprised how easy the entire next two venues were. With GH, I felt they ordered the songs much better.

[seafisch]

I have passed every song on expert except for GGHT and I fail out every time at 95%. Its so freaking frustrating! I think I have failed at 95% about 12 times now. The pain in the ass thing about it is that I have to go through the entire 6 minutes or so to get back to that point. Very frustrating.

The song is 9 1/2 minutes long, so more like 8 minutes... which does suck when you fail out that far into it. Especially when you're not that big a fan of the song...

*equips flame shield*

[lordofsquirrel17]

Don't worry buddy, keep at it! The best thing I found to do (this worked for me in my similar frusteration as yours) is when going into practice, slow down the tempo and try to recognise the patterns that they throw at you. A great thing about music (coming from a musician) is all the patterns that repeat itself. Once you figure out those patterns, it's then easier to just practice doing it faster and faster. This is especially true with RB.

[Hanover]

The two songs that consistently gave me problems on medium and hard guitar are Suffragette City and GGHT. The sad thing is, I can do ALL the songs on hard except SC and GGHT.

This makes me think Suffragette City should have been placed a wee bit higher. I can't seem to get the 1-3-5 repeat progression and I pity people who have smaller hands who have to do that.

[stiper327b]

Hey guys, remember when the guitar parts were supposed to be easy peasy? Remember when all the hardcore folks were complaining about how easy it was gonna be to five star and FC all the songs? Remember when people were saying that GHIII would be the better game because of the harder songs?

Yeah, me too.

Anyway, to the OP, just practice. And if you don't want to play them, then don't. If those are the last songs you have to play for that difficulty, then it's not like you're missing out on anything, other than the satisfaction of getting past an obstacle and completing that mode.

I was in the same boat as Bakkster. I had crazy trouble with Bark at the Moon, and after many many many tries (likely in the triple digits), I finally got past it. And let me tell you, it felt crazy good when it happened. And with GHII, I tore through most of Expert within the first couple days, but then it took me the next few months to get past the last two tiers (thanks in no small part to Hyperspeed), and to this day I've still yet to get past Free Bird. And honestly, that's okay. At one time I would have played that song until either my eyes or my fingers bled, but now I just take a more zen approach to it all. I'll play it every once in awhile, and I might even on occasion devote some serious play time to getting past it, but for the most part, I've moved on. But that in no way means that I felt cheated by the game. I got my play time, hours upon hours of it in fact, and I can always go back and play any song I'd like without having to beat Freebird, so it's all good.

So, in the end, just practice until you can get it, and if you can't, move on. Lord knows there are plenty of other options in this game. And who knows, the more you play the other modes or songs, the better chance you might have at Flirtin' and GGaHT when you come back to them.

[WildBillKickoff]

I pity people who have smaller hands who have to do that.

That's what she said. :)

Anyhow, TC I see where you're coming from, but at the same time, I 5*'ed Hard on my first pass through except for Flirtin' With Disaster, Train kept a Rollin', and that ridiculous Freezepop song (Brain Dead?).

The point is, different people struggle with different things. For me, it's off beat strumming. For you, it sounds like it's long strings of HO/POs. Practice mode is your friend. Mine too.

[MSFTsucks]

There's definitely a step up from every other song to Green Grass. I 5* everything on my site reads on expert (gold starred many) up until that damn song. Missed 5* by about 5-10k points and that was on my 3rd time playing it. The solo was the particularly tricky area (specifically the Y-R-G-R-Y-xxxx part). Best way I found to get through it? Forget the solo keys. I used the big keys and made it through first time. Don't know what it is about those solo keys, but I screw up damn near every time I try using them.

-MSFTsucks

[Hanover]

Okay Michael.... ;)


That's what she said. :)

[JoshuaNeff]

I partly agree. For me it was GGaHT, for that junky ending. I can do it, but it took me five days to practice the end. I finished all but that song in one day (two sittings) for expert--- it was a brick wall.

I agree, that's poor game design. What they /should/ do is have songs like that all DLC- like the Metallica ones. You can finish the game and have "fun" but the nasty hard songs are optional for the folks who really want the challenge.

GGaHT would be really good, and totally a great end song if they didnt put that stupid junk in the end.

and as for my advice to the thread starter.... keep at it man- if you're on hard there's a long ways to go, but you'll get it. If you can do medium, but hard/expert got you down, I think you should play first tier expert songs until you can five star them all, then move to second tier and try to four star them. Reason being, the jump from med-hard/expert is hand movement--- the trouble you're having could be because you arent comfortable using all the frets without thinking? That's my girlfriends issue--- she gets really scared because "I HATE THE BLUE BUTTON"--- she can five star everything on easy, but that extra button makes her fail almost everything. It's not because she sucks, she can do some expert bass parts that arent all over the fret board, but its because she's just not comfortable with the feeling of it all yet.

If you want advice or help sometime on parts, I'm Ant 612 on x-box live, feel free to send me a message or whatever-

[vyse12012]

well, put it that way..

It won't be nearly as fun if everyone could do every songs on every difficulty level. When I got GH2 last april, I was barely doing any song on medium, then on hard and then on expert. It took be a full month to do any song on expert and then the whole summer to do most of them (~30 of 72) ..

The more I was playing the more songs I was doing on expert and 5 stars expert too. Then just in time for GH3, I beat Hangard 18, Free bird and Six..

It has been a month since I played GH2, because of GH3 .. so last week I got back to it and believe it or not, I was beating all my records on any song by 50 000 to 100 000 and free bird is now a total joke lol


Just keep playing and you'll get better ;) If you can't do the last song on hard, just try to get better scores on your other one and try a few at expert .. slowly, you'll do all of them and you'll be proud of you ;)