Don't have a big gap between difficulty levels, HMX

[Brock_Landers]

In that other game, going by forum postings in various places it seems people found the gap between Medium and Hard a little overbearing (and I can attest to this as well), and many gave up and didn't bother weathering the storm (which is unfortunate, because you don't feel truly rock unless you're jamming your fingers all over the place). I don't think is so much a case of them just being inherantly crap as it is just giving new players a little too much to do at one time.

For me, I managed to get through all of the Medium level without too much difficulty once I got the basics of four frets down.. but then the next level increased the notes, added another fret, and threw in lots of HOPOs (in comparison) to boot.

Now before anyone kneejerks, I'm not saying make Hard any easier.. just slowly ramp the difficulty up in medium a bit more with the final setlists... give players more notes or a few long/odd combo HOPOs they gotta deal with, so that if they get to the stage where they can five-star all of Medium, going into hard they're prepared for all but the fifth fret in the first few sets

[bounchfx]

the final songs of medium led into hard just fine in GH1. I haven't played anything under expert since then

[Brock_Landers]

True.. I haven't actually played the first one yet, but it wasn't the case for GH2.

Course the difficulty for each instrument may very well be toned down overall, since they can't go for a heap of guitar/drum wankery on every track. In which case this post probably doesn't matter much.

[FunkaTrunk]

Then again, songs like Hanger 18 and psycobilly freakout were a real step up from the other songs on medium, but I agree with you. I was also thinking, maybe they could gradually increase the speed, just on the last few songs, so the speed difference isn't so much of a shock when you go from medium to hard. By the way, do you have a 360, or PS3? And do you know if someone on a 360 can jam with someone on a Playstation? Thanks...

[Brock_Landers]

AFAIK, the online componants are seperate for each console. (Which may suck for me, since most people I know are getting ps3's for this)

[SoraRikuVGM]

I started from Easy to Expert on GHII, and I kept through. It was hard switching from Medium to Hard though. It took me like 3 weeks to get through Woman.

[zankfrappa]

on the first game i found the learning curve very good, first got reallly stuck on crossroads on hard, probably due to me being a real guitarist. Not sure about how it is on 2, although i'd say the songs on 2 are much harder than on 1, but i didnt find hard hard because of playing the first game.

[WildWalker]

I don't really agree.

I had GH1 and GH2 on PS2, then I got GH2 on Xbox360 (cos I wanted HD) and I found that I was around 10 or 12 songs in to hard before I finished Medium, because I found the initial hard songs easier than the final medium songs. This is mainly becuase the initial hard songs are very chord based, as opposed to the much more note based (lots of notes) final medium songs.

WW

[sa_nick]

I'd finished GH1 on expert before I played GH2 so I skipped easy and medium and began on heard. I breezed through all the songs on hard until i got to Freya, that took me half an hour to get through having failed it like 8 times. Psyco Freakout had me stuck for a while too, but everything else was sweet (not including bonus tracks, ie, six, thunderhorse)

[Apples]

They already did a great job of addressing difficulty concerns in the 360 version of Guitar Hero. Introductory hard level songs have minimal amounts of ho-pos, and few orange notes. The new songs were noticably skewed towards the easy end of the spectrum as well. To me this says they're aware of the concern and taking steps to make that 'step up' easier.


Rhythm games are always going to have some learning curve. It is inevitable that you're going to have a period of adjustment while you learn new technique or adjust to a faster speed.

In an age where games have been dumbed down across the board, Harmonix games have historically done a good job of retaining some good challenging elements in their offerings. I'd hate to see the 'catering to noobs' philosophy take too much hold.

[kaiserkreb]

I tried playing easy when I first got GH and it bored the bejesus out of me so I went straight to Expert. My buddy was soooo pissed that I got good at it within 2 hours of practice and was better than he was. :D

[SoraRikuVGM]

I loved the gap between Medium and Hard. I started on Easy in GHII, and it made it feel better when I beat Woman or Freya.

[strail]

I agree with Apples. Theres too many games out now that you can beat without losing once. I would be very upset if Rock Band is any easier than Guitar Hero.

[Tendoza]

I think this will be interesting because drums and singing are a whole new game on their own, it will be fun to start up on medium or hard again!

[Brock_Landers]

They already did a great job of addressing difficulty concerns in the 360 version of Guitar Hero. Introductory hard level songs have minimal amounts of ho-pos, and few orange notes. The new songs were noticably skewed towards the easy end of the spectrum as well. To me this says they're aware of the concern and taking steps to make that 'step up' easier.


Rhythm games are always going to have some learning curve. It is inevitable that you're going to have a period of adjustment while you learn new technique or adjust to a faster speed.

In an age where games have been dumbed down across the board, Harmonix games have historically done a good job of retaining some good challenging elements in their offerings. I'd hate to see the 'catering to noobs' philosophy take too much hold.

I'm less concerned with dumbing down the Hard level, and ramping up the Medium level towards the end moreso. I mean, I wound up five-starring everything on medium, but then it still took me weeks to get through Woman on Hard without failing because there was no preperation for that kind of HOPO work prior. Which would be fine by itself.. but coupled with an increase in notes and a fifth fret was all a little cumbersome.

Don't take this as me whining about something being too hard. Plenty of people had similar problems, and if anything it's medium which needs amping up. With RockBand, if you give people chipping away at medium a nice under-the-blouse groping of hard there'll be less people throwing in the towel.

A game can (and should) be challenging, but it should also be a progressive thing. Not suddenly putting up a wall and saying, "figure it out, champ."

Y'know?

[DesktopMan]

Didn't notice, but then again I've never played normal. If you're somewhat rythm-gamically inclined easy and medium were a snore on most songs. The only really hard part on any songs on expert are the solos, I'd love to see songs with a more even difficulty throughout the song. (harder than GH II, fine by me.)

I also hope the songs progress a bit steeper, but smoothly.

[sa_nick]

I agree with Apples. Theres too many games out now that you can beat without losing once. I would be very upset if Rock Band is any easier than Guitar Hero.

It depends how you classify "beating" a game. Just finishing the main songs on expert? or even hard? or does jordan and all the other bonus songs count? and to finish the songs can you just barely scrape through or do you have to get at least 4 star? or 5 star? or 100% it?

[DesktopMan]

If a person that has passed everything on GH II can pass more than 80% of Rock Band on expert on the first try, I will be disappointed. It's supposed to be hard, and not just the solos. I do in no way get good scores, but for GH II I only failed a couple of the last songs in career mode. You have to have some songs that even for a good player seem impossible there and then. What else will we strive for...

Remember Max 300 on DDR? For a while no one was going to pass it. Today it's of medium difficulty and has been AAAed by a lot of people. I'd really like to see songs that just kill you in general, not by insane solos that aren't always that fun to play.

[Frostbitten_Norseman]

I tried playing easy when I first got GH and it bored the bejesus out of me so I went straight to Expert. My buddy was soooo pissed that I got good at it within 2 hours of practice and was better than he was. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/SpeedFighter/Stuff/1176914195032.jpg

[sa_nick]

HAHA, awesome! *points to post above*

[miketoast]

I mean, I wound up five-starring everything on medium, but then it still took me weeks to get through Woman on Hard without failing because there was no preperation for that kind of HOPO work prior. Which would be fine by itself.. but coupled with an increase in notes and a fifth fret was all a little cumbersome.



That's exactly where I'm stuck right now and it pisses the hell outta me!!!!!! :mad: :( :mad:

[Apples]

I'm less concerned with dumbing down the Hard level, and ramping up the Medium level towards the end moreso. I mean, I wound up five-starring everything on medium, but then it still took me weeks to get through Woman on Hard without failing because there was no preperation for that kind of HOPO work prior. Which would be fine by itself.. but coupled with an increase in notes and a fifth fret was all a little cumbersome.

Don't take this as me whining about something being too hard. Plenty of people had similar problems, and if anything it's medium which needs amping up. With RockBand, if you give people chipping away at medium a nice under-the-blouse groping of hard there'll be less people throwing in the towel.

A game can (and should) be challenging, but it should also be a progressive thing. Not suddenly putting up a wall and saying, "figure it out, champ."

Y'know?

Well said.

I was very much in the same boat... played medium for a month. Took a month to adjust to hard, probably another month to understand expert, and yet another month to *really* get expert.

It's obviously very tricky trying to balance "easy enough for noobs" with "asskicking for the expert crowd" and provide a perfectly gradual experience from easy to hard. I would just hate to see the "asskicking" element taken out or reduced too much.

Probably some of the best experiences I've had with these types of games was being in "over my head" difficulty-wise and trying to learn something new/challenging.

[bounchfx]

I blasted through GH2 day one. Failed two songs. failed Six ONCE (expert of course), then managed to beat it the second try, and jordan, which took some practice to beat.

I would like to see another song the same level of difficulty as jordan (however I want the difficulty throughout the song and not just in one bunched up solo middle part that people can figure out how to skip.)

so yeah.. I beat the game awfuly fast.. however 100%ing everything obviously will take a while.. I get 98-99% on everything.. my hands always miss at least 1 note theres something wrong with me. but I'm in no way interested in getting 100% on songs (or taking the time to do so), I dont see it as a challenge, just an annoyance (because of those damn hands), slow songs are harder for me than fast, complicated songs.

[Weebs43]

I got GH2 for 360 on for 4/19 (Gotta love achievement dates), and had started on easy. I now play on expert. I think the transition from medium to hard was really good. I actually started playing hard about 1/2 way through medium to get better actually ^.^ I hope Rock Band as well as GH3 are considerably harder than GH2. I don't want to be able to just pass every song right off the bat. I love how Rock Band is going to have drums, so that'll give me a whole new thing to master =D.

[Rayzor7]

Ive played wayyyy too much GH1 and GH2...

In GH1, I started on Easy, and completed the game 100%. In GH1, I appreciated how they worked with the learning curve. I never had any trouble until I hit Expert Solos.

In GH2, I cant give fair judgement, since Ive played All Expert, and beat the Medium Career for the points.

[daneish7]

I actually started GH 1 on Expert on a dare, got my ass kicked. However, the hours I spent just working and failing at expert was great prep when I said, "Screw this," and dropped down to Hard. Played through Hard with little difficulty, then went through Expert and only really had to work at Frankenstein, Cowboys from Hell, and Bark at the Moon.

I'm a firm believer in "get your ass kicked to get better." That's applicable to just about any sport, and all the work you put into failing a song pays huge dividends when you take a little step back.

Expert ought to be a huge step up from Hard. That's why it's not called "Harder" or "Very Hard." As far as Medium to Hard...heh, didn't make that jump, started past it. I'd think the biggest problem would be the individual's coordination for sliding the hand to the reach the 5th fret, but that's part of the game. Practice.