- Primary Subject: RPG Difficulty Design (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)
- Key Update: The article argues that modern RPGs are undermining the genre's core "growth" loop by allowing players to bypass intended challenges via mid-game difficulty sliders.
- Status: Confirmed (Analysis based on current 2026 genre standards).
- Last Verified: January 27, 2026
- Quick Answer: Dynamic difficulty settings in RPGs often trivialize developer-intended challenges, preventing players from mastering complex mechanics and experiencing the true satisfaction of overcoming significant gameplay hurdles.
If someone wants to play something with a great story, an interesting world, and a lot of fun yet intuitive battles, that person will likely want to try role-playing games. It is a genre that can provide all that and more, and through the years, it has evolved to the point that nearly anyone can enjoy it.
With the intent of making role-playing games more accessible so that more people play them, developers have made some noticeable changes to their formula to ensure that it happens. One that stands out is that a number of them let players change the difficulty whenever they please; good examples include the ever-popular The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the more recent successful Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
It certainly makes such games more lenient towards those without experience in the genre, while also allowing them to fall in love with, or at least appreciate, what they're playing. However, I believe that role-playing games should never allow anyone to adjust the difficulty settings and should have a defined level of challenge from beginning to the end.
One good reason the option shouldn't be allowed is that it removes any meaningful challenge that the developers intended to give to their players. The point of a role-playing game is for people to train and eventually encounter powerful enemies, who will then provide meaningful fights that act as a test of the current level of skill. Such foes can be tough, but overcoming them can grant a level of satisfaction that no other genre can provide.
However, by incorporating the ability to choose the level of difficulty at any time, things easily change. When players find an encounter they believe may be too difficult for them, rather than figuring out the right strategies needed to earn the victory, they'll likely just slide into the menu, select a mode that makes the fight easier, then clear out whatever it is that's giving them trouble.
Instead of being roadblocks meant to provide an engaging, tough, and fun experience, enemies are instead minor inconveniences that can be circumvented with the press of a button. Imagine if you could do something like that with any of the bosses in Dark Souls games, an RPG series whose main selling point is its brutal yet oddly rewarding difficulty. It would be entertaining, yes, but it trivializes the challenge offered and makes the playthrough experience much less enjoyable and satisfying.
Another reason why role-playing games should never allow players to choose the difficulty whenever they please is that it prevents them from growing. Again, if you choose to play any RPG, you should expect them to throw challenges that are hard to overcome, and it's standard for the genre to have many of them.
While they can be difficult and even stress-inducing at times, they're there to help you become even stronger and smarter as a player. If it seems too difficult to beat, perhaps it's because you didn't utilize certain attacks, abilities, or items to make parts easier, or maybe the enemy had openings you didn't realize and take advantage of.
When you understand those things and overcome the enemy that has been consistently taking you down, you become more competent and skilled than you were before. Such a thing can lead to some of the most exhilarating and rewarding moments in players' lives, and perhaps even allow them to take on and beat the challenges of other games that they may have had difficulty with before their newfound growth.
However, you can say goodbye to that if there is any way to change the difficulty. If the enemy is too hard, why would a player even think about tweaking strategy and tactics when all they have to do is head to the settings tab? What the difficulty select option does is stunt personal growth as a gamer, making many believe there's always an easy solution when faced with any challenge.
That is already a huge problem in itself, because when they play another role-playing game without the ability to switch difficulties on the fly, and then encounter an enemy that's heavily preventing them from progressing, chances are they're going to give up on it immediately. This means they could potentially be missing out on masterpieces that would have let them appreciate and enjoy the genre more, and all because they couldn't find a way to remove the challenge that should have added to the experience.
So to sum everything up, video games of different genres are meant to provide entertainment in their own way, and RPGs do that by allowing players to grow, see themselves become more powerful, and gain confidence by taking out equally strong or far stronger opposition. The ability to choose or switch the difficulty removes that, and it is why I strongly believe they have no place in any role-playing game, especially in future installments.
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