Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Ted Litchfield

'No matter what we changed, somebody was going to get mad:' After hearing what an Obsidian dev went through to get RPG difficulty right, I get why nobody's ever gotten RPG difficulty right

Aza, a companion from The Outer Worlds 2 with short black and red hair, blue eyes, and strange gadgetry equipped.

In a talk at the Game Developers Conference, Obsidian senior systems designer Robert Donovan spoke about dialing in the difficulty of The Outer Worlds 2⁠—a great game you ought to play⁠⁠—but one I found to have a particularly noticable reverse difficulty curve.

Instead of the challenges ramping up as you get more familiar with the game, RPGs tend to start out hard and get easier. They're fantasies of growth and accumulation⁠—number go up⁠—which runs counter to a game getting harder as it goes on, and I don't think I've ever played one where the challenges keep up with how strong you get.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.