Like in Elden Ring you can beat late game bosses with a low stat character if you are really good. So basically you rely on your own gaming skills rather than on big number defeats smaller number. Sure Elden Ring is a mix between mechanical and numbers difficulty, bosses are hard because of high HP (numbers difficulty) but their difficulty also comes from their attack patterns (mechanical difficulty) which you have to dodge at the right moment and attack when there is an opening, so it’s also relies on the mechanical skill level of the player.
While in turnbased RPGs like Final Fantasy 7 you rely purely on the character stats to defeat enemies. Sure there is tactics involved but it’s impossible to defeat a late stage boss with a low stat character in those type of games. Since it is purely a big number defeats small number type of game. So that’s numbers difficulty. Of course you can defeat bosses that a low stat character shouldn’t defeat if you load up with a ridiculous amount of items like potions. But that’s still numbers difficulty. There is no mechanical skill involved from the player.
There is no mechanical skill involved from the player.
Right. But there is some mechanical skill, so a good player can defeat a given boss at a lower level than an unskilled player. But that highlights another aspect here: difficulty based on numbers means grinding can cover for a skill gap, whereas numbers won’t help much w/ a mechanics-based difficulty.
Like in Elden Ring you can beat late game bosses with a low stat character if you are really good. So basically you rely on your own gaming skills rather than on big number defeats smaller number. Sure Elden Ring is a mix between mechanical and numbers difficulty, bosses are hard because of high HP (numbers difficulty) but their difficulty also comes from their attack patterns (mechanical difficulty) which you have to dodge at the right moment and attack when there is an opening, so it’s also relies on the mechanical skill level of the player.
While in turnbased RPGs like Final Fantasy 7 you rely purely on the character stats to defeat enemies. Sure there is tactics involved but it’s impossible to defeat a late stage boss with a low stat character in those type of games. Since it is purely a big number defeats small number type of game. So that’s numbers difficulty. Of course you can defeat bosses that a low stat character shouldn’t defeat if you load up with a ridiculous amount of items like potions. But that’s still numbers difficulty. There is no mechanical skill involved from the player.
(edit: spelling)
Right. But there is some mechanical skill, so a good player can defeat a given boss at a lower level than an unskilled player. But that highlights another aspect here: difficulty based on numbers means grinding can cover for a skill gap, whereas numbers won’t help much w/ a mechanics-based difficulty.