Yoshi's Crafted World is, on the whole, a game on the 'easier' end of the difficulty scale. Not unlike recent Mario adventures, but perhaps to a more extreme extent, simply reaching the end goal of the game is relatively simple, with the main challenge for more experienced players coming from collecting every single flower.
In the latest issue of Nintendo Dream, assistant producer on the game, Nobuo Matsumiya, has discussed the reasoning behind its difficulty. He mentions "aiming for a difficulty that allows players to have fun", and talks about how the game's Mellow Mode helps all types of players enjoy the experience.
You can see his full comments below (translated by Nintendo Everything). Interestingly, he gives a small nod to players wanting a similar experience to that of Yoshi’s Island.
How difficult did you make the game?
Matsumiya: Because we want people to enjoy the Yoshi world we have created, we were aiming for a difficulty that allows players to have fun. Even though the game is designed around collecting flowers in order to advance to the next area, within each course it’s not only about the flowers but also the Poochy puppies on the reverse side, as well as finding all those crafting materials. That means players can play the levels over and over to collect everything.But finding everything is a challenge in itself.
Matsumiya: That’s right. That’s why we have also added the Mellow Mode (where Yoshi can use wings to fly around the stage and takes less damage) and the ability to change the difficulty. While there may be some players wanting the same play challenge as Yoshi’s Island, I think there may also be players who want to enjoy the world but find the gameplay bewildering. Because of that, we thought about how we could help out those using the more casual Yoshi. So, for example we have a notification sound play when those players are close to flowers as a hint until they find it, so that we aren’t taking away that excitement of discovery.
Of course, the difficulty of games has been a highly debated topic in recent times, mostly thanks to the release of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Having an optional easy mode in a game like Yoshi's Crafted World definitely makes sense to us, and the Switch is hardly spoilt for choice when it comes to hard-as-nails platformers, so we're all for it.
But what do you think? Should all games have adjustable difficulty settings? Do you find things like Yoshi's Mellow Mode useful? Let us know in the comments.
[source nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 62
I found this to be a little on the easy side, even when compared with past Yoshi games. But it makes up for it in sheer charm, for sure. It’s nice to have a change of pace like this in between sessions of more intense games.
I played the demo. It was too easy for my tastes. I’m not a huge fan of the difficulty just coming from collectibles or “finding” them
@thesilverbrick I prefer my Yoshi games to be difficulty wise on par with something like Yoshis island myself
It's very interesting to get "behind-the-scenes" info about the debates/ideas going on in the production of a game. I think Nintendo is striking the right balance between "too easy" and "too difficult." Obviously, they won't please everyone which is why we have the comments section here to moan and complain
I don’t want a Yoshi game that’s harder than this one. This and Yoshi’s Woolly World are both relaxing, positive, and cute experiences that I find perfectly satisfy my gaming needs when I’m in the mood to unwind after work or class. It’s to the point where I’m actively saving the game for times when I feel depressed or unhappy—the creative aesthetic, cute kazoo tunes, and gentle gameplay rhythms make me feel like the game equivalent of being cuddled. If the game were more difficult than it is, I wouldn’t want to finish it (just as I never was able to finish Yoshi’s Island or Yoshi’s Island DS) because it wouldn’t fit the aesthetic.
I'm not saying the game was hard...at all...but I kinda feel like it's not quite as easy as people make it out to be? I mean, I died probably 5-10 times. Sorta dumb stuff like falling where I shouldn't have or getting trapped and having an enemy run at me, but still. It wasn't like it was TOTALLY mindless or anything. You have to pay attention and have some ability, unlike say, Kirby's Epic Yarn.
I mean, look, I wouldn't put this very high on my list of platformers based on difficulty. But I thought for an easy game, they did a decent job of keeping it from being boring and stupid.
Also, going for the collectibles definitely adds a nice challenge if you're into that sort of thing.
I kinda liked the demo, but after the reviewers said that the game is too easy, I gave up on buying it.
I don't mind the challenge being in finding everything. The Spyro games were designed like that and I love those. I've been breezing through stages in Crafted World, but I definitely haven't been finding everything my first time through even when I have been poking around for secrets. At the very least, it hasn't been Star Allies levels of easy and that's the only thing I was really worried about.
I think people are forgetting that not every game needs to be a brutally difficult slog to be good. For people wanting a hard-as-nails platformer, there are thousands of other choices on the Switch as well as anywhere else. The popularity of games like Celeste and FromSoftware's titles will assure that hard games will be pumped out faster than we can ever conceivably get to all of them. As long as a game like this isn't completely mindless like Star Allies or honestly Epic Yarn, I don't see the problem.
Being extremely powerful and unchallenged automatically removes fun. Have we learned nothing from Saitama?
Would very much prefer Yoshi games to be a little more difficult but I can certainly understand this approach. I've been very much enjoying Crafted World despite the low difficulty.
Still hope for a Yoshi game more in line with the original Yoshi's Island's difficulty though. I mean, plenty of people played it as a kid. And while finding everything might be difficult, it's not like it's impossible even for a kid.
What they're promoting as added challenge in getting all of the flowers by chasing down the poochy pups and finding the crafting materials, I'm seeing as padding.
The flip side takes considerable effort to implement because you're designing a 2.5D level that works in both directions when viewed from both sides. The crafting materials less so, these are things that could be included as backdrops regardless of a scavenger hunt activity.
The frustrating part is that the scavenger hunt activities are doled out one by one, so instead of doing a single repeat run where you can clear multiple bonus objectives, you are doing multiple repeat runs clearing a single objective each time. That gets boring quickly because the levels are often trivial to navigate but can be fairly long paths.
I played the demo, and I will admit it did not impress me too much. I will say I by no means find the game to be bad - I'd gladly buy it if I was dry on the games I already had. But I have no desire to pick it up and play it for a serious time.
Considering that I'm terrible at collectathons this technically means that Yoshi is harder than Dark Souls for me. (Or Sekiro which is what I'm playing currently)
Looking forward to buying it after I recover from going to see Perfume in concert.
I got the game over the weekend. My biggest gripe is aiming with the control stick. Why no option for gyro aiming in handheld mode? It also eats up the battery like crazy and the music is a little grating. I have been enjoying the leisurely pace of the game and subtle nods to past Yoshi games, though. It’s pretty as well.
The last several areas were a perfect difficulty for me. Ride the River was the first level I was fully engaged with the level gimmick; if the whole game had been like that, man...
I borrowed this from a friend over the weekend as I was concerned over the difficulty and my initial concerns were right in that its probably a bit too easy. Even more so when you take into account that it has an easier mode (seriously who really needed that), so they could have made it a touch more challenging and I do feel this spoils the game somewhat and makes it less fun. That being said I've had fun with it and some of the flowers and coins are tricky to find but I don't really want to replay the levels as they are a bit too simple and I'm unlikely to buy it as a result which is a shame as the art style is fantastic and it could have been a great game
@thesilverbrick Have you played to the end of the levels yet? Not all the collecting just the levels. I haven't gotten to the first gem yet but really there's no platforming. I'm assuming it gets harder just wondering if you have played it all the way through does it become a Platformer?
I remember getting Yoshi Story b/c everyone kept going on about how easy it was but that game constantly kicked my butt. I think I finally finished it but it wasn't easy. I was actually expecting a game more like this one so far.
I'll keep playing it, I'm really enjoying it, but I played most of Wooly World on casual b/c I don't quite get fluttering, but so far I don't see the need in this one. No costumes either, just walking along.
It’s less about the difficulty for me. What’s most important is the music. Yoshi’s Island has the most AMAZING soundtrack. Decades later, I STILL hum the tunes...and I haven’t even played it in years!!!!!
It’s exactly why I love final fantasy games...the music creates the immersion for me.
Too me, it’s both not fun, and not difficult
A challenging game is always more fun but extra options never hurt. I can see how a easy mode for young kids can help and for players who can't play games easily on their own.
I think they should've had at least an unlockable hard mode. Nintendo seems to have forgotten what made the original Yoshi's Island so great in the first place.
I mean I understand what they mean, but saying that they made a game easier to allow players to have fun.
Is he saying hard games are not fun?
I certainly had a lot of fun playing Celeste and wouldn't have as much fun if it was a walk in the park.
I'm just fine with the difficulty of the game. It slowly ramps up, and the post game levels have no checkpoints.
This is a Yoshi game, folks. It's not DKC, it's not some rogue. It's an accessible franchise that's designed so anyone can play.
I soared through the demo
The difficulty and the speed of the game were a big turn off for me,I didn't get the game.They can make their easy games for everyone if they want,but I'm not buying all of them for sure,hopefully the next one is more challenging
Only Sith speak in absolutes, lol. Hate when people try to make a point by speaking in absolutes and extremes. No one said it needs to be bewilderingly hard. No one said it has to be SUPER EASY or SUPER HARD. Just feel like between Let's Go, Kirby, LABO and the other extreme Smash, there has not been a whole lot for the Zelda/Mario/Splatoon type audience in the last 1 and a quarter on Switch. Has it been since the Bayonetta port and DKCTF port? Captain Toad port?
I play the game with the girlfriend..and we had to switch to mellow mode midgame because it was too sressfull for her...so they might have a point for casual gamer
@RonB Yeah but imagine the reverse situation. Your girlfriend is an avid gamer, even better than you, and is getting bored with a game you like. Switching up to a harder mode would have proved that point too.
@Dang69
...that is a good point
Yoshi's Crafted World too easy? Complete it 100% on normal mode before we talk again.
I almost gave up on the final couple of flowers, but I managed it. I haven't experienced the same kind of excitement in any of Mario Odyssey's hardest challenges.
Yoshi is in the Mario difficulty-tier.
@Krambo42,
It's very easy, but I have to admit even I have died a few times already. But so far I see this as a relaxing game where the look of the game is the star. I am impressed by the way the levels are constructed, like for example straws simulating bamboo in the Ninja level. It looks very impressive.
Personally, I like playing on easier difficulty settings. When I had a busy day, I like to relax and play a game for fun in the evening. Sometimes, I just want to enjoy the story a game offers, and rather not get stuck.
I wouldn't rule out games that have a challenge. There's games I play that don't have difficulty settings.
LittleBigPlanet and Journey, one of the most boring and easiest games I've ever played. But they got crazy high ratings and apparently with these games an easy difficulty level was no problem. Why is it here?
Tried the demo and didn't like it. Art style was neat but i'd finish the game way too fast for a full price game. Far too simple and easy.
I get it, its meant for kids, but so are the Mario games and the end game levels can be insanely difficult.
I am a hoarder. Bring on the collectathons!
Nintendo has nice tiers for their platformer games. Kirby/Yoshi is about cute accessibility. Mario offers decent (but not insurmountable) challenge with very difficult post game. Donkey Kong will $%#! your world up. Gamers of all types will find a space that makes them happy.
It's a first party game so it sells for 80 bucks.....if the games too easy for the average joe, then who is the demographic here? Young kids don't need 80 dollar versions of yoshi. So who is this even for?
Fun is irrelevant when you can wrap the game in a couple sittings. The problem isn't the lack of a harder difficulty. It's that these games aren't being priced according to the content they deliver And more importantly for the age group they're targeting.
Don't want to include a mode that makes the game worth the asking price? Then don't be surprised when people pass on your overpriced game.
Never tell people how to play your game or how to have fun. You don't get to dictate that.
I actually saw someone on another site trying to compare this to the Sekiro shadows die twice easy mode drama. It's not even remotely the same thing.
Difficulty = more time spent = more satisfying and more value. Easier difficulties have the exact opposite effect. As is evidenced by people questioning the premium price for what amounts to a child's game.
It's an admittedly easy game especially for a hardcore gamer, but the unlockable post-game levels should help scratch that itch as I've died several times on the first unlockable stage alone.
I was going to get it, but I think I will just finish woolly world first.
I like the game, it truly looks like a crafted world that children could make. It so adorable!
I do sometimes wish it was a little harder, but I do die often.... I'm bad at saving my eggs haha. And aiming.
Games being more accessible to a wider audience can only be a good thing, like funky mode in Tropical Freeze.
Some of my favourite moments come from games like Journey and Fire Watch, neither can be considered difficult and you don't need to do much to progress but it was about the experience that made them memorable for me.
I am totally on board with easy modes, I don't always use it but in certain games I really like to use it especially where I don't have enough time to become "excellent" at game play. Adulting sure takes a lot of my time away LOL.
who cares about the game being easy its suppose to be a relaxing game about collecting stuff. not everything has to be darn dark souls level.
Me and my son had a blast playing through this we are now going back to find stuff we missed.
Nintendo is one of the few companies left that makes games I can sit on the couch with my kids and play and just have fun.
I've always felt that Nintendo has done a good job of injecting a "hard-as-you-want-it-to-be" design into their games. Take Super Mario Odyssey for instance: Some of the moons are almost insultingly easy to obtain, while others are extremely challenging, with a spectrum of difficulty between them.
Yoshi games have also traditionally done this. The original Yoshi's Island (still the series pinnacle) had a moderate difficulty on its face, but offered the added challenge of collecting stars, red coins, and flowers throughout the levels and rewarded you with extra levels that were legitimately difficult (e.g. the infamous "Poochy Ain't Stupid" level). Woolly World aped this pretty closely. Yoshi's Story, the series low point on console, had the added challenge of collecting hearts to unlock levels as well as the more pointless 30-Melon Challenge.
Crafted World to me does a good job of this as well. If you play it straight up as an "A-to-B" platformer, it's very easy. However, if you treat it as more of a 2D collect-a-thon, its challenge level increases.
Personally, I love the way Nintendo games let the player curate the game's difficulty like that. It's much more interesting than just giving them them option of playing on Easy, Normal, or Hard, and I wish more developers would adopt that philosophy and expand on it.
The real challenge here is finding all the red coins and flowers and not the platforming. I just happily spent an entire lunch hour going back and forth through a single level finding everything - and it was tremendous fun too.
Nop... You can do both. Basically made the game a super easy "fetch quest, easter hunt" involving flowers.
I thought this would be a good counter balance to Sekiro. But ended up using NinoKuni2 DLC instead.
@jly1987 It may be worth noting that the demo was the first level of the game, and it does get more difficult from there. It's not hard by any stretch, but it's kind of like if there had been a Yoshi's Island demo that was just "Make Eggs, Throw Eggs."
being difficult does not mean it is not fun...We all love Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze and it is not an easy game
@Flowerlark Same. I now only have two hours of free time most days and I'm exhausted during the week, so chill games are perfect. I'm more likely to rage quit really difficult games for the sheer fact that I could be doing something more relaxing (or productive lol) with my time.
It's not fun when the game is too easy, to play it from the beginning to the end. Most previous titles in this series put in challenge players of all ages. And this one was designed with only toddlers in mind, skipping more adult gamers. It misses the second part of Nintendo's 'Easy to pick up, hard to master' platformers formula, which makes this game relaxing and boring for anyone older than 3.
The game is disgustingly cute.
I think mellow mode is a good idea but only if the normal game is harder. In both you can flutter forever. I dislike that you make eggs automatically but other then that it's a really enjoyable game!
Classic Mario difficulty, without those assists from dying too much, being penalized on your file (no sparkles on the stars,) and too many collectibles. Thats my style. However, I’m old school. It was such a big deal to me when I was 4, playing the original SMB, and finally reaching World 5. Then bravely trying to make it to the end of SMB3 while it was new. I died a lot, but I didn’t let up. The more I played, the better these games got. No ranking system... newer Yoshi and Kirby games just don’t hold my attention. I’m ready for some of these kids to feel the sheer power of Lost Levels this week.
There is no logical reason to not have optional easier and harder modes in games.
The arguments of "Developers want it to be hard" or "an easy mode spoils the intent of the game" are just subjective complaints.
That you personally want to die over and over and have to bend over backward to push through some crazy challenge doesn't mean everyone else enjoys that.
I honestly feel that games like Fire Emblem and Halo get it right. They have distinct difficulty modes to pick from and don't insult the player for picking the easier route.
I do think having achievements or rewards for completing high difficulties however is good. Like games with multi-player showing an icon next to your name indicating on what level you beat the game or unlocking some bonus skin for your character or something to give you bragging rights.
Some people play games for the extreme challenge, some people play games to relax, some people play games to escape reality, some people play games as an obsession. Some people want to get all the collectibles, some people just want to play through the story... But the one thing we have in common is, we are playing these games to have fun! So lets just let each other have fun!
Depends on the player, for me, being too easy makes it less fun, whereas it is a more enjoyable experience when it's challenging or technically difficult in a fair way
If they want to go with the relaxed vibe that's up to them, but I wouldn't say that's more emphasis on fun vs difficulty
@SuperGhirahim64 Yep, totally agree.
@rjejr I’m in the last world before the final gem at the moment, and to this point, there have only been about two or three levels with any kind of even vague challenge (the river one with the giant fish comes to mind, but even that one isn’t so bad). There isn’t any hard-core platforming like there is in past Yoshi games. It’s definitely more of a mellow game, even at its hardest. I’m enjoying it for the sheer charm and aesthetics, but anybody looking for a challenge really should look else where.
@thesilverbrick Thanks. That's about what I expected.
Since everyone is talking about hard and easy modes these days I will say sometimes it's good just knowing the easy mode is there in case I do get stuck then I can just play in easy. Sometimes that thought alone gives me the ok for one more try before I rage quite. So rather than curing at a bunch of videogame fish b/c they are keeping me form progressing if I know I can always just switch to easy mode and flutter over them it gives me the incentive to keep trying a couple of more times before switching to easy mode. Now I just need my kids to hurry up adn get ahead of me so I can keep playing. It was my son's birthday present so I'm nto going past him, but he and his brother have to 100% each level, and that can take awhile. I watched them get that last crystal right at the end of the minecart level. Spending 20 minutes searching for 1 crystal is no longer my idea of fun.
Is there anything as new and cool as the velcro? My favorite part of Wooly World. It was slow and boring but it was inventive. After 20+ years of gaming it's rare to see something that different.
Its not really that hard unless no offense you suck well the hidden world are hard and a pain and kinda stupid you need all flowers ugh...
@thesilverbrick So, last night, 2 months later, I finally got up to that fish level you warned me about. Worst level in the game. I was cursing up a storm like I haven't done since Spaltoon, which was then banned from the house by my wife.
I think I only made it trough b/c my son said - "Just hit them with the eggs." - which kind of felt like cheating, but I did, b/c I could, and didn't need to resort to Zen mode.
I think worse than the fish though was the water. The pads you rode on seemed like sometime you'd just fall off the edge. But sometimes you could jump out of the water, sometimes you died instantly, I couldn't figure out which it was, insta-death or a chance to recover. So I didn't go back to find the dogs on that one.
It was make worse by the placement, moon world were my favorite levels in the game. Then that river. After that the robot alarm level was annoying, didn't get the dogs in that one either yet, but it was mildly annoying, not cursing and screaming annoying.
Anyway thanks again for the heads up, helped that I knew to expect it. And as I said earlier, just knowing I had Zen mode to fly over if I wanted to helped. Otherwise I may have just said "forget it" and never gone back to the game. Not like I don't have plenty of others to play. Once I finish the final boss I'm done, probably wont' play the extra levels, those are usually challenging, not my thing.
I'll be trying to rebuild Peaches castle at that point. I heard they let ya skip the hard parts in SMM2.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/luigi_assist_mode_makes_super_mario_maker_2_more_accessible
@rjejr If you think that fish level was tough, there are three levels accessible after the final boss if you collect enough flowers and they are so difficult I yelled out loud at them repeatedly. Getting through them is tough enough, but trying to collect everything while avoiding almost certain death is brutal. There are no checkpoints and falling results in instant death. I don’t mind tough levels, but these ones seem so unnecessarily and punishingly difficult, especially after the rest of the game is such a cakewalk. It’s a bizzarre dichotomy.
@thesilverbrick Thanks. I was already going to skip them, but that helps with the decision making. Which means I have 2 or 3 more worlds to go to finally finish a game I started in April that only needed about 6-8 hours. If I ever do start Witcher 3 it's going to take me 20 years.
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