Nathan Drake on Explorer difficulty (Gaming)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, May 05, 2016, 18:55 (3128 days ago)

In preparing for Uncharted 4, I replayed all of the previous Uncharted games.

I chose explorer difficulty. This is the difficulty that is below even easy, and is essentially for those who just want to see the story (which I did). Even so, this does not stop you from falling to your death or being blown up by tanks.

Anyway, part of the tradeoff here is that trophies, bonuses, stat tracking, and collectables are all disabled. And wow that made a difference.

I didn't realize how much better playing these games were without having all that is. It's fantastic not having to even think about collectables in offbeat or hidden areas of the map. If I wanted to go somewhere, it was just for the joy of climbing or the view. I didn't have to take my mind off of the environments and story at hand. I was completely immersed, even though it was easy mode. No need to have "Did I miss something here"? or "Is anything down this alley?" go through the back of your head.

I've known for a while that collectables and trophies are bad for games, but I did not realize how much better the experience would be without them. Having played the game with and without, I found the experience far better without.

I only wish you could turn them off on higher difficulties.