Currently - not hard at all. Enemies barely deal any damage and there's no death penalty, it's basically a walk & talk simulator. In the last blog post devs mentioned adding a hard mode soon, but it's not out yet.

why on earth did they decide to go for that, i wonder?

Combat is not the main focus of the game. In fact, the game kinda nudges you towards a pacifistic playthrough - there's a very basic stealth mechanic, optional pathways free of enemies, reputation system, and so on. You don't even get rewarded with anything of importance for killing enemies, no experience or unique items, only most common consumables.

The problem is, in the current build there's no story/gameplay rewards for doing a pacifist playthrough either, nor any kind of punishment for deleting everything on your path. And the latter is a lot faster. Maybe devs will implement something later.

doesnt help that a huge amount of loot (rings and armor)scattered on the world map is used for combat.

Originally posted by KimjonIl:

Are there any ways to make it more difficult and challenging?

Focus all your levels on charisma, don't upgrade your broken sword and don't equip any armour. The game will be a boring slog but certainly more of a challenge.

Originally posted by Mobile Suit ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥:

Originally posted by KimjonIl:

Are there any ways to make it more difficult and challenging?

Focus all your levels on charisma, don't upgrade your broken sword and don't equip any armour. The game will be a boring slog but certainly more of a challenge.

Shame. This is why modern gaming is a mess. Poor design is overlooked in favor of unique visuals.

It isn't "poor design", it is just a design that you don't personally like.

Originally posted by .vad//hakara:

It isn't "poor design", it is just a design that you don't personally like.

Poor is defined as: worse than is usual, expected, or desirable; of a low or inferior standard or quality.

The entire point of this post is discussing the games difficulty which as you saw players are forcing themselves to limit upgrading gear to artificially enhance the games difficulty otherwise the game isn't fun for them. Id call that poor game design any day.

You've mistaken contrarianism for actually possessing the ability to form a coherent debate, which is, and this may come as surprise to you, the actual point of message boards like this.

Originally posted by KimjonIl:

Originally posted by Mobile Suit ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥:

Focus all your levels on charisma, don't upgrade your broken sword and don't equip any armour. The game will be a boring slog but certainly more of a challenge.

Shame. This is why modern gaming is a mess. Poor design is overlooked in favor of unique visuals.

I agree, when I actually got to play the game I got disappointed by how shallow it is. They have an interesting setting, but different play styles and choices offers very little in terms of shaping the story and the game is incredibly easy so far.

I'll keep playing though, but it's simplistic nature was a letdown after all the comparisons with Morrowind that I've heard.

Originally posted by Kain:

Originally posted by KimjonIl:

Shame. This is why modern gaming is a mess. Poor design is overlooked in favor of unique visuals.

I agree, when I actually got to play the game I got disappointed by how shallow it is. They have an interesting setting, but different play styles and choices offers very little in terms of shaping the story and the game is incredibly easy so far.

I'll keep playing though, but it's simplistic nature was a letdown after all the comparisons with Morrowind that I've heard.

Just such a waste of potential.

Originally posted by KimjonIl:

why on earth did they decide to go for that, i wonder?

In fairness, combat was not difficult in Morrowind, the game this is aping more than anything else - it was just a chore until you had the right gear/build. I do think this game could be tuned up slightly, but as somebody who played half the game trying to avoid being hit before realizing it didnt matter, Im not all that upset about the way the game turned out.

Originally posted by CastIronBoomstick:

Originally posted by KimjonIl:

why on earth did they decide to go for that, i wonder?

In fairness, combat was not difficult in Morrowind, the game this is aping more than anything else - it was just a chore until you had the right gear/build. I do think this game could be tuned up slightly, but as somebody who played half the game trying to avoid being hit before realizing it didnt matter, Im not all that upset about the way the game turned out.

But you still had to work to become godlike, before that you had to pick your fights, in this game it's irrelevant, nothing is a problem.

Apparently a 'hard mode' will be coming out this month.

Posted june 21st:
"While the team continues bug fixing, they are also at work on a new CONTENT UPDATE that will be coming out next month. The two major parts of that update will be further improvements to the general combat, as well as a HARD MODE for players seeking more of a challenge."

I'm looking forward to it.

Originally posted by Kain:

Originally posted by KimjonIl:

Shame. This is why modern gaming is a mess. Poor design is overlooked in favor of unique visuals.

I agree, when I actually got to play the game I got disappointed by how shallow it is. They have an interesting setting, but different play styles and choices offers very little in terms of shaping the story and the game is incredibly easy so far.

I'll keep playing though, but it's simplistic nature was a letdown after all the comparisons with Morrowind that I've heard.

There is nothing Morrowind about this game, and the only two things that they even remotely have in common are first person visuals and the starting area has.....mushroom trees. Beyond the unique visuals and world building, its really more King's Field made for babies.

i dont think it even has anything in common with kings field either lol. Even the combat is somehow better in Kings field