Post #4367183
2026-08-02 20:00 UTC
There's a "hardcore gamer online" stereotype according to which, if you play a game in easy mode, you're not a true gamer to them. I'm now starting to wonder if this started as a Touhou Project meme. In 2007, IOSYS's Flash videos went viral online. Overdrive had a meme with Reisen and Tewi saying: easy mode, how lame! It instantly became a must-post gaming meme on 4chan for years (the IOSYS meme itself was a SFW and Touhou-fied version of 2ch's "virgin insult" meme from an eromanga). So this somewhat niche mentality was boosted by a meme reaction picture with a catchphrase.
The Japanese text was actually "初月", a difficulty level specific to Imperishable Night with its moon theme (but assigned a pronunciation <ruby>初月 <rt>イージモード</rt></ruby> in the lyrics). The naturally became "easy mode" in English, and unintentionally made it exploitable in all gaming threads. #2hu #touhou
Replies (2)
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@Aeder@stereophonic.space 2026-08-03 02:25
@niconiconi@mk.absturztau.be I remember this meme seeing a lot of use during a certain time in the 2010's where suddenly every game was piss easy in nearly every difficulty below the hardest one. This tendency in game design hasn't fully disappeared, but at least it got dialed down a lot.
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@icedquinn@blob.cat 2026-08-02 20:04
@niconiconi@mk.absturztau.be there's people who really do get upset if you play in easy mode though. it's always been a shrug from me. i usually have always avoided hard mode because they tend not to be very fun. more often than not its just a blind number increase that forces the game down in to "derive the one correct build" more than anything.