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Before selecting a battle, you can select "Simple" or "Regular" difficulty. However, upon selecting both, I didn't really notice much of a difference. Simple was still quite challenging with the same attack patterns as regular.

Is it something a bit more subtle? Like the boss has less HP or something? Does it vary between bosses? (I really only tried it on the frogs in the first world)

Rapitor
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  • I heard simple removes a few bosses phases but prevents you from earning that boss' contract, meaning you can't use Simple difficulty to progress through the game. I don't have the game though, so I can't confirm. – Pyritie Oct 02 '17 at 13:44

2 Answers2

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Simple mode removes a lot of attacks from bosses and sometimes even omits entire stages of a fight. However, you will not be able to play or progress to the final part of the game because on Simple you do not collect the souls from bosses. You need every boss soul to progress.

5pike
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    so it's basically a "practice mode" to get you used to the basic patterns to help prepare you for the real, full fight... that's really neat design – Rapitor Oct 02 '17 at 20:40
  • This isn't that new of a concept (Contra 3 did something very similar), but IMO, it's player hostile, because it doesn't tell you that you can't progress in later parts. Lucky that you can ask or look it up on the internet. – 5pike Oct 03 '17 at 06:31
  • Additionally, it doesn't even shows all the stages to player. E.g. garden boss on casual completely skips Onion, so player is still unprepared for new stages. – lentinant Oct 03 '17 at 09:27
  • Articles from major websites as sources: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/10/02/cuphead-review/ | https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/cuphead-review-smooth-as-silk-tough-as-nails/ – user598527 Oct 03 '17 at 16:01
  • According to Rock, Paper, Shotgun boss health is reduced on "simple". – user598527 Oct 03 '17 at 16:02
  • @5pike The game tells you (possibly through a character) something like "remember, you don't get a soul on Simple so you'll have to win on Regular to progress" – Mark S. Oct 08 '17 at 02:21
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From what I can tell, it only changes the boss's attack patterns and attacks in general. Some of the harder sections from certain fights are removed as well on Simple mode, but I would just play on regular anyway. You're getting the full effect of the game that way, and ends up being far more satisfying once you finally beat the boss.

Shinji Wins
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