Video Games [ARCHIVED] Video Game • Page 340

*buys new game from the studio that's known for hard games*

*Whines about how hard said game is on the internet and acts like the studio owes them something*

I don't feel sorry for anyone crying on the internet about a game being hard. It's very first world problems

 

Well, yeah, it's definitely not worth writing about in this particular way lol

 

I also don't see how an easy mode could even work in Sekiro

 

One word: Celeste.

 

Had a glance at the article and I think the writer underestimates how popular these games are, and just how much the difficulty of these games is responsible for their popularity.

 

You die less

 

I mean that's skill dependent anyway... Someone could get through the game without dying.

 

Be that someone

 

Too late

 

I personally would have no problem with an easy mode in Sekiro. It's a single-player game, meaning there's no logistical problem with PVP and invasions and stuff, so if they were ever going to do it this would have been the game to do it on. Also I obviously have no problem with it in general because it doesn't personally affect me as a player. I wouldn't use it, and it would allow a lot more people to experience the greatness of From's lore and world-building and character designs and all the amazing things they do in those areas. Just make the easy mode disable trophies/achievements except for one that you'd get from beating the game on easy mode. Not harming anyone to include it.

My issue is with all these thinkpieces that come out every time From releases a game that demand they include an easy mode. Like, that article from Forbes can GTFOH with that "Needs To Respect Its Players" crap. From is the developer, they are the artists here, and nobody should be dictating anyone's art to them. If they have made the decision as a studio that they don't want to include easy modes in their games, that's their right and everyone just has to deal with it. They're making a conscious artistic decision to make their art for a specific audience, and that's ok. I can't stand when people write these paragraphs-long treatises on why From should stop making the games the way they want to make them and instead make them the way some anonymous writer On Line™ wants them to.

 

Posture doesn't build up as fast, enemy posture builds up faster, enemy attacks hit less hard, upgrades give bigger bumps to HP and attack power, etc. There's lots of things they could tweak to make the game less punishing in a hypothetical easy mode.

 

Every game would be better if it had the option for all the cheat codes that are in Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2

 

Yeah it's pretty cool that they have a lot of integrity as a game company and probably could sell more games by making multiple difficulty modes but they are just like 'nope, it's gonna be fucking hard, tighten up'

 

I’m not saying I disagree with you, but I also think it’s a little more complicated than that. The other main art-forms don’t generally have brick walls that prevent you from seeing the whole thing once you paid for it (or gained access to it). Like, there’s no way to get stuck while listening to an album so that you can’t hear the rest. Same for movies, paintings, books and so on. Also, games on the scale of this one are still art, yes, but also major consumer products, so I think there’s value in enabling paying customers, to get to see all or at least almost all of the product they paid for. 60$ is after all a lot of money for many people. Just putting that out there. Again, I don’t necessarily think you’re wrong either. As for the rest (for example how an easy mode isn’t even necessary for that to happen etc.), see my older posts.

 

I disagree with you but I have nothing to refute what you've said so I guess I lose, this sucks

 

Yeah I read everything you wrote. It's a good point. On the one hand, I get the argument that when someone buys a game from From, they should know what they're getting into in terms of maybe hitting a progression wall at some point, but on the other hand the Nintendo-esque system of giving you the option to get a little help when you're really stuck is another good solution.

I should make it clear that I don't have a problem with From putting these kinds of accessibility options into their games. My point is just that I just don't think any of it should be demanded of From. I don't think they're under any obligation to do it. The difficulty of their games is so well-known at this point that it's very much a "Buyer Beware" situation for me. But if they decided on their own to do it, then I'm not going to take issue with it.

For the record, I also can't stand the people who complain about losing "muh gatekeeping" and think the mere presence of easier difficulty settings or whatever harms/dilutes their own personal experience. Which is obviously ridiculous on its face.

 

comparing video games to other artistic mediums is moot imo. its inherently completely different and will always have to be taken on its own terms. in many ways its the combination of every other artistic medium there is, with a large emphasis on audience participation. so it should really just be taken on its own terms without worrying about what other mediums do or how they do it.

 

Imagine Hollow Knight with an easy mode? Gross.

 

Agreed.

 

I'm only comparing them in the context of major consumer products that come out of the art. Once you have reached that level (as opposed to an indie game - though Celeste is a good example), giving people full access to what they paid for isn't a bad thing, I think. That's all.

 

There are a ton of ways video games are fundamentally different from other art forms, but in terms of protecting the integrity and autonomy of developers as artists I don't see anything differently. Having a publisher that interferes with a developer's process, for example, is very similar to when a major studio interferes in a film's production. And leads to similar results as well.

 

But that IS what you paid for. You didn't pay to see the whole game, you paid for the experience the game gave you. Whether or not you beat the game is not a guarantee. I'm talking specifically for a From Software game, by the way. This is what they are known for, what their fans like and is the expectation they've created: you have to be good or be punished. Skipping ahead to see something that you didn't earn takes away what they've set out to create.

 

thats a good point but theres also a resale value to video games you dont see with other mediums (not anymore ayway). say you get 5 hours into a brand new game and cant beat it, sure you cant get your fully money back but you can go trade it in for something else. i think with video games being a very skills-based medium its not a bad thing for devs to push the players to be better in order to get the full experience. that's another thing that makes video games wholly unique and, imo, pretty special