Both are perfectly acceptable philosophies, but many Souls players need to learn that losing at a game for 150 hours is not what other people find fun.
The difficulty slider is intrinsic to the system and the world. The whole point is that you have to make it easier by engaging with it on its own terms, rather than by forcing a change upon the world to make it suit you. This is never made explicit; the creator just wants you to either dig deep or bounce off it because struggle is the whole point or something, which is why we have to talk about it forever. Blah
Most of us get that, but non souls player must also understand that dark souls on easy mode is just a bad game. There are no big cinematics, the story is scarce, there are only a few npcs. Those are games that puts you on your toes, you must be wary at all times, and learn to master the game bit by bit. It’s not for everyone, or everytime (I think everyone can play souls game but they need to be in the right mindset) but they are my favorite games. But yeah gatekeepers suck
If non-serious people are the reason a game series I love gets worse, then they have affected me. It happened to Monster Hunter, and I don’t want it to happen to FromSoft games too.
Because it doesn’t just end with an easy mode. It ends with Monster Hunter Rise and Wilds, and an entire series losing everything that made it unique all so it can keep chasing the lowest common denominator, who always start their erosion of a once-great series with “it’s too hard. :( Why are the devs so mean to the twelve people born without thumbs?!? Also you should totally remove all of the hunting aspects from the game because it’s super unfair to make me use my brain for more than half a second.”
So I’d rather keep the dwindling number of games I enjoy as they are, and y’all can go play something else, thank you very much.
Idk if soul players need to learn anything. Not your style of game thats fine, but all fights in souls games are fair in the sense that anyone can eventually beat it with practice, or overleveling, or innate skill (those who have, ahem, gotten good), and any combination of the three.
Have known a lot of people who played dark souls at a time in their life where they needed the lesson of getting up after getting knocked down.
I have that shit in real life.
(Being taken down and having to get back up)
I work. I have to take care of the house/family.
I had a leukemia…and I DID fucking rise up again from the dead…literally.
With 3 prosthesis after, but hey, its just means im in a different game now (cyberpunk)
But we are talking about fucking games.
I am not a teenager with the time. Or patience.
Those are both used on real life…you know…the bigger game. The real game.
I’m Not saying you can’t have the difficulty in your…playthings.
I am saying that there are people who want to play the games you like, they are great fucking games, but we just don’t have the time and energy to waste a few hours in the same fucking level/battle.
And that’s the conversation:
Having the possibility to change difficulty.
That exists. It’s not impossible.
You do you. No one is robing you of your experience.
I’ve never picked up a Souls game myself, because that kind of challenge isn’t what I play video games for. But I’ve also never felt like I was being cheated out of an experience, there are plenty of other games out there for me.
I think if a developer doesn’t want to add an easy mode because they feel like that would be an inferior version of their game, it’s their prerogative not to do it. When an author writes an intellectually challenging book, nobody serious complains that the author refused to include cliff notes or explanations. Why don’t we treat video game designers the same?
Play something else. (I don’t play games at all anymore but the last thing people want is a square coming into the circles room to complain there’s too many rounded edges.)
Why does everyone think every game has to be made for the lowest common denominator? If you don’t like a game, don’t play it. Besides, souls games can actually be quite forgiving, the difficulty adjustments just isnt in sliders. Especially in elden ring, you can beat every fight in a pretty brainless (i mean like not needing to dodge almost at all) way if you take the time to set up for it.
You often can’t do that until you’ve made a little bit of progress. The real difficulty curve early on is knowing that picking the heavy armour class will make things much harder for yourself, that the real progression is knowledge of enemy attacks and opening shortcuts, and that losing your currency when you don’t have enough points to reach the next level isn’t really a big deal.
Gamers are so entitled they will argue with other gamers on matters of taste. “That game is not to my specifications! Instead of finding one that is I’ll complain until the game is changed! People that like it the old way need to know i have a job!”
Why? Do Souls players not accept others not liking the games? Thats not my experience but maybe many are like that?
Also, usually Souls players dont lose for 150 hours straight. Most of the time its winning, but sometimes youre set back a bit and sometimes youre stuck. Some people like earning their wins. Some dont deal well with the difficulty and get frustrated, I get thats not fun for them. To each their own.
Yeah, the position of most FromSoft players in my experience is: “You don’t have to like the games, but you can’t just demand that they change for you.”
Some people need to understand that not all games are for all people. I don’t like RTS games, and so I don’t play them! What I don’t do is demand that they all add a turn-based option that would destroy game balance just because that’s what I prefer to play.
Like, what an insanely entitled thing to demand. And for some reason it’s only Soulslikes that have to deal with this craziness. There are thousands of other games out there for you to play, people.
Both are perfectly acceptable philosophies, but many Souls players need to learn that losing at a game for 150 hours is not what other people find fun.
The difficulty slider is intrinsic to the system and the world. The whole point is that you have to make it easier by engaging with it on its own terms, rather than by forcing a change upon the world to make it suit you. This is never made explicit; the creator just wants you to either dig deep or bounce off it because struggle is the whole point or something, which is why we have to talk about it forever. Blah
deleted by creator
You can just play a different game. It’s a toy. This shit doesn’t matter.
Diagetic difficulty is specifically not forcing play the way the creator wants. Its using lack of balance and making it part of the experience.
Then why did they nerf my boy the Mimic Tear.
Most of us get that, but non souls player must also understand that dark souls on easy mode is just a bad game. There are no big cinematics, the story is scarce, there are only a few npcs. Those are games that puts you on your toes, you must be wary at all times, and learn to master the game bit by bit. It’s not for everyone, or everytime (I think everyone can play souls game but they need to be in the right mindset) but they are my favorite games. But yeah gatekeepers suck
You’re making the game on easy sound pretty good to me.
Gatekeepers make things good by keeping those who aren’t serious out.
mumble about keeping non-serious people out
(You can just ignore non-serious people as they don’t affect you btw)
If non-serious people are the reason a game series I love gets worse, then they have affected me. It happened to Monster Hunter, and I don’t want it to happen to FromSoft games too.
Why would have an option for easy mode make it worse for you?
Because it doesn’t just end with an easy mode. It ends with Monster Hunter Rise and Wilds, and an entire series losing everything that made it unique all so it can keep chasing the lowest common denominator, who always start their erosion of a once-great series with “it’s too hard. :( Why are the devs so mean to the twelve people born without thumbs?!? Also you should totally remove all of the hunting aspects from the game because it’s super unfair to make me use my brain for more than half a second.”
So I’d rather keep the dwindling number of games I enjoy as they are, and y’all can go play something else, thank you very much.
Top 10 things that never happened*
*in my experience at least, if this alresdy happened make some examples please
I just gave you an example. This is literally what happened with Monster Hunter Rise and Wilds (except the “thumbs” part, obviously).
Idk if soul players need to learn anything. Not your style of game thats fine, but all fights in souls games are fair in the sense that anyone can eventually beat it with practice, or overleveling, or innate skill (those who have, ahem, gotten good), and any combination of the three.
Have known a lot of people who played dark souls at a time in their life where they needed the lesson of getting up after getting knocked down.
I have that shit in real life. (Being taken down and having to get back up)
I work. I have to take care of the house/family. I had a leukemia…and I DID fucking rise up again from the dead…literally. With 3 prosthesis after, but hey, its just means im in a different game now (cyberpunk)
But we are talking about fucking games.
I am not a teenager with the time. Or patience. Those are both used on real life…you know…the bigger game. The real game.
I’m Not saying you can’t have the difficulty in your…playthings.
I am saying that there are people who want to play the games you like, they are great fucking games, but we just don’t have the time and energy to waste a few hours in the same fucking level/battle.
And that’s the conversation: Having the possibility to change difficulty. That exists. It’s not impossible.
You do you. No one is robing you of your experience.
Its just a shame…the gatekeeping.
Edit: I’m loving the responses missing the point.
I’ve never picked up a Souls game myself, because that kind of challenge isn’t what I play video games for. But I’ve also never felt like I was being cheated out of an experience, there are plenty of other games out there for me.
I think if a developer doesn’t want to add an easy mode because they feel like that would be an inferior version of their game, it’s their prerogative not to do it. When an author writes an intellectually challenging book, nobody serious complains that the author refused to include cliff notes or explanations. Why don’t we treat video game designers the same?
Hey sorry you had cancer; glad you survived.
I mean that, but you are bringing some weird antagonist monologue energy to this thread.
Difficult sliders are simply bad for certain games, soulsborne games are one of them.
You are also robbing your own experience BTW. Give yourself a fair shot at beating these games without taking the easy route.
And lots of people want to go to hawaii but it’s a long flight and people with jobs might not have the time to go. Welcome to real life!
Play something else. (I don’t play games at all anymore but the last thing people want is a square coming into the circles room to complain there’s too many rounded edges.)
Why does everyone think every game has to be made for the lowest common denominator? If you don’t like a game, don’t play it. Besides, souls games can actually be quite forgiving, the difficulty adjustments just isnt in sliders. Especially in elden ring, you can beat every fight in a pretty brainless (i mean like not needing to dodge almost at all) way if you take the time to set up for it.
I tried Dark Souls and I tried Demon Souls.
It’s not my thing, but I’m glad they are a lot of other people’s cup of tea
The difficulty slider in Souls games is how many levels you’ve invested into health
You often can’t do that until you’ve made a little bit of progress. The real difficulty curve early on is knowing that picking the heavy armour class will make things much harder for yourself, that the real progression is knowledge of enemy attacks and opening shortcuts, and that losing your currency when you don’t have enough points to reach the next level isn’t really a big deal.
And the janky camera controls. Those, sadly, can’t be mitigated much.
That and some very strange ideas about where the jump button should be.
Gamers are so entitled they will argue with other gamers on matters of taste. “That game is not to my specifications! Instead of finding one that is I’ll complain until the game is changed! People that like it the old way need to know i have a job!”
Why? Do Souls players not accept others not liking the games? Thats not my experience but maybe many are like that?
Also, usually Souls players dont lose for 150 hours straight. Most of the time its winning, but sometimes youre set back a bit and sometimes youre stuck. Some people like earning their wins. Some dont deal well with the difficulty and get frustrated, I get thats not fun for them. To each their own.
Yeah, the position of most FromSoft players in my experience is: “You don’t have to like the games, but you can’t just demand that they change for you.”
Some people need to understand that not all games are for all people. I don’t like RTS games, and so I don’t play them! What I don’t do is demand that they all add a turn-based option that would destroy game balance just because that’s what I prefer to play.
Like, what an insanely entitled thing to demand. And for some reason it’s only Soulslikes that have to deal with this craziness. There are thousands of other games out there for you to play, people.