Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@BruceCM almost missed your comment. I think that adjusting difficulty is definitely more than just adjusting behind the scenes numbers. To make something user-friendly you'd have to at first identify what it is that makes it so difficult. Which is kind of funny regarding Dark Souls, because it's difficulty has long since achieved meme status, but people usually don't give specific reasons why it's hard.

I see the discussion has sort of kept going, I was out with my family enjoying dinner so I missed all of it, before I catch up, just referencing the people who quoted me directly @Losermagnet I appreciate the apology. We can agree to disagree. @VoidofLight comparing changing the entire genre of a game to adding an additional easy mode is just silly. If you don’t see that, then I have nothin else to say.

Praise be, a lone voice of reason here! Thank you for letting me know I hadn’t accidentally slipped into a dark universe. Your Celeste example was very similar to my examples like Control and STOD2. They present only one version of the game, but you can tailor that experience, to adjust it specifically to your needs. If people want to split hairs on what an easy mode is and all the rest, then whatever. But having just one difficulty option and then some accessibility tailoring options are generally even better than conventional difficulty choices, in my experience.

Well, it's a tricky thing to explain to someone who hasn't played them, @Losermagnet .... I've only done Dark Souls Remastered of that series myself & I will probably get Demon's Souls when that comes to Steam
But the sort of difficulty that game had isn't so easily adjusted as in some RPGs. Maybe the upcoming Elden Ring can do something like that, with the benefits of experience making the previous games & with more tools available?

@BruceCM Evidently Elden Ring will have a map, so it's already making big progress towards accessibility (i'm joking here). I wouldn't mind if it was a bit easier actually. It would be nice for FromSoft to design a game where difficulty isn't such a major element. Focus on exploration instead or something.

I have never liked Grand Theft Auto. In terms of the narrative it feels like it was written by a thirteen year old trying to be edgy. The mechanics are often unwieldy, surface level and poorly developed, the maps little more than pastiche of real world environments with little depth or interest to them and the missions that drive the plot forward tend to be repetitive, loose and unfocused.

But hey, if you like them, more power to you. With the news I just had sudden flashbacks to my teens when the PS2 games and 4 were all the rage.

@Pizzamorg It's pretty much the same. It's asking the creators of the game to change their vision in order to fit your personal needs, when the game was never really meant for you in the first place.

It doesn’t change their vision to add an easy mode/accessibility tailoring, as they don’t replace the original, intended, difficulty. They just offer an alternative for a wider audience.

@Pizzamorg But what if they don't care? you saying they have to?

I will say, I feel like the idea of a game developer being strongly attached to their one exact vision is sometimes really overstated. I feel like most devs will go against their initials ideals of what the game should be in one way or the other, because those elements don't necessarily matter THAT much to them. Not enough as doing what they think will help the game succeed anyway.

You'd be hard pressed to find games so easily that stuck exactly to their original vision from start to finish. Ocarina of Time's original vision had more dungeons, not having them had no effect on the game for basically anyone. Mass Effect 3 was praised for updating its ending, despite the original ending being what the writer wanted for it. I've followed a game that came out more than 2 years ago that feels very...auteur, lets say, and they still went with putting huge updates that change the game significantly based on fan input, with no guarantee of a real turn-around in critical acclaim (though to be fair, they are keeping the original version of the game around, I think).

That doesn't mean a game can't keep its vision and go against the grain or demand to do so, but people changing their mind based on feedback is very, very normal.

In terms of 'artistic vision' a game that springs to mind is Desert Bus. Basically, you drive along an empty road for eight hours to get a point, turn around and drive back for another, repeating until you give up through boredom or fall asleep.

Adding difficulty levels to a game like that simply wouldn't make sense. It's already as easy to play as it could possibly be, yet still so resolutely hardcore that hardly anyone would attempt to finish it.

@Matt_Barber I might one day just for bragging rights.

I am saying gaming should be for everyone, as I have said the whole time. I don’t think it needs to be spoken, but apparently for some it does. This does not mean I think a horror game should be made for people who don’t like horror, because that is obviously ridiculous. But I do think every game should have a level of pick up and play or accessibility tailoring so everyone can pick up the game, enjoy it and complete it. With higher difficulties and greater levels of mastery for those who want it.

This is surely common sense though, as this is the design of the game and design of the game doesn’t put any barrier in place in terms of who can and can’t pick this up and play it, should they choose to do so.

@kkslider5552000 i got the feeling from the developers mentioned in the vid you posted that they all took it quite personally, and begrudgingly added an assist mode after community backlash. Thats veers more towards design by committee mentality so they have a viable market for their product.

I'm adding the disclaimer to the end of this that (again) I don't have a problem with difficulty options; just not in games where difficulty is central to the design.

Seeing this talk about difficulty in games, sorry if I have this unpopular opinion, I'll just say it, I have no intent to debate it, so let's agree to disagree with this one.

When a game includes the option for difficulty, sorry, developers put it into a game for a reason. If they didn't intend on easy, medium, or hard as an option, they wouldn't put it in to begin with. If developers did not intend to put difficulty options in games, then it wouldn't be there and you have to play the game at whatever the developer intended. It may be medium, may be hard, may be easy.

Personally, after a long day, I tend to play on easier difficulties to relax and enjoy myself while playing a game. This isn't always the case, I will sometimes challenge myself if I'm up to it. Example, I played classic Doom recently on "ultra-violence" difficulty, and found myself doing decently well at it and having a good time.

Not every game appeals to everyone, and that's fine. Entertainment appeals to different kinds of people. Some people like challenging games, some don't. Entertainment is subjective, and different from person to person.

Just my two cents, I'm not here to argue it, I feel like getting it off my chest as I browse this topic. Sorry if my opinion may upset someone.

I think this wrinkle is certainly an interesting one as well. Monster Hunter Rise has sold gang busters, and the PC version isn’t even here yet. It has won awards and will likely turn up on many GOTY lists, given it remains one of the highest reviewed games in the series.

But if you go onto a Monster Hunter subreddit, the most common thing you’ll see is “Rise bad, too easy”. I think because those voices can ring so loud, devs can become convinced that people want harder, more brutal, games but I think often in reality, those are of a niche audience. The majority want greater accessibility, freedom and choice. Games on their terms, not dictated to them. We only have to look at the countless number of games released and then subsequently rebalanced over following patches, due to player unhappiness.

I guess that is why the Souls like games are so fiercely protected and guarded, because they are the one slice of gaming who pander exclusively to the tiny, hardcore, minority and have thus far refused to budge in the slightest. Although I understand Elden Ring will include a bunch of quality life elements, which have thus far been absent from past titles.

@Sunsy thats a good way of looking at it. Although i'm having hard time imagining the troll in your profile pic gunning down demons in Doom. But rock on!

@Pizzamorg Yeah souls is definitely a weird niché anamoly. They can be......exhausting honestly. I have no idea how they got to be so popular. And i'm very interested in Elden Ring. I hope they do make it more approachable. My major criticism of FromSoft is that all of their games rely on that pacing and it gets monotonous.

That's pretty much the only reason why anyone would finish it. Well, that and there was a charity marathon sometime.

@Losermagnet Hehe, thanks. I love animated movies and cute characters, so Poppy from Trolls is one of my favorites. I love playing the Doom games, as well as other id Software games. Odd mix, but I like them both.

It's reasonably possible.

I think the real issue here is that its a tricky scenario in general. Because it is impossible for zero people to feel their art has been genuinely compromised while simultaneously zero people with disabilities (and without as well) are unable to properly experience a game they might otherwise love. Even in the best case scenarios. That might even be an understatement. Which does, in fact, suck.

I will say, barring extreme circumstances, I don't begrudge developers for not being the most accessible. Beyond any artistic intent, to do these things well is generally more work and time and money that a lot of developers either don't have or are not given.