Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[dunpeal2064]

I personally don't think it would ruin it. After all, the Ninja Gaiden reboots have difficulty settings, and no one that I know of hates them because they have "ninja dog" mode. It sure didn't impact my enjoyment on "normal", anyway.

I think there is a difference between a player thinking an easier difficulty would ruin the normal settings for them, and the developer thinking an easier setting would ruin their game. The latter is the point I was making, and I think it is the correct choice to take those options away if they would impact the experience.

To your NG comparison, yeah, no one complained, but on the same foot, a large portion of the people that played those games barely scratched the surface of the actual design intent. But they cleared it on Ninja Dog mode, so they won.

Now, does that effect my enjoyment? Hell no. Does it bum me out, knowing those playesr were certainly capable of playing it as intended, but missed out on a good game because a path of least resistance was available? Yeah, it does.

Worth considering that Dark Souls has done far, far better than the Ninja Gaidens, DMCs, and Bayonettas that can barely stay afloat, let alone Danmaku Shooters. Maybe forcing the player to properly play your game has something to do with this?

[marlowe221]

Anyone can enjoy Dark Souls. Its not for everyone, but its like a 30 hour game, and its really not that difficult, it just isn't an interactive movie.

A 30 hour game???

Are you sure? How Long to Beat has it at 49 hours...

And boy do I suck. I'm at 36 hours played, according to Steam, and I'm told I'm only about halfway through the game!

Edit - That's odd. According to my save file, I am at 30.5 hours. I wonder why the two are different...

Yeah I think those devs might win me over with this one. I've kept up on it, one negative seems to be very repetitive environments... but I'm a sucker for sci-fi and the look it has, maybe I won't care. Definitely on my radar to check out! It gives me fun B-grade Red Faction vibes. lol

But this is the best option for me right now, I played the final alpha and is was godly. Basically... just need to beat some other new games and free up the schedule.

AKA the true Onimusha 4.

I would like to try Nioh, but I am 95% sure I don't own anything I can actually play it on...

Negative: The Joy-Cons are very tiny, and holding them for a prolonged period would definitely cause my hands to start hurting.

I kinda want a Switch but I have been concerned about that exact problem. I have heard from multiple people that the controls are just too damn small.

I mean, I'm not some giant or anything. But I'm 6'1" and 195 lbs and have decent sized hands.





Also, I beat Ninja Gaiden Black on Normal back in the day.

[Tanooki]

Yesterday I had my first experience with a visiting cousin being over for a couple hours with 2 player switch gaming. We fired up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and each used a joycon with the slider thing attached to them and ran through at 12 or 16 races (I forget.) Neither one of us really had a problem with it or with being uncomfortable and that game does tend to lean on using the L/R buttons for item usage and hop/sliding mechanics. I think the complaining about it is perhaps just a bit more overblown than deserved and more of a limited personal problem than a design issue.

I'm sure someone will make up some strap on 3rd party nonsense for it that you slide the joycon into it and it gets some grips and beefier top buttons simulating a pro controller or something of the sort form factor wise (obviously still lacking the 2nd L/R and stick #2.)

[Exhuminator]

I personally don't think it would ruin it. After all, the Ninja Gaiden reboots have difficulty settings, and no one that I know of hates them because they have "ninja dog" mode. It sure didn't impact my enjoyment on "normal", anyway.

Would an easy mode have impacted the legacy of Holy Diver, Battletoads, or Ghosts n' Goblins on the NES? Those games are still talked about and remembered today precisely because of how uncompromisingly difficult they were. That's what gained them their legacy and hardcore status, as well garnering respect for the gamers who beat them. It's the same thing with the Souls series, just a different generation.

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Unpopular opinion: I don't care about keeping save games for games I have already beaten. Once I beat a game I very rarely every replay it. I tend to just delete the save game once the game is finished. (Unless it's a fighting or racing game, where the save file itself keeps the game's content unlocked.)

[Segata]

Battletoads isn't hard. It's just cheap as hell. It's not even a good game.

[dunpeal2064]

Battletoads isn't hard. It's just cheap as hell. It's not even a good game.

Its not insanely hard, no. Its not all that cheap though, not anymore than the average non-easy game back then.

Its a decent game though I think, not crazy about it but its fun enough.

[Gunstar Green]

I'd counter that is Dark Souls such a hollow and empty experience that it has no story, no atmosphere, no stage design, creative elements at all that would be a fun experience to enjoy if it wasn't pissing you off every minute you play from all the contrived hard as hell kill your ass experiences?

If that's the case, sure, leave it alone. Otherwise, there's no excuse to not let average people who enjoy that kind style of game from taking a whack at it where losing 10+x in a row every 20ft you walk isn't what they have time to deal with anymore.

Nothing in Dark Souls is a contrived "kill your ass" experience. It's all well crafted, and the meticulous crafting of the difficulty of the encounters and learning from those encounters is part of the overall experience. Dying isn't just a punishment in the series, it's also kind of a mechanic as both the lore and design center around the idea that you will die. Take that away and I argue the experience does become more shallow, not because the rest of the game is shallow as the atmosphere and stage design are both pretty stellar, but the difficulty is part of that design in the case of this specific series and I'd argue it's even part of the theme itself.

It's just my personal opinion that messing with that purposely crafted difficulty hurts the integrity of the work's intended experience. This doesn't go for all games or most games but I feel it's an important aspect of the Souls series design.

On that note if FromSoftware had decided to put in an easy mode I wouldn't complain because it's their game. But they didn't, because it's not how they want you to play it.

[isiolia]

A 30 hour game???

Are you sure? How Long to Beat has it at 49 hours...

And boy do I suck. I'm at 36 hours played, according to Steam, and I'm told I'm only about halfway through the game!

Edit - That's odd. According to my save file, I am at 30.5 hours. I wonder why the two are different...

For folks who are replaying or have played other titles in the series first, it's more like a 30 hour game (or less). My first time through it, my playtime was more around 55 hours, and I didn't do the DLC. The second character I did, which I did the DLC on as well, and then turned around and did the game + DLC on NG+... shows something like 60 hours played for all of that.

[PartridgeSenpai]

If it isn't impacting the main game in any way, I don't see how letting other people enjoy the game you like so much through an easier mode impacts you in any way. If you don't want it to be easy, don't use the easier mode. Then the experience is exactly as "artful" and "hardcore" as it always was. On top of that, who's to say that no one will ever try the normal mode once they try/beat it on easy? An easier mode very well might facilitate somone's rise to the "hardcore" mode. I don't see how hating someone for wanting an easier mode isn't just elitist viewpoint because people aren't enjoying your favorite media the way you think it aught to be enjoyed.

[Exhuminator]

I don't see how hating someone for wanting an easier mode

Did anybody say they hated someone for wanting an easier mode? I don't recall anyone using the word "hate" or even insinuating as such.

isn't just elitist viewpoint because people aren't enjoying your favorite media the way you think it aught to be enjoyed.

It's actually the way FromSoftware thinks the games should be enjoyed. Considering they made the games and did not put difficulty selections in them. Considering the amazing success of the Souls series, I'll just assume they knew what they were doing.