Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[BogusMeatFactory]

Yeah, I feel that a developer can make the decision to design the game the way they want. Not every game has to cater to the lowest common denominator. All this means is that one game out of a bajillion is not for them. The point of the game is the challenge and that is okay.

[marurun]

Ok, just to be clear, I am not arguing From Software SHOULD add an easy mode to Dark Souls. I am arguing that doing so should have no effect on YOUR experience of the game. If how someone else experiences a game affects how you experience a game, given a single player experience, you're doing it wrong.

[Sarge]

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.

I think it's very much on a case-by-case basis. Difficulty can often make an average game memorable (see The 7th Saga, for example), but it can also make a good game less good. If there is a "normal" and "easy", I don't think it impacts things much. There is a bit of stigma on those that play "easy" mode, or used Game Genies back in the day.

I like to use Contra as an example for a lot of things, because a ton of people loved the game because of the 30-life code. Yet it is still remembered as a hard game. I distinctly remember playing with the 30-life code, then moving to the "proper" experience. It's not too dissimilar in Double Dragon II, with the Supreme Master mode, or Normal difficulty in Contra III versus the Hard difficulty.

I guess my point is that many people play games for different reasons. If Dark Souls' primary draw is its difficulty, and adding an easy mode would lose From some customers, then they shouldn't do it. However, if they feel that they can pull in folks that otherwise wouldn't experience the series and broaden the base, and get those folks, much like I did with Contra, to go at the "full" experience, then I'm all for it, too.

Ok, just to be clear, I am not arguing From Software SHOULD add an easy mode to Dark Souls. I am arguing that doing so should have no effect on YOUR experience of the game. If how someone else experiences a game affects how you experience a game, given a single player experience, you're doing it wrong.

That's a pretty good way of stating things.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Ok, just to be clear, I am not arguing From Software SHOULD add an easy mode to Dark Souls. I am arguing that doing so should have no effect on YOUR experience of the game. If how someone else experiences a game affects how you experience a game, given a single player experience, you're doing it wrong.

Oh yeah, I wouldn't say the inclusion of an easy mode is bad, but in the case of dark souls and how core gameplay functions work, like the online summoning... it would complicate things.

Again, in most instances it would be perfectly fine.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Easy Modes? Hell yeah. I support them and smile gleefully when I see a Very Easy mode included. I wish every game had a built-in invincibility mode where the protagonist was, well, invincible.

[Segata]

Maybe all this Souls talk should be in the souls topic.

[marurun]

The discussion really isn't specifically about Dark Souls. It is just a great exemplar to use for the discussion.

[Gunstar Green]

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.

Like I said it's their decision so the point is moot. It's not how I want it to be enjoyed or how you want it to be enjoyed, it's how the developer wants it to be enjoyed. If they want to put in an easy mode, then they'll put in an easy mode. The fact that one isn't there is going to be a negative for some people and a positive for others, just like literally any other design decision.

[pierrot]

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.

Reading this reminded me of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, and made me sad, because around the time of release everyone either complained about 'crippling difficulty,' or a system that heavily punishes death, while also rewarding it. Now, no one ever even talks about it, but it seems like it should have been right up all these Souls fans' alleys. Why must the greatest games go so unloved!

Also, I was reminded of the apparent design ethos that went into Dragon Slayer II - Xanadu. I guess Kiya intended for players to not get attached to their characters. Some advice he gave in a Pasokon Sunday was to just start a new character if one gets stuck. Getting back to that point with a new (hopefully, better) character should be much less work than fumbling around with one that can't keep up with the enemies, etc, at a given point in the game. (Might not always be the best advice in life, though.)

[BogusMeatFactory]

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.

Reading this reminded me of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, and made me sad, because around the time of release everyone either complained about 'crippling difficulty,' or a system that heavily punishes death, while also rewarding it. Now, no one ever even talks about it, but it seems like it should have been right up all these Souls fans' alleys. Why must the greatest games go so unloved!

Also, I was reminded of the apparent design ethos that went into Dragon Slayer II - Xanadu. I guess Kiya intended for players to not get attached to their characters. Some advice he gave in a Pasokon Sunday was to just start a new character if one gets stuck. Getting back to that point with a new (hopefully, better) character should be much less work than fumbling around with one that can't keep up with the enemies, etc, at a given point in the game.

Because people don't like flawed, but truly unique gaming experiences.... And it is an absolute shame.