"Nostalgia is a memory without the pain" That really hit me. And I LOVE your videos and the endless hours you put into thinking about them, crafting the script, and then editing it really does show.
Not just the video game thing, but the message in this video is something everyone should listen to. We should take struggles as staircases to a much better experience. I mean yes, in the real world
Can somebody give this man a high five for chapters and timestamps? Talk about a creator who really respects his content consumers time and OCD!!!!😂😂😂😂
@@scottienjvods2133 Great for you, keep the grind down tho, don’t give to much of your time to the snail, i finished grinding two trees, and im taking a break rn
Dude, i feel this a lot lately, i tend to always avoid difficult games like souls-like game and roguelike, but somehow when i play games like halo or far cry i often choose hardest difficulty. There are some games that i love even tho its hard like hollow knight, ori , and kena bridge of spirits
One thing Ive found personally is that I loved challenges in games when I was younger but very much less now. Now as soon as Im stuck in any game I just lower the difficulty or uninstall as I cant be bothered. What means something to me now is really just the gameplay and storyline.
It's not a survival game, but the last of us part 2 (controversy aside) made me feel all kinds of emotions. I've never played a game that was so good, but hated playing it. That game genuinely made me feel depressed.
Yeah TLOU2 is unique in the sense that the gameplay does not make you suffer, but the story sure as hell does😂 just to be clear it’s one of my favorite games of all time. But it is not an easy game to play emotionally.
That scene in Mass Effect 3 where Thane dies surrounded by his family and friends made me cry. It *is* his happy ending. And the fact that Sheppard helped him to reunite with Koylat right before the end. 😭
This guy’s taste is just….. perfect And the way he details everything… even better! Keep improving man, we’re with you! Definitely gonna try pacific drive, I’ve never heard of it anywhere else.
Y'know something tangentially related to this I do feel there is an aversion to dealing with heavy topics or playing as evil or morally grey characters in games and especially when seeing characters we are attached to that do evil things recieve their comeuppance. There is a tendency for players to not be able sometimes to contextualize their pain and anger and play characters that are apathetic or cruel, which severely limits the kinds of stories that can be told. Some of my favorite games like NieR: Replicant deal with really dark and fucked up topics and have you play as people who are arguably destroying the world for the sake of selfishness. I feel there is a lot of enjoyment to be had in exploring stories like this. I do sometimes feel that devs are uncomfortable with giving players real consequences or forcing them to make sacrifices. I mean, how often do you see RPGs that don't offer the player a "perfect" ending where noone has to sacrifice anything?
You’re 100% right! I got Fallout 3 for Christmas in ‘08 for the Xbox 360 and I STILL remember trying to cross the goddamn Potomac river for the first time to get into the heart of D.C.! That Korean borderland D.M.Z.-like fucking hellscape of super mutants, angry stupid robots, landmines, AIDS water, crippled limbs, and random instant death lying in wait around every corner of that godforsaken territory that you managed to drag yourself a little further into with each consecutive try. And what was my proud, ever-prepared vault escapee equipped with to handle this brutal, looming, unprecedented mission? A 10mm handgun, a single 10mm round, a 2x4 with some damn nails in it, 2 stimpaks, and a salvaged fragmentation landmine I about damn near killed myself trying to grab in a hurry. Almost 16 years ago and still one of my fondest video game memories to date!
i appreciate a lot of your points, and you are certainly well-spoken about them. however, i think over all you are explaining things that are desirable to you as if they should be desirable to everyone. i get just as much satisfaction and sense of achievement from beating a game on story mode that you get on heroic, because i don't enjoy the difficulty you seek. it's really as simple as that - some players have entirely different reasons they enjoy games. i did take exception to the point about accessibility in games. suggesting that arachnophobes should leave the spiders visible is like telling a clinically depressed person they should cheer up. in a lot of cases, these are mental conditions, not preferences.
Thank you for taking the time to watch eventhough we disagree, ya for sure I have a lot of bias in how I think and see the world wanted to be the finding a balance section in for that reason at least understanding the other side some. I do see what you are saying for sure, I guess it’s just not how I view the world I don’t think that means your side is wrong though, guess I am just passionate about how I look at things obviously lol. You bring up some good points for sure though I think since I don’t deal with say arachnophobia as heavily as some (even though I do have it to an extent) it’s easier for me to just be like “deal with it”. But like I said in the video too I do just think that’s a better way to live life, embrace the suffering, instead of looking to protect ourselves from it, basically the gist of the video. Thanks again for watching!
This video deserves over 500k views! Absolutely brilliant to a 32 year old gamer. Don’t know how old you are but regardless you know what’s up:) the things you’ve said are honestly universal.
That's why the Halo games directly say Heroic is the intended difficulty. It's nigh perfectly balanced to provide a fun challenging experience. Meanwhile Legendary is just a slog a lot of the time.
Since I've now watched more of the video, I have to add onto what I said above. I think you are missing the point in why difficulty options are, just like color blind options and other such accessibility options, are valid and useful. You are thinking of gaming from 2 flawed perspectives: 1. you're viewing games as if every gamer has the same ability to overcome challenges, and 2. you aren't viewing games as an intrinsically inclusive art form. 1. while the majority of people who play games will be able to overcome any challenge if given enough time, that isn't true of all gamers. Think of people who, due to either medical issues or age (like the elderly) simply cannot react to games in time to complete a challenge. These people will never be able to complete a game if not given adequate difficulty settings. On top of that, there are many people who have an incredibly finite amount of time and cannot play difficult games lest they take an overabundance of what little time they have. Think of manual laborers who work 12 hour shifts, doctors and nurses who work for several days on end and also must attend medical conferences to maintain their abilities, new parents with labor intensive children, or any such kind of situation that makes playing games consistently to be able to build up the skill required to complete them impossible, or at least improbable. 2. Yes, life is hard, and life doesn't have options for making it easier; however, isn't that a bad thing? Isn't it bad that people who have lost limbs cannot do certain things in real life? Isn't it terrible that people who lack sight or hearing will never be able to interact with the world in the same way as people with all their senses in tact? Why would the inequity of the world be a proper argument as to why games should be gate kept from these same people? In the same way that we build ramps for people who require wheel chairs, shouldn't we also be building accessibility into our entertainment? Your argument that, since "we" overcame difficult things to engage in an activity means that everyone should overcome hard things is also an abusive mind set and a gatekeeping tactic. Imagine the state of speed running if whenever a new speed runner wanted to start playing, the community prevented them from learning the best strats and community tools because the community had to build them up over time. These things make speed running easier, but without them it would be a dead or dying art for and skill. One of the goals of people who enjoy an activity is making the barrier to entry into said activity easier, so that more people can enjoy it. If you aren't trying to make it easier for other people to enjoy the things you enjoy, you are doing more harm than good to that activity, because without new blood, all things die. The Last of Us Part 2 has one of the highest game completion percentages of all time, and this is in great part because of how accessible it is. There are people who crave and people who REQUIRE these options to be able to participate. You bring up one accessibility feature that you, personally, think is taking it too far (arachnophobia) and feel that, since you find spiders scary, you're arachnophobia and can therefor speak about everyone with diagnosed arachnophobia (my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21852-arachnophobia-fear-of-spiders). Arachnophobia is when people have full on panic attacks at the mere thought of spiders, not some one who thinks spiders are creapy (as many people do). But also, at the end of the day, who are you to decide how other people should best experience a game. If the game developers decided that they should add a slider into their game to allow more people to play it, who are you to tell them they shouldn't have done it. On that same topic, you then proceeded to talk about some potential "accessibility" features that could have been implemented in Alan Wake 2 to make it easier and how that would ruin the game. This is a strawman argument, and a pretty bad one at that. You invented the worst possible "accessibility" options you could think of for a horror game and used them to demonstrate how accessibility options are bad for games. When game developers work on accessibility options, they craft them in a way that makes the game better for people, not worse. Of course, there will always be people who make a game worse for themselves by not attempting to overcome challenges they are capable of overcoming, but I'd much rather let people ruin games for themselves than gate keep gaming from people incapable of making that decision Bottom line, it appears that you're the kind of person that loves a tough challenge in their games, and that's totally fine. You find games that are too easy to lack excitement and memorability, and so you want to play games that force you to struggle. That's all well and good, and I'm all for encouraging people to try and play harder games and push themselves. The issue is that you take your personal stance and you're arguing that it should be enforced on everyone. Not everyone wants a challenge in their games, period. Those that do, don't always want the same kind of challenge you do, and some are unable to deal with the standard difficulty of a game for any myriad of reasons. Let's do a thought experiment. There are many people out there that love to play Kiazo mario games. These games are well known to be incredibly difficult, and their whole purpose in existing is being a punishingly difficult skill test. I will concede that these games, and games like it, could not be modified with easy difficulties without losing out on their value. But imagine if someone who loved to play Kaizo mario games argued that all games should have a similar challenge with no options for lowering it, because they think that's the most fun way to play games. This is an absurd argument of course, and you aren't arguing this exactly, but this IS the kind of stance you're taking. You are arguing that your taste is objectively correct and that people should be forced to adhere to your taste because it will be better in the long run. I know from the length of this post, many people will skip reading it and most people who agree with your stance won't be swayed, but I have a lot of passion for increasing the accessibility for games. I know people personally that cannot play a majority of games because they have disabilities that make it impossible. I've seen the desire that these people still have to play and engage in games, but they just can't unless the game caters to them. I have yet to find a compelling argument from someone online as to how having difficulty options would fail to improve a game. I really just want people to take stock of where they stand when they argue that games should be less inclusive and see if you really think that disallowing some people from engaging in video games is what you really want; because arguing against more accessibility and difficulty options is all that every does.
Definitely see this side as well, I think I just at a core principle level disagree I guess. For example those first 2 points I think it’s totally valid, but I just disagree. If someone at no fault of their own say like your example lost limbs can’t do something, I view it as well sucks, work hard figure it out, the true beauty of life. I definitely think my view is a lot more ruthless than a lot of people though I think a balance is probably the right spot, it’s just by providing accessibility for certain niche situations it takes away from something in my opinion
But for sure think some games should some shouldn’t. I kinda just view games like I do real life. For example if you are unable to work long hours because of some medical issue at no fault of your own, too bad can’t be the CEO of a big company now that needs non stop work for years. I think life just is that way no matter how harsh it seems, but that same harshness creates a sense of fulfillment and beauty that games can mimic
Great video as always! For me, the suffering in games that I enjoy the most is a darker, more mature story. If a game has a great story, then I'll work hard to figure out the gameplay just so I can experience it. I love This War of Mine, Frostpunk, and the newer Wolfenstein games, cause, even though they're full of emotional suffering, they tell compelling stories in a way unique to video games. As for games that cause suffering from gameplay, I'm not able to play Soulsborne style games due to disability. I have tried them in the past, and, even with considerable effort, I wasn't able to progress. The sad thing is, I enjoy challenging gameplay when I'm given accessibility features, including difficulty settings. I usually start on an easier difficulty, which in many cases is as challenging to me as normal difficulty is to a nondisabled player. Then I'll gradually increase the difficulty so it still feels challenging. There's even a few games that I've beaten on the hardest difficulty, because I just really liked the game. For Soulsborne games, the current difficulty might be "Normal" or "Hard" for a nondisabled player, but for me it's "Impossible". It does make me a little sad, cause they seem like great games.
The feeling of accomplishment is worth the suffer in many cases. In other mediums you simply can’t suffer through the same exact events your game character does. And so on… Great content as allways
As someone with a visceral fear of spiders, arachnophobia options are lame! I've just accepted that I can't play games with big spiders in them. No Grounded for me
Your main critique about Hollow Knight, the lack of interest due to having to back track, seems to be more about you disliking Metroidvania style games than disliking Hollow Knight. It's a valid criticism of the genre, if you don't enjoy it, but it's also what the genre is built on. A metroidvania without backtracking isn't really a metroidvania, it's just a linear action game. This kind of design doesn't appeal to everyone, and that's totally fine, but it is central to the experience, and something that many people DO enjoy.
Oh ya 100% it’s more just my dislike of metroidvanias in general, that’s why I mentioned I know a lot of people would disagree cause it’s more just a personal opinion as an example of difficulty I don’t like but I know a bunch of people love it for sure
The entire mainstream world needs to watch videos like THIS!! I'm a 52 year old gamer that loves immersing myself in difficult and challenging RPG worlds. One of the earliest RPG games I played was Zork when I was 12 years old. Been hooked ever since. It's frustrating and surreal to hear friends and family dismiss gamers as nothing but shallow, nerdy losers who don't go outside. You know all the usual cliche insults. The level of maturity and intelligence in this analysis genuinely lifted my spirits because it reenforced that my love for gamimg is legtimate. As I listened to this it was like you were inside my head and describing exactly how I feel. I was about 3 minutes into this and instantly subbed. YOU SIR, are a very special representative for gaming. Keep up the great work!!
I agree with a lot in this video, and it's very well-written otherwise, but I think you really misunderstand the arachnophobia feature. A phobia is not just a fear, it's not discomfort, it's not "I'm so scared". I have passed out, hyperventillated, borderline suffocated because I couldn't stop crying from going into panic.. because of the tiniest spiders. I force shut-off my PC with the safety switch several times because I wasn't aware some game would have spiders, and had to take several hours to calm down after. A phobia is no joke, it's not something you just overcome, it requires professional attention and treatment. Yes, the treatment is exposure therapy - that is a very controlled way to expose yourself in a safe environment under professional supervision. Being jump-scared in games is not controlled, even if it's safe. And I say that as someone who adores many of the games you've mentioned, horror movies, etc. It literally is an accessibility feature - without it, a game is entirely inaccessible to people like me, and I find it unfair when phobias are put into the same category as fears. It's absolutely irrational, it's overblown, highly unreasonable, and I think everyone dealing with phobias is aware of that - but telling people to basically "just deal with the discomfort" is wrong on many levels, and it only reinforces the shame we already feel around it. Damn, I would've been so upset if I didn't get to play Hogwarts Legacy without that beautiful feature. Challenges are meant to be overcome - but the height of the barrier is incredibly personal, subjective. What might be a reasonable challenge to one person may not be to another, and it's a big learning experience to understand what level of challenge is healthy for personal growth, and what isn't. That has also been researched more than enough, and wasn't mentioned in the video - that there is an "optimal challenge level" for growth, and beyond that, you have nothing but frustration to gain. I'm not saying I expect From Soft to add easy modes, as it's their games and they're usually balanced beautifully around their intended difficulty, but hating on people for using mods and custom features to regain accessibility and customize their experience is unfair and short-sighted. Growth through challenge also can't just be limited to video games. After all, many of us also face difficult challenges in our daily lives, in our jobs, with our families, etc. This is obviously a *vast* oversimplification and just an anecdotal piece of "evidence", but most of my friends who really enjoy a good challenge in a video game have less mentally challenging professions. Difficult video games is how they get their share of a sense of accomplishment, as it is currently what they're focusing on in life. And this isn't meant to be judgmental by any means, it's just an example of how different people choose different challenges in life. Either way, I think in my perfect video game, the game starts off with questions on accessibility (can you use both hands fully, can you click buttons quickly, do you have phobias, etc.) - and then adjusts difficulty automatically as you okay, with no settings at the beginning. Plenty games have done this *very* well and I'm surprised it's not more common.
I agree with you but I play games pretty inconsistently now so I forget the moves by the time I load it up again. Most of the time I just play games to relax.
I have never been so conflicted watching your videos... I think I agree, but I'm one of those guys that prefers to play on easy, and actively avoids Soulslikes, survival games, all games that require expert timing and reflexes I do not touch (partly because my body has low reaction and processing times, as well as other things), and as a result I have low tolerances for games that are difficult just because. But, there are different types of adversity. When I can, I play games where you can pause or take turns, so I can think at my own speed, like Paradox grand strategy games, or turn-based RPGs, like Baldur's Gate 3. I do play other RPGs, like Mass Effect, but I turn the difficulty down when have trouble. Same with immersive sims, cause I prefer games to not have difficulty relating to combat, I do prefer it in other areas. Maybe you could have made it clearer that there are different varieties of suffering we prefer, cause I feel like most people are going to focus on the purely combat kind of suffering. (let me know if I rambled here, cause I am sometimes not coherent at times, lol) Other than that, that was a great vid! Keep up the Amazing content!
Ya I think one nice thing to touch on more is narrative struggle cause exactly there are all different types that can be rewarding, thanks for watching!
Fears aren't the same as phobias, for some, there is no such thing as "bear with it" or "overcome your fears", having the ability to change spiders texture for example can be a good way for people to experience a game they wouldn't otherwise. i use none of the acessibility options in games, because it's not for me, i don't need it, but i appreciate the implementation Yes maybe that player will get only 70% of the experience, but it's their decision, and it's better than nothing. In terms of difficulty i tend to go with the intended experience the devs envisioned, but sometimes it's hard with 5 difficulty modes to chose, in that way i rather have no choice other than that great video
ive been save scumming alot in dishonored 2 for a non lethal/low chaos run, its my second playthrough adter doing high chaos (how i wanted to play it) first. originally tried no detections for this second run as well as non lethal but realised i was just not that good reloading up to 5 times for 1 encounter sometimes so i dropped the no detections part an settled for non lethal dropping it to around 2 reloads at much less frequent intervals, though i do wish to get good enough where i dont rely on it so much an eventually hit a no detections for now the goal is just chasing the good/low chaos ending
The point of games is to take a break from the hard work of day to day lives. It’s subjective if that means someone wants to cheese a game or not. Especially if it’s single player.crafting a principle around a game such as hard work or perseverance defeats the purpose of what a game is which is entertainment. How people choose to consume that entertainment varies for each person. For some they want a crushing experience, for a lot they want a power fantasy. Because of that developers should most definitely allow the player to regulate what experience they desire. It hurts no one to allow a player to cheese a single player game like Elden ring. If anything the whole get gud mindset has perpetuated a toxic culture. Essentially discouraging and gatekeeping people from enjoying a game. A lot of people don’t go to games to simulate the hard work they already exhaust in their day to day lives. They go for a break and or escape. Someone having an issue or hoping a developer intentionally doesn’t put an “easy mode” in a single player game is just extremely weird. At the end of the day that players choice to be a god in their play through has literally no affect on anybody else’s. Therefore it really shouldn’t be anybody’s care or concern if that is what someone decides to do. If it does then that means someone gets a feeling of superiority over others by being able to beat a video game someone else couldn’t. That’s way more pathetic than someone choosing to play on easy mode. Plus video games are a growing Median, a lot of people who never played games before are now. Those accessibility options allow them the ability to actually get into and enjoy gaming. Gaming is an entertainment media, that should be accessible to as many people as possible. Having an issue with someone having the OPTION to play a game differently, conveys a serous problem with them not games being to “accessible” . crushing difficulty is a subjective preference. Subjective preference should never harbor any objective permanence. Especially in an attempt to gatekeep or dictate the “right way” someone should be playing a game. That’s just weird
I addressed this in the finding a balance section you might like that part! I get this side for sure too and think some games should target both sides I just think inherently struggle is key to what even makes games interesting compared to any other media like movies etc
Thief. I love the Medieval dark fantasy setting, it is far better than any steam punk 18th century dark fantasy setting. (The way Thief 2:The metal age combined the two was just superb.) Thiefs sense of atmosphere is unparalleled. The use of direct sound & ambient noise, lighting and environment is so complex and well thought out that it all blends together to form a complete, believable world and completely encapsulates your mind. The looting sounds and objective completed sounds are just amazing, so satisfying. All of the sound design is superb…bone chillingly ominous and grippingly terrifying at times. The scariest and most enjoyable game series I have ever played. Stealth. The imaginative use of environment and sound makes ‘Thief’ an unparalleled stealth game, no hiding in tall grass nor simply ducking behind a conveniently placed chest high wall , instead you have dark corridors, and environments with different surfaces to traverse across, from soft, grass of chateau gardens or soft soundless wool carpets in nobles Castle suites to metal grates in infantry barracks that clang as you try to tiptoe across them. Tiles in kitchens, cobblestone streets or marble hallways that echo with each footstep you take, that forces you to use tools like ‘’Moss arrows’’ that will mask your sound but is a visual trigger to guards that something is afoot. Causing you to think outside of the box and find alternative routes/methods of traversal such as wooden beams spanning across the building's inner roof, so many elements to take into account that cause you to think, to adapt and to plan your route and actions meticulously. Knocking out a guard with a bludgeon, you are then forced to pick up the body and deposit it in a dark , unused corner or closet as to not arouse suspicion, even then, when the other guards realise that three or four of their number is MIA, they still become suspicious and raise the alarm, thus using pickpocketing to acquire keys,loot,scrolls,disarm a human opponent, completely circumnavigates those issues but requires intense amounts of skill to pull off without being caught… it is thrilling and I love it. Navigation and mission design. Thief has one of the best navigation systems there is, absolutely no mini map,you always have a compass in the right hand corner, but you have a paper map that you have to open, sometimes if the story has a reliable informant, the mission will have a detailed map (Some of which sometimes turn out to be false/incorrect) other missions have extremely vague informants ,thus the map is sketched with only limited features, then as you explore and scout the map yourself, you slowly expand on the map ,adding to its detail and accuracy. Some areas deemed to be so dangerous that only myths and legends surround them have little to no info on the map regarding them. During some missions whilst exploring and robbing medieval locations you might happen across or hear a guard mention a military/guard station that contains a map and information of a region you will be located within during the next mission ,thus proper exploration and making an effort to loot notable areas/containers, rewards you with a more detailed map in the next story segment.
The map also only displays a highlighted rough area where you are located, and not an idiotic GPS dot/arrow indicator to show your exact location & GPS path to follow. This adds greatly to the sense of mystery and exploration . Having to use a compass with a rudimentary sketched map is highly thrilling and rewarding, as ever, Thief expects you to think,to read, to keep your wits about you and to use your brain in order to survive, navigate, solve riddles, follow clues, form a bigger picture and eventually complete objectives all whilst being drenched in fear as you face difficult,intelligent, sometimes undead/spiritual enemies with only medieval / experimental weapons/tools and I love that. Combat/Weapons. I love that you are just a medieval Thief, you are not a superhuman, you have no special powers like ‘’blink’’ , when a regular guard discovers you , you are forced to flee and hide, you can try to use your dagger/sword to fight, but that you will be taking on a mountain, your strikes are not that of a skilled soldier but of a lowly brigand, where the single guard you fight, can kill you with his trained hand in but two or three slashes of his sword. Even if you manage to use speed and precise jabs, by the time you have killed one single guard in a melee duel , most of the other guards will then be on top of you due to the commotion. Thus is it much more prudent for you to remain hidden, to use stealth as your second weapon, to strike from the shadows using only one arrow…one hit from your bludgeon or one piercien jab from your dagger to fell an enemy and then to immediately slip back into the dark to hide the body/unconscious guard. Then as you gain information,experience, skill and most importantly ..loot, you start encountering other enemies … indescribable horrors that are impervious to your blade,bludgeon and broadhead arrows… thus stealth remains your second most important weapon and your most important weapon becomes more and more vital…your brain. Fear,brutality,horror. My Biggest gaming achievement: When I finished Shalebridge Cradle in Thief 3:Deadly Shadows. That is by far the scariest segment in a game that I have ever played, the story is so rich and engaging ,a mental labyrinth and as you gather small snippets of information whilst you are trying to survive, you get ice cold as the realisations hit you of what Shalebridge Cradle was and is. I entered the Cradle fully stacked out with kit,gadgets and ammunition, when I exited the Cradle, running for my life, I had only two oil flasks left in my inventory and nothing else.... plummeting….. metres to the ground…. impacting the hard cobblestone pavement... I look up, dazed, bruised, injured, but knowing that I survived Shalebridge Cradle ... that was sensational. Thief : The Dark Project, the Metal Age & Deadly Shadows. By far the best gaming series ever made. If we could get a proper remake of this series with no propaganda of the woke feminazi cult, then we will have pure gaming perfection. The end of Thief 2: The Metal age. ... ''I am a child of Karris , a child of Karrriiisss….'' PLEASE can someone with vast amounts of imagination and creativity make another proper ‘’Thief’’ game..please. ua-cam.com/video/BRsWvtJSm0U/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/8rv1PgQZ2b4/v-deo.html
I’ll die on this hill. The self delete ending of CP2077 is by far the most impactful. Judy’s message hurt my heart irl. It’s not my favorite. It’s not the one I think is right. But it impacted me far greater than any other in the game.
So Doom Eternal is one of the greatest games of our time. Dumb fun, challenge as hell, the right balance in acessability. Be a power fantasy on easy mode that don't just hold your hand or a power fantasy as you become a god mastering the mechanics of the game what you want, you can find it.
I do want to remark on the accessibility issue. I'd rather the tools be available than not to have them. Now I do agree that certain things shouldn't be put in: making hard games easier, like any of the Dark Souls games. I truly understand that. What I'd like to see more of accessibility is options for people to help with visuals: color blindness, photosensitivity, dyslexia, etc. Having things like that available is the stuff I want to see more in games. And having a tool to deal with arachnophobia is okay in my book because if you are too scared to play the game, but all your friends are playing, now it's excluding someone over something they innately can't control or master. Maybe it should be split between "accessibility" (font options, key rebinding, etc. and "ease of use" (soft cheats that help people who are struggling.
Your videos are always interesting, even if I sometimes have a different point of view. I think whether or not your gaming experience is improved through "pain"/hardship very much depends on what you want out of your gaming experience at a given time. Sometimes it's for relaxation, sometimes for exploration, and sure, sometimes also to challenge myself. But certainly not always. I'd play a lot less, if all games aimed at being a grueling quest for skill improval. (also, because nowadays I don't have enough time to e.g. spend hours learning a single boss's attack patterns in every other game. ) Struggle alone doesn't make a game good necessarily, and I certainly don't agree with the idea of overcoming challenges in games mirroring the way people grow as a person in real life after going through hardships. (Many people's lives could also be much improved by them not having to go through hardships.) I don't play games to reflect my real life experiences. Often it's even the opposite. Overall I think it's good to give different (difficulty/accessibility) options, if implemeting them is reasonably within a developer's scope. And if it's not, then one also has to accept that some games are not for some type of players, and that's fine.
There are different points of views. I want easy. I want a story. I want a good time. I do not want work and frustration. I get enough of that in life. I will never play a Dark Souls game. Or if I did, I'd be cheating through it all.
Some of the accessibility points are subjective in several aspects but difficulty I don't think should be included. It's all about the amount of effort you want to invest into a game. If you don't like a game because it's too difficult then maybe it's simply not a game for you. I've seen one handed play-throughs and guitar hero controllers. The Souls games especially get the complaints because it a mainstream well known series but removing that difficulty is removing what makes it a Souls game. The developers knew what they were doing when they made dying over and over again literally interwoven into the main plot. The older you get, the less likely you are to invest time into lackluster hardcore modes but when you strike a perfect balance, you get games like Elden Ring, which everyone agrees is hard but still flock to it. The difficulty level is static but there are a hundred ways to get through the game via cheesing, rolling around naked with a ridiculously huge weapon, or summoning someone for help. Regardless of how to decide to tackle things, you still earn that "I beat Elden Ring" trophy. Nothing is stopping you from enjoying a large portion of the world if you want to flee from everything in sight but the main plot is locked off with the flights. No, it's not as accessible as say a game like Skyrim where you can change difficulties mid fight but that's what makes taking the abuse bearable. If they made an easy mode in Elden Ring, I know damn well I wouldn't have the self-control not to utilize so I'm honestly glad it's not there. Brains will always look for the cheap and easy way of doing things so this game would never be the same. You have to get smarter, get better, and with a little bit of luck, you might pull through. That's what makes it a satisfying award worth playing for.
Human will power and strength to face difficulties, frustration and time-consuming repetition is not unlimited. I don't want to spend such a limited and important resource on games, but on something that can result in real life achievements, real satisfaction and personal growth. Games are supposed to give me a nice experience to relax and enjoy myself with, a temporary distraction from the harshness of life. I don't want them to provide my life with more harshness. I appreciate a fairly challenging game, as something that's too easy is not engaging, but I definitely don't like having to put the same effort in a game I would put at work, learning to play an instrument or in a gym workout. These three things give me real life positive outcomes and deserve my efforts for that, a game doesn't. Unless someone enjoys effort for the sake of effort itself.
Thank you for the insightful video... if I may offer different perspective... I do play rpg genre and games like dark souls series, last of ronin, stellar blade etc. but I feel quite strongly when game is designed to be life-level tough and extreme challange. Imho game should be just a game, not project to overcome, not thesis to study, but just to have non-professional fun with exploration, combat etc. I do enjoy occasional challenge but not the one that asks of each player to be perfect, to read each swing in exact percise millisecond, to perform swing up in multitude of different swings possible in the right time etc. For example Sekiro - for me this is full-on masochistic game that developers get the kink out of torturing players. When I need to approach every boss encounter with studying 20 yt videos beforehand, reading up on strategies, trying couple of dozen of times fight myself... this just isnt fun for me (Last of ronin on the contrary is)... and the sense of achievement a lot of people mention is in my case immediately replaced by case of dread and physical fear "oh man if this first boss was almost impossible for me to beat after 30 tries how the hell will I finish the game"... no revelling in achievement at all. And then the deliberate decision by the dev team not to offer scaling the difficulty down-I totally do not understand why not? I get that game is designed to beat your selfesteem to a pulp but let me unlock "supereasy" if I need it and want it. Put a disclaimer "this is not intended to be used, you will diminish intended experience, you suck" but just let me survive through the ordeal like Sekiro. In Dark souls one at least can have help from other professional players but nooo, Sekiro will make you wish you never touched it. That level of expectation from developers of the game towards game players is not acceptable for me. Games should be topmost and utmost fun. Do not even try playing feeling a bit tired since the game will punish you if you do: I start playing just to spend all my ingame currency, all potions to have less than I had before I started the last session. And this breeds stress, feeling of failure and regressing instead of progressing-did I learn anything new? Yes, that consumables do not help, that gil or howeveris it called matters not, that my hard earned level in better damage does not help me as much as it should and that I should probably grind grind grind up to 100 lvl before tackling first boss, and actually game is designed for pro gamers to finish first boss around lvl 10 for example. enough ranting... just I wish such games do not exist in the form they do... lot of stress, regression, feeling of utter incompetence when touching those.
Sex is the easiest thing a human can do, and inarguably what humans emjoy most. Difficulty is not fun. There is no reason to feel emotions about everything. To ruin evrything with expectations. To speak reverently of Lovecraft. To use words as though they are meaningless because they're meaningless to you. Which makes what you say meaningless.What does it make you? "He who learns must suffer, and, even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.” I do not comprehend "fear." I was issude Letters Patent this week.
I am a person that does not care for power fantasy. In reality I appreciate and am thankful for the successes I have achieved and the skills I have and are still learning . Thus in gaming, I have no need to feel like an invincible one man army , I enjoy a challenge wrapped inside a well written atmospheric story ,and an immersive ,realistic setting, where your decisions carry weight and the story/environment hits you with unexpected curveballs/twists . I want a game to take me out of reality and transport me to a world I can’t experience in real life. (Such as shooting militarized Junta factions with an AK47 for instance) FaCry 1 and Far cry 2 had such hardcode ,complex AI (For the time) and a truly hostile and immersive world where you have to fight tooth and nail just to survive in, your guns jammed at the most inopportune moments , bush fires set by you become a hazard even to yourself, mutated chimpanzees trying to rip your face off, it is epic! Being dropped into the middle of a creature infested jungle with an assault rifle and only one 30 round magazine is thrilling. Likewise , to be surrounded on all sides by dangerous, competent enemies and a raging bushfire that is not so slowly creeping closer and closer as you struggle to unjam your 50+ year old AK47, just to realise you have to take your malaria pills in the middle of it all is excessively thrilling to me. When a game places you on the defensive, you have to fight mercilessly just to survive ,with by far the best healing animations of any game, that is peak gaming to me. When you are forced to use your intellect and wits, to think outside of the box to improvise,adapt and overcome , that is exhilaration. When you do manage to improve your skills , you succeed and you stand all dirty, bloody, cut up and bruised ,but triumphant at the end , that is euphoric satisfaction. And Far Cry 2 has that in spades. ua-cam.com/video/FCeEvQ68jY8/v-deo.html I desperately want a brutal Far Cry set in Africa once again as in FC2 but now there can be more predatory / dangerous animals such as lions, buffalo, Hippopotomi, crocodiles ,Pythons and more. With Akasia thorns blocking your way and slowly doing bits of damage that you have to cut away with your machete, still using the Blood diamonds / arms dealing as the backdrop (Since that is still relevant today) as well as conflict over clean water sources . A Far Cry set in the Sahel ,you, a French foreign legion mercenary , helping local Dogon warlords, the Doza ,fighting against the invasive Muslim jihadists would be epic. Just like they are doing today. Using AK47’s, Mosin nagants,RPGs, FALs,SMLEs, Galils and more. ua-cam.com/video/dLXtWqJTI88/v-deo.html Telling their story and sending some of the game sales profits to the beleaguered areas. (That is if Ubisoft and the Woke cult therein don’t decide to just keep it all.)
I mean... kinda but some people just play it to play it, me for instance I HATE challenging stuff in games and will give up when something is to hard, and an example is dying light, I thought it would b e fun but the challenge of it pissed me off. I can sorta understand your points. Like yes it is nice to fight AND to persevere _however _ I can't lie if I cannot easily beat something it is not worth it. see I am a man driven by logic, and if it cannot make sense to do then I will not do it. it must be a guarantee or else it is a risk and even if EVEN if it turns out, well would it truly be worth that risk when one might loose something in the progress? that kind of decision making is scary for me and very hard, and its because I have crippling anxiety so when I want to, often I can't.
Difficulty for difficulties sake is what I find that is so unappealing. Raising a health bar, lowering a damage output, and multiplying enemy hordes is not worth me wasting my time for a legendary accomplishment and it doesn't lend itself to replayablity. Even a secret ending cut-scene doesn't make it worth it in today's day and age because I can watch it online. Instead, I think developers should be asking themselves how and why things might be more difficult. Imagine if boss fights had new attacks and ai reactions to your advances on them. Certain attacks might no longer work and new weaknesses and plot points might be revealed because of them. Dark Souls doesn't need a difficulty change but as an example, imagine if you got more hinted lore based on these new interactions with enemies especially if they'd previously fought with another character who used a certain attack or weapon. Item drops are also a easy way to feed into that. I mean, tail chops for a weapon are a staple but if enemies never let you get close to them on easy mode, then it'd be unavailable for you to win. What if certain armors and clothing sets now agro-ed factions within the series because of the background stories that have yet to be told at that point. Entirely new bosses and enemies only hinted at could appear. Iteration dialogs could change. New events could pop up and hinder your progress. New areas could be made available and maps could change slightly to make traversing areas more difficult. The possibilities are endless and games shouldn't rely on one or two simple things like a cosmetic skin or a weapon only gained at the end of a game that I hardly even got to utilize. Very few people want a grind for a grinds sake, so the rewards for upping the difficulty on these games should reflect the amount of effort being put into it. There are very few games I play above normal difficulty mode because games aren't making the rewards worth it in my opinion. What is the best example you've seen of of a hard mode implementation in a video game?
I like easier games, but I don’t like them too easy. I play on normal difficulty which tends to still challenge me without being too difficult. With the length of games these days I don’t want to be constantly dying but I do want my character to die otherwise I feel like there’s no stakes in the game. So dark souls is a no for me 😂
This is another well made video, however, I think this is the first one I have disagreed with. If you really enjoy hard games that is great but why force all games to be like that. I find hard games (outside of the strategy type games) really boring. I play games for their story and characters and making the gameplay really difficult would ruin the passing of many of my favourite stories (like Mass Effect and the Telltale Walking Dead games). Basically I want to be challenged by the narrative not the gameplay.
I despise these new extreme challenges in video games. Games used to be exactly that, a game. Now its like working out science hypotheses and constantly struggling to figure something out. Thats a hassle not fun. They need to stop with this new game challenge crap. Make games games again and fun again. When im struggling on a challenge and beat it, i dont feel excited and feel accomplished, i feel “finally i got that shit, never going back to that again”. They turned video games into freaking mental chess. And i aint down with that. That shit sucks. Becoming a millionaire or six pack gives you real life rewards. Games are a downtime. Its not meant to be a challenge. Its made for fun. But now they increase our stress and anxiety and i dont respect that.
I'm sorry. I usually like your views but coming from someone who has been dealing with suffering from mental illnesses my entire adult life that I wouldn't wish it on anyone. There's a difference between suffering and true suffering. Just like say feeling depressed and being depressed. I understand that most other people are able to get up after being slapped down. But I wish to remind you that there are those who suffer and can't just get out of it. I've had friends and family who unalive themselves because they couldn't take suffering anymore. Your perspective makes me think that you don't know that not everyone can. Like the arachnophobia option. Some people have very negative physical and mental reactions and can be put in a panic. Your take is ableist even if that's not your intention. I don't think you have any malicious. But I implore you to see that you wishing for no easy mode for people who want games to cater to themselves is really you wishing games cater to your crave for challenge. Keeping an open mind is everything if you ever wish for more understanding and perspectives. Normally I wouldn't leave such a comment but this lack of perspective is something I wanted to make you aware of. i also don't think that enjoyable games are inherently challenging or even need combat or need pain. Sometimes we just want to exist. Just escape from reality. Not everyone is the same and operates with the same perspectives. You don't have to be productive to enjoy something. Anyways I don't have any hate. Just something I wish to get across. Keeping away from absolutes when talking about opinions is imperative for better nuance. Because we are all different and enjoy different things from different games. I don't think this is something you can or should debate over as it's like saying pineapple doesn't belong on pizza just because you don't like it. Again just something to consider as your take kinda bothered me. I'm a new subscriber and been really enjoying
Hey thanks for watching and the write up I appreciate it I definitely agree it’s harder for some my sister suffers as well so I know what you are talking about. Probably due to me being fortunate and very optimistic it’s just how I see things in terms of difficulty and struggle being good which for sure is a privileged position. Honestly the truth is probably in the middle struggle can be both good and bad I just love it in games because I think in order to experience the best in life you have to experience the worst, the best feeling in games only comes after overcoming immense struggle which is why I love games with struggle personally, but totally makes sense someone would want something more low key. I just chose to embrace struggle and it’s made my life better, but could just be the privileged position I come form that makes me feel that way so I get what you are saying. Again appreciate the support!
Or could be a video to argue that difficulty in games are what makes it fun. Such as living a difficult life intentionally can be the most fulfilling. You don’t have to run a 5k and no one is making you but you choose to do this difficult feat that doesn’t matter and yeat doing it is incredibly fulfilling.
wow this guy is so cool
No one gets me like me
@@FranklyGaming nah he is pretensions /s
@@FranklyGaming please take your pills grandpa
You have such a kind smooth voice.@@FranklyGaming
"Nostalgia is a memory without the pain" That really hit me. And I LOVE your videos and the endless hours you put into thinking about them, crafting the script, and then editing it really does show.
Glad to see you guys are appreciating the effort, thanks for watching!
Then what is memory with pain?
Not just the video game thing, but the message in this video is something everyone should listen to.
We should take struggles as staircases to a much better experience.
I mean yes, in the real world
Glad you enjoyed! Like making bigger takeaways in the videos too
@@FranklyGaming and that’s absolutely great of an approach
Can somebody give this man a high five for chapters and timestamps?
Talk about a creator who really respects his content consumers time and OCD!!!!😂😂😂😂
Average War Thunder player after grinding a whole techtree… for nothing. This is true gamer suffering, gamers
Poor war thunder players lol
im barely 7.0 🙃
@@scottienjvods2133 Great for you, keep the grind down tho, don’t give to much of your time to the snail, i finished grinding two trees, and im taking a break rn
Life is suffering , even in games we suffer , thats what make every one special
Thanks for the great video
Thank you for watching! Appreciate the kind words
Dude, i feel this a lot lately, i tend to always avoid difficult games like souls-like game and roguelike, but somehow when i play games like halo or far cry i often choose hardest difficulty. There are some games that i love even tho its hard like hollow knight, ori , and kena bridge of spirits
One thing Ive found personally is that I loved challenges in games when I was younger but very much less now. Now as soon as Im stuck in any game I just lower the difficulty or uninstall as I cant be bothered. What means something to me now is really just the gameplay and storyline.
Attention span
It's not a survival game, but the last of us part 2 (controversy aside) made me feel all kinds of emotions. I've never played a game that was so good, but hated playing it. That game genuinely made me feel depressed.
Great example too, where the narrative is so tough but so rewarding. Appreciate you watching!
@@FranklyGaming appreciate the content. Keep it up the hard work sir 🫡
Yeah TLOU2 is unique in the sense that the gameplay does not make you suffer, but the story sure as hell does😂 just to be clear it’s one of my favorite games of all time. But it is not an easy game to play emotionally.
"Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."
❤️
That scene in Mass Effect 3 where Thane dies surrounded by his family and friends made me cry. It *is* his happy ending. And the fact that Sheppard helped him to reunite with Koylat right before the end. 😭
Such a great moment in a legendary series
This guy’s taste is just….. perfect
And the way he details everything… even better!
Keep improving man, we’re with you!
Definitely gonna try pacific drive, I’ve never heard of it anywhere else.
I appreciate it thank you!
This video was like a healing portion to my soul...
Thanks for watching!
Instant like for Pacific Drive and Frostpunk, I loved both. Frostpunk 2 is looking good
Can’t wait for frustpunk 2 should be awesome, thanks for watching!
Y'know
something tangentially related to this
I do feel there is an aversion to dealing with heavy topics or playing as evil or morally grey characters in games and especially when seeing characters we are attached to that do evil things recieve their comeuppance.
There is a tendency for players to not be able sometimes to contextualize their pain and anger and play characters that are apathetic or cruel, which severely limits the kinds of stories that can be told.
Some of my favorite games like NieR: Replicant deal with really dark and fucked up topics and have you play as people who are arguably destroying the world for the sake of selfishness.
I feel there is a lot of enjoyment to be had in exploring stories like this. I do sometimes feel that devs are uncomfortable with giving players real consequences or forcing them to make sacrifices. I mean, how often do you see RPGs that don't offer the player a "perfect" ending where noone has to sacrifice anything?
Armored Core 6 really kicked me off into liking playing games in hard mode from the beginning instead of waiting for a second playthrough
The chosen musics for that video is *chef's kiss*
Always one of the main focuses in my videos, glad you enjoyed!
You’re 100% right! I got Fallout 3 for Christmas in ‘08 for the Xbox 360 and I STILL remember trying to cross the goddamn Potomac river for the first time to get into the heart of D.C.! That Korean borderland D.M.Z.-like fucking hellscape of super mutants, angry stupid robots, landmines, AIDS water, crippled limbs, and random instant death lying in wait around every corner of that godforsaken territory that you managed to drag yourself a little further into with each consecutive try. And what was my proud, ever-prepared vault escapee equipped with to handle this brutal, looming, unprecedented mission? A 10mm handgun, a single 10mm round, a 2x4 with some damn nails in it, 2 stimpaks, and a salvaged fragmentation landmine I about damn near killed myself trying to grab in a hurry. Almost 16 years ago and still one of my fondest video game memories to date!
Perfect example! It’s those struggles and overcoming them that leave us with the most lasting memories, thanks for watching
I played it all and your video made me realize how numb I have become. Been a while since a game got me emotionally invested
9:22 "imagine having fun in a video game"
+1 for Outer Wilds music in BG.
i appreciate a lot of your points, and you are certainly well-spoken about them. however, i think over all you are explaining things that are desirable to you as if they should be desirable to everyone. i get just as much satisfaction and sense of achievement from beating a game on story mode that you get on heroic, because i don't enjoy the difficulty you seek. it's really as simple as that - some players have entirely different reasons they enjoy games. i did take exception to the point about accessibility in games. suggesting that arachnophobes should leave the spiders visible is like telling a clinically depressed person they should cheer up. in a lot of cases, these are mental conditions, not preferences.
Thank you for taking the time to watch eventhough we disagree, ya for sure I have a lot of bias in how I think and see the world wanted to be the finding a balance section in for that reason at least understanding the other side some.
I do see what you are saying for sure, I guess it’s just not how I view the world I don’t think that means your side is wrong though, guess I am just passionate about how I look at things obviously lol.
You bring up some good points for sure though I think since I don’t deal with say arachnophobia as heavily as some (even though I do have it to an extent) it’s easier for me to just be like “deal with it”.
But like I said in the video too I do just think that’s a better way to live life, embrace the suffering, instead of looking to protect ourselves from it, basically the gist of the video.
Thanks again for watching!
My life is stressful enough, I dont need my hobbies to be stressful too lol
This video deserves over 500k views! Absolutely brilliant to a 32 year old gamer. Don’t know how old you are but regardless you know what’s up:) the things you’ve said are honestly universal.
Really appreciate that! Thanks for supporting the channel
That's why the Halo games directly say Heroic is the intended difficulty. It's nigh perfectly balanced to provide a fun challenging experience. Meanwhile Legendary is just a slog a lot of the time.
Exactly it for sure can be a balance sometimes
Love your videos! Subscribed recently and can’t get enough. Don’t stop
Really appreciate the kind words!
I just love listening to your videos as I go about my day. It's always a huge highlight. Much love from germany
Thanks so much! And shoutout Germany lol
@@FranklyGaming I also have to add: I'm a huge fromsoft fan. So a video about suffering is right up my alley 🤣
Since I've now watched more of the video, I have to add onto what I said above. I think you are missing the point in why difficulty options are, just like color blind options and other such accessibility options, are valid and useful. You are thinking of gaming from 2 flawed perspectives: 1. you're viewing games as if every gamer has the same ability to overcome challenges, and 2. you aren't viewing games as an intrinsically inclusive art form.
1. while the majority of people who play games will be able to overcome any challenge if given enough time, that isn't true of all gamers. Think of people who, due to either medical issues or age (like the elderly) simply cannot react to games in time to complete a challenge. These people will never be able to complete a game if not given adequate difficulty settings. On top of that, there are many people who have an incredibly finite amount of time and cannot play difficult games lest they take an overabundance of what little time they have. Think of manual laborers who work 12 hour shifts, doctors and nurses who work for several days on end and also must attend medical conferences to maintain their abilities, new parents with labor intensive children, or any such kind of situation that makes playing games consistently to be able to build up the skill required to complete them impossible, or at least improbable.
2. Yes, life is hard, and life doesn't have options for making it easier; however, isn't that a bad thing? Isn't it bad that people who have lost limbs cannot do certain things in real life? Isn't it terrible that people who lack sight or hearing will never be able to interact with the world in the same way as people with all their senses in tact? Why would the inequity of the world be a proper argument as to why games should be gate kept from these same people? In the same way that we build ramps for people who require wheel chairs, shouldn't we also be building accessibility into our entertainment?
Your argument that, since "we" overcame difficult things to engage in an activity means that everyone should overcome hard things is also an abusive mind set and a gatekeeping tactic. Imagine the state of speed running if whenever a new speed runner wanted to start playing, the community prevented them from learning the best strats and community tools because the community had to build them up over time. These things make speed running easier, but without them it would be a dead or dying art for and skill. One of the goals of people who enjoy an activity is making the barrier to entry into said activity easier, so that more people can enjoy it. If you aren't trying to make it easier for other people to enjoy the things you enjoy, you are doing more harm than good to that activity, because without new blood, all things die.
The Last of Us Part 2 has one of the highest game completion percentages of all time, and this is in great part because of how accessible it is. There are people who crave and people who REQUIRE these options to be able to participate.
You bring up one accessibility feature that you, personally, think is taking it too far (arachnophobia) and feel that, since you find spiders scary, you're arachnophobia and can therefor speak about everyone with diagnosed arachnophobia (my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21852-arachnophobia-fear-of-spiders). Arachnophobia is when people have full on panic attacks at the mere thought of spiders, not some one who thinks spiders are creapy (as many people do). But also, at the end of the day, who are you to decide how other people should best experience a game. If the game developers decided that they should add a slider into their game to allow more people to play it, who are you to tell them they shouldn't have done it.
On that same topic, you then proceeded to talk about some potential "accessibility" features that could have been implemented in Alan Wake 2 to make it easier and how that would ruin the game. This is a strawman argument, and a pretty bad one at that. You invented the worst possible "accessibility" options you could think of for a horror game and used them to demonstrate how accessibility options are bad for games. When game developers work on accessibility options, they craft them in a way that makes the game better for people, not worse. Of course, there will always be people who make a game worse for themselves by not attempting to overcome challenges they are capable of overcoming, but I'd much rather let people ruin games for themselves than gate keep gaming from people incapable of making that decision
Bottom line, it appears that you're the kind of person that loves a tough challenge in their games, and that's totally fine. You find games that are too easy to lack excitement and memorability, and so you want to play games that force you to struggle. That's all well and good, and I'm all for encouraging people to try and play harder games and push themselves. The issue is that you take your personal stance and you're arguing that it should be enforced on everyone. Not everyone wants a challenge in their games, period. Those that do, don't always want the same kind of challenge you do, and some are unable to deal with the standard difficulty of a game for any myriad of reasons.
Let's do a thought experiment. There are many people out there that love to play Kiazo mario games. These games are well known to be incredibly difficult, and their whole purpose in existing is being a punishingly difficult skill test. I will concede that these games, and games like it, could not be modified with easy difficulties without losing out on their value. But imagine if someone who loved to play Kaizo mario games argued that all games should have a similar challenge with no options for lowering it, because they think that's the most fun way to play games. This is an absurd argument of course, and you aren't arguing this exactly, but this IS the kind of stance you're taking. You are arguing that your taste is objectively correct and that people should be forced to adhere to your taste because it will be better in the long run.
I know from the length of this post, many people will skip reading it and most people who agree with your stance won't be swayed, but I have a lot of passion for increasing the accessibility for games. I know people personally that cannot play a majority of games because they have disabilities that make it impossible. I've seen the desire that these people still have to play and engage in games, but they just can't unless the game caters to them. I have yet to find a compelling argument from someone online as to how having difficulty options would fail to improve a game.
I really just want people to take stock of where they stand when they argue that games should be less inclusive and see if you really think that disallowing some people from engaging in video games is what you really want; because arguing against more accessibility and difficulty options is all that every does.
Definitely see this side as well, I think I just at a core principle level disagree I guess. For example those first 2 points I think it’s totally valid, but I just disagree.
If someone at no fault of their own say like your example lost limbs can’t do something, I view it as well sucks, work hard figure it out, the true beauty of life.
I definitely think my view is a lot more ruthless than a lot of people though I think a balance is probably the right spot, it’s just by providing accessibility for certain niche situations it takes away from something in my opinion
But for sure think some games should some shouldn’t. I kinda just view games like I do real life.
For example if you are unable to work long hours because of some medical issue at no fault of your own, too bad can’t be the CEO of a big company now that needs non stop work for years.
I think life just is that way no matter how harsh it seems, but that same harshness creates a sense of fulfillment and beauty that games can mimic
Great video as always! For me, the suffering in games that I enjoy the most is a darker, more mature story. If a game has a great story, then I'll work hard to figure out the gameplay just so I can experience it. I love This War of Mine, Frostpunk, and the newer Wolfenstein games, cause, even though they're full of emotional suffering, they tell compelling stories in a way unique to video games.
As for games that cause suffering from gameplay, I'm not able to play Soulsborne style games due to disability. I have tried them in the past, and, even with considerable effort, I wasn't able to progress. The sad thing is, I enjoy challenging gameplay when I'm given accessibility features, including difficulty settings. I usually start on an easier difficulty, which in many cases is as challenging to me as normal difficulty is to a nondisabled player. Then I'll gradually increase the difficulty so it still feels challenging. There's even a few games that I've beaten on the hardest difficulty, because I just really liked the game. For Soulsborne games, the current difficulty might be "Normal" or "Hard" for a nondisabled player, but for me it's "Impossible". It does make me a little sad, cause they seem like great games.
Thank you! And I definitely feel that some of the games I love the most have really dark or hard stories but that is what make them so great
39 minutes of a masochist explaining how masochism works. 10/10.
😂
I love the whistling in the background. I didn't even notice until the 27 minute mark.
The feeling of accomplishment is worth the suffer in many cases.
In other mediums you simply can’t suffer through the same exact events your game character does.
And so on…
Great content as allways
Exactly, and appreciate the support as always as well!
Have no idea how you come up with topics like this. This video is amazing
Really appreciate that! Thank you for supporting what I do
Must be a very smart and cool guy to come up with them
@@C4Detonator true seriously such a cool guy
As someone with a visceral fear of spiders, arachnophobia options are lame! I've just accepted that I can't play games with big spiders in them. No Grounded for me
Chad commenter
idk how u manage to pump out long, good quality videos so frequently
Your main critique about Hollow Knight, the lack of interest due to having to back track, seems to be more about you disliking Metroidvania style games than disliking Hollow Knight. It's a valid criticism of the genre, if you don't enjoy it, but it's also what the genre is built on. A metroidvania without backtracking isn't really a metroidvania, it's just a linear action game. This kind of design doesn't appeal to everyone, and that's totally fine, but it is central to the experience, and something that many people DO enjoy.
Oh ya 100% it’s more just my dislike of metroidvanias in general, that’s why I mentioned I know a lot of people would disagree cause it’s more just a personal opinion as an example of difficulty I don’t like but I know a bunch of people love it for sure
The entire mainstream world needs to watch videos like THIS!!
I'm a 52 year old gamer that loves immersing myself in difficult and challenging RPG worlds. One of the earliest RPG games I played was Zork when I was 12 years old. Been hooked ever since.
It's frustrating and surreal to hear friends and family dismiss gamers as nothing but shallow, nerdy losers who don't go outside. You know all the usual cliche insults.
The level of maturity and intelligence in this analysis genuinely lifted my spirits because it reenforced that my love for gamimg is legtimate.
As I listened to this it was like you were inside my head and describing exactly how I feel.
I was about 3 minutes into this and instantly subbed. YOU SIR, are a very special representative for gaming.
Keep up the great work!!
I really appreciate the kind words and support thank you!
20:45 what is the ost in the background playing? I've heard it so many times, but it's frustrating me that I can't remember where its from.
I cannot phantom how you dont have a mil subs. Love your content
Well brother, you've convinced me to finally pick up elden ring.
Pray for me.
Thank you 🙏🏾
I agree with a lot in this video, and it's very well-written otherwise, but I think you really misunderstand the arachnophobia feature. A phobia is not just a fear, it's not discomfort, it's not "I'm so scared". I have passed out, hyperventillated, borderline suffocated because I couldn't stop crying from going into panic.. because of the tiniest spiders. I force shut-off my PC with the safety switch several times because I wasn't aware some game would have spiders, and had to take several hours to calm down after. A phobia is no joke, it's not something you just overcome, it requires professional attention and treatment. Yes, the treatment is exposure therapy - that is a very controlled way to expose yourself in a safe environment under professional supervision. Being jump-scared in games is not controlled, even if it's safe. And I say that as someone who adores many of the games you've mentioned, horror movies, etc. It literally is an accessibility feature - without it, a game is entirely inaccessible to people like me, and I find it unfair when phobias are put into the same category as fears. It's absolutely irrational, it's overblown, highly unreasonable, and I think everyone dealing with phobias is aware of that - but telling people to basically "just deal with the discomfort" is wrong on many levels, and it only reinforces the shame we already feel around it. Damn, I would've been so upset if I didn't get to play Hogwarts Legacy without that beautiful feature.
Challenges are meant to be overcome - but the height of the barrier is incredibly personal, subjective. What might be a reasonable challenge to one person may not be to another, and it's a big learning experience to understand what level of challenge is healthy for personal growth, and what isn't. That has also been researched more than enough, and wasn't mentioned in the video - that there is an "optimal challenge level" for growth, and beyond that, you have nothing but frustration to gain. I'm not saying I expect From Soft to add easy modes, as it's their games and they're usually balanced beautifully around their intended difficulty, but hating on people for using mods and custom features to regain accessibility and customize their experience is unfair and short-sighted.
Growth through challenge also can't just be limited to video games. After all, many of us also face difficult challenges in our daily lives, in our jobs, with our families, etc. This is obviously a *vast* oversimplification and just an anecdotal piece of "evidence", but most of my friends who really enjoy a good challenge in a video game have less mentally challenging professions. Difficult video games is how they get their share of a sense of accomplishment, as it is currently what they're focusing on in life. And this isn't meant to be judgmental by any means, it's just an example of how different people choose different challenges in life.
Either way, I think in my perfect video game, the game starts off with questions on accessibility (can you use both hands fully, can you click buttons quickly, do you have phobias, etc.) - and then adjusts difficulty automatically as you okay, with no settings at the beginning. Plenty games have done this *very* well and I'm surprised it's not more common.
you are my hero man
All in a days work me
I agree with you but I play games pretty inconsistently now so I forget the moves by the time I load it up again. Most of the time I just play games to relax.
I keep meaning to try Frostpunk. I wanna freeze to death like my favorite youtubers
Had a great time suffering highly recommend 😂
I have never been so conflicted watching your videos... I think I agree, but I'm one of those guys that prefers to play on easy, and actively avoids Soulslikes, survival games, all games that require expert timing and reflexes I do not touch (partly because my body has low reaction and processing times, as well as other things), and as a result I have low tolerances for games that are difficult just because.
But, there are different types of adversity. When I can, I play games where you can pause or take turns, so I can think at my own speed, like Paradox grand strategy games, or turn-based RPGs, like Baldur's Gate 3. I do play other RPGs, like Mass Effect, but I turn the difficulty down when have trouble. Same with immersive sims, cause I prefer games to not have difficulty relating to combat, I do prefer it in other areas.
Maybe you could have made it clearer that there are different varieties of suffering we prefer, cause I feel like most people are going to focus on the purely combat kind of suffering.
(let me know if I rambled here, cause I am sometimes not coherent at times, lol)
Other than that, that was a great vid! Keep up the Amazing content!
Ya I think one nice thing to touch on more is narrative struggle cause exactly there are all different types that can be rewarding, thanks for watching!
Top notch content is right over here. Interesting and entertaining to watch. Thanks!
Appreciate you taking the time to watch!
Fears aren't the same as phobias, for some, there is no such thing as "bear with it" or "overcome your fears", having the ability to change spiders texture for example can be a good way for people to experience a game they wouldn't otherwise. i use none of the acessibility options in games, because it's not for me, i don't need it, but i appreciate the implementation
Yes maybe that player will get only 70% of the experience, but it's their decision, and it's better than nothing.
In terms of difficulty i tend to go with the intended experience the devs envisioned, but sometimes it's hard with 5 difficulty modes to chose, in that way i rather have no choice
other than that great video
ive been save scumming alot in dishonored 2 for a non lethal/low chaos run, its my second playthrough adter doing high chaos (how i wanted to play it) first. originally tried no detections for this second run as well as non lethal but realised i was just not that good reloading up to 5 times for 1 encounter sometimes so i dropped the no detections part an settled for non lethal dropping it to around 2 reloads at much less frequent intervals, though i do wish to get good enough where i dont rely on it so much an eventually hit a no detections for now the goal is just chasing the good/low chaos ending
Pain, suffering in a game? This is exactly how it feels to play a extreme demon in geometry dash
The point of games is to take a break from the hard work of day to day lives. It’s subjective if that means someone wants to cheese a game or not. Especially if it’s single player.crafting a principle around a game such as hard work or perseverance defeats the purpose of what a game is which is entertainment. How people choose to consume that entertainment varies for each person. For some they want a crushing experience, for a lot they want a power fantasy. Because of that developers should most definitely allow the player to regulate what experience they desire. It hurts no one to allow a player to cheese a single player game like Elden ring. If anything the whole get gud mindset has perpetuated a toxic culture. Essentially discouraging and gatekeeping people from enjoying a game. A lot of people don’t go to games to simulate the hard work they already exhaust in their day to day lives. They go for a break and or escape. Someone having an issue or hoping a developer intentionally doesn’t put an “easy mode” in a single player game is just extremely weird. At the end of the day that players choice to be a god in their play through has literally no affect on anybody else’s. Therefore it really shouldn’t be anybody’s care or concern if that is what someone decides to do. If it does then that means someone gets a feeling of superiority over others by being able to beat a video game someone else couldn’t. That’s way more pathetic than someone choosing to play on easy mode. Plus video games are a growing Median, a lot of people who never played games before are now. Those accessibility options allow them the ability to actually get into and enjoy gaming. Gaming is an entertainment media, that should be accessible to as many people as possible. Having an issue with someone having the OPTION to play a game differently, conveys a serous problem with them not games being to “accessible”
. crushing difficulty is a subjective preference. Subjective preference should never harbor any objective permanence. Especially in an attempt to gatekeep or dictate the “right way” someone should be playing a game. That’s just weird
I addressed this in the finding a balance section you might like that part! I get this side for sure too and think some games should target both sides I just think inherently struggle is key to what even makes games interesting compared to any other media like movies etc
Great🍾 😀🤘🏼
Thanks for the support!
First time I completed a Vet Maelstrom run as a Khajit StamBlade in ESO a couple of years back.
That was a struggle brother.
If ya know ya know!
Thief.
I love the Medieval dark fantasy setting, it is far better than any steam punk 18th century dark fantasy setting. (The way Thief 2:The metal age combined the two was just superb.)
Thiefs sense of atmosphere is unparalleled.
The use of direct sound & ambient noise, lighting and environment is so complex and well thought out that it all blends together to form a complete, believable world and completely encapsulates your mind.
The looting sounds and objective completed sounds are just amazing, so satisfying.
All of the sound design is superb…bone chillingly ominous and grippingly terrifying at times.
The scariest and most enjoyable game series I have ever played.
Stealth.
The imaginative use of environment and sound makes ‘Thief’ an unparalleled stealth game, no hiding in tall grass nor simply ducking behind a conveniently placed chest high wall , instead you have dark corridors, and environments with different surfaces to traverse across, from soft, grass of chateau gardens or soft soundless wool carpets in nobles Castle suites to metal grates in infantry barracks that clang as you try to tiptoe across them. Tiles in kitchens, cobblestone streets or marble hallways that echo with each footstep you take, that forces you to use tools like ‘’Moss arrows’’ that will mask your sound but is a visual trigger to guards that something is afoot.
Causing you to think outside of the box and find alternative routes/methods of traversal such as wooden beams spanning across the building's inner roof, so many elements to take into account that cause you to think, to adapt and to plan your route and actions meticulously.
Knocking out a guard with a bludgeon, you are then forced to pick up the body and deposit it in a dark , unused corner or closet as to not arouse suspicion, even then, when the other guards realise that three or four of their number is MIA, they still become suspicious and raise the alarm, thus using pickpocketing to acquire keys,loot,scrolls,disarm a human opponent, completely circumnavigates those issues but requires intense amounts of skill to pull off without being caught… it is thrilling and I love it.
Navigation and mission design.
Thief has one of the best navigation systems there is, absolutely no mini map,you always have a compass in the right hand corner, but you have a paper map that you have to open, sometimes if the story has a reliable informant, the mission will have a detailed map (Some of which sometimes turn out to be false/incorrect) other missions have extremely vague informants ,thus the map is sketched with only limited features, then as you explore and scout the map yourself, you slowly expand on the map ,adding to its detail and accuracy. Some areas deemed to be so dangerous that only myths and legends surround them have little to no info on the map regarding them.
During some missions whilst exploring and robbing medieval locations you might happen across or hear a guard mention a military/guard station that contains a map and information of a region you will be located within during the next mission ,thus proper exploration and making an effort to loot notable areas/containers, rewards you with a more detailed map in the next story segment.
The map also only displays a highlighted rough area where you are located, and not an idiotic GPS dot/arrow indicator to show your exact location & GPS path to follow.
This adds greatly to the sense of mystery and exploration .
Having to use a compass with a rudimentary sketched map is highly thrilling and rewarding, as ever, Thief expects you to think,to read, to keep your wits about you and to use your brain in order to survive, navigate, solve riddles, follow clues, form a bigger picture and eventually complete objectives all whilst being drenched in fear as you face difficult,intelligent, sometimes undead/spiritual enemies with only medieval / experimental weapons/tools and I love that.
Combat/Weapons.
I love that you are just a medieval Thief, you are not a superhuman, you have no special powers like ‘’blink’’ , when a regular guard discovers you , you are forced to flee and hide, you can try to use your dagger/sword to fight, but that you will be taking on a mountain, your strikes are not that of a skilled soldier but of a lowly brigand, where the single guard you fight, can kill you with his trained hand in but two or three slashes of his sword. Even if you manage to use speed and precise jabs, by the time you have killed one single guard in a melee duel , most of the other guards will then be on top of you due to the commotion.
Thus is it much more prudent for you to remain hidden, to use stealth as your second weapon, to strike from the shadows using only one arrow…one hit from your bludgeon or one piercien jab from your dagger to fell an enemy and then to immediately slip back into the dark to hide the body/unconscious guard.
Then as you gain information,experience, skill and most importantly ..loot, you start encountering other enemies … indescribable horrors that are impervious to your blade,bludgeon and broadhead arrows… thus stealth remains your second most important weapon and your most important weapon becomes more and more vital…your brain.
Fear,brutality,horror.
My Biggest gaming achievement: When I finished Shalebridge Cradle in Thief 3:Deadly Shadows.
That is by far the scariest segment in a game that I have ever played, the story is so rich and engaging ,a mental labyrinth and as you gather small snippets of information whilst you are trying to survive, you get ice cold as the realisations hit you of what Shalebridge Cradle was and is.
I entered the Cradle fully stacked out with kit,gadgets and ammunition, when I exited the Cradle, running for my life, I had only two oil flasks left in my inventory and nothing else.... plummeting….. metres to the ground…. impacting the hard cobblestone pavement... I look up, dazed, bruised, injured, but knowing that I survived Shalebridge Cradle ... that was sensational.
Thief : The Dark Project, the Metal Age & Deadly Shadows.
By far the best gaming series ever made.
If we could get a proper remake of this series with no propaganda of the woke feminazi cult, then we will have pure gaming perfection.
The end of Thief 2: The Metal age. ... ''I am a child of Karris , a child of Karrriiisss….''
PLEASE can someone with vast amounts of imagination and creativity make another proper ‘’Thief’’ game..please.
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*my main issue with The Sims games is that there's little to no suffering 👎 well except Urbz In The City...I suffered ALOT in that one* 💀
I’ll die on this hill.
The self delete ending of CP2077 is by far the most impactful. Judy’s message hurt my heart irl.
It’s not my favorite. It’s not the one I think is right. But it impacted me far greater than any other in the game.
Really amazing example of the idea I’m talking about in the video, struggle creates the things we remember most
"easy" should be an option, just as "fulfilling" should be
That's a cool way to implement difficulties, I'll use that in my games whenever it comes to it, thanks.
So Doom Eternal is one of the greatest games of our time.
Dumb fun, challenge as hell, the right balance in acessability.
Be a power fantasy on easy mode that don't just hold your hand or a power fantasy as you become a god mastering the mechanics of the game what you want, you can find it.
The doom games are so awesome
What game is on minute 7:39
I do want to remark on the accessibility issue. I'd rather the tools be available than not to have them. Now I do agree that certain things shouldn't be put in: making hard games easier, like any of the Dark Souls games. I truly understand that. What I'd like to see more of accessibility is options for people to help with visuals: color blindness, photosensitivity, dyslexia, etc. Having things like that available is the stuff I want to see more in games. And having a tool to deal with arachnophobia is okay in my book because if you are too scared to play the game, but all your friends are playing, now it's excluding someone over something they innately can't control or master.
Maybe it should be split between "accessibility" (font options, key rebinding, etc. and "ease of use" (soft cheats that help people who are struggling.
I want hard mode for Pacific Drive
What is "PCIN"?
Poin?
Pain haha 😂, making thumbnails is hard
🔥
Appreciate it man good to hear from ya!
You are a scholar sir.
Thank you for watching!
You know, I'm something of suffering enjoyer myself.
If i want pain and suffering i will go work a corporate job. When i play games i want to have fun.
Truly beautiful
Thank you man!
Could you talk about WD legion
Your videos are always interesting, even if I sometimes have a different point of view. I think whether or not your gaming experience is improved through "pain"/hardship very much depends on what you want out of your gaming experience at a given time. Sometimes it's for relaxation, sometimes for exploration, and sure, sometimes also to challenge myself. But certainly not always. I'd play a lot less, if all games aimed at being a grueling quest for skill improval. (also, because nowadays I don't have enough time to e.g. spend hours learning a single boss's attack patterns in every other game. ) Struggle alone doesn't make a game good necessarily, and I certainly don't agree with the idea of overcoming challenges in games mirroring the way people grow as a person in real life after going through hardships. (Many people's lives could also be much improved by them not having to go through hardships.) I don't play games to reflect my real life experiences. Often it's even the opposite.
Overall I think it's good to give different (difficulty/accessibility) options, if implemeting them is reasonably within a developer's scope. And if it's not, then one also has to accept that some games are not for some type of players, and that's fine.
There are different points of views. I want easy. I want a story. I want a good time. I do not want work and frustration. I get enough of that in life. I will never play a Dark Souls game. Or if I did, I'd be cheating through it all.
Some of the accessibility points are subjective in several aspects but difficulty I don't think should be included. It's all about the amount of effort you want to invest into a game. If you don't like a game because it's too difficult then maybe it's simply not a game for you. I've seen one handed play-throughs and guitar hero controllers. The Souls games especially get the complaints because it a mainstream well known series but removing that difficulty is removing what makes it a Souls game. The developers knew what they were doing when they made dying over and over again literally interwoven into the main plot.
The older you get, the less likely you are to invest time into lackluster hardcore modes but when you strike a perfect balance, you get games like Elden Ring, which everyone agrees is hard but still flock to it. The difficulty level is static but there are a hundred ways to get through the game via cheesing, rolling around naked with a ridiculously huge weapon, or summoning someone for help. Regardless of how to decide to tackle things, you still earn that "I beat Elden Ring" trophy. Nothing is stopping you from enjoying a large portion of the world if you want to flee from everything in sight but the main plot is locked off with the flights. No, it's not as accessible as say a game like Skyrim where you can change difficulties mid fight but that's what makes taking the abuse bearable. If they made an easy mode in Elden Ring, I know damn well I wouldn't have the self-control not to utilize so I'm honestly glad it's not there. Brains will always look for the cheap and easy way of doing things so this game would never be the same. You have to get smarter, get better, and with a little bit of luck, you might pull through. That's what makes it a satisfying award worth playing for.
Human will power and strength to face difficulties, frustration and time-consuming repetition is not unlimited. I don't want to spend such a limited and important resource on games, but on something that can result in real life achievements, real satisfaction and personal growth. Games are supposed to give me a nice experience to relax and enjoy myself with, a temporary distraction from the harshness of life. I don't want them to provide my life with more harshness. I appreciate a fairly challenging game, as something that's too easy is not engaging, but I definitely don't like having to put the same effort in a game I would put at work, learning to play an instrument or in a gym workout. These three things give me real life positive outcomes and deserve my efforts for that, a game doesn't. Unless someone enjoys effort for the sake of effort itself.
I read the title as "fear of stuttering".
Thank you for the insightful video... if I may offer different perspective... I do play rpg genre and games like dark souls series, last of ronin, stellar blade etc. but I feel quite strongly when game is designed to be life-level tough and extreme challange. Imho game should be just a game, not project to overcome, not thesis to study, but just to have non-professional fun with exploration, combat etc. I do enjoy occasional challenge but not the one that asks of each player to be perfect, to read each swing in exact percise millisecond, to perform swing up in multitude of different swings possible in the right time etc. For example Sekiro - for me this is full-on masochistic game that developers get the kink out of torturing players. When I need to approach every boss encounter with studying 20 yt videos beforehand, reading up on strategies, trying couple of dozen of times fight myself... this just isnt fun for me (Last of ronin on the contrary is)... and the sense of achievement a lot of people mention is in my case immediately replaced by case of dread and physical fear "oh man if this first boss was almost impossible for me to beat after 30 tries how the hell will I finish the game"... no revelling in achievement at all. And then the deliberate decision by the dev team not to offer scaling the difficulty down-I totally do not understand why not? I get that game is designed to beat your selfesteem to a pulp but let me unlock "supereasy" if I need it and want it. Put a disclaimer "this is not intended to be used, you will diminish intended experience, you suck" but just let me survive through the ordeal like Sekiro. In Dark souls one at least can have help from other professional players but nooo, Sekiro will make you wish you never touched it.
That level of expectation from developers of the game towards game players is not acceptable for me. Games should be topmost and utmost fun. Do not even try playing feeling a bit tired since the game will punish you if you do: I start playing just to spend all my ingame currency, all potions to have less than I had before I started the last session. And this breeds stress, feeling of failure and regressing instead of progressing-did I learn anything new? Yes, that consumables do not help, that gil or howeveris it called matters not, that my hard earned level in better damage does not help me as much as it should and that I should probably grind grind grind up to 100 lvl before tackling first boss, and actually game is designed for pro gamers to finish first boss around lvl 10 for example.
enough ranting... just I wish such games do not exist in the form they do... lot of stress, regression, feeling of utter incompetence when touching those.
Sex is the easiest thing a human can do, and inarguably what humans emjoy most.
Difficulty is not fun.
There is no reason to feel emotions about everything. To ruin evrything with expectations. To speak reverently of Lovecraft. To use words as though they are meaningless because they're meaningless to you. Which makes what you say meaningless.What does it make you?
"He who learns must suffer, and, even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.”
I do not comprehend "fear."
I was issude Letters Patent this week.
I am a person that does not care for power fantasy. In reality I appreciate and am thankful for the successes I have achieved and the skills I have and are still learning .
Thus in gaming, I have no need to feel like an invincible one man army , I enjoy a challenge wrapped inside a well written atmospheric story ,and an immersive ,realistic setting, where your decisions carry weight and the story/environment hits you with unexpected curveballs/twists .
I want a game to take me out of reality and transport me to a world I can’t experience in real life.
(Such as shooting militarized Junta factions with an AK47 for instance)
FaCry 1 and Far cry 2 had such hardcode ,complex AI (For the time) and a truly hostile and immersive world where you have to fight tooth and nail just to survive in, your guns jammed at the most inopportune moments , bush fires set by you become a hazard even to yourself, mutated chimpanzees trying to rip your face off, it is epic!
Being dropped into the middle of a creature infested jungle with an assault rifle and only one 30 round magazine is thrilling.
Likewise , to be surrounded on all sides by dangerous, competent enemies and a raging bushfire that is not so slowly creeping closer and closer as you struggle to unjam your 50+ year old AK47, just to realise you have to take your malaria pills in the middle of it all is excessively thrilling to me.
When a game places you on the defensive, you have to fight mercilessly just to survive ,with by far the best healing animations of any game, that is peak gaming to me. When you are forced to use your intellect and wits, to think outside of the box to improvise,adapt and overcome , that is exhilaration. When you do manage to improve your skills , you succeed and you stand all dirty, bloody, cut up and bruised ,but triumphant at the end , that is euphoric satisfaction. And Far Cry 2 has that in spades.
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I desperately want a brutal Far Cry set in Africa once again as in FC2 but now there can be more predatory / dangerous animals such as lions, buffalo, Hippopotomi, crocodiles ,Pythons and more.
With Akasia thorns blocking your way and slowly doing bits of damage that you have to cut away with your machete, still using the Blood diamonds / arms dealing as the backdrop (Since that is still relevant today) as well as conflict over clean water sources .
A Far Cry set in the Sahel ,you, a French foreign legion mercenary , helping local Dogon warlords, the Doza ,fighting against the invasive Muslim jihadists would be epic. Just like they are doing today.
Using AK47’s, Mosin nagants,RPGs, FALs,SMLEs, Galils and more.
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Telling their story and sending some of the game sales profits to the beleaguered areas.
(That is if Ubisoft and the Woke cult therein don’t decide to just keep it all.)
I mean... kinda but some people just play it to play it, me for instance I HATE challenging stuff in games and will give up when something is to hard, and an example is dying light, I thought it would b e fun but the challenge of it pissed me off. I can sorta understand your points. Like yes it is nice to fight AND to persevere _however _ I can't lie if I cannot easily beat something it is not worth it. see I am a man driven by logic, and if it cannot make sense to do then I will not do it. it must be a guarantee or else it is a risk and even if EVEN if it turns out, well would it truly be worth that risk when one might loose something in the progress? that kind of decision making is scary for me and very hard, and its because I have crippling anxiety so when I want to, often I can't.
Difficulty for difficulties sake is what I find that is so unappealing. Raising a health bar, lowering a damage output, and multiplying enemy hordes is not worth me wasting my time for a legendary accomplishment and it doesn't lend itself to replayablity. Even a secret ending cut-scene doesn't make it worth it in today's day and age because I can watch it online. Instead, I think developers should be asking themselves how and why things might be more difficult. Imagine if boss fights had new attacks and ai reactions to your advances on them. Certain attacks might no longer work and new weaknesses and plot points might be revealed because of them.
Dark Souls doesn't need a difficulty change but as an example, imagine if you got more hinted lore based on these new interactions with enemies especially if they'd previously fought with another character who used a certain attack or weapon. Item drops are also a easy way to feed into that. I mean, tail chops for a weapon are a staple but if enemies never let you get close to them on easy mode, then it'd be unavailable for you to win. What if certain armors and clothing sets now agro-ed factions within the series because of the background stories that have yet to be told at that point. Entirely new bosses and enemies only hinted at could appear. Iteration dialogs could change. New events could pop up and hinder your progress. New areas could be made available and maps could change slightly to make traversing areas more difficult.
The possibilities are endless and games shouldn't rely on one or two simple things like a cosmetic skin or a weapon only gained at the end of a game that I hardly even got to utilize. Very few people want a grind for a grinds sake, so the rewards for upping the difficulty on these games should reflect the amount of effort being put into it. There are very few games I play above normal difficulty mode because games aren't making the rewards worth it in my opinion.
What is the best example you've seen of of a hard mode implementation in a video game?
damn..masocore its self-gratifications for the sake of affirmations.
Planet Crafter is slightly similar to Subnautica.
Escape from tarkov, the games still drains my mental power after 700h in but i fucking love it 😂
Playing Ac Valhalla: A true gamer suffering.
I like easier games, but I don’t like them too easy. I play on normal difficulty which tends to still challenge me without being too difficult. With the length of games these days I don’t want to be constantly dying but I do want my character to die otherwise I feel like there’s no stakes in the game. So dark souls is a no for me 😂
I saw Underrail my favorite not exactly bad definitely not the best game ever. 👍
This is another well made video, however, I think this is the first one I have disagreed with. If you really enjoy hard games that is great but why force all games to be like that. I find hard games (outside of the strategy type games) really boring. I play games for their story and characters and making the gameplay really difficult would ruin the passing of many of my favourite stories (like Mass Effect and the Telltale Walking Dead games). Basically I want to be challenged by the narrative not the gameplay.
#lovethegrind
It should be illegal to play music from Outer Wilds, without talking about it. My mouth waters and then there's no food.
I despise these new extreme challenges in video games. Games used to be exactly that, a game. Now its like working out science hypotheses and constantly struggling to figure something out. Thats a hassle not fun. They need to stop with this new game challenge crap. Make games games again and fun again. When im struggling on a challenge and beat it, i dont feel excited and feel accomplished, i feel “finally i got that shit, never going back to that again”. They turned video games into freaking mental chess. And i aint down with that. That shit sucks. Becoming a millionaire or six pack gives you real life rewards. Games are a downtime. Its not meant to be a challenge. Its made for fun. But now they increase our stress and anxiety and i dont respect that.
Why does everyone always call out Ubisoft? Every other open world game does the same thing as they do. Good video anyway
I just use it as the best example of the generic open world I guess lots of other games too though would fit the bill, and thank you!
damn
😌 *Promosm*
I'm sorry. I usually like your views but coming from someone who has been dealing with suffering from mental illnesses my entire adult life that I wouldn't wish it on anyone. There's a difference between suffering and true suffering. Just like say feeling depressed and being depressed. I understand that most other people are able to get up after being slapped down. But I wish to remind you that there are those who suffer and can't just get out of it. I've had friends and family who unalive themselves because they couldn't take suffering anymore. Your perspective makes me think that you don't know that not everyone can. Like the arachnophobia option. Some people have very negative physical and mental reactions and can be put in a panic. Your take is ableist even if that's not your intention. I don't think you have any malicious. But I implore you to see that you wishing for no easy mode for people who want games to cater to themselves is really you wishing games cater to your crave for challenge. Keeping an open mind is everything if you ever wish for more understanding and perspectives. Normally I wouldn't leave such a comment but this lack of perspective is something I wanted to make you aware of. i also don't think that enjoyable games are inherently challenging or even need combat or need pain. Sometimes we just want to exist. Just escape from reality. Not everyone is the same and operates with the same perspectives. You don't have to be productive to enjoy something. Anyways I don't have any hate. Just something I wish to get across. Keeping away from absolutes when talking about opinions is imperative for better nuance. Because we are all different and enjoy different things from different games. I don't think this is something you can or should debate over as it's like saying pineapple doesn't belong on pizza just because you don't like it. Again just something to consider as your take kinda bothered me. I'm a new subscriber and been really enjoying
Your games before you die videos
Hey thanks for watching and the write up I appreciate it I definitely agree it’s harder for some my sister suffers as well so I know what you are talking about.
Probably due to me being fortunate and very optimistic it’s just how I see things in terms of difficulty and struggle being good which for sure is a privileged position.
Honestly the truth is probably in the middle struggle can be both good and bad I just love it in games because I think in order to experience the best in life you have to experience the worst, the best feeling in games only comes after overcoming immense struggle which is why I love games with struggle personally, but totally makes sense someone would want something more low key.
I just chose to embrace struggle and it’s made my life better, but could just be the privileged position I come form that makes me feel that way so I get what you are saying.
Again appreciate the support!
Lol, 40 minute video to complain about someone else having fun in a video game in a slightly different way than you.
Go outside homie...
Thanks for giving it a shot at least!
Or could be a video to argue that difficulty in games are what makes it fun. Such as living a difficult life intentionally can be the most fulfilling. You don’t have to run a 5k and no one is making you but you choose to do this difficult feat that doesn’t matter and yeat doing it is incredibly fulfilling.