This is really refreshing. I hate this topic in general, because it seems to always go in circles, but it is nice seeing someone trying this from a differen angle. I hate it so much when a game is reduced to its difficulty like there is nothing else to ennoy about a game. It is strange to me how it is always ok to make a game harder but somehow a cardinal sin to make it easier. Edit: Thaaaanks. Editedit: Huh, seems like you loose a Channellike if you edit a comment. Anyway, that's why the thanks was there originally.
Id disagree tho on the other hand having the same difficulty level such as in a from software game allows everyone to be in on it and have the same level of discussion. On top of that when the difficulty setting is mechanically added to the world like in Elden ring rather than a setting is much better designed and what should truly be strived in game design.
@@raafeyalikhan4400 I am not shure if this is really true, at least not for Elden Ring. With the open ended nature of the game, there is no same level. The character build, equipment and character level will be different and change the experience for everyone. So I don't feel that argument is valid anymore. Regarding the build in, dynamic, player driven difficulty, yeah. I would generelly agree that it is a cool way to implement it, but I don't think it is superior. First: Sometimes I just want a set difficulty and no way to back out of that. (Thinking of Doom right now.) Second: I am not shure, but Soulsbornes adaptive difficulty may actually work backwards. Most of it is based on knowledge, which means the game gets easier the more you know about it. Meaning, later playthroughs will always be easier than the first one. This of course has it's own exceptions and is only true to a certain extend. What I am trying to say is, that no choice is perfect, and there will always be someone who prefers something else.
@@TheLuigi545 obviously that's why having something dynamic likr the difficulty built into the game is the closest we can get to a everyone is happy and that's clearly the case otherwise the game would be so loved
If there is no difficulty option I always play on easy...I play game the way I want. I work 12h a day, I don't have time to play. I just want to enjoy the game.
I think you're pretty disengenious about the ratatoskor video. He lays out clear views of why not all games need a difficulty mode. The developers themselves have come out about difficulty modes themselves and their intentions. You also start the video about the cost and difficulty of implementing multiple difficulty modes correctly. You also said that difficulty modes should affect another experience by putting easy mode games not designed for it actively, which will affect the community who work with each other to surmount this difficulty. Finally, the idea that easy mode is for accessibility is nonsense. You can make games more accessible without the game needing to be easy. People can play however they want this is correct. But not all games need an easy mode. Some things are not foreveryone, and we as a gaming community should be ok with that. Neither side of this argument should be toxic or gatekeeping, but we should not also force our views on others.
The normal difficulty is usually the best in my opinion easy is baby mode and hard is usually either the new normal (given normal sometimes feels like easy) or hard to the point where it just unbalanced
This is super frustrating with a lot of games. Even worse is when normal and hard are barely distinguishable and it makes the choice one between good combat flow and encouraging experimentation or having an actual challenge. Though as a UA-camr I do always appreciate a super easy story mode so I can blast through a game to a certain point if I need to collect more footage.
Not all games need difficulty options in the same way not all pieces of art need to have every color in the rainbow. Sometimes art can just be three or 4 colors bouncing off of one another. I guess what I'm saying is, if a game developer doesn't want to have an easy mode because they want you to experience the game a certain way, then there is nothing wrong with that. I'm sure you're already aware that many of the core themes and narrative ideas of souls games are intrinsically connected to it's difficulty, it's clear there is a vision and artistic intent behind not giving the player that option from the start. The ability to download a mod that makes it easier doesn't take away from that intent or vision the same way someone riffing on a movie or making a parody of an art piece wouldn't take away from what the original piece is, because those are third parties, they exist outside the realm of the original art. That's not to say there's anything wrong is engaging with mods, or anything like that, but they hold no weight in an argument over artistic intent because they are so obviously separate from it. There are of course ways to make souls games easier,. hell most people will say magic builds are a far easier experience, and you can of course grind in the game to get more powerful, but clearly those are things the developers intended to be an option, so what is the difference between those things and an easy mode? SImple, the developers want you to work at making the game easier, be it through grinding, just facing the challenge head on until you beat it, summoning other players, or trying a different playstyle, there is no wrong way to it, but clearly their intent is for it not not be as easy as flipping a switch from the start of the game because it would go against their vision of you solving the issue of the difficulty your own way. Game devs can mess stuff up, but artistic intent can never be wrong, you can not like it, disagree with it, but to say it's wrong is misguided and very much wrong. Hell even if you look up where to go next in a questline, you STILL need to overcome the battles that it has ready for you, and while yes in a puzzle game that would be playing on easy mode, in a souls game, or hell most games, I think it's disingenuous to say that's playing on easy mode. If I told you where your next boxing match was in your area, does that mean the actual boxing match, the fight, is now easier because you know where to go to fight? If I told you that the next puzzle box you gotta solve is on your ketchin table would that have any bearing in the difficulty of the actual puzzle you need to solve? Ask for the restaurant metaphor, if someone went to a pizza joint that made REALLY good pizza that millions of people already love and are happy with, and that same person said they don't like pizza, that they would prefer if they sold hamburgers along side the pizza, is that not a little rude and self-centered when there are literally thousands of other places that sell burgers? Maybe those restaurant owners don't want to make burgers, maybe the owners offer them hamburger pizza and it's still not enough because this person is so hung up on wanting a burger that they fail to realize that you are not actually owed that burger at this restaurant, with it's atmosphere, just because they want it, because not everything is made specially so they can be happy, maybe this pizza place caters to people that like pizza. I guess what I'm saying is, sure the pizza place CAN sell burgers, but maybe they don't need to, maybe they don't want to, and maybe those people in search of a burger and can buy something else instead of insisting that every experience be catered to their exact demands. Don't mean to come off as rude or anything, but I'm not at all a fan of people demanding artists change their work when they can just go and do something else. Espacially because souls games are an anomaly as far as difficulty goes when most new games that come out these days offer difficulty options or just generally not that difficult. This whole conversation is talked about as if this is some kind of industry issue of accessablity, when it's really just Souls games and like maybe 1 or 2 other games every couple of years (probably soulslike games at that lol). It's not about if GAMES should have difficulty options, it's if Souls games should, that is the actual conversation because it's the only series that anyone EVER talks about and is the only relevant example. So should Souls games have easy mode? No, not unless the creators want to, otherwise why can't people play anything else? If you're THAT interested in seeing the breath taking world and stories in these games, but don't want to deal with the difficulty, why not watch a walkthrough and some lore videos instead? Or hell, I guess you can install the easy mode mod, the same way you can go home with your pizza from the pizza joint and slap it between two buns if it makes you happy, go nuts, BUT it's NOT the artists responsibility to cater to you if you don't like what they sell. Anyway I found the video up until that last chapter pretty interesting, again I just feel like the goal post is being moved, not even by you specifically but in general away from artistic intent because it sounds a lot worse when you put in those terms, despite that being exactly what it is. If I said Lord of the Rings shouldn't have swords because I don't like looking at sharp things and would like a version/option where all those swords are censored, not by fans who already did that (lol), but by the original creators of the films, I think most people would say I'm being silly and weird, but in essence it is on the same level of asking the creators to go out of there way to cater my needs when I could just watch a movie that doesn't have swords in it instead or use a community soultion if I can't handle it.
If a game dev does have difficulty options I'll just ignore it it's clearly not for me so way would i spend the money in the first place? What benefit does slamming my head against a wall have my enjoyment? Why bother, i have better games to play i have other things to do so what would be the point? I get no satisfaction from beating a hard and unfair boss since the experience of killing the boss wasn't fun and i don't care about the reward because half the the sword you get is almost inconsequential, wow i just spent 10 hours beating a boss just for a sword that gives me 2 extra damage worse range and worse speed that was totally with it! Also i really don't care what the intended experience is im gonna "optimize the fun out of a game" because that will give me the most enjoyment which is what im here for and i recommend you do the same make the game as enjoyable for you as possible and if that means turning on easy, go for it if that mean making the game super punishing, go for it why should I be restricted to not enjoying something just because you happen to enjoy it on a default setting same goes for you mate, if making a game harder brings more enjoyment who cares what anyone else wants devs be dammed!
Ok what happens if that same pizza restaurant sells their pizzas with a specific secret sauce and you can only get this sauce at this specific restaurant NO WHERE ELSE, the recipe for the sauce is a secret (obviously) and this pizza is VERY expensive and most people say it's the best pizza they've ever tasted in their entire lives. You would expect the highest quality wouldn't you? So you get your pizza and take a bite and the flavour of the sauce tastes amazing but everything else is to put it bluntly *KINDA SHIT*. The bread is badly burnt, the toppings taste like you bit into a leather shoe and the cheese taste rancid. So you make a compaint and the replies often say things like "then maybe you don't like pizza" despite having pizza like once a weak and like most of them. Another common reply is "you should have finished all the pizza or your opinion is invalid" then you think, you were sick on the first bite why would you need to finished the whole thing it's obviously not going to get any better. Another reply is "it gets better the more you bite into it" but you wonder to yourself "why would someone make a pizza that is bad at the start but good the end instead of good all the way through? Wouldn't that make the pizza objectively worse than a pizza that is just a realy good pizza? What good would it give me eating something i clearly hate, I'll just be sick over and over again how would that make the pizza any better Wouldn't that make it worse?
Honestly disagree with the easy mode part. You mentioned that BB would be just as good of a game if it had an easy mode but that's simply not true. One of the greatest appeals of the souls borne series is overcoming the SAME challenge as the community. This is so one player can relate with another player on that level. Difficulty options would split the community terribly. I say I beat a normally hard boss? The first question would be which difficulty. If I say easy mode? I get called a scrub. I say hard mode? I get called a try hard. Why do you think Elden Ring was so incredibly successful? People have finally gotten what souls fans have gotten for ages and it spread like a wildfire. Not sure why people want difficulty options on these kind of games considering there already are. Can't beat a boss? Most of the time you can just go do something else. Or summon other players. Or summon spirit ashes (in ER). Or just use magic. There's nothing wrong with any of these options, these are just ways to make the game much easier. I would love a response here to hear your opinion!
These are fair points, but I think my argument didn't come across correctly. My idea would be less Easy\Hard and more like Cuphead's original setting of Easy\Normal. Clearly define that one is the experience Souls fans come for while the other could be so ridiculously easy that it's just for story, lore, and world. At the very least, ensure that players choosing that difficulty know it's not the intented experience, but an alternate one (and definitely don't allow switching difficulties mid-playthrough). While it is fun to talk to friends about shared struggles against tough bosses, it's also fun to discuss the crazy monster designs, the world, and the story. Not to mention- the community's already split. We just don't see it because rather than easy ormal mode we're split between those who played and gave up (or those who didn't pick it up for fear of the difficulty) vs those who stuck it out to the end. All an easy mode would likely do is add more people to the community, not pull some away from the standard difficulty. So we've have more people to talk to about the lore and world while still having the same number of people to share war stories with. As far as Elden Ring goes, I personally had just as much fun exploring as I did fighting bosses. Though if the game halved enemy damage I still would have had plenty of fun. Looking out upon the ruined capital with the embers floating in the air, that's something you can sit back and enjoy regardless of how difficult the journey was to get there. And unfortunately, given how many in the Souls community react to someone using spirit ashes, or summoning help instead of going it alone (some even mocking the use of "broken" builds) I think an easy mode would just be adding to the pile of things people are scrutinized for, not create its own category. Overall, my point isn't that it would be the same experience, or that the easy mode itself would be just as good\well-balanced of a game as the normal mode, but rather that the existence of an easy mode doesn't take away from the quality of the normal mode. Which is why I compared it to sound tests or concept art, which don't appeal to everyone, but they're there for those who enjoy that kind of thing without affecting the quality of the main game. I hope that clears some things up and as I said in the video, I don't think an easy mode should be mandatory, just that it shouldn't be rallied against either.
@@MightyNifty Now I do agree with you to an extent here, that the community is already quite divided. But to those who pushed through it's a special experience that they worked hard for. Hearing about how insanely strong Malenia is, then killing her first try because your on easy mods truly doesn't feel the same. It's meant to be a super downhill battle because your nothing in the face of her, and you need to overcome insane odds to achieve victory. A good example I have of this is Artorias from ds1. You hear about him all game how he tried to take on the abyss alone and ended up succumbing to it in the end. He's praised as one of the strongest warriors alive. Then when you fight him, he's corrupted, only has one arm, and has lost his mind but still kicks your ass. This gives you the feeling that if this godlike warrior couldn't overcome the abyss, how will you? But of course, you end up doing just that, and there is no better feeling than something of that caliber. ER has multiple examples of this, like how Malenia held Radahn to a standstill and you could only beat him by summoning a whole army. This makes you fear how powerful she really is. And how if this guy couldn't how will you? An easy mode would ruin this feeling and experience. Easy mode wouldn't just ruin the community, but also possibly rob the player of a fun and exciting experience. Not only this, but how would multiplayer work? If on easy mode, you can get runes faster and grind levels faster because of enemy reduced health and your increased damage, how would this all work? Wouldn't be fair would it. Once again this would split the community more than it already is. An easy mode would not only ruin the community, but also take away from the player's experience. Hope this helped explain why the general community is so against an easy mode.
I understand what you're saying, but there's still a flaw in the logic. An easy mode wouldn't take anyone away from normal mode, just add people who would only give the game a shot with an easy mode. The entire community stays the same, but with an offshoot branch of new players who went through on easy and didn't play normal. Not only that, but it could empower people to play through the game on normal after playing on easy. Maybe make it so the enemies literally all die in a single hit. Or lock off certain side areas like Mohg, Malenia, Radahn, and Rickard by making them exclusive to normal mode. Basically, it could be used as a tool to trick players who would otherwise be too intimidated or overwhelmed by the normal game into actually trying it out. It'd also be a big help for those who are overwhelmed by FromSoft's absolutely terrible menu UI to get used to it, making them better able to focus on the combat in the main game (or FromSoft could hire a decent UI designer for the menus, but it's been over a decade so I'm not gonna hold my breath lol). Plus multiplayer would just be exclusive to the mode you're playing in. Invading and competitive multiplayer could also be locked to normal mode. All in all, easy mode could create a tiny rift, but if designed properly it could instead become a more welcoming gateway that allows new players to see what the rest of us see in these amazing games. To be honest I was tempted to entirely redesign Elden Ring with an easy mode for this video, but it would have been ridiculously long and boring for those only interested in the main topic, so I left it out. Also because there are so many ways it could work. I think our perception of easy modes makes imagining one in Elden Ring difficult, but a FromSoft easy mode would need to be different from other games in order to make it work. The changes could also go in the opposite direction and be extremely minor. Even the developers constantly change the game to make it easier or harder, so the whole thing is arbitrary. As someone who beat the game with heavy weapons before they were patched, you could say I played on hard mode. While someone using the ice axe with hoarfrost stomp before the patch played on easy mode. In theory, From could just make 2 new modes where the hoarfrost stomp does max damage for one (Easy) and strength weapons are de-buffed for the other (Hard). All three are legitimate difficulty levels that FromSoft has approved at one point or another, so even the devs are willing to admit that there's more than one legitimate way to experience the game. Hell, maybe easy mode could just be one where every boss allows players to summon 10 others for help instead of 2. Or give the player infinite summoning items\larval tears. There's so many ways it could be done with major or minor changes, but absolutely none of them take away from the greatness of the main game. Either way I do agree that thanks to summons, FromSoft games are far from needing an easy mode. In that regard I understand the community not wanting one, but if players can already make the game easier by looking up the best builds, looking up smithing stone locations, summoning help, using spirit ashes, grinding for levels, cheesing the game, using exploits and glitches, or just grinding levels... How much damage would an easy mode really do?
@@MightyNifty I definitely see your point here yes. Now in theory that would be completely ok. But I think we can both agree here that it would just be a, "gateway" of sorts. Most people who beg for an easy mode are people who want the same experience as everyone else, but without the challenge. Now in my opinion this is impossible because the difficulty is part of the experience. Like you said, the easy mode could lock of a ton of things just to try and get the player to do the normal mode. This in itself would be ok considering its practically a different game. But people would want more of the original experience, but retaining the easy difficulty. This would eventually lead to a cookie-cutter easy mode which would then ruin the game as I said in my previous comment. I don't think an easy mode like you described is really possible without a ton of complaints. I can already hear the people saying, "we don't get the full experience just cause were not as good?" Thus dividing the community and making the game significantly worse. Another point your brought up is it wouldn't take away from the regular community just add to it. But I don't think this is true. I know so many people who admitted that at a boss like Malenia, if there was an easy mode available they probably would have succumbed to using it. But they overcame Malenia without it and the feeling of accomplishment was unmatched. If an easy mode was available, this would have ruined his experience. I'm quite accepting compared to some of the community who didn't even like the addition of spirit summons. I just think an actual easy mode, which would inevitably happen if they started with a better one, would ruin the game and the community. Based of some of your points I think you may agree here to an extent.
Difficulty in games isn't what defies a game or the genre of the game. It only defys the balance and perimeters of the game. On the other hand though, there's games where the difficulty can be used against the game. It's wheather the game's too easy or too hard. Game's too easy, it becomes uninterested and boring. Only challenge is overcoming boredom. Game's too hard, it's not fun, becomes tedious and has fake difficulty. Ways in which a game should challenge you is through navigation, combat, exploration, puzzles, stealth, or a combination of all. Less UIs and HUDs on higher difficulties and more rewards system. If it's a stealth action game, the challenges in the enemy placements and using the environment to your advantage. If it's a survival horror game, limited resources and inventory, picking your battles much more conservatively. Any of these can be a challenge.
As a game reviewer, sticking to mediums makes perfect sense. But I personally still wouldn't use easy unless i wanted to just zone out a bit and go through things without a struggle. In my experience, hard is usually my preferred game mode. Anything above that feels artificially more difficult than necessary. The biggest exception here was that EA star wars game with that was a bit souls-like. In this case veteran seemed best but as an avid souls fan I'm biased. Edit: I disagree that an easy mode in souls game would be a negative. I would never use it but what makes a souls game so great for me, is why some people will never play them But as to looking up guides in elden ring, my first run through was a blind playthrough and I missed a LOT of content, particularly in quests. FromSoft quests have always been tedious and confusing so it's the one area i do usually end up looking things up. Could i figure it out on my own? Yes, but guides save a ton of time
Personally I flip flop between hard and medium being my favorite modes, even though I review on medium. Sometimes both are equally enjoyable since hard provides an actual challenge while medium allows me to get into a better, more natural combat flow and experiment with my abilities rather than just using what's most efficient, like in God of War.
Just found this video, this is fantastic and well explained. I've been saying similar points about games having difficulty options is never a bad thing, unfortunately a lot of people just seem to ignore this.
> [24:06] "[The video claims that an easy mode impacts those who don't play it, but it doesn't attempt to validate the assertion]" The video says "[If easy mode exists, I might feel tempted to play it. I might believe that I can always get past the challenge by nerfing it.]" If I'm not mistaken, the video also claims that the sense of accomplishment is diminished as a consequence. You may disagree with all of this. You may dismiss this perspective. You may conclude that this argument fails to validate the assertion. But I think it's flat out wrong to say the video does not _attempt_ to validate the assertion. The paraphrased snippet above definitely is an attempt.
I like it when my games have some BS in them, I'm a huge retrogaming buff, but I'm also not a huge fan of the recent "the harder the game, the better" mentality. I personally never understood why giving people difficulty OPTIONS is a bad thing. I can kinda see why people don't want games to be dumbed down, but to me, difficulty modes are a great way to expand the game's replay value while accommodating as many people as possible. Giving people a few presets (by making the game either easier or harder, depending on the player's needs) seems like a great idea. Plus, I kinda feel like that whole "easy mode" debacle is kind of pointless in the grand scheme of things. Step away from AAA gaming and you'll see that a lot of games nowadays are aimed at people wanting the challenge. I am a fan of indie games and the sheer amount of "hardcore procedurally generated deck roguelike building souls-like permadeath metroidvanias"I see is insane. A few journalists complaining about Souls games doesn't change the fact that the "git gud" crowd has it really, really good these days and it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.
I've only played a few hours of each, and that was years ago ... But I don't understand using Fortnite and Overwatch footage during the discussion of mobile MTX practices that effect difficulty. Aren't those 2 games MTX purely cosmetic and have no bearing on negating difficulty? Edit. Later in the video you say "developers can be wrong" and dude ... if you want video games to be taken seriously as an art form then you can't be more wrong than that statement. That's like saying Picasso was wrong, cause that's not how faces look, and viewer enjoyment should be top priority, rather than whatever the artists vision is. Edit 2. That "Foreknowledge is the same as easy mode" argument is about the least logical thing I've heard. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that you were making honest arguments, but then you break that sassy garbage logic out? That's like saying if you watched a speedrunner beat Doom Eternal on Ultimate Nightmare then the game is now easy and you can to. Or any time you replay a game that's the same as easy mode. Or if I give you the controller and put you in front of Malenia at Level 250 she's somehow easy because you didn't grind the runes and upgrade mats yourself. You had me in the first half of the video, I'm not gonna lie. But it downward spiralled fast.
I guess maybe to strengthen the point that AAA Games do this as well? But I have to agree, something like Assasins Creed would probably have been a better fit here.
Interesting takes. I'd like to clarify: 1. I used Overwatch and Fortnite because they're examples of micro transactions creeping into AAA games, not because they're examples of it being for a gameplay advantage. Overwatch is one of my favorite games, so I didn't mean to slander it even if I disagree with the inclusion of lootboxes in a full price game. I could have made that more clear, so that's on me. 2. When I say developers can be wrong, I'd compare it more to an artist very clearly making a mistake in their painting than a deliberate artistic choice. And while artist intent is important, games are both art and products. A beautifully crafted knife can be a work of art, but if it doesn't cut anything then it fails as a knife. Likewise, a game can be a work of art, but if it isn't fun it fails as a game. 3. Sounds like someone looked up a walkthrough. Yes, foreknowledge can make a game easier. Imagine saying that a walkthrough doesn't make a puzzle game easier. In the same vein, the traversal and exploration elements of Elden Ring are akin to small puzzles integrated into the gameplay experience. By looking up the solutions to those puzzles, you have made the game easier for yourself. Same goes for looking up the best builds or weapon combos- these all help the player to be more likely to succeed since they failed to come up with the same strategy on their own. Not only that, but of the two examples you gave, both do make the game easier. Playing a game for the second time is easier because you know the boss patterns and best item locations. It's why new game plus in most FromSoft games is usually an easier playthrough despite the increased boss health. And yeah, 250 is a ridiculously high level to fight Malenia so she'd probably be pretty easy. None of this means your experience was lessened in value or that you didn't achieve something by completing the game, but it definitely would be a much greater challenge without a walkthrough than with one. The only reason for the sass was to give some attitude to those who might mock someone for using spirit summons or summoning help. I hope this clears everything up.
3 things i took from this video... 1. why show overwatch when talking about p2w games? its purely cosmetic as far as i remember und should be counted as a good example in the EA invested modern gaming enviorement... 2. why show elden ring when talking about hard games? its by far the easiest souls games as it gives the player a pleathora of tools to make it easy (broken magic, mimic tear, summoning several friends etc) 3. talking about resturant methaphor i think i have to disagree as that is normal human behavior (let me give an example you go to a sushi resturant and your neighbor chucks a whole glas of nutella on his sushi... it will bother you because thats how we humans are^^ same if my neighbor is a vegan and i chomp on a big juicy steak ;) it will bother him) but still good video
I disagree with a second point. It's easiest souls-like game, maybe it is, but it doesn't mean that it's easier relative to other big games. And also video mentions that any RPG can be easy if you grind enough, so it doesn't even matter if he uses footage from Elden Ring or Dark Souls I also would disagree with you on third point. Like, it isn't your business if your neighbor eats sushi with Nutella unless it is dangerous for you or anyone else. I would argue on the first point that he simply doesn't care, because most of the games don't use microtransactions like that. Of all games that do I can only come up with CS:GO and Overwatch. 2 games out of hundreds that use it for cash grabbing isn't a lot, to say the least. Good point otherwise tho
To clarify, 1. Overwatch 2 has herpes behind the battle pass, i.e. pay to win. Not as much as like Clash of Clans, but ya work with the footage you've got. 2. Elden Ring is much more challenging than your average AAA game. And parts of it (Malenia) are much harder than other souls games outside of maybe Sekiro. It was also the most relevant since it's the most recent FromSoft game. 3. If you're at a restaurant and you get mad about what other people order, you're the asshole. If someone wants to throw Nutella on their sushi, you might joke with them about how weird that is, but you shouldn't get mad at the restaurant for letting them do so or the patron for eating what they like. I hope this helps explain my reasoning and I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
I would argue that a lot NES games would be worse games if they had save states. The clearest example is Castlevania which is very well balanced around the lives system. So it is cheating, sorry. No issue with Cheating, I use strategy guides for a lot of RPGs to get a good ending.
I'm really frustrated with Ratatoskr. His formal reasoning is so bad that it borders on being just disingeneous. His latest video opened with a maximalist caricature of the anti-elitist critics and then proceeds to complain about the strawman he himself built. He also argues that there is no such elitism and the few elitists that do exist are insignificant... because the criticism of them is so popular. And even under this video, which supposedly disavows Gamer elitism, people are moaning on about how River of Blood shouldn't be in PvP and using Mimic Tear is cheating. But there is a much greater frustration I have with this part of the community and that is that they are incapable of acknowledging other perspectives, as if "The Struggle" was be the only conceivable reason to play Elden Ring. And they insist that the experience is the same for everyone independent of differences in ability or preferences, which honestly just boggles my mind.
Why not? Assuming you don't choose the easier setting, what difference does an easy mode make to your playthrough? Not someone who chooses to play on easy, but you specifically. Let's imagine that Bloodborne has an easy mode, but to see it you have to enter a button combination on the main menu. Does it's existence make the game worse? Does it make your previous playthroughs retroactively less meaningful? If not, then having the option there from the start also wouldn't make any difference.
@@MightyNifty It would totally compromise the design and purpose of the game. There's no denying that. Any game you hear about are usually the ones that are tough to beat and that's important for the lasting appeal for gaming history. Games like Battletoads and The Lion King are well known for being brutal. I say save your money and watch playthroughs on UA-cam instead of ruining gaming with entitlement. Gaming has gone drastically down hill because of this nonsense and it has done nothing but brought depression to me personally as a gamer and thankfully From Software has created these games that purposefully designed to challenge those who seek it. Go ahead and call me a gatekeeper or whatever else pathetically predictable you have to say to save your ego. I'm not going to respond after this because you're not going to say something I've haven't heard before. General gamers will continue to buy fake games and the mainstream will just hand out 10/10 ratings like candy. Please have a great day and learn to appreciate true game design for the future of gaming sake.
@@Gay_Charlie You uh... You didn't watch the video huh? 😂 Either way, you didn't answer the question- assuming you, the person playing, chooses the same difficulty level that would be identical to the way Bloodborne is now, how does the existence of the other mode change YOUR experience? A mode that you choose not to play?
This is really refreshing. I hate this topic in general, because it seems to always go in circles, but it is nice seeing someone trying this from a differen angle.
I hate it so much when a game is reduced to its difficulty like there is nothing else to ennoy about a game. It is strange to me how it is always ok to make a game harder but somehow a cardinal sin to make it easier.
Edit: Thaaaanks.
Editedit: Huh, seems like you loose a Channellike if you edit a comment. Anyway, that's why the thanks was there originally.
Id disagree tho on the other hand having the same difficulty level such as in a from software game allows everyone to be in on it and have the same level of discussion. On top of that when the difficulty setting is mechanically added to the world like in Elden ring rather than a setting is much better designed and what should truly be strived in game design.
@@raafeyalikhan4400 I am not shure if this is really true, at least not for Elden Ring. With the open ended nature of the game, there is no same level. The character build, equipment and character level will be different and change the experience for everyone. So I don't feel that argument is valid anymore.
Regarding the build in, dynamic, player driven difficulty, yeah. I would generelly agree that it is a cool way to implement it, but I don't think it is superior. First: Sometimes I just want a set difficulty and no way to back out of that. (Thinking of Doom right now.) Second: I am not shure, but Soulsbornes adaptive difficulty may actually work backwards. Most of it is based on knowledge, which means the game gets easier the more you know about it. Meaning, later playthroughs will always be easier than the first one. This of course has it's own exceptions and is only true to a certain extend. What I am trying to say is, that no choice is perfect, and there will always be someone who prefers something else.
@@TheLuigi545 obviously that's why having something dynamic likr the difficulty built into the game is the closest we can get to a everyone is happy and that's clearly the case otherwise the game would be so loved
If there is no difficulty option I always play on easy...I play game the way I want. I work 12h a day, I don't have time to play. I just want to enjoy the game.
I think you're pretty disengenious about the ratatoskor video. He lays out clear views of why not all games need a difficulty mode. The developers themselves have come out about difficulty modes themselves and their intentions.
You also start the video about the cost and difficulty of implementing multiple difficulty modes correctly.
You also said that difficulty modes should affect another experience by putting easy mode games not designed for it actively, which will affect the community who work with each other to surmount this difficulty.
Finally, the idea that easy mode is for accessibility is nonsense. You can make games more accessible without the game needing to be easy.
People can play however they want this is correct. But not all games need an easy mode. Some things are not foreveryone, and we as a gaming community should be ok with that.
Neither side of this argument should be toxic or gatekeeping, but we should not also force our views on others.
The normal difficulty is usually the best in my opinion easy is baby mode and hard is usually either the new normal (given normal sometimes feels like easy) or hard to the point where it just unbalanced
This is super frustrating with a lot of games. Even worse is when normal and hard are barely distinguishable and it makes the choice one between good combat flow and encouraging experimentation or having an actual challenge. Though as a UA-camr I do always appreciate a super easy story mode so I can blast through a game to a certain point if I need to collect more footage.
Not all games need difficulty options in the same way not all pieces of art need to have every color in the rainbow. Sometimes art can just be three or 4 colors bouncing off of one another. I guess what I'm saying is, if a game developer doesn't want to have an easy mode because they want you to experience the game a certain way, then there is nothing wrong with that. I'm sure you're already aware that many of the core themes and narrative ideas of souls games are intrinsically connected to it's difficulty, it's clear there is a vision and artistic intent behind not giving the player that option from the start. The ability to download a mod that makes it easier doesn't take away from that intent or vision the same way someone riffing on a movie or making a parody of an art piece wouldn't take away from what the original piece is, because those are third parties, they exist outside the realm of the original art. That's not to say there's anything wrong is engaging with mods, or anything like that, but they hold no weight in an argument over artistic intent because they are so obviously separate from it.
There are of course ways to make souls games easier,. hell most people will say magic builds are a far easier experience, and you can of course grind in the game to get more powerful, but clearly those are things the developers intended to be an option, so what is the difference between those things and an easy mode? SImple, the developers want you to work at making the game easier, be it through grinding, just facing the challenge head on until you beat it, summoning other players, or trying a different playstyle, there is no wrong way to it, but clearly their intent is for it not not be as easy as flipping a switch from the start of the game because it would go against their vision of you solving the issue of the difficulty your own way. Game devs can mess stuff up, but artistic intent can never be wrong, you can not like it, disagree with it, but to say it's wrong is misguided and very much wrong. Hell even if you look up where to go next in a questline, you STILL need to overcome the battles that it has ready for you, and while yes in a puzzle game that would be playing on easy mode, in a souls game, or hell most games, I think it's disingenuous to say that's playing on easy mode. If I told you where your next boxing match was in your area, does that mean the actual boxing match, the fight, is now easier because you know where to go to fight? If I told you that the next puzzle box you gotta solve is on your ketchin table would that have any bearing in the difficulty of the actual puzzle you need to solve?
Ask for the restaurant metaphor, if someone went to a pizza joint that made REALLY good pizza that millions of people already love and are happy with, and that same person said they don't like pizza, that they would prefer if they sold hamburgers along side the pizza, is that not a little rude and self-centered when there are literally thousands of other places that sell burgers? Maybe those restaurant owners don't want to make burgers, maybe the owners offer them hamburger pizza and it's still not enough because this person is so hung up on wanting a burger that they fail to realize that you are not actually owed that burger at this restaurant, with it's atmosphere, just because they want it, because not everything is made specially so they can be happy, maybe this pizza place caters to people that like pizza. I guess what I'm saying is, sure the pizza place CAN sell burgers, but maybe they don't need to, maybe they don't want to, and maybe those people in search of a burger and can buy something else instead of insisting that every experience be catered to their exact demands.
Don't mean to come off as rude or anything, but I'm not at all a fan of people demanding artists change their work when they can just go and do something else. Espacially because souls games are an anomaly as far as difficulty goes when most new games that come out these days offer difficulty options or just generally not that difficult. This whole conversation is talked about as if this is some kind of industry issue of accessablity, when it's really just Souls games and like maybe 1 or 2 other games every couple of years (probably soulslike games at that lol). It's not about if GAMES should have difficulty options, it's if Souls games should, that is the actual conversation because it's the only series that anyone EVER talks about and is the only relevant example. So should Souls games have easy mode? No, not unless the creators want to, otherwise why can't people play anything else? If you're THAT interested in seeing the breath taking world and stories in these games, but don't want to deal with the difficulty, why not watch a walkthrough and some lore videos instead? Or hell, I guess you can install the easy mode mod, the same way you can go home with your pizza from the pizza joint and slap it between two buns if it makes you happy, go nuts, BUT it's NOT the artists responsibility to cater to you if you don't like what they sell.
Anyway I found the video up until that last chapter pretty interesting, again I just feel like the goal post is being moved, not even by you specifically but in general away from artistic intent because it sounds a lot worse when you put in those terms, despite that being exactly what it is. If I said Lord of the Rings shouldn't have swords because I don't like looking at sharp things and would like a version/option where all those swords are censored, not by fans who already did that (lol), but by the original creators of the films, I think most people would say I'm being silly and weird, but in essence it is on the same level of asking the creators to go out of there way to cater my needs when I could just watch a movie that doesn't have swords in it instead or use a community soultion if I can't handle it.
If a game dev does have difficulty options I'll just ignore it it's clearly not for me so way would i spend the money in the first place? What benefit does slamming my head against a wall have my enjoyment? Why bother, i have better games to play i have other things to do so what would be the point? I get no satisfaction from beating a hard and unfair boss since the experience of killing the boss wasn't fun and i don't care about the reward because half the the sword you get is almost inconsequential, wow i just spent 10 hours beating a boss just for a sword that gives me 2 extra damage worse range and worse speed that was totally with it! Also i really don't care what the intended experience is im gonna "optimize the fun out of a game" because that will give me the most enjoyment which is what im here for and i recommend you do the same make the game as enjoyable for you as possible and if that means turning on easy, go for it if that mean making the game super punishing, go for it why should I be restricted to not enjoying something just because you happen to enjoy it on a default setting same goes for you mate, if making a game harder brings more enjoyment who cares what anyone else wants devs be dammed!
Ok what happens if that same pizza restaurant sells their pizzas with a specific secret sauce and you can only get this sauce at this specific restaurant NO WHERE ELSE, the recipe for the sauce is a secret (obviously) and this pizza is VERY expensive and most people say it's the best pizza they've ever tasted in their entire lives. You would expect the highest quality wouldn't you? So you get your pizza and take a bite and the flavour of the sauce tastes amazing but everything else is to put it bluntly *KINDA SHIT*. The bread is badly burnt, the toppings taste like you bit into a leather shoe and the cheese taste rancid. So you make a compaint and the replies often say things like "then maybe you don't like pizza" despite having pizza like once a weak and like most of them. Another common reply is "you should have finished all the pizza or your opinion is invalid" then you think, you were sick on the first bite why would you need to finished the whole thing it's obviously not going to get any better. Another reply is "it gets better the more you bite into it" but you wonder to yourself "why would someone make a pizza that is bad at the start but good the end instead of good all the way through? Wouldn't that make the pizza objectively worse than a pizza that is just a realy good pizza? What good would it give me eating something i clearly hate, I'll just be sick over and over again how would that make the pizza any better Wouldn't that make it worse?
Honestly disagree with the easy mode part. You mentioned that BB would be just as good of a game if it had an easy mode but that's simply not true.
One of the greatest appeals of the souls borne series is overcoming the SAME challenge as the community. This is so one player can relate with another player on that level.
Difficulty options would split the community terribly. I say I beat a normally hard boss? The first question would be which difficulty. If I say easy mode? I get called a scrub. I say hard mode? I get called a try hard.
Why do you think Elden Ring was so incredibly successful? People have finally gotten what souls fans have gotten for ages and it spread like a wildfire.
Not sure why people want difficulty options on these kind of games considering there already are. Can't beat a boss? Most of the time you can just go do something else. Or summon other players. Or summon spirit ashes (in ER). Or just use magic. There's nothing wrong with any of these options, these are just ways to make the game much easier.
I would love a response here to hear your opinion!
These are fair points, but I think my argument didn't come across correctly.
My idea would be less Easy\Hard and more like Cuphead's original setting of Easy\Normal. Clearly define that one is the experience Souls fans come for while the other could be so ridiculously easy that it's just for story, lore, and world. At the very least, ensure that players choosing that difficulty know it's not the intented experience, but an alternate one (and definitely don't allow switching difficulties mid-playthrough).
While it is fun to talk to friends about shared struggles against tough bosses, it's also fun to discuss the crazy monster designs, the world, and the story. Not to mention- the community's already split. We just don't see it because rather than easy
ormal mode we're split between those who played and gave up (or those who didn't pick it up for fear of the difficulty) vs those who stuck it out to the end. All an easy mode would likely do is add more people to the community, not pull some away from the standard difficulty. So we've have more people to talk to about the lore and world while still having the same number of people to share war stories with.
As far as Elden Ring goes, I personally had just as much fun exploring as I did fighting bosses. Though if the game halved enemy damage I still would have had plenty of fun. Looking out upon the ruined capital with the embers floating in the air, that's something you can sit back and enjoy regardless of how difficult the journey was to get there. And unfortunately, given how many in the Souls community react to someone using spirit ashes, or summoning help instead of going it alone (some even mocking the use of "broken" builds) I think an easy mode would just be adding to the pile of things people are scrutinized for, not create its own category.
Overall, my point isn't that it would be the same experience, or that the easy mode itself would be just as good\well-balanced of a game as the normal mode, but rather that the existence of an easy mode doesn't take away from the quality of the normal mode. Which is why I compared it to sound tests or concept art, which don't appeal to everyone, but they're there for those who enjoy that kind of thing without affecting the quality of the main game. I hope that clears some things up and as I said in the video, I don't think an easy mode should be mandatory, just that it shouldn't be rallied against either.
@@MightyNifty Now I do agree with you to an extent here, that the community is already quite divided. But to those who pushed through it's a special experience that they worked hard for.
Hearing about how insanely strong Malenia is, then killing her first try because your on easy mods truly doesn't feel the same. It's meant to be a super downhill battle because your nothing in the face of her, and you need to overcome insane odds to achieve victory.
A good example I have of this is Artorias from ds1. You hear about him all game how he tried to take on the abyss alone and ended up succumbing to it in the end. He's praised as one of the strongest warriors alive. Then when you fight him, he's corrupted, only has one arm, and has lost his mind but still kicks your ass. This gives you the feeling that if this godlike warrior couldn't overcome the abyss, how will you? But of course, you end up doing just that, and there is no better feeling than something of that caliber.
ER has multiple examples of this, like how Malenia held Radahn to a standstill and you could only beat him by summoning a whole army. This makes you fear how powerful she really is. And how if this guy couldn't how will you?
An easy mode would ruin this feeling and experience. Easy mode wouldn't just ruin the community, but also possibly rob the player of a fun and exciting experience.
Not only this, but how would multiplayer work? If on easy mode, you can get runes faster and grind levels faster because of enemy reduced health and your increased damage, how would this all work? Wouldn't be fair would it. Once again this would split the community more than it already is.
An easy mode would not only ruin the community, but also take away from the player's experience. Hope this helped explain why the general community is so against an easy mode.
I understand what you're saying, but there's still a flaw in the logic. An easy mode wouldn't take anyone away from normal mode, just add people who would only give the game a shot with an easy mode. The entire community stays the same, but with an offshoot branch of new players who went through on easy and didn't play normal. Not only that, but it could empower people to play through the game on normal after playing on easy. Maybe make it so the enemies literally all die in a single hit. Or lock off certain side areas like Mohg, Malenia, Radahn, and Rickard by making them exclusive to normal mode. Basically, it could be used as a tool to trick players who would otherwise be too intimidated or overwhelmed by the normal game into actually trying it out. It'd also be a big help for those who are overwhelmed by FromSoft's absolutely terrible menu UI to get used to it, making them better able to focus on the combat in the main game (or FromSoft could hire a decent UI designer for the menus, but it's been over a decade so I'm not gonna hold my breath lol).
Plus multiplayer would just be exclusive to the mode you're playing in. Invading and competitive multiplayer could also be locked to normal mode. All in all, easy mode could create a tiny rift, but if designed properly it could instead become a more welcoming gateway that allows new players to see what the rest of us see in these amazing games.
To be honest I was tempted to entirely redesign Elden Ring with an easy mode for this video, but it would have been ridiculously long and boring for those only interested in the main topic, so I left it out. Also because there are so many ways it could work. I think our perception of easy modes makes imagining one in Elden Ring difficult, but a FromSoft easy mode would need to be different from other games in order to make it work.
The changes could also go in the opposite direction and be extremely minor. Even the developers constantly change the game to make it easier or harder, so the whole thing is arbitrary. As someone who beat the game with heavy weapons before they were patched, you could say I played on hard mode. While someone using the ice axe with hoarfrost stomp before the patch played on easy mode. In theory, From could just make 2 new modes where the hoarfrost stomp does max damage for one (Easy) and strength weapons are de-buffed for the other (Hard). All three are legitimate difficulty levels that FromSoft has approved at one point or another, so even the devs are willing to admit that there's more than one legitimate way to experience the game. Hell, maybe easy mode could just be one where every boss allows players to summon 10 others for help instead of 2. Or give the player infinite summoning items\larval tears. There's so many ways it could be done with major or minor changes, but absolutely none of them take away from the greatness of the main game.
Either way I do agree that thanks to summons, FromSoft games are far from needing an easy mode. In that regard I understand the community not wanting one, but if players can already make the game easier by looking up the best builds, looking up smithing stone locations, summoning help, using spirit ashes, grinding for levels, cheesing the game, using exploits and glitches, or just grinding levels... How much damage would an easy mode really do?
@@MightyNifty I definitely see your point here yes. Now in theory that would be completely ok. But I think we can both agree here that it would just be a, "gateway" of sorts. Most people who beg for an easy mode are people who want the same experience as everyone else, but without the challenge. Now in my opinion this is impossible because the difficulty is part of the experience.
Like you said, the easy mode could lock of a ton of things just to try and get the player to do the normal mode. This in itself would be ok considering its practically a different game. But people would want more of the original experience, but retaining the easy difficulty. This would eventually lead to a cookie-cutter easy mode which would then ruin the game as I said in my previous comment. I don't think an easy mode like you described is really possible without a ton of complaints. I can already hear the people saying, "we don't get the full experience just cause were not as good?" Thus dividing the community and making the game significantly worse.
Another point your brought up is it wouldn't take away from the regular community just add to it. But I don't think this is true. I know so many people who admitted that at a boss like Malenia, if there was an easy mode available they probably would have succumbed to using it. But they overcame Malenia without it and the feeling of accomplishment was unmatched. If an easy mode was available, this would have ruined his experience.
I'm quite accepting compared to some of the community who didn't even like the addition of spirit summons. I just think an actual easy mode, which would inevitably happen if they started with a better one, would ruin the game and the community. Based of some of your points I think you may agree here to an extent.
The ONLY game that did hard difficulty right, without being scuffed garbage and buggy mess was Cuphead. That's all.
Difficulty in games isn't what defies a game or the genre of the game. It only defys the balance and perimeters of the game. On the other hand though, there's games where the difficulty can be used against the game. It's wheather the game's too easy or too hard. Game's too easy, it becomes uninterested and boring. Only challenge is overcoming boredom. Game's too hard, it's not fun, becomes tedious and has fake difficulty.
Ways in which a game should challenge you is through navigation, combat, exploration, puzzles, stealth, or a combination of all. Less UIs and HUDs on higher difficulties and more rewards system. If it's a stealth action game, the challenges in the enemy placements and using the environment to your advantage. If it's a survival horror game, limited resources and inventory, picking your battles much more conservatively.
Any of these can be a challenge.
As a game reviewer, sticking to mediums makes perfect sense. But I personally still wouldn't use easy unless i wanted to just zone out a bit and go through things without a struggle.
In my experience, hard is usually my preferred game mode. Anything above that feels artificially more difficult than necessary. The biggest exception here was that EA star wars game with that was a bit souls-like. In this case veteran seemed best but as an avid souls fan I'm biased.
Edit: I disagree that an easy mode in souls game would be a negative. I would never use it but what makes a souls game so great for me, is why some people will never play them
But as to looking up guides in elden ring, my first run through was a blind playthrough and I missed a LOT of content, particularly in quests. FromSoft quests have always been tedious and confusing so it's the one area i do usually end up looking things up. Could i figure it out on my own? Yes, but guides save a ton of time
Personally I flip flop between hard and medium being my favorite modes, even though I review on medium. Sometimes both are equally enjoyable since hard provides an actual challenge while medium allows me to get into a better, more natural combat flow and experiment with my abilities rather than just using what's most efficient, like in God of War.
Just found this video, this is fantastic and well explained. I've been saying similar points about games having difficulty options is never a bad thing, unfortunately a lot of people just seem to ignore this.
Intriguing
> [24:06] "[The video claims that an easy mode impacts those who don't play it, but it doesn't attempt to validate the assertion]"
The video says "[If easy mode exists, I might feel tempted to play it. I might believe that I can always get past the challenge by nerfing it.]" If I'm not mistaken, the video also claims that the sense of accomplishment is diminished as a consequence.
You may disagree with all of this. You may dismiss this perspective. You may conclude that this argument fails to validate the assertion. But I think it's flat out wrong to say the video does not _attempt_ to validate the assertion. The paraphrased snippet above definitely is an attempt.
The music allegories, I felt every single one of them ❤🙃
I like it when my games have some BS in them, I'm a huge retrogaming buff, but I'm also not a huge fan of the recent "the harder the game, the better" mentality.
I personally never understood why giving people difficulty OPTIONS is a bad thing. I can kinda see why people don't want games to be dumbed down, but to me, difficulty modes are a great way to expand the game's replay value while accommodating as many people as possible. Giving people a few presets (by making the game either easier or harder, depending on the player's needs) seems like a great idea.
Plus, I kinda feel like that whole "easy mode" debacle is kind of pointless in the grand scheme of things. Step away from AAA gaming and you'll see that a lot of games nowadays are aimed at people wanting the challenge. I am a fan of indie games and the sheer amount of "hardcore procedurally generated deck roguelike building souls-like permadeath metroidvanias"I see is insane. A few journalists complaining about Souls games doesn't change the fact that the "git gud" crowd has it really, really good these days and it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.
I've only played a few hours of each, and that was years ago ... But I don't understand using Fortnite and Overwatch footage during the discussion of mobile MTX practices that effect difficulty. Aren't those 2 games MTX purely cosmetic and have no bearing on negating difficulty?
Edit. Later in the video you say "developers can be wrong" and dude ... if you want video games to be taken seriously as an art form then you can't be more wrong than that statement. That's like saying Picasso was wrong, cause that's not how faces look, and viewer enjoyment should be top priority, rather than whatever the artists vision is.
Edit 2. That "Foreknowledge is the same as easy mode" argument is about the least logical thing I've heard. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that you were making honest arguments, but then you break that sassy garbage logic out? That's like saying if you watched a speedrunner beat Doom Eternal on Ultimate Nightmare then the game is now easy and you can to. Or any time you replay a game that's the same as easy mode. Or if I give you the controller and put you in front of Malenia at Level 250 she's somehow easy because you didn't grind the runes and upgrade mats yourself.
You had me in the first half of the video, I'm not gonna lie. But it downward spiralled fast.
I guess maybe to strengthen the point that AAA Games do this as well? But I have to agree, something like Assasins Creed would probably have been a better fit here.
Interesting takes. I'd like to clarify:
1. I used Overwatch and Fortnite because they're examples of micro transactions creeping into AAA games, not because they're examples of it being for a gameplay advantage. Overwatch is one of my favorite games, so I didn't mean to slander it even if I disagree with the inclusion of lootboxes in a full price game. I could have made that more clear, so that's on me.
2. When I say developers can be wrong, I'd compare it more to an artist very clearly making a mistake in their painting than a deliberate artistic choice. And while artist intent is important, games are both art and products. A beautifully crafted knife can be a work of art, but if it doesn't cut anything then it fails as a knife. Likewise, a game can be a work of art, but if it isn't fun it fails as a game.
3. Sounds like someone looked up a walkthrough. Yes, foreknowledge can make a game easier. Imagine saying that a walkthrough doesn't make a puzzle game easier. In the same vein, the traversal and exploration elements of Elden Ring are akin to small puzzles integrated into the gameplay experience. By looking up the solutions to those puzzles, you have made the game easier for yourself. Same goes for looking up the best builds or weapon combos- these all help the player to be more likely to succeed since they failed to come up with the same strategy on their own.
Not only that, but of the two examples you gave, both do make the game easier. Playing a game for the second time is easier because you know the boss patterns and best item locations. It's why new game plus in most FromSoft games is usually an easier playthrough despite the increased boss health. And yeah, 250 is a ridiculously high level to fight Malenia so she'd probably be pretty easy.
None of this means your experience was lessened in value or that you didn't achieve something by completing the game, but it definitely would be a much greater challenge without a walkthrough than with one. The only reason for the sass was to give some attitude to those who might mock someone for using spirit summons or summoning help. I hope this clears everything up.
3 things i took from this video...
1. why show overwatch when talking about p2w games? its purely cosmetic as far as i remember und should be counted as a good example in the EA invested modern gaming enviorement...
2. why show elden ring when talking about hard games? its by far the easiest souls games as it gives the player a pleathora of tools to make it easy (broken magic, mimic tear, summoning several friends etc)
3. talking about resturant methaphor i think i have to disagree as that is normal human behavior (let me give an example you go to a sushi resturant and your neighbor chucks a whole glas of nutella on his sushi... it will bother you because thats how we humans are^^ same if my neighbor is a vegan and i chomp on a big juicy steak ;) it will bother him)
but still good video
I disagree with a second point. It's easiest souls-like game, maybe it is, but it doesn't mean that it's easier relative to other big games. And also video mentions that any RPG can be easy if you grind enough, so it doesn't even matter if he uses footage from Elden Ring or Dark Souls
I also would disagree with you on third point. Like, it isn't your business if your neighbor eats sushi with Nutella unless it is dangerous for you or anyone else.
I would argue on the first point that he simply doesn't care, because most of the games don't use microtransactions like that. Of all games that do I can only come up with CS:GO and Overwatch. 2 games out of hundreds that use it for cash grabbing isn't a lot, to say the least. Good point otherwise tho
To clarify,
1. Overwatch 2 has herpes behind the battle pass, i.e. pay to win. Not as much as like Clash of Clans, but ya work with the footage you've got.
2. Elden Ring is much more challenging than your average AAA game. And parts of it (Malenia) are much harder than other souls games outside of maybe Sekiro. It was also the most relevant since it's the most recent FromSoft game.
3. If you're at a restaurant and you get mad about what other people order, you're the asshole. If someone wants to throw Nutella on their sushi, you might joke with them about how weird that is, but you shouldn't get mad at the restaurant for letting them do so or the patron for eating what they like.
I hope this helps explain my reasoning and I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
I would argue that a lot NES games would be worse games if they had save states. The clearest example is Castlevania which is very well balanced around the lives system. So it is cheating, sorry. No issue with Cheating, I use strategy guides for a lot of RPGs to get a good ending.
I'm really frustrated with Ratatoskr. His formal reasoning is so bad that it borders on being just disingeneous. His latest video opened with a maximalist caricature of the anti-elitist critics and then proceeds to complain about the strawman he himself built. He also argues that there is no such elitism and the few elitists that do exist are insignificant... because the criticism of them is so popular. And even under this video, which supposedly disavows Gamer elitism, people are moaning on about how River of Blood shouldn't be in PvP and using Mimic Tear is cheating.
But there is a much greater frustration I have with this part of the community and that is that they are incapable of acknowledging other perspectives, as if "The Struggle" was be the only conceivable reason to play Elden Ring. And they insist that the experience is the same for everyone independent of differences in ability or preferences, which honestly just boggles my mind.
WHY IS SEGA SUPERSTARS TENNIS SATAN
I highly disagree that Bloodborne would serve the same enjoyment with difficulty settings. That's ridiculous.
Why not? Assuming you don't choose the easier setting, what difference does an easy mode make to your playthrough? Not someone who chooses to play on easy, but you specifically.
Let's imagine that Bloodborne has an easy mode, but to see it you have to enter a button combination on the main menu. Does it's existence make the game worse? Does it make your previous playthroughs retroactively less meaningful? If not, then having the option there from the start also wouldn't make any difference.
@@MightyNifty It would totally compromise the design and purpose of the game. There's no denying that. Any game you hear about are usually the ones that are tough to beat and that's important for the lasting appeal for gaming history. Games like Battletoads and The Lion King are well known for being brutal.
I say save your money and watch playthroughs on UA-cam instead of ruining gaming with entitlement.
Gaming has gone drastically down hill because of this nonsense and it has done nothing but brought depression to me personally as a gamer and thankfully From Software has created these games that purposefully designed to challenge those who seek it.
Go ahead and call me a gatekeeper or whatever else pathetically predictable you have to say to save your ego.
I'm not going to respond after this because you're not going to say something I've haven't heard before.
General gamers will continue to buy fake games and the mainstream will just hand out 10/10 ratings like candy.
Please have a great day and learn to appreciate true game design for the future of gaming sake.
@@Gay_Charlie You uh... You didn't watch the video huh? 😂
Either way, you didn't answer the question- assuming you, the person playing, chooses the same difficulty level that would be identical to the way Bloodborne is now, how does the existence of the other mode change YOUR experience? A mode that you choose not to play?