The hypocrisy of having an easy mode and not having a hard mode must end
Readers are frustrated that more and more games are adding easier and harder options while not offering a hard mode as an alternative.
before the release of Psychonauts 2 A few years ago there was so much talk about how colorblindness and on-screen text, as well as difficulties, were becoming more accessible to a wider range of people. announced to invincible mode That meant you never died, a fact that was widely praised.
This is all very good and I think any sane person would support it, but one thing struck me as I played the game on Game Pass: experienced without any extra options. It’s an incredibly easy game for serious gamers and still doesn’t have a hard mode. The developers were obsessed with making the game easy in order to appeal to a certain range of people, but they clearly have no interest in making the game difficult so that it appeals to others. was.
I thought I would at least get an unlockable hard mode at the end, but that’s not the case unless you want an unlocking process that’s not obvious to me. Even though I got it, it was marketed as a game for everyone, which was pretty nasty… except, obviously, those who wanted to try it.
I was reminded of all this while reading the GC review Bayonetta Origins Cereza and the Lost Devil, it was also described as a very easy game that faces oddities about making itself even easier. Apparently, this one has an unlockable hard mode, but why? ? Why don’t you have one from the beginning? He doesn’t want to play Psychonauts 2 twice to get the difficulty he likes. It seems even less likely that you’ll want to do that in Bayonetta Origins.
These issues are becoming more and more common in games where developers pretend to be opening the game up to everyone and think they’re on some sort of crusade for justice to make the game easier. Pro tip: If you just start at average difficulty and work your way up from there, you’re not making a game for everyone.
How is that better than making games only for people with above average skills? I find the hypocrisy maddening.
Of course, no discussion of video game difficulty is complete without mentioning Dark Souls and other Soulslike games. Again, we see a great many unfair commentaries.
Despite the recent success of Elden Ring, which was much bigger than anyone expected (and certainly bigger than Psychonauts, etc.), we needed an easy mode and There were those who argued that it was unfair. Even if millions of satisfied customers say otherwise.
So it doesn’t have to be a very easy game or a very hard game, does it?
I remember making a fuss about possibly missing the Elden Ring tutorial in the first place (i.e. read the note on the left in front of the huge and highly questionable hole). This was later changed in an update, but what exactly did it accomplish?
People overlooked the notes not because they were colorblind or had difficulty holding the controller, but because they weren’t paying attention. Not paying attention in Elden Ring will often result in death. So it’s really a good idea to learn it as soon as possible.
Do you want Easy Mode in future FromSoftware games? No, not personally. If it exists, it’s a constant temptation and the need to persevere is greatly diminished.
But it’s not. The number of games without an easily accessible hard mode is increasing, not decreasing. Until that stops, we should dare to cling to some difficult games and celebrate them, not find ways to try and destroy them.
syler by reader
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more : Elden Ring director never stops making difficult games: ‘It’s our identity’
more : Video games without easy difficulty are elitist – Readers Feature
more : Demon’s Souls will not have an easy mode or difficulty option, director confirms
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https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/18/the-hypocrisy-of-having-an-easy-mode-but-no-hard-mode-has-to-end-18462148/ The hypocrisy of having an easy mode and not having a hard mode must end