Look at you fools with your Homeworlds and Hellblades, when Little Kitty, Big City is right there waiting for you!

@mrbojangles25: I totally agree that people just need to do what they want, but I also think too frequently people just bounce off the first hint of struggle. And in doing so, rob themselves of something they might love.

And beyond games, it just seems like a bad idea to have people always run from anything difficult. What things have you accomplished in your life that were easy, and you're still proud of? Personally, I can't think of many for myself.

Between my nieces and nephews, and my friend's kids, I've seen a worrying trend of them either struggling with simple tasks, or breaking down when actual effort is required. I honestly believe our culture of convenience is killing their ability to cope, and to deal with not having their way 24 hours a day. Hopefully I'm wrong, but it's not looking good.

I agree that blindly struggling is probably a fruitless endeavor. But when you pair that struggle with guidance and knowledge, that's where the reward comes. Personally, I like less guidance overall, and to figure it out for myself. But it also depends on the situation.

You mentioned Elden Ring, which I haven't played, but I have platinumed Demons Souls and Dark Souls, so I get it. When Demons Souls came out, it was in a time that games kept feeling easier and more handholdy. So it felt amazing to play something that didn't dumb down the challenge, or go "hey, look over here" after five seconds of struggle. And as much as I liked all that, I really loved the mechanics, the subtle but deep story, the secrets, the player messages, etc. But if I would've let the initial difficulty deter me, I would've missed out on one of my favorite games of all time. And it sucks to think about the people that got the "git gud" response from some douche, but I know countless people that want to shepherd new players in, not exclude them. That being said, the idea of adding difficulty settings, or giving us different experiences sounds awful to me.

I assume it's like going to battle with someone, climbing Everest or raising a child. That shared experience is an amazing part of being human. We both walked the same path, but could still have different feelings about it. I know some people either don't have the desire, or ability to beat some of these games, but sometimes, that's ok. Some things aren't for everyone, and that's fine.

Haha, I'm getting tired and feel like half of what I'm saying is gibberish. A lot of why I like challenge in games is because I want the game to last longer. If I'm just walking through the game, it's #1 going to end sooner, and #2 feels like I didn't earn it. But if I'm not having fun, or engaged, I don't have a problem walking away. I hope that makes sense.

Like everything, it depends.

If I'm looking for a challenge, I want it to be difficult. If I'm looking to relax... honestly, I don't think I've ever played a game to relax. I've played games like Flower and Abzu that CAN be relaxing, but I did play them TOO relax. Even with one of my favorite genres, Hidden Object (the games your grandma/kooky aunt plays), I don't play to relax. I like the old looking graphics, and the simplicity. But I wouldn't call them relaxing, just less stressful.

In general, I would normally play most games on hard, because if I just walked through the story, I would feel like I had cheated myself. If I still played games.

Honestly, I think most people have been conditioned to have an aversion to struggle (me included). I think the world at large, and specifically games wants to lower your threshold for quality, so they can just shovel trash into your mouth. "Don't fret, well take care of you. Hard day at work? Click this button and you'll feel better. Too stressful, pay a couple bucks and get a booster. Is this part too hard? We'll play it for you." At some point, are these games anymore? Isn't the nature of a 'game' to be a challenge, or in a competitive setting, stressful?

People can do whatever they want, but for my money, a game isn't a game without challenge.

@mrbojangles25: Haha, makes sense. I think we either merged with an alternate dimension in 2012, or the more realistic answer; we being controlled by Blackrock, Vanguard, etc. The amount of companies they have a stake in is crazy. They have all the money, so if you don't play ball with them... good luck. I don't want to get too far out there, but I honestly believe they are the smoking gun for why our world is borked. The crazy part is that they could be dismantled in a day if people simply stopped using them. The problem is, humans are monsters, and don't care how bad the world is as long as they're on top.

Right, dude? I'm hesitant to get all bent out of shape, because it seems too stupid to be real.

For years I've been saying this world is wrong/off, and this is no exception. It's like cutting your legs off because their sore from running. Now you don't have to worry about socks, you save money on shorts instead of pants and you get the closer parking spot! What a deal!

Just like you said, even if this doesn't happen, the fact that people got paid good money to sit around and think this shit up is insane. What are we teaching kids? Don't worry, someone will do that for you. You will never know hardship or responsibility as long as WE'RE in charge. It's the same with our government. Create a problem, and then sell the solution. It only makes us weaker, and needs to stop.

I'm still glad I never bought into this gen. And if this is an indication of their future, I won't be there for the next gen either. This is disgusting.

I'm only three episodes in, but it has me really worried for the 40k show Amazon is supposedly doing with Henry Cavill. It's decent in a lot of ways, but it also leans way too heavily on weak humor, and that Amazon vibe. If they try to do that with 40k it will be awful. There is no place for that crap in a world where the dudes pray to their guns. Just like our weak ass world (me included), most of the people would either be food for the monsters, or bullet shields for the Marines. But maybe Fallout gets way more hardcore in the later episodes.

@TheEroica: Haha, you're not wrong 😂. If I get burned, I don't forget. But don't we need that? If bad actors are allowed to continue their grift without consequences, nothing will get better.

I'm also pissed at myself for stopping my workout regimen for that game. I was so excited because of my love for 3 that I said I was gonna give all my attention to 4. Fully saturate myself in that world and have a wonderful experience. That did not pan out. I was severely disappointed with the game, and haven't really worked out since. Now there's no reason why I couldn't start up again, but I just haven't. And I blame Bethesda 😂.

As far as 76 goes, I'm sure it's gotten better, but they burned their chance with me.

Let's not get too wrapped up in the Fallout hype and forget that 4 kinda sucked. Then they followed up with Fallout 76; one of many high profile failures in gaming we've become accustomed to. Lies about preorder items, shoddy half-assed physical bag/booze bottle. And worst of all, a completely broken, lie of a game. How quickly you seem to forget.

Now I don't even know what's in that update, but I highly doubt it's enough to make me forget all the crap they've pulled over the last decade. They should just make great games that are worth the money.

Yeah, you're not wrong, but it blows my mind how willingly people were to throw their control away with PC games, and now they're doing it with console. There are definitely benefits to the digital way, but there are some major drawbacks as well.

I wonder what's worse for the environment: plastic discs and cases, or massive server farms that run 24 hours a day.

I agree with you on everything, it's just that I don't like it. I'm just so sick of our modern world, that anything that leads to more of it disgusts me to no end. More passwords, more risk, more headache. No thanks.

I thought disc golf game with the PS Move was pretty fun, and Sports Friends was good too. There was some mini game where you were trying to jostle the controller in the other player's hand, so you're flailing all around, and one of my buddies slapped the sh!t out of the other one. It was hilarious 😂