The Magic Of Challenging Games - Reboot 16.5

Dark Souls isn't even that hard.

Though I do find most games these days pointless because any sort of difficulty or challenge thrown at the player without him getting a choice to avoid it will seem outdated. Oh why engage an enemy with tank like controls? Just sneak around him what will you and bow and arrow him , with smooth fluid controls just like in HDZ. Why fiddle with a camera when you can have it 30 meters away from the player character? If you don't follow any of these modern hand holdy guidelines. Send that dinosaur back to the stone age. It belongs on Microsoft Windows 95 right next to Bioforge. Its outdated.

You know what should be outdated is making ugly complex loading screens in video games with 3D models and hints and micro transactions.

Call Nintendo Kiddy all you want. They used to put challenge in their games. Now its all ugly shlocky tutorials with cheesiness.

Its also what sells! Selling a video game is tough. You can no longer have an edgy Sega Genesis commercial with a man screaming at you telling you are not tough enough to beat this video game. Now you must sell a game on its story and atmosphere. It must be like a movie.

A game can be fun if its balanced at its difficulty. Just like Banjo Kazooie. It starts you on easy objectives and will ultimately get frustrating.

People game for different reasons but shouldn't go into every game expecting it to cater to those reasons. I generally play games for immersion and story with difficulty being part of the immersion. Games like Cuphead are difficult for a reason and while its unfortunate that not everyone can enjoy it, the reason still stands. Not everyone can play football either but I don't imagine that that would be the reason to change the rules or make it somehow "easier." The future Souls game shouldn't have a difficulty slider because they were made to be played with a certain mindset. Adding a difficulty slider to games just because some people can't/won't put in the time to master the game is probably part of the reason why we're getting some of these bland cookie cutter open world games instead of finely tuned experiences.

This is the "political correctness" discussion of video game difficulty.

And it's really sad that it's come to this.

There are plenty of games that are normal or easy to play. Not to many hard good challenging games to play. I think to many games are ruined by dumbing down the mechanics to make it open for a broader audience, which now ruins the experience and challenge for me. If you find the game to hard, move on to the next game, because for someone who loves harder games... there aren't many games to choose from.

My days off trying to complete a ridiculously hard game is over. My patience is not what it use to be... Completed hard games on Nes, SNES, Genesis, etc back in day. But, now after I reached the first boss on Bloodborne and kept dying I knew my days off hard asf games was over. But most games I play if the options for difficulty is there I still won't put it on easy. Sometimes normal feels a little too easy to me. So I just do normal first playthrough second I crank it up to hard or sometimes very hard.

I really really hate punishing games like Dark Souls and it’s imitations from every indie game. When I play a game it’s to feel control and power which most people don’t have in real life. Not to feel like a failure dying over and over in a game that was made by mentally disturbed weirdos who think the purpose of playing a game is to see the game over screen and scream in frustration after seeing it 20 times.

I'm glad you guys exist, and continue to make great stuff like this. Such organized, compelling ideas. Keep up the good work!

Another great reboot guys. Pretty good video game journalism. Not pandering to certain people and using critical thought. Good stuff.

I'm glad that someone touched on disabilities in gaming. I have nystagmus and am considered partially sighted as a consequence. I still enjoy a tough game now and then and have conquered Demon/Dark Souls games, Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 and many tough games from yesteryear which many today would consider too difficult to play (such as 8 bit classics which gave you 3 lives for the whole game). My difficulty is reaction in FPS in particular as my eyes don't behave and often look at another part of the screen rather than the enemy I am tracking. I don't let it hold me back and still play FPS games like Battlefield 1 but it does get tedious when you get teabagged or, worse still, slated in the chat for your disability. I never use it as an excuse despite these incidents and continue to enjoy gaming no matter what as, for all I know, my sight could deteriorate further and stop me enjoying it altogether.

As for games being too hard, I just don't see it as a problem today. Games are easier than they used to be and, if a certain game is too tough for you, there is always another one out there that will suit your needs. Gamers have never had it so good as it is today (and many still whine!) and can pick and choose something to cater for their taste but, having said that, some games really could benefit from a difficulty level or assists which can be turned on/off as needed. Yes, it takes a little more programming and testing on the developers part but, done correctly, it would benefit the sales figures ultimately. Gaming isn't the niche hobby that it was when I first took it up and it should cater to the masses and accept that it is now a mainstream activity that contends with films, TV and music for people's time but, that being said, to make every game hold your hand and guide you to your goal without death or failure would be a travesty. A game without some challenge is largely pointless (I do enjoy a bit of 'light gaming' now and then though), and to alienate the hardcore gamers out there and not supply them with what they want occasionally would only serve to alienate them from gaming and that too would be a travesty after all it is the hardcore gamers out there that made gaming what it is today: if those gamers didn't purchase and play during the inception of gaming then video games would not be what they are today.

Me, if I want a challenge these days, I tend to look to trophy/achievement hunting. There are usually enough challenges in this to ensure that I am challenged and that I get the most out of a game too.

I dont have an issue with most modern games holding peoples hands but every game needs an option to turn every aspect off possible assistance of if they wish so as well as many more levels of difficulty while not being unrealistically hard.

Sometimes i want a hard challenge playing a game and other times i just want to finish the story so one same game should give both options if player wishes to choose.

The great thing about the Souls games is that the really aren't difficult if you learn the mechanics and the builds. Some builds are fairly easy. Using npcs and co-op makes bosses easier. If you play a pure faith build in certain of the Souls games, well, it will be hard. If you play as naked dude, even harder. It's up to the player to choose in the organic world of the game, the difficulty - not on a slider or a patronizing "don't hurt me daddy." mode.

I've beaten all those games for dozens of NGs because I love the genre and the games themselves. I wouldn't get anywhere in Cuphead because I hate platforming. I've been gaming for many years and early in gaming there was way too much of it.

Generally, if you love a game enough, you'll master it naturally. This isn't rocket science.

I love difficult games, but sometimes it's becoming really unfair. I remember the old Ninja Gaidens, they were really really brutal and most of the gamers never finished them.