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Elden Ring is finally out, and with it has come the same circular discourse about accessibility and difficulty. We’re not playing this time.
#EldenRing #FromSoftware #Difficulty #Accessibility #PC #PS5 #Xbox #JimSterling #JamesStephanieSterling #Games #Gaming #Videogames
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'there was a ladder' 😂
if soulsborne games are about "suffering together" doesn't it make sense that these gamers getting so upset about easy modes also want everyone else to be upset about it.
To be honest, I’ve ruined far to many games for myself over the last few years by starting out with hard mode, or over doing it on sell imposed challenges going in. The is always a case to be made for playing with a challenge once in a while, but sometimes you will get alot more out of a game by starting off with less challenge and getting to the end, than charging in and not making it half way because of difficulty burnout.
Only Gabriel must Git Gud
JUST GIT GUD
The day that beating a boss on one try gets me laid or gets me a job I will start saying "git gud" without any irony.
Honestly I can't think of anything more culturally Capitalist then for a fanbase to take a game intended on being about shared suffering , determination, and working toward a common goal and turning into a sort of every-person-for-themselves proving ground of betrayal and sabotage where people are chastised for not being perfect. This culture then being so saturated that people go on huge rants for daring to make the game more accessible, since in their minds it no longer serves as that vicious brutal sink or swim proving ground.
They also fail to see how easy modes can get new players into a series. If Mega Man X legacy collection didn't have rookie hunter more, I'd never have beaten X1 in the first place. Now I can effortlessly beat the game on it's original difficulty.
I don't play this kinda game, but from what I can tell, the main draw of it is the difficulty, and the main loop involves dying over and over to the same thing, in order to figure out how to get through something through trial and error. I can understand defending a lack of an easy mode due to authorial intent, with what the game is meant to be, so making enemies easier to defeat would water down the game's main appeal. I might, of course, be mistaken.
I am 100% in support of accessibility options. Accessibility options like the ones in the new Spider-Man game and The Last of Us Part II should be an industry standard.
That shit is why I don't bother playing FromSoft games. Crazy high challenge isn't exactly my idea of fun in the first place, but pair that with the sorta bullshit the fanbase does and it makes me just not want anything to do with anything they release.
Is there any reason why you are wearing make up and woman clothes?
If it helps, I was simping over the selfies.
A tryhard after mastering a game's mechanics: "Yeah, just git gud bruh"
Yeah no, I'm not wasting my years just on this.
Seeiing you talk so positively about the summoning mechanic really helps validate how much i rely on it to accomplish stuff, Especially in the wake of typical fromsoft fans thinking it should be removed from the game to prevent "carrying" like how Sekiro didn't have it….
ofc the difficulty discussion is toxic when these people think even summoning help and using certain builds/tactics/mechanics makes the game too easy and "ruins the experience". like depending on who you ask, some of them really do think things ranging from BB's Chalice Dungeons allowing you to farm echoes "too easily and it bloats your blood level to higher than it should be", to outright saying any build that uses Sorceries/Pyromancy/Miracles in Dark Souls "is an easy mode that trivializes encounters because magic is broken".
the latter isn't evn that true, because if you're a character that is focusing on magic, it takes a fair bit of investment to equip a weapon worth a damn, and also a lot of investment into your low equipload so decent light to medium armor doesn't make you fatroll, because the stats other people would have for str/dex/end/etc. is tied up in your casting potency stat, attunement slots, and having enough fp to do much casting, and the more you focus magic the more you're going to feel the need to have mana flasks which means you have less flasks than other people. Grnted, with a larger FP pool that eases that a bit when you don't have to guzzle FP flasks so quickly, but with the addition of the summable spirits that cost quite a bit of FP…. I don't think it's fair tocall magic/incantation users an "easy mode".
and it takes a LOT of practice to being quick at switching between your weapon and your spellcasting focus, because you can't really focus on spellcasting when too many things are right next to you and when you run low on fp, a fallback weapon is always useful.But especially fuck summon shaming, these people sem really mad that people get "carried". for some reason evne though some of us do really geniunely need the help.
"Git Guddery" always reeks of abliesm and gatekeeping. Just like the fake outrages about Cuphead and Sekiro about game journalists struggling with a game, it turns out game journalists are people, and people make mistakes and struggle with things the hardcore pros do with ease.
These games are virtually impossible to beat for people who smoke a lot of weed. Im tired of this elitism from snobs.
I love the "gamer" stock footage they use. Just classic gamer moves like smashing your keyboard. It's so good.
Gate keepers keep gates poorly for no good reason
Personally, I've always felt that it's up to the Dev's to decide wither they want to change something or not. There's nothing wrong to ask or suggest things you'd like to see added or done differently, but they also have the right to deny said changes to the game as well. Since it is their game after all.
You may not like their decision, but it is their decision to make.
After learning more about my own family’s history it’s so interesting to me that, even in the past two generations, we have suffered similar problems even across different decades. Then when I left university I realized everyone like me was suffering just like me as well. I’ve always wished there was a way to better unite our perspectives of shared suffering so that we could see we’re not alone and that many people experience similar failures and loss. Your last thought on how Demon Souls and other From Soft games show united suffering was brilliant. I have never thought of it that way before and when you said it I stopped what I was doing to say: well said. You’re have a brilliant mind and perspective that I wish I shared but maybe one day I could see a similar game play experience that communicated joint struggles but through a racial/cultural sense. Love you Sterling, please keep going.
I really don’t understand why there can’t be a task list in Elden ring. Not even a to do list of requests? Are we meant to believe the main character is just remembering everything they’re told to do?
Then again, I also wish they’d add an easy mode. I can’t play souls games because I struggle with the games but I really want to. I want to buy the games and play them and it sucks.
'OOH I'M BETTER THAN YOU BECAUSE I PLAY HARDER GAMES THAN YOU!' discourse like any of it really matters.
I agree. I Cant take any debates about video games seriously anymore
Does anyone one else see the irony of selling "anti-capitalist" pins on the internet for $3 each? Not a dig, just pointing this out.
Steph has gotten so pretty since they started transitioning. I legit didn't recognize them when the video started.
That knight on the ladder was much bigger up close, like damn
On the topic of more accessability can I just say one huge CHEF KISS to the fact that you can craft the co-op items? No longer do I have to try and convince friends to try and farm a tedious thing and worry about if they are alive or unalive states. I can just tell them were flowers are. And play with them. and they have fun. IT"S FUCKIN' BRILLIANT! The only thing better would be.. you know, getting rid of the damn requirements all together..
There's a LOT of circular discourse to go around these days! Circular political discourse, circular economic discourse, circular entertainment discourse, etc., etc.! I can't even begin to count the number of times I've had the EXACT SAME ARGUMENT with anti-vaxxers over the Covid-19 vaccine for starters! I've also had to deal with oversensitive fanboys when I've criticized a game they like or claim to like! When it comes to the oversensitive fans (especially the ones who claim to be "hardcore" fans), it's ALWAYS appropriate to tell them to just shut up & play whatever game they're so sensitive about! The reason for that is quite simple too: Whether they realize it or not, they're CHOOSING to ALLOW the criticism to bother them! If they're enjoying the game as much as they say, then they wouldn't be so sensitive to people criticizing what they like or even pay any attention to it! I do understand that it means a lot to know you're not alone when it comes to suffering through hard times as well. Hell, sometimes it even helps to know you're not the only one suffering when it comes to minor stuff like being embarrassed for making an honest mistake!
Not saying that's what you do, but how is complaining about wanting lower difficulties any different than wanting no lower difficulties?
The Developers set out to design specific games with a set difficulty curve and they accept the fact that not everyone will like that or be able to complete them. In their minds, telling a story about a brutal and nonforgiving world requires a brutal and nonforgiving difficulty. Makes sense to me.
You can mod the games to be easier, obviously, and if you want to you should. To me, doing that is like modding a roguelike to keep more stuff run-to-run. If that what you want, mod it in and enjoy the game! But I also get why the devs don't add it out of the box.
Thank you so much for this, friend. As a long-time very dedicated Fromsoft fan, to me it's clear the gatekeepers have zero reason to do this outside of their own fragile egos being threatened. Feeling like they're a few who can complete an actually not that difficult series of video games makes them feel accomplished because they are losers in everything else. The whole truth is that, maybe even more so than your average game, Soulsborne has a hugely diverse fanbase. I have met an incredible amount of non-cishetmale people, all feeling comfort and rejoicing in the big embrace of the series. That's truly what From is to many of us, the embrace. Thank you for sharing, I cannot wait to start Elden Ring.
You should git gud though…
If you want to see a very persuasive argument for why an "easy mode" would hurt From Software games, watch the video "Why Games Are Still Not Considered Art" by Core-A Gaming.
He uses known of the arguments Sterling presents as straw men here, and if Sterling were to actual be brave enough to participate in a debate on the issue, they would likely get their ass handed to them, because they rely heavily on straw men and logical fallacies to make their point.
Not wanting From Soft games to have an easy mode has nothing to do with how good you are at it. The reason many people don't want it to have an easy mode is they know if given the option they would use it. It is like if somebody invented a pill that would allow you to instantly be able to play the guitar. Most of us would take it, but it would also cheapen the accomplishment of learning guitar. This is a simple thing Sterling would never get.
So glad I'm not on message boards or read comments because what you described sounds miserable! I'm just gonna enjoy the game and realize if an easy mode existed, it wouldn't hurt or effect my experience what so ever
horizon 2 > elden ring
This was genuinely one of the best written videos about this sort of shitty ideology that so many gamers have. Thank you Stephanie, thank god for you!
I feel as though this is off the mark. Nobody takes "get gud" seriously. I rarely see people discussing whether Souls-esq. games should have ez modes. And yea, Souls-esq. games shouldn't be ez. Thats one of the main pillars of their makeup. If you don't like it, you don't have to play the game. Since when did video games have to be "accessible" to everyone? We all like what we like, stop trying to force people to like the things other people like. I don't play call of duty anymore because it's become what it's become. I don't expect the game industry to change on my behalf. And in fact, isn't one of the main issues with games trading in their cultural characteristics for mass consumption (another description of "accessible) one of the main issues facing modern games? See: BF 2049/CP2077/Marvel Avengers/etc. There, debate ended.
Wanting video games to be more "accessible" is like asking Picasso to make his paintings more accessible.
Over the last few years if anyone tells me to "get good" I promptly tell them to "get grass" to paraphrase the popular "touch grass" response.
Well, Steph… I owe you an apology. I thought you'd gone the way of Lily Orchard (don't ask) and had gone on a deranged crusade against things that ARE on the wane and WILL go away if you ignore them. That you'd gone from "interesting and insightful" to "exhaustingly preachy."
I have never been happier to be wrong. Consider me back on Team Thank God For Steph.
Reading the "well dones" afther the tutorial boss was cute as hell wish the whole community was like that. Very wholesome
As a misanthropic shitfucker, even I want other people to have a good time. (They leave me alone for longer that way.)
I'm sorry, you enjoy Elden Ring more than me? My character's sole motivation is find and wear the world's biggest hat.
THAT STEPH MAKE-UP THOUUUGH!
awesome
This is the 6th game from Fromsoftware and they been making great games with no loot boxes or any cash grabbing tricks and their games are well loved and respected for their creativity and experience. The emotions you get when you beat a boss is priceless and no one want to change that. I don't know why can't we just leave them alone and let them do what they know best. Why have an easy mode just for those who aren't commited enough to try and play the game in the first place.
The way to determine if a game is worth buying.
Will I have to git gud? Or will the game be fun and entertaining whether I git good or not?
If the answer is No to fun and entertaining then the game is left on the shelf. Which is where Elden Ring still is.
I think there's at least one more argument, about graphics/framerates/realism. You know, if you think you need another perennial.
Accessibility =/= Difficulty.
It never has, and it never will. I would be celebrating alongside everyone else if a game like Elden Ring had more proper accessibility options, but difficulty options don’t fall under that umbrella. Challenge isn’t something that the developers crank up at some point in development just to decide who to exclude from the experience: it’s to provide an experience that, relative to other types of media, only video games can provide. The fact that everyone is put on the same playing field and given the same tools to utilize in conquering the game’s challenge is a big part of what makes the game so satisfying – and yes, an easy mode would compromise that. FromSoftware agrees, Bandai Namco agrees, and they recognize that a large number of players agree because we’re seven games in on this genre from them and there’s yet to l be an easy mode of any kind. Why wouldn’t they have done it already if it’s not important and is actively keeping them from making more money? Hell, Sekiro was the closest thing we’ve seen to one of these games have difficulty options, and they only added hard and harder mode.
I’m also somewhat offended on behalf of those who have disabilities whenever people argue that the games need to be easier and more streamlined on their behalf, as if having a disability just makes you incapable of facing and overcoming challenge. I don’t think it’s nearly as kind and inclusive of a viewpoint as it may seem when putting yourself in the shoes of those with disabilities. Maybe we shouldn’t treat those with disabilities like they’re just too fragile to play these games when arguing for an easy mode just because it may seem like a good supplement to that argument, when in reality most people making the argument have no such disabilities and just want it for themselves.
I find Elden Ring is the most playable of all of From software game I’ve found, it’s bloody frustrating but I’m really loving it. So addictive. To be able to go somewhere else if one part is too challenging is great and the levelling system is great. Bloodbourne was beyond me unfortunately.