Okay, that’s a completely different issue though. The reason that difficulty selection gets push back is because developers are often very lazy in how they implement it, and it makes the “hard” modes little more than an exercise in tedium rather than an actual challenge. So people who enjoy the Dark Souls style games tend to get protective over one of the very few significant titles which scratches that itch these days. There are a wealth of significantly easier games to explore (and frankly better, too, unless you are there for the challenge).
That’s a great point and I definitely agree from that perspective. I didn’t really mean that it necessarily should have been implemented so much as the people that actually got mad that “you wouldn’t be playing it the way it was meant to be played”. I absolutely understand the technical issues that go into it (built server APIs at an indie game studio for some years if you can believe that after saying how bad I am at Elden Ring). It was just that the very idea that someone could want a more forgiving experience causing some other gamers to seeth over it for some reason as if someone’s casual gaming desire affected their ability to enjoy the game.
Seething over someone wanting to enjoy a game they bought is unreasonable. Some people get pissed at the suggestion it should have an easier mode.
Accessibility takes nothing away from the way those players want to play Souls games. Simple, small adjustments to enemy health, damage, invincibility frames, and speed could go a very long way to making the game worth the money people paid for it.
It’s especially frustrating that Elden Ring was constantly pitched as the most accessible souls game, but it’s still not nearly as accessible as fans and reviewers made it out to be.
Okay, that’s a completely different issue though. The reason that difficulty selection gets push back is because developers are often very lazy in how they implement it, and it makes the “hard” modes little more than an exercise in tedium rather than an actual challenge. So people who enjoy the Dark Souls style games tend to get protective over one of the very few significant titles which scratches that itch these days. There are a wealth of significantly easier games to explore (and frankly better, too, unless you are there for the challenge).
That’s a great point and I definitely agree from that perspective. I didn’t really mean that it necessarily should have been implemented so much as the people that actually got mad that “you wouldn’t be playing it the way it was meant to be played”. I absolutely understand the technical issues that go into it (built server APIs at an indie game studio for some years if you can believe that after saying how bad I am at Elden Ring). It was just that the very idea that someone could want a more forgiving experience causing some other gamers to seeth over it for some reason as if someone’s casual gaming desire affected their ability to enjoy the game.
I told you what that reason was though, and you ignore it in favour of imagining strangers as entirely unreasonable antagonists.
Seething over someone wanting to enjoy a game they bought is unreasonable. Some people get pissed at the suggestion it should have an easier mode.
Accessibility takes nothing away from the way those players want to play Souls games. Simple, small adjustments to enemy health, damage, invincibility frames, and speed could go a very long way to making the game worth the money people paid for it.
It’s especially frustrating that Elden Ring was constantly pitched as the most accessible souls game, but it’s still not nearly as accessible as fans and reviewers made it out to be.
Do they really though? Or are you just imagining the people you argue with online in the least charitable light?