Why Dark Souls Should Never Receive An "Easy Mode"

Matthew of WTG:

"Famed for its gruelling difficulty and unmerciful bosses, Dark Souls is not an easy game.

In a recent interview Hidetaka Miyazaki, a developer at From Software and director of Dark Souls, said “It is true that Dark Souls is rather difficult and a number of people may hesitate to play. This fact is really sad to me and I am thinking about whether I should prepare another difficulty that everyone can complete or carefully send all gamers the messages behind our difficult games.”"

[TheMasterShake]

no it doesn't need a easy mode. if you can't learn to play the game then go buy something only noobs play. people have become so lazy they want everything handed to them.

[RIPSKATEDESTROY]

the more people buy the game the more games the developers can do, its simple. put in an easy mode and let players have a choice.

[TheMasterShake]

no, back of the box says prepare to die and it thats what it means. if you wanna be a lame and not learn the game thats your prerogative. its already confirmed that there will be a successor to dark souls so screw you and the casuals.

[vickers500]

@TheMasterShake

And who the hell are you to tell people how to play their games?

[egidem]

Precisely.

The point is to have other people enjoy the game, granted some will enjoy it on a tough difficulty, while others just want a simpler gameplay.

A tough game can
a) Give some a sense of achievement/reward though a challenging gameplay OR
b) Piss off those who want to simply enjoy the game without the frustration of difficulty.

[Nevers]

I'm all for "easy mode" to get more people buying/playing Dsouls as long as it doesn't take away from my gaming experience.

I don't think people who play through on "easy mode" should be able to take that character into any greater difficulties. I don't think it should support PvP; but it should still allow for co-op. And I don't think many (if any) trophies or achievements should be available to easy moders.

[DazeLokrotan]

Hmm, I'm guessing that you MasterShake are the type of gamer who doesn't play for fun, are extremely competitive, sits and plays for over 10 hours a day (your arteries must be getting clogged and corroded) and take in-game stats very seriously.

WTF are you doing dude? You should know better than this....

[TheDivine]

Damn bro you just insulted 99% of us gaming enthusiasts here on N4G. Not that i have clogged arteries (i hope) but if im not working im usually gaming or on here (usually both, i put alot of points into dexterity and am super duper fab at multitasking). I do work 6 days a week though and when im off im exhausted and lazy. I earned my leisure time.

The Souls series is about challenge, learning from mistakes, and learning the levels and boss attack patterns. Making it easier would defeatthe purpose and remove the satisfaction of the game. If i want something easy and mindless il play a 2d pltformer or shooter/hack n slash on easy and brease through. DS is bout conquering and claiming victory.

[Gwyn-Lord-Of-Cinder]

I think thier should be an easy mode , for people that struggle and have a hard time completing the game . I whould not use the easy mode , but having it is always good.

[humbleopinion]

I dunno. the good thing about introducing easy difficulty levels and giving the player a choice is that they can also introduce a truely hard difficulty level.

Cause let's face it: the biggest difficulty factor in this game is the lack of checkpoints and the ability to pause, so you must clear your schedule and take things slowly. But for veterans of Demon's souls this isn't such an issue, and for seasoned gamers in the stealth genre who know the virtue of patience Dark Souls is a walk in the park.
Other games were able to offer more challenge in their most difficult level simply because they were also offering lower difficulty levels who won't put off newer gamers. This simply adds challenge and replayability.

[chazjamie]

sounds like the failing school system to me. if you cant do the maths like themastershake, then apparently you fail at life.

[Peppy la Moca]

A non-article if I ever did see one. The entire premise is completely wrong.

All the reasons the author doesn't want an easy mode are invalidated because he doesn't have to play on easy. It's for people who do get a sense of accomplishment and challenge even when playing on easy.

So silly not wanting something in the game that doesn't affect you at all heh.

[Hellsvacancy]

Maybe i should ask Christopher Nolan if he would edit Memento so its easier to follow

This is down to 12 year old 360 owners, never had any complaints about the difficulty before, the games difficulty is what made the series what it is now, and they want do reverse that to draw in more player$

Because thats what its all about, yours and my money, thats all anybody wants (except me) its not about making good games now, hay man, if thats how you like it, more fool you

If they add an easy mode ill stop buying there games, ill rent them instead

[vickers500]

"If they add an easy mode ill stop buying there games, ill rent them instead"

So you will refrain from buying a great game because it has a mode that you will NEVER be forced to play?

*facepalm* Grow up and stop being so immature.

[MEsoJD]

God these fucking articles. It was confirmed to be a mistranslation. Give it a rest.

[Lord_Sloth]

Wow. The elitism is strong with this fanbase.

[Gwyn-Lord-Of-Cinder]

I could go either way if thier was an easy mode i wouldnt use it , but if thier was more people whould probably play the game .

[jon1234]

i wish they added a demon souls mode to dark souls... because dark souls is a joke compared to demon souls

[MrAnderson]

Is that the Iron Golem in that picture? that dude killed me like 10 times before I realized you can roll through his legs then chop away at them from behind.

[Ritsujun]

10 times?
LOOOOOL

[MrAnderson]

Yes, you're a better man because you died less in a game /end sarcasm grow up

[Ritsujun]

why do W-gamers hate hard games so much LOL

[DazeLokrotan]

Because video games were initially designed as a form of leisure that due to the increasing rise of lowlife nerds, has become an instrument of compensation for one's own incompetence in life.

[Feylynn]

Easy mod defeats the entire purpose of this game. If you want to play easy dark souls then go watch let's plays, it is the same thing. The only reason Dark souls was even MADE is because Demon's Souls was unforgiving to near cruelty in a generation where gamers have come to expect non-interactive movie levels of difficulty.

Asking for an easier Dark Souls is like asking for a more difficult You Have to Burn the Rope.

For the sake of brainstorming though I'll try and think of easy mode terms I could accept in a Souls game.

Faster healing animation, less endurance loss on block, dropped souls remain in the world for 2 additional deaths (Meaning the game stores up to 3 of your corpses to retrieve before it starts deleting them). But achievements are disabled and your world converts to normal difficulty when invaded or joining another player? Maybe. I don't know.

[DazeLokrotan]

Lol @ you hardcore gamers. Bet you're the same people who runs away at the first sight of trouble IRL.

Your macho gestures don't impress me.

[ShadowKingx]

I personally see nothing wrong with Easy mode if they do it the right now. But i not going in to detail because i already did it two previous topics exactly like this one.

Which i can’t believe this topic comes out every F in day. ok we know Dark Souls might get an easy mode and people are for it and against it. But seriously its not that big of an issue.
You play dark sous still for the soul purpose to have fun otherwise you would not play it at all.

[ZoyosJD]

The point of games is to enjoy them.

The enjoyment of the Souls games comes from the feeling of accomplishment.

A lower difficultly level diminishes that same feeling.

But, even so someone who is less skilled could still get a similar feeling from a lesser level so long as they are still challenged.

The problem with this logic is that the people who want an easy mode are the ones who don't want a challenge. They want to be rewarded for mediocrity and won't truly know the feeling of accomplishment that we praise this game for.

So,should the casuals be allowed to enjoy this game, despite the fact that they will never truly enjoy it in the way that the hardcore would?

Of course. Who are we to dictate if someone should have the opportunity to enjoy something?

So long as their enjoyment does not interfere with mine let them enjoy.

[Spacemagic]

Guys check out EpicNameBro's channel on youtube, guy is a boss about Dark/Demon's Souls. He has some very good commentary exploring the "easy mode" question.