Danielle D of VideoGameOlogists.com explores the benefits of "easy mode" and examines the cultural stigma that may surround it in her response to the Alex Hutchinson's comments about easy mode as well as the reaction some gamers had to the idea of Dark Souls getting an easy mode.
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I always thought easy mode was for kids and people with disabilities. If you are a fully functioning person you should play on normal and above. Thats imo though. People should play how they want, but my favorite part of gaming is the challenge. Some people might play for just story... who knows.
I loved Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Personally, I wouldn't use an easy mode but I'm not in the habit of denying others their fun. I think this game should have the option of receiving a wider audience. Share the wealth, right?
Hard Mode: 90% of the time you're hiding behind walls, trying to hit the enemies around the corner by popping in and out.
Easy mode is good for people that are just getting into gaming too..... and some people just like to play games for the story, like my mum
If it doesnt take away from the development of the games, I dont care if developers throw it in
Adding easy mode cheapens the Souls experience, while in Skyrim, it allows you to enjoy the rest of the game.
In your opinion. And remember, not everyone will share it. Some people may like the Souls series for entirely different reasons than you do.
While you may enjoy the challenge of overcoming a frustrating challenge in which you died a bunch of times and had to replay a level over and over and over again to get perfect at it and eventually conquer it, not everyone enjoys it.
Some people hate that aspect of gaming, no matter the game, and since that element of Dark Souls isn't the only good thing about the game, the experience wont be cheapened to those who hate the "replay something over and over again to get better" aspect of gaming.
Those people will simply enjoy the other good things about Dark Souls even more, like the unique and awesome weaponry and loot system, the awesome environments, great enemy design and AI, fluid and spectacular combat, the immersive, dark, brooding atmosphere, the sound design and score to the game, because surely the difficulty and challenge isn't the only good thing about the game is it?
You can't decide or make assumptions for other people about what they will and wont enjoy about the game.
People get enjoyment from different things. Hell, there are some people out there that buy games like Call of Duty and Battlefield 3 for the SINGLE PLAYER, and never even touch the multiplayer. I don't understand it at all, because I personally can't see how anyone would enjoy it, but they do, and I have no right to tell them what to enjoy, or make assumptions that they wont enjoy it.
It's all about options. As long as the easy difficulty mode in no way shape or form transfers over into the hard, or 'real' mode, then nobody should be upset about it. And I'm sorry to say, but if you're against an optional easy difficulty mode, then you're an elitist snob(again, assuming it has no effect on the hard mode), simple as that.
By adding an easy mode, they are adding an option for players who shouldn't be playing the game in the first time, taking a hit in the gameplay. If it's not for the gameplay, why else would anyone play it? the games would be short, its characters meaningless and the plot would be barebones for everyone who doesn't pay attention to it.
You said it, it's all about options, but those options take away the tension of the game, the very core of what makes these games great.
Please... get off your high horse. Since when does an easier path cheapen the actual experience? Maybe if it was a glitch, but the game doesn't magically become meaningless because there is an easy mode.
As far as the "unworthy" gamers, maybe you should pay attention to the games difficulty. Demon / Dark Souls isn't hard because you're expected to do unrealistic tasks, fight vastly over powered enemies or anything of the sort. The game is hard because you have to take it slow and you can always get attacked out of nowhere. An easy mode could do something very minor like make items cheaper, recover more health, or just make generic enemies weaker.
In the end, just because you give up at a challenge, doesn't mean you should demand it doesn't exist.
The difficulty is not 100% of the gameplay. The gameplay is also the controls and the combat, the AI, learning enemy attacks and timing, stuff like that. Modifying enemy damage from "one hit kill" to two or 3 hits to kill you does not take away the gameplay.
And the plot and characters are already that way in the Souls games, so there's really no danger of the plot or characters getting worse, they can really only get better.
The gameplay doesn't magically go away just because they add an easy mode.
But when a game is specifically designed around the difficulty level (ie. the Souls Series), then yes, it is a bit of an issue.
Further, (and lets call a spade a spade here), the Souls games harken back to an era when some gamers couldn't beat certain games. It is a badge of honor to be able to complete the game. To have an "easy" mode, is to take away this feeling for many Souls players.
There are SO MANY other casual experiences out there...why does it have to come to one of the very...VERY few games that arent?
I wasn't able to beat Demon's Souls. That's my problem, not the game's. I have to get better; the difficulty shouldn't go down to accommodate me.
Edit: I don't have the game anymore, but I'm not against buying it again. What I WON'T do is complain because the game beats the crap outta me.
(Instead, of dropping a difficulty level to easy merely to progress). :)
Speak Brotha!! You are spot on, m'man.
I can get behind implementing an easy mode that doesn't affect normal modes only to get more people to play/buy the game; but what you said is absolutely spot on. This instance with Dark Souls is merely a microcosm of that "fear of failure" and "everyone gets a trophy" mentality being so prevalent in society today. It's a pretty sorry state, imo.
On a serious note, games are not competing with arcades anymore. Yes, make them challenging if you feel it makes your game better, but add that option so that less experienced gamers can get into more hardcore experiences as well.
You want core games to sell more than casual games? Broaden your audience by helping the casual gamers play hardcore games. Having an option to make your health drain more slowly and attacks do more damage does NOT hurt anyone who chooses the normal or hard modes.
it's sad that this is only happening because whiny PC elitists can't seem to handle a challenge. X360 owners complained about the difficulty, not having experienced demons souls, but at least they didn't stomp their feet for an easy difficulty setting.
I'll never understand the mentality of people who complain about something that has no impact on them at all. If you do not want to use it, then don't. It really is that simple. This entitlement some gamers have today is getting out of hand. Now you cant enjoy a game at all if it has options you will never use?
"Further, (and lets call a spade a spade here), the Souls games harken back to an era when some gamers couldn't beat certain games. It is a badge of honor to be able to complete the game. To have an "easy" mode, is to take away this feeling for many Souls players. "
Even back then we had things to help us. They were called Cheat codes.. Contra code comes to mind. Beating Contra using the Contra code to help in no way diminished the accomplishment others felt who beat it without it(If there really were any) We also had Game Genie to help people.
I see my fan club isnt wasting time today. I'm happy I got my own set of fanboys who are so fanatical over my opinion they track me everywhere I go... It puts a smile on my face for sure.
There ways to give the player leeway without necessarily affecting the game design.
The problem for ME, is the lack of any real checkpoints. There is nothing I hate more in gaming than spending 30 minutes to an hour overcoming something very challenging, and then dying and having to redo it all over again because of something so small and simple. It's very akin to the rage I get when I've progressed really far into a game that I haven't recently saved, and the game freezes up and crashes and I have to redo everything all over again, spending another 30 minutes angrily completing something I already know I am good enough to complete, all because of some stupid little little thing that wasn't my fault (be it a glitch that made me fall through the map, or an invisible trap that I couldn't have known was there that made me fall to my death).
But 2 or 3 checkpoints per level would alleviate that problem for me.
That being said, I usually stay on normal for most stuff as it's usually the right balance between fun/challenge/time required
F*** easy mode though!!!
It's such a simple concept. I get the Dark/Demon Souls reference and I agree, if being super hard is their thing then it should continue to be that way.
followed by the Harder difficulties!
And if anyone thinks cutting PvP in easy mode so in easy you can't be invaded is fucking retarded, that would break the damn community in half.
Easy mode would best work that if you picked easy it would cut both PvP and summons so its in a sense single player only. And maybe remove somethings in easy so to really get everything you can't play in easy.