Asking For An Easy Mode Is Disrespectful To Developers

The release of every new challenging FromSoft game never fails to spark heated discussions regarding how people need to stop whining about the game's unforgiving difficulty and just "Git gud". Despite the debut of several challenging games in recent memory, with no difficulty options like Hollow Knight or Dead Cells, none of them have managed to ignite the same amount of tension as FromSoft's titles did among the media. While a similar case can be made for games that try to rip off the Souls formula like Lords Of The Fallen or The Surge, where most people just label them as mediocre Souls-clones and move on. The most probable reason for this widespread hysteria might just be FromSoft's massive popularity compared to other niche developers, but it definitely does not mean that they should be asked to lose their signature style.

[AspiringProGenji]

Easy mode? More like, Game Reviewer and Snowflakes mode

These people asking for an easy mode wouldn’t survive playing Battletoads Double Dragon and Spiderman Maximun Carnage if they were released today.

For once/twice/Trice we get a from soft game in a gen that encapsulates the feel of classic gaming: No MTs, no handholding gameplay, challenging gameplay. Yet, the gamers of today are so used to dumbed down gaming that they complain to FromSoft to also dumb down their games just so they can play it too

If you can’t beat any of those games and don’t try hard enough to overcome them, then FromSoft games are not for you. Simple!

[TheOptimist]

I totally forgot to mention how older games were much harder and we didn't have such articles back then because everyone just assumed that's how they were and if it wasn't for them, they would go do something else.

I feel that no game is hard if:
1. You are patient and observant.
2. If you like the game enough and like taking up challenges even if you fail a 1000 times at them.

[milohighclub]

.

[Kosic]

Some older games were made so hard that they couldn't be beaten. It wasn't because the developer wanted a difficult game. They didn't even finish making the game. So made some impossible to beat (instant death again X boss etc).

Using older games were harder is a bad excuse. Back then you can't patch things out. While now you can.

It'll be the same argument with bringing out any sort of paid dlc.. back then there was no such thing. So new games shouldn't release additional content... See how bad that argument is.

[DigitalHope]

Completely agree!!

No name name bloggers from who gives a sh*t websites need to stop pushing this narrative. No one has asked for an easy mode on any of FromSoftwears from what I remember. They put out one of their easier games in comparison and all of a sudden people need hand holding? Shut the front door.

[TheOptimist]

Funny because it were sites like Forbes and Kotaku pushing this narrative. With PCGamer joining the the wagon by saying "I completed Sekiro with cheats"

[DigitalHope]

Funny. My point still stands.

[rainslacker]

I prostrate myself in the face of your uber leet gaming skills.

There's nothing wrong with people asking for an easy mode so long as its done respectfully. They're just saying they'd like to play the game, but don't find it something they can get into in the way it's shipped. They're interested in the product.

What's more funny though, is that FromSoft seems OK being respectful to those that ask, just saying that they do it this way because it's how they want to make them, and they feel it's appropriate. I disagree with the above people who don't accept that, but have nothing against them stating if they would like an easy mode. But, the funny part is, is that a lot of people in the gaming community seem way more offended by people asking than the devs ever seemed to be. Some of them seem to wear their liking or ability to complete these games as some sort of badge of honor, and it's rather funny seeing all the elitist views that surround their "accomplishments".

[Kosic]

The funny thing is. Some people who have been defending the normal/hard mode probably have never played the game or completed them. Their just there because they like the discussion (troll stating). It's sad really.

[milohighclub]

If gamers are used to dumb down experiences blame developers for creating the dumb experience in the first place, not gamers for becoming accustomed to it.

Not played he game yet as I've currently got hard game fatigue n looking for something 'casual' as all you elitist 'proper' gamers would call it. This game looks like something i'd sink many hours into, however I'm really not looking for frustration, I'm looking for fun.

P.s all you elitists that are better than everyone else cos you enjoy been frustrated like to bring up how hard games used to be, but forget they were only so hard due to the limitations of the tech, not so much due to the artistic vision. They wouldn't be half as hard if released today due to checkpoints and save files.

But you guys so good you clock fromsoftware games without using checkpoints cos that's how games are supposed to be, right?

[milohighclub]

Do you restart the game everytime you die or do you use checkpoints to continue? Just thought cos you was so oldschool, you wouldn't be caught dead using dumb down hand holding game mechanics.

[ArchangelMike]

Now this guy gets it.

Creative Freedom. If you start taking creative freedom away from developer where do you think that will eventually lead? EA, Activitsion, Ubisoft often cater to the lowest common mass market denominator adn as a result relsease the same mediocre games over and over and over again.

Let FROMSOFT do their thing. If it's not for you then do yourself a favour and please move on to any of the othe rmillion casual games out there.

[TheOptimist]

I agree. Precisely why I moved away from those big three. I want varying experiences that challenge me in different ways. From Software's games have this freshness to them that no other game has. Same goes for games like Celeste, Cuphead, Furi, Hyper Light Drifter or someone of the other games I have played in the past few years.

[rainslacker]

Asking for an easy mode is not taking away the devs creative freedom. Saying you want an easy mode is not taking away their creative freedom. It's just asking for a mode in a game, which the devs are free to do or not. The fact they haven't done it pretty much exemplifies that their creative freedom hasn't been taken away, because this surely isn't the first time that the topic has come up.

[isarai]

Don't know why it's so hard for people to get that some games just aren't for you. Look i love the worlds, characters, design, story and presentation many classic JRPGs have, but i can't stand turned based(nothing against it, just isn't fun for me) combat so i never play them unless they have something more active and arcadey. Does that mean i wish they would change the combat system to suit me? HELL NO! it's not for me, and if i really want that experience in a gameplay style i would enjoy more i can look elsewhere and find that if i look hard enough.

the core pillar to these games is the difficulty, the whole draw is the satisfaction of overcoming the challenge, if you don't like challenge then why are you trying to play a soulsborne game? that's like me bitching that Kirby's Epic Yarn doesn't have an extreme difficulty, game just isn't for someone looking for a challenge, or going to watch the Avengers only to complain that there isn't enough Romantic Comedy moments. I thought this was basic logic, common sense, but apparently it isn't.

[TheOptimist]

It's the culture that has come with everyone having access to the internet. Instead of accepting something, people want creators to mould their work according to the people's demands. It doesn't help that very few people are there who would rather fail and fail and fail to succeed than taking the first few failures to the internet and complaining.

[LuzCB1987]

People asked for easy mode on flappy bird.

[ClayRules2012]

I loved the challenge on flappy bird.

[Psychotica]

I always like the idea of the Paradox Interactive grand strategy games but I suck at them, I don't get them, they are too complicated etc etc. But I don't expect them to change their game to make it easy for people like me either, I just stopped buying them.

[TheOptimist]

I mean, failure is a part of succeeding. If you like a game and fail at it, I feel that for you to become good at the game, you need to like the game much more than you hate sucking at it.

[SuperSonic91]

I hope FromSoftware doent sell out lke Square Enix.

[nommers]

You mean make money like Square Enix by selling their games, like every other gaming company? Well then have I got some A advice for you little buddy.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[SuperSonic91]

Selling out" is a common idiomatic pejorative expression for the compromising of a person's integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money.

What happened to you buddy?
Has video games degenerated your brain? Gaming is meant to entertain not corrupt your mind.

Be a nice guy next time not a jerk. A good member of society not part of the disgusting filthy problem.
Ew! Yuck! You are so full of maggot worms in your mouth.

[unjust75]

Just add a mp mode that allows help from other players like DS and BB. The game itself isn’t truly that hard, but I’m stuck on the 3rd boss Genichiro and every time I get to the 3rd round I end up dying. I’ve done this for hours and I’m either just gonna give up or sell the game. I’ve got other games coming that I want to play. This is the first From Software game I may not beat it’s a great game but I don’t have countless hours to spend when I’ve barely scratched the surface of boss fights

[TheOptimist]

I completed Sekiro in spite of never having completed a Soulsborne game. Bloodborne's save file got corrupted once I defeated Rom and I am too paranoid of the Poisonous Swamp area in DS1. I feel that Genichiro was easy once you defeated Seven Spears and Butterfly. He feels like a combination of both of those. At the end, his bow attacks were giving me problems.

[monkey602]

I had no issue with Genchiro at all. Just use the lightning counter when he attacks and you nearly down him in 1 hit.
Funny you should mention the seven spears because he gave me such grief it wasn't even funny. Until I realised I was being thick and had to dash into spear thrusts to counter them. Then he went down fast.
The guardian ape seemed impossible to me until I found the value of the loaded spear.
Each boss has a pattern and a counter action. It's just a case of discovering it.
That's what is most amazing about these games and exactly what making an easy mode would take away from it

[AspiringProGenji]

That was me with the Prince in DS3 and the newrly impossible Ludwig in Bloodborne, yet after soooo many tries I did it. All that struggle without asking for a damn easy mode

[ChipChipperson]

I just beat Genichiro this morning, after dying several times late last night. I know it's hard to practice with his second form when he assumes Way of Tomoe, but some things that helped me to beat him: Practice as much with his first phase because the more you can conserve with healing items, resurrections and stuff, it can help you survive his last phase.

Absolutely try to deflect his attacks. Remember, time your deflect as best you can when he does his usual combo, don't just block. Better to deflect most of those hits than block all of them. Luckily, his attack patterns are not as fast compared to other bosses, let alone compared to some regular enemies, but really try to get that down.

Play aggressively. I just went in attacking as much as I could(some instances, spamming R1 out of frustration), while still trying to deflect. But also, try not to do your special attack L1+R1 move, as this will screw up the timing with deflect/block cancelling and attack cancelling, and the whole wind up of the special attack happening. It's also easy to spam the L1 and R1 buttons so fast, trying to deflect and attack, it will usually end up with you trying to perform a special move. It's better to unequip the special attack to stop that nonsense.

His arrow moves can be blocked. Not advised in most instances, but they can be blocked. If he's going to shoot a single arrow(when he's on the ground and rearing back with his bow), better to dodge 90% of the time, as he will take some time to recover from it, either close in on him or heal if necessary. That move when he shoots you several times, and try to dodge the last arrow and it almost always hits you(when he jumps into the air and just unleashed), usually it's better to block that move. It will kill your posture gauge, but it won't destroy your life bar so much. You can get lucky and dodge that move, but I've only successfully dodged it almost all the time when I could dodge that first arrow.

When he leaps up into the air to do his sword attack(this usually occurs afters his usual sword combo or after being hit a few times), dodge it, and doge to the side t get around to his back. Good time to get a few hits in. Most times, if you attack him, he will try to immediately follow up with an unblockable attack, so make sure to pay attention to dodge and counterattack when that does happen.

Don't worry about using special candies and stuff. The final time I finally beat him, I wasted so many resources. Concentrate on conserving the first round. And don't worry about dragon rot, there'll be tactical times to use the Dragon droplet tears to get the NPC quests done. It's just like Bloodborne. You'll have your time to do all that stuff.

His third phase, I never used the lightning reversal or the eel livers. Too much to worry about since he has new moves where he can easily close the gap between you two. I played aggressively here, but he has a few more unblockable moves that I advise, is better to jump dodge. When you see that red kanji, jump dodge away from him, close in and counterattack. Deflect when necessary. His lightning attack is luckily not some area of effect thing, so when you see lightning and he's about to shoot, just dodge/run/jump the hell away from where he's facing.

Shinobi prosthetic, barely used any of them other than the shuriken. I had an upgraded one, the loaded shuriken. This helped sometimes to do minor posture damage, and it can interrupt some attacks, but don't count on it. The skill where you can do a follow up running attack after using a prosthetic weapon, helped in closing the gap, but again, don't rely on it too much on it. This fight I benefited more from going in aggressive and trying to corner him. I hope this helps you.

[thatguyhayat]

When i get the platinum trophy for this game it will be the most rewarded platinum I have.

[AK91]

Damn Straight

[Wha_gwaan]

I wish fromsoft could issue a statement telling these gamers and reviewers to stop being spoilt cry babies

[TheOptimist]

I have this idea that artists generally don't care what the public thinks about them. It's the shareholders at bigger companies that want money and hence make devs compromise in their vision.

[rainslacker]

They released another statement on another game being a lot more respectful about it than I see some of the gamers being towards one another. They basically said that they build the game with a vision in mind, and that the director believes that his games should be hard. It's what he likes, it's what he makes. He said one mode that was finely tuned was his thing. He didn't insult or put down those asking for an "easy" mode. I'd imagine his response would be the same now, so I don't see why he has to repeat himself. He's free to make the game the way he likes if the producer allows it. Others are free to not buy the game if it doesn't have what they want. Those same others are free to ask if the dev would consider it.

The people that seem most offended by all this are those who think that asking for an easy mode somehow hurts them, because they go to great lengths to act like it would be the worst thing ever, and tend to stand up on high pedestals to cast disparagingly upon other gamers who would just like to experience the game in a way they can enjoy.

[Casepb]

Just like censoring shit for no reason.

[motorsport71]

Every. Single. Damn. Day

[Tross]

I've been around this site long enough to know that game journalism hits rock bottom every so often by forcing us to endure article after article beating a dead horse into a pulp on some topic or sometimes there are two topics being run into the ground. This will pass, but down the road there will be ample opportunity for third-rate journalists to make us despise another topic.

[Kabaneri]

Making a game that 95% of the population can't beat is disrespectful to consumers.

[CP_Company]

they are making this game for those 5% and not for 95%. so get good or fuck off. simple. enough crying and whining.

developers has their vision and it is their product. so adapt and accept that, and it is what developers want. if you feel needs to easy modes, so you can create your own game and dictate your own rules.

disrespectful, what kind of brain damage you have to have to write this kind of nonsense.

[TheOptimist]

Same goes for education, musical instruments etc. It's about loving success more than you hate failure. 95% people who pick up an undergraduate degree don't go on to become Elon Musk. 95% people who pick up a guitar don't become Van Halen.

[AspiringProGenji]

More like 60% to 80% percent beat from soft games while the other 30% 20% are just Fornite kids that can’t play anything else for shit

[NotoriousWhiz]

95% of the world's population? Or 95% of the gamer population? There's a big difference there.

[william_cade]

If someone truly has a disability then there is a bit of reasoning, but then again there's a video out there of a girl kicking the crap out of the nameless king with her feet. She's not disabled and used a dance pad, but this opens up alternatives than changing the mode.

What this is really about are game reviewers who get free codes to deluxe editions with xp boosters (you know the edition most of us can't afford and the actual complete game), so they can have time to crank out the next opinion/marketing piece. From released a game. The same for everyone. No favorites. It's the equality they have been crying for and now they got it, they don't like it.

[rainslacker]

Disabilities are a different matter in my opinion. While it sucks, there are some things that those with disabilities just won't be able to experience fully, even if it has accessibility options. Not every game can, or should try to account for every possible scenario of gamer that may want to play a game. I feel that would be an impossible task, and at some point, you have to just have a vision, then work in things to make it accessible to others if it's possible. Some things are simple, some things aren't.

And I knew a girl who could beat any player in my circle of friends, using the game pad with her toes.

[william_cade]

I agree.

[Harryvok]

Who sensors these comments? Some snowflake? A lot have been deleted.

[Tross]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. No developer should be obligated to appeal to absolutely everyone with their games. There are many types of games out there for many types of gamers, with different genre preferences, and yes, preferences regarding difficulty settings. If a game isn't for someone, they should play something else. There's no judgment for finding a game too intimidating and preferring to play something more your speed.

Devs should have the freedom to create the games they want to make, and the consumer is just as free to purchase the games they wish to purchase and play the games they wish to play, and pass on those they don't, because it's a free world out there and no one is forcing anyone to play anything. I fail to see how this is a hard concept for some people to grasp.

Sure, devs can broaden the appeal of their games by adding options that cater to a wider range of players, but there's nothing wrong with having a target audience and deciding to focus on appealing to them first and foremost. It may limit the appeal for some, but having a narrower focus also allows a dev to make a game that really appeals to that intended audience by giving them everything they want instead of worrying about what people of different tastes might think. Besides, there's no such thing as a game with universal appeal. There are games that are really popular but there will always be those who aren't into them. There's nothing wrong with a dev finding a niche and working within that niche.

[Hardiman]

Some games aren't for everyone and this is From Software's vison. So if it's too difficult for whatever reason pick any of the endless options available.

[milohighclub]

.

[XxINFERNUSxX]

Meh, I don't need any such mode for PC that is. If I want it easy I just use a trainer.

[antikbaka]

nobody dies (twice) from asking...

jesus, who cares what they want and even if they get it - you have option to play it hard.... many options is kind of better than zero

[Mariusmssj]

So the main thing that people are saying is that without its difficulty From Software games have nothing to offer? So every other aspects of their games is nothing special and the only reason to play From Software games for their difficulty?

[TheOptimist]

Pretty much. It's like one of the articles I read "I love Dark Souls and Bloodborne for their world building and character design, but the difficulty is such a turn off". I am like if you like two of the major aspects of the game, I think you need to overcome a part that you don't like. Should give you motivation rather than just giving up.