• Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org
    ·
    6 months ago

    There are people that wouldn't be able to beat it even if they took advantage of all those things. It also means you get two different experiences depending on your abilities. One of them can be a well paced challenging game and the other is a grindy slog that always feels unfair.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      6 months ago

      a grindy slog that always feels unfair.

      I don't think soulslikes are a game type you will enjoy. Trying and failing to beat the same boss twenty times before you eek out a victory with 1hp left is the normal and expected course of gameplay. It is the core gameplay loop. If you don't find joy in that then this is not your genre in the same way that people who don't enjoy jumping on platforms should skip platformers and people who dislike shooting people should probably not invest time in fps games.

      • Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org
        ·
        6 months ago

        Cool story. I played and enjoyed Elden Ring. I don't think it's a crazy idea for the people who physically can't play the game as it is to have the same experience I had.

        These arguments always boil down to "it's not for you" or "get good". Adding a difficulty option to the game should not be this controversial. The fact the developers considered variable difficulty so much in the design of the game shows that it's not meritless, but turn that same idea into an accessibility option in the settings and people just vehemently disagree for some reason.

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          6 months ago

          What kind of accessibility options would you add, were you given a team of developers and tasked with doing so?

          • Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org
            ·
            6 months ago

            Honestly, just more lenient timing would do wonders. Not everyone has the same reaction times.

            I'm not arguing for making it a silly hack and slash or fundamentally changing the game. I know dying is a part of it, I played and enjoyed the same game everyone else did. I just think there's ways to make that same game more accessible.

          • Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org
            ·
            6 months ago

            This topic comes up so often because there are people who enjoy the game but want difficulty options. I guess I just don't understand how it would ruin the charm.

      • Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org
        ·
        6 months ago

        The first point is fair, you can't reasonably expect any one game to be beatable by every single person. But the resistance from the devs seems more philosophical than pragmatic. Difficulty options are often requested, and to their credit it's something the developers considered a lot more with Elden Ring, why they won't just add some optional difficulty settings seems bizarre.

        As for grinding, no, that's not what I consider grinding. But you definitely can hit a wall in Elden Ring where you've done all the content you can find but still can't progress anywhere. And running around the map is only interesting for so long. Go to youtube, there's plenty of 'best farming location' videos. Elden Ring can be grindy if you just don't meet their arbitrary skill level.