this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2024
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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (12 children)

I absolutely hate this, and it's a big part of why I don't play Assassin's Creed and most other mainstream action-adventure games unless I'm really interested in the story, despite loving the genre. The mainstream titles just seem absolutely terrified of the player losing that it removes any real feeling of danger. If I can't lose, what does it mean to win?

My favorite games don't seem to hold any punches:

  • Europa Universalis IV - yeah, sometimes you'll get back-to-back 99% siege ticks; sieges shouldn't use this mechanic, but at least they're fair
  • Ys - especially older titles like Ys 1&2 and Ys Origin - if I die fighting a boss, the boss doesn't get easier, I just have to "git gud"
  • Mount & Blade: Warband - at higher "difficulty" settings, the game is absolutely brutal

I guess I don't like the "flow" aspect the author is describing here, because it means the game isn't challenging enough. I largely play indie games these days, probably because they don't have as much of this BS.

If games had an option to disable this nonsense, I'd probably play more AAA games. But when everything feels like its holding my hand, I'll find something else to play.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

First off, I think you're absolutely right about your right to disable "this nonsense". I support you in that.

But "this nonsense" is what makes games fun for me.

I'm not about struggling and finally overcoming.

I'm about having an adventure. It's the interactive version of a book, where I engage my brain a bit more and explore or solve puzzles, instead of the book just telling me the answers immediately. I enjoy gun fights in games, but I don't want to play them even twice. I want to win them and move on to more content. Losing a scenario doesn't make me feel even better when I win. It just drags me down.

I have enough things in my life that I've accomplished by struggle that I don't need it from games, too.

But again, if that's what does it for you, I think you should have it, too. There's no good reason you can't disable it, IMO. (Other than the devs just not providing the option.)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

And that's what difficulty settings are for. If you just want to explore the story, puzzles, and some action, set it to easy. Or maybe they could have a "dynamic" option, which adapts to your ability if easy is too easy.

I want a consistent, challenging experience. Often "hard" is less fun than "normal" because it often pumps the HP of enemies, limits my resources, and allows the AI to cheat a little, which might be fun for a second playthrough, but not a first playthrough. I want a consistent experience as the devs designed it, and if that means I need to replay a segment a dozen times because I'm just not getting it, I'm fine with that, as long as I know it's fair. Perhaps after a few tries it should ask me if I want to switch it to easy, but it shouldn't automatically switch it.

I want a consistent, fair difficulty, and I'm happy to disable a difficulty scaling option in the settings to get it (ideally it would be an option at the start though).

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