The Shattered Elden Ring Thread: Tarnished Edition - (Shadow of the Erdtree p. 85)
- Thread starter hanselthecaretaker
- Start date
Every time a FromSoft game comes out there are constantly videos like this. However these are bad faith arguments Steph. 100% accessability options are great, HUD modes, colorblind options, control options, all that is great. But what isn't 100% better or worst are the difficulty options. Those are counter to the experience the developers are trying to provide, and not every experience is going to suit everybody. Just like not every game will be enjoyable for every person who plays video games.
That's why people have preferences. Difficulty is not an accesability option. Because there are different levels of difficulty suited to every person on an individual level. Plus the variable that everyone will have a different threshold for challenge they are willing to put up with. So how can one tell when a thing is too hard? Is it too hard or are you giving up to easily? Or what if it's too easy? Is it too easy or are you just really good at this challenge level? This is impossible to factor out to a degree that would satisfy everyone. Souls games have easier modes by default. They don't have a menu option that toggles the game to "easy" but that doesn't mean the option isn't there. Elden Ring especially thanks to new summon spells. You can use magic, ranged weapons, npc summons, ghost summons, real people summons, etc etc. There is a wealth of options available, but the problem is people just want that big flashy menu option that says "Click me for easy mode".
How is it game's problem that people aren't willing to learn? Or unwilling to try? And if you don't like the game, so what? Go play something else, no harm in that really. Not every game will click with you, and not every game will be your cup of tea, luckily there are literally 1000's of other games you can try. People act like Fromsoft is acting like some scary gatekeeper prevented the infeable from playing their games. Literally nothing stops you from playing Elden Ring except your own willingness to learn and your own patience. Everything is on the player, not the game.
Hell in this very thread and other threads like Sifu, I've vented frustrations about how fucking hard they are. With Sifu I simply moved on, ok not for me, no big deal. But Sifu works for you doesn't it @BrawlMan ? Should I can you an asshole for braging about how much you are NOT having trouble with SIfu and demand you yell at the developers on my behalf? No.
Frankly Sterling doesn't really say anything in this video other than reminding people that FromSoft games make people upset about being hard. But props to them for at least talking about a video game this week and not about a shitty business.
At least Sifu is getting a patch update that gives you easy modes. I have no problem in with it. The game wasn't for you, and that's fine by me. But if somebody wants to experience the game on an easier difficulty either because of skill level or certain disabilities, that is also fine with me. I'm not going to be a jerk about it.
It's their channel, they can talk about what the hell are they want. Not my fault you can't handle the dirty side of the gaming industry. We've been over this part already. You don't want to watch it, then don't watch it. Same reason why I refuse to ever touch Angry Joe ever again. I'll take someone that's not afraid to tell the truth and keeps fighting the good fight, compared to someone who sits on their ass and do nothing or be "angry" just to be entertaining. I don't always agree with Sterling either, but I don't care.
And from your long rant, all it seems are you doing is trying to make excuses on why any game by From Software does not need accessibility options, nor an easy mode. More so the easy mode. Fine for almost any other game, but not anything by them. Difficulty mode or not, it would not kill a Dark Souls game. We all know this. Sterling can clearly get through any Dark Souls games fine, but they're not against having an easier mode or more accessibility options for those games. We all know at this point that the Japanese have a thing of not making accessibility options most of the time even, if it's just for non-disabled gamers. Whenever the subject is brought up to them, they don't like talking about it or like ignore it entirely not answering the question.So far, Capcom is the only one I know that's really tried with accessibility options. Though they weren't thinking of the disabled exactly in mind, they did help them unintentionally. At least Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and most Indie Games try to have some type of accessibility or to get more people playing. That never hurts, because these are optional modes. They're optional.
If an actual easy mode happened in From Software's game, nobody would lose anything. You don't lose anything. I don't lose anything. Nobody loses anything. From Software gains a lot and everything. So they lose a few hardcore jerk off? Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
That is all I have to say on the subject. Because I really don't care about difficulty at this point. If I want to challenge, I know where to look. If I want something relaxing, I know where to look. If I'm just looking for it intermediate or fun time, I know what difficulty mode I'm picking. It's usually why I almost always pick normal, unless otherwise.
Last edited:
There's this "saying" i guess? That Soulsborne have invisible in-game difficulty sliders. Which come down to things like grind, weapons and character build etc.
With Elden Ring you can also add "running away from enemies".
With Elden Ring you can also add "running away from enemies".
MrCalavera just restated my point and it's the point I've made about every other fromsoft game except Sekiro. The games do have easy modes, it's just not a blatant menu option. If anything the easy mode is just as obtuse as everything else in the game, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. In my rant (which proves you don't read what I say) I gave a list of almost all the things that allow for "easier" modes of play within Elden Ring.
I agree that accessability options should always be a thing these days. But that doesn't mean easy mode, that simply means controlable ways of playing for those who need help like audio ques, colorblind modes, special controller bindings, things like that.
But it doesn't need a menu option that says "easy" on it. Nor does the lack of a menu toggle for "easy" mean that easy doesn't exist.
Souls games already have easy modes. If Souls aint for you, then it aint for you. So what? If you wanted to play a souls game that badly then you would just play them and learn how to adapt to the difficulty. They have build themselves a beloved niche because they do not compromise their vision.
That isn't to say that easy modes are bad or good in other games either. Most of the time it simply turns down the health and damage of enemies anyway and it's a design that those games support. Fromsoft simply doesn't design their games so straightforward and that appeals to a specific audience, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Sifu releasing difficulty modes later on is a choice they are making for their game. But Sifu would be just as valid if they left the game as it is and the game is the way it is so take it or leave it.
In your opinion. I would not mind either way.
I've already been made more than aware at this point.
All well and good. I still wouldn't mind if there is an easy option there, even with the sliders in mind. Not every game is for everyone, but once again no one loses anything from there being a plain easy mode or casual difficulty. I don't deal with Dark Souls style of game, cuz I just don't like that style of play and I don't find it interesting. The closest you're going to get me to like that is possibly Lies Of P, whenever that comes out. Either that, or do a soul-style game set in 19th century Detroit. Then we'll talk.
All true, but I'm happy they are adding easier modes. If it gets more people into brawlers and 2D/3D beat'em ups, I'm not complaining. The more, the merrier. Anything that can tell anti-brawler fans or IGN that they can fucj off with their "no one plays beat'em ups anymore" stance. Before you start, I know IGN gave this game a 9 out of 10. They can still screw off.
I'm honestly blown away by how do-able this game is compared to other From soft titles. I'm by no means an expert at their games and I ended up walking away from sekiro due to struggling with the difficulty and having a bad time, but in Elden Ring you can just kind of make it too easy by accident.
Previously I talked about choosing to ignore the story path because there was cool shit right behind me at the start, and in pursuing that cool shit I ended up pretty decked out with heal buffs, weapon choices, and a very dangerous pet dog from the gross-lands. It's kind of nuts how easy this made some encounters, and I ended up beating the first story boss first try which never happens for me. Not to say it was trivial by any means, but you can definitely find shit early on that will set the tone of major encounters.
At this stage I'm kind of torn. I really like exploring and finding cool shit, but I don't want to put myself in a position where the game becomes boring because it is no longer challenging enough. There's this whole thing where I'm following breadcrumbs to a temple in the east and I don't want to drop it periodically to make sure I hit the bosses at appropriate times/levels.
Weren’t you also just saying earlier how you found some power leveling thing that made most of the game a breeze? I have a couple bosses I’m waiting to get spells for, aside from better gear, before going back to them. If there was an easy button I probably wouldn’t even bother finally trying more of a sorcery build, or most of the other stuff that helps out with them. So it would be missing out on most of the game and simply spamming R1 to win. That’s not getting my money’s worth imo.
Isnt that just an example of the available difficulty options that exist in the game?
I think the problem is that people dont want to try. They just want a toggle button that says "easy" on it.
It is like if the game has two paths in a cave, one path is hard and the other path is easy. I feel like people would take the hard path and complain that there isnt an easy option. Even though there was and is an easy option, you just didnt take it so why are you complaining about the hard option?
If anything i think the difficulty options in Souls games are beautiful because they are as obtuse as the rest of the game. How many games have their gameplay modes actively fit in directly with the theme of the game itself. Soils games by their nature do not hold your hand and they trust the player to figure shit out themselves and not be stupid.
And it is working considering Elden Ring sold 10 million copes on fucking Steam alone. These arent niche games anymore and they certainly do not need a broader audience, that audience has arrived from word of mouth and infamy alone. Which has thrived due to the difficult reputation alone.
Damn 10 mil already on PC…I really hope they can fix the performance issues there, and on consoles. Idk if it was ever said why they needed a stupid “day one” patch in the first place. It was supposed to improve frame stutters and such but apparently made it worse. If the review version was good enough to judge the game on, just stick with that unless it’s guaranteed it can be made better with another.
26 hours.
I just came to realize there's a librarian dude in the main hub area who tells you which big bosses to hunt down, but still keeps it broad enough so that you have to go there and search the area to find that boss dungeon. The dude even gives a brief lore about who these big bosses are, and why they need to be eliminated.
Two things I love about this; One, it encourages NPC interaction to hear more about the world's lore. I think this is something FS has always got right, as it allows world-building through interaction. Granted, some things are still vague, but I think there's certain charm about some answers leading to more questions.
Second, there's a balance of freedom of exploration vs linear progression. You can always say "Sure, I'll get to those bosses.... eventuallly" and keep exploring other parts of the world until you feel comfortable enough to go face those bosses. There are tons of other side quests to do, weapons and gears to find, and mini-bosses to fight. The only thing I'm slightly annoyed is that only the big bosses seem to have things called "remembrance", which can be traded for their weapons or spells. No other bosses seem to drop these remembrance, which makes killing them not nearly as fun. Normal dungeon bosses, however, seem to drop weapons and spells.
I just came to realize there's a librarian dude in the main hub area who tells you which big bosses to hunt down, but still keeps it broad enough so that you have to go there and search the area to find that boss dungeon. The dude even gives a brief lore about who these big bosses are, and why they need to be eliminated.
Two things I love about this; One, it encourages NPC interaction to hear more about the world's lore. I think this is something FS has always got right, as it allows world-building through interaction. Granted, some things are still vague, but I think there's certain charm about some answers leading to more questions.
Second, there's a balance of freedom of exploration vs linear progression. You can always say "Sure, I'll get to those bosses.... eventuallly" and keep exploring other parts of the world until you feel comfortable enough to go face those bosses. There are tons of other side quests to do, weapons and gears to find, and mini-bosses to fight. The only thing I'm slightly annoyed is that only the big bosses seem to have things called "remembrance", which can be traded for their weapons or spells. No other bosses seem to drop these remembrance, which makes killing them not nearly as fun. Normal dungeon bosses, however, seem to drop weapons and spells.
I love FromSoftware games and will of course play Elden Ring (but not now, much later after I played other stuff), and admire and defend its difficulty, "lack" of options, blah blah blah. And I love a lot of the fanbase- the Bloodborne subreddit is one of the most positive wholesome lovely internet experiences of my life. That's right- "reddit" and "wholesome" in the same sentence, unironically, that's who crazy awesome FromSoftware games are to me.
But... but.... some of the fan rhetoric is exhausting.
"It's not hard, it's fair"
"Sekiro is just a rhythm game"
"There ARE easy modes, it's called grinding."
No no no, just no... that's not how words work. These games are freaking hard. Difficult, tough, whatever, it's all the same thing. Grinding for hours for souls is not "easy" mode at all, that's just some bullshit. Saying you have to work extra hard to figure out an easy mode is literally not an easy mode. Stop it.
But... but.... some of the fan rhetoric is exhausting.
"It's not hard, it's fair"
"Sekiro is just a rhythm game"
"There ARE easy modes, it's called grinding."
No no no, just no... that's not how words work. These games are freaking hard. Difficult, tough, whatever, it's all the same thing. Grinding for hours for souls is not "easy" mode at all, that's just some bullshit. Saying you have to work extra hard to figure out an easy mode is literally not an easy mode. Stop it.
Just because it's tedious doesn't mean it was hard. Grinding is hardle the only answer for the difficulty of the games. But it is just as valid of a tactic as anything else in the game.
HARD GAME BRO! People can't do this! It takes....playtime or something I dunno.
Far from the story path I'm starting to find that some side bosses start showing up as regular enemies at a point so I wonder if drops from them are tied to %chance. Kind of like how the gargoyles in DS1 could drop a weapon or you could also farm the weapon later at anor Londo later. I kind of want a pumpkin head helm weapon so fingers crossed.
I do question the need for so many of these mini bosses just randomly placed as guard dogs but I suppose it keeps things engaging between enormous hidden dungeons. I really appreciate having a breather between long-haul challenges, as I was often fatigued in the DS games knowing that the only thing past my current painful struggle is another, equally or moreso, painful struggle.
Also, anybody else collecting paintings? Of all the things to pull from BotW the photo memories is not something I expected. They are fantastic oil paintings though. I'd keep some of these in my house.
I found a couple of the paintings but not the locations in the paintings. Which I think gets you something.
You can collect those? I’m just took a screenshot of one because it looked cool lol.