New hard game comes out. Idiot press wants easy mode.

[Captain Marvelous_v1legacy]

Ok, how the hell does this thread have 10 pages of replies when there is no good reason not to have an easy mode on any single player game out there?

Well, it seems to be because some people are of the opinion that beating Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro makes them "Hardcore" and gives them some nonexistent cred. The existence of an easier option would make their already worthless achievement mean even less because... reasons.

 

[Worgen]

Ok, how the hell does this thread have 10 pages of replies when there is no good reason not to have an easy mode on any single player game out there?

Well, it seems to be because some people are of the opinion that beating Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro makes them "Hardcore" and gives them some nonexistent cred. The existence of an easier option would make their already worthless achievement mean even less because... reasons.

Its such a stupid argument, were Doom and Quake any less hardcore for having an easy mode?

 

[Dalisclock]

Ok, how the hell does this thread have 10 pages of replies when there is no good reason not to have an easy mode on any single player game out there?

No clue at this point.

Especially being that guy who likes the Souls series, has completed a majority of the games(someday I'm gonna go back and beat Demons Souls) and will happily admit to having cheesed numerous bosses(Fuck you Micholash. Fuck you Capra Demon) because I was sick of trying to beat them the Legit way and just wanted to fucking move on with the game, and still feel like I had a rich and fulfilling experience because my life doesn't revolve around beating my head against a wall for hours to prove I'm "gud".

I'm pretty sure I just outed myself as a heretic.

 

[BrawlMan]

Ok, how the hell does this thread have 10 pages of replies when there is no good reason not to have an easy mode on any single player game out there?

Well, it seems to be because some people are of the opinion that beating Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro makes them "Hardcore" and gives them some nonexistent cred. The existence of an easier option would make their already worthless achievement mean even less because... reasons.

As Gaming Sins once said "Dark Souls is not the pentacle of action game combat". If these guys calls themselves "hardcore", then I'd love to see them play Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, old God of War, Bayonetta, God Hand, and Viewtiful Joe on their hardest difficulties. Most of these bastards crying and complaining about the difficulty in those games in a heartbeat and bitching that they're too hard.

For those arguing back and forth; just stop. You guys and gals haven't swayed each other opinions and are just sniping and being passively agressive against each other. It's dull, boring, and predictable. You're all going to do the same thing again when the next Souls type game comes out, and some other person suggests an easy mode. FromSoftware ain't gonna add an easy mode, and they get the final say on their game. Not me, not those for an easier difficulty, nor those against an easier mode.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Ok, so I know it's kind of tacky to make a response through someone elses words but I think what a Youtuber called KingK said during his Majora's Mask retrospective sums up what the side advocating there be no easy mode are trying to say.

The specific point starts at 24:32.

 

[CritialGaming]

Ok, how the hell does this thread have 10 pages of replies when there is no good reason not to have an easy mode on any single player game out there?

Well, it seems to be because some people are of the opinion that beating Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro makes them "Hardcore" and gives them some nonexistent cred. The existence of an easier option would make their already worthless achievement mean even less because... reasons.

Who called themselves "hardcore"? Our argument has been (at least mine) has been that there is no reason that anyone couldn't beat any of these games if they wanted too. It is less about the games being brick wall hard, and more about people not tolerating even the slightest road block of challenge in order to get through a game. That every game will not be beaten by everybody, nor will it maintain or even have an appeal to everybody and the inclusion of easy mode Souls will not change anything in that regard.

Look at Steam achievement stats. MOST people who own any given game, will never see the end credits of that game regardless of difficulty. Why? It isn't because they are all too hard surely. Maybe the game sucks in their opinion, maybe the game just bored them, maybe they got other games that took over their interests and they never went back.

The whole idea of "Oh so many people want to play Souls for the world but can't because it's too hard" is silly imo, because if they were that interested they'd just watch VityaVidya's lore videos and let's plays. Or maybe they would just stick it out and realize it doesn't take much until the game clicks and you figure out how the game works.

 

[Worgen]

Ok, how the hell does this thread have 10 pages of replies when there is no good reason not to have an easy mode on any single player game out there?

Well, it seems to be because some people are of the opinion that beating Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro makes them "Hardcore" and gives them some nonexistent cred. The existence of an easier option would make their already worthless achievement mean even less because... reasons.

Who called themselves "hardcore"? Our argument has been (at least mine) has been that there is no reason that anyone couldn't beat any of these games if they wanted too. It is less about the games being brick wall hard, and more about people not tolerating even the slightest road block of challenge in order to get through a game. That every game will not be beaten by everybody, nor will it maintain or even have an appeal to everybody and the inclusion of easy mode Souls will not change anything in that regard.

Look at Steam achievement stats. MOST people who own any given game, will never see the end credits of that game regardless of difficulty. Why? It isn't because they are all too hard surely. Maybe the game sucks in their opinion, maybe the game just bored them, maybe they got other games that took over their interests and they never went back.

The whole idea of "Oh so many people want to play Souls for the world but can't because it's too hard" is silly imo, because if they were that interested they'd just watch VityaVidya's lore videos and let's plays. Or maybe they would just stick it out and realize it doesn't take much until the game clicks and you figure out how the game works.

You're not making a good argument, your just saying "git gud." Was Doom or Quake lessened by having an easy mode? Was halo? Was Golden Eye? With most of the souls games they did kind of have an easy mode, calling in allies. Sekiro doesn't have that, I can't blame anyone for getting pissed at the games difficulty. Unlike most of the souls type games this one wants you to play it in one way, if you can't play it in that way then your fucked.

 

[Silvanus]

The whole idea of "Oh so many people want to play Souls for the world but can't because it's too hard" is silly imo, because if they were that interested they'd just watch VityaVidya's lore videos and let's plays.

Come on, now, surely you realise how silly this is. We're on a gaming forum because we enjoy the interactive nature of gaming. Surely everybody here recognises that games can do things in ways videos can't.

 

[CritialGaming]

The whole idea of "Oh so many people want to play Souls for the world but can't because it's too hard" is silly imo, because if they were that interested they'd just watch VityaVidya's lore videos and let's plays.

Come on, now, surely you realise how silly this is. We're on a gaming forum because we enjoy the interactive nature of gaming. Surely everybody here recognises that games can do things in ways videos can't.

And as a avid gamer, surely you realize that every game isn't beatable or even playable by every gamer. Which is the crux of my point. I'm not arguing against FromSoft putting easy modes in, I'm arguing against the idea that they NEED to.

Everyone else's points have been "some people can't play the difficult games, but still want to play it for the world and story". Which is fine. But the games are what they are, and no game will be a suitable challenge for everyone. The spectrum is too large for that, and clearly FromSoft has decided that the design of the game is what it is and they're happy with how it is working for them.

Does it lock some players out? Sure. But I don't believe it locks out anyone determined enough to WANT it. The game is challenging and there is no real getting around that. If challenging games aren't your thing, that's totally cool, but FromSoft aint making things for you then. Find alternatives.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

And as a avid gamer, surely you realize that every game isn't beatable or even playable by every gamer. Which is the crux of my point. I'm not arguing against FromSoft putting easy modes in, I'm arguing against the idea that they NEED to.

Everyone else's points have been "some people can't play the difficult games, but still want to play it for the world and story". Which is fine. But the games are what they are, and no game will be a suitable challenge for everyone. The spectrum is too large for that, and clearly FromSoft has decided that the design of the game is what it is and they're happy with how it is working for them.

Does it lock some players out? Sure. But I don't believe it locks out anyone determined enough to WANT it. The game is challenging and there is no real getting around that. If challenging games aren't your thing, that's totally cool, but FromSoft aint making things for you then. Find alternatives.

But why should anyone really care? Every other medium of gaming allows for massive rules changes, games get along just fine without this video game immaturity bullshit. PC gaming allows for massive rules changes, there's a Sekiro Easy mod already (there's probably easy mods for other Souls games). Souls does not have some kind of sanctity that makes it special in any way, it's just a game. When someone says they beat Sekiro, do you need to ask which platform so you know they didn't use the mod? Isn't that literally the same as asking what difficulty they played on (if there was a built-in easy difficulty)? Whatever "sanctity" Sekiro had is gone then. Does that lower your enjoyment of the game knowing there's people playing under different rules? Games lock out players based on skill-level and not the game itself like you or I can't play Major League Baseball but we can play baseball (with whatever rules we want). We can't play in say StarCraft or CounterStrike pro leagues either unless we "git gud". A "hardcore" gamer like Kerg proclaiming they beat Dark Souls was always as meaningless as the statement "I could care less" so there was never anything to be lost in the 1st place.

 

[Kerg3927]

But why should anyone really care? Every other medium of gaming allows for massive rules changes, games get along just fine without this video game immaturity bullshit. PC gaming allows for massive rules changes, there's a Sekiro Easy mod already (there's probably easy mods for other Souls games). Souls does not have some kind of sanctity that makes it special in any way, it's just a game. When someone says they beat Sekiro, do you need to ask which platform so you know they didn't use the mod? Isn't that literally the same as asking what difficulty they played on (if there was a built-in easy difficulty)? Whatever "sanctity" Sekiro had is gone then. Does that lower your enjoyment of the game knowing there's people playing under different rules? Games lock out players based on skill-level and not the game itself like you or I can't play Major League Baseball but we can play baseball (with whatever rules we want). We can't play in say StarCraft or CounterStrike pro leagues either unless we "git gud". A "hardcore" gamer like Kerg proclaiming they beat Dark Souls was always as meaningless as the statement "I could care less" so there was never anything to be lost in the 1st place.

You are arguing about something you clearly do not understand.

From Software markets its games as being challenging, with one level of challenge for everyone, and you can either learn how to play it as it's supposed to be played or go play something else. This appeals to people, and helps make the games popular. People want to be a part of a gaming community of other like-minded people who like challenging games and who like the idea of one challenge for all. If someone says they love Dark Souls, that generally says something about them as a person and a gamer. It's become an identity.

Some feel that many people are too entitled and becoming weaker, softer, and spoiled, and annoying as a result, because too many things are handed to them. And they think that trend is bad for people, bad for society, and bad for gaming. So games that go against that grain appeal to them, especially because they are so rare. It's about a company and a group of gamers standing for something that is bigger than the game itself. And they feel that they are making their stand on a tiny island in a huge sea of all-the-same, and the tide is rising. They just want that island left alone.

You can argue that the games are really not that challenging, which you have, but it doesn't matter. You can argue that it's just a stupid game and people shouldn't take games so seriously, which others on here have, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that people think they are challenging, and feel proud to be among the community of people who have what it takes to overcome those challenges, without having to sit at the table with a booster seat or ride the bike with training wheels. And they feel proud to be a part of a culture that thinks being challenged is a good thing and being whiny and weak and entitled is a bad thing.

And all of that is a huge part of From's marketing and an integral part of the game design itself, IMO, and I think it has played a big part in making these games popular. From would be taking a great risk to tamper with that formula, and I think people should not be so arrogant and hasty to wave it all off as meaningless and demand that they make changes, while simultaneously insulting the company and its fans by implying that they are immoral for standing their ground on this issue. Especially when those people making demands obviously have no clue as to why From Software's games became popular to begin with.

But anyway, nobody's asking you to understand it. They're just asking you to leave it alone.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

You are arguing about something you clearly do not understand.

From Software markets its games as being challenging, with one level of challenge for everyone, and you can either learn how to play it as it's supposed to be played or go play something else. This appeals to people, and helps make the games popular. People want to be a part of a gaming community of other like-minded people who like challenging games and who like the idea of one challenge for all. If someone says they love Dark Souls, that generally says something about them as a person and a gamer. It's become an identity.

Some feel that many people are too entitled and becoming weaker, softer, and spoiled, and annoying as a result, because too many things are handed to them. And they think that trend is bad for people, bad for society, and bad for gaming. So games that go against that grain appeal to them, especially because they are so rare. It's about a company and a group of gamers standing for something that is bigger than the game itself. And they feel that they are making their stand on a tiny island in a huge sea of all-the-same, and the tide is rising. They just want that island left alone.

You can argue that the games are really not that challenging, which you have, but it doesn't matter. You can argue that it's just a stupid game and people shouldn't take games so seriously, which others on here have, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that people think they are challenging, and feel proud to be among the community of people who have what it takes to overcome those challenges, without having to sit at the table with a booster seat or ride the bike with training wheels. And they feel proud to be a part of a culture that thinks being challenged is a good thing and being whiny and weak and entitled is a bad thing.

And all of that is a huge part of From's marketing and an integral part of the game design itself, IMO, and I think it has played a big part in making these games popular. From would be taking a great risk to tamper with that formula, and I think people should not be so arrogant and hasty to wave it all off as meaningless and demand that they make changes, while simultaneously insulting the company and its fans by implying that they are immoral for standing their ground on this issue. Especially when those people making demands obviously have no clue as to why From Software's games became popular to begin with.

But anyway, nobody's asking you to understand it. They're just asking you to leave it alone.

Yeah, I totally don't understand gaming when its been my main hobby for my entire life from playing sports as a kid to video games and now mainly board gaming (as video games are in a very poor place right now).

Only pretentious Souls players could turn this into some complete bullshit like these games are standing their ground against tyranny of the "entitled" or some such bullshit. And baseball is standing its ground against the culture of instant gratification...

A game doesn't have any inherent quality/challenge/importance/seriousness to it. Any game is only as important as it is to you and only you. You can't force any quality onto a game because each person that plays it gets a completely unique experience because the variable is the person. The game being constant hardly matters along with the fact that games are hardly constant to begin with. Here's one way [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyq7fbI6gcE] to beat a mini-boss in Sekiro and here's another way [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBugsWaXcgU]. As you can see, there's booster seats in Sekiro anyway. Maybe if Sekiro allowed for chairs with variable heights (i.e. multiple difficulties), people wouldn't go looking for the booster seats (i.e. cheese) and they'd all learn to eat at the table like an adult (i.e. "git gud"). Just beating a Souls game means nothing, it's how you did it that has meaning and only you know that. Thus, Souls is no different than any other game you can play it by being whiny, weak, and entitled or you can "git gud". There's serious communities dedicated to pretty much every game whether it's a video game you consider "casual" and for the "entitled" or something as basic as Cornhole (aka Bags).

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Ok, how the hell does this thread have 10 pages of replies when there is no good reason not to have an easy mode on any single player game out there?

Its pretty much just ego. Some people seem to think that making a Souls game easier would allow all the scrubs in and make their little club less exclusive. This results in most of their criticism basically being projection where they accuse others of being entitled while demanding a thing be made exclusively their way exclusively for them.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

This is a great point that I failed to emphasize enough. Dark Souls' marketing slogan is "Prepare to Die." In Dark Souls II's intro to the game, a witch mocks you and basically double dog dare's you to succeed, questioning whether you have what it takes. The whole theme of the games is despair, hopelessness, but you should keep going anyway, because wtf else are you going to do? Because there is no other option (i.e. there is no freaking easy mode). They want you to feel just like the character feels. They want you to get discouraged. They want you to despair, yet keep going anyway and overcome it, because they know that the greater the adversity the greater the rewards. It really is brilliant.

This whole argument gets to a really weird place when you realize that some people didn't find Dark Souls all that hard to begin with. Did veteran Monster Hunter players somehow cheat themselves from really groking Dark Souls's themes by having a higher base level of skill and not feeling the despair? [footnote]Side note, if you're feeling despair playing a video game, log the fuck off and detox for a bit. That's not healthy[/footnote] And there's always another option: going a different route, trying different weapons, grinding souls, watch YouTube videos to find strats/cheese to get through the next bit while spoiling and ruining the game for yourself far worse than an easier mode could ever do, etc. From isn't trying to discourage players, that's game dev poison. Because unlike that poor undead bastard, I can, in fact, just stop. Heck, I did just that. DS3 was the first From game I bought after being hyped of people breathlessly telling me how good the series was for literal years. I'm all about that gothic atmosphere and environmental storytelling. I wanted to poke around and gawk at the grotesque.

Bounced right off it. It's un-tutorialized drek if you don't know what's going on. It took two feature length video essays produced by a madman to get me to give From another shot. Got Bloodborne cheap and despite really liking my time with it, still haven't popped in DS3 yet. Kinda waiting on a proper DS2 rerelease.

 

[Silvanus]

And as a avid gamer, surely you realize that every game isn't beatable or even playable by every gamer. Which is the crux of my point. I'm not arguing against FromSoft putting easy modes in, I'm arguing against the idea that they NEED to.

I certainly recognise that. To reiterate: I don't think the games need an easier mode (and I think the author of the article was hyperbolic in saying they do). I-- and most people here, as far as I understand-- merely believe that it would be fine if they did, and it wouldn't impact our experience.

I'm arguing primarily with those who are dead against, as if it would ruin the integrity of the experience. Which is all nonsense.

Everyone else's points have been "some people can't play the difficult games, but still want to play it for the world and story". Which is fine. But the games are what they are, and no game will be a suitable challenge for everyone. The spectrum is too large for that, and clearly FromSoft has decided that the design of the game is what it is and they're happy with how it is working for them.

Does it lock some players out? Sure. But I don't believe it locks out anyone determined enough to WANT it. The game is challenging and there is no real getting around that. If challenging games aren't your thing, that's totally cool, but FromSoft aint making things for you then. Find alternatives.

This is just restating the current state of things. We know how things currently are and what the developers chose to do. That's not disputed.

It's still valuable to talk about things we would appreciate or enjoy. That's the nature of feedback.

I wouldn't use an easy mode, but I have a mate that would, and its inclusion would mean we could talk about it. He's proper shit at games, so he would still find it bloody challenging even on easy. Different people find it difficult to different extents.

 

[Kerg3927]

Yeah, I totally don't understand gaming when its been my main hobby for my entire life from playing sports as a kid to video games and now mainly board gaming (as video games are in a very poor place right now).

I didn't say anything about other games. I said you don't understand a key component of why the Souls games appeal to certain people. You just don't get it. And that's okay. I don't understand the appeal of a lot of games, but I don't try to change those games. I just don't play them. I leave them alone. Why can't people like you do the same?

Why do you think From chose the slogan "Prepare to Die" to market Dark Souls? You think they just did that for no reason? It's a dare. It says, this game is difficult and there is no easy mode. Do you have what it takes? This taps into a person's competitive nature and makes them want to buy the game and prove that they do have what it takes. If they add an easy mode, that whole dynamic is destroyed, and it becomes a different game, with a different theme, and they would have to come up with an entirely different slogan. Who are you to tell them that they have to do that?

... complete bullshit... Just beating a Souls game means nothing... Souls is no different than any other game...

And that's your take, which you're entitled to. But many other Souls fans disagree with you, and they are not wrong. It is not possible for you to prove them wrong. They just feel differently than you. Why can't you just accept and tolerate that?

And regarding modding Sekiro, it doesn't matter. There are people who hack the Souls games and cheat at them, too, and they are frowned upon by the community. Just because it's possible for a hacker or a mod-user to cheat at a game doesn't mean the developer should implement cheat modes into its games to make it easy for people to do so.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Yeah, I totally don't understand gaming when its been my main hobby for my entire life from playing sports as a kid to video games and now mainly board gaming (as video games are in a very poor place right now).

I didn't say anything about other games. I said you don't understand a key component of why the Souls games appeal to certain people. You just don't get it. And that's okay. I don't understand the appeal of a lot of games, but I don't try to change those games. I just don't play them. I leave them alone. Why can't people like you do the same?

Why do you think From chose the slogan "Prepare to Die" to market Dark Souls? You think they just did that for no reason? It's a dare. It says, this game is difficult and there is no easy mode. Do you have what it takes? This taps into a person's competitive nature and makes them want to buy the game and prove that they do have what it takes. If they add an easy mode, that whole dynamic is destroyed, and it becomes a different game, with a different theme, and they would have to come up with an entirely different slogan. Who are you to tell them that they have to do that?

... complete bullshit... Just beating a Souls game means nothing... Souls is no different than any other game...

And that's your take, which you're entitled to. But many other Souls fans disagree with you, and they are not wrong. It is not possible for you to prove them wrong. They just feel differently than you. Why can't you just accept and tolerate that?

And regarding modding Sekiro, it doesn't matter. There are people who hack the Souls games and cheat at them, too, and they are frowned upon by the community. Just because it's possible for a hacker or a mod-user to cheat at a game doesn't mean the developer should implement cheat modes into its games to make it easy for people to do so.

I do get it, I play games for competition too. Souls for ME wasn't hard or competitive at all. What I'm saying is that Souls, just like most games, isn't inherently competitive or challenging on its own. Depending how YOU played it coinciding with YOUR skill level will determine for YOU how competitive and challenging it was. If someone comes up to me and says 'I beat Dark Souls', it only means that I guess they liked the game or some twat that thinks it gives them gamer cred or something. It doesn't transfer over that they are "hardcore" or like challenging games or mastered the game because there's plenty of ways to cheese the game (I'm not even talking about cheats). It's the "how" they played the game that will dictate that. Thus, easy difficulty wouldn't change Souls. Same thing with regards to say baseball when someone says they played baseball, they could have just played it as a kid in a yard with a tennis ball or in the hall of fame. There's only a select few games (mainly from the arcade, 8-bit, and 16-bit eras) where you had to legit master those games to beat. Someone saying they beat The Lion King says more about challenge then someone saying they beat Dark Souls.

 

[Kerg3927]

This whole argument gets to a really weird place when you realize that some people didn't find Dark Souls all that hard to begin with. Did veteran Monster Hunter players somehow cheat themselves from really groking Dark Souls's themes by having a higher base level of skill and not feeling the despair? Side note, if you're feeling despair playing a video game, log the fuck off and detox for a bit. That's not healthy

Of course there are going to be exceptional players who do not find it challenging enough. They can always try to beat the game without leveling up or without wearing armor or with a ladle as a weapon, which some people take great pride in doing. Or they can always go play a more difficult game.

And I don't necessarily mean despair in the literal sense. More like feeling the struggle. And I think most people struggle at some point while playing through a Souls game. As I've said, that struggle can be a great thing because people tend to feel good after they have overcome it. And I think that can be very healthy.

And there's always another option: going a different route, trying different weapons, grinding souls, watch YouTube videos to find strats/cheese to get through the next bit while spoiling and ruining the game for yourself far worse than an easier mode could ever do, etc.

They can also hack the game and cheat, as I said in my prior post. Doesn't mean that From should encourage that type of behavior by making it easier to do that. And just because there are already ways to cheese the game doesn't mean that From should add more.

From isn't trying to discourage players, that's game dev poison. Because unlike that poor undead bastard, I can, in fact, just stop. Heck, I did just that. DS3 was the first From game I bought after being hyped of people breathlessly telling me how good the series was for literal years. I'm all about that gothic atmosphere and environmental storytelling. I wanted to poke around and gawk at the grotesque.

Bounced right off it. It's un-tutorialized drek if you don't know what's going on. It took two feature length video essays produced by a madman to get me to give From another shot. Got Bloodborne cheap and despite really liking my time with it, still haven't popped in DS3 yet. Kinda waiting on a proper DS2 rerelease.

Well, obviously the game wasn't to your liking, and that's unfortunate for you, but it happens. I never found the lack of a tutorial to be an issue, because it only takes a few minutes to google "dark souls beginner tips" or any specific mechanic that you don't understand and find anything you need to know. I really don't see much difference between doing that and reading an official manual or having a tutorial walk you through it. I think it's fine for From Software to assume that you have access to the internet and thus can learn anything you need to know from the community.

 

[Kerg3927]

I do get it, I play games for competition too. Souls for ME wasn't hard or competitive at all. What I'm saying is that Souls, just like most games, isn't inherently competitive or challenging on its own. Depending how YOU played it coinciding with YOUR skill level will determine for YOU how competitive and challenging it was. If someone comes up to me and says 'I beat Dark Souls', it only means that I guess they liked the game or some twat that thinks it gives them gamer cred or something.

Why is someone a "twat" for feeling proud of something? Is someone also a "twat" for feeling proud of graduating from college or high school or even completing all of the achievements in a game? I just don't understand that mentality. Why would you be so anxious to take a shit on someone for feeling proud of something? I would just politely tell them "grats," whether I was impressed or not.

It doesn't transfer over that they are "hardcore" or like challenging games or mastered the game because there's plenty of ways to cheese the game (I'm not even talking about cheats). It's the "how" they played the game that will dictate that. Thus, easy difficulty wouldn't change Souls. Same thing with regards to say baseball when someone says they played baseball, they could have just played it as a kid in a yard with a tennis ball or in the hall of fame. There's only a select few games (mainly from the arcade, 8-bit, and 16-bit eras) where you had to legit master those games to beat. Someone saying they beat The Lion King says more about challenge then someone saying they beat Dark Souls.

Again, that's your take. I would say that the ways to cheese Dark Souls are not obvious, and so if someone was clever enough and determined enough to figure out those strategies then they could probably also figure out how to beat the game without them. Either way, at the end of the day they beat the game as designed by developer, and so they did it legitimately. To me, that's not at all the same thing as logging on for the first time, flipping an easy mode switch, and zerging through it, which requires little effort or thought.

 

[CaitSeith]

snip

Citation needed. Otherwise you'll have to admit you're just projecting and putting words on From Software's mouth.

Did I quote anybody?

I applaud From Software for saying no