I love FromSoft games. They are amazing and Miyazaki is a genius. I think Sekiro is brilliant and an incredible stand-alone game. It’s also my least-favorite of the games with Bloodborne just above it. This is a controversial opinion in the community as most people worship at the altar of Bloodborne.
Before I continue, I have to address the elephant in the room. There has been a lot of debate about the accessibility of the games. Usually, this breaks down to the question of modes and the advocation of adding an easy mode. I don’t believe that’s the answer, but it’s also not an interest of mine because it’s clear that FromSoft will never do that.
I am more interested in the other things they have and have not done in order to make the games more accessible to people, but that’s also not something I’ll really be discussing this post. My interest right now is how much should FromSoft have to adapt in order to be accessible and in what areas?
For example, I’m terrible at platforming because I have depth and spatial issues. Add a horse to that and, well, I cannot tell you how many times I plunged Torrent into the deep abyss of nothing. It doesn’t help that he’s not very precise and FromSoft continues to insist that you can turn on a dime while jumping–even on a horse.
In the RKG Discord, there is a Soulsborne channel, of course. People were gushing about how great the game is and how when it clicks, it just clicks. Which is what many people who love that game say. But here’s the thing. It doesn’t click with everyone. I found ways to get around my issues with Bloodborne, but I never actually liked the game. Yes, I found a way to beat it, but I was never any good at it. Not having a shield is such a handicap to me, that I will do what I can to mitigate it. In the case of Bloodborne, using my Hunter Tools including the Augur of Ebreitas to TENTACLES TO THE FACE! helped, but did not wholly negate the damage of not having a shield.
It’s frustrating to explain to people that it’s not just a matter of ‘git gud’ or trying harder. I literally cannot do the parry/riposte/deflect, etc. At least not with any consistency. That’s something I’ve learned from reading up on disabilities–how normies just cannot comprehend what they consider normal is predicated on not having disabilities. I don’t feel like talking about the lesser-known results from the Dunning-Kruger study yet again (but it’s that people who are better than others/smarter than others in a certain area, they vastly underestimate the gap of the difference), but it’s pretty much the same thing.
I have lost count of the times I’ve tried to explain to people that what’s easy for them is not easy for everyone, but it goes over their head. Because, of course, everyone uses themselves as the standard-bearer, and have a hard time envisioning that someone else might be different. The less deviations you are from the norm, the more difficult it is to think that others may not be like you.
And, anyone who is in a niche community, especially one that is based on playing difficult games, well there’s a sense of superiority there no matter how faint and how incidental. Look. We would not be playing these games so much and enjoying them to this extent if they weren’t taxing. Granted, there are people who breeze through them, but they are few and far between.
I am doing the plat for Bloodborne at the moment. I am doing it in part because of the encouragement from the RKG slugs (what we call ourselves. I don’t, but I bow to the common nomenclature), most of whom gush about how amazing Bloodborne is. With this game and with Sekiro, there is this notion that once it clicks, it’s soooooo easy (more so with Sekiro, but also with BB). Which, fine. If you can click with the games, then more power to you. But if you can’t, well, then you’re not going to have a good time.
I am enjoying BB even less than I did when I first played it. I did not have a PS4, so I assumed I would never get to play it. I watched a ton of Let’s Plays and enjoyed them. Much later, my niece’s husband was selling his PS4 for a very steep discount because he wanted the PS4 Pro. I bought it and BB, hoping that I’d still enjoy the game. I had the complete edition, which included the DLC.
By the time I reached the DLC, I was so done with the game. I hated the mechanic of no shield and having to parry, not to mention needing quick reflexes and the ability to dodge perfectly. I was miserable and when I ran into Ludwig, I just didn’t care any longer. I summoned Valtr, and we got it done in a dozen tries or so. I grimly slogged through the rest of the game, but I was done with wasting time on bosses. I did beat Celestial Emissary on my own and was inordinately proud of beating Lady Maria on my own via Hunter Axe, Tonitrus, Executioner’s Gloves, and Augur of Ebrietas. I did not give a shit to learn Laurence and summoned Valtr for him as well. Then, Orphan of Kos, I was D-O-N-E and summoned humans. Once that was over, I went back to the main game to mop up on the last few bosses.
I was able to get Mergo’s Wet Nurse and Gehrman/Moon Presence fairly easily and breathed a sigh of relief once I was done with the game. Honestly, I wish I had never picked it up again to do the plat. I am not enjoying it at all. I did not enjoy the Souls plats, either, but at least those were only grindy and not me having to actually fight rough bosses after finishing the main game for the plat.
Which brings me to the Chalice Dungeons. I hate them. I loathe them so much. Not only are they samesy and confusing, they are boring as fuck. Run through a dungeon that looks exactly like the other dungeons, get hopelessly lost, find a lever to unlock the boss door, kill hordes of mobs, run around zanily, and then go kill the boss. Lather, rinse, repeat. I was bored by the second dungeon and now that I’m fighting the last boss I need to fight for the plat (not the last dungeon, please be noted), I fucking hate them.
I hated DS III when I was finishing the not-plat. Once I was done, I put the game away for a few months just to cleanse the palate. Once that time passed, I was able to return to it and enjoy it once again. I doubt I’ll feel the same about Bloodborne as I did not like the game to begin with and DS III is my favorite game of all time. I have a hunch this might be the last plat I attempt to get. If I do go for another, it’ll at least be for a game I enjoy.