I have written three posts about accessibility issues in FromSoft games. That mean s this is post four, and who knows when I’ll stop? Here is post three that I wrote yesterday. In it, I mentioned Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon, which I quit about an hour after the tutorial boss. And it took me twenty to twenty-five tries to kil the tutorial boss. Yes, it’s supposed to be challenging (all From tutorial bosses are hard. As Andy from OutsideXbox said, Iudex Gundyr from Dark Souls III is a literal gatekeeper), but not die two dozen times difficult. I have included that video below with the appropriate time stamp. He’s not talking about it in terms of accessibility, but the points he makes could apply to that as well.
My nibling told me they spent hours on this boss without beating him. Several hours. You cannot summon for this boss, so you have to beat him solo. This was the second From game Rory played, and he died several times to this boss, too. Now, I bet he would beat Iudex in three tries mak, but at the time, he was flailing wildly at Iudex and dying repeatedly. Funnily, I don’t have much trouble with Iudex–at least not as a Pyro. He is very weak to fire, especially after his transformation (which usually makes him harder for most players).
In AC VI, the tutorial mech is definitely a gatekeeper. If you can’t beat it (and it’s pretty hard), then you might as well walk away. It has a Sekiro deflect mechanic that while not as punishing as the one in Sekriro, it still wasn’t something I could do with any consistency.
My biggest problem with the game, though, is the platforming. I have written several timess about how much I hate the platforming in From games. It’s not the purpose of any of the games, well, except maybe Sekiro to a certain extent. From certainly wanted you to traverse vertically in that game.
I knew before I even tried the game that it was going to be a problem for me. From watching the trailer, I had my doubts about the game. First of all, I’m not into mechs. Literally or figuratively. They don’t do anything for me, so that was one ding. Secondly, I could tell that the traversal was going to be a big problem for me. A BIG problem. Sadly, I was right about that. Thirdly, the platforming. Oh, the platforming.
Here’s the thing. There are two ways to boost in tthe game. They are slightly different kinds of boosts, but they are boosts. And you have to gauge when you’re going to boost so you don’t fall to your death. Well, not your death exactly, because you respawn, but with less health. Which is like most games, I guess. But It’s very demoralizing because I have issues with my spatial recognition. I cannot tell how far something is from me, especially in pixels. So after I scraped by the tutorial boss, I went on a mission. And I kept failing to land on a platform.