One of the things that frustrates me in the RKG Discord is how people keep saying that the From games aren’t hard. This has become the new mantra: The games aren’t hard; you just have to be thoughtful when you play them.
I want to say right up front that this may be true for some people. There are people who are naturally good at these games. There is one guy in the Discord who rarely dies to a boss. He’s also nineteen or twenty with lightning-fast reflexes. I think he died to the Guardian Ape 8 times in Sekiro and that may be the most times he died to a From boss. When I was doing the plat for Bloodborne, he decided to do the DLC once and for all. The game came out when he was 12 and he could not get past Ludwig, the first boss in the DLC.
He chose the Hunter Axe in honor of me chasing the plat. He was taking notes of how and when he died as he went. They were really funny because they were like ‘guy with big head knocked me off the staircase’. Accurate and hilarious. He one-shot all the bosses in the DLC except the last one–which he two-shot. All in all, he died something like fourteen times in a brutal DLC. I probably died that many times to the first boss–or would have if I hadn’t summoned Valter (NPC) to help me out.
It was cool that he used the Hunter Axe in honor of my plat run, but it was also a bit deflating that he did it so easily with a weapon he’d never used before. And the fact that he decimated the DLC was mind-blowing to me. It turns out, though, that this was just par the fourse for him. He was a legend in the Discord for how easily he romped through all the previous games.
There are a couple other people in the Discord who are nearly as good as him at these games. Then, there are those who are very good, but not god tier. Then there are those who are decent at the games. Then, several rungs down, there is me.
I am terrible at the games. Ian and I have had this argument many times. He thinks the games are made for people like me–because I have to work to beat them. I disagree. I say that I am not the target demo because most people in my position would have given up long before I did. I don’t know why I kept going when it was so damn hard every step of the way. Probably because I’m a stubborn bitch and contrary to boot.
But the games were grueling and, yes, fucking hard. They still are. I really loathe this retconning of the games to dismiss the difficulty. And, it’s ableist to say that anyone can play them if they just try hard enough. I’m not saying that someone shouldn’t try to play them, but there’s no shame in saying they literally can’t play them.
I ran into this ceiling with Lies of P (Neowiz Games/Round8 Studio). I have written plenty about it so I’m not going to get into the specifics, but when I reached the last chapter, I knew that I had hit the ceiling of my ability. Before this point, I used throwables to cheese the second stage of every boss fight since the fourth chapter (which, ugh. But agaain, I went about it in detail in prior posts). In the last chapter, however, I felt that even this wouldn’t be enough.
I managed to fumble my way through the two mandatory bosses with the specter and my beloved throwables before running into the last (optional) boss. Which you have to fight solo. When I got to the second phase, I immediately knew that I would not be able to do him. He was so fast, he had me skewered before I could even register in my brain that he had moved.
I have said many times that I have spatial issues, shitty reflexes, and absolutely cannot do QTEs. Since my medical crisis, I also have difficulty with clicknig the mouse correctly. Like to resize a window. I can’t click and drag properly. My fine motor control is not so fine any longer. Again, I am fine with it because the alternative would be me being permanently dead. But it makes me frustrated because at least with the last thing, it’s something I could have done before. And I beat myself up slightly about it beacuse why can’t I do it?
That’s my issue with the new hot take that the Souls games (and soulslikes) aren’t hard. If people would say that it’s not hard for them, I have no problem with that. But when they say the games aren’t hard in general, that’s when I grit my teeth and roll my eyes. Or the dreaded ‘when it clicks’. It doesn’t click for everyone, asshole! I just turned off a video that used that phrase for Lords of the Fallen. He said that yes there are a lot of systems but when it clicked–that’s when I clicked. Off the video, I mean.
I don’t expect people to be sensitive to hidden disabilities, but it would be nice if they at least realized that there are people who can’t actually do the shit.
I probably will never play Final Fantasy XVI, but I really appreciate that they have disability rings (that’s not what they’re called, but it’s basically that). When you wear them, they make certain aspect of the combat easier. Some gamers have disparaged them (of coruse), which I don’t get at all. You. Don’t. Have. To. Use. Them. You can pretend they don’t exist and go about your merry way. But for sizeable portion of gamers, the fact that they’re in the game something something bullshit ‘ruined the game’.
It’s the same with easy mode in a From game. I used to be against them, but now, I think, “Why would I care?” Well, I care because I’d be tempted to use them even if I don’t need to, but that’s on me. But just having them in the game should not have any impact on the hardcore fans who want to run a onebro build.
I’m just tired. I want to play Lords of the Fallen, but I’m wary that it’ll be another Lies of P situtation in that it’s just not fun if you don’t parry. I want one of these games without the emphasis being on parrying. In fact, I think it would be hilarious if there was a soulslike that punished you for parrying. Heh.
I know I’m in the minority (again) on this issue, but a soulslike in which I never had to worry about parrying sounds like heaven to me. Sadly, I doubt I will ever see one.