I’m not writing about Nightreign (FromSoft) today. At least not directly. Well, I’ll probably end up going in that direction, but this is about brand loyalty in general. Here’s the post from yesterday just because it’s tangentially related.
I wanted to talk about brand loyalty because it’s been on my mind. Why? Well, it lingers in the back of my mind now and again, and with the Stwitch 2 releasing yesterday, I had to marvel at how bonkers people went.
Full disclosure: I don’t have a Switch. I had no intention of buying a Switch 2. Then, it was revealed that FromSoft had an exclusive release that was going to be on Switch 2 (The Duskbloods), and I was so disappointed when I heard about it. Then I found out that it was yet another multiplayer game, and I was even sadder. Why? Because I hate multiplayer games. Which is one of the reason I am not having a good time with Nightreign.
I have been feeling since Dark Souls III: The Ringed City (second DLC) that FromSoft games were getting further and further away from me. I mean, the first game was a miserable experience the first time through, and I have always been painfully aware that I’m on borrowed time with the games.
I started feeling it while playing The Ringed City, and it’s only increased with each gome (save base game Elden Ring). Sekiro was a miserable experience for me, and I don’t think I could even finish it now after my medical crisis. This is not me being a downer or hating on myself; this is me being pragmatic.
Side note: I am really tired of From fans now doubling down on ‘the games are not hard’. I don’t know where this retconning is coming from, but it’s bullshit. No, they are not the hardest games in the world, but they are not NOT hard, either. At least for 90% of gamers. And it’s irritating to hear hardcore From fans pooh-pooh that.
Side note to the side note: This is just another kind of gatekeeping. Years ago, it was people taking pride in the fact they finished Dark Souls. You weren’t a real gamer if you didn’t! That was unpleasant, too, even more so, but that doesn’t mean the current ‘the games are SO easy LOL’ is any better.
Side note separate from the earlier two: In the RKG Discord, we had a thread for the Summer Games Fest. One thing many of us agreed on was that there were too many soulslikes coming out. Not that we were against them per se, but they were all so iterative and didn’t really bring anything new to the genre. Seriously. There were five or six that were trying to be Souls, and none of them really spoke to me. One of them was the Lies of P DLC (Overture), which most people are hyped for. I’m not, but even if I was, I’m not sure I could play the DLC. Why? I played the original on Game Pass, and it’s not there any longer. Except, I don’t want to play it, even though they put in an easy mode (which is pissing off the hardcore Lies of P fans, but whatever).
After Sekiro came out, I knew that my time was really limited. Elden Ring held it at bay, yes, but then came Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon. I could not play that one, though I tried really hard. I did beat babby’s first tutorial boss, but gave up soon after. I just could not play the game, no matter what. It was a nightmare for me with my spatial issues, and I gave up regretfully.
Shadow of the Erdtree, I loved, but it was so fucking hard. Especially the final boss. As is FromSoft’s wont, they make the final boss of the DLC fucking ridiculous. This is their nod to the hardore fans, and while I get it, that’s not going to be me for much longer. The last boss of the DLC is just not fun at all. It’s so bad, From nerfed it. And it’s still hot garbage.
Here’s the thing. I have long since thought that FromSoft bought their own shit a bit too much when it came to the last boss. I know they want to give a nod to their fans, but it always leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I have a friend who has not beaten the final boss of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and may never do so.
I have beaten it four or five times. Once on my own with my Mimic Tear, and the rest with human summons. It took me five hours over two days, and by the end of it, I was just numb. I had a very brief moment of ‘fuck you I did it!’, but it didn’t even last a second. I was just relieved I was done with it, and I could finally stop fighting that boss.
I preordered all those games. When Nightreign was announced, I was hyped, but then came down to earth shortly after. Multiplayer? Fast-paced? Three people? Yeah, no. None of that appealed to me. And, honestly, after playing it for a week….But I’m not here to write about that. I just wanted to note that while I did preorder it, I waited until the day before. Mostly because time was going way too fucking fast for me to keep up.
Miyazaki has said that he and the team are still focused on single-player action adverture games. My instinctive response was, “Prove it.” And that’s when I realized that my trust in them was wavering. Not that they would make great games–I still trust in that. But that the games were even tangentially for me any longer. I mean, they weren’t in the first place, and they have continually gotten further and further away.
It was the final boss of Sekiro who really underscored that I was flying too close to the sun. I somehow managed to beat that boss, but I know I could not do it again. People say you get better as you go, but that’s predicated on being able to deflect in the first place.
Here’s my take on brand loyalty. I don’t have any. I buy things if they are good, and I don’t if they are not. I have been fairly loyal to Logitech because they have good tech. If I start becoming disappointed in their shit, then I will stop buying it. I liked New Balance shoes until their CEO or whatever said some very ill-advised shit, and then I stopped buying them. That guy is gone, but I still haven’t gone back.
I don’t think this is a bad thing. I get why people are loyal to brands (well, not really, but I intellectually get it), but I just am not. So when I found myself really attached to FromSoft, I felt weird about it. But it fell within my definition of brand loyalty–I liked what they made, so I continue to buy the product.
Now, I’m not as sold on their products any longer. Or rather, I don’t think they are for me. They are going in a direction that excludes me. They can talk all they want about still being committed to action adventure games, but even then, I’m not sanguine about being able to play them. It’s sobering and sad, but it’s reality.
I will write more about this tomorrow.