Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: accessibility

Games I don’t play (part three)

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Let’s talk more about games I don’t/can’t play. Games I don’t play is easy* enough. I don’t play turn-based. Except. Ah, I just did. Kind of. And not just dipped into, but platted it. The Spirit Lift (prettysmart games), a roguelike deck-builder that was turn-based. The few times I have played turn-based games, I was used to each member of your party taking their turn. In this game, you had an aggregate amount of turns. Each member contributed cards, but you could use any of them you wanted in each turn as long as they were in play (meaning that you had drawn them).

In general, I don’t like to think too hard while playing a game. I mean, I don’t mind puzzling when I’m playing a puzzle game, but I don’t want t o exert myself too much in other games. I mean, I’ll look something when need be, but I don’t want to be constantly chewing over what to do in a non-puzzle game.

I also have given up on point-and-clicks. I ave tried so hard to like them. I have played several games, old and new, in this genre. Each time, I think, maybe this will be the time I actually like the game. And each time, I do not. The only game I liked was Kathy Rain, and even that was marred with so much frustration. By the way, after years of me wanting a sequel and resigning myself to not getting one (because the first one did not do well at all), I was astonished to find out there was a sequel.

I haven’t bought it yet because I’m scared. Of what? That it’ll just be more deep frustration and/or won’t live up to my expectations. I will try it one day, I’m sure, but–oh dear. It’s 15% off. No, wait. That’s the bundle for both the games. And it makes it cheaper than the second game itself. I don’t know why this is so, but Steam does this a lot.  Seventeen dollars for the bundle. I am between games at the moment, so I’m seriously tempted.

I don’t play FPS, multiplayers, or shooters in general. None of that interests me. I also don’t care for most Triple A games. I know how it sounds, and I swear I’m not a hipster. I just am not made that way. It’s the same with any pop media for me. I am just left cold by most popular media. Now that I’ve realized I’m probably neuroatypical, I am saying that is probably part of the reason I have no interest in mainstream pop culture.

Back to accessibility issues in games I don’t play. Here is my post from yesterday. In it, I was talking about how I would rather indie games fly towards the sun and fail than stay safe and make a bland and boring game. I mean, I would like Triple A games to do the same, but they have way more to lose. It’s the same with Hollywood movies vs. indie ones. When you spend millions on a piece of pop culture, you expect to get that money back.


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FromGames and me, part four

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In the last post, I ended by talking about an ongoing debate I have with a From fan who is an enthusiastic invader in the games. Which, whatever. Be a dick if you want to be a dick. The tension of summoning, blah, blah, blah, bullshit. Look, I get it. The hardbois want to continue to be hard and be able to pat themselves on the back that they are just so hard and so good. Which, whatever.

Here’s the thing. I just glanced at the forums about invahding and wow the invaders are such whiny babies. Wah wah wah FromSoft is catering to the non-hardcore fans, wah wah wah. Wah wah it’s no longer fun for those being invaded.

Newsflash: there are a bunch of us that do not like being invaded at all. I’m not going to say it’s the majority because I simply don’t know (and at least I admit that I don’t know, unlike those assholes), but there are enough of us that we deserve to be heard as well.

In Elden Ring, you can only be invaded if you do multi. And, believe me, there are still people invading. Every time I summon in the game, I get invaded as well. It’s annoying AF, but at least I can run into the boss fight and avoid the invader.

Invasion is not fun for many of us. Period. The games are already hard enough and having someone who only invades (which means they’re nails at it) does not make the game any more fun. For me, anyway. If I have to deal with the invader, I find the nearest cliff and jump off it so they don’t have the satisfaction of killing me.

I have no issue with PvP when it’s in the arenas that are designated for it. Have at it and have fun with it. Just leave me the fuck out of it. That’s all I ask.

Fortunately, in Elden Ring, the item to summon is easy to craft. You anly need two, ah, elder flowers? Erdleaf Flower. And they are all over the lands. I compulsively pick everything up as I gallop by, so I can make hundreds of them if I want.

I think we are in the crossroads for From games. The fact that Elden Ring was wildly popular with the gen pop means that they will keep in mechanics that are friendlier in general. And, I would like to point out that even with those accommodations, many newbies dropped out fairly early in the gahme. Where you need to be in order to start the DLC? Only 37% of people ww ho played it on Steam have beaten that boss. In other words, for all the lamenting about how  From has made the game too easy for the lamestream players, many people have not actually finished it.


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Games are not for everyone

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“Gaming is for everyone.” So the saying goes. I love Eurogamer, in part because they are fierce allies and advocates for minorities. Aoife and Zoe are both bisexual–and women. Zoe is neurodivergent, too (autistic and ADHD). They are very openly against all kinds of isms an celebrate PRIDE with, well, pride. They do a stream every PRIDE asking for donations–and the proceeds always go to an LGBTQ+-related cause. They also have done streams for BLM, autisic people, and various other causes.

I appreciate them so much for this, but it irks me every time they say that gaming is for everyone . I do’nt deny in general with one tweak. Gaming should be for everyone. But, I would go on to say that not every game is for every person. And this is ok.

This is where it gets more complicated. Where is that line drawn? I honestly don’t think every games needs to be able to be played by every person. In part it’s because it’s art. I want artists to be able to put out their vision as they would with a movie or a book. I know it’s different because video games are interactive is a way other pop culture isn’t, but I don’t think this should mean that every game has to be made with every person in mind.

For one thing, that’s impossible. Nothing can be for everyone. Do I think there should be accessibility options in all games? Yes. Devs should be aware and try to include FOV sliders, alternative ways to button mash (*cough* Stray devs, *cough cough*), font sizes and colors, and more. I will say that I was playing Cook, Serve, Forever by David Galindo (Vertigo Gaming), and I was unhappy because the text was done in different colors for different shifts. The darker colors were horrible. I could not parse them as I was trying to press buttons. The next day, the text was all in a clear color (singular) that I could read. I had a hunch that people complained in the Discord and he quickly changed the code.

That’s really cool and responsive. I appreciated it because I really could not read the former text. Now, it’s easy-peasy; it doesn’t take away from the aesthetics, either. It still looks colorful and fun. I can’t pretend to guess how much time or effort it took to change the color of the font, but it literally was overnight.

So, yeah. Put in the aim assists. Put in the gradient difficults in platforming. I’m all about making the game as easy as possible for people within reason. I say thoe last part because I think some of the suggestions that people have are not realistic. In addition, I hold AAA studios to a different standard than indie devs. I expect much more from the former than the latter.

Here’s the thing, though. I’m bitter because even in this, my issues are ones that are never talked about. When people mention disabilities and gaming, it’s usually about modes and physical disabilities. Or, in the case of Zoe, she talks about her ASD and ADHD, and how they make certain aspects of games difficult.


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Accessibility in gaming

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FromSoft revealed more about Elden Ring at the Taipei Game Show. More gameplay footage and an interview with Yashiro Kitao, a producer with FromSoft. He talked about quite a bit, including that the game should take 30 hours for the main storyline. That bit made me laugh out loud because that’s ridiculous. I feel like he was just throwing a number out to appease the fans (this was a question asked by a fan) and giving a number that was as minimal as possible. It’s meaningless, really, in a open world game because very few people just inhaled the main storyline without doing the side quests. That’s the whole point of the open world! To explore and wander, not carrying about the main story.

One interesting thing in the interview was that Yashiro Kitao kept emphasizing that FromSoft didn’t want players to stress out so they added things to ease that stress. It’s interesting because they’ve never shown any interest in adjusting difficulty before. Sexiro was the last game they released and that was hard as nails. I felt railroaded into playing a certain way, which I did not appreciate. One of the things I love about Dark Souls games is that I can make my character any way I want her. Granted, I’m always a strengthcaster these days, but I could be a dex build or a pure faith build if I want. In Sexiro, I could only be, well, Sekiro. It was a pure action game with no leveling up. That’s not exactly true. You could level up, but not in any one category. You had to get four prayer beads from beating mini-bosses and then you level up your…I want to say strength nope. It adds 10% to Vitality and Posture. It’s the memories from beating proper bosses that adds to your strength. Or something like that.

I used to say that if Bloodborne was on PC, I would play it more.  That’s true. I love the gothic aesthetic, moody, brooding, and dripping with atmosphere. But, I did not enjoy the combat as much as in the Dark Souls series because I have terrible reactions and you can’t use a shield in BB. Again, one of the things I love about the Dark Souls games is that I can customize myself however I want. It’s highly versatile as opposed to BB and Sekiro. Sekiro is extremely restrictive whereas BB is somewhere in the middle. It’s not as proscriptive as Sekiro, but it’s certainly not as wide-open as Dark Souls.


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WWDTAOL: The thin line between hard and unfair (video games edition, part three)

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I think I need to uninstall Repentance because I can’t stop playing. This is part three of hard/unfair games and you can read part two here. I have now unlocked 9 of the 17 Tainted Characters and here’s something funny. I was trying to remember all the characters when I wasn’t playing it and always came up one short. I looked up the characters’ names and came across Apollyon. Oh, right. They’re a thing. I never remember them even though I’ve done their whole Post-it Note. They are just so boring. It made me wonder if maybe they were my least-favorite character, but, no, that’s still The Keeper. Well, maybe *spoilers will abound* Jacob and Esau (one character, technically, but two moveable bunches of pixels) will end up being my least favorite, but I haven’t taken them out for more than a short spin.

Of the Tainted Characters, I’ve unlocked Tainted Isaac, Tainted Maggie, Tainted Cain, Tainted Judas, Tainted Samson, Tainted Lost, Tainted Forgotten, Tainted Azazel, and Tainted Eden. Having to do more of The Keeper is going to make me very sad. I’ve taken each of the tainted characters out for a spin and they range from fun to confusing as fuck. Tainted Forgotten is tons of fun as you play as the secondary character, (flying blue baby), while tossing a dead The Forgotten around. Tainted Cain is confusing as fuck because every item you get is tossed in the Bag of Crafting and….profit? Supposedly, if you follow the recipes, something is supposed to come out of it, but I don’t know what. Oh, wait. I’ve been doing it wrong? Simply trying to pick up the items breaks them down into consumables. I have to swipe with the Bag of Crafting to put them in the bag. Same with pickups on the floor. Anyway, too much for me, though I will try it out again.

ETA: Ok. You cannot swipe items at all. They have to be broken down, I guess. This is just weird.

ETA II: I am completely on board now that the first time I did it properly, I crafted The Book of the Dead, one of my favorite items. Granted, it got nerfed in Repentance, but it’s still amazing. I thought it would be harder to craft something, but it’s not. I didn’t even look up the recipes–I just threw stuff in my Bag of Crafting. Will have to play with it more, I guess.

In general, though, I’m not sure I want to learn seventeen new characters and do all the achievements again.


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