I want to talk about Hades II‘s (Supergiant Games) dirty little secret–God Mode. To put it simply, in God Mode, you start by taking 20% less damage. Every time you die with God Mode on, you get an added 2% resistance to damage. This was also in the first game, but I never turned it on in that game.
Why? Pride and stubbornness. In most hardcore gaming communities, it’s considered cheating to do anything that makes the game easier. I’ve seen it ad nauseam in the FromSoft community (well, I did. I rarely visit any FromSoft forums these days), and it was quite the intro into Dark Souls when I finally had to look something up. (How to beat Kalameet.) So many ‘git guds’. So many ‘if you don’t do it the way I do it, you’re cheating/wrong’. Sooooooo many ‘I did it on the first try noob trolololololol’.
This has been a toxic part of the community, and even though I try to stay away from it, it does bleed through to the RKG forum from time to time. With Elden Ring, there was tension over the idea of using the spirit summon. From put it in the game to make it friendlier for people who have never played a FromSoft game. However, because the assumption was that the player would use a spirit summon throughout the game, they tuned the boss fights with the assumption that there would be a spirit summon in the fight.
Oh, the angst and anger in the hardcore community. The gnashing of teeth and the tearing out of hair! The rending of shirts. The wailing! I’m talking about the FromSoft community in general, not the RKG community. Even in the latter, though, there were grumblings from people who wanted Rory to do the boss fights ‘pure’. Which, fine. Have your opinion. But it felt like they were a minority, even if they were very loud.
But I digress.
My point is that any time there is a hard game, you can count on the following things to be true: 1. There will be a loud chorus of people proclaiming that noobs need to ‘git gud’ while simultaneously saying that the game isn’t that hard. 2. Anyone who doesn’t do it bare-naked with nothing leveled up is cheating/cheesing/playing it wrong. 3. If you dare use the tools in the game that make it easier, you’re not playing the game right/you’re a loser. 4. You’re not getting the true experience/you’re cheapening the experience by using those tools.
I have actively rebutted these beliefs, but they have sunk in, nonetheless. So much so that I’ve considered giving up the game rather than try God Mode. It’s ridiculous. No one but me needs to know that I’ve done it. And it’s in the game. Which means that Supergiant themselves think it’s legit. But I haven’t seen anyone stream with it on, and most games journos have the air of it’s a sin to use it. Others don’t even mention it like it doesn’t exist.