Here’s the thing. When we talk about FromSoft games, people get stuck on talking about the difficlulty. I understand why, but it’s such a boring conversation. Yes, they are difficult. Yes, you have to be thoughtful when you play (at least your first time through) and deliberate in your actions. But, that’s just not the most interesting thing about the games. And it’s sad when people think it is. Or when they want to gate-keep how you can play the games. I wrote about that yesterday.
I especially have a hair up my ass about people who whine about magic being OP. As I have maintained from day one, anything can be OP if you want it to be. There’s someone in the RKG who loves to have two big swords, and he maintains that’s the way to be OP. He says magic was hard mode for him, which goes to show it depends on the person.
He helped me get the plat in Bloodborne, by the way. So I appreciated him and his big sword in the Chalice Dungeons I would not have killed the fire-barfing doggo whilst I had half health without him, so I have eternal gratitude for him. And I love that he uses two giant swords AND thinks that’s easy mode. Very few men are secure enough to say that they do things the easy way.
Anyway.
Let me be clear. The games are hard. Let’s not sugarcoat that. There are dedicated From fans who are retconning it so that they declare the games are not that hard. This is not true. They are hard. But, they are also fascinating worlds that you explore so you can discover secrets and little nuggets that you can’t see in other games. Sometimes, entire areas that you could miss otherwise.
Sekiro is considered by many to be the best game. I disagree simply because you have to play it one certain way in order to beat it (unless you want to do what I did and beat your head against the wall for days against each boss, which is not fun). There is no summoning, and while I understand why they did it that way (you are the Lone Wolf, after all. Also, Activision may not have wanted to support it). At any rate, you have to do it all on your own and without being able to grind to level up.
For some people, this was a great thing. For others like me, it was terrible. I did not enjoy the game because there was no getting better. I can’t improve my reflexes, say, simply by willing it to be so. It’s so difficult to get other people to see this, by the way. Because disabilities or issues relating to it are really hard to explain to people. THat can-do attitude is great–until you actually can’t do. Then, it’s just irritating as fuck.