Source: (Please remember to check it) Currentdigitalmag.com
Author: Brian White
All Video Games Should Have a Difficulty Option
(Full article can only be read at the source)
Recently, I’ve gotten back into Bloodborne, last year’s infamously difficult PS4 exclusive successor to the Souls series of games. Much like it’s predecessor, Dark Souls, Bloodborne is well known for being punishing and unforgiving, as well as generally nebulous.
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Despite Bloodborne offering a tough but conquerable challenge for me, I still feel it, as well as any game reliant on player skill, should have an Easy mode.
Consider a scenario in which a gamer walks into GameStop. Now, I hate this label immensely, but for argument’s sake, we’ll call this person a “casual” gamer. (I think if you play games, no matter what they are, you’re a gamer, but anyway) This person, looking for a new game, comes across Bloodborne on the shelf, and is struck by the box art. Maybe they remember that commercial and are intrigued by the graphics and the world.
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Anyway, said “casual” gamer buys Bloodborne and plays for about maybe twenty minutes before realizing it’s way too hard for them. So they quit. They’ve basically been excluded from the game by virtue of it’s difficulty, and there’s really nothing they can do about it. And no, “get good” is not a valid statement; shut the hell up.
Because what must be understood is, there are gamers out there who love video games but aren’t exactly masters of them. Some of them might dig Bloodborne’s aesthetic, but those same people are denied entry into Yharnam because they’re maybe less coordinated than those who finished the game.
Tracking the Trophies for Bloodborne on PS4 reveals that only 63% of players defeated Father Gascoigne. He’s the first mandatory boss in the game. Moving further, the percent goes down as you track the trophies for each boss, all the way down to just 32% for Margo’s Wet Nurse. [...] that’s awfully low, don’t you think?
I talk about Bloodborne a lot because it’s a perfect example of what some see as insurmountable challenge. But the same goes for Call of Duty, a series that some view as simplistic and uncomplicated. Whether that’s true or not, Call of Duty is more accessible by virtue of it’s difficulty menu; if it’s too hard for you, you can lower the difficulty and have an easier time, relative to your skill level. Red Dead Redemption had an intriguing setup; if you failed the action sequences too many times, the game asked you if you’d like to skip the level and go to the next cutscene.
That’s great, I think, because a system like that allows basically everyone to enjoy the game. [...]
Nevertheless, adding an Easy mode to Bloodborne or Dark Souls or anything, really, doesn’t dilute your experience with the game, because that never changed. I personally don’t see the problem with Bloodborne retaining it’s “core” difficulty while introducing an optional Easy mode that you don’t have to use if you don’t want to. As a matter of fact, such a thing would invite others into the game — which is a win for everyone; more people get to enjoy the game while sales go up.
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There’s no shame in Easy mode, remember, and punishing people for being less than perfect at games seems wrong to me. The easiest solution is to simply let us choose the difficulty in any game, and allow everyone to have the kind of fun they want to.
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Opinions about this? Added a poll, though I'm not sure I got all the options right.
As for me, eh. I'm cool either way. If a game hasn't got a difficulty option, and I like it, I'll try until I beat it. If it does have a difficulty option...I probably won't care because I'll be playing on the hardest difficulty still. xD
