Dark Souls: Prepare to cry

I just think that difficulty does not necessarily mean quality. Demon's Souls is one of the few exceptions, but I fear that most fans of these types of games think that the smaller the audience that appreciates it, the better. It's a horrible way of thinking.

I should also point out that I'm not saying melatonin is one of these people, just venting my frustrations at a very elitist gaming minority.

Agent47 wrote:
melatonin wrote:
Agent47 wrote:Personally, a little less 'hardcore' (read: ******* and unnecessarily difficult) would ensure my interest in this.

Then lets hope you get to keep playing the 98% of other games released these days which fall into that category, and those of us who loved the challenge of Demon's Souls with every fibre of our being are catered for here.

Look, there's no doubting the brilliance of Demon's Souls but completely alienating the majority of players by increasing the difficulty to ridiculous levels is just silly. It comes straight from the Itagaki school of thinking, which is never a good thing.

Simple solution: add a difficulty selection. Your fellow challenge-loving players can still enjoy the harsher difficulties, while the rest of us can still play it and enjoy it.

I love Demon's Souls, but i honestly believe simply having an easier option would detract severely from what made the game great in the first place. Pretty much every great thing about the game, the atmosphere, sense of achievement, online functionality and incentive to improve/upgrade all relied heavily on the games punishing difficulty.

Agent47 wrote:I just think that difficulty does not necessarily mean quality. Demon's Souls is one of the few exceptions, but I fear that most fans of these types of games think that the smaller the audience that appreciates it, the better. It's a horrible way of thinking.

I should also point out that I'm not saying melatonin is one of these people, just venting my frustrations at a very elitist gaming minority.

I hear you, honestly I do, but the reason why Demon's Souls got such a favourable reception from those who played it was precisely because it did something that very few games do these days. I've said it better somewhere before, but the way it uses death not as some arbitrary game mechanic (you are out of life, try again, etc.) but as something that is inextricably linked to the world and the atmosphere itself (die: the game will get harder, events will happen, and most importantly you lose everything except your knowledge, which then goes on to be the most valuable currency you could possibly gather...) is why playing it was so, so refreshing.

I'm also playing devil's advocate somewhat, on two accounts - 1) I think the game is (at the risk of sounding elitist) a genuine one-off, and can't see what a sequel would add to it (which is why I'm so glad they're going with a new IP altogether), and 2) I don't think the original Demon's Souls is that difficult. Honestly, it's not. It just asks you to think about dying in a different way, as a necessary part of some wider learning/experience curve rather than "You're gooseberry fool at this, have another go."

...That sounded rubbish. Well, I know what I meant.

I get what you mean, perhaps you're right. I guess it's pretty difficult to balance it without taking away the game's identity.

strawberry float off, Dave.

Yeah, or that.

You know I love you, really.

Agent47 wrote:I just think that difficulty does not necessarily mean quality. Demon's Souls is one of the few exceptions, but I fear that most fans of these types of games think that the smaller the audience that appreciates it, the better. It's a horrible way of thinking.

I should also point out that I'm not saying melatonin is one of these people, just venting my frustrations at a very elitist gaming minority.

Adding an easy mode goes against everything that Demon's Souls is. The game saves after everything you do so that if you make a mistake (like killing a blacksmith) :fp:

then you have to carry on regardless. It's really not that hard anyway it just takes some time getting used to the world and its rules. Once you are past the first level then things get much easier.

I can understand the argument that an easy mode would not effect those that want to play it on normal but just giving you the choice of an easy mode is very un-Demon's Souls and tbh I can't see any way of making the game easier without lose the 'soul' of the game.

If you don't want to play a challenging game then don't buy it, get something else instead.

http://scrawlfx.com/2010/09/project-dar ... mons-souls

Holy gooseberry fool, it really does just look pretty similar to Demon's Souls.

strawberry float it, I take it back, I take it all back. That is Demon's Souls 2 in everything but name and I have a throbbing, glistening, tumescent erection right now.

Eeek!

Loved the atmosphere of miserableness/hopelessness the trailer seemed to have.

satriales wrote:If you don't want to play a challenging game then don't buy it, get something else instead.

Honestly, that's just the kind of mentality this hobby needs less of.

Saint of Killers wrote:

http://scrawlfx.com/2010/09/project-dar ... mons-souls

Okay, FromSoftware, this is "Project Dark"... just call it Demon's Souls 2 and have done with it. Giving it a new name won't make it any less of a sequel. :fp:

Still, looks interesting. :shifty:

Agent47 wrote:Okay, FromSoftware, this is "Project Dark"... just call it Demon's Souls 2 and have done with it. Giving it a new name won't make it any less of a sequel.

Sony own the Demon's Souls IP, so they can't do that.

Agent47 wrote:
satriales wrote:If you don't want to play a challenging game then don't buy it, get something else instead.

Honestly, that's just the kind of mentality this hobby needs less of.

There are hundreds of games released every year. To dumb down every game so that it appeals to more people is what is not needed as there are plenty of other games which would suit you better if this is too hard.

satriales wrote:
Agent47 wrote:
satriales wrote:If you don't want to play a challenging game then don't buy it, get something else instead.

Honestly, that's just the kind of mentality this hobby needs less of.

There are hundreds of games released every year. To dumb down every game so that it appeals to more people is what is not needed as there are plenty of other games which would suit you better if this is too hard.

But to basically say "there can't be an easy mode, strawberry float you if you don't like it" is just arrogant and foolish.
Anyway, we've had this debate already so I'm gonna let it go... for now. :shifty:

Agent47 - Did you play Demon's Souls, or were you turned off from even buying it by the 'hardcore' reputation it gathered? If you did, how far did you get? Genuine question.

I did play it but not for very long, probably about an hour or two in total. I'm the sort of gamer who likes a challenge but only as long as I still have fun with said challenge - needless to say, I found no fun in Demon's Souls. It's a real shame because it's genuinely an incredible game, the atmosphere is up there with some of the best in gaming history and the control system, while a little fiddly at first, is really fluid once you learn exactly how to use it.

The game doesn't really get going until you complete 1-1 and it sounds like you didn't get that far. I'm sure if you gave it another shot you'd like it more.

Dark Souls: Prepare to cry

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