#which...explains alot about the convoluted storytelling

[tbonechessor]

There have probably been video essays done about this that can say this better than I can but I'm gonna try and articulate it anyway.

There a common response to the notion of giving a game like darksouls an 'easy mode'. That being: it wouldn't really be Darksouls.

What I think that statement somewhat fails to fully explain is that the nature of Dark souls design is fundamentally challenging.

Alot of the time when people think of a hard game they think of enemies who hit really hard and have alot of health. And while dark souls has plenty of hard-hitting and strong enemies, what makes the common encounters so dangerous is that; more often than not, it is the nature of the mechanics, environment and enemy composition that come together to create the true difficulty.

There's actually not that many enemies that can stand up to the player character in a one on one fight on flat, open ground when you know the enemy moveset and your own. The real challenge is facing multiple enemies with different movesets (see Orenstein and Smaugh)

In fact, encountering new enemies, sometimes several different ones at once, while also trying to mind surroundings where you might fall or take damage, THAT is a true darksouls encounter that can really shake your confidence whilst also giving you a sense of almost horrific discovery.

"Who is THIS guy?"

"What is he doing!?"

"How do I AVOID that?"

Etc etc.

When you strip these "difficult" elements away, the deadly environment, the simple to understand, yet difficult to master, slow and steady combat, and the enemy composition that makes a true, earnest attempt at KILLING the player every chance it can rather than simply inconveniencing them, what do you have left?

Do you have the masterful level design and composition that loops back around in ways you didn't expect and uses vertical elements to assist you in memorizing its complex design? No, you get something straightforward, easy to follow. But nothing that sticks out. Nothing memorable.

Or do you have enemy encounters that use that environment to their advantage to teach you how to handle even more convoluted situations later in the game and create multiple, layered experiences with only a handful of enemies? No, you get repetition that teaches you how to handle a single enemy on a common basis instead of how YOU might use that environment to YOUR advantage.

Which only makes the world around you even MORE memorable as it becomes a personal part of your victory.

When you take these elements away, you strip the game of it's creativity bestowed to it by its developers and designers. Dark souls's difficulty is what makes it unique, fun and immersive and actually has alot of care put into making that difficulty feel real. It's not a simple matter of removing that difficulty because it's something that ist literally BUILT into that experience.

It's not "Elitism" to want that uniqueness preserved. The difficulty is a core part of the storytelling experience and enjoyment of the game. Just as simplicity and goal management are core parts of games like minecraft, animal crossing, and star dew valley.

Video-games SHOULD exist on a spectrum like that, the same way people do.

#dark souls #darksouls #Ds #essay #ramblings