Let’s start by saying that Difficulty and Accessibility are not the opposite of each other, and there are ways to make a game more accessible without watering down the experience, and the difficulty.
A clear example are the tutorials, which are of higher quality and quantity with the Breach Refind Update (even if there are still obscure systems that should be explained better, and we don’t have a page where we can re-study all the tutorials we have already seen).
- Difficulty Options Pros and Cons
In general, the implementation was done in a hasty and superficial manner and it is clear that the devs did not take enough time to imagine the system and test it.
Easy mode Pros: There are people who have never played action games or games with stamina who are now able to approach the game.
Easy mode Cons: It’s clear that there are some options missing, the easy mode can still be too difficult for some players and there is certainly a group of players who want a simpler experience than the basic game but find the easy mode trivializing.
In my opinion, accessibility settings would be much better than a rigid and unmodifiable mode, for example, an option to make stamina less limiting or remove it completely without nerfing enemies, and there are many anti-spots that could be modified directly by the player.
Hard mode Pros: Making new characters and getting them to lv30 quickly is more fun, and I and many other people like challenges.
Hard mode Cons: The balancing of area levels in relation to Player Level can break completely making the mode even easier than normal mode (more on this later). Once you reach level 30, the benefits are gone, there should be more loot and other benefits.
Here too the rigidity of the system is useless, and it would be more interesting and fun to give the player options to control such as resistance, enemy damage and poise, but also other factors such as removing the focus gained from gathering resources, losing all focus when you are out of combat for 30 seconds, and other interesting negative effects.
Solution
I offer this solution in light of the fact that in the end the devs decided to include adjustable difficulty but I remain of the opinion that having in-game accessibility systems like summons in Elder Ring is a better solution.
I would prefer to have the ability to adjust all the systems both positively and negatively and have a Custom realm, rather than hard rigid modes that are better than nothing but help little. The player can build his experience and has the ability to adjust stats like enemy damage from 30% to 300%, but also the possibility to add unique modifiers like Remove stamina, remove stagger (player), remove stagger (enemies), and other positive and negative modifiersm, Negative modifiers and some special modifiers should be unlocked after you finish the game at least once.
- Unsolved Broblems
Balancing of area levels in relation to Player Level
I understand that to avoid us going straight to certain areas, these are high level, but I find it problematic that once you exceed the level of these areas, they remain 4-6 levels below the player.
This is problematic throughout the game but once you hit level 30 it’s a big problem, It seems like the game expects you to be level 26 with the gear at 12. The only way to face enemies of your same level is to reach the lower levels of the crucible, or to level up the level of the plague by sacrificing items, Both are annoying, the first because to get to these enemies you have to go through the previous levels of the crucible, the second because in addition to enemies of your own level you also get curses.
The areas should be the same level as you, and the plague areas should only increase the curses with sacrifices instead of the enemy’s level.
Speaking of pestilent areas, I find the purple effect nauseating and it should be possible to disable it. The effect also makes the areas less aesthetically pleasing, and in the long run discourages the desire to revisit them.
In-game accessibility systems (like summons in Elder Ring)
I already talked about it in the Old Difficulty and Accessibility Post but I think it’s good idea to summarize all the comments I made in this topic:
Having a shared Intended experience is an integral part of the success of a game like Elder Ring the knowledge that everyone was able to complete a challenge within the same base restrictions is what makes players understand that their accomplishments in the game are “real” or how they relate to other players.
I think the game becomes more interesting when instead of adding an option at the beginning of the game (where new players don’t even know what the correct difficulty is for their skill level since they haven’t played the game) there are systems in game that can make your life easier if you explore, if you decide to use them.
If there were other systems to help players in difficulty it would be better, but if it’s the player adapts and solves the problem in game it would be a more satisfying experience for everyone.
Changing the difficulty freely during the game can be a problem. If you can change the difficulty at any time and you you find an obstacle what do you do? Do you think that the difficulty you chose is right and then you go explore and do some looting, upgrade your weapons etc. or do you think that you did everything correctly but you chose a difficulty that is not right for you?
For less patient players, who, when faced with an obstacle, instead of learning, decide to lower the difficulty, a choice that can ruin the gaming experience, as the satisfaction of overcoming the obstacle is lost, and all future obstacles in the game, which are increasingly more difficult, will be encountered without the tools (understanding of the game) necessary to solve them (since they did not obtain them before).
And on the completely opposite side there will surely be stubborn players who take it as a given that they are forced to complete the game on hard difficulty, and end up having a poor experience in the other direction, where the game is so difficult and punishing that they cannot learn.
On the other hand selecting a difficulty at the beginning of the game without having tried it is still problematic,
If you heve not already played the game, you don’t know its systems, you don’t know the controls, you don’t know how the combat works, you don’t know if it’s similar to a game you’ve played before, how do you determine what difficulty is right for you?
Difficulties can be overcome in various ways: with combat skills, levels, consumables (active items), combat strategies and I hope that other methods will be added, I would not want an inexperienced player to find himself in front of a wall without being familiar with these systems (partly due to the lack of adequate tutorials and partly due to the lack of exploration of the game mechanics) and decide to lower the difficulty when he is perfectly able to overcome the wall, If they have tried everything and still can’t do it, and are having a bad experience then it’s a good idea for them to lower the difficulty but not before looking for solutions, testing themselves, playing by thinking actively and not by turning their brains off with the vague goal of moving forward.
If the Accessibility comes from inside the game instead of from a setting it’s better for the experience
These are some examples that I would implement:
Allies (summons):
After dying once at the hands of Warrick, Lara can offer her help in combat, using her bow.
Likewise, Odessa can help fight the The Caretaker, Ellsworth and Winnick can help with The Lost Huntress, etc. (and of course you can also refuse their help).
You may also have a pet to help you while exploring, and you may recruit people at the tavern to help you (kinda like spirit ashes).
More useful consumables:
Bombs could be more common, and could have a faster animation so they are easier to use.
Traps that can be placed in advance, and then lure enemies into them.
There should be tutorials to encourage the use of active items, not just to show what they do.
Environmental Benefits:
Points from which to dive on enemies, traps to weaken enemies, enemies hitting each other, etc.
This is a bit difficult to say, and I’d like to know your opinion on it:
For one thing, I think it’s really beautiful that art like this video game is shared with people who are important to you, like your little sibling, your parents, your partner, and your friends, etc.
But accessibility shouldn’t limit artistic expression. As I said at the beginning, difficulty and accessibility aren’t the opposite of each other, and there are ways to make a game more accessible without compromising the experience and the difficulty… But that’s not always possible, and so artistic expression takes priority over accessibility IMO.
Even if Dark Souls is your favorite game, it doesn’t mean it has to be the first game your girlfriend tries.
There are beautiful games that are simple and accessible to everyone; use those games as a stepping stone before introducing more difficult games. For example Another Crab’s Treasure & Death’s Door are perfect games to play before NRFTW.
My brother is autistic and also has cognitive issues, but he managed to finish Sifu, Sekiro, Elder Ring SOTE, he didn’t succeed because it’s a particular case where he is good at specific things and not good at others, He did this because he put in the effort, not just on these games but also on the simpler games before them. Before playing Sekiro, he had played Dark Souls 3, before that he had played Dark Souls, before that he had played Zelda BOTW, Hollow Knight, Ori 1 & 2, and before All that he started with Wii Sport (and others simple but beautiful games Games on the Wiil like, Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy.)
This method ensures that everyone can have the intended experience, and can enjoy the games at their best, without compromising the original artistic vision of the devs.
Thank you for reading.