My name is Rodrigo (Puma) and my sister Paulinha (BarbarikPink) has some limitations in gameplay because she is disabled. However, she has been playing Diablo since version 2 and has finished 3 and 4 several times… But she is looking for a game that is adaptable in some aspects… for example, she can’t play Ori because it’s impossible for her…
I came here to challenge the community to create an impact in the world of games regarding accessibility, not only for visual aids, but also in terms of finger reflexes, camera movement… investigating mechanics and especially listening to people like BARBARIKPINK (my sister) who, even with her disabilities, is an excellent gamer…
I am available because I know many mechanics that she likes and others that she doesn’t… and well… I believe that accessibility in the world of games is still underdeveloped and the team that created Ori is very sensitive. I believe it will work out.
Regarding Diablo, which is what she plays most of the time:
She has difficulty choosing the best item among legendary, rare, and magical items… tempera, gems, those complex things she doesn’t even look at…
Her finger reflexes are slow, so for example, taking a health potion at the right time is a challenge, or pressing a button at the correct moment, like jumping over a trap; she knows how to do it, but her reflexes are slower.
Building the skill tree with so many options sometimes becomes inefficient.
She often gets lost on the map, having difficulty with geographical location.
In third-person games like Hogwarts or Zelda, she gets very lost maneuvering the camera and performing actions.
… I’m going to buy No Rest for the Wicked and I can bring something that’s directly related to the game.
In the case of ORI, the challenge is practically impossible, despite being very visually stunning and having an exciting story… That’s why she likes this isometric perspective so much, as it presents less of a challenge in terms of quick responses against enemies.
You know when the game’s tutorial is active and helps with simple things? It should be like an all-game tutorial, a companion that accompanies her, if active, when the challenge is too difficult (when she died many times), or when she doesn’t know the best path or the best weapon…
something like that… a PET(littler cut animal) that helps her to make the best options… or safe her….
I can’t understand the comparison with Diablo since I don’t play it, but I played Ori and I know for sure that Ori is easier than NRFTW.
NRFTW’s combat system is inextricably linked to timing and coordination, and the only way this game can be faced by someone with your sister’s difficulties is to trivialize it through a specific builds (since your sister isn’t good at building, you could help her) or a customizable“accessibility mode” instead of the currently implemented easy mode, which is something I’ve discussed in this topic:Game Accessibility and Difficulty, Unsolved and New Problems (Breach Refind).
Multiplayer will be added soon, and perhaps you could help her directly in the game by luring enemies, making combat easier for her (but you may have to buy two copies of the game ).
This thing you are asking for is something that requires a rather high amount of time and resources to be implemented well, and I find it unlikely that it will be implemented, At the moment the developers are struggling to even make the “normal” tutorials perfectly understandable, and many people complain about how the game doesn’t explain some of the game mechanics (although they are making progress on this front).
Realistically I think the most helpful thing the DEVs should do to help your sister play the game is the “Customizable Accessibility Mode” I mentioned earlier and as for the rest like builds and places to go you’ll have to help her if she can’t figure it out on her own.
On top of that, Rodrigo, it would really help if your sister plays for a few hours and then gives us her feedback. I am quite confident we can help her somewhat already by pointing towards the easier builds and methods.
For now my tips are:
play on the easiest Path (Path of the Torn)
ask in the Discord about best beginner weapons. My suggestion; Climber’s Pick.
find out the best control scheme for your sister. Tailor the keybinds and see how far that gets you.
AMAZING, MAN! I’m so glad you care about her and these types of gamers <3… the gaming industry forgets about these kinds of people and only thinks about some accessibility things; this could go deeper by being part of the initial game development, leaving room for these adaptations. I guarantee I play with her almost every day ^^ she can’t go out much because, on top of everything else, she’s in a wheelchair, so video games are great… I’ll tell her about this conversation and ask her “which parts of the game” could be more dynamic and smooth for her.
Okay…
Our little player couldn’t get out of the boat’s hold for 50 minutes… so I intervened and started helping…
Movement OK
Camera OK (fixed isometric view, this helps a lot)
(Y) to lean against the wall, this is where the problem started. Even though it was written on the screen, she spent 40 minutes falling into the hole, and I had to intervene because it was very frustrating. And the tutorial had already disappeared because she fell into both holes several times. For her experience, this is very frustrating, leaving her lost in the hold… the tutorial must persist and blink de button or make it get bigger as she could not see how to do it.
(A) to run, she couldn’t understand that (A) made the character run, since this only appeared as a hint once at the beginning. Tutorial must persist all game
Action buttons like (collect everything or go back) can flash to indicate that they need to be pressed. Sometimes she waited a few minutes for the game to load, but simply pressing (B) or (A) was enough to go back or continue the conversation.
It took her 20 minutes to understand that the blue gems were items; I had to explain it to her.
Portuguese (Brazil) voice acting - because the dialogues are fast-paced.
When the NPC asks you to do something, like collect mushrooms for a recipe, this could be highlighted in the text to make the task easier to understand.
Have a fairy that indicates the task and the path if the player gets lost; this fairy could appear in the menus whenever the player doesn’t know which button to press to return to the game…
Support for viewing discarded items; she also passed by several chests without picking up the items because she didn’t understand that she should press (Y) to pick them up.
She was without equipment for a long time; the game could show a “controller image” and which button to press, since she didn’t know how to open the inventory or change weapons, and have an option to keep the tutorial throughout the game… (jump, dodge, switch to a more powerful item).
Things that are obvious to us go unnoticed by her because autism causes people to focus more on the internal and external flow than on paying attention to details. But after explaining, she starts to pay attention and understand…
The menus and inventory have a very digital style; they could be more immersive and consistent with the style of the game. - It would be good to have the option to disable screen flicker to avoid headaches and illusions.
I believe that today, on the second day of playing, she will have a smoother experience, but I will continue to note the challenges.
The story is very engaging.
She liked the movement.
Everything is magical, she will surely dream about the game…
Very detailed list I’m sure the devs can do something about it, modifying the existing tutorials and making them more visible and persistent could be feasible, They can add an option like “Bigger tutorials” from the menu.
Adding dubbing in other languages would be incredible but I don’t think it’s possible for Moon Studio, because in NRFTW, every single character is dubbed, not just the cutscenes, and it would be strange to dub only the cutscenes since then when speaking to the character the voice actor would change.
What it could do instead is give the possibility to re-watch the cutscenes, it’s something that already existed in Ori (if I remember correctly) so I think they already intend to add it.
Option to review tutorials, with mini demonstration videos, pausing to show the button working at the correct time.
She didn’t understand the magic mechanics.
After 2 hours of gameplay, she’s still on the first map, unable to reach the first objective. The fairy indicating the way could help. But I understand that playing NRFTW is very good because it stimulates short-term and long-term memory during map exploration. (I’m a neuroscientist)
There was a control switch error: when using the mouse and switching back to the controller, we had to restart the game for the controller to work again.
The item comparison is complicated for her, but she’s getting the hang of it. There could be a simpler indication of which item is better, or if they are very similar. Or if it’s broken or not, with more clarity.
Areas where you have to balance on small bridges are very difficult; she goes little by little… and fell many times.
She didn’t understand how to recover health; it would be nice to have the food icon flash on red color at the right moment to remind her to eat and recover health. Or again, the fairy helping to remind her or healing her.
If she passes near a chest or something important, the fairy flies to the location to support her visualization. Balanced between exploration and being supported…
The early/late mining dynamic could indicate the right moment to press more clearly.
She’s having fun with the fights, still fighting from a long distance, without understanding the right distance to start attacking her opponent; defenses and dodges have been impossible for now. Her playstyle is to keep attacking.
She liked the game but is feeling frustrated. Because she can’t move from one area to another as easily, I know that’s part of the game, and I’m understanding now that the immersion in the environment is much greater than in Diablo. However, after an hour of searching for the location, it seems to become too tedious for her… she went to play Diablo, which is more repetitive in its gameplay…
However, NRFTW has an interesting challenge of exploring and discovering how to proceed… this is also important for learning and attention.
Her opinion is that the game is very good, that she’s playing well, getting better and better, and the best part is that she’s very happy when she can do things on her own, so the fairy helping her with her autonomy would be interesting. It would help her progress as much as possible independently. Balanced between letting her explore and receiving help…
Those are already great findings Rodrigo, thanks for being so precise!
I want to respond to each of your points and I will share them under a category that I believe is fair.
1. What she will need to learn on her own or with help:
For this in particular I actually recommend you create a visible aid for your sister. I will share something personal of me that I use myself. For every game I play I always tend to go into settings first and redo all keybinds, and then I write those down on paper. It is incredible helpful to get used to all functions quickly. Here are 2 examples:
You can see I have them on a clipboard, but as long as it’s right next to the monitor in whatever way, it will work.
This I’m afraid is a process your sister will have to go through until she has learned this as a fact.
If a memory aid is enough, these functions could also be written down, same as the other ones.
I hope you are not offended by the feedback I give you above. I think with time or help your sister can master these, but I do not presume to know your sister better then you!
So please let me know if I missed anything here.
2. feedback I will bring towards Moon’s attention:
Maybe? Will the flashing not distract? if not, then sure.
Love this idea. Might go against the vision but for accessibility problems Moon may consider it.
i will make the button map as you told… very warm ^^ thanks a lot that you care and send pictures of your notes ^^ that is nice
Yes, some things are part of the learning process and the challenge of the game itself; it’s all great, and very rewarding when she succeeds…
It has to be balanced, I only help when I see it’s becoming too difficult… accessibility is about learning to adapt… and these types of people already make a great effort to adapt… I’m very happy with your attention ^^
It was so nice of you to give a well thought-out response to this person! Very refreshing (as long as you didnt use an LLM… then it is slightly less refreshing).
I hope the guy’s sister is able to have fun with Wicked in whatever ways she is able to. If y’all share a steam library, maybe you can get her some games that can help her get used to typical video game systems in an approachable way. Wicked is a little hardcore for beginners/people with disabilities, imo. They probably won’t add many accesability features during EA.
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