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Hollow Knight: Silksong devs address difficulty concerns: “You have choices”
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I avoided all Silksong articles and posts until I finished Act 1 and probably shouldn't have been surprised by the response, but I was. To me, this threads the needle of that difficulty curve I'm looking for. It's hard but none of my deaths have felt cheap - I made a mistake in my read or hit the wrong button or I'm old and my reflexes are slowing down. The high you get when finally learning the boss patterns and beating them is fantastic although... ::: spoiler act 1 spoiler when I landed the final blow on the Last Judge I dropped my controller and threw my hands in the air only for the corpse to explode and drop me down to one mask. It was 🤌 :::The bosses are fun The fucking mob wave rooms is way harder than any boss and can suck it.
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>there are instances that are impossible to escape like entirely impossible I expect to see the 100% no hit speedrun hit the internet by the end of the month
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And the idea that every game should be for everyone is the reason why Elden Ring is... kind of a bad game. Great open world, beautiful scenery... bad boss design, which yes — that is the game. Like, think about this in the real world setting. Think about how this hyopthetical would play out, person becomes disabled and has to sit in a wheelchair. Everyone agrees 'it's not fair that they can't walk, no one should walk because this person can't'. Does that make sense to you? Because it doesn't to me, I'm sorry if there are people who can't beat these games — but damn, at some point you have to recognize life isn't fair and just enjoy the shit you do enjoy. If being good at a video game isn't important to you, *ok* that's your prerogative. Do not play the hard video game. But this constant whining about difficulty settings and nerfs is just obnoxious.
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A game developer can have massive blind spots about their game, feedback can elevate the artist's vision if responded to critically.“So, gamer, what did you think about the campfire scene?” “I didn’t get it at all. When they said Earl and his kid were dead and everyone started crying I had no idea who they were.” “Huh? You don’t remember him? He was in the scene where you visit the city gate.” “I haven’t been to the city gate yet.” “…Really? I…oh shit.” With all the interactivity games have, it’s very possible for someone’s session to just not hit the same emotional beats the devs planned out. True for an improperly gated story, as well as for a difficulty curve. Shout out to all the homies that missed the Estus Flask in Dark Souls 2, and who learned nothing revelatory about exploration when they finally came back to it.
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It really wouldn't take much. Just some accessibility options to address some of the most punishing mechanics would do it. Would be great if mods solved this.Several Soulslikes I’ve played have hidden in accessibility options things like not hitting you for falling into a pit, or not taking resources when you die. I had a fantastic moment with this in Another Crab’s Treasure; I was doing some platforming when Krill glitched off the geometry and fell, killing me in the process. When I respawned, I knew I had tons of microplastics (souls) out there I wanted to save, but also felt frustrated because it wasn’t my fault I died - just bad game coding, as many games have. Plus, the odd positioning meant I might not be able to reach the death spot. Instead, I just went to Accessibility and recovered them that one time; the game was nice enough not to even invalidate any achievements from the brief use.
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That's me with Hollow Knight. I want to finish, but it's frustrating to the point that I give up after 30 minutes with no progress.
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Sucks to be anyone who didn't realize how prohibitively difficult it would be until after the refund periodThis is true. There are lots of reviews out there to read though before making a purchasing decision.
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The way we actually react to that situation is having wheelchair ramps and elevators. (i.e. difficulty settings in games) We don't say "Fuck handicapped people, life isn't fair, it SHOULD suck to be them."You're right, difference being that what you're saying is more akin (following the analogy) to putting wheelchair ramps on a mountain. Silksong is the mountain, git gud and climb it or shut the fuck up.
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Sucks to be anyone who didn't realize how prohibitively difficult it would be until after the refund periodI mean, it's a direct sequel to a difficult souls-like. It's hard to have too much sympathy for anyone who didn't play the first Hollow Knight but wanted to jump in on the sequel, since I think anyone who played the first HK should have a good idea on what Skong's difficulty looks like.
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It's been 14 years since Dark Souls and yet the holy rebuke still stands: I have a fucking job
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No, they're not, and that is the whole point. If you could die a hundred times and never lose any progress, Pharloom wouldn't feel dangerous or unwelcoming. This feeling you get when you're running around an uncharted area is tied to the risk of being sent back, not the difficulty of the enemies in said area.
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then play other games. it's okay for difficult games that require a lot of time investment to not be for you.Sure, but like. Be a human for a second. I want to play Dark Souls. I enjoy the gameplay and I find the story deeply fascinating, literally the only part I have trouble with is the bosses. You get why it's frustrating to me that I'm not able to play this game that I actually do enjoy, right? I don't just want an easy mode for the sake of there being an easy mode, I want an easy mode so that this game that I like can actually be accessible to me
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Why drop rosaries when you get killed in 3 hits (for about all of act 1 at the very least) and come across a dozen enemies that bait and dodge every input you make and spike traps within a couple screens every time you die and you get killed a second time on your runback anyway
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Let me fill up the negative space in that comment...I want Silksong to be hard. I want to do things dozens of times before succeeding, I want to struggle then overcome It's all skill based. You get better, your character gives you more breathing room, but ultimately you have to learn and overcome each new challenge And that feels amazing, it's not for everyone but I don't want a way to make it easier... It would cheapen the experience to even have the option
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Other people having the option to tailor the game to their skill level does nothing to your experience of the game. If other people having access cheapens the experience for you, you have issues.This game isn't made for them, it's made for me. It's the full package, it's amazingly well balanced, and truly a lovingly crafted work of art If you want to mod the game to make it easier, I have no problem with you, or people who use it But I don't want a win button in my wonderfully challenging game. I don't want this to be ruined with temptation. That's what would cheapen the experience
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This is why you utilize the rosary stringing stations. If you're walking around with a lot of loose rosary beads, then that's on you.Not a lot of those in a 5 screen run back, I just need one more try to kill that boss anyway, I swear. Oh shit, it has another move shit he's juggling 3 HP off me at once aaaand I'm dead again. And that's not counting the unexpected "oops you're locked now, fight these 5 waves of enemies, also your coccoon is locked in that room too, good luck getting your shit back" on your way to anywhere. If that's your first time playing the game, it takes a bit to pick up on how cruel the game is and to start thinking about how to handle that. I'm not talking about people who already know the game here. That's not on me, no.
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This game isn't made for them, it's made for me. It's the full package, it's amazingly well balanced, and truly a lovingly crafted work of art If you want to mod the game to make it easier, I have no problem with you, or people who use it But I don't want a win button in my wonderfully challenging game. I don't want this to be ruined with temptation. That's what would cheapen the experienceCool, so you have issues. Just because the button exists doesn't mean you have to use it. The game isn't made for any one person, it is made for a variety of people with differing skill levels and physical capabilities. The existence of accessibility features does not cheapen your experience, if they do you have issues.
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Cool, so you have issues. Just because the button exists doesn't mean you have to use it. The game isn't made for any one person, it is made for a variety of people with differing skill levels and physical capabilities. The existence of accessibility features does not cheapen your experience, if they do you have issues.If you make every game for everyone, you make slop I don't care if you can enjoy it without putting the effort I put in. I just don't want a way for myself to make it easier. That's it. Fuck off, this is a masterpiece and I love it so much I've developed a new callous on my thumb and had to take a day off. I've overcome every challenge, I've dealt with the frustration, and victory was all the sweeter for that. I don't care what you do or don't enjoy, don't fuck with my game. I don't care if you watch a playthrough or mod the game so you can enjoy the story. I'm not being elitist, I'm pissed because people are trying to ruin the masterfully crafted artistic vision of the best game I've played in years
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Not a lot of those in a 5 screen run back, I just need one more try to kill that boss anyway, I swear. Oh shit, it has another move shit he's juggling 3 HP off me at once aaaand I'm dead again. And that's not counting the unexpected "oops you're locked now, fight these 5 waves of enemies, also your coccoon is locked in that room too, good luck getting your shit back" on your way to anywhere. If that's your first time playing the game, it takes a bit to pick up on how cruel the game is and to start thinking about how to handle that. I'm not talking about people who already know the game here. That's not on me, no.You should encounter an ambush or boss fight within the first hour of gameplay, which is within Steam's refund window. If you don't learn from it, well, sucks to suck. The tools are all there. If you're slow at progressing because the game is too difficult, that's a different complaint, which is valid as there should be difficulty settings. Dying is part of the game. dying multiple times to a boss to learn their moveset is the intended gameplay loop. Having unexpected ambushes caught everyone by surprise the first time they went through it. Yet, once you do, it is up to you to learn that you can't get your stuff back easily so you should be banking your beads and that 20 bead cost isn't actually that bad as you probably first thought compared to losing everything. Like, for this specific complaint, that's entirely on you to figure out and adapt to the intended gameplay loop. How long that takes to figure out is up to your ability to learn and adapt.
