Should Elden Ring Have Difficulty Settings? (Also Why I'm Hype) - EmceeProphIt

[@Gakusangi]

I mean New Game+ was basically the increased difficulty modes, and of all the games it was Dark Souls 2 (surprisingly) that did the most with this mechanic. Beyond having the bonfire ascetics that could instantly push an area into NG+ mode and res the boss, NG+ didn't just increase enemy health and damage, it would add enemies in select spots and even change up boss battles slightly. It was almost more akin to Greavelording, which was a feature in Dark Souls 1 that made traversing areas more difficult by adding black phantoms to them, if you were infected by a member of the covenant. So really, we've already seen what high difficulty looks like in these games, it's just not done in a traditional menu select at the start, just like how multiplayer isn't traditional in these games.

[@itsallenwow]

I’m a negative on difficulty settings. You did a good job citing examples of how From has put in ways to “choose difficulty” without putting an “easy mode” in the menu. You can kindle bonfires, grind out the mask in Sekiro, summon another player, or find a better weapon. And when you choose one of those ways to make the game easier you really did overcome the same challenge as everyone else. You just used different in game resources to accomplish it. And I find that games that have difficulty settings, one of the modes gets the short end of the stick. Either the “hard” is unbalanced and enemies become bullet sponges. Or the easy is so easy that you don’t have to engage with the systems. Fire Emblem Three Houses is an example of this in my opinion. So if From prides itself on how tightly tuned the difficulty is during every part of the game, sacrificing that vision isn’t worth it. Especially when every other game isn’t afraid to give you an easy mode (or hard mode) that gets neglected

[@YoloSWAGJude]

You say you don't want bullet sponges but in the end having a weapon that does less damage is just the same as a bullet sponge. Also you have to know all that stuff and dark souls explains nothing. So either you try what is most effective but that takes time that most don't have or you look at the wiki and that doesn't seem like the vision of the developers. In the end even dark souls bulletsponges, so why not make it a setting?

[@itsallenwow]

@@YoloSWAGJude Yes having a weapon that has less damage is the same as a bullet sponge. Exactly. So you can make the game easier by improving your weapon. The difference is that it's done actually in the game as opposed to changing it in the menu. And I mean I like that you have to experiment and find out how to make the game easier. The reward of learning you can get 10 Estus Flasks from a bonfire both makes the games easier and you discovered something. Also if you're not willing to go look for a solution to make the game easier. Like summoning or kindling. Why are you even buying a Souls game in the first place? Being hard is literally a selling point of the game that From milks all the time. Why make it like every other series?

[@YoloSWAGJude]

@@itsallenwow I know it sounds like a good idea to have different attack values for different weapons but it has one significant drawback. You will only use the best/the good weapons. Nobody uses crossbows in dark soul games. And if you want an easier game you are stuck with few weapons and if you don't like them you can't do anything about it. If you have an option however, weapons can all be useful and everybody profits from that, not just players that want it easier. I also like discovering things. But it being necessary for you to beat the game isn't that great. Because then it isn't optional content. It is stuff you have to do and sometimes you just don't discover things or just don't have the time. Not everybody can sink 40 hours into every game. Darksouls doesn't explain anything so you really have to experiment much. And gatekeeping a game because some gamers don't has enough time to play it seems like a weird thing to do. I think there is a difference between a simple game mechanic like kindling and looking up what weapon is the best, what resistances has a monster, what is a good build etc. Because kindling isn't there to make it easier. Bonfires aren't there to make it easier. These obvious mechanics are there because they are intended to be used. A part of the vision if you will. Being hard is a selling point but weirdly enough there is this thing that nobody wants to acknowledge it or something. I say that because even you say that the games aren't really hard because you can make them easy. So on one side the games are hard but on the other not really. So is it really a selling point? A much bigger one is the atmosphere and the gameplay and the lore. That's why people buy it, not because it is maybe supposedly hard. And I don't see the reason to make that accessible to other people with an option at the start. You don't have to play it on easy, just play it on normal like it was intended to be played.

[@Quxxy]

I wasn't able to "git gud" at Dark Souls. I got to the Gargoyles, and just could not get past them. Hell, I only got *that* far by cheesing basically everything prior. I spent over an hour just focused on trying to learn the timing for dodging, and could not get it down. I think my reaction speed is just too low to even be competent at the game, forget about gud. I don't want lower difficulties added to any From games on my account. Not every game has to be for everyone, and (as an outsider) it seems like for many people, the brutal, uncompromising approach to difficulty is part of why they love these games. I would never, ever want that changed for my benefit, because it just means taking the game away from one group of people to give it to another. I have tons of games I can play instead, I don't *need* Dark Souls et al. For example: I used to play World of Warcraft. The period of time where I really, truly loved the game was during Burning Crusade. I played a Beast Master Hunter, and it was a huge pain in the ass. The shot rotation was brain-dead simple (literally one button), but the timing of that button was a screaming nightmare. It was so bad, the community had to build a hunter shot rotation simulator in Excel just to be able to work out if a single gear change worked or not. But I loved spending hours grinding away at the target dummies getting that timing down, then learning to integrate that with pet management, chain trapping, kiting mobs. It felt like a big accomplishment, and I took pride in it. I got unsolicited compliments from complete strangers for how I played. Then, Blizzard put both barrels between the class' eyes by completely removing all complexity in how the shot rotation worked, because it was "inaccessible". That was the beginning of the end for the game to me, because the thing I really enjoyed was dead in the name of other people having fun. I don't want to ever, *ever* be the reason that happens to someone else. So, no, I *don't* want to see easy difficulty added to From games. I want the people for whom the "must be this tall to ride" aspect is important to have *their* games, just as everyone should be allowed to have games they enjoy, even if that means they're not accessible to everyone (including myself).

[@KaylaHall-bb2zf]

I’m no souls veteran but honestly the only inclusion I would like to see in regards to difficulty settings would be the option of making the game a lil harder like the demon bell or refusing the charm in Sekiro!!! I hope ER has an option like this where you can turn it off if you want.

[@SirRockXIII]

Difficulty settings is a big NOPE for me. I'm most excited for jump attacks and Open world. :D

[@casimirlawnicki8990]

Emcee and Elden ring? Let's gooooo (Commenting for the algorithm)

[@Etapia562]

Didn’t expect this but I am here for it

[@serbero9]

I think you're confused, the 5 classes you mention are the network tests pre-made characters, but those don't correspond to the starting classes. There will probably be about 9 of them, so no need to worry about that :) About the difficulty, I kind of agree with you, although I've always thought that the "easy mode" in these games work the same as in real life, you just... ask for help. Be it summon help for bosses, giving you items, gameplay tips or just moral support through the messages, these games give you plenty of options for helping others, and I believe Elden Ring will make it even easier. What these games DO lack are accesibility options, they don't even have simple stuff like color-blind mode (which is kind of mandatory these days), so I hope From Software take it seriously this time.

[@ManleyReviews]

This is the first game I've pre ordered in the last 5 years.

[@Personell101]

5:37 There’s always room for more Elden Ring hype

[@RavenKun84]

Elden Ring already put in an item that will make solo invasions possible if used, they did it after feedback. It's a dried finger type item but just allows solo invasions. Also, most games do difficulty options horribly 95% of the time it just scales dmg and health % to stupid levels but AI, mob placement/moves are the same... They do it that way because changing levels of difficulty that affect those other things is a massive undertaking and people do not seem to get this fact, it is not as easy as flipping a switch if you want meaningful difficulty settings.

[@aggresivetrashcan5119]

100% agree. Not alot of people understand how much time, money, and resources would need to go into a game to make higher difficulties actual change AI or give enemies and bosses new attacks.

[@TheChrisOfManyHats]

Posting this before watching the full vid. I personally think that the that games are best as they are now with no difficulty settings. However, I see no downside to there being such a system implemented.

[@RegalPixelKing]

The thing that you are not noticing in regards to the options or features that a difficulty setting will add is the features that will be taken away with a difficulty setting. By that I mean the fact that there are not any options to change the difficulty in Dark Souls is just as much of feature as difficultly options being a feature. The lack of difficulty options means every aspect and stat of every enemy could be tweaked to perfection to the way FromSoft intends the player to progress. Also if there were difficulty options how would co-op and invasions work? Would people playing on easy mode only be able to use the online features with other people who play on easy mode fracturing the playerbase? How will FromSoft stop people from creating smurf characters and wreaking havoc on easy mode players? Speaking of multiplayer the reason a difficulty setting was never added to Dark Souls and should never be added to any of FromSoftware's Souls video games is because the real "easy mode" is summoning other players. Summoning other players splits the enemies attention, you deal double the damage with various different playstyles, and killing Invaders in DS3 even gave you a few more estus flasks to keeping going. edit: 11:21 There actually is an item that solo player can use to allowing them to be invaded. It's kind of like the dried finger in the Dark Souls games. So I know I should not get too hyped for games, but from what I have seen this game might become my new favorite game when is released. I even pre-ordered the game which I NEVER do.

[@arashelahi2618]

I believe a full menu of difficulty and modifier settings (like that in rouge-like games) would be better than simply easy, normal, hard. It would allow for a default setting in which the game is balanced and freedom for the player to adjust any detail they see fit.

[@saulitix]

I don't care about the difficulty setting, what Elden Ring needs is to be more than Dark Souls 3 open world version

[@flamingmanure]

it is. dont spoil yourself and go in blind.

[@wiggumesquilax9480]

Dark Souls games already have difficulty options, but they're largely integrated into the online community. Difficulty selection is predicated on the meta knowledge of which weapons/spells/whatever provide the most bang for the buck, and where to find them. In Dark Souls 1 going Reinforced Club, Drake Sword, Raw Claymore, and finally Fire or Lightning Zweihander will trivialize many (most?) of the game's enemies, but you have to know how to do so. You want a more challenging experience? Try going down the fist weapon line, no spells, and you'll rapidly find out how much getting gud you have yet to do. Likewise, Demon's Souls had difficulty scaling, albeit inversely to what you'd expect. The game world's light and dark tendencies made the game harder the more you died. Not a difficulty select per se, certainly not for new players. Rather it was gated behind grinding tendency, and one personally having the skill and hours in the day to do so. I wouldn't say that either of these were empirically bad, but they were obtuse and punishing. A difficulty select in Elden Ring would be interesting, but I wouldn't relegate it to an ingame toggle any more than I would any of From software's game mechanics. It would ideally occur as a result of actions deliberately taken within the game world, this time without skill gating. So hypothetically that +12 hackmaster would be available relatively early in game, as would a visibly easier path between points A and B. You'd even have NPCs/signposts/whatever pointing you in their general direction. But they'd carry the warnings that you're essentially depriving yourself of content, bypassing challenge rather than overcoming it. Not looking for skill shaming here, just a clear reminder that that literal light at the end of the tunnel is gonna look a lot better after clawing your way through the dark. Alternatively, you want to explore that hellpit? Are you sure? That disheveled NPC isn't torn between laughing and crying at the prospect for drama's sake, it's to suppress the memories of when they tried it themselves. Try not to trip over the bodies of the others who didn't listen on your way down.

[@anonymousfwefwefwefweff]

Would like to add : in demon`s souls you could select : The Royale starting class to have an easy start and kill the first boss with ease. In every soulsgame : Select the Deprived for a hard start, better points distribution. In Dark Souls 1 : Select the Pyromancer, starting class, for an easy start. In Dark Souls 2 : Select the Fire Gem, starting gift for an easy start. in Dark Souls 3 : Select the Knight starting class, for an easy start.

[@mewpsy1000]

You have a good ear for music.

[@adamvancleave9200]

Well I'm not against difficulty settings but I am against putting the difficulty choice by the front door. I mean I wish more games threw a trial scenario at you before letting you set difficulty.

[@EmceeProphIt]

That could be a good idea. I've seen a few games do something similar but it's a rarity.

[@Circus_Diabolique]

I really just want daggers to be more viable in the game. In theory they sound great, but trying to pull off a back stab in a pvp match to get the best use out of them is insanely improbable.

[@FeltonDood]

I feel like difficulty settings will make it so you have to "curve" for lack of a better term, the boss differently not necessarily better or worse. Take Barbosa in Kingdom Hearts 2, on the easiest difficulty it's what you expect, very easy. But on Critical level 1 (the "hardest" difficulty) the boss fight feels unfinished and cheesy. I'll spare you the KH2 jargon but essentially there is a fail-state that isn't present in any of the other boss fights, you lose the fight, if Jack Sparrow gets KO'ED once. Which is there for story reasons. But the way the boss is "curved" to the difficulty just feels silly. That's just one boss though. But it can often make mechanics that are there more or less frustrating based on HOW they make the difficulty change the game. Critical mode in KH2.5FM is brilliant, you actually deal more damage, and bosses don't have more hp they just hit harder. Among some other things. Anyway this comment is getting far too long. Great video friend. Talk to you soon.

[@hugmonger]

I am so looking forward to the summoning skills, having a Souls-Like with summoning sounds like fun

[@dedstring]

Alls I know is that dark souls forever how I played games. There is not a single game ive played since that I havent turned up the difficulty to max just to see how it feels, Dark Souls and the lessons I took from that series will stick with me for the rest of my life.

[@clernt92]

The answer is NO

[@mcotter5446]

10 classes are confirmed + you can invite other players for pvp, even when solo

[@EmceeProphIt]

Ooo excellent. It was 5 last I checked. I'm happy about the invite option too.

[@Solibrae]

You could say that the "Hard Mode" for Dark Souls lies in the New Game + playthroughs, which keep buffing enemy stats for every successive playthrough with a character, up to a point. Dark Souls II goes even further with the changes, since it adds new enemies, as well as a few new events.

[@xagonent4942]

As someone who bought and gave the game away due to the difficult time I was having, I do see the appeal and I don't changing the level would make sense. I made the mistake of buying the game without doing research into what to expect and I had a frustrating time, but the fans who are used to series don't care. They love it and from other KZbin videos the common census is "Git Gud" or just don't buy it. Point is, people shouldn't buy something they aren't prepared to learn, have a tolerance of repetitive dying to solve an issue, and just don't have a strong skill-set for gaming in general. I love RPGs and I am into gaming, but it took me almost launching my controller in my apartment to realize this is not the frustration for me. SO this is for the fans, if you can't deal with the hardship just return it or give it to someone who has played the previous games in the series. Simple. No need to bitch on the internet for something not made for you or not willing to invest time into.

[@TriToneTiefling]

I personally don't mind if they do or don't. If they do, I need them to indicate what the "intended" difficulty is for someone looking for a familiar challenge.

[@junebunchanumbers]

Generally speaking, I think the fact we keep rehashing this discussion for a series of games you can't even pause is absurd. The reason accessibility options are resisted by Fromsoft is because they do not care. It sucks, but it's something you have to recognise going in or you will have an even worse time. My understanding is that Elden Ring is an open world game, which I think will exacerbate the already existing problems inherent to that ethos.

[@EmethMatthew]

Weird third option: I'm excited to watch my friend who has far more Soulsbourne experience play this game and then I don't need to worry about the difficulty curve at all 🤪

[@HybridAngelZero]

I've never really gotten into the Souls games not because of the difficulty, but rather because the dark fantasy setting just isn't my jam. That said, I am quite excited for Elden Ring. The open areas and brighter, more color-rich setting just look inviting and fun to explore. And on the subject of difficulty select, I would *love* to see a From Soft game with a Hard Mode just to see the insanity that would entail

[@GameGod77]

I'm not a fan of the Souls games myself (nothing against them, just not my cup of tea) however the idea of reducing the number of classes actually excites me, because it gives me the impression that every class is going to play and feel different. It'll be worth doing a 2nd playthrough with a different class because it'll offer a genuinely fresh experience. This assumes of course that your character won't reach homogenization at endgame despite your class, like it can in other Souls games.

[@Муня-ж7з]

1:20 You're wrong on this one. The SS+MS setup is not an easy mode and don't listen to what anybody says. Medium shields in third game are a total garbage when you compare them to the shields in previous games. In ds1-2 you take much less stamina damage when blocking and the parry timings are much more forgivable on the medium shields. The straight swords are relatively easy to use and...that's all. They don't have much range, they don't have much stagger, they don't have much damage, and most importantly - they have no hyperarmor. With a str build you can just trade hits with a lot of enemies provided you got enough estus, because of the said hyperarmor. And if you're not terrible at spacing, you can win most pve fights without even getting touched, because str weapons are bigger and longer and most enemies will just rush into your attack, getting stunlocked to death in process. Just try and use any curved greatsword two handed and you'll realize how pathetic the default sword+shield setup is. 2:16 "More options to cater for specific taste is always a good thing" Jeez! Why then Doom Eternal has no real-time-strategy game mode? What about the players who are fascinated with the style and graphics but are getting much more fun from the RTS genre than from a FPS genre? Why Dead Space has "no-spooky" game mode, where all of the xenomorphs turn into pink-haired elves, and all blood is changed to a corn syrup? What about people who find this game's progression mechanics and characters so compelling but are afraid of blood and violence? I'm telling you that a lot of options is not always a better choice. Otherwise every game would have 100+ difficulty settings to cater fo any "taste" (difficulty, ESPECIALLY when it comes about damage sliders, is not a direct subject of a taste question). And how the fuck would you make the "easy" mode for an Elden Ring? Make enemies deal less damage? The game world won't be felt as that much of a threat and that would break an immersion. Increase exp (souls or whatever...) gain? That would break the pacing. Add more checkpoints so the player won't be punished as hard for dying? That's almost the same thing as enabling quicksaving, which leads to savescumming and makes game BORING because you know you'll succeed as long as you'll keep hitting your head against the wall until it crushes. As one wise man said, "given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of the game" This is not even considering that ER would be not a single player game. And what do you ever mean by "accessibility"? People who have only 1 hand or are half-blind have beaten souls games. These people beaten souls games in a no-death runs as well. If you make a souls game somehow easier, yeah, a lot of more people would be "able" to beat it, but i seriously doubt they'll get any fun out of it.

[@andrewwestfall65]

The thing with Dark Souls, I feel like when it's working, there are few easy changes you can make without destroying the experience and intended effect. Meanwhile, when it's being janky garbage, it's being janky garbage. That being said, there's definitely areas that could do with ambushes that could do with an extra enemy that remains dead after you survive, or maybe swapping in some harder enemies early on.

[@appleseed8282]

I wanna play a Dragoon/Dragon knight in ER, all I need is some way to buff jump hight.

[@cadencenavigator958]

I mean, here's the thing: some people just can't get gud. There are people like me, whose reflexes are complete trash to the point I am unwilling to drive, and even with foreknowledge of the fight, I'm going to get hit. A lot. If there was an easy mode that was undertuned to the point that I could play it and win, that wouldn't be a bad thing. If they focus mostly on normal or hard difficulty and the other two are janky and less fun, that's fine. That can be the cost for inclusivity. But I don't see why it would detract from the intended experience. Anyway there are hard modes, just play SL1 or only using the broken sword

[@samithonjames370]

No.

[@00101001000000110011]

PS: CANNOT FUCKING WAIT for Elden Ring. FromSoft games are what keeps gaming alive for me. i can't enjoy AAAs anymore, and indies are fun but usually their scope is too limited to scratch the same kind of itch, so my options are limited for this particular "need"

[@LibraScope]

Hahaha! That ending killed me :D I fit into the 'that weird third thing' category. I'm interested in the game, and I'm sure it'll be good; I'm always interested in new From games. But Elden Ring looks so much like it's 'open world for the sake of an open world', and it gives the strong impression that it's just gonna end up wasting player time with generic mob encounters that have no meaningful variety, because they can so easily be approached (literally) from a lot of different angles. They can't design traps and things in the same way when an area isn't linear, and so I can't pretend that so far it doesn't just look like bloat in between the actual interesting, more linear dungeon areas. Also, I personally think Sekiro looks a bit better. I don't have a problem with the graphics in Elden Ring, though the optimization once again looks like it'll be infuriatingly rough. I mean, base Xbox One had the cut down animation frames on some mobs even when you're right in the thick of them, rather than just at a distance. And no platform outside of the PS4 Pro version on PS5 really has a stable framerate or nice frame pacing at 30fps. These sorts of things matter to me, because they effect my experience. Highly unstable performance and bad frame pacing gives me a headache, and makes proper reaction harder. If the final game ends up releasing in this state - which could easily happen since that has happened with every game From has released themselves in their Soulslike games - I'll kinda be disgusted that they can't get it together. I love From. I'm not going to give them any more leeway with performance than I have Bethesda since Skyrim; they're a big, very successful studio now. They should make their games perform well, particularly if they're going to look so behind the curves in some ways. Which makes it sound like I'm expecting to hate the game, lol. I'm definitely not. I'm just kinda tired of assuming they're gonna change their major shortcomings, when they've shown they don't seem interested. And while I have nothing inherently against open world games, deciding to go "Here's our formula... BUT OPEN WORLD!!!" is always a huge red flag for me, because I can't trust they'll understand what that change means to the overall experience.

[@toileet]

It only needs ULTRA WIDE without the black bars on the side. If you want to make the game easier grind up your levels and improve your gear.

[@leumasecir9369]

I still wanna hear your thoughts on Mario RPG and how it compares it it's contemporaries

[@Dicenete]

I'm up for difficulty settings. People who want can always choose the "normal" or even more difficult setting if they so choose. I would love to enjoy Souls series, but I also do not have the time to "get good", I already try to get good at my work and so on. I understand that the difficulty of these games is part of what makes this series... "unique". It's supposed to give this sense of despair and hardship. It's part of design. But I would still love to take in the atmosphere, environments, soundtracks and boss designs... and those in my opinion do not lean on difficulty setting.

[@flamingmanure]

countless difficulty modifiers in souls games that basically act like settings. atleast you admitted its part of the design. btw, you do have the time to "get gud", considering souls games are actually shorter than most major rpgs, many ppl just dont have the patience to understand the intricacies of its design.

[@Dicenete]

@@flamingmanure Souls games can be quite more unforgiving than your basic 100+ hour rpgs. Some people don't have the motorskills to match the quick reaction times needed for the game, but would still like to play the game on their own. Like I played Bioshock because I was interested in the story and the setting, even tho I suck at FPS games in general. Some people just don't like their games to feel like work. Of course this can be used as an argument that maybe Souls series is not for them then. But is it really taking anything away from the core players if there is an initial difficulty setting other than "you just have to find the easiest build to beat the game"? They don't have to use it. If anything they might have more people in the community to talk about the game. It just feels like sometimes this subject matter sounds like gatekeeping in a way.

[@OVOgooner]

I disagree, difficulty settings would 'cheapen' the game. The elements you mentioned: atmoshpere, soundtrack and boss design would have less impact if the game was easy. Ornstein and Smough are iconic because of both the design AND the difficulty, they go hand in hand. If it was an easy fight, the menacing boss music would have less of an impression.

[@Dicenete]

@@OVOgooner I understand that, but here is the deal: Difficulty level is subjective. Something that is easy for some is difficult for others. Some have better reflexes. Some are better at intellectual puzzles. Like I have said previously, people don't have to play the game in easy mode if they don't want to. People appreciate the other elements of the game even without playing the game, so that is not totally tied down to the experience of difficulty, right? People consume media for different reasons, some for challenge, some for story, visuals or any other. If game's only thing that makes it stand out is it's difficulty and taking it away "ruins" the game, it doesn't sound like a good design choice imo. Which I don't think is the case with Souls series. There is more content in the game to be enjoyed other than it's difficulty. As much as I don't see there any problem with difficulty settings, I have a feeling they won't be implementing those to Elder Ring which is totally fine.

[@OVOgooner]

@@Dicenete The difficulty is not the only thing that stands out, but removing it would make the game not Dark Souls anymore. Also, I think you are over-estimating the difficulty of the Souls games, I've watched people that just game casually be able to beat it. They struggled at first but eventually they 'got it' and was able to overcome the game. You mentioned not having the time to get better, but whats the rush? Just take it at your own pace.

[@SnesRulez]

I don't give a shit about From Soft games but I'm glad they are going to change invasions, I always hated that aspect

[@wrathisme4693]

I honestly don't see why people care about difficulty settings at all. Especially when the reasons for not having one in games like from soft games are so clear. Not having difficulty settings means you don't have to build encounters and design bosses around them giving you more time to craft a great game around a single set of intended experiences. New moves for bosses would just end up making dark souls into something like nioh which would be terrible. All difficulty settings is going to do is take away development time that would be better spent elsewhere and I don't buy that people aren't getting into dark souls because it's too hard. The get good mentality is obviously toxic, but the thing is that it's misses the point of the games, not that the opposite is true. The games are fun because of the tightly crafted experiences, not because they're hard but because the design is meaningful. The only reason they're hard is because of that exact design sensibility and making any fundementally any easier or harder is only going to distract from the overall quality for everyone. The worse from soft games gets is when something is too easy or unfair, so I can't imagine why anyone would want that. Tweaking damage numbers too only ends up making the game more like Skyrim with its absolutely abysmal difficulty settings

[@alliesfrench]

I’ve never played any of the Dark Souls games, solely because of their reputation as being atrociously difficult. That and law school and kiddo but. Mostly the difficulty. So here’s hoping Elden Ring is more accessible!

[@jorixpalorn3738]

I am strongly against adding an easy mode into Dark Souls. Too many games these days are watered down to make them appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Dark Souls is one of the rare exceptions, and I don't want to see it take even a single step down that path. Not every game has to be for everyone.

[@siccens6168]

Not everyone can play bridge, it doesn't mean the rules of Bridge should change.

[@dan44716]

So I could see the difficulty debate if you could not lv we never complained when we have to grind in other games so why is dark soul any different even sekiro you could get skills and items to help

[@falconJB]

Just as long as they don't make the game harder if you are bad at it like in DS2.

[@stampede274]

On a geological timescale, anyone can beat Dark Souls.

[@00101001000000110011]

you said "i don't see a downside to having the option", now that you are a dev yourself, how do you feel about adding manhours for no monetary return, of very little? cus that's the downside of adding options like the mentioned one. FromSoft is a lean machine. not yet part of M$ acquisitions, if investment focus isn't effective in the games, it can quickly end badly or at least, be a significant blow the the company. you say "heavy returns", care to expand on that? that should be the focus of the vid and discussion. cus i very much doubt that personally, the fanbase wouldn't be buying the game more if it had this investment added, and very few new ppl would come into the game too. an easier difficulty wouldn't keep players that quit Souls playing cus it doesn't solve the actual problem at all. i personally would prefer more content, be it a new level, new DLC or new Game, than a new difficulty mode. NG+ obligatory mention i won't bother discuss. i too, would like to see a harder mode, but the community does this with self imposed challenges. obviously, not the same as proper extra game design, but let's also not pretend they give a hurricane of replayability and challenge to the game. it "rebalances" a lot of things both in terms of enemies and in player options.

[@CoolSs]

I am guy who think fromsoft games are overrated . And even I. think Elden ring is cool .

[@viola8422]

I think the offer of a hard mode makes me feel you're a bit out of touch with the souls fandom, and why they have distaste of a easy mode. NO one wants a hard mode least most people ( plus challenges and NG+ especially DS2's remixed level design ) , they want a unified experience this is what makes the experience so meaningful to a mass group (People don't mention much but the DS fandom is one of the healthiest and strong fandom out there, It's pretty supportive outside of the few dick heads, The most toxic part is probably DS2 opinions). Now I'll be frank you may not care about the fandom lol, but I think the artist should be the overall decided, and his vision has little to do with making the game easier or harder base off quotes such as... "“We don’t try to force difficulty or make things hard for the sake of it. We want players to use their cunning, study the game, memorize what’s happening, and learn from their mistakes.” -Hidetaka Miyazaki ( from article Elden Ring Director On Game's Difficulty: 'More Players Will Finish It'-) He has thought about a easy mode, but ultimately shot it down over time, This design seems overall important to him and shouldn't be forced to change. On the note of a easy mode I think people under value the amount of changes and tweaks to make the games easier in a good way over the years.

[@thomasdixon6476]

Hi

[@blazenfate]

Hard mode? It is nothing more hp increase. Name a single game where Hard mode wasn't just hp increase, or handicap the character in some way. If fromsoft ever adds a difficulty setting to these games, it will lose a huge chunk of community just to satisfy ppl that will play halfway on easy, get bored and not care anyway....

[@MaQuGo119]

No!

[@thefebo8987]

no

[@TheLanydx]

I have no interest in any of the Soul games.

[@john-Ro]

I never played any of the Soul's game's but Elden ring looks interesting I would like to see difficulty setting. That said however I would much rather have another Armoured core. The Great success of the Soul's game's basically killed the AC series we're not likely to see another soon if ever.

[@davinsosa1438]

I believe a new Armored Core title is currently well into development. Probably another couple of years ‘til we get it, though