Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree doesn’t need an easy mode

VIDEO games are for everyone, but not all video games are for every person.

I love JRPGs, 2D platformers, metroidvanias, visual novels, and all things choices matter, but you won’t catch me with a virtual gun in my hands.

FromSoftware

Elden Ring is famed for its challenging boss fights[/caption]

Trust me, I’ve played those games where you shoot people. I don’t get them, I don’t like them, and that’s okay.

I don’t want people to remove the guns from FPS games, as the skill of tactically taking down the hoard is fundamental to the structure of the game.

In the same way I don’t feel that soulslikes like Elden Ring or 2D platformers like Super Meat Boy, should have difficulty settings.

The difficulty and the overcoming of these challenges are fundamental to the joy of each game.

They are about persistence, about overcoming an obstacle you once thought impossible, and in the excitement you feel when you finally accomplish that.

Difficulty settings often do very little to games over all. It’s mostly increasing enemy health and damage, and decreasing your damage output and health.

This is not the way to make these games more accessible or approachable to more players, something deeper needs to be done.

Remove barriers like mashing from games. Allow players to remap their controllers. Offer players more ways to tackle each challenge.

Difficult games like soulslikes can have the game slow down before a parry, or longer invincibility frames on a roll.

Stellar Blade did an excellent job at this allowing you to switch between an easier action RPG and a more difficult soulslike seamlessly.

Other difficult games balance this too. In Super Meat Boy you can pick up different characters that control differently and make certain levels easier.

Elden Ring opens the door for new players by offering a variety of long range attacks, different builds, and weapon types.

You don’t need to remove the challenge or you are removing the fundamental design of the game.

Another Crab’s Treasure is the first soulslike to offer ‘easy mode’ and it’s much worse for it.

It allows you to blast through bosses, even secret ones that are off the beaten path, and this allows you to miss out on vital lessons the game is trying to teach you.

Most of all, you feel no sense of achievement when you do this. It’s like ticking a checkbox in a laundry list of things to do.

Giving players options that secretly and dynamically adjust accessibility factors, beyond clicking easy in the settings, will lead to better games for all.

This article is part of a two part discussion. To read the other side of the story check out why all games need an easy mode.