• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Returnal director says Housemarque could ‘do more’ to make games more accessible but making them too easy may lessen the impact of the narrative

Barrico82

Banned
Damn biome 3, it is the only one that needed nerving down, but overall it is a difficult game that really rewards your skill.

I couldnt believe how much fun the co-op is.
 

sachos

Member
I don't like the "us against them" debate that some people try to create with this topic. Im totally fine with difficulty options (we've had them since forever at this point) and i think its awesome if devs can implement stuff like what TLoU2 did with controls, hearing and visual aids or options to take less damage and stuff like that (basically what cheats used to be back in the day) but i also completely understand some of these kind of options would break the developer's vision/intention they have for their game.

Social media polarizes everyhing so far as to make people enforce or demand a game made in a certain way otherwise you are somehow an evil/bad person if you don't comply. We have to relearn not to lose our minds if a game is challenging once in a while.

People often say that difficulty options in a Souls games (or in this case Returnal) should not impact your enjoyment of the game since "who cares what difficulty other people play", but i think part of the magic of these kinds of games is knowing that everyone starts on the same level, everyone is struggling as much as you, we are all on this pit together and its up to you and your skills/determination to get out of it.
 
Last edited:

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Damn biome 3, it is the only one that needed nerving down, but overall it is a difficult game that really rewards your skill.

I couldnt believe how much fun the co-op is.

I've decided to wait until PS Spartacus comes out to play Returnal. But the first thing I'm doing is playing it in co-op.
 
I've decided to wait until PS Spartacus comes out to play Returnal. But the first thing I'm doing is playing it in co-op.
A little bit off topic but i always thought it was weird how Sony kind of threw Returnal under the bus by announcing it was coming to PS Plus with 3 months in advance.

The game was hardly a best seller already...sales for this must have died even more since then lmao.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
A little bit off topic but i always thought it was weird how Sony kind of threw Returnal under the bus by announcing it was coming to PS Plus with 3 months in advance.

The game was hardly a best seller already...sales for this must have died even more since then lmao.

Makes you wonder huh? Either that, or they figured it'll be a great game to put on the service to push PS+ Premium.
 

tygertrip

Member
Make it challenging.

Just remove roguelike elements and I will gladly buy it.

Just don't enjoy idea of completing game in a sitting and you start over if you die.

Makes it unnecessary repetitive.
That is the genre. "Change this game to a different genre and I will buy it!!". JFC, how entitled are you? I can't even... WTF... This is one of the most childish things I've ever read here. Looks like I found one to add to the ignore list!
 

tygertrip

Member
Challenge can be had with robust no bs mechanics, see Resogun for example. Easy to get into, harder to master. Im fine with that.

One hit kill enemies, controller read out, delayed specific animations etc. are just there to make a game hard/annoying to please cunts on the internet so that they can say "Im a hardcore gamer, everyone else get gud". It's the equivalent of Call of Duties prestige mechanic. I hate it. It needs to go away.

Fair, predictable and robust mechanics increases accessibility and leave a competent developer free to make the experience as hard as they want. As soon as they use cheap tricks (no save mechanics etc) to make a game hard they can get fucked.
Pac-Man didn't have a save. I suppose you think it should have. How else are you supposed to see the kill-screen? LMAO
 
Last edited:

Popup

Member
With these Souls games, there are some people who might lack the patience or willingness to train their muscle memory through 20 deaths to revel in the glory of finally defeating an enemy, as the games creators deigned.

Some players might start throwing things after just 5 attempts. They have the skill but not the patience.

Would an easier mode allow the less patient players to get the same exhilaration?

Afterall, you CAN alter the difficulty of any of the games in one direction already..

You can decide not to level, or try to complete the game without taking a single hit, no armour or a simple weapon.

Are those ways possible for every Souls fan to manage? possibly, but do they have the patience and skill? Oh.

If those kind of crazy requirements were the default, would the other 99% of us be asking for an easier mode then?

So what I am saying is it's about ensuring every player enjoys the thrill of the kill. Every player has the ability to feel that satisfaction, but not every player has the same tolerance for the effort required, or willingness for another 10 tries. It will vary.
 

Tomeru

Member
Game is easy as fuck as soon as you graduate from the "this is new to me" school. Seriously, it took me a year long break (I think) to grow balls and play for more than an hour. Its worth it.

No whining from me anymore I can tell you that.
 

TheDreadBaron

Gold Member
A little bit off topic but i always thought it was weird how Sony kind of threw Returnal under the bus by announcing it was coming to PS Plus with 3 months in advance.

The game was hardly a best seller already...sales for this must have died even more since then lmao.
Yeah a little sad to see returnal treated like a c tier indie game, but PS really can’t win. People accused them of cheapness and kept begging for better games on PS+ and when they give out their top tier titles it’s seen as disrespectful. I’d imagine Housemarque gets a little additional revenue and a resurgence of eyes on their game. Daddy PS gets to attract people to their subscription service and play Santa. Everyone wins. Maybe it’s not a huge market segment but there’s people like me who have played PS+ games, then cancel my subscription, then go on to purchase some of the games I actually liked so I can own them without worrying about internet connection and subscriptions.
 

MrA

Banned
Good more variety, let some be hard, some be easy and everywhere in between, looking forward to buying returnal when it hits 20 usd
 

BreakOut

Member
Not every game Has to be for absolutely everyone. I’m all for accessibility settings, but I don’t think they should knock the difficulty down if they don’t want to. Just like the souls games, the developers should do what they want and the market can respond. I struggled with Returnal but Ended up coming back to it and when I finally did I loved it. I definitely had my struggles in the beginning and probably turned it off for three or four months before I came back. But now I wouldn’t trade that experience at all.
 
Top Bottom