Written by Tanner Banks, April 30, 2016, at 10:37 p.m.
Ever hear somebody say that a game isn’t enjoyable because it’s too hard or it’s unfair? Sometimes they’re right because a boss might be broken thanks to really bad game design. Poorly designed games that are unfair are games that on some level just don’t work. When you’ve got a fight against a boss, enemy, or the environment it should all come down to skill and understanding of the game.
If the combos you need to do are really tricky, or your timing has to be ridiculously accurate, that’s not unfair. It’s frustrating, annoying, and rage inducing… but not unfair. Unfair is when you do something perfect and it still doesn’t work. When it comes down to literal luck, or it’s literally impossible to beat, then you’ve got an unfair game.
Dark Souls III is really. Fucking. Hard. In fact reddit user redtoasti pointed out in the Dark Souls III starter guide it tells you “If you’re having a really rough time, take a break, cool off and come back refreshed.” It warns you that the game is so tough, that you need to stop playing it at times. The key word here is that the game is tough. Not unfair. If the game was unfair it wouldn’t have gotten the amazing amount of praise this game has received. If Dark Souls was unfair there wouldn’t be Dark Souls II or III and there wouldn’t be Bloodborne either.
The fact is that people these days are too used to easy games where you get your hand held the entire time. We’re too used to stupid A.I. that act smart but just put on the facade of difficulty so we can feel accomplishment. Go back to the original days of the consoles of yore and think about how freaking hard the classics were, like Contra, Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, BATTLETOADS.
These games were brutal, unforgiving, masterpieces.
These days, game companies are so worried about being as inclusive as possible that the sense of satisfaction from surviving in games has been replaced by a sense of entitlement. “Of course I should win the game, I bought it!” No. You need to earn it. I’m not saying that every game needs to be a brutal grind of blood, sweat, and tears like Dark Souls III. I’m saying that there needs to be more of it.
Games like Hyper Light Drifter and even Shovel Knight are good examples in my opinion. Shovel Knight has some Dark Souls elements in them, and the titular character is one slidey bastard for a platform character. (Stupid insta-death spikes…) Hell, in Hyper Light Drifter you don’t get so much as a text box to help. You’re pretty much stuck learning the whole thing by yourself aside from a few pictures of occasional help.
Hopefully difficult games make a comeback in the future. It’s great to feel like a god in games sometimes; untouchable or invincible, yeah that’s pretty sweet. But the problem is that when everyone is super, nobody is. The best sense of accomplishment comes from being terrible at something, and fighting, scratching, and clawing your way to victory. The best stories aren’t about gods who stayed on top. They’re about the little guy who started with nothing, took dozens of loses, and made himself a winner.
Before I go I’m gonna leave you with a scene from the movie Rocky Balboa, because I feel like it says what I’m trying to say perfectly:
So don’t go blaming a game that is supposed to be hard and say it’s unfair. If you wanna beat the game then go out and beat the game yourself. It isn’t made for everybody. It might not be made for you. But it’s made for somebody.
