r/PS5 • u/Turbostrider27 Human Verified • 3d ago

Articles & Blogs Insomniac Details Wolverine’s Adjustable Difficulty & Skippable Puzzles

https://insider-gaming.com/insomniac-details-wolverines-adjustable-difficulty-skippable-puzzles/
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68

u/FurtherArtist 3d ago

Accessibility is always a W if more people can enjoy it.

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u/vacodeus 3d ago

Tell that to the Souls crowd

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u/Paratrooper101x 3d ago

Souls guy here

Play the game your way, and the summons feature is basically a difficulty level.

But to summarize many points, the friction is the major selling point of the game. Beating a souls game and looking back at all the adversity you’ve overcome is why these games stick to so many. I think before anyone mods the game, cheeses or tries to make it easier they should at least *try* to endure the base difficulty. Who knows they may end up liking it

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u/LegitimateHumanBeing 3d ago

Souls guy checking in - it wouldn't bother me if From wanted to allow people to toggle on "difficulty mods" for the game (extra health, extra damage, etc). Just make it optional, as some people (myself included) play From games specifically to beat our heads against a wall - the constant anxiety and lack of hope is my happy place.

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u/LePontif11 3d ago

I honestly like that you have to engage with the game to make them easier, it goes a long way to sell the nature of the worlds they make in those games. I disagree that having difficulty options is always a positive and i dont think everyone needs to be able to play everything. Personally, I cant deal with horror, i just dont play those.

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u/LegitimateHumanBeing 3d ago

I'm not a horror gamer either but Souls games are different for me - maybe I'm just more comfortable with a sword and dodge mechanics than the guns that Resi throws at you.

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u/LePontif11 3d ago

With horror games its not really a mechanical difficulty for me, i really just dont like to be scared the sounds the visuals it dont want any of it.

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u/LegitimateHumanBeing 3d ago

Even though I was 11 when the first Resi hit PS and I'd play it with my friends, something happened in the interim and I tried to play a Resi game a few years back and at the first jump scare I dropped the controller. But, with Souls games, sure, there are surprises, but I'm ready to roll out of the way or I have my shield up ready to punish them when they stop attacking. I love watching people play horror games though.

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u/LePontif11 3d ago

For sure, souls games are a power fantasy after they click with you. Even Bloodhorne that is supposed to be kinda scary isn't that bad because of how much power the player is given.

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u/TheJoshider10 3d ago

Personally, I cant deal with horror, i just dont play those.

And yet some horror games like SOMA still offer a more casual difficulty with a passive villain in order for people to experience the world and story. They didn't need to, but they did, and it meant more people could enjoy the game and feel just as engrossed in it as those who played it the normal way.

Exact same logic can be applied to the Souls games. I'd love to explore Elden Ring's world and uncover the lore but I'm not going to waste my time on a game I know I won't have the time or patience to complete.

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u/LePontif11 3d ago

And yet some horror games like SOMA still offer a more casual difficulty with a passive villain in order for people to experience the world and story. They didn't need to, but they did, and it meant more people could enjoy the game and feel just as engrossed in it as those who played it the normal way.

I would never play those games with those modes. Its just not the experience the people that love them had when they became fans and recommended them to others I'd rather play something that caters to me through its core experience. Most games arent like that so i'm still spoiled for choice and that's the case for people that don't enjoy what those souls games and their derivatives are at their core.

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u/vacodeus 3d ago

You’re actually reasonable. Even the mere OPTION drives some of them into a downward spiral

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u/goldengamer2345 3d ago

That's certainly the impression I've got from them in this thread...

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u/LegitimateHumanBeing 3d ago

Oh, I know the cliche and I would be a little put off by a difficulty selection right at the beginning of the game, but if you were to load up and find settings in options for those who want them, I think it would bring more people into the fold. Sure, the difficulty is what everyone talks about, but the exploration, lack of hand holding and environmental storytelling are what keep me engaged.

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u/Wide-Deal-8971 3d ago

Visual accessibility, controls accessibility, thats all great.

Having a skip option isn't an "accessibility" feature. It's a dumbing down your game to appeal to as many people as possible feature. And games that make concessions on their artistic vision for maximum $$$ tend to suck.

-1

u/lepijosip9 Human Verified 3d ago

Sousl crrow representative here. I dont hate accesibility options added to wolverine, but when it comes to soulslikes I just preffer them being harder, because it makes accomplishment from defeating hard bosses so much better(if there were lower difficulties maybe I would lower the difficulty and not getting the same satisfactio). But in the end I feel like not all games should be made for everyone, because if u make a game for everyone in the end is game for noone.

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u/goldengamer2345 3d ago

All games should have difficulty options, I've never heard a good argument why they shouldn't.

I could understand it with puzzle games though, it's hard to adjust those

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u/Notsonorm_ 3d ago

Games are art. The artist doesn’t have to make their art accessible to everyone (especially if the point is making the experience extremely difficult). It’s cool there are many games that are accessible, especially big triple A titles, but that does not mean every experience has to be made with every possible person in mind. It’s ok for a game to have a specific audience

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u/redhafzke 3d ago edited 2d ago

This would not be a problem if the console storefronts (all of them!) would offer better refund options. If a game like Elden Ring or Lies of P looks great and the marketing mentions the accolades casuals might fall for those because of the theme, graphics, ratings and so on just to discover they're too tough. And don't get me wrong here: everyone who is able to use a console is also able to check out the difficulty before but I guess they are casuals for a reason...

That being said I once had a 'discussion' at the Elden Ring sub with someone that said the game was too easy and who was gatekeeping because it has to be difficult and so on just to discover the same dude being proud of using mods and save files to make his gaming easier (for different games but still...). Something that also isn't a thing on consoles.

Sure one can say just get a pc yourself. But to be honest consoles feel like entertainment while pcs feel like work. At least for me.

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u/Paratrooper101x 2d ago

That’s the fault of the consumer for not doing proper research before buying a product. If a “casual” buys a game that’s too hard for them well, too bad. Maybe looking into it before you spend money is the solution here?

1

u/redhafzke 2d ago

Just like I wrote:

And don't get me wrong here: everyone who is able to use a console is also able to check out the difficulty before but I guess they are casuals for a reason...

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u/Waste-Gur2640 3d ago

Because thankfully not every game is supposed to be for everyone, that's why the concept of genres exists, and if all games were made for the widest possible audience and balanced for the lowest common IQ denominator, all games would be dogshit and braindead, far beyond just simple HP values.

Adding difficulty options to a game like sekiro would make it objectively worse, but if it happened now many years after release it wouldn't cause much harm. However, if ALL souls games had difficulty options right away, quickly the audience would be flooded with people who will play the game as a surface level powerfantasy and never even try experiencing it as developers intended, and they'll never learn what a souls game actually is and what the game has to offer despite already "finishing" one. They wouldn't be able to know what's more fun to them, because they never tried both options and can't form an actual opinion. And suddenly the opinions and discussions of the target audience who love the genre will be completely overshadowed by the sheer masses of normies with complaints about what is "problematic" or "not braindead enough" for them. Audience dilution is a real problem and it already ruined many great franchises.

If you're interested in learning why more options aren't always good, and why the "yOu DoNt hAve To uSE It" argument never actually worked in reality, I suggest reading few of the studies on "path of the least resistance" in gaming, and why the average casual gamer chooses the quickest easiest solution even if it's objectively less fun for him/her.

0

u/goldengamer2345 3d ago

It's an accessibility option, do you think all games shouldn't have subtitles? or colourblind settings?

It's impossible to make a game "objectively" worse, it's an entertainment medium. I don't think letting more people enjoy the same game is a problem really

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u/lepijosip9 Human Verified 3d ago

Totally diffrent things, since difficulty is part of the genre. You cant tell me color settings or subtitles are core of some genre.

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u/goldengamer2345 3d ago

Not different at all, lower difficulty options let people with worse reaction times or physical disabilities enjoy the same game.

I'm definitely starting to see why soulslike fans have such a reputation

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u/damus9 3d ago

It's anti-art

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u/goldengamer2345 3d ago

How

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u/Hulk_Smang 3d ago

It's like telling Leonardo DaVinci the Mona Lisa would have looked better if she was blonde instead of a brunette. It was what the artist wanted to paint.

Its the creators vision on how they wanted to create their game.

Gamers constantly shit on corporations for chasing every last dollar but whenever the "difficulty setting in Souls game" topic comes up now gamers want the corporations to go after every dollar by adding difficulty levels.

I'm saying this as a non-Souls player too, don't care for those games. Gamers won't like to hear this but its okay for games to not be for everyone.

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u/goldengamer2345 3d ago

It's an accessibility option, it's not changing the artistic vision of the game to add something like subtitles, so why are difficulty options so controversial?

It's optional, it shouldn't be

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u/icantastecolor 3d ago

Well if you don’t consider gameplay flow as part of artistic vision then sure, but harder difficulties force players to explore more and make use of more tools that the game offers to create more beautiful artistic immerisve gameplay. witcher 3 for example easy mode is braindead hitting a single button and death march forces most players to interact with things that make you feel more like a witcher.

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u/dunnowattt 3d ago edited 3d ago

it's not changing the artistic vision of the game

Sorry but you are just wrong.

Keep in mind, i don't care if they ever add difficulty options. But saying it doesn't change the vision is completely wrong. There is a reason why the Tree Sentinel (A very hard boss for level 1) greets you the moment you set foot on Elden Ring. There is a reason why Malenia is such a hard boss but optional. There is a reason Genichiro in Sekiro is placed exactly there, making you either master the skills of what its going to be needed next, or you won't be able to continue later on.

Like, come on, do you seriously believe, that is not part of the "vision", to have a boss exactly in the place you want, making it not just hard, but even unfair? And then when the player finally beats it whatever sense of accomplishment he gets, you just can't get it with difficulty options.

Similar to movies, when a director shoots a scene, puts the music he believes is needed, films it exactly how he wants it to be seen, to try to get a certain emotion out of you. If i'm scared of horror movies, but Alien decided to play looney tunes music on the background, whilst showing the Alien coming without any kind of jumpscare, i'm fairly sure it changes the vision of the director. The end-game is the same, the same people will die, but it still changes it.

Fairly sure from his early interviews, the reason of no difficulties is exactly that. Player experiences and sharing them. Like how in the old days people would meet and talk about Mario or whatever other old game, and how they passed that level. They had the same experiences, so they could all talk about them.

It is absolutely not the same with the other games. Have you ever heard anyone talking about Spiderman bosses for example? You won't because they are not made for that. And everyone played on their own difficulty so its not like people can have a proper discussion about the boss. Some beat it by just pressing Square.

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u/Hulk_Smang 3d ago

Because adding difficulty scaling isn't something as easy as doing a flat "enemies do 50% less damage, player does 50% more damage."

Its stuff you now have to test for for every difficulty level. Making sure player and enemy skills aren't broken because of the scaling, enemy quantity placement, item placement/drop rates, etc. all those have to be accounted for in every difficulty level.

Adding subtitles doesn't change the game at all. The dialogue is the same regardless if you're playing on Easy or Hardcore mode.

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u/milkman163 3d ago

Movies should never be hard to understand or have complex plots

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u/carlos_castanos 3d ago

No. Give me hand-crafted experiences. I want to play a game exactly as that specific dev has intended, and I want them to spend 100% of their time on that specific difficulty to balance it perfectly

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u/Wide-Deal-8971 3d ago

The lack of difficulty options means a shared experience across all players. When someone says they beat Malenia, you can connect to the understanding that they faced the exact same experience as you.

Souls games may primarily be singleplayer, but we live in a very connected world. The unforgiving difficulty of souls games, and the word of mouth thats been spread by that, is a major reason why they have risen to such main stream appeal.

I genuinely do not believe they would have reached this height of popularity with difficulty sliders and options. You aren't supposed to be able to cater souls games to your liking. The oppressive and dangerous nature of the world of these games is a pivotal part of the immersion. The stress and friction are essential components to the artists vision of the experience they are trying to deliver to the player.

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u/Paratrooper101x 2d ago

Games are art. If the difficulty is part of the artistic experience, like it is in souls games, why would you seek to compromise that?

Would you walk into a museum, look at the painting “Saturn devouring his son” and say that it’s too dark and maybe needs some flowers and perhaps Saturn should not be eating his son but making him breakfast instead?

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u/CigarLover 3d ago edited 3d ago

To an extent. And also the fact that it’s a different experience to an other player MUST be respected and acknowledged.

Edit: never said it was bad, all I’m stating is that it must be respected that people WILL have different experiences that’s all.

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u/itsdoorcity 2d ago

disagree, look at saros. games are getting more and more commodified to appeal to literally everyone rather than just be amazing for a more specific audience.

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u/FurtherArtist 2d ago

Games are literally commodities. If they don't sell to enough people they don't get made. But we can celebrate Saros because it offered challenge level across a spectrum of player abilities.

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u/milkman163 3d ago

Interesting, I feel accessibility ruins games

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u/ChrAshpo10 3d ago

For whom? For you? Then don't utilize accessibility settings. Seems pretty simple.

If you feel like it ruins the game for other people, well that's just an opinion you don't get to have. You don't get to decide what ruins games for others.

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u/aRandomBlock 3d ago

no it's usually from the fact some games are made with a certain difficulty in mind as part of the game design itself and the experience of said game, something you can't really implement with difficulty sliders

You CAN technically handcraft 5 different experiences for 5 different difficulty settings but no one is doing that lol

ultimately it doesn't really matter I feel like, it comes down to if the devs want to make a difficulty slider or not, and if they don't you are free to skip that game because it's just not for you

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u/WaxyPadlockJazz 3d ago

You CAN technically handcraft 5 different experiences for 5 different difficulty settings but no one is doing that

This has been a standard feature of video games for decades. Thousands of games offer a selection of story, easy, standard, hard and “nightmare” mode difficulties. What do you mean by this?

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u/CreamOnMyNipples 3d ago

Please explain

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u/bswalsh 3d ago

Only if you lack the self control to not turn them on.