Levels in Disguise
There are no spoilers for Shadow of the Erdtree in this article. So... ELDEN RING: Shadow of the Erdtree is finally out, bringing with it a truly titanic wave of game design discourse. For two weeks, it has been crashing down upon every social media platform that I inhabit - which is unfortunate, given that I've got no real interest in any of it.
@My_Kneecaps So... inb4: "Laughs maniacally in Disgaea while going back to double-check spreadsheet 4"
That out of the way, I think Souls' fanbase is particularly cursed. The toxic "git gud" mentality we're so used to seeing colours people's engagement to some tremendously detrimental levels. As you mentioned, this portion of the fanbase refuses to engage with the game on its own terms but I think it's not so much as a sense of personal challenge, but rather a perceived pressure to stick [+1]
@My_Kneecaps to some idealised "pure" experience that gets reinforced by this whole culture
These folks refrain from engaging not from any "personal choice" but rather from the feeling that it would "taint" them personally. And the whole idea is ludicrous, Souls' difficulty is massively overstated and even more so its stance of cruelty toward the player, it's all smoke and mirrors, actually
It's hard to talk about design in souls BECAUSE of this crowd, imo. They skew the perception of things
@My_Kneecaps More broadly, the whole obscuring information from the player is something I think about a lot.
You mention Arcane, for example, and the item discovery is listed in the help, IIRC, but there's also a lot of counterproductive obscurity. "Agility" in Dark Souls 2 is a recurring example but even in Elden Ring, "Poise" doesn't quite work like people would expect to in regular play, casting speed doesn't help the spells which need it the most, etc...
I more and more dislike obscurity
@My_Kneecaps Not necessarily in secrets but, say, when it comes to numbers, I WANT the numbers. Please, let me make an informed decision on what it is that I need to focus on and why
When a game is harsh on you for poor decisions it feels unfair when it gives you inadequate information to make good ones in the first place. Maybe it "breaks immersion" but if you HAVE the numbers this front and centre, the cat's out of the bag, the game IS about numbers now, and that's fine, it's part of the deal
My_Kneecaps
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