Right now, YouTube Shorts are awash with a dual-horned scarlet character making pixel-perfect jumps in a bid to ascend a murky cavern, all the while avoiding spiked floors, making use of shelled enemies to bounce off of and desperately clinging onto tiny safe spaces on walls desecrated with thorns.
This is Hornet, lead character of the latest Metroidvania game Hollow Knight: Silksong, and she needs to ascend the bug-infested land of Pharloom by jumping fiendish platforms, negotiating labyrinthian cave networks and violently parleying with monstrous insectoid bosses.
After ascending continuously using a furious repertoire of double jumps, wall jumps and strafe dashes for nearly a full minute, our needle-wielding warrior attack-bounces off the shell of a flying beast, only to crash headlong underneath another enemy and fall seemingly into the void, landing on the ground she last touched about 243 moves ago.
Yeah, that’s a no from me. After getting whipped up in the hype surrounding Silksong, with semi-robust intentions of buying the title, a cursory glance at this rage-quit-inducing clip was enough to banish it from my mind’s wishlist for good.
I’m no stranger to difficult videogames. I’ve bested Valkyrie Queen Sigrun in God of War. I’ve topped out Stormy Ascent in Crash Bandicoot. I’ve even emerged with my sanity intact in Ocarina of Time’s Water Temple.
Arguably, gamemakers got their zeal for punishing levels in arcade coin-ops, where you’d be goaded into pumping 50p after 50p after 50p to get one iota further in the game, whether your digital, money-disappearing poison was Gauntlet, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Time Crisis.
Hurt me plenty
However, a new generation of games, typically roguelikes and post-modern platformers, make it their MO to ensure you’re in for crushing levels of punishment. Of course, it’s natural for games to incorporate a challenge. But go in too hard, with unfair mechanics, bosses with a billion hitpoints, and dozens of random attack patterns, and you’ll generate frustration, ending in controller-shaped holes in windows. But best a big bad with nothing more than a handful of dodges and hits on your first attempt, and the experience will barely register on the dopamine scale.
There’s undoubtedly great catharsis and satisfaction in reducing your gargantuan nemesis to ash after several dozen sweaty attempts. And yet still, I haven’t felt the urge to set foot in The Lands Between in Elden Ring or Inkwell Isle in Cuphead. Although it might feel good to slay those bosses that take up your entire OLED, putting in the hours of work just isn’t for me anymore.
The truth is, I just can’t. I have a job. I have kids. I have a litany of unfinished Lego sets in the corner. My game backlog of shame isn’t getting any smaller. And I’d like to finish Alien: Earth sometime this year. Despite previously racking up hundreds of hours in games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Advance Wars, I don’t linger in game worlds like I used to. Which explains why you can count the number of PlayStation Platinums I have on Frodo Baggins’ fingers.
But there’s always Story difficulty, you say. Again, I need a challenge as I want that catharsis as much as anyone. And while sometimes I may play games on Hard mode, crushing difficulty spikes often see me returning to the menu settings, cap in hand: “Please, sir, can I have some Normal?” I resent being the gamer forced between medium and habanero hot spicy levels.
And yet, only truly exceptional players earn the best in-game rewards, which is a flawed concept. In Resident Evil 4 Remake, you can snag the Chicago Sweeper (Tommy gun) by finishing the game on Professional Mode in under 7 hours. Or get the Cat Ears, which unlocks infinite ammo, by clocking off a Professional campaign with an S+ Rank. Game, these savant-like players don’t need these rewards — as a mediocre gamer with very little time on his hands, I do.
Adapt or die
Speaking of RE4 Remake, why do so few modern games employ adaptive difficulty? With RE4R, depending on your performance, you might find extra ammo drops and fewer enemies. However, nail those headshots and deftly avoid getting munched on, and you’ll find yourself swarmed with aggressive, hug-friendly hostiles. In racing games, thanks to rubberbanding, you might find rivals are inches behind you if you’re in first, while the best powerups are reserved for those lagging behind the peloton. It’s an experience that’s always tailor-made for your skill level — and what kind of day you’re having.
Better yet, let’s relegate impossible challenges in games to optional areas. Want a fun yet challenging time? Stick to the roads. In for a world of hurt? Straight this way to the 23 sword-wielding demigod with an adamantium carapace and a taste for your soul, sir. Now everyone’s happy.
Because games need to be fun first, and not feel like a full-time job with a sociopathic boss called Starscourge Radahn.
