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[Draugoth]

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"[None of the difficulty settings] are a cheat," explains game director Corrine Busche (via Game Informer). "It's an option to make sure players of all abilities can show up." Dragon Age: The Veilguard features four different difficulty settings: Storyteller, Adventurer, Nightmare, and Unbound. Nightmare mode provides an intense challenge that, unlike the other adjustable options, is permanent once selected. Unbound mode is a highly customizable experience that allows players to fine-tune various aspects of combat. This includes adjusting damage dealt and received, modifying waypoint support, changing parry difficulty, and tweaking the intensity of aim support. For those looking for even more convenience, there's an "auto-aim" option.One of the most notable features of Unbound Mode is the ability to turn off character death altogether. This, along with other standard accessibility settings that Busche mentioned but did not elaborate on, is designed to accommodate players with physical disabilities or those who prefer uninterrupted immersion in the game's narrative.

 

[BennyBlanco]

A lot of games do stuff like this now. Not really a big a deal. Still not buying this junk.

 

[Skifi28]

You can't die if you don't buy the game.

 

[SJRB]

More accessibility options is always a good thing.

 

[Damigos]

I will do a No-Buy

 

[Dazraell]

More and more games are doing "Story Mode" type of things like this so I'm not surprised. But honestly the Unbound mode thing doesn't sound that bad. Ability to customize various aspects of your playthrough individually is always neat and helps a lot if difficulty level satisfies you but you still have some gripes with one or two things, etc

 

[Gandih42]

Sounds great TBH. Circumvents the need for a mod or cheat for people who, for whatever reason, cannot or don't want to deal with the challenges of the game. And does not impose extra work on the Devs to balance multiple difficulty modes even further.

 

[StereoVsn]

You can't die if you don't buy the game.

Yep, 3D chess won’t work here!

 

[StreetsofBeige]

That pic looks like a Fortnite expansion.

 

[Big Baller]

 

[Guilty_AI]

"I heard you don't like games, so we removed the game from the game"

 

[winjer]

The perfect game mode for modern gaming journalists.

 

[LordCBH]

A true journalist mode! Kotaku rejoices!

 

[adamsapple]

More accessibility options is always a good thing.

Yep.

It's optional, shouldn't bother anyone.

 

[RoboFu]

Dumb but whatever. While definitely bite them in ass when the reviews come out.

 

[tomato shrub]

More accessibility options is always a good thing.

Difficulty doesn't equal accessibility. You want people with impairments to get the same experience as everyone else by having better control, audio and visual options. Not being able to die will not make the game more accessible, it will eliminate the game altogether. And let's be real, the real target audience for this is ADHD babies and journalist types who just want to see colourful pictures instead of actually playing something and using their brains.

Not that it matters too much in this case anyway, this title already looked like a braindead non-game in the trailers to begin with, lol EA

 

[TintoConCasera]

While I think turning on god mode is super lame, I gotta admit it's pretty nice that they make a customizable difficulty mode.

Really wish more games let you customize the experience to your liking by tweaking a few settings.

 

[Interfectum]

Is there a mode that eliminates "the message" that will no doubt be layered through the game?

 

[Guilty_AI]

More accessibility options is always a good thing.

At some point you have to wonder if watching the game on youtube isn't the better alternative.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

More accessibility options is always a good thing.

No? The attractiveness of the Souls franchise is exactly the steep difficulty.

 

[StereoVsn]

Yep.

It's optional, shouldn't bother anyone.

Realistically yes, more options are a good thing and this isn’t a default.

Still won’t buy this game, mind you, but that has nothing to do with game options.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

It's completely irrational to be upset over customizable difficulty options.

It doesn't make you completing the game on Nightmare lesser if someone does it on No Death mode. It's not some zero sum shit.

It's gradeschool mentality.

 

[Metnut]

I’m still keeping an eye on this. A lot of what’s come out after the awful trailer has me interested. Def curious to see how this reviews.

 

[Red5]

Story mode was already in done cRPG's like Pillars of Eternity, Baldur's Gate Enhanced, Divinity etc... I think it's good for people who're just in for the story don't have time or have a disability that makes higher difficulty unfeasible.

 

[Hrk69]

It's completely irrational to be upset over customizable difficulty options.

It doesn't make you completing the game on Nightmare lesser if someone does it on No Death mode. It's not some zero sum shit.

It's gradeschool mentality.

 

[Complistic]

I'm not one to defend Bioware, but toggles and options are always OK

 

[Merkades]

I am perfectly fine with these extra settings, but I really detest all the BS trying to justify it. They *are* cheats, but who cares. Some will actually need them, and some people will want them just because of preference, I am cool with that.

Edit - I modded the crap out of Dragon's Dogma 2, including numerous things that made it easier (no weight, double jump any class et cetera). It made the game much better imo.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Braindead gameplay from braindead devs. They are aiming at a like-minded audience.

It's completely irrational to be upset over customizable difficulty options.

My rationale for not liking games with multiple difficulty options is that most of them are poorly balanced. In the best cases, there is an "optimal experience difficulty" while the others are either too easy or too difficult. In the majority of games, none of the difficulties is satisfactory.

 

[darthkarki]

Braindead gameplay from braindead devs. They are aiming at a like-minded audience.

My rationale for not liking games with multiple difficulty options is that most of them are poorly balanced. In the best cases, there is an "optimal experience difficulty" while the others are either too easy or too difficult. In the majority of games, none of the difficulties is satisfactory.

Are you saying that having one poorly-balanced difficulty is better than having multiple poorly-balanced difficulties? Because that's often the alternative. Just because there is only one option doesn't automatically mean it is "balanced". Usually quite the opposite. It just means you have no way to adjust it to be enjoyable to you.

Of course, the real problem is your assumptive premise that there is any kind of objective "optimal experience/difficulty", when in reality that entire concept is purely subjective. It's different for everyone.

 

[NuclearDiarrhea]

Having a mode like this to help people with disabilities is understandable, but I'll never understand the whole "some people just want the story" reasoning. I have to question the IQ of people who would pay $60 solely for the story of a game instead of watching a playthrough on Youtube for free.

 

[GrayChild]

If you only want to experience the story and not master any of the game's systems, can't you just watch a walkthrough on YouTube? It's gonna be (almost) the same.

 

[AJUMP23]

The play I saw at SGF looked terrible to me. They took a tactical game and made it an action game and I took that personally.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Having the ability to customize and tweak multiple options to affect difficulty sounds like a dream giving players a choice to find parameters that's fun for them instead of having to adhere to "dev's vision". I wish more games did this.

 

[Mephisto40]

I don't see what the problem with this is

 

[lughnasadh123]

If you only want to experience the story and not master any of the game's systems, can't you just watch a walkthrough on YouTube? It's gonna be (almost) the same.

Not mastering a system doesn't mean one doesn't enjoy engaging it them. Being able to enjoy the story and be involved with even a nerfed version of gameplay is still significantly more enjoyable than just watching a video somewhere. I'm not sure why people are so mystified that different people find different ways and means of play fun.

 

[Jigsaah]

Psh...easy. Can't die if you don't play it.

 

[recursive]

The perfect game mode for modern gaming journalists.

 

[simpatico]

I don't see what the problem with this is

It's a solid indicator of what kind of people are making the game. Not that anyone hadn't figured that out yet about NeoBioware, but it remains a data point.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Don't see a problem here.

 

[Loomy]

Yep.

It's optional, shouldn't bother anyone.

You would think...And yet lol

 

[Dynasty8]

If EA and Bioware want to try and pander to everyone...sure. But I hope this doesn't become the norm.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Of course, the real problem is your assumptive premise that there is any kind of objective "optimal experience/difficulty", when in reality that entire concept is purely subjective. It's different for everyone.

When devs design a game they do it with a difficulty in mind, what kind of experience they want for most players. TLOU is a prime example to me. The enemy placement and ammunition/items are planned for the survivor difficulty. The sound cues make the "Batman senses" unnecessary and they add a layer of tension that players wouldn't experience in easier settings. TLOU in survivor is peak gameplay while in the lower difficulties, it's just "Uncharted with zombies" as many thought.

Ghost of Tsushima is another example. The game has visceral and tight combat in lethal mode but in normal it becomes a lame Ubisoft-like. It's objectively a worse game because you can't appreciate the hard work and polish they invested in its ideal difficulty.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Ghost of Tsushima is another example. The game has visceral and tight combat in lethal mode but in normal it becomes a lame Ubisoft-like. It's objectively a worse game because you can't appreciate the hard work and polish they invested in its ideal difficulty.

You don't understand what the word objectively means then.

 

[bender]

Yep.

It's optional, shouldn't bother anyone.

I actually think this is a pretty good compromise. I usually lean more towards an intended difficulty in game design more than giving players a handful of options to sort through. This checks both boxes as you can have an intended difficulty curve and then give players who need it a safety net that doesn't detract from the design of that difficulty curve.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Rich options are always better than not. That allows those players who might want to eventually play at a higher level do so at their own pace, rather than rage quit and lose the better part of a hundred bucks they can't get back.

I think the video game industry is the most anti-consumer out of all the entertainment markets out there, because once you open a physical game it instantly becomes un-returnable, and most digital stores will not refund digital games easily. So having better options for the consumer is a must these days, otherwise people will stop investing and spending due to what basically becomes a gamble purchase.

 

[March Climber]

If you only want to experience the story and not master any of the game's systems, can't you just watch a walkthrough on YouTube? It's gonna be (almost) the same.

Isn’t this a game with a branching narrative? How would that work for youtube?

 

[Hudo]

Alanah Pearce worked on this

 

[adamsapple]

I actually think this is a pretty good compromise. I usually lean more towards an intended difficulty in game design more than giving players a handful of options to sort through. This checks both boxes as you can have an intended difficulty curve and then give players who need it a safety net that doesn't detract from the design of that difficulty curve.

You'd think that .. but ..

there's always a butt.

 

[John Bilbo]

Is a game still a game if there is no fail state

 

[sharp weiner]

They are giving this away for free, right?
For the financially disabled?