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[ItJustWorks]

Well Erdtree definately killed the idea of actual progression, and felt like there would always be a certain scaled difficulty level regardless of how much you leveled, or how many scadutree fragments you found.

In which case...you essentially have us leveling for little reason. You aren't really an RPG, But your mechanics aren't good enough to be a pure action game either...

The base Game atleast had a better baseline sense of progression considering you start with nothing, and everything you find is an improvement. Not the case with Erdtree. They did better with this in Old Hunters.

Hot take: the gaming community grading FROM games on a curve is hurting the medium. They are obviously behind in many regards but we pretend they are trying to do as much as say...the witcher 3 or something. They aren't.

If Kai Cenat can play a FROM game but probably isn't invested enough to play a witcher game. That should tell you something about the dude bro friendliness of FROM games.

 

[ItJustWorks]

I like exploring dungeons and beating up monsters in them.

And that's about all the games offer.

 

[SaintALia]

On one hand OP, I can see the argument you're making.

On the other hand, I assume you didn't play any game older than the PS2 generation. Because Souls games can be considered light weight difficulty/bullshit wise in terms of videogames pre PS3/360. Like, just completely ignoring PC and arcade games which can be pretty fucked up(god damn, the puzzles and bullshit on some old 90's PC games man, and bullet hell, 'obviously-reading-my-input-fighting-games)., some console games were just messed up.

Hell, I can give examples of two rpgs. One game I got a hold of back in the day was 7th Saga I think. First enemy I ever fought, I almost died. I think I fucked up somewhere and went back into the village came back out and died on the second enemy, thought I was supposed to die. Seems that was just how the game was.

The second game that comes to mind was The Immortal on Genesis. If ever there was a bullshit ass bullshit game. You talk about traps and bullshit nonsense, yeah, nothing I've seen in Souls games compares to that.

Actually, that's one of my problems with SOuls games. It can sometimes be way too obvious when there's a trap.


From what you're saying though, maybe you should avoid RPGs in general? Souls games are actually quite simplistic in how they do RPGs. Have you ever played a cRPG OP? .

 

[Roman Empire]

On one hand OP, I can see the argument you're making.

On the other hand, I assume you didn't play any game older than the PS2 generation. Because Souls games can be considered light weight difficulty/bullshit wise in terms of videogames pre PS3/360. Like, just completely ignoring PC and arcade games which can be pretty fucked up(god damn, the puzzles and bullshit on some old 90's PC games man, and bullet hell, 'obviously-reading-my-input-fighting-games)., some console games were just messed up.

Hell, I can give examples of two rpgs. One game I got a hold of back in the day was 7th Saga I think. First enemy I ever fought, I almost died. I think I fucked up somewhere and went back into the village came back out and died on the second enemy, thought I was supposed to die. Seems that was just how the game was.

The second game that comes to mind was The Immortal on Genesis. If ever there was a bullshit ass bullshit game. You talk about traps and bullshit nonsense, yeah, nothing I've seen in Souls games compares to that.

Actually, that's one of my problems with SOuls games. It can sometimes be way too obvious when there's a trap.


From what you're saying though, maybe you should avoid RPGs in general? Souls games are actually quite simplistic in how they do RPGs. Have you ever played a cRPG OP? .

OP would lose his shit if he ever played a game like Outward. That game doesn't hold your at any point and the first mission is literally you needing to get your shit together in 2 in-game days or else you'll be evicted and banned from your village due to an inherited debt from your late parents.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Why would the charred corpses make you think that the dragon that burned them is endlessly swooping overhead to do the same to you?

In order to even reach the first boss, you have to cross a bridge that has a dragon endlessly swooping overhead, shooting flames. So, yeah, you will absolutely know that the later bridge with charred remains is the result of a dragon. You've already seen it happen!

 

[M1chl]

Stunning and brave

 

[hemo memo]

On one hand OP, I can see the argument you're making.

On the other hand, I assume you didn't play any game older than the PS2 generation. Because Souls games can be considered light weight difficulty/bullshit wise in terms of videogames pre PS3/360. Like, just completely ignoring PC and arcade games which can be pretty fucked up(god damn, the puzzles and bullshit on some old 90's PC games man, and bullet hell, 'obviously-reading-my-input-fighting-games)., some console games were just messed up.

Hell, I can give examples of two rpgs. One game I got a hold of back in the day was 7th Saga I think. First enemy I ever fought, I almost died. I think I fucked up somewhere and went back into the village came back out and died on the second enemy, thought I was supposed to die. Seems that was just how the game was.

The second game that comes to mind was The Immortal on Genesis. If ever there was a bullshit ass bullshit game. You talk about traps and bullshit nonsense, yeah, nothing I've seen in Souls games compares to that.

Actually, that's one of my problems with SOuls games. It can sometimes be way too obvious when there's a trap.


From what you're saying though, maybe you should avoid RPGs in general? Souls games are actually quite simplistic in how they do RPGs. Have you ever played a cRPG OP? .

While I appreciate the nostalgia for older games, let's be honest - a lot of their difficulty stemmed from outright bullshit design. Limited lives, no saves, cryptic objectives, and unfair enemy placements weren't challenges, they were artificial barriers to pad out playtime.

Souls games, unfortunately, inherit some of these bad habits. Their obtuse level design, punishing checkpoints, and reliance on trial-and-error memorization create frustration, not genuine challenge. The illusion of depth masks shallow combat and repetitive encounters. Their popularity speaks more to lowered expectations in modern gaming than any inherent quality.

So, yes, maybe avoiding overly difficult RPGs is wise. Asking for better game design that respects the player's time and intelligence, instead of glorifying masochistic experiences from the past.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I think it comes down to how rewarding a person finds it to overcome the hostile, unforgiving world and combat. For me the juice is not worth the squeeze.

 

[Codes 208]

I actually find their methods ingenious. Lets say theres a fork in the road and youre not sure where to go. The game nudges you one direction by increasing the difficulty of the opposite road

But if you do go through the harder road, you can sometimes get end game material early on. Like a risk vs reward system

 

[Ogbert]

Nah, they’re all well designed.

That said, Elden Ring is a bit too oblique.