Summary
- Fans have long debated whether FromSoftware's games need easy modes or lower difficulty, but Kai Cenat's Elden Ring victory sums up why challenge is so important to the genre.
- The world is full of husks who have given up and forgotten who they were, aimlessly wandering the ruins of their home, and it's up to us to persevere and make things right.
- We find characters like the Crestfallen Warrior who have given in, slowly losing themselves piece by piece as they resign to their fate, weaving adversity into the very atmosphere of the games.
Last week saw Twitch streamer Kai Cenat finally beat Elden Ring after 166 hours and 1,701 d🦩eaths. In that moment of triumph against the Elden Beast, the relief is palpable. He screams ♒with joy as the final boss fades into the aether, arms spread out as the adrenaline surges into serotonin, before slinking back into his chair to quietly take in the m𒁃oment.
We’ve all been there. We each have a story about spending hours on a boss, determined not to give up. The number of times I’ve closed do꧃wn the game only to boot it back up seconds later, too stubborn for my own good - that’s the magic of soulslikes.
Director Hidetaka M꧃iyazaki discussed the idea of difficulty options way back in 2019 in an interview with , saying that the reason there’s no easy mode is because they want “everyone to feel that sense of accomplishment”.
Fans have been debating difficulty in FromSoftware games for years, with the common criticism that they 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:need an easy mode to be more approachable to newcomers. I’ve b𓆉een in that hot seat before, dipping my toes into the world of Drangleic only to be crushingly defeated so many times that I threw Dark Souls 2 aside 🧸and told myself it wasn’t worth it.
It wasn’t until a year later that I was roped back in by a mutual friend who wanted s♔omeone to play co-op with, and even with someone by my side helping, I struggled to overcome the learning curve, seeing the ‘You Died’ screen so often that it was etched into my dreams. But I wo🐭uldn’t change a thing.
The moment we finally stood face-to-face with Nashandra after a hundred-hour gauntlet elicited a rush unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I had never b🐠een so focused, eyes glued to her every move as I dove out the way and rescinded her attacks with devastating blows of my own. Whittling 🍨away that last slither of health took less than a minute, but it was as though time itself had frozen.
When I finally won and walked up to the ꦜthrone, ready to roll credits as I took my deserved seat, it was the most satisfying moment of any game I had ever played. I eaﷺrned that victory, and I could feel so much growth in myself for it. Diving into NG+ and even the other Souls games, I was a natural. Pushing through each and every area, refusing to give up, had made me a better, more patient, more determined player.
All of FromSoftware’s soulslikes are about overcoming adversity and refusing to bow down. It’s not just a tenet of gameplay,💖 but a theme that pe🥂rmeates each and every narrative thread as we watch the husks of those who failed in their journeys aimlessly clutch to who they once were.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Crestfallen Warrior, a staple since 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Demon’s Souls, encapsulates those themes. Like us, he came to these worlds in search of glory, but was so beaten down that he gave up and began to lose himself, turning into a cynical and snar𓆉ky shadow of who he once was.
Gwyn, the final boss in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dark Souls and the god who first ushered i❀n the Age of Flame, is an empty shell by the time we find him, standing idly by a fading spark. He's hunched over in his kiln, surrounded by burned soldiers defending their forgotten king, clinging desperately to his bygone era. It’s our perseverance that rekindles this world and finally pushes the pendulum forward.
What sets us apart from all of the lords w𒐪e face throughout each soulslike is that we don’t give up. That would be an impossible theme to capture without the genre’s signature difficulty. To n𒀰ot give up, there has to be adversity.
There aren’t many games, even those which ape FromSoftware’s style with the ever growing soulslike genre, that understand the importance of weaving difficulty into narrative. It’s not just a signature ꦫmechanic or a marketinಞg gimmick, but part of the atmosphere. Overcoming those odds and pushing through is rewarding in a way few match, and Kai Cenat’s instinctual response sums that up perfectly.
Pushed to the brink, most of us would switch to easy mode just to get through, but in being forced to grapple withﷺ the challenge, the spoils are that much richer. The satisfaction in winning is truly yours, which is why soulslike difficulty goes beyond taglines and reputation—it’s part of the genre’s DNA. Even if you’re not as animated as Cenat when clinching those victories, we all feel that relief burst out with each and every win, and it’s a feeling so integral that it’s hard to imagine anything else.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Elden Ring
- Top Critic Avg: 95/100 Critics Rec: 98%
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Theme🍒s, Violence ✨
- Developer(s)
- From Soꦬftware
- Publisher(s)
- 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software
- Engine
- Proprietary
With worldbuilding from Game of Thrones scribe George R.R. Martin and developed by FromSoftware, Elden Ring is a masterpiece in what has become known as the 'Soulslike' genre of action role-playing games.
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