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Note to self, either write an article or do a video essay on difficulty options, easy mode, accessibility options, in Souls-likes and more specifically Soulsborne games as someone who is an expert at these games. To note I'm very pro accessibility and options just to be clear.
But some basics, hi I do No Hit/Damage NG+7 Hard Modes in Souls-likes. I have multiple world firsts and last I checked I have a few NG+7 Hard Mode speedrun records(Perhaps someone has finally beaten those). More options, more accessibility, doesn't somehow take away what I do.
There is a weird mentality that other people beating a game, on lower difficulties or not, somehow takes away from others. Why? if anything it lets people appreciate what others do to win at higher challenge levels.
If less people can even play a game, it makes the feats I do in them inaccessible for them to view and discuss. If I want to talk about the things I do, less people will even have the ground floor to start. The community will be smaller, there will be less information.
More people being able to play a game for me at least actually helps people engage with my content, it's the opposite of what gatekeepers so often think. If you have no frame of reference for all the challenges I'm doing why would you watch?
And again how would someone beating a boss on Easy suddenly erase what I do? More likely said person would go "Wow I had to do that on easy and struggled that's amazing you can do NG+7 hard modes!" People can engage more easily, get passionate, hyped up!
A major joy a lot of people have is getting to see what a master of a game can do to utterly break it over their knee at the highest level! But if they don't know what the game at its base level is like it is way harder for them to get invested in that high level play.
And this is all before you get into aspects like, more people being able to play and enjoy a game just broadly is a good thing. Let people curate their own experience in ways they can understand to get the experience best suited for them.
If going from a financial angle allowing more people to play your game means more people can buy and play it, can love your games, promote them through word of mouth and more.
Why would you want to intentionally limit how many players you can have? Why would you want to intentionally exclude people due to disabilities they have? Why would you settle for your game and art being less than it could be?
And everyone benefits from these sorts of options. Key rebinding is an accessibility feature, it also just broadly makes it easier for us to play games how we want. It makes it easier to use different input devices even.
Options that allow you make a game easier can also then inversely be used to make it harder. As a challenge runner that thrills me as well! I could increase the challenge and push myself even further with more options!
Additionally right now I can play games at breakneck speed. I can play many games at such speeds most of my viewers cannot understand what I'm doing without slowmo breakdowns. And just one injury, just one disease, or just the fact I will age, and a lot of these games I cant play
Do you want to never be able to play these games you grew up with and loved at all in your old age? Do you want to have to sit aside and no longer play a game you love because you were in an accident or something? Think about how it is for others dealing with that right now.
An additional note, I myself am disabled. Btw when I do something that's a world 1st while being disabled I absolutely hate with all my fucking guts the people who use that to dismiss others. "Tolvo did it with one hand! See we don't need difficulty options!" I'm NOT A PROP.
