Carrot, Stick, Go! 3: Novel Discomfort

I guess it’s strange to genuinely desire discomfort, but I like it when a video game can make me feel uncomfortable.

Recent outings with generally unremarkable, formulaic game design have led to me consider why I can pick up and play 10 games, and yet only be truly captivated by one or two of them. The obvious answer is that some games are better than others, but is better really an objective concept, or is it simply a matter of measuring a game based on what is personally valuable to me? If quality is indeed objective, why do gamers and critics consistently bemoan sequels for being largely the same games as their predecessors, even when those predecessors were received with astronomical levels of acclaim? If quality is truly objective, shouldn’t a game with the same features, gameplay, and narrative delivery found in a previously extolled title be equally well received?

To me, novelty carries great weight as a component of my personal enjoyment of many titles. This plays a role in my preference of single-player or cooperative gaming over competitive multiplayer, original IPs over sequels, and genre-blending titles over conventional ones, as well as any game that emphasizes new ways to play or new strategies in game design.

This may seem obvious, as repeating the same actions and experiences ad infinitum should be torturous, but gamers actually do this all the time. Call of Duty players repeatedly shoot enemy soldiers, God of War players slash at mythical creatures for days on end, Final Fantasy players click "attack" thousands of times, and BioWare aficionados talk more than a Valley girl on speed. We do enjoy repetition sometimes, so maybe this common scapegoat is not deserving of the frequent chidings, and maybe quickly chalking up one’s level of interest to novelty is too much a simplification of the emotions at work during play.

Attack. Attack. Attack. Attack. Attack...

I used the word discomfort earlier because it communicates an emotional response that is only elicited once a certain degree of aberration has been achieved. A game may be slightly different from the standard, yet still not interesting as a direct result of its nuances, but a vastly anomalous game can be either loved or hated solely because of its uniqueness. This unfamiliarity is discomfort without qualitative assessment - simply a lack of established comfort with the content, gameplay, or other aspect(s) of the experience. Whether a good thing or a bad thing, this novel discomfort is easily recognizable when encountered, but in my experience is most effective when it literally perturbs the individual behind the controller.

Games like Monster Hunter Tri or Final Fantasy XIII do little to vary the formulas gamers have been presented with for years. I personally have spent very little time with either game as a result. Conversely, something like Demon’s Souls, also a Japanese role-playing game, is engrossing for all the ways it shakes things up, and in particular the way it makes me extremely uncomfortable while playing it. Foreboding atmosphere, fear of death, lurking phantoms, and messages from other players’ game worlds, among other things, make the game highly unsettling. The overwhelmingly positive critical and general reception shows that this works remarkably well.

Heavy Rain is another title that does an excellent job of making players feel uncomfortable throughout the experience. It does so with disturbing themes not often tackled by video games, including child death, divorce, kidnap, murder, and drug addiction. It also employs gameplay mechanics that are meant to give players a degree of influence over a long series of highly stressful, emotionally affective situations, but ultimately leaves them at the mercy of the overarching story, as authored by the game’s designers. The way it gives players control over multiple characters at different times, specifically ones whose motivations and actions are in conflict with one another, can also create a real sense of discomfort in players who are more accustomed to conventional videogame storytelling.

Completely un-conventional in that regard is Jason Rohrer’s recent 2-player storytelling tool/game system, SleepIsDeath, which presents no narrative of its own, but leaves the task up to the "controller" (a new-age dungeon master of sorts) of each individual game session. While the moderately haphazard behavior of characters in Heavy Rain can be disempowering to players trained for years on typical game design, SleepIsDeath removes even more rules of interaction, creating a blank slate that can be used to deliver some of the most powerful of interactive gaming experiences.

This can be discomforting because games with fewer rules seem less contained and less safe, with more opportunity to have one’s sense of well-being violated. This may very well be a large part of the appeal of open-world games, which the industry has seen a great push toward in recent years - that the world provides more possibilities and more unknown elements than a limited, structured game world with numerous rules governing play therein.

This all leads me to think about the reasons we play games in the first place. One is to experience the fantastic. For a seasoned gamer, the virtual experiences that were once extraordinary are not so anymore. Interest can wane, as it does in my case, without constant freshness and increasing distance from the recycled themes that reside within our gaming comfort zones. These comfort zones can relate to any aspect of video games: story content, gameplay mechanics, aesthetics, etc. Anything that challenges our sense of familiarity with the medium can put us in a state of alert, preparing us to encounter novel stimuli. In this way, novelty directly translates to discomfort as a measure of attentional agitation, automatically increasing our interest in what is being presented.

The simple truth is that for a fair share of gamers, especially progressive, veteran gamers like myself, convention in gaming is becoming increasingly uninteresting, while the unknown, untested, and unfamiliar can still maintain the wild appeal that enthralled us during our childhood. Games that cause us discomfort achieve this visceral captivation, and then some, better than other titles. To put it another way, if I’m not in tears, worried, terrified, or else on the edge of my seat, what am I playing for?

Carrot, Stick, Go! 0: Why "Too Easy" And "Too Hard" Are BS

The most challenging thing about the difficulty levels of video games is critiquing them. It's not uncommon for reviewers to spend paragraphs detailing the challenge of a particular game as part of their overall assessment of said game's quality... and that's fine. However, I can't help but ponder the importance or thoughtfulness of such arguments under particular circumstances, namely penalizing a game for being "too easy" or "too difficult."

Let me preface my standpoint with a disclaimer: At some point in my gaming career, I have probably said that such-and-such game was "too easy," and therefore thought less of it, but that was then (maybe), this is now, and I have learned from my experiences with literally hundreds of games since any alleged remarks.

I have come to accept that there are three primary critical perspectives on individual games' difficulty levels. These are A) praise for a significantly challenging title; B) disapproval of a game's severe difficulty; and C) deridement for a lack of challenge. While the first of these, I agree, is a valid critique, I think the latter two can never be true when considering a game's objective quality. This may only matter if one considers the game review process to be something other than the publication of an individual's subjective opinion, but still, the distinction between these standpoints is important to understand.

To laud a game for its high level of difficulty is rarely as simple as that; praise for satisfying challenge in a video game most often hinges upon the fact that exceptional game design challenges a player to interact with the game world in a way that requires him or her to think, learn, and/or adapt to that specific virtual environment. It is not sufficient for a game to be difficult for difficulty's sake; that's just frustrating. But I think we all learned that during the 8-bit era, no?

Similarly, faulting a game for its difficulty should only occur when explicitly tied to a negative assessment of flawed game design. When a game fails to captivate a player because of prohibitive difficulty, it is not that it is "too hard," it's that the difficulty level in question is almost completely valueless. In these cases, there is no reason for the game to be difficult, and more importantly, its challenge provides no benefit to the player and in no way enhances the gameplay experience. Aside from these occasions, claiming a game's difficulty is too high is simply an admission of one's own lack of skill in manipulating that particular world or character(s), or failing to fully understand the rules under which the game world and mechanics operate. It is an entirely subjective statement. What's utterly impossible for me to succeed at may be effortless for someone else, and vice-versa.

A recent example of difficulty level being at the center of discussion about a video game was the response to From Software's Demon's Souls. Although the game was received with overwhelming positivity, some came to the "it's too hard" conclusion early on and never gave the game's underlying mechanics a well-deserved chance to reveal themselves. In actuality, it was these individuals' failure to ever understand how the game works that made their final assessments for them, and it was the critics who discovered that by learning and playing by the rules of the game world, ultimate success drew ever closer to their grasp. Demon's Souls -- and others -- are difficult by design; the process of exploring those designs is an essential component of the enjoyment derived from them.

But what about a game that is "too easy"? Is there such a thing, or are we simply too susceptible to confusing the term "easy" when we really just mean "boring"? Both easy and difficult games can be boring, but the common denominator between the two is poor design. Repetition, lack of novelty, or unrefined gameplay mechanics can all lead either an easy or difficult game into the same dreaded territory, but it is the easy games whose shortcomings in these areas are most often falsely attributed to difficulty, rather than the true root of the problem. There's a reason that when an easy game is captivating, harsh criticism of its difficulty level is hard to find. This is that reason. Ask yourself how many discussions you've heard about how Assassin's Creed II and Mass Effect 2 are "too easy." I'd wager not many, because they are easy, good games.

Good games are good regardless of how easy or difficult they are, and bad games are bad. Flaws in the core game design may be exacerbated by a less-than-optimal challenge, but usually it is those flaws that have created that challenge issue to begin with, making it impossible to make an objective qualitative statement about the game's difficulty level. So don't say a game is "too hard" or "too easy"... just say it is crap.

A Rare And Dangerous Beast -- Demon's Souls Review

Although countless dungeon crawlers have been released throughout videogame history, there has never been anything quite like From Software's Demon's Souls. This Atlus-published action RPG uses sprawling, atmospheric worlds, haunting game concepts and mechanics, an unconventional control scheme, and formidable difficulty to envelop players in an experience that is easily one of the best of the year.

Amid a thick fog, Demons have descended to claim the souls of the living, and it is up to players to walk a path between spectral and corporeal planes of existence, slaying these beasts and restoring the world to its former, peaceful state. This will take place across five distinct locales, each guarded by up to four major demons (bosses) and a multitude of less epic foes, all of which are unique to the areas that they inhabit.

Unlike the throwaway encounters in many other games, Demon's Souls makes each new confrontation, from the delightfully distinct and often awe-inspiring bosses, right down to the game's basic enemies, a significant event to be taken very seriously. It is easy to be killed in Demon's Souls, especially when enemies attack in numbers; a slow, thoughtful approach is usually the most effective. Combined with the already overwhelming supernatural themes and lonely, imposing environments, this instilled sense of danger engages players much like a survival horror title. The fear of the unknown lurking around every corner and the apprehension with which players are forced to proceed through each surreal and, at times, downright creepy world make exploration in this game highly suspenseful and engrossing.

Death is a very fluid concept in Demon's Souls, and operates like a distant evolution of the ring health system in Sonic the Hedgehog. When players are killed, they lose all of the souls -- the game's currency AND measure of experience -- they have collected from killing enemies, and are revived in "soul form" at the beginning of the level. They may then continue as if still alive, but with less health and a slightly augmented difficulty level, until they defeat a major demon or revive using a special item. When they come upon the site of their prior death, they may reclaim their lost souls by touching their own bloodstain, and the only serious loss is time. Dying before reaching the bloodstain forfeits those lost souls forever. The Sonic analogy deals with the idea that any isolated death is minimally consequential, but two deaths in a row, without reacquiring what was only temporarily lost the first time, is detrimental to players' progress.

Leveling a character is immensely important in this oppressive game world, so players may find themselves doing a bit of grinding to earn more souls on more than one occasion. Although an initial character class must be chosen from a list of 10 at the journey's outset, only by trading souls for stat boosts will a character truly develop into a specialized warrior. Just because a character begins as a knight doesn't mean he or she can't ultimately become a powerful magician or priest, and vice-versa. Likewise, a huge list of weapons and armor can be upgraded using souls and ores in a myriad of ways, including many special weapons with powerful effects, each tailored to a different type of character. Two separate (and UNequal) blacksmiths offer different upgrades, making the depth of this tiered upgrade system quite incredible and offering new goals for which players will strive throughout the game.

Demon's Souls features a unique control scheme that maps left and right hand actions -- blocks, parries, normal and strong attacks -- to the four shoulder buttons, quick-access consumable items to the square button, and a lock-on/target swap function to the right analog stick. Players can roll out of harm's way with the circle button and quickly swap equipped weapons, items, and spells with the d-pad. Other intricacies include the ability to wield a weapon with two hands if it is otherwise too heavy for the character to use, or simply to improve its efficacy in battle. This all feels very natural and quickly becomes second nature, although there can be occasional hangups and mistakes related to the lock-on function, and the third-person perspective, action-oriented gameplay, and level construction may leave gamers searching for a jump button that isn't there.

Players have significant influence over their characters, from stat-building, to equipment management, to in-game action, but there are still elements that make the game feel much bigger than the players themselves. A very original online component has been implemented in Demon's Souls, allowing players to make both positive and negative impacts on others' games. At any time in online mode, players may select from dozens of phrases (warnings, hints, irrelevant banter, etc.) in the game's menu and leave them as glowing messages on the ground, viewable by anyone on the server in their own single-player games. Phantom versions of other characters also make short, intermittent appearances as players traverse the same areas at the same times, and soulless bloodstains can be touched to reveal visual playbacks of how others have met their demise at those particular locations. Additionally, special stones allow players to enter others' games, either to help slay demons, or to kill the host player in exchange for revival from soul form. This intertwining of worlds works well and expands upon the epic feel of Demon's Souls.

The primary reasons for faulting Demon's Souls are mostly tantamount to the game's successes. The game's difficulty and the slow grind of progress are most likely to repel easily frustrated and impatient players, especially because retreading old ground repeatedly can cause one to become more impatient and try to rush through the familiar parts, only to act carelessly and fall into a cycle of... death and frustration. However, the rush of danger throughout the game and the feelings of conquest that come with each incremental success compensate for (and wouldn't exist without) these obstacles. Also, the story is unfortunately nowhere near as riveting as the gameplay, but the minimalist approach to narrative also lends itself to the game's desolate atmosphere.

Demon's Souls is a unique and awesome experience. Its immense and immersive world, fine control scheme, deep gameplay, and creative concepts are hampered minimally by the frustration of the grind and a daunting level of difficulty. The game engages players from beginning to end, and keeps calling them back for more. PlayStation 3 owners would be making a mistake to pass up what is one of the best games of 2009 so far.

Beware The Formidable Foes Ahead -- Demon's Souls Preview

I was recently given the opportunity to try my hand at a trade demo of From Software's Demon's Souls, published by Atlus in the US. I've enjoyed my time with it thus far, and am eager to dive deeper into the game, as playing through the training level and the first segment of one of its six major areas reveals the title to be one of the most unique examples of a dungeon-crawling action RPG in recent memory.

The game is set in a world where demons have descended to claim the souls of the living, preceded by a thick and ominous fog covering much of the land. It is up to players to vanquish these demons and clear the world of their influence. To do so, they will fight across a number of different locales both while alive and in a quasi-corporeal soul form, which they enter upon death.

Gameplay takes place in a number of rich and immense 3D environments, and players have great control over the character they play. To begin, these characters are fully customizable, letting players choose from four geographic backgrounds (north, south, east, west) and 10 character classes that range from uncivilized barbarians to magic users and royalty. Each class starts the game with its own combination of equipment and attributes, but over the course of the game can be molded to fit players' preferences and play style.

Gameplay is different from games of this kind. Combat is intricate, and every fight feels like something substantial. Players lock on and cycle between targets using the right analog stick, then press R1 and R2 for normal and heavy attacks. If a catalyst (wand) is equipped and a spell memorized, magic attacks work the same way. The circle button dodges and rolls, L1 raises a shield or weapon to block, and L2 parries attacks, leaving the enemy open for a deadly riposte, a quick victory, and a finishing animation. Players are also given the option of dual-wielding, or using a single weapon with two hands -- sometimes a necessity to reap its full benefits, due to strength requirements.

From what I've sampled, I can see that survival isn't exactly easy in Demon's Souls. Enemies hit hard, and any sizable group has the potential to quickly become overwhelming. Quickly swapping between primary and secondary equipment with the d-pad (left for shield/off-hand, right for main weapon), or using quick-access healing items with the square button will undoubtedly be indispensable strategies on those occasions. On all occasions, it looks like players will be taking it slowly if they want to live.

On top of the massive single-player experience (expected to clock in at around 80-100 hours), the game features a number of unique online components. Throughout the adventure, players can leave messages for other online-enabled players to find in their own games. These may warn of danger ahead or point out secrets, and are limited to a selection of key phrases to avoid the standard vulgarity of online gaming communities. Phantom versions of other characters also make short, intermittent appearances as players traverse the same areas at the same times, and bloodstains on the ground allow you to see visual playbacks of how others have met their demise in those particular locations.

On top of that, players have the option of teaming up in parties of two or three in order to complete levels and defeat major demons. Or they may invade other players' worlds to fight against them, either to win souls or to be resurrected from soul form in their own game.

Demon's Souls looks incredibly promising. The concepts of intertwined worlds, the Nexus, and soul form have great potential, especially in an online gaming landscape, and the gameplay itself is a refreshing and competent reinvention of an established genre. I can't wait to play more.