Just wanted to clarify that the reason this was my "most expensive video" was because I had to pay hundreds of pounds to buy all of the new games. And that was slightly crazy because videos on accessibility options / disabilities are not exactly the most popular or profitable thing on RU-vid. I'm indebted to my Patreon backers (and other supporters through Teespring and the Epic Game Store creator tag GMTOOLKIT) for making this sort of stuff possible! Cheers!
This is excellent stuff. It should be a no brainer. It's good for everyone. The developers only have to invest a little thought and effort and in return they get access to a whole new customer base, not to mention good PR. Meanwhile the rest of us benefit too, whether it's that we're too lazy to use both hands, are trying not to wake up the neighbours, or just want to sit a little further away from the screen and still be able to read. It's a win-win. Seeing those kids at the end enjoying games brought a tear to my eye.
Mark, The fact that this was your most expensive video even knowing that it wasn't going to be your most popular or profitable video is why it is so good! I for one have always had mad respect for your content, but when you made the original series "designing for disabilities" was when I started to really respect you as a person... it really shows you care, that you are helping to push the industry towards inclusion and acceptance, and that is an awesome thing. Thank You, for all you do! and keep making great content!
Great work. It should be noted that, games that are playable with sound off, pure visual play, have more longevity, as you can play them whilst listening to something else for example. It goes to show that accessibility is not just about diabilities, but all can benefit from accessible games.
Honestly, the fact that you are willing to put in the time and effort to examine accessibility options is really brilliant and unique. We need to spend more time talking about accessibility in games, and we need to raise awareness of it. This is certainly money well spent, and you can use your experience in those games to launch other interesting videos as well I'm sure. It's the one time that buying a bunch of video games is actually a real investment that will pay out in time. I'm sure you could write interesting things about Death Stranding, Fallen Order, and more all on their own. Best of luck to you
My speakers went out right when you started speaking about deaf gaming and I watched it for 2 more minutes thinking it was on purpose to make your point
@@GMTK thank you so much for that touch :) It's mega aggravating when auto subtitles get in the way of important video text, and subtitles always feels like an oversight here on yt.
@@lrgogo1517 assuming you are on a computer or device with a mouse (as I don't use mobile youtube), you just left click on the caption, and holding down the left click button, drag the caption box somewhere else on the screen, then release the left click button.
for resident evil 2, couldn't they just use rumble features on the controllers to indicate Mr.X's footsteps? Like the closer he is, the stronger the rumble on the controller?
I think the controller vibration when Mr.X is around would be a great feature even for people without disabilities. I bet that'd make him even scarier if you could literally feel him stomping around. Great idea!
It would be a great option but it wouldn’t be perfect. Vibration can be painful for some people or aggravate sensory issues. Defs a great supplement though and would make the game much more accessible. Just thought it worthy to note that there will never be a one size fits all approach
Have near perfect hearing and I too never turn subtitles off. In fact I turn them on in just about every game I play, especially if the story and exposition is important. You can easily misunderstand one or a few key words and then you have no clue what the hell the game is talking about.
And I like to turn off as many subtitles and ui elements as I can. Sad thing is, most games are designed around them and they are sometimes outright unplayable without quest markers.
I always turn subtitles off if they're on. In many cases, they're poorly timed so that text "spoils" a character's delivery of the spoken words, or sound effects. I also find myself reading them instead of watching what's happening. Yes, in some cases I might miss out on subtle cues like a muttered line or a sound effect that the subtitles would have made obvious. (I've noticed that occasionally by watching videos of people playing the same games with subtitles on.) A recent one is Half-Life Alyx - the Combine soldiers have some interesting lines that I never even attempted to understand, but probably would have gotten a kick out of if I had subtitles on. (E.g.: Friendly fakeouts, "He's kicking it")
No kidding. I can hear perfectly fine but sometimes have trouble understanding what people are saying, so I always keep subtitles on, too. They do sometimes "spoil" line delivery, but at least I'm pretty used to it from watching anime.
Learned more about myself when the screen wiped over the clip of Cuphead to show the deuteranopia simulation and it didn’t look any different than it did before.
I have exactly no disabilities, but honestly, not being able to remap my controls is a huge turn-off. _Technically_ , The Outer Worlds allows it for keyboard/mouse, but... enh. It doesn't actually cover everything.
@@ShaunDreclin Possible explanations: because Qwerty is not the only existing keyboard scheme (there's also Azerty, Qwertz, Bépo, etc.), many keyboards don't have a numeric pad, Mac keyboard have their own scheme (because... Apple), mouse with additional programmable buttons are not uncommon. That's not an excuse to not do it but gamepads have less these problems.
@Pierre Stempin That, and with controllers having fewer buttons they have enough trouble fitting everything in without don't something funky like tying actions to the analog axis or using button combos to toggle between functions. They may think "this is the best you're gonna get" so there's no need for remapping.
I need a "adult with family" mode that reminds me what I was doing last time I played (likely weeks ago) and put some pointers on the map to help me remember.
A way to quickly remeber what was going on in the game the last time you've played it would be just great. Maybe a short video recap on the last 4-5 completed quests. And some kind of a training dojo to remember where all of the buttons are and what they do and what abilities you have.
I remember Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen performed a recap (skippable) basically every time you loaded your save file. The type of highlights it recapped could be ... questionable, but at least it was there. RPG/adventure games typically have a Journal feature that keeps track of your pgoress, but generally isn't customizable. For the inevitable times where you put the game down and came back later having forgot more or less everything, the ability to leave player-assigned markers in the game for the player's own reference (e.g. putting pins on the map screen) are a MUST.
Final Fantasy XIII does something like this. Every time you load up the game, it gives you a brief summary of the events that have happened recently while it loads up the game. I never found it too useful, but I think it's a good example of what you'd want. I also believe it marks your next objective on the map, too. Most games these days have map pointers that tell you where to go, but very few games do the recap before you start playing. Final Fantasy XIII is the only one that comes to mind, but I feel like I've played a couple more that do it.
@@link464 FF XIII-2 (IIRC not for the original game) has the heads up when the game is loading, but that thing is honestly not very useful since it only says what happened during the main quests. A better example I've found is AI: The Somnium Files, which shows you the last few scenes you've been in.
Some RPGs do that, like The Witcher 3 which recollects the current part of the main quest in loading screens. I liked the way Alan Wake handled it, basically giving you a "Previously on..." recap every time you returned.
Can we talk about the fact that you have to unlock the audio settings in Sword and Shield from a random NPC like 3-4 hours into the game? What is up with that?
Still better than Cuphead. It has a few visual filters (including monochrome) but they are implemented as bonus rewards, *not* as accessibility options.
my random guess is that since the game targets a large kid audience they don't want younger gamers to be confused or something. it's a weird situation but hey at least the games have volume control.
@@midasmagnezone4282 They have language option since gen 5 (Black & White), and that more or less requires some parental assistance. Wouldn't see why accessibility options would be another barrier. (Gen 5 has kanji or kana for the Japanese version, and gen 6 onwards has all the language options in every market region)
@hi hungry i'm dad Remember the debacle of BW2's difficulty options? W2 unlocked easy mode and B2 unlocked challenge mode, but _only after beating the game_ (on a game where you can't "just" start a new file, mind you) and if you wanted to play that difficulty mode from the outset you had to trade the unlock from another player. What were they even thinking with it...?
Hi, all if you're playing fire emblem and having a hard time reading the text here a small tip. The Nintendo Switch has a little zoom feature you can activate it by hitting the home button twice. Then then the game will pause, and it will let you zoom as close as you need, it helps me out a lot during fire emblem, but this will work on any game at all. I hope this helps some people out! Edit it has come to my attention that you 1st need to activate it in the system settings first. 2nd it seems I was wrong about the whole pausing game thing, my bad. sorry
I *love* that notoriously inaccessible Nintendo included the zoom function, particularly for the tiny-text PC/cross-console ports, but it's hardly a good answer. It pauses the game and is a bit of a pain to use.
A couple more notable games that came out more recently: Ring Fit Adventure: Has a whopping 30 different difficulty levels and lets you turn on and off different assists in its settings for those more physically disabled. It also lets you take a survey so that it can pick a recommended difficulty level for you, but you can also tweak it as much as you like whenever you want. Legend of Bum-Bo: Each tile corresponds to both a different color and a different shape (white bone, gray tooth, etc.). And the boss that requires you to match tiles that match the color of the boss's flames also projects shadows of the corresponding tile shape on the floor and walls.
Subtitles are really important to me since I'm Brazilian and English is not my main language. When I played a game that was subtitled as I grew up was a great learning tool. Hearing a different language is much harder than reading it. And sometimes you just can't rewind a cutscene to hear what they're saying again. Nowadays a lot more games are subtitled or even dubbed in Portuguese, so its a lot better
I never thought of subtitles in that way, but it makes sense now that you mention it. When I was learning French, understanding it verbally was so much harder than reading it.
My wife is not a native english speaker so subtitles that are readable (and not awful - seriously, so many shows butcher their dialogue with overly simplified subtitles, or subtitles that have a million words per line) for english-language shows are a must for her. For me, we don't live in an English speaking country so if we watch something in the local native language, I need subtitles (which often have terrible fonts and go by too quickly.). So yeah...I get this.
Absolutely agree, I myself was in a super similar situation. I'm Portuguese, so I speak the same language as you haha, and having subtitles in video games was a TREMENDOUS help in learning English. Nowadays I can read, hear and even speak it rather well, and this kind of stuff in games played a big part in that.
Playing Sekiro while suffering from the damages caused by Guillain Barre Syndrome made for an interesting first time playthrough. And even still my fingers just sometimes do stuff on their own, miss the buttons or don't do anything at all. And my vision has weakened notably as well. Oh well, I'm currently on NG+7, so I guess it isn't enough to stop me from playing.
sekiro is in easy mode to be fair, sekiro is one of the easiest (at least for me) of the from soft games, and to be fair all of them are, but the players are the ones who decide to make it difficult to themselves, and it just happened to me time and again that after I teach or just show something specific to some of my friends and family and they find kt logical, have the "Ahaa" moment and then proceed with relative ease and I even tried sekiro on a one handed controller mod on a game convention, and after a couple of minutes of muscle memory gaining, it was perfectly damn playable
Ivan Timofeev Mate, stop. Your trying to make you look like an amazing gamer who think sekiro is the easiest game that from software has made, but while saying your lie to try to make you look cool, your undermine the commenter’s accomplishment of beating the game by saying that it’s super easy. Sekiro is hard, and I’m 90% sure that you actually think that it’s a hard game and just want desperately for some one to think that your cool.
@Younes Outlaptic • 11 years ago I genuinely think Sekiro has the most difficult boss fights From Software has produced so far. There's way more details to make note of in Sekiro.
As someone with minor color blindness (tritanomoly) a filter is not a good option for lots of people especially because they're broad terms. Having full control over UI color is by far the best option.
"I don't know if having no sense of rhythm counts as a disability" as someone who's deaf my rhythm is HORRIBLE and i'm sure there are people with motor disabilities who struggle with timing as well so i appreciate the inclusion of what cadence of hyrule has :P
Oooh this was a great video! I know this was apparently your most expensive video to date, but I would like to see a annual video like this for each year's games, it would be like an archive of gaming's progression in all accessability-related things for us to chart!
If it gains any traction in the industry I hope more studios will give out codes for disability reviewers. Might save a few bucks. Wouldn't you be proud of your game if you put good effort into accessibility? Of course, it would have to be without strings attached.
Game Maker's Toolkit Wouldn’t it be possible to just get the necessary info from either people sharing video of a game or lend their account for you to try this stuff? Would still cost a lot probably but it’d remove a lot of the bigger games on the list, personally I could’ve covered you on at least 6 of them (hypothetically)
@@GMTK If you're making this a regular thing, PLEASE involve more Disabled creators, and maybe even signal-boost their channels/Twitters/whatever. And if you take this seriously, maybe stop reviewing games that screw up the basics.
Thank you for reinforcing this concept. English is my second language, and I can't stand games that contain very small subtitles and UI text, more penalty if the conversations are also too fast and unable to pause between sentences.
@@jannnnn2 Wtf,? He is right most game have to fast conversation in the subtitles, specially when you are learning a new language and dont understand the sentence pausing is a must. And mosr games really have small subtutles and text. Just look at the Paradox games, or some of the scifi over the mile space games, that have text smaller than small dictionaries. You could ask yourself if those games want to make their clients blind, specially since most people already are to long infront of the screen. Those things make your eyes really bad, really fast.
Surprised Outer Worlds had so much positive press about color blindness when the text is some of the smallest I’ve ever seen and effects far more people
@@GMTK The positive press makes sense when you consider that it's designed so effectively for those with colorblindness that unless you are told or really look into it you won't even notice. The accessibility dream for me is for it to be so well integrated and accepted that it is barely even considered as accessibility anymore, kind of like glasses have become so normalized that previously pretty crippling vision impairments are hardly noticed or acknowledged in most spaces. Often colorblind modes even when effective take something away from the baseline experience and Outer World's managed to avoid that entirely which is deserving of praise in my books. Failing even severely in some aspects doesn't take away that they did accessibility for colorblindness about as well as I could possibly imagine. It is less about balancing some kind of accessibility scales and trying to weigh the benefit of what they included and the problems from not including other things and much more about how they set a fantastic example for the industry for how really amazing colorblind accessibility can be done. That has its own value and Obsidian deserves due praise for it regardless of their other fuck ups.
Just want to note that I know your “designing for disability” videos weren’t as successful as say “boss keys” but them and this video are so wonderful and so impactful. Thanks for taking the time to make this.
i'm partially deaf & have various processing disorders so i spent a lot of this video squinting at my screen going "huh?" so yeah, really good job at pointing out good and bad examples of accessibility. also holy shit i love the open dyslexic font so much i try to get it working on every part of my computer
For truly innovative solutions, maybe... But no. Accessibility isn't something to complement, it's absolute bare minimum. We shouldn't praise games that are accessible (or at the very least, we need to avoid "above and beyond"-like language at all costs), we should shun games that aren't. The game awards shouldn't make a category for accessibility, they should disqualify all games that are missing accessibility features from all of their other categories.
@Wil E I'm not saying you can't play these games, but we shouldn't be singing praise for games that, for many (i.e. disabled) gamers, are not games at all but rather paperweights and wastes of money and disk space. Besides, these (especially the most egregious offenders) are immense corporations with immense resources, and the ADA is literally the law.
@Wil E While some remapping can be done by the console, that's not something a dev planning for portability will rely on. Especially when it's really simple at a basic software level.
@Wil E I don't mean to be rude with this, not in the slightest. However, I get the feeling you either aren't understanding what the video is saying about accessibility options or just genuinely don't care for them at all, and are acting like you even just somewhat care about them. Do correct me if I'm wrong, but I get that feeling looking at this. For example, yeah, *maybe* coders for console hardware could make a really smart automated closed captions system and bake it into a console, but, like the system RU-vid itself has, they're still finicky, and can get words wrong depending on the circumstance, something you *really* don't want in a story heavy game, I'd assume. That's not even talking about specific stuff like audio closed captions and the like. Likewise, a one-size-fits-all system still can still not work for some people. An emulator isn't a system meant to make games accessible to those with disabilities that can vary wildly depending on the person. It's an emulator. They aren't equal in comparison, as far as I'm aware of. Again, correct me if I'm wrong, or if there's something system-wide out there that works for a lot of people, but with the Sekiro statement you made, it seems like you genuinely don't care if certain games just hardlock certain people from being able to get very far with them based on what the game wants to achieve. Again, I don't mean to be rude at all with that. It's merely a gut feeling.
@Wil E placing all of the responsibility on the console makers doesn't make sense. Maybe they could implement some kind of universal button mapping system, or universal filters for colour blindness, but how would they tackle things like game difficulty or missing subtitles?
I think I just found my favorite accessibility option ever: at 18:17 there's an option to disable the tinnitus sound. As someone who feels pain at that sound, that would be greatly appreciated in more games!
I think that one of the best things that Sekiro does to make it accessible without lowering its natural difficulty is the fact that it has the best and most clear tutorial that Miyazaki has ever made, it includes lots of prompts for key mechanics and features (such as Perilous Attacks), it includes visual hints for grappling points, features an specific character that teaches you the basics of the combat without any risk and has the first pause menu of the series. Most of the difficulty in Soulsborne games came from having not a single idea of what to do or where to go, and I think Sekiro is incredibly clear in this area. While it is, certainly, the hardest game Miyazaki has ever made since Bloodborne, its difficulty is the most accessible, if it makes any sense. Anyway, these videos are great and raise awareness among devs and players about issues that we tend to forget very easily. Amazing work as always, Mark!
And because of no multiplayer, it's the first From game (as far as I can remember) that you can pause, which, IMO, has been a huge deal for adapting to enemies on the fly. You can use like 5-6 buffing items and not get screwed if you forget to put them on the hotbar before you begin the fight or switch out combat arts/prosthetics mid-fight because you realize that something might work better against a certain enemy.
I really feel like topics like this are incredibly important. I personally don't deal with these issues myself but I find it important to think about how these games work with those with disabilities. I never thought about how mr. X would be for those with hard hearing for example because I never had to think about it.
I'm guessing that a good way to practice thinking about these things would be to put yourself into these situations. Turning off your speakers/headphones, putting on color-filtering glasses that simulate colorblindness, putting on blurry glasses, etc. I haven't done any of that myself, as I primarily play for joy right now as opposed to game design learning, but I may give it a shot at some point.
@@ok-yv9dd considering these accessibility options are *a part of the game and people's enjoyment of it,* id say it's every bit as important as the graphics arguments or inclusion of microtransactions in games. These aren't things that are taking away design time, or being included in order to make the experience "worse" or whatever the sekiro chuds argued. They're there in order to make a notoriously inaccessible form of entertainment/expression/art a little bit moreso But sure, accessibility=bad and "some games just aren't for people with disabilities" and all that trash.
Don't be an asshole, nobody who opposed easy mode for Sekiro would have opposed colorblind mode or detailed subtitles. Easy mode is a quite different thing. You might think our reasons are not okay but don't lie about us.
I never gave a damn about accessibility as a gamer... As a young lad, I had the mentality that if you couldn't play the game; get good or don't play it at all. Now that I'm making my own games I've changed my tune on that view... feels bad when your buddy can't access your game's content because of poor design choices. :\
poor design choices and purposely designed difficulty are different things. Flappy bird is a game everyone can play, but not everyone can get high scores and that shouldn't be changed just because some people couldn't do it; because that's the designed goal of flappy bird, to gain high scores using your skill. There are already plenty of games out there for "everyone", but that does not necessarily mean every game should be designed that way. Just because you spent money on a piano, doesn't make you become Bach or Beethoven, you have to put time and effort to learn it. It's not the piano makers fault or responsibility if you couldn't play it. TLDR: Accessibility and Difficulty aren't necessarily tied to each other. Games should stick to their designed purpose and difficulty. If part of your design is to have your game be played by your friends, then design your game with your friends in mind, but don't let others design the game for you.
@@kusog3 You're preaching to the choir... I never said difficulty was tied to accessibility. re-read my comment. When I was younger, I didn't have an understanding of how games really worked. Once I started making my own games I found out how hard it is to make something that was difficult, but everyone could pick up and play regardless of skill level. That's extremely difficult to pull off in game development IMO. You're talking about keep difficulty pure like a lot of retro games of past... That's fine but eliminating a third of your audience to please a fraction of your fanbase isn't a smart business strategy in hindsight, but you're entitled to your opinion.
This video really opened up another angle of playing games that I never thought about. I’m glad that this topic is being brought up and hope that more games continue to aim for better accessibility
@@unblorbosyourshows9635 that's gamefreak for ya! Even working on the most profitable entertainment franchise in the world isn't enough to stop their incompetence
Sekiro is an interesting case since it's themes revolve around death, cycles and stagnation. Having the game kill you is integral for those themes. I would be very interested in ways that it could be made more accessible without damaging that. I could also argue that the very lenient stealth system and the fact that every enemy including bosses are vulnerable to the various items and abilities you can aquire can be a way to modify the difficulty of the game for yourself, it's not a traditional difficulty setting but it is there
Sekiro, and From Soft's affair in general, is super interesting in this topic because not being able to make the game easy is a large part of the point. It's a failing that exists only in the space of interactive mediums, some things just HAVE to alienate certain people to function. In the case of From games, I think maybe a disclosure on ads for their stuff could go a long way. Just something saying "failure is important to the game's themes, as such there are few to no options to compensate for player disabilities." No need to make it too extra, as long as it gets across what's up and why so at the very least those who know they won't be enjoying that don't waste the money.
@@austriab1 I dont think thats necessarily true, I think its very possible to accomodate more people with disabilities but its not as easy as just adding an easy mode, its a complicated issue that really smart people need to think real hard about
Games like Sekiro or Bloodborne could easily implement a difficulty system that could help make them more accessible. Hell, Jedi Fallen Order, which in many ways plays like From Soft game, had this. The difficulty levels affected the parry windows, enemy damage and player health. The question is should a designer stick to their guns and say that their game simply has a certain difficulty and that's that, or should they make concessions to less skilled or disabled players? I'm not sure there's an answer there that satisfies everyone.
Me too. It is actually even more important I think that these people get to enjoy gaming. Since there are plenty of sports etc which they will miss out on.
It's an intensely compelling counterpoint to the argument that "well, maybe games just aren't for everyone". Jonathan Blow famously claimed the some players just won't be able to solve all the puzzles in The Witness, they're just not for them. It's easy to trot out the slipperly slope of "well what about players who are completely blind? You can't accommodate everyone. There has to be a limit." Yes, there's a limit, but we should all _do what we can_ to include as many players as is feasible...because, I mean - look at those kids!
I'm a web developer and super into accessibility. Great to see someone who's equally passionate about it. You are one of the first who I've heard mention text line length, even though it's very important.
You should totally watch his entire series on Designing for Disabilities then. He goes much more in depth and gives a lot of input too on what can be done.
As always thank you for doing videos about accessibility. This stuff gets more and more important to me as I get older, and videos like this help me to know what to recommend to friends who have similar eyesight or hearing issues. I am kinda glad Ubisoft decided to start leaving subtitling on by default. Gonna look into some of these games that have good subtitling. Gears 5 i didn't even think of buying this year but if they're subtitling looks like that, I may have to pick a copy up this Black Friday
So, about 4 years ago I had a stroke that paralyzed my right half. Luckily I got most everything back. Unluckily, that doesnt include my right hand. At first I couldn't play anything with one hand. But, with a little reconfiguring of my brain, and always knowing what's up and what's down to a controller, now I'm better than I was before the stroke
have you heard of the xbox adaptive controller? it allows you to configure buttons to various devices which can be pressed by any part of your body you can think of, including switches that can be used with your feet or face, i've seen several reviews by people who have limited or no use of one of their hands and it seems to work really well
As an avid gamer without some fingers, I think you’re really touching on something important that’s been ignored by the community. Your person first language (living with disability instead of disabled person) is really kind and a detail that is noticed and appreciated. I think mobility is an issue that isn’t touched. Especially in quick tight gameplay loops. Even if achievements are turned off, getting the option for 90% or 70% speed could really help for amputees.
i have chronic pain, it's especially bad in my hands in fingers cause of some other stuff, and doing those loops is often almost impossible if not really difficult for me
I'm currently in the middle of enjoying Celeste, and despite not having had to use Assist Mode (which allows for gameplay speed reduction, amongst other things), it really is an outstanding accommodation in a game. I get frustrated but still manage to push through difficult challenges right now. If I was perhaps 10 years older and no longer have the reflexes I have now, that game would become so inaccessible to me.
As a disabled gamer, this video really hits home. I will say, and you might've noticed it from the way I worded it, but not all of us prefer person-first. Autistic and deaf communities especially, but about half of the people I meet prefer "disabled person" over "person with disability".
@@hyperaidan The problem with giving the options to lowering the speed, is that it gives the option to player who don't have disability to kill the game's purpose of making you go through tough situation and persevere. Anyone could then just lower the speed of the battle and make it too easy for themselves. That's why devs don't do it, "making it easer", because it breaks the philosophy of the game for the vast majority in some cases.
@super flip As i said, it does break the game's philosophy then. And this is for the vast majority, the vast majority that will play the game and go through it. So it's understandable that they won't make that change. There is a conflict with the philosophy of dark souls/sekiro/and such because now anyone could make the journey an easy path, anyone.
Thank you for working on videos like these. As my vision fades, it's been heartbreaking to feel an ever expanding distance form between myself and the games that I loved so much when I was younger. It's felt more and more like my one-sided struggle to try and enjoy or even engage in modern games has become less and less worth the effort. Knowing that there are developers taking strides to meet me half way is very validating, and knowing that there are people actively spreading the word about accessibility gives me some hope for the future. So, thank you. Very much.
I'd like to point out that Fire Emblem: Three Houses had an amazing cognitive accesibilty option - mainly, the fact that just about any micromanagement in the game can be automated. The Auto-Instruct feature, for example, will spit out usable builds for your students that, while not optimized, allow you to play through the game without a need to understand what every single stat and skill does. There's even an Auto-Battle feature that lets you choose simple strategies for each turn, like Group Up or Charge, and lets the AI figure out the rest. An amazing feature considering just how much mental information you normally need to hold regarding different stats, skill levels, experience, etc. FE:3H is one hell of a cognitive load, but you can ignore just about all of it with the automation features.
Thank you for putting this video out. I am a legally blind gamer and it gets exceptionally frustrating sifting through games and struggling to find something accessible. Font adjusters and screen readers would make a world of difference in my life and I wouldn't experience the constant limitations I currently do in gaming. I truly appreciate the amount of effort you put into this.
I've heard the term "legally blind" several times now, and I'm still not sure what it means and what's the difference with simply being blind, if there even is. Maybe I should google it.
I take medication for anxiety which slows down my reaction time and makes it harder for me to get in that panic/adrenalin mode. So games can often feel hard and cruel with difficulty levels, too many visuals at one time, and puzzles. I love this focus on accessibility and it definitely has helped me in a lot of games to be able to play it a little differently than most people but far more enjoyable for me.
This video taught me a lot about accessibility options in games, but it also unintentionally taught me that 2019 was a bigger year for gaming than I realized, with tons of great games coming out
@@TheGauges420 i have mixed feelings on their games, some are good, many are bad and lots of them come out like crap just to improve later, and what's weird is that they actually improve them unlike EA with anthem, but that's still not a development philosophy I'd support
It’s important that notice the difference between accessibility and making a game easier. Sometimes I’ll use certain accessibility feature because I prefer it even if it doesn’t necessarily make the game easier.
Sekiro is more accessible in some areas than than the Soul series, like a much better tutorial system and actually explaining the in game mechanics to you, as well as providing a training guy for you to practice.
It would probably be the easiest of the From Software games to get multiple difficulty settings since there is no PVP or online aspects. The hard part though is that just by the core aspects of the gameplay (finely tuned deflecting, fast paced combat, etc.), even if enemies did less damage or you had more health it wouldn't necessarily make the game easier if you aren't able to grasp the mechanics of combat. Honestly, grasping the mechanics of From games are half the battle. It's why they have such a "steep learning curve". It would be difficult to adjust the difficulty of a game where the enemies don't just hit hard (though they do) but rely on mechanics to make them challenging. PS. I love Sekiro and I find it hilarious that there is a bell you can ring that technically RAISES the difficulty. Though I think it only effects basic enemies by making them hit harder =P
Sekiro is really accessible, the prosthetics can make a fight easier, if you pay attention and eavesdrop or notice sone details you can use it to your advantage, for example one of the most hated minibosses The chained ogre If you put attention and search the area you can get some tips and guides to bully the miniboss easily And i have seen some people with disabilities playing sekiro to prove that still you can beat the game
@@claustrophobicmole867 - I mean fire prosthetics help but not that much. I think the best way to fight him is to get the early deathblow and just sprint around until he's recovering from an attack. Completely the opposite of every other miniboss in the game lol.
This is what I love about From Softwares games. You can go into almost every encounter at a different angle and play differently. The prosthetic is a great example of the rock-paper-scissors aspect of fighting enemies. Using the flame barrel causing the Ogre to panic, firecrackers to make animals panic, the shuriken to deal with airborne enemies. All these are gameplay mechanics that allow the player fantastic counters to tough encounters. BUT they arent the only way to face them which allows for player freedom but if you do use them, it makes the game easier but doesnt feel forced. Like the player figured it out and it was your own knowledge that allowed you to triumph.
From a totally functional person (without any disability, not sure what that is called in english) point of view, this video is so eye openning. There are so many different thing that could cause people to be unable to play certain game I'd never think of. Yet we still need a lot of media coverage on this topic just so more companies are aware of the problem and hopefully in some time everyone will be able to enjoy this awesome medium of games.
As someone without any disabilities it never occurred to me before I saw your videos that people might have difficulty playing games, really interesting stuff.
I'm actually so happy for all these accessibility settings recently. I'm very picky with my FPS controls, so being able to remap them is a godsend. I often don't play with sound on, so I usually use subtitles And I'm glad that we can all enjoy games.
Just a quick note that was missed in the video for anyone it might affect: Jedi fallen order also has button remapping. Thank you GMTK for bringing this kind of stuff to people’s attention. While it can be costly to add all of these options for every type of person, it is always great to be more inclusive
I remember a while ago a lot of games just did not have difficulty options in the name of streamlining or something like that. Not only were those games less accessible, they usually got rid of the harder difficulties too, making the games less fun for the dedicated players too.
I have no hearing disabilities but I am not a native English speaker. Having subtitles turned on helped me learn more English via games or movies so I can check spellings. It also helps if the words spoken are whispered or something like that and I miss them. Now I'm quite good at English ( top in my class in fact ;) ) but I still feel like leaving subtitles on. It feels a bit uneasy if I don't. I should probably experiment turning them off and just listening sometimes to check how my hearing ability goes but regardless, I always prefer them turned on. I feel like a lot of people may feel that way, so I find it strange that subs aren't on by default in most games that utilize them (which are basically every game with spoken dialogue in modern time).
Being autistic, the major things that are important to me are games having simplistic language so I can comprehend and understand what to do with tasks, as it can difficult with vague and directionless instructions. In addition to that, sensory overloads do affect me (they are rare, but they still do affect me) - stuff like allowing me to make the visuals less flashy or the ability to make the game a bit quieter does very much help. Finally, I can get very stressed and overloaded with information going on, slower dialogue, more relaxed gameplay and more focus can really help. I found that Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster did this very well for me. The information is clear, the games are relaxed and don't overload me with too much information and whenever I do forget something that you can do in the game, the tool tips and tutorials are very much appreciated. Though I would have liked the language to be explained to me a little bit more, especially with Planet Zoo (with it being more focused on animal welfare, I'm not familiar with some terms) - highlighted words that you can hover over with your mouse to pop up with a simplistic and clear definition of the word does help a lot so that you can understand what to do in the game.
Even as an abled player, I've always been frustrated at the lack of feature options in most games. It's a small amount of additional effort on the developer's part that goes a long way toward allowing me to play exactly how I want.
Ikr? The small text thing in many games also frustrates me. I'm pretty much abled, only real issue being mild myopia and forgetting to clean my glasses, but small text is ALWAYS hard for me, to the point where I can't play games on a TV without getting really close. It's terrible. Same thing applies to full controller remapping.
I think this focus on including accessibility to disabled gamers when talking about good design really makes this channel stand out as exceptional. Not only is every video extremely pleasant to watch, with exceptional editing and pacing, but it fulfills its mission of dissecting and promoting good design in video games, not just mechanics-wise, but game design in its entirety, including what most fail to recognize as important. Hats off to you for another wonderful video. I wanted to work in game development since I was a small child, and this channel seriously reinforces that to the point where I'm considering changing my major (I chose not to pursue it having grown up playing Halo, knowing all about how grueling of a task creating those games were for the devs and the burden it put on their lives).
Metro Exodus has TERRIBLE subtitles. Very often when a character speaks for a while, the subtitles become this huge wall of text where you have no idea where the speaker currently is. I'm not deaf, but I wanted to play the game with russian voices, but it was incredibly awkward and annoying, because the subtitles are so bad.
@@ketrub EXACTLY! This was already a problem in Last Light. There were optional conversations that affected the ending, but without the subtitles I had to either stand still for 2 minutes like an idiot and listen to a dialogue I didn't understand, or go back to the phony faux-Russian accents which quickly broke my immersion.
I'm glad you keep making and updating this series. One thing you haven't mentioned is accessibility for people with neurological disorders. Though not as common, it's disheartening to learn that I can't play the big game I was excited for because it has flashing lights or is so busy that it overwhelms my brain and I just can't keep up. Games like Monster Hunter World, where one of your main weapons is a flash grenade and a monster you repeatedly fight flashes the entire screen repeatedly to disorient the player. The Kingdom Hearts series, a game series I love, are also really bad about this. Some of the spirits in Dream Drop Distance I had to actively avoid (which is possibly, but not fun). The effects in later game Kingdom Hearts are also so flashy and all over the place that just playing on standard mode is a challenge because it overloads my sensitive neurological system; which is again, really not all that much fun since the challenge doesn't lie in gameplay, just game design.
Someone else in the comments mentioned FE:3H had some options to be able to automate micromanagement. Struck me as related to what you're saying: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vi98rAn4uXE.html&lc=UgxRLi-kvFu8jFyE_od4AaABAg
Regarding the neurological disorders, I think he did mention this in one of the videos before this one but he didn't this one time. I wanted to add that I don't think they are as uncommon throughout the playerbase since games have induced them for some time now. Unlucky you had to play your games in a way that was not intended due to bad accessibility options.
MegaTGarrett played through The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but completely without the use of his eyes, while using trial and error along with save states. He's currently working on a let's play of Majora's Mask.
This is fantastic, all your work is interesting but thank you for highlighting such an important issue for many people across the world. I've learned a lot from you about accessibility in games and how much it can enrich the lives of many people but also the gaming community too, the more people that can play games, the better it is for everyone!
Your videos on this subject have really opened my eyes to the ins and outs of accessibility options. I wouldn't have cared a quarter as much if it weren't for your eloquent, thorough, and professional essays. Major kudos to you and keep up the excellent work!
I really love how you talk about colourblindness and the way you show people how it works! It's so frustrating buying a game only to find out you'll.have major issues! (That's for all the topics discussed.) And I really think a lot of these features are welcome for anyone, like control options and clearer visuals!
Still don't see why it couldn't be a toggle. I played it and I would've preferred a toggle lock on. It wouldn't stop you from doing those combos at all
It definitely would make combos more difficult for people who are able to just hold down the button, but it would make them *possible* for those who can't. That's why it should be an option.
DmC: Devil May Cry, for all it gets wrong as a DMC game, did include this in Definitive Edition. Granted, lock-on was grafted on unnaturally in that game since the original release didn't have it, but it was there. Definitely could have been a thing DMC5 took from as an option, and it's not like DMC5 didn't take some cool stuff from DmC.
Text accessibility is also important for foreign players, I usually don't use localisation, but I prefer the clarity of text to spoken dialogue. Weird tidbit: it can be a pain to find the subtitles option, developers can't seem to decide whether to pot it in the audio, or game play options.
This was the most heartwarming video about video games all year. It's one thing to talk about how studios make great games but its great to see those studios make those great games accessible for everyone.
Jeez man, I'm seeing this video 4 months after its release. I have no disability, but I still appreciate your efforts in covering these (big) details that many people usually don't consider. I usually play games at high difficulties (not the highest) and love the lack of difficulty settings in From Software's games, but the fact that some Players may be unable to appreciate some experiences because of their disabilities is really unfair. You probably won't read this comment since months have passed, but I want to day that this video is a great thing. After seeing this I'll start to pay more attention to settings in videogames, that might not seem much, however many people like me will probably do the same thing and support games with more accessibility. That would make a difference (maybe small, maybe not). That's why this video and your efforts are important. Thank you!
5:42 I KNEW Death Stranding was going to come up here. I didn't even pay attention to it until someone came in the room and said "wow that text is tiny" and I realized I had been squinting at the massive amount of written text throughout the game.
So basically apex legends is amazing for disabilities. Honestly made me feel so good to see such an increase in disability accessibility. I always enjoy your disability videos
There is no reason in 2019 that we still can't have all hud indicators' colors customizable. It's such an easy thing to code, even more so if it's already allowed to change between presets. I'm red-green colorblind and all games that have preset colorblind options suck. Some games they are useless because some colors are still confusing, and others that work are just stupid like green enemies and light blue friends. I'm too used to enemies being red since every game does it I'm not going to have them green. Sometimes its just about being able to make Red enemies redder and Blue friends bluer and its done. I think it was Battlefield V that had this problem, enemies indicators were getting mixed with the green backgrounds like trees and bushes, but just being able to choose color allowed me to make it Max Red and now it works fine.
There is absolutely a reason that we don't have them And that reason is that plenty of self-identified "gamers" rail against any and all accessibility in order to feel better through some shitty, ableist delusion
One of the first things I did in Fallout New Vegas was change the UI from the default orangish tan to blue. Both because it’s my favorite color and also I figured I’d be able to see it easier against the also orangish tan Mojave landscape
@Harrison Lane, I can see how one could think that's the reason, but I'm pretty sure no one is arguing against colorblind options. Only thing I saw was about difficulty, and there's somewhat of an argument about intentional design even in that. But I don't think anyone is against this kind of accessibility. It's probably just developer lazyness.
It's really important that games are accessible and I'm glad you mention things like that not only in videos like this, but also your other videos, like the one on talking in game with people like me who have ASD. It's important that games can be a common art form.
Hey - I recently stumbled on your channel and I’ve watched nearly all of your content in a short space of time and I really love it!! Bravo!! I’m a fully-abled gamer (although not a very good one, so frequently pick the easy option 😀) but your series on accessibility has been eye-opening. I really hope main stream developers hear what you’re saying; that small tweaks can make “gaming for everyone” like it should be. Great work my friend!
I haven't finished watching the video yet, but just from the subtitles section alone, what's most astounding to me is seeing (or at least assuming) that people have actually been watching and listening to the Designing For Disability series to its extent. Indie devs to triple-A studios are taking a few extra steps for their audience. It may not be universal or perfect quite yet, but its a great start - very glad for the work you do for GMTK and the world of accessibility, Mark. It's amazing to see.
I'm real glad you made these videos. I don't have any (major) disabilities myself, but seeing people help others so they can enjoy the game too makes me makes really happy.
On font size - I have really enjoyed how large some of the font sizes in this year's Pokemon are. Took me some getting used to stat change info in what in other games might be a heading font (if used at all), but not in a bad way.
I know this video is old but I maintain that there is no excuse for not having fully rebindable controls on controllers. I played on console for 20 years and only recently moved to PC. For the life of me I can’t fathom why you can rebind any action to any number of buttons on a keyboard, but devs can’t apparently use the 12-14 buttons on a controller.
I’m doing graphic design at university and tbh really struggling but I’ve always believed that design can make a difference and this video has inspired me to really push myself academically and get into industry. I now know what I want to do, I want to do UI design for games
I feel like control settings are the perfect way to demonstrate how accessibility options can be beneficial to those who don't need them for accessibility reasons, and the best thing to talk about to someone who seems to be opposed to the idea of putting in features that harm nobody. They benefit everyone whether you are trying to change an odd control scheme to match a game you play regularly or want to optimize button layouts for competitive play, and they also help people with disabilities.
Feels like Indie games put more effort into making their games accessible than most triple A games despite the fact they likely have a much smaller audience which reduces the chance of disabled players playing them in the first place. That's dedication.
@@ianhamilton_ 1.) I didn't even bring numbers into this 2.) Why would you take 8% of 2 different groups? 3.) Just because you took 8% of two separate groups does not mean that they share a likelyhood of anything... that's not how numbers work.
@@blinkingberry9591 Well, the descriptions of the difficulty options are often vague, and it can lead to someone picking the wrong option which could ruin the experience. It's also unclear which option is truly the 'regular' option. If Dark Souls gets difficulty options, the current difficulty can't be described as 'normal', but describing it as 'hard' makes it seem like the game perhaps wasn't originally built around it. It's also a lot of work for the people making the game. Balancing them all is a lot of work, and certain difficulty options could automatically lead to radically different experiences from eachother, and from what's the intended experience. This is also the case with only a singular difficulty, but absolutely less so.
Developer-defined controller mappings are usually completely useless. In Spyro Reignited on the Switch, I really wanted to play the game with my Gamecube controller, but jumping with the tiny B button is no fun.
I won't say that Death Stranding "is actually accessible" (cause it's not, my vision is fine and I struggle to read it), but as far as cargo condition is concerned, you can completely pause the game at any time to check on it in the menu where damage and erosion are represented by two blue bars that turn red and percentage indicators which I think (could be wrong) are a bigger font than most of the UI. There's also small things like text popping up to indicate when you can stop using the repair spray rather than relying on the visualization on the crates, and how opening your "quick select" equipment menu slows down time to a crawl so you can more easily choose what you need. For Sekiro, you can grind to unlock new abilities, weapon upgrades, and items that make the game much easier. It has clear tutorials and even has a consequence free practice space with a guide to re-teach you whenever you wish. Putting aside whether they should have done more, at least acknowledge what they do have.
I think instead of saying "good job devs, you didn't do the best but you tried, take a treat" its more important to say in a polite and constructive way "you didn't do your best, and I just say that because I know you can do better and I look forward for your next games and how you're going to take my criticism and improve upon that". You see what I'm saying? He can't go and say that all those 50 games did well, cause they didn't, he pointed out the best ones to set an example, not to shame the others. When it comes to game development, the most important is knowing what you can improve upon, not being reminded of what's already good. I'm quite sure mark didn't want to shame any games here, after all he didn't say they are bad or awful games in any way, shape or form. Just like he used the good ones to set an example of what to do, he needs to do the same for whatnot to do, or what's not good enough.
@@lucaslobo8002 did you miss the part where I started my comment by saying that Death Stranding isn't very accessible? I never said we should just hand out gold stars for every little thing a game does right, my only point was that it's disingenuous to not at least mention things a game you're saying isn't that good in the context of accessibility does do right. Especially when one of the things it does (slowing time) is something that I believe he mentioned in another game. I know I put DS first, but I think what I said about Sekiro is the more important point, since he actually said that the *only* things it does are the remapped controls and one other thing, when in reality it does way more than even what I said.
Thaddeus Hamlet yeah apparently I misunderstood your point a little bit. But still, I just feel like the point of the video is not about pointing out every single thing all the 50 games he played did right and/or wrong, otherwise it would be a very lengthy video. Possibly many of these 50 games did things right that he didn’t mention, and vice versa, the video is not a list but more of a discussion of 2019 games and accessibility using a few examples. Surely he could have mentioned those things about DS and sekiro, but again, there’s probably so much he didn’t mention about all those games, and some he may have forgotten or overlooked. Point is, don’t blame mark, it’s great that you took the time to tell others in the comments about those features in both games, but don’t get mad that it wasn’t on the video.
Honestly Souls games aren't really designed to be acsessible from a difficulty stand point. Part of the fun is trying to figure everything out on your own. They all have a starting area with weak enemies to hone your skills with the game. Its why they added hardcore in minecraft and had it lock to that setting so you won't be tempted to make the game easier. Since if you could you most likely will when your struggling which takes away the fun. Then again if you looked at enough guides it would become clear that at least is ds3 you can pretty much cheese any boss with pestilant mercury spell.
Yeah, the Souls games aren't designed to be accessible difficulty-wise, but if we're gonna accept that games are an artform, we should also accept that that's fine. Difficulty options can be great for some games, but sometimes they can be confusing, hard/expensive for the devs to make, and can dilute the community/experience.
I really appreciate that you not only mentioned the fact that games need accessibility options but you actually played games for the purpose of picking them apart to see what was done right and what could be improved. I may actually save up for a Switch now that I know Pokemon SwSh is accessible enough. Thank you for your videos and the time you invest 💜
I just want to point out that you're the biggest voice I've seen championing these accessibility issues, and I think what you're doing is extremely important. It's clear how expansive your critical lens was for 2019's games, and all of that work isn't unappreciated. Thank you for videos like these.
This is the third time I’ve almost started crying while watching this series and I commend you for actually bringing up a topic most people like to pretend doesn’t exist.
I understand the importance of accessibility but there are so many things to bear in mind that there's always going to be missing features is some games Although when it comes to difficulty modes I don't think games should need to have them, there are quite a few games that are too hard for me but I don't mind just not playing them
I'm at a severe disadvantage in shooters that rely on good eyesight. I'm not as disadvantaged in Sekiro and the Souls series. That is fine. There's more games out there than any individual can play, so I don''t think games should compromise on important aspects for accessibility. It's not like their reputation is lying to you about their difficulty level.
@@UberNoodle obviously other accessibility options are good to have, I just don't think difficulty levels are necessary, make it so everyone is on as even a playing field as possible but some games should still be challenging to all players
@@existentialselkath1264 I don't think its necessary for a game to be difficult for everyone. As I grow old, I may not be able to match my current reflexes in sekiro. That doesn't mean I won't enjoy the story. Id rather have a story mode where the enemies are a lot easier to deal with, so I can enjoy the story. Otherwise we end up gatekeeping amazing narrative, art and characters based on gameplay alone. Also I don't think games need to be tests like modern school systems, where everyone needs to meet arbitrary skill checks to get to the next section. I prefer if the skill checks were more personalised, based on what the player wants to enjoy.
@@AaditDoshi most games sure, but some like dark souls (I know thats what everyone points to) are meant to be difficult, that's what they're made for. If you want story then watch a playthrough on RU-vid or something
@@AaditDoshi well sekiro is more a game about perseverance against impossible odds, and i know i would have turned the difficulty down a few times myself if i could, but i played through the game. i think i had around 40 deaths to the final boss before i beat him and would have felt like i cheated myself if i lowered the difficulty. i do agree that accessibility options should and can be a thing, but sometimes a product has to sacrifice certain markets to be able to deliver the designers vision.
This is such a great series mark! I love your videos so much that i rewatch them just because i like how clear and well done your content is. From the clarity of your voice to the method of thinking that your ideas need to go through to cover every subject. I'm proud of you and your work and can't wait to see you expand your ideas!
I like subtitbles no matter what and I can hear great.. they add the ability to always understand what people are saying in scenes that can’t be rewound or replayed
