Why An Easy Mode Would RUIN Dark Souls & Elden Ring 

"Get up to 37% OFF your Displates here: displate.com/theactman/displates?art=5f1a04cfccdfd The debate has waged across Twitter and internet forums. But no, Dark Souls should NOT have an Easy Mode. No From Software title would be better off WITH one. They already have ways to make them easier. People that continue to ask for an easy mode have never outlined how it would actually work, and the reason why is if you try to do that, you realize very quickly it just won't work.

As someone who has cerebral palsy a disability that effects my fine motor skills I believe accessibility is important. But that doesn't mean you should take away from the amazing experience that is a From Software game. Overcoming the soul crushing difficulty is where the full experience comes from. I have beat Dark Souls 1,2,3, and Sekiro despite my short comings. As someone with a disability I don't want to be treated differently I want to prove myself by completing the same challenges as my peers.

"Dark Souls is not unfair, it's just authentic, cause if a dragon hits you, sure it takes most of your healthbar, but thats the point, if a dragon hits you and barely affects you, it wouldnt be a dragon, itd be a joke" I'll never forget this quote, said by a Spanish reviewer, and couldnt be more accurate.

Elden Ring is the perfect embodiment of how to build a game without needing difficulty modes. You can strictly limit your leveling and go straight for the bosses while only using specific weapons for maximum challenge or you can level up more, use sorcery and/or use summons to have a less tough time. It's available to every skill level no matter how low or high!

i feel the reverse of this is people complaining that Kirby Games are TOO EASY, when the series developer/creator Masahiro Sakurai literally stated that Kirby is supposed to be a baby's first video game.

So did everyone just forget that you can summon people to basically play the game for you? Easy mode won't ruin the game because it already has one Edit: This comment is a year old stop replying to it jesus christ

Journalists: When will we get an easy mode for Dark Souls? FromSoftware: That’s the neat part, you won’t.

they should add an easy mode but instead of being easier its literally the same as the regular game.

the difficulty of the Sif boss fight adds to the story and sadness as he isn't realistically the hardest boss, but it truly feels as if he was fighting with all his strength to defend his master's grave

Getting clapped in Dark Souls is simply part of the experience, even life itself doesn't have an "easy mode".

I'll admit, Demon Souls Remake really isn't accessible because of the difficulty Trust me those ps5 are fucking hard to get

How do people still not understand that making FromSoftware games easier is like adding an autodrive feature to racing games

When I was in choir, my teacher use to tell the better louder singers to tone down to the ones who weren’t as loud and not as good. Eventually she realized that people should be told to get better to make the group better instead of telling the better singers to get worse for the benefit of the not as good. Which makes a lot of sense.

"The harsher the desert, the greater the oasis" *HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT HIT HARD*

Its ironic that people like Tamoor think DS is gatekept, when in reality its the opposite. DS is one of the few communities who encourage new players. I haven't seen any one abash someone for dying to the first boss. In fact, people bond over dying to the first boss. They know what it was like to struggle to the first boss and what it took to finally beat it.

I have 100% gotten better at Souls Games because of Elden Ring. I'll admit, I sucked at Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro (my first Souls games) and now I can finally get past their respective first bosses without issue, something I haven't been able to do before. Yeah, these games can be incredibly frustrating, but it makes it sooooo worth it when you figure it out.

Not only did Artorias use a great sword with one hand, it was his nondominant hand. Artorias is left-handed and he uses his sword with his right arm.

My brother just started playing Dark Souls and he sucks at it. But he isnt complaining about an easy mode. He comes to me to ask for advice or looks up videos to figure out stuff.

That's like adding "fair mode" to Mario Party

being a sunbro is also a key part of the experience. i specifically build a multi purpose character with passive regen, just so i could guide people across those wretched lands for extended periods of time. showing them secrets. flex with different strategies on different enemies etc. and when the time came where i was in need of help because.. well, im not good enough to beat the dancer at sl1, i went to the steam forums and asked for help and found people that happily stood up to the challenge.

Holy shit, I'm writing down your example about horror games right now. That's actually the single most genius point about this debate I've ever heard. I literally have no clue how someone is supposed to argue against that.

A disabled guy beat Dark Souls with a foot-based controller. The *software* doesn’t need the be made more accessible, the hardware does. And game journalists using actually disabled people as a shield to hide from criticisms of their inability to play games, is f*cking disgusting.

I never understood the "No one cares if you beat big bad baddy on impossible mode!" argument. There are entire channels with big audiences dedicated to gaming challenges with restrictions, there are entire channels with big audiences dedicated to "nohitting" bosses in Dark Souls among other games, and do I even need to bring up Speedrunning & E-Sports?

I love rewatching this video. So disingenuous some people would claim people with disabilities require an easy mode. How insulting honestly. Game Journo's wanting their own difficulty again

I had never played a souls game before and was super intimidated by them. Then I bought Elden Ring. I was shaking in my boots around every corner and I absolutely loved it. The atmosphere was so much more intimidating and when I actually discovered how to play the game well it felt like I actually became a part of the world and overcame it. It was truly an experience that will live on in me forever

Fun fact : There is an indie title called "Castle in the Darkness", which is about rescuing a princess. If you play on easy mode, she doesn't get kidnapped and the game ends after two minutes.

Don't FromSoft games sell like hotcakes? It's not like they NEED to make an easy mode to have the games sell better.

The anger and frustration these games bring forth are instantly diminished when you finally achieve that victory. And it's literally through actively becoming a better player through leveling up and technique. When I reached a boss I obviously was having trouble with I would go back and play parts I knew were a bit less challenging and gain XP. Going into the menu and simply changing the difficulty level would take away not only the legit feeling of success. Because you know for a fact you only won because you legitimately got better through practice, but playing time as well. Using my strategy it added many hours of gameplay. With a purpose I'd like to add. Playing games without a purpose isn't that much fun. Unless it's something like GTA obviously. But it's also a much more complicated subject seeing as I understand it to be. Difficulty level mechanics are changed in many different ways. For instance I think the most common is the amount of enemies and types of enemies you may encounter. Plus the amount of damage they might inflict on your character. Both may be added or just one probably depending on the developers of the games feelings of what difficulty may mean. And I'm sure it's a bit different with each one.

An idea for an easy mode is just have an option of easy mode or normal mode but when clicked on they are the same. so the difficulty is exactly the same and gives the player an idea that he is on easy so he must get through and then at the end with a message that says “this difficulty you played on is the same as the other”

I would love it if From Software trolled all these people by putting an easy mode in the game and all it does is remove every enemy, and you just walk from start to finish.

One of the funniest parts of that dumb thread was someone calling him out and him responding that he's interviewed Miyazaki for hours before so in his words "he's accomplished a lot". So he talked to the man himself and still doesn't have a damn clue why the games are the way they are..smh lol

If i could simply turn on an easy mode, then i wouldn’t have had my heart racing and my hands shaking when i beat Father Gascoigne for the first time. Difficulty is one the reasons that makes the souls games my favourite games.

I am a 57 year old grandma with MS. I beat DSR, DS3 and Elden Ring....if I can Get Gud, then anyone can Get Gud...you just need to understand "You Died" its just part of the road to victory!

Fun fact: Artorias is left handed. He’s fighting with his off hand during the boss battle.

I mean if you want to "experience" souls games without the difficulty, just watch a lets play or something. There you go, you can appreciate the story and art style without putting in the effort.

Hold the gate boys. #f*ckeasymode

On top of that. I noticed that my experience with dark souls when I first started and my experience now are worlds apart. I lost interest my first play through fighting a bill monster. Now most bosses are beatable (yet challenging in a way). It’s all about perspective.

Honestly it would be hilarious if they did add an easy mode, but everything is the same. The characters just chastise you for choosing that option, and refuse to help you.

I love the points you made Act Man. I recently got into Dark Souls and totally got the whiplash in difficult jump plus super vague and confusing world. But it's interesting enough that I WANT to explore and experience something different. My biggest takeaway from your arguments is that no one is entitled to experience everything the same way. Genres, ratings, difficulty, tone, EVERYTHING in any form of media is made for a crowd. Some appeal to larger crowds, others don't. Demanding everything be catered to your desires is entitled and selfish. If you truly want to enjoy a form of media, you'll find a way. But don't try to change that media itself to suit your limited scope. And if you try and just can't get into it, then oh well. You don't have to like everything. And you don't have to tell others their form of media is lesser just because it's different from yours.

The Souls games already have an easy mode. Just play as a magic build or Co-Op with a friend. Jolly Cooperation- Seigmir

I love the darksouls fanbase the games are super difficult which just cleanses the fan base of all the people who dont even actually like it

Another good point is that Dark Souls is based on Berserk, which is all about struggle. Dark Souls manages to capture that essence and having an easy mode would defeat the point of its reference.

people often forget that dying doesn't necessarily mean hard, it's an opportunity for something else more, use it to learn patterns, not to rage spam and cry online you perceive deaths as failures, leading you into thinking it's a hard game, but in reality it isn't as frustrating as it is if you just played the game and master it. where's the fun in playing a game about humans trying to beat gods if you're already OP?

The lack of a difficulty option is what makes the game fun. If you could just turn the difficulty down every time you came to a roadblock, then you would get no sense of reward from overcoming it.

first time i fought gwynn i died nonstop for 3 hours. i actually cried the next day when i beat him and finished the game. that feeling when you overcome the challenge is undescribable

Ultimately it's about respecting the intentions and desires of the artist. If the developers believe adding easy options would reduce the quality or merit of the game, they have no obligation to create such a mode to placate a given group.

Every game has an easy mode: It’s called “get your older brother.”

9:45 I think sekiro is the LEAST deserving of an easy mode. how can you alter the perfection that is isshin the glock saint

If you need anything easier than this, you have serious problems. Easy Mode Character Creation: Operates normally, but gives you Presets that actually look good. These Presets cannot be found in Normal Mode, and cannot be Saved To Favorites (however, they can still be made Manually in Normal Mode, and Saved To Favorites there). Equipment/Items: You are immediately given MAXed Out Weapons (in the case of BloodBorne, it is also fully decked out with the strongest Compatible Blood Gems Specified to Respective Stat Scaling, with no Negative Side-Effects whatsoever), and Unlimited Use of any Item in your Inventory (includes Estus, Blood Vials, and Flask Of Tears). Any Weapon you Loot will already be MAXed Out, and you have Unlimited Use of any Item you Loot. Item Discovery is off the charts. Opening the Menu will Pause the game. Summoning Items are Unavailable (in the case of Elden Ring, this would include Spirit Ashes). Character: All Stats start at 50. HP/MP/FP Regenerate at a fast pace. Unlimited Stamina and Equip Load (in the case of Elden Ring, Torrent can fly, and cannot be Dismounted or killed, regardless of where you are, or what is happening). HP/MP/FP Costs are cut significantly for Skills and Spells that use them. If you are to be struck by a Fatal Blow, survive with 1HP, and become Immune to Damage for 10s. If Fatal Blow is dealt by Continuous Attack, 10s Timer starts once Enemy Attack Animation is over, giving you enough time to Heal for the next time this happens (no Cooldown). HP Regen is Paused for 15s, and Healing Items are Locked for 10s (Healing/HP Regen Spells can still be used). This Effect can be repeated Indefinitely. If you do end up dying, you do not have the typical Death Animation. Instead, you see your Character crying, rolling into Fetal Position, and sucking their thumb (clips through your Helmet, if you're wearing one). NPC Behavior: No Souls-Like NPC wants to waste their time with someone who plays on Easy Mode. Seeing as your Character can already take on just about anything but Gravity by themselves, the NPC feels no need to help you. In fact, they will belittle you, every step of the way, despite still being able to Level-Up. Should you Attack one, they are Scaled to your Easy Mode Benefits. It will be an Even Match. Enemies: Just as NPC's will shun you for playing on Easy Mode, Enemies will cower before you, some even going so far as running away screaming when you kill a more Significant Enemy. Some will even throw themselves over the edge, and you Permanently miss out on Unique Equipment and Items. However, this Fear they have may actually cause certain Enemies to fight more frantically. They are noticeably weaker than Normal Mode. Bosses: Having lost all Hope in life, their Dialogue changes to a far more melancholy tone as they either brandish their Weapon towards themselves, or stand near the edge, uttering their Final Words before jumping off. If you can Attack them in time, the Battle will be Initiated. Their Move-Set is significantly different, and they will often make a break for the edge, if you don't kill them quickly enough. If you cannot reach them in time, their Death will result in Forfeit Rewards, and you get no Souls/Blood Echoes/Runes from the Battle. They just wanna die. The least you can do is make it quick for them. Invasions: You can be Invaded at any time, and all Invaders are given your Easy Mode Benefits. You can be Invaded by any number of Players at a time, and even killing the Boss won't stop them. Should you play Offline, you are constantly Invaded by numerous NPC's (the further you get, the higher the Frequency). Adventure: This works very similarly to Genocide Run on Undertale. You are the Villain to this Story. As far as they're concerned, all you're there to do is kill. Questlines are Locked, and you are treated like a Fugitive. Once you reach a certain part of the Story, the game realizes that you're Inadequate for a Proper Ending, drastically changing the Dialogue of a HIGHLY Significant Boss (the first Boss you Encounter without the Desire to die), and ending the game by killing your Character in the Cutscene without the Boss Fight. Your Easy Mode Character is Automatically Deleted upon this particular Death. You are then met with the following Text. "Was it worth it?" "Was all that Senseless Slaughter..." "...worth all...this?" "If you want a REAL fight..." "...rise from the ashes as something greater." "Fight with Honor, and return to me when you are ready." "Give it your All..." "...or don't bother showing up."

If Dark Souls had an easy mode from the start then the fanbase wouldn't be what it is today, we probably would've just got stuck on Smough and Ornstein then switched to easy mode.

I have a plan act man, all we need is some money, faith and A got Damn red dead redemption 2 review.

A colorblind mode is an accessibility setting. Making it literally easier is pandering to people who refuse to learn the game.

I don't know about unlocking Easy, but you get Hard in Gwynevere's room

I would be okay with an easy mode as long as they named it “Twitter Mode.”

The “hi how are ya” took me the fuck outttt

Honestly I didn’t really care either way before. But then, out of curiosity, I played the easy mode mod for elden ring after I had already beat the game multiple times. After my experience with the intended difficulty, the easy mode felt so pointless and soulless. I got no joy from winning, I felt no stakes, it was just sad. If that had been my first experience with elden ring I don’t think I would have played for very long. It was my first souls game and I didn’t know how satisfying winning against difficult odds was yet. I would have 100% switched to easy mode the first time I felt stuck, and it would’ve ruined the whole experience.

Even if it had an easy mode, hollowed-out losers would complain that easy mode isn't easy enough.

The whole thing is just "I don't like pistachio!" "Then why did you ask for it?"

I have 60% functionality in my left hand since 2008 due to nerve damage from a neck injury. I’ve beaten every Soulsborne game and am currently enjoying the hell out of Elden Ring. It’s called practice and patience.

Fun fact that most people don't realize is that Dark Souls 2 literally has an easy/hard mode. When you get to Majula (start of game), you can join one of two covenants that make the whole game easier/harder respectively. The problem is that people want a button at the character create screen where they can press "easy mode". Sorry, in this franchise you have to do the bare minimum before you get to make the game easy.

You actually changed my mind on this subject. I used to think some of the same things as the people complaining, but playing the games and seeing your take has officially convinced me. I probably should have typed this when it first convinced me but better late than never With this understanding, it's much easier to appreciate these games for what they are. They are pure games, not plagued by microtransactions, corporate greed, or complaining fans ruining a good thing. And I absolutely love them for that. Even when I don't like one of their games (preference), I can always appreciate what goes into it and what it is at heart

My first souls game was bloodborne I literally spend an entire month trying to be the first boss Father Gascoigne After I finally beat it him I literally jump out of my chair a scream joy This is the only game that ever gave me that type of emotion and through out the whole playthrough I wore Father Gascoigne's jacket just to remind myself It doesn't matter how hard the next boss is there's always a way I finished the game with my arcane build at new game +3 ever since then this game still remains a 10/10

I think the game should also be “accesible” to people with specific disabilities, such as having color blind modes or one handed controller schemes. After that, it’s up to skill.

Twitter users when dark souls is hard

I want fromsoft to add an easy mode, except when you select it it makes the game like 1000x harder

"Why does it matter" God I love this one. It matters because Fromsoft is making the best games on the market right now, yet people are begging them to fundamentally change how they make them.

Suggestion: "easy mode" is a video of someone from the team showing all the game features and speedrunning the levels. Let´s face it, game journalists don´t wanna play the game, they just wanna complete it ASAP to write the damn review so they can start their next shitty article.

Elden ring and the Souls games in general are not made to get the player comfortable or to make the game seem easy. The souls games are made to feel like everything is against you. You start off weak in a souls game and you are going to die alot, but you are supposed to learn from these experiences and improve from every single death. Simply removing the challenging “you against the world” feel would cripple the game and get rid of the marketing gimmick. You don’t play a souls game to simply play and win, you play it to get a real challenge. Something that is rare in today’s gaming.

When you have a series of games that have literally taught people grit and determination, changing their lives forever, suggesting we should make them easier is literally advocating for directly degrading art.

What if when starting a new game, there was an option labeled "easy mode" that; A: changed nothing whatsoever B: made the game harder.

To quote TGX game reviews: my one specific gate is here, you don't need this gate to appeal to you specifically when there are thousands of other gates catering to you. Not every game is going to appeal to you is the lesson here

What if we just let developers decide if and when it's appropriate to add an easy difficulty.

Here comes a small tip for anyone who feel like Dark souls is too hard. There's actually a secret item that makes all enemies do half the damage, pretty much what a easy mode would do. It's called Calamity ring, a little hard to get, but totally worth it!

Here's what easy mode should look like in the Souls games: Darks Souls 1 - In the cut scene where Oscar drops the key to your cell. In easy mode he takes a look at you, shakes his head and carries on without dropping the key. Dark Souls 2 - When you try opening the door to the Firekeepers house, you find the door is locked, with the old firekeepers laughing hysterically inside each time you try. Dark souls 3 - When you try to pull the coiled sword out of Ludex Gundyr, it won't budge.

Saying Dark souls needs an easy mode is like watching a horror movie, complaining that it's too scary, and then demanding the studio makes an alternate version of the movie that edits out all of the jumpscares, blurs out all of the gore, and replaces the suspenseful music with dubstep

While I do love games like Devil May Cry that lets you unlock higher difficulties letting you decide if you want it to be harder, I also appreciate how Souls games force you to think how you can make this seemingly impossible game easier for yourself

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” -Jimmy Dugan, A League of Their Own Quote was about baseball, but fits perfectly for FromSoftware games

That’s like adding “finished game” mode to cyberpunk 2077

Btw artorias's broken arm is his good arm. He is left handed and fighting you with his weak hand ALL WHILE SUFFERING FROM AN ABYSSAL CRAZED RAGE. you are basically fighting him at a tenth of his strength.

"I wanna play a game that got famous for its difficulty, but on easy mode." "I wanna drive that 2000 hp dragster, but with its speed limited to 50 km/h because it is too fast."

I've been so furious at the insane damage of Godfrey, first Elden Lord that I could spit blood, and I firmly believe that fight is as it should be.

I just helped my brother beat Margit in Elden Ring. He had never played a souls game before. I taught him how to punish certain moves Margit does and what moves to just avoid. There's always a way to make the game easier, it's just not a menu option.

The whole point of a souls game is that you're a weak souled individual facing overwhelming odds and challenges. To die, and die again until you get strong enough to overcome it. The story is built into the gameplay. That's the game. You can beat the f'ing game with a banana, if that's not accessible idk what is (Also never ask a creator to change their art. Big boy companies should be making accessibility controllers/devices so everyone can enjoy the game for what the creator made)

the ONLY valid argument for accessibility features in Soulslikes is with regards to people with physical disabilities, but even those arguments fall flat when you realize people have beaten the game on all sorts of non-official peripherals. find the controller that works within your physical capabilities, and then git good.

Easy mode on Souls game is like making a horror game without the horror.

Would be genius if they added an "easy" mode, which says it's easy but actually doesn't change anything.

Seeing victory within a dark souls game is like holding in a piss all day,it's painful and you'll have to endure but once you get to the victory that is a toilet it's just satisfying

One difficulty means better difficulty balancing and lore accurate boss fights.

I want accessibility options in these games but when I mean accessibility I don't mean making the game easier, I mean bigger text for item names and descriptions, etc. I'm registered blind, I've played all 3 dark souls they are amazing. I love them, but I do think making some things a little easier to read for someone like me wouldn't hurt the game. What do you guys think?

the thing about Souls games is that it gets easier as you go on, the more you play the easier it gets unless you're not paying attention and if you don't wanna pay attention and learn then that's YOUR problem, it's not the game's problem.

“By not pushing yourself to do harder things, you will be at the bottom of the mountain while everyone steps on you to make it to the top” a teacher of mine

It annoys me whenever casuals come in and try to change games to be easier so they can win without trying

a games difficulty correlates with how the games devs want the player to feel. lets take doom eternal. the goal is to make the player feel like a badass. some people feel that way when curbstomping everything, while others feel that way when comming out of a fight with 5 health. thus difficulty options. the goal with souls games is to make the player feel accomplished by overcoming tough challenges. challenges cant be tough if the enemies dont hit hard.

I’d argue that the souls games, especially the first dark souls, are all about perseverance. Most people that are fans of these games know that. That’s the real message behind them, and no one who has ever beat any dark souls game would argue in favor of easier difficulty options. As the developers said, they want everyone to be able to share the same gratifying experience.

I think the easy mode criers don't understand that *everybody* gets slammed in Dark Souls. they see the extremely practiced RU-vidrs and think "man, everybody is just super good at the game naturally and I wasn't born that way so I can't beat the game", when really, they started like everybody else did.

I wouldn’t even want an “easy” mode, I want basically Minecraft’s spectator mode. I don’t want bosses and other enemies to be easier, i just want to be able explore some of the cooler looking areas without worrying about the dragonator 9000 about to rip me to shreds. I wouldn’t want to be able to earn anything from it, i just want to see some cool areas.

I remember beating Slave Knight Gael and The Nameless King in DS3 being the greatest moments of my gaming career. The sense of accomplishment was overwhelming. Definitely could have done a backflip…or meagerly tried to. Once you click with the learning curve and manage to understand the leveling system and stats, and telegraphing of boss attacks…it all just comes together. EDIT: I still suck ass at Sekiro though. That shits so hard. 🤣

It's so bizarre to me that people don't realize how self-centered/ego-centric it is to expect every single game to be approachable by everyone. Know why I don't play MOBAs, sports games, or RTS games? Because I suck at them. I don't think they should be accessible to me, because they don't need to be. I am not their demographic.

If I was From Software, I would tell everyone that there’s an easy mode in the new game, but then lock it behind an impossible challenge like beating the entire game without dying just to troll people

Dark souls should have an easy mode How would it work? Well, the game would start, then immediately cut to then end credits, then you'll get an achievement giving 0G on xbox and no trophy on playstation saying "well done now play the proper game"