No, You are Not Entitled to an Easy Mode

“Japanese video game development and publishing company, Fromsoftware,  makes good games.” 

This isn't a controversial statement as the original Dark Souls was such a hit that it spawned a whole subgenre of RPG, the soulslike. Action RPGs which emphasize difficulty and are usually set in a dark fantasy world. However, I'm not here to gush on about how great Fromsoft is and how hyped I am for the new Elden Ring DLC. I am here to debunk the idea that these games need, or would otherwise be better off, with an easy mode.

For one, an easy mode is a betrayal of the Dark Fantasy subgenre. These games are set in dying or dead worlds, the villains are either supernatural, god-like or even literal god). So how would one go about making an easy mode for a soulslike without completely ruining the feel of the game? An easy mode would ruin the tension of boss fights. Imagine Morgott, one of the demi-god bosses you fight in Elden Ring, with an easy mode. His whole concept is that he protects the Erdtree (a large gold tree in the center of the map) and prevents the player from becoming Elden Lord. There is no good reason for Morgott to show any restraint whatsoever when fighting players, to play fair, or to have an easy mode. Imagine the disappointment someone would feel if the enemies in Elden Ring appeared to be powerful and foreboding, but in reality were total pushovers. Imagine if the dark and macabre visuals were a mere ruse and the actual game was a cakewalk. The dissonance between the visuals and the actual difficulty would screw up the whole feel of the game. An easy mode wouldn't make these games better, all it would do is make these games have more bark than bite--a shallow experience where the Dark Fantasy settings are completely betrayed by the underwhelming difficulty.

One reason I hear for Souls games having an easy mode is that it will make these games more accessible, having an option to reduce difficulty will lower the skill requirement and therefore will be more accessible to casual gamers. This sounds logical but one should realize that accessibility has nothing to do with the difficulty of a game. Making games accessible for people does not mean lowering difficulty, its having key bindings so people can play the game with the most comfortable setup for their hands, having subtitles and voice acting and text in multiple languages, an option for graphics so people with cheaper PCs can play the game without their PC going up in flames, a warning before the title screen about flashing lights for epileptic payers, options for people who don't have 2 arms or 10 fingers, and phobia modes for people who are freaked out by insects. Elden Ring has accessibility, it has subtitles, the ability to change the language of the text, graphical settings, and the ability to change key bindings. It does this without sacrificing any difficulty however. And while I do wish that these games had an entomophobia mode (Sekiro especially), making the bugs and bug-like bosses less freaky has nothing to do with making a watered down version of the game.Even if we gloss over how an easy mode would ruin the Dark Fantasy feel of the games and how it wouldn't make the games more accessible, how would you even go about making an easy mode? A start would be lowering the numbers. Lower the amount of damage enemies do. However Fromsoft doesn't make their games difficult with just numbers, there is also the component of level design. What do I mean by this? Take Elden Ring for example. Almost all of the good items (Weapons, Talismans, Armor, spirit ashes, spells, etc) are never on the main path. They are tucked away in nooks and crannies, in chests behind secret passages, on corpses hidden in caves and dungeons, and on enemies which you can completely miss on your first playthrough. Wouldn't it make sense for these easy to miss items to be more out in the open. And why stop at less hidden items? Why not make the sections where parkour is required not there? Why not have some kind of item that skips the entire dungeon? Do you see where I am going with this? An easy mode for a Souls game is impossible because all of the games were designed meticulously to accommodate the difficulty. A Souls game without difficulty is like a first person shooter without guns. 

The last reason why these games shouldn't have an easy mode is because that's the player’s job. It is your responsibility to make the game easier for yourself. The difficulty of these games are also often overexaggerated. Once you “git gud[get good]'' and know how to play the games, the difficulty is reduced substantially. Besides, these games already have built in mechanics if you are struggling. Certain NPCs can be summoned to help with boss fights after you progress their quest to a certain point, Iron Fist Alexander can be summoned to help with the Fire Giant boss fight after progressing his quest in Elden Ring. You can also take advantage of the multiplayer mechanics and request the aid of another, more skilled player, to help you fight the boss. However, the only Souls game that doesn't have multiplayer co-op, Sekiro, has its own means of making the game easier: the shinobi Firecracker prosthetic along with the Double Ichimonji combat art blitzes through certain bosses. Still struggling with Elden Ring? Try a Faith/Dexterity build. The Blasphemous Blade, a greatsword that scales with faith and dexterity is one of the best weapons in the game and you can unlock it around the mid game after a relatively easy boss fight. People might disagree with me for saying this but the people who are saying these games need an easy mode just don't want to work with the mechanics given to them to make the games easier for themselves, they want a button they press at the start of the game that does it for them.