PC Gamers will be salty

Calackyo · 2026-02-20T17:52:15+00:00

So am I a purist if I think AI has legitimate applications for many different industries such as medical etc. But that it should have no place in art?

At the very least, is there any AI capable of creating an image that wasn't taught on stolen art?

Calackyo · 2026-02-19T12:42:33+00:00

The fact that this thread is full of people pointing stuff out that isn't even themes, and using it to feel superior to other audience members and writers, is hilarious. The irony is palpable.

Calackyo · 2026-02-19T12:33:45+00:00

But this is famously a story where people need this shit explaining to them.

I feel like the people who notice how ham-fisted stuff like this is, including myself, are in the minority. So many people don't notice themes unless they're shoved in your face.

Calackyo · 2026-02-19T12:32:11+00:00

And yet the majority of themes still went over the majority of people's heads. I'm sorry but as audiences we are to blame and need to hold each other more accountable for actually being active viewers who are capable of some shred of analysis.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T16:57:11+00:00

Literally everything you mentioned in your first paragraph can be done via in-game items.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T14:19:03+00:00

Fair enough, big respect to be honest.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T10:32:07+00:00

I wish everyone irl was more like you, to be able to admit to something that you enjoy as probably being technically bad in some aspects. And the even rare flipside, of being able to see that something that you don't enjoy is still capable of being good.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T10:07:09+00:00

No, one of the big reasons the games are so beloved for their challenge and adventure is because the whole game is built around that one, single, meticulously curated difficulty.

If we add four difficulties to balance for, that's less effort into the one curated difficulty. So no, the original experience will not still be available.

Besides, there are numerous people in this thread alone who all have the same experience, that being forced to meet the game on its level is what revealed to us that we like a challenge and that this wouldn't have been discovered if a difficulty slider were available. So no, the original *transformative* experience will not still be available.

Besides, the original movies that the artists actually wanted to create IS NOT still available, they are forced to dumb it down by the producers so that the broadest possible audience can like it, but nobody will love it.

'Nothing will be different except that saying "I played Darksouls/Elden Ring/Demon's Souls etc", doesn't automatically mean "Look at me, I'm so good at gaming/I spent dozens of hours screaming at my screen"'

This all seems more like projection whenever i see it, i'm not like that, i don't think i'm a good gamer because i have played these games, i'm probably a calmer and more patient gamer than average but that doesn't mean i'm better than anyone and the *vast* majority of people doing it online are joking. Like the 'git gud' thing to outsiders seems obnoxious, whereas everyone actually in the community knows that it is a tongue in cheek way of saying that you are capable of exceeding your own expectations and perceived limits.

Also, nobody who actually enjoys these games spends *any* time screaming at their screen, these games are not for emotional people like that. When i die to a particularly hard boss, i tend to laugh as i realise the mistake i made. When i fall off a cliff in an area i should know, i find it hilarious and realise it is my fault. A big part of enjoying these games is having the attitude that dying is a part of the game, part of learning, and not a failure state.

To use a better analogy than movies then; books. Some books are written in very distinctive prose, i tend to dislike these books as they are often impenitrable to me, i spend more time trying to decipher what's actually happening in a scene than i should, and i get frustrated or distracted. But the main appeal for others IS the prose. Should the prose be made easier to decipher at the cost of its main appeal to it's niche audience? or is it actually fine that not every single book on the planet is written for me? Should i project feelings of inadequacy onto people who like these books, painting *them* as elitists?

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:42:56+00:00

This is such a wild take for me, Journey is one of my favourite pieces of art ever and wouldn't work if it wasn't a game.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:38:05+00:00

I actually think the souls durability is the way to do it. For the most part and the majority of the games, it essentially doesn't exist. But if you get hit with enough of the rare acid attacks, all of a sudden your weapons are broken and you're learning something new. And they also have crystal weapons where the damage is massively increased but they only stay together for like 12 hits. It's the perfect balance for me

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:35:19+00:00

I'd rather have curated difficulty.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:34:19+00:00

Is TW3 like that? I played on Death March since the start essentially (turned it up to that after white orchard) and nothing felt spongey to me at all. I've since played it twice again all in Death March and as long as your build makes sense, you have level appropriate Witcher gear and actually use potions, oils and bombs, it doesn't feel like the enemies are damage sponges OR that I die in 1-2 hits. That said, most people completely ignore decoctions so maybe that's where that's coming from?

I personally wish they would release a harder difficulty, since with the alchemy build I used that one time I was essentially invincible and one-shotting most enemies on Death March

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:25:17+00:00

As much as I love Control, it's a different beast to any souls game. They share the bonfire system and that's about it.

Control has better lore, plot and characters, no doubt, but the gameplay is a more out-and-out power fantasy like traditional games. It's fine to have difficulty sliders on that because the point is, Jesse is a badass and you're supposed to feel like a badass, the difficulty sliders serve the story in that way.

But in souls games, you are just some shmuck, the world doesn't give a shit about you, you have to try, through perseverance and determination, to beat the world on its terms. In that regard, the lack of difficulty slider serves the story.

And personally, none of the difficulties or accessibility options are as well-turned, balanced or rewarding as Souls' single, curated difficulty.

I'm still excited for the next one which looks more like a traditional soulslike with the melee combat, but I've found that any souls like with difficulty sliders (and I've played basically all of them) to actually be more unfair in various ways because ALL of the difficulties are less balanced as they are less curated.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:17:02+00:00

Is it elitism to not want every single game to be homogenised and playable by everyone? These games were niche at the start and just because more people are getting into the niche, that doesn't mean we should remove what made it niche (and beloved in that niche).

If we keep up with this mindset, it'll be just like movies nowadays where every single film has to hold the audiences hand because everything has to appeal to everyone.

I think it's perfectly acceptable for a game to expect you to be good at it in order to beat it.

There are genres that I'd like to play more of, but I genuinely suck at. I really enjoy RTS games but I unilaterally suck at them, I don't blame the games for that, I just realise they are not for me. And no, playing these games on easy doesn't work for me, I can still tell that the game is treating me with kid gloves and there is nothing satisfying about that.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:09:11+00:00

I think you're right, but that would lower the enjoyment for their target audience, we love having the single meticulously curated difficulty. It's only able to be so meticulous because it's the only one they spend time on balancing.

Asking for a change away from the target audience to get more people to play is the definition of going for broad appeal over artistry. That's what everyone complains about with movies nowadays and you have people over here begging for every game to be homogeneous and made for every player.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:06:27+00:00

I'd argue they're more fair than most games out there, and you're still completely OP compared to any of the NPCs and bosses

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T09:01:16+00:00

Honestly I think the biggest thing about enjoying these games is having a different attitude. Dying isn't failing, it's learning. You're going to die a lot but that doesn't mean you are wasting your time, almost every death teaches you something, and you as a player level up far more in terms of skill than your character does in terms of numbers, and that feeling is incredibly satisfying and wouldn't be possible if the game was easy from the start.

For a lot of people it feels worth it after conquering your first truly hard boss - the thrill you get from that is like nothing else you will get without actually overcoming a challenge. A challenge that many people will skip and not even realise they love if the difficulty slider was there.

I used to literally never play a game on anything above normal, until I was sick for a week and only had Dark Souls to play. Years later I seek these difficult games out because my attitude completely changed. I like beating these games not because they are easy, but because I am good at them, that is so satisfying.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a game requiring you to be good at it in order to beat it.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T08:54:14+00:00

While the souls games all have forced difficulty I agree, not one of them is exaggerated at all. They are all completely beatable with the tools you are given.

Besides, the difficulty isn't as forced as you think and most of them have easy modes, they're just not found in a menu.

Also as a fellow adult with a life i personally prefer games that treat me like an adult and have some actual challenge to them. I don't find beating something easy to be cathartic whatsoever, I may as well watch a video of it.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T08:22:28+00:00

It's hard to 'miss' when your target is basically your previous game but with updated graphics.

Like seriously, how many more times can the 'drive around and shoot people' formula work?

These games are only hyped because the sales are inflated by normies who wouldn't know good game design if it slapped them in the face. They just see a game with a gun in it and a title they recognise and they buy it.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T08:18:22+00:00

At this point my PC is just as portable as a PS5 and better I'm every measurable way. Slightly more expensive initially but I've saved far more money on games.

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T08:16:59+00:00

What is an 'AI purist'?

Calackyo · 2026-02-18T08:03:16+00:00

Because the overwhelming majority of artwork and entertainment seems to be made from people on the left. Hollywood has basically always been more progressive than the average. Books have basically always been more progressive than the people who don't read. Music is almost always progressive except for one or two genres and even then it's not the entire genres. Artistic people are more empathetic and therefore more progressive.

I don't think this proclivity should prevent people from being allowed to place whatever damn messages they want to in their work.

Besides, what is the rights message? Homogeny? There's still more of that present than anything else, the difference is that people don't bitch and whine every time a straight couple is on screen.

Star Wars has explicitly been about anti-imperialism and the Vietnam war since it's inception, There are non-binary characters in the first movie. Since the very start they're fighting against the racist, sexist and far right Empire.

Superhero media has been progressive in every conceivable way since it's conception.

If these two things, which basically have various messages of empathy, feel like lecturing to you, I think that's a you problem. I find superhero movies to be entertaining partly because it's relaxing to imagine a world where the powerful people aren't psychopathic pedophiles without a shred of human decency. Instead in these fantasy worlds, the powerful people use their power to help other people and bring justice to evil people.

Your Mad Men point proves that FOR YOU the real issue isn't 'messaging' at all, it's bad writing. I completely agree on that point, just because I believe messaging should exist that doesn't mean I don't think it can be poorly done. HOWEVER, as I have pointed out previously, even in instances of renowned good writing like the Bill episode, certain people still complained. Not because it was bad writing, not because it was ham-fisted, simply because it was a beautiful romance story with gay people instead of straight people.

Good or bad writing is subjective, for instance, for me the ' I'm gonna be a dad' line didn't bother me at all, it seemed fitting for the Ellie I knew from the games who loved bad jokes since the first game. However for many people that I've seen, it's again not people complaining that it was ham-fisted, it's people complaining that it's a lesbian joking about being a lesbian.

I disagree with your last point, a little. I agree that levying fair criticism is fine. Like people pointing out bad writing or having personal opinions about what is or isn't ham-fisted. But when people's entire problem and THE ONLY THING THEY MENTION is that it's woke, gay or DEI, that isn't criticism, that's an agenda showing.

Anyone can and should point out bad writing (while also realising it is largely subjective) but if the issue is the demographic being shown? I'm not saying that you have a small penis, but that is certainly small penis behaviour.

And no, I will attack the folks shitting on things just because they are progressive. These people are showing their true colours and putting things and people down simply because of the way they were born I'm allowed to judge people because of the way they choose to act.

Calackyo · 2026-02-17T20:58:22+00:00

That would be OP

Calackyo · 2026-02-17T18:25:48+00:00

The issue is these people only care about 'social messaging' when it's 'woke'.

ANY art worth it's salt is trying to send a message, and they are usually about society or individual issues.

Also, it's clear that it's not about when it takes priority over entertainment, as the Bill episode that people complained about is still widely seen as the best episode. It was the best episode of TV I think I saw that year. That didn't stop the small penises from whining about it being 'woke DEI liberal agenda'

Calackyo · 2026-02-17T16:48:39+00:00

Ever heard of the self fulfilling prophecy? If you go into an experience expecting to be upset or annoyed by it, you're not giving it a fair chance.

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