The Lion King of Dark Souls
(Editor’s note: this is an older piece I did for a company magazine. Forgive it’s simplicity I just needed to add more posts to test some sitewide things)
Gaming Difficulty: Progression or Perception?
Do you love the idea of painstakingly struggling through a game for hours, only to make no measurable progress?
Perhaps not an incredibly appealing idea these days, but for some up and coming gamers of the mid-90s it was a reality. The now infamous Lion King game for the Sega Genesis and SNES quickly built a reputation for its massive difficulty spike early in the game. Many young players felt as though their choice of game from the local rental shop was wasted. I was unfortunate enough to get the game as a gift so the torture never left the household.
Fast forward to 2011. The release of Dark Souls was met with a much different reaction. Rather than turning people away with its unforgiving nature it grew into international success because of it. It has now grown to the point that it’s spawned its own genre. Games can now be tagged as “Souls-like” to classify their similarities to the series’ difficult and unrelenting nature.
So, what changed? What turned the sour experience of the Lion King into the international praise that is Dark Souls?
Perhaps they are simply different kinds of difficulty. Lion King, for instance, was pushed by Disney to make it less likely to be beaten in a rental period, thus promoting the likelihood of more sales. While that example is less likely in today’s world, the idea of challenge leading to longer interaction is far from foreign in today’s games.
It’s also possible that over the years the gaming community as a whole has simply changed and adapted to seek more engaging and challenging activities. Over time, this leads to the desire to test themselves with higher challenges; a philosophy applicable to our personal lives as well. More than a sense of validation, there is simply nothing like conquering a challenge.
Consider this concept during your next gaming adventure. What motivates you or discourages you when it comes to puzzles? Hopefully the next one doesn’t consist of a forest full of monkeys throwing you about!
Trust me Zazu, I really CAN wait to be King just please give me better checkpoints.