4 ms·

What I don't really like in a lot of video games is the learning through death mechanic, when you basically need to die in order to learn how to defeat a boss o

What I don't really like in a lot of video games is the learning through death mechanic, when you basically need to die in order to learn how to defeat a boss or to advance to the next stage. It's mostly popular in action adventure games, some of them (Dark Souls, Bloodborne) are amazing games but there has to be a better way to learn how to advance, instead of just dying and repeating.

s_m_t 8y ago
I imagine it is just easier to balance that way. "Death" in these games really just means teleporting you to a predetermined position and restarting the encounter (in the souls games also adding a chance to permanently lose some of your gathered resources, which based on the non-linear stat leveling don't actually matter all that much). I would also add that in the souls games the dodging is very lenient, if you spend the first couple of minutes of a boss fight simply not getting hit you can usually see most of the bosses attack animations and beat it on the first try if you don't mess up. Based on the alternatives that actually exist the cure may be worse than the disease. In many modern AAA games you never really have to learn anything, the game just lets you progress regardless. Unless you play on the extremely hard difficulty modes that just completely break the balance of the game (the hardest difficulty mode on the Uncharted remastered is a good example of this).
setr 8y ago
Dunno about bloodbourne but demon/dark souls were notable to me in that they didnt require death to learn; they just required patience and care, and failing to do so meant a quick death. Death taught nothing; it just punishes for not learning. And afaicr, none of the bosses weren't mostly clear from the get-go, with most moves being pretty heavily telegraphed. Still not easy, mind you, but imo they were never so cruel as to hide their intent, and not provide hints as to what was coming.
jtms 8y ago
That mechanic is my favorite part of the souls series. I love the surprise of hitting a trap or particularly nasty ambush for the first time and getting destroyed. the next time through you get to know the future before it happens and have learned from it

s_m_t 8y ago

I imagine it is just easier to balance that way. "Death" in these games really just means teleporting you to a predetermined position and restarting the encounter (in the souls games also adding a chance to permanently lose some of your gathered resources, which based on the non-linear stat leveling don't actually matter all that much). I would also add that in the souls games the dodging is very lenient, if you spend the first couple of minutes of a boss fight simply not getting hit you can usually see most of the bosses attack animations and beat it on the first try if you don't mess up. Based on the alternatives that actually exist the cure may be worse than the disease. In many modern AAA games you never really have to learn anything, the game just lets you progress regardless. Unless you play on the extremely hard difficulty modes that just completely break the balance of the game (the hardest difficulty mode on the Uncharted remastered is a good example of this).

setr 8y ago

Dunno about bloodbourne but demon/dark souls were notable to me in that they didnt require death to learn; they just required patience and care, and failing to do so meant a quick death. Death taught nothing; it just punishes for not learning. And afaicr, none of the bosses weren't mostly clear from the get-go, with most moves being pretty heavily telegraphed. Still not easy, mind you, but imo they were never so cruel as to hide their intent, and not provide hints as to what was coming.

jtms 8y ago

That mechanic is my favorite part of the souls series. I love the surprise of hitting a trap or particularly nasty ambush for the first time and getting destroyed. the next time through you get to know the future before it happens and have learned from it