I have to assume that also, it's a game that is definitely not for everyone, and the price reflects that. If I only got as far as I have in 5 hours and decided to give up, I'd have been sore about $40. As it is I'm going to spend a lot more time with it and I'm already happy with how much entertainment I've got for my money.
So anyway I was giving it to her soup to nuts, course after course, tossed salads, amuse bouchés, I used my whole mise en place that night and the whole place smelled of it. Real night to remember.
That's exactly what Christians want most, ever since Rome adopted the faith - to be in a position of power over a perceived tormentor, and to exact vengeance on them. Christians do not care about the biblical Jesus at all, they do not follow his commands and they sincerely hope you do not know enough scripture to point out how they contradict almost everything he said.
I've never been a Christian, but there you have it. They are desperate to have people hate Christianity so that they have a target to rally against.
It's definitely a tricky situation where any pressure you put on either of them could backfire. A better approach might be to branch out socially and emphasize other people in your life. Spend more time with friends or in the community, putting that energy into more reciprocal relationships. If it makes your husband want a return to normalcy, great. If it doesn't, you're still thriving.
It can be hard to recreate the way things used to be, and life keeps on changing. I wish for the old days with my mates but there's a dozen reasons those days are behind me, and I should follow my own advice. The only thing worse than failing to go back in time is standing still, right?
When you're a kid with no understanding of game design, no internet, and no subscription to magazines that explain it, all those dirty tricks that we now rightly put to much rubbish did have the power to make you think "I suck at this". They didn't have to be clever back then to give us this insane need to be punished by game designers just the right amount so that we can finally just try really hard, get really annoyed, stick with it way too long, and eventually get to say "yes, fuck you, I win!" For a certain kind of kid from that generation, that's almost a healing fantasy.
Time will tell. These games all have so much talk about how certain builds are "cheese" or how the ashes make the game too easy or whatever - that's all just dumb. The game itself is the difficulty settings, sometimes.
It seems too early to say how Silksong will be remembered, and Team Cherry still only had two games under its belt so it's arguably too early to judge them. Will their next game be totally different and a massive risk, or do we have a Vivaldi on our hands, doing masterful variations on a theme?
I hate to answer a rhetorical question directly, so please forgive that; my satisfaction would have been much greater, if I was able to achieve those things. I have a realistic sense of what I was able to do given the challenge that I faced and the skill I was able to muster, and although more success would have been sweeter, I am able to be content because I have a shared context with other people who faced the exact same challenge.
I know many have been unhappy with what they are able to accomplish in games with no difficulty settings, and I see it as a choice by the creator to set people apart. It's a harsh choice that seems most appropriate in grim and harsh stories.
Those who say it is passé argue so very convincingly, but I can't hide that it appeals to me. It speaks to something primitive, perhaps anhedonic. I was wondering if it's a generational preference more prevalent among people who grew up during the era of "Nintendo hard", and if single-difficulty games will fade away in time completely. Maybe this game should have been called Swansong, if so.
There might also be a generational divide taking shape. People my age grew up with "Nintendo hard" and the industry was all about making games seem longer by making them extremely difficult to beat. Our options were to get better, cheat, or give up.
These days the industry is all about mass appeal, and all the problems that we see with games having massive budgets and having to make sure as many people can like them as possible. Indie games have different incentives, and so when a game comes along that was made with priorities that aren't in step with what we're used to, it tends to ruffle feathers.
I know my kid doesn't have any sense that games should be difficult, or that a challenging game can be satisfying. Even FromSoft games are trending towards less difficulty, despite having the fans who famously chant "git gud". Bigger studios might know something my generation doesn't get about younger gamers - maybe games like Silksong are having their swansong, so to speak. I hope not, but it's hard not to notice once it's been pointed out.
The thing is, I can't personally think of an accessibility setting that would serve the intended function without removing the sense of having finally met the challenge. I struggle with difficult games too, and I don't always complete them. That struggle and uncertainty is part of the journey though to me and if there was a difficulty tweak available as soon as I got frustrated the first time, it would erase those stakes (for me).
I mentioned Celeste as a positive example. I did feel a satisfaction with completing that game, but if not for the highly emotional personal journey of the narrative potion of that game I don't think it would have been as satisfying. At every point I knew there was an easy way out, and staying frustrated and gradually getting better was a conscious choice without any real stakes attached to it other than my own self-satisfaction. The was never any worry that I'd fail to complete the game. Those stakes do make eventually winning feel real.
So I just can't think of any suggestions for this. It's elitist or ableist I realise, and I'm not happy with that. The creator certainly was aware of games like Celeste, and they had plenty of time to consider those options. Before casting any judgment or making suggestions on their behalf, I'd be really interested to hear what they have to say about the choice. Do they think the struggle has to be as firmly set as it is for the triumph to feel as elating? I can't read their minds, so if there's an interview where they address that I'd be all ears.
It's undeniable that the challenge is part of the mystique for some games. I note with great respect the fact that Celeste offers accessible difficulty tweaks. I beat that game and it was a great experience.
Both choices can be good, when made with intention and care, and when motivated by specific goals as a creator.
With dark souls, at least the ones I've played, the difficulty can be tweaked by engaging with the world, learning the progression system and the character options that suit you. For example I didn't beat DSI until I tried playing a magic user, because I'm slightly bad at those games. DSIII was easy enough by comparison to beat as a straight up STR build, but that's beside the point. Difficulty is a design choice, and the conversation around it is tiresome when it ignores the aims of the creators.
I have to assume that also, it's a game that is definitely not for everyone, and the price reflects that. If I only got as far as I have in 5 hours and decided to give up, I'd have been sore about $40. As it is I'm going to spend a lot more time with it and I'm already happy with how much entertainment I've got for my money.