When Does the Game Stop Being Fun?

After a certain point in story, when does the game start to become not fun anymore? The majority of people who play video games do so for simple enjoyment, the beating of a level, killing the final boss. These tasks are designed for an average player to feel accomplished in what they have done, but what if this isn’t enough for some people?

In comes Dark Souls, this game has been heralded as one of the greatest and worst games in history. Simply Dark Souls isn’t a game that is made for everyone, this is a different medium than normal. Dark Souls prides itself in savage level difficulty, which makes most players quite in the first hour of playing the game. A challenge for the sake of being a challenge isn’t for everyone, strategy games in the past have taken up this mantle, offering little to no reward for hundreds of hours of practice and play.

This type of challenge can’t be found in most mediums recently Final Fantasy XIV, introduced a new tier of eight player content, known as savage difficulty. These eight players raids, had been requested by the player base and the developers were happy to oblige. Players had complained about past content being too easy, soon they would realize they were wrong in complaining about the difficulty. What came after would be a roughly eighty percent loss of all “hardcore” raiders.

We all want to be challenged as players, but when does this go too far? I know for me personally this type of challenge is why I play video games, I want to be challenged. For the average person, there isn’t a big enough time spent versus reward ratio, difficult content breaks the immersion for them. There isn’t a reason for them to play, and they move onto other mediums and other games.

The Dark souls game developer have been asked several times if they will ever make an easier version of their games, and their stance has always been no. The games core narrative revolves around the niche audience that enjoys this challenge. Its what brings these select fans back over and over, the extreme challenge and the personal sense of accomplishment it bring them.