Twitch streamer ‘AshleyRoboto’ has issued a call to normalise playing games on easier difficulties.
AshleyRoboto recently published a video to Twitter in which she expresses her frustration with viewers who criticise her for playing games on easy.
She says: “Let people play games however they want to. Are you seriously roasting me for trying to play a story that is notoriously one of the most convoluted lore-based games in existence?”
The game in question is Kingdom Hearts, which takes characters from the Final Fantasy and Disney universes and mashes them up into a narrative that no one truly understands.
“Not everybody wants to play games to be absolutely infuriated and in pain the entire time. Stop gatekeeping how people play games, it’s so f*****g boring!,” AshleyRoboto continues.
Kicking the stigma
For whatever reason, playing games on an easier difficulty carries a stigma. This is exemplified in games that actively mock the player with playful difficulty titles. Wolfenstein 3D, released in 1992, calls its easiest difficulty levels ‘Can I play, Daddy?’ and ‘Don’t hurt me.’. These titles were later reused in the franchise by Machine Games.
Other titles, like The Witcher 3, offer game modes called ‘Narrative’ which promise an experience that delivers the best experience for understanding the story. Some games don’t offer difficulty sliders at all with difficulty acting as a key feature of its gameplay – looking at you, SoulsBorne games.
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AshleyRoboto furthers her point in a subsequent tweet, saying: “Not only does it not matter what difficulty you play on, having lower difficulty mode is great for accessibility, so maybe just let people play how they want.”
This is a point that we second at FragHero. Our sister-site, GameByte, recently published a feature that champions allowing players to tailor their game experience to their own personal needs.
Do you prefer to enjoy your games on an easier difficulty? Let us know across our social channels.
[Featured Image Credit: Twitter/AshleyRoboto]