The freedom to explore the world with which Larian Studios has provided is great, but it also feels like its brought with it many of the negatives of that era: no clear picture of what you’re supposed to be doing exactly, a progression system that doesn’t fully empower the player to tackle greater challenges, and perhaps a bit too much freedom at the start.
While I give credit to the author of the above quote for acknowledging that the above can be viewed good or bad by different people, I think it's worth commenting on in that the author's sentiment is being reflected in a good number of previews for DD:OS.
After having gone through playing Dark Souls and Demon's Souls and now currently playing Dragon's Dogma (and also taking into account the growing frenzy over the release of the impending Dark Souls 2) - and considering the success of those games (oh, and let's not forget about crowd-funding), I'm beginning to have an inkling of hope that perhaps there really is a growing segment of mainstream gamers who are tiring of being lead by the nose through games.
An adventure or RPG type game that puts you in its world and sort of lets you go as you please is truly a lot of fun, despite that you may wonder around the wrong corner and be killed. It is thrilling and the satisfaction you get when you overcome the obstacle is, well, satisfying.
I almost am starting to believe, dare I say it, that this potentially/allegedly growing segment of gamers is way out in front of internet 'reviewers and previewers' in this regard. Maybe I'll be more confident saying this in 1, 2, 3 or more years from now, depending on how things go, but maybe reviewers/previewers are at the beginning of being 'behind the times' and that instead of floating the idea that loosely structured challenges are possibly 'bad' for some instead perhaps they might say this is 'great' for many - the many who tire of being lead by the nose.
The great thing about gaming back in the 80s and 90s was that you really had to think your way through tough parts of a game, fair or unfair… I reflect on this admittedly with nostalgia… but overcoming things even like finding the right word to enter in The
Wizard and the Princess - though frustrating at the time, I remember stuff like that fondly actually. And there were no clue books or internet - and if you were stuck you stayed stuck until you figured it out.
Admittedly, some 'challenges' back in those days were ridiculous. But perhaps games like Dark Souls and its popularity is a swing back in the direction of actual challenge. And perhaps developers will do a better job at getting 'challenge' right. I certainly hope so.
