The topic of difficulty in games has been escalating over the past few years. There are two trains of thought: One is that games should have easier options to allow for more accessibility, and the other is centred around games being played the way the developers intended. It seems Double Fine is in the camp of the former, as it's been confirmed Psychonauts 2 will contain an option to enable invincibility mode.
It all stemmed from Xbox putting out the tweet: "Beating the game on the lowest difficulty is still beating the game". This sparked a lot of discussion online in which Double Fine got involved. The studio added to the discussions that "if you beat Psychonauts 2 with the invincibility toggle on, you still beat [the game]". confirming that the option will be present in the full release.
To further elaborate, the team also said: "All people should be able to enjoy games. All ages, all possible needs. It's an ongoing and important process for our industry and a challenge we need to meet". They ended their thoughts by saying they want fans to "have fun, to laugh, [and] to experience a story" on their own terms.
Developers are undoubtedly working hard at making games more accessible for players. Even titles that are aimed at being more difficult are incorporating these options, such as the superb 2018 platformer Celeste.
The more people that get to experience amazing games, the better. Having more options doesn't hurt anyone and allows everyone to play the games they want, how they want. Here at Pure Xbox, we think Psychonauts 2 incorporating an invincibility mode is a great idea, and we hope more developers follow suit.
Will you be activating the invincibility mode in Psychonauts 2? Let us know in the comments below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 9
Raz’s dad’s voice: You cheated!
Nah, stuff like this is always good. Everyone enjoys games differently. I won’t be using this mode though.
This is going to be great for my 5 year old who loves Psychonauts (he saw me playing it a year ago and he tried it out as his first game ever and he absolutely loves what he calls “Raz” now)
Brilliant! Personally I avoid games more often than not if it doesn't include an easy difficulty setting. If you're paying then you should have some say to how you're playing.
While I am a massive fan of the Souls series I totally agree with what Double Fine are doing here.
As I've got older, my game time is far more limited. With the time I do have I like to feel as though I have made some progress. If I find myself with a beautiful hour to myself the last thing I want is to spend that hour trying to beat a boss.
I realise now, that is slightly at odds with Elden Ring being my most anticipated game 🤔😂
Good for them. Games should be open to everyone and we shouldn't be punished if we suddenly want to change difficulty for a bit.
My only criticism is that this is the nuclear option. Many people would still like the same challenge, scaled to their needs or disabilities, rather than a free ride but that is much harder to achieve. Regardless this is FAR better than nothing and should be praised and copied.
This makes me mad, probably because I'm pathetic.
This is the sign of a mature developer.
@Richnj
Are you familiar with Tim Schafer? 😃
@Xiovanni Yes. Accessibility is often misunderstood. It isn't usually about making the game easier for these gamers, but about giving the SAME or similar relative difficulty to those users scaled to account for their impairments, disabilities and handicaps.
Regardless of this being the nuclear option, it is still much better than nothing and praiseworthy. And as you said it covers other areas like children, or me after a long day and a couple of pints!
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