The God of War Director Weighs In On The Easy Mode Debate
There’s been some rather, um, spirited debate on the subject of accessibility in games these days. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has sparked a massive online argument about whether games are made lesser by allowing more people to experience them. Cory Barlog, aka God of War Guy, offered his two cents on the subject this week.
Specifically, someone claimed that one would never ask an artist to compromise his art for the sake of accessibility. Barlog hopped on, replying that “accessibility has never and will never be a compromise to my vision.” God of War has multiple difficulty settings, none of which were apparently any impediment to Barlog’s grand design.
This was of course followed by a storm of replies attacking the God of War director for taking this position. One can take away two important points from this exchange. First, that people are more passionate about this issue than anyone realized. Second, not even someone like Barlog can weigh in on this touchy subject without being buffeted by the salty tides. Finally, apropos of nothing whatsoever, you can summon strangers to help you through difficult battles in multiple From Software games. No word yet on whether this has retroactively ruined the Soulsborne franchise.