Masukkan Toggle Keabadian Remedy di Semua Game

In preparation for Remedy’s upcoming third-person action-adventure Control Resonant, I began my third or fourth replay of its predecessor.

Despite my love for the original Control, with its floating workers and teleporting rubber ducks, I eyerolled at the idea of tackling one particularly large boss–it’s a giant anchor that shoots clocks and I refuse to elaborate.

However, Remedy added a slew of accessibility options post-launch that have made Control more comfortable for more people. One of these was an "Immortality" toggle that, as the name suggests, prevents the player character dying while leaving all other elements of the game as is. After this last session with Control, I want to propose the following: Every single-player game with combat (barring some exceptions) should have this Immortality toggle.

Turning on Immortality allowed me to experience Control fresh, without the burden of banging my head against difficult opponents or bosses. It remained exhilarating to be knee-deep in Control’s combat, with Remedy’s signature destruction and dazzling array of abilities. By the end of the game, main character Jesse Faden had turned into a powerful superhero: She flies, psychically controls enemies, and turns any object into a telekinetically throwable weapon.

Imagine my delight when I discovered this toggle would also appear in Control Resonant, available from the beginning of the game. In a recent blog post, lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov detailed how Remedy opted to offer individual toggles and adjustable modifiers, including Immortality, instead of global difficulty options such as "easy," "medium," and so on.

What does having Immortality toggled on look like in play? In Control, Jesse could still take hits and lose health, but it would never reach zero, and thus never forcing you to die and restart from a checkpoint. Being on the brink of death darkens the screen, muting the sound and restricting your ability to react efficiently. I was therefore still affected by my performance, but I wasn’t forced to backtrack from some distant checkpoint to repeat a fight.

None of this deterred my enjoyment, nor the chaos and beauty and sense of panic inherent to Control and its battles. All were still there. The only thing that really changed was that my time was respected. Like many of you, I have an adult life and a backlog. And games, for me, can’t be properly experienced by watching other (and better) players tackle scenarios flawlessly, or watching recap videos. (I also write about games for a living–playing and replaying them isn’t merely a luxury or reward, but necessary for work.)

This is why I think every suitable game should include this toggle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1LEHPr8e_o

Firstly, there's little distinction between already-existing easy modes that, in all but name, make your character immortal, where your health is barely affected by enemy hits and your power is so grand you basically one-shot goons like a god. An immortality toggle, as opposed to a global easy difficulty option noted by Mohov, focuses solely on preventing your character from collapsing when they hit zero; unlike a global easy mode, this affects one aspect, not resource gathering, enemy hitpoints, and so on.

All you’re doing is saving me from reloading a nearby checkpoint and suffering through a loading screen and possibly unskippable dialogue and cutscene.

Second, this optional mode is particularly ideal for replays where victories and the accompanying sense of elation have already been achieved. In Control, I have already defeated that annoying anchor twice already; I have nothing to prove to myself, and any success is a matter of time, not skill. Giving me the option to manage my time by speeding up the fight means I will more willingly re-install and replay a game. Too often, knowing there’ll be an annoyingly tough roadblock puts me off replaying. We’ve all been there.

I’ve never understood why other players care how I play a single-player game. As someone who has been playing Crimson Desert, I was shocked by those opposed to an easier mode update. That was fundamentally a change that lets more people play, and crucially, doesn't change the experience if you want to play it as it was originally intended by devs. However, I find it odd that people are installing a mod on The Blood of Dawnwalker to extend the time mechanic: This, to me, undermines the best part of that game. But go ahead. I’m not your boss.

Why then should it matter whether there is an immortality toggle in other people’s single-player experiences?

If people want an immortality toggle, which allows more people to experience the story and incredible worlds built by talented people, why shouldn’t they have one?

I trust developers to make such calls, of course but I can see no reason not to include Remedy’s toggle in more and every (suitable) combat-focused game. I would play more, my time would be respected, and I’d get to experience more game worlds and stories that have been gatekept by frustrating combat roadblocks most of us could probably overcome with time–but, unfortunately, we’re adults and don’t have much of it.

If there was an optional switch to allow more of us play–and replay–games, why wouldn’t we want that in more games?