Final Fantasy XVI

ph14basicbitch

shinra merch buyer
AKA
koda
I read the interview that this video is citing... I thought I was taking crazy pills when he talked about "being insulted when the game asks you if you want to retry with easy mode" cause right now in FF14 -- the game that Yoshida is the producer of -- if you fail a single player story instance, the game asks you if you want to retry it with easy mode...
 

Theozilla

Kaiju Member
Huh, I didn’t know you only be able to equip two rings max at any time, I thought the gear slots increasing throughout game progression also applied to the accessibility rings. Too bad if that is indeed the case.

But as for the argument that that the accessibility rings being a trade off to greater customization/upgrades is a form of “punishment” for players who need accessibility features, I think the logic is more that they want to reward players who choose more challenging settings a greater depth and breadth of gameplay experience, which I don’t know if that’s necessarily an anti-accessibility design philosophy?
 

cold_spirit

he/him
AKA
Alex T
Imagine if you booted up XVI and found the game too dark to see, too quiet to hear, and there were no subtitles. Now imagine that each of these settings (brightness, audio, language) were implemented as accessories and, at the start of the game, only two can be equipped at a time.

This may sound like a joke, but I assure you it is not. This is how it will feel to play XVI as a disabled gamer.

Here are XVI’s five accessibility accessories. At the start of the game, only three can be equipped at a time:
Time slowdown
Auto Torgal
Auto combo
Auto dodge
Auto potion

Disability comes in many forms. Even basic actions, especially timed actions like dodging or attacking, can be strenuous or near impossible. It may also be that a person’s disability prevents them from reaching certain buttons, even on Sony’s adaptive controller.

Limiting which options a disabled player can choose from is unnecessary and over designed. Furthermore, disabled players will miss out on any stat buffs or resistances that other players will enjoy because their accessory slots will be competing with the options above.

There’s been so many great examples of gaming accessibility in recent years, especially in other PlayStation exclusives like The Last of Us Part II, God of War Ragnarok, and Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart. As such, I’m quite confused by XVI. Accessibility, just like screen brightness and audio mixing, should be available in menu form at the start of the game, no exceptions.

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hui43210

Lv. 25 Adventurer
AKA
Topper3000
As a person with a disability, I feel ashamed that I didn't even think about this until I saw that video. Modern controllers have made gaming much easier for myself, but reaching R1 or L1 in the heat of combat can be very hard for me. This gamer pride comment is actually aggravating to me, reeks of gatekeeping, and I hope someone in the game media asks him about accessibility. FF7R is missing a lot of the accessibility features games like GOW have which is unfortunate, but it at least gives people an easy mode.

Meanwhile, Street Fighter 6, a fighting game which is a genre that emphasizes technical skills, is giving players an option for a simplified control scheme and even a 1 button mode for offline play! I can't speak for all PWDs, but I'll actually get to compete on a level playing field online thanks to the new controls and I'm so excited for it! It gives the idea that the game is at least trying be inclusive, while Yoshi-P is coming off as tone deaf.
 

Makoeyes987

Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
AKA
Smooth Criminal
I think the real judgment on the game will come when we actually have someone get to play it and review it.

Because for all we know, the game's difficulty and challenge through it's story mode could easily be overcome with just those accessories equipped alongside any other difficulty scaling option (such as a story focused mode) and it's designed precisely around those parameters. I get the frustration and unease about those options being tied to accessory slots, but for all we know that literally could be all it takes to just go through the game and enjoy the story and it's mechanics. Because there's also all the other types of equipment that exist like armor, weapon, etc. If anything, I think there should be more options for visual and auditory difficulties like in TLOU. We're judging way too quickly just how hard or unenjoyable the game's playability will be with what will be included.

I don't imagine this game being extremely challenging or intensive like Bloodborne of Dark Souls. Unless something shows that the game becomes a hard barrier for players, usually there's a scale of accessibility for players in an FF game.
 

Strangelove

AI Researcher
AKA
hitoshura
hearing 'gamer pride' reminds me of the 'git gud' stuff and i'm going to be mean here but

it's a video game, get some actual accomplishments to feel pride in

you beat this game on ultra hard nightmare difficulty no-deaths/no-damage/no-items? cool. you want a cookie for that? what does it matter if someone else beats the game on an easy mode with an invincibility item or auto-combos or something. you still beat it on hard or whatever, how is that harmed by someone being able to play an easier version. it's just beating a game, it's not a big deal

i have completed every soulsborne game i've played, but i would play the hell out of an easy mode version. because i like the experience as a whole more than just the purely mechanical difficulty of succeeding in combat. (although i did complete dark souls 1 by having the last boss get trapped in the geometry so i could just whale on him lol) when i got stuck playing hollow knight i absolutely googled "hollow knight [boss] cheese" to see if there was some sneaky way to get past bosses, i wanted to see more cute little bug people rather than try the same boss 14 times.

i've never seen the resistance and hostility go the other way, no one who endorses an easy mode is going "also there should be no higher difficulty levels." it's about having a range of options, even if you're never going to use them because someone else might. this just feels like pointless gatekeeping. actually on second thought make every game easier, i've got a backlog to get through.

i think i went off the point there

i'm willing to reserve judgment until the game is actually out, but the first impression isn't great. i don't think the idea of these options as accessories is a bad idea, but i do if it's limiting it. why not do something like what bayonetta did, which had a special accessory to make combos automatic on lower difficulties but it used its own dedicated equipment slot iirc so you could use the normal number of accessories in addition. just have a separate category of rings for these, and then a regular set for general ones so it doesn't come across like you're punishing people for needing help.

or just make them menu options, i don't get the issue tbh. let people customise how they play the game. if there's an option in something to turn off prompts that require repeatedly mashing a button and instead holding it down, then i am switching that right on. even though i didn't need them for accessibility reasons, i turned on a bunch of options for the last of us part 2 and it made the experience better for me. i hope more devs will keep adding and expanding those.
 

Wol

None Shall Remember Those Who Do Not Fight
AKA
Rosarian Shield

turns out the Eikon battles are way more complex than the Garuda fight implied.
 

Lulcielid

Eyes of the Lord
AKA
Lulcy
The only thing complex is the set pieces, mechanically Ifrit moveset doesn't anywhere near close to Clive normal form.
 

Wol

None Shall Remember Those Who Do Not Fight
AKA
Rosarian Shield
Really can't stress enough how well the Burning Questions session was handled, in a transparent and funny way.

The only thing complex is the set pieces, mechanically Ifrit moveset doesn't anywhere near close to Clive normal form.
I didn't necessarily mean more complex than his normal form, though I don't think that should be ruled out either considering that you see his normal UI now even in Eikon form, which means the scale of complexity is progressive.
 

Lex

Administrator
PAX stream now uploaded (Twitch shit the bed during the livestream)


I've watched this a few times over the last couple of days and I'm happy to see they continue to be transparent and address all these criticisms head-on.

Now if only he would delay the release of the next raid tier in FFXIV so groups wouldn't be progging during its release window ;-;
 

Wol

None Shall Remember Those Who Do Not Fight
AKA
Rosarian Shield
These last two showings won me over completely . Incredible!
 

Lex

Administrator
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Still looking amazing, the whole presentation was great. Felt like it was way shorter than 20 minutes but it wasn't!

Go compare the change in voice direction for this guy in the awakening trailer vs. now, it's interesting.
 

hui43210

Lv. 25 Adventurer
AKA
Topper3000
Yeah, I take back my pessimism from before, I'm 100% sold on this game now. Great to see the accessibility options today as well.
 

MoLe_BlAdE

Lv. 25 Adventurer
I so want to be hyped for this, but for some reason I'm just not sold yet.

I'm getting serious XII and XIV vibes and neither of those were really my cup of tea.

I personally feel like I'd end up getting too lost. The menu's look really overwhelming.

It is however an absolute visual masterpiece. I hope we see a bit more of it in the coming weeks that might tip the scales!
 
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