Perfect review scores. Game of the year buzz. Nonstop hype from fans. After six years of development, FromSoftware launched Elden Ring to the kind of reception every game developer dreams of. Celebrated for delivering on the studio's promises and more, Elden Ring will generate discussions on open-world RPG game formulas for years to come.
Those discussions may, unfortunately, be plagued by the tired 'difficulty vs accessibility' arguments that have followed the Souls series since the release of Demon's Souls in 2009. It's a notoriously challenging series for newcomers, and the flip side of having such a high barrier to entry is that Souls games have earned a reputation for being inaccessible. Despite both the studio's efforts to address these concerns with Elden Ring, the same criticisms have resurfaced, and with them, backlash from fans against disabled gamers.
Disabled gamers have heard it all before. Predictable excuses, like the difficulty being 'the artist's vision', are followed by suggestions that an easy mode 'spoils the whole experience', and that 'the game isn't for you' if you want such a thing.
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