Capcom & Accessibility To Newcomers?

[Deleted member 54320]

Hey there people.

Not sure if a thread has already been created regarding this topic but I wanted to see what everyone thought about the subject matter.

So I've been playing Devil May Cry 5 for about a week now and have been loving the experience so far. To be honest, I would say it's all thanks to the 'Human' difficulty selection & 'Auto' mode for combat. I probably wouldn't of touched this game if it didn't have these two modes on offer.

I'm usually terrible at action games and trying to remember combo's of any kind is just setting myself up for failure but, to my surprise Devil May Cry 5 is really accommodating! From past experiences playing different action games, they've always been more than happy to throw a player in the deep end and leave em there.

The same could be said for the story too. Although this is the latest game in a long running series, it still feels like a great place to start if you're a newcomer. The game even offers you a little catch up on prior DMC games if you really need it.

This reminded me of Capcom's other games such as Resident Evil 7, 2 and even Monster Hunter: World and how those titles feel somewhat welcoming to new players as well. Take Monster Hunter: World for example which is another series I tried getting into in the past. Those previous MH games seem impenetrable to any newcomer but World had that little twist on it which made it feel just that little bit more welcoming compared to the earlier entries in the series.

In any case, I'm wondering if anyone else had perhaps not been a fan of these franchises at first but soon changed their mind when having played these newer releases? Resident Evil 7 is a great example of a franchise giving itself somewhat of a fresh start, even if it has a seven in the title.

 

[Bhonar]

Definitely agree with you on DMC series having separate easy difficulty settings, that's the only way I can play them for real.

That's one of the biggest criticisms I have about the Soulsborne games, no difficulty settings

 

[Deleted member 54320]

Definitely agree with you on DMC series having separate easy difficulty settings, that's the only way I can play them for real.

That's one of the biggest criticisms I have about the Soulsborne games, no difficulty settings

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I get that. My girlfriend would love to get into the Souls games because of the art design / style and to explore the world but the difficulty is super off putting to her.

 

[shadowman16]

Mega Man 11 does similar as well - two easy modes (which reduce damage to you, increase damage dealt to enemies, more checkpoints etc.) and the gear system - which makes the game varying degrees easier for newcomers.

I've not touched the systems myself, I've been playing Capcom games since the 80's but I do really appreciate how they add these easy modes into the games without hurting the difficulty for the higher modes either - i.e. I still get hardcore for RE2, hard and super hero mode for MM11 (plus all manor of handicap challenges like not using special weapons, hear system etc.) Feels like Capcom at least attempted to try and cater toward more people which is good, without compromising the difficulty of the games (can't really speak on DMC5 just yet since I've not finished it, though I assume DMD and harder difficulties put up a good challenge)

 

[Bhonar]

I get that. My girlfriend would love to get into the Souls games because of the art design / style and to explore the world but the difficulty is super off putting to her.

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Exactly!

Well there's an option for your girlfriend which is what I ended up doing. I got the PC version of Dark Souls 3 and used a trainer with godmode.

And I ended up playing the game over 100 hours total over two playthroughs, and it's one of my favorite games of this generation now.

Because like you said, I loved the setting and art style and boss designs

 

[Deleted member 54320]

Mega Man 11 does similar as well - two easy modes (which reduce damage to you, increase damage dealt to enemies, more checkpoints etc.) and the gear system - which makes the game varying degrees easier for newcomers.

I've not touched the systems myself, I've been playing Capcom games since the 80's but I do really appreciate how they add these easy modes into the games without hurting the difficulty for the higher modes either - i.e. I still get hardcore for RE2, hard and super hero mode for MM11 (plus all manor of handicap challenges like not using special weapons, hear system etc.) Feels like Capcom at least attempted to try and cater toward more people which is good, without compromising the difficulty of the games (can't really speak on DMC5 just yet since I've not finished it, though I assume DMD and harder difficulties put up a good challenge)

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It's pretty dope that Capcom are making somewhat of an effort to offer such options.

 

[KillstealWolf]

It's nice to see Capcom give difficulty options with their games. There's many a Japanese Game don't give any difficulty options at all and you are just expected to play it "As the developer intended" regardless if you find it too easy or too hard.

 

[J75]

Godbless accessibility options in games.

Keep em coming.

 

[Dreamboum]

It's cool for accessibility for people who aren't experienced in action games or just bad, which is totally me for the latter but I still remain stubborn in playing in normal/hard until i cry

 

[Deleted member 54320]

It's nice to see Capcom give difficulty options with their games. There's many a Japanese Game don't give any difficulty options at all and you are just expected to play it "As the developer intended" regardless if you find it too easy or too hard.

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Honestly, I use to not care and just accepted this as a kid but now that I've got a full time job and such...

I don't have time for games that are super hard (unless that's what I'm after). DMC 5 is proper fun and I'm just glad I can play it and not feel shit for remembering six million combo's.

 

[Cactuar]

There's only so much they can do with Street Fighter as it's a legacy fighting game so anyone new has to deal with players who've honed their skills for years, but that said I do feel like Street Fighter V is about as accessible to newcomers as they could possibly make it with its very in depth training mode and individual character combo trials that give you a sense of that each character is capable of. Of course the rank system allows new players to play against theoretically similarly skilled players.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Definitely agree with you on DMC series having separate easy difficulty settings, that's the only way I can play them for real.

That's one of the biggest criticisms I have about the Soulsborne games, no difficulty settings

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Youve just opened a can of worms lmao. So many soulsborne fans refuse to budge on the separate easier difficulty debate. I'm a soulsborne fan and I feel if the devs could think of a way to do it and wanted to, they should. But so far they haven't felt the need to. So if they're happy with limiting their possible audience, all to them.

 

[Bhonar]

Youve just opened a can of worms lmao. So many soulsborne fans refuse to budge on the separate easier difficulty debate. I'm a soulsborne fan and I feel if the devs could think of a way to do it and wanted to, they should

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haha I know, it's cool that you're open minded about it

Well as long as they have PC versions, I'll just keep using trainers for it. But unfortunately that means I cannot play Bloodborne

 

[Jawmuncher]

A lot of titles from Capcom this gen have been all about appealing to the long time fans and newcomers alike. The big hits managed to find that perfect blend and have seen success from it (DMC5, RE2/7, MHW). While the other titles fell off a bit (MVCI & DR4). Regardless, capcom has done a good job this far in making stuff that doesn't feel like it's only for one type of fan and I love seeing it.

Whether it's accesibikity, story catch ups, or unique twists on gameplay. I welcome it with open arms. No reason to push away potential buyers if it won't gurt your core fanbase.

 

[Gartooth]

I really agree with you OP. The title this approach actually helped me out with was the HD remaster of the Resident Evil remake.

I just could not get a grip on the tank controls when combined with the shifting camera angles, so I tried the alternative control scheme which lets me just move my character immediately in the direction I want them in. That control scheme basically made it possible for me to enjoy the game and have a really great time with it.

 

[Bhonar]

I really agree with you OP. The title this approach actually helped me out with was the HD remaster of the Resident Evil remake.

I just could not get a grip on the tank controls when combined with the shifting camera angles, so I tried the alternative control scheme which lets me just move my character immediately in the direction I want them in. That control scheme basically made it possible for me to enjoy the game and have a really great time with it.

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yea tank controls are flat-out garbage. and no, it does not add to the "tension"

 

[Duxxy3]

My interest in DMC took a nosedive with DMC3. Not because it was a bad game, but because the version of the game that I had. It was the one that didn't have an easy mode. So I was immediately thrown into normal and I hit a wall quickly and lost interest.

DMC4 and, believe it or not, DMC made me interested in the series again. So I went back to DMC3 with an actual easy mode and I loved it.

DMCV was great, but I wish I had turned off auto earlier. I was pretty much forced to because of a certain hat late in the game that screws with auto mode. I liked it without auto, but the fact that it's in the game is great.

Capcom has definitely done a great job of making games with varying difficulties.

 

[Bedameister]

That's great to hear. My interest in DMC5 keeps on rising. Now I think I need to check it out.

 

[aevanhoe]

I get that. My girlfriend would love to get into the Souls games because of the art design / style and to explore the world but the difficulty is super off putting to her.

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Same here. I tried both Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 but quit after a few bosses in both because it became too off putting. I am really interested in Sekiro too, but just listening to all that "challenging combat" comments tells me it's not a game for me. And I play a lot of action games.

 

[daniel77733]

I literally just finished Devil May Cry 5 thirty minutes ago. DMC 5 was my first ever game in the franchise and I enjoyed it a lot. Played on "human" difficulty but had all the auto stuff off. Prefer to do the combat and moves myself. With the exception of the prologue, I only died once in the entire game on the final boss. Had a close battle with the boss in Mission 1 from the demo as I only had six bars of vitality but once I started increasing that, game was easy. Had 16 of those gold orbs that let you continue and only used 1 in the entire game which was on the final boss. Probably could have played the game on normal (or whatever it's called as I don't remember) but it's okay because I greatly enjoyed the game and made me a fan of the franchise going forward. Overall, a great 8.5/10 game for me and well worth the $60 purchase as it's a high quality all around game.

No interest in Monster Hunter World or the franchise in general as it's just not for me. Played and completed almost RE game with REmake2 being my favorite game so that's a franchise I normally always play.

For games that are too difficult for me (such as Nioh or most likely, the upcoming Sekiro), that's what Save Wizard is for. Hehehe. Any game where im constantly dying but want to play through because I know the game is great, I use Save Wizard. I purchased it for Nioh and some Japanese games going forward because I know they won't be easy for me. Mainly Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Code Vein and Lost Soul Aside come to mind. Pretty much the SoulsBorne type games. Others aren't as difficult or have an easy difficulty setting.

Overall, I would say that DMC 5 is definitely friendly to newbies as is the vast majority of Capcom's games.

 

[J75]

For games that are too difficult for me (such as Nioh or most likely, the upcoming Sekiro), that's what Save Wizard is for. Hehehe. Any game where im constantly dying but want to play through because I know the game is great, I use Save Wizard. I purchased it for Nioh and some Japanese games going forward because I know they won't be easy for me. Mainly Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Code Vein and Lost Soul Aside come to mind. Pretty much the SoulsBorne type games. Others aren't as difficult or have an easy difficulty setting.

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I've been interested in trying out Save Wizard for those more challenging games but im afraid paying for it and Sony rolling an update that stops it from functioning. I usually just stick with PC versions of games and their trainers but that's sadly not an option for PS4 exclusives like Bloodborne.

 

[daniel77733]

I've been interested in trying out Save Wizard for those more challenging games but im afraid paying for it and Sony rolling an update that stops it from functioning. I usually just stick with PC versions of games and their trainers but that's sadly not an option for PS4 exclusives like Bloodborne.

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According to their website, Save Wizard is compatible with 6.50 and older. Isn't 6.50 the one that just released a few days ago? I played Nioh within the last two months and had zero issues. Save Wizard seems to update their setup accordingly from what I have read and seen. For me, it was well worth the $60 because it allows me to play and complete games that before, I had zero chance of playing and completing.

 

[J75]

According to their website, Save Wizard is compatible with 6.50 and older. Isn't 6.50 the one that just released a few days ago? I played Nioh within the last two months and had zero issues. Save Wizard seems to update their setup accordingly from what I have read and seen. For me, it was well worth the $60 because it allows me to play and complete games that before, I had zero chance of playing and completing.

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That's reassuring to hear. Thanks for the info. I might go ahead and pull the plug.

 

[KillLaCam]

I'm always gonna be "nooooo never!!" with obvious easy modes in Soulsborne games because they always seemed like they were supposed to be about overcoming these great challenges or whatever.

But at the same time I'd be cool with a spell or in game mechanic that makes an easier world state or something. (That's very simple to trigger and can be done very early) . Like how the Covenant of Champions raises the difficulty. Just not an easy mode option in the main menu.

I know it's technically the same thing but I think that kind of thing fits into the whole oppressive dangerous world thing lol



One of my friends has a broken arm and got through DMC5 on normal difficulty thanks to the auto combos. So that was pretty cool that they did that.

 

[daniel77733]

That's reassuring to hear. Thanks for the info. I might go ahead and pull the plug.

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You're welcome and the info is listed on their main page at the bottom of the site if you want to see/read it for yourself.

 

[DrArchon]

I'll just say that, while I appreciate Capcom's approach to making some of their games less impenetrable, I think they might have gone tad too far in making Monster Hunter World easier.

All of the QoL improvements were great and very much needed (I can't imagine going back to a system where I could only get random bugs from specific bushes and have to carry breakable bug catching nets), but I wish they had made the late-game monsters more difficult to compensate for a lot of the other improvements they made.

MHW added:

• The slinger, and the ability to very easily aim Flash Pods, Dung Pods, Screamer Pods, etc (whereas in the previous game they were a lot harder to use).
• The ability to restock all of your items at camp (and to fast travel to camp).
• The ability to combine items with 100% success rate every single time (which really improved a lot of the gunner builds).
• Mantles, ranging from decently useful to new players (Vitality) to completely gamebreaking (Temporal, Rocksteady, Impact).
• The revamped skill system, allowing players to get more buffs that what would previously be achievable in G-rank games.
• A bunch of buffs for individual weapons.

Meanwhile most of the monsters haven't really caught up, which is a shame if you want the game to be more challenging.

 

[StallionDan]

Do they still lock bonus costumes etc behind the high difficulty modes?

 

[J75]

Do they still lock bonus costumes etc behind the high difficulty modes?

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I got some costumes after beating RE2 in Assist so i don't think so.

 

[StallionDan]

I got some costumes after beating RE2 in Assist so i don't think so.

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I meant DMCV. RE2 assist mode barely anymore accessible than other difficulties. Plus RE2 does put bonuses behind hardest stuff, like S+ rank on hardcore.

 

[Valkerion]

Do they still lock bonus costumes etc behind the high difficulty modes?

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Yes, there are 4 "costumes" for beating the highest/second to highest difficulty. They give you unlimited Devil Trigger to have fun with so its a reward for essentially doing everything in game. Costumes like this have been featured several times in the DMC games but I've never been able to unlock them without cheats lol.

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For myself I also really dig easy modes/options to make the experience easier. I've played all the games in this franchise without and with cheats or easy/auto mode and loved it. I'm not a new comer to any of the games talked about by Capcom but I agree the options there are nice. While I think people overstate the need to remember combos in these games and especially fighting games, but honestly just remembering a few basics of the games in general goes a long way. Stuff like "back + melee= pop up attack" is pretty universal between all the weapons and characters in DMC games but I understand the desire to want to do/remember more extended strings.

Anyway, I'm a big proponent of trainers and cheat engines for single player modes in PC games and wish more console games had in game cheat or options for extras off the bat. A lot of games are just more manageable or give me more of a desire to go through them with a few tweaks, without killing the experience. Stuff like x2 Experience Points in old school JRPGs really helped me stick with them on a revisit or first time play. I know not everyone will agree but I like small tweaks like that. Just finished Devil May Cry 5 normal mode on PS4 and will get the PC version at a later date just to go through it again with fun extras.

I think Capcom has been knocking it out of the park with introducing new people to the franchises lately with small options and additions to their easy modes. Also not punishing players for doing so is something I really love. I think more games need to consider or add them in as well. Similarly Bayonetta has a good easy and auto mode that I enjoyed for my third playthrough of Bayo2. I'm definitely an advocate for these things in other games and think Soulsborne could benefit from it as well. Like others pointed out, easier modes or options can lead people who are not into franchises comfortably. I'm terrible at Mega Man and kinda hate platformers in general but hearing about what MM11 does for new comers has me interested in buying it as a person who gave up on this genre 20+ years ago lol.

Though I gotta say, Devil May Cry 5's Auto mode got me killed too many times lol. I tried it from mission 13 and the game's maybe got too much going on or options for combat for the game to be able to use auto mode effectively (at least for Dante it seems) I had a way easier time without it. V's missions with Auto mode though were great lol, SSS every fight almost with me manually dodging.

 

[KtotheRoc]

It's not just Capcom that are trying to make some of their games more accessible. I think giving people the option, and not punishing them for it, is a net positive in this industry.

 

[StallionDan]

Devs could always just bring back cheats, which added lots of fun and replay value to games.

Up, down, left, right, hold X and press square for unlimited health and whatever nonsense.