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On Challenges

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One lay fallen beneath the colossus, which was suspended a few feet in the air. In the corner of the arena, the five surviving challengers gathered, hunched over in fear and apprehension. They were weak, and after countless hours they were exhausted. Still, they knew this was their best chance. They had to try. The group charged forward, battling not just their mammoth opponent, but against a clock which ticked down its final minutes, unrelenting and unstopping. Their efforts were for naught -- two were struck down too early by their adversary while the remainder were forced to watch in despair at their weakness and inability to deliver the final fifteen percent of damage needed to topple their gargantuan adversary. This was my group’s eleventh failed attempt at beating the notorious airship BC of Chains of Promathia. It would eventually take around fifteen attempts to beat a fight I still consider one of the greatest challenges I have overcome in gaming.

Similar to so many other things, gaming has undergone drastic changes over the years. In this modern era of gaming, games have saves and checkpoints, health can regenerate, and few games can bury players under a mountain of difficulty that prevents them from progressing for days, months, and/or years. Honestly, many of the earliest games I played were so challenging, I never actually beat them until much later in life -- and I imagine many of you share similar stories. For instance, I didn’t beat the first game I ever played, the original Super Mario Bros., until I went to college. What made those early games so challenging? An undeniable element of the early era of gaming was that many games threw players in with little guidance or direction. Some of the best games, like the aforementioned Super Mario Bros., were designed to gradually teach players mechanics so they could quickly learn the elements of the game. However, others often left players to their own devices and left them to sink or swim. Consider the original Mega Man games. At the start of each game, players are given the choice of six to eight bosses with no information on their abilities or difficulties. While each level typically increased in difficulty, a player picking up the game for the first time would have no idea which levels were easier to progress through, which bosses were more challenging to tackle, or which levels were next to impossible for a beginner without abilities from another stage (such as using the Rush Jet Item-2 to clear Heat Man’s stage.).

Of course, there’s also no denying that inexperience played a role in making some of those early ventures into gaming especially difficult. Even years ago, many games were incredibly complex and forced players to deal with new or unfamiliar information. While some of this could be picked up through the normal progression of a game, there was also a lot which required experimentation and understanding these complex mechanisms. During many of my early forays into RPGs, whenever I would hit a boss or enemy which was too powerful, my solution was simply to run in circles, level my characters, and then plow through the boss. There was no finesse or elegance in my approach to these games, only brute force (and possibly Haste). A great example of this was the first time I fought Seymour on Mount Gagazet in Final Fantasy X. I can still remember running in circles on the slopes preceding the encounter to level my characters and to get all my characters and summons into Overdrive mode. Honestly, it wasn’t until I played Final Fantasy XI that I really learned and understood stats, buffs, and debuffs. Since becoming more knowledgeable about RPG mechanics, anytime I play through Final Fantasy X, Seymour is just another step along the journey.

At the same time, I also don’t feel that new gamers feel the same pressures which were present during earlier eras in gaming. The original Legend of Zelda was the first game I ever played which had a save system which allowed for gradual progress. Prior to that, every other game I played was an all-or-nothing challenge. Not only did players have to finish games with a set number of lives, but gamers also had to beat them in a single sitting. Back then, dying and starting over from the beginning was the norm, and no one questioned it. Now, players only need to clear a level once, can start from checkpoints within a level, and can start and stop whenever they desire (for the most part). The internet and ease of access to information has also undoubtedly helped make gaming become less challenging. The first game my brother and I ever beat was The Legend of Zelda, but we relied on the Nintendo Fun Club map to assist us, and we undoubtedly died countless times. Conversely, I only beat The Adventure of Link in college (when I decided to play through every Zelda game in a single year). Prior to that, the closest I ever got was miraculously beating Thunderbird once, only for Dark Link to slaughter me years before the internet taught me the corner crouching trick.

While there’s no doubt that certain games have become less challenging, there are also games which have embraced parts of the old challenging nature of gaming -- or at least offer the option to players. Many games provide varying difficulties to provide added obstacles for those looking for an extra challenge. For instance, first person shooters typically throw additional enemies with better weapons and abilities at players on higher difficulties. In Destiny, in addition to adding more powerful enemies and new mechanics, Bungie removes the ability to raise allies during each encounter of the game’s higher-level versions of the raids for players looking to tackle the hardest content. While the most recent entries in the Fire Emblem franchise, Awakening and Fates, are easier than the earlier games, players can choose to enable perma-death to remind themselves of one feature which made those games so punishing. Other games even allow players to tweak settings to adjust the challenge. In Bravely Default and Bravely Second, players can increase the encounter rate while reducing (or eliminate altogether) the experience and money earned. Of course, no discussion about embracing the challenging aspect of gaming would be complete without mentioning the Souls franchise. I will admit that I have only really played the first Dark Souls game, in part, because I can still remember how long it took me to beat the Asylum Demon.. That said, for many gamers, the brutal and punishing nature of the Souls franchise is a fond reminder of the challenges gaming used to offer. No other franchise is as unforgiving and satisfying to finish as the Souls franchise.

Given that modern games are so often perceived to be easier than they used to be, it should come as no surprise that many gamers have resorted to creating their own challenges. In Destiny, one of the most challenging weapons to use is No Land Beyond, a bolt-action sniper rifle which can be equipped as a primary weapon. Some of the best players will take this unforgiving weapon into the game’s more difficult content, both PvE and PvP, to test themselves. One of the more famous challenges in gaming is the Nuzlocke challenge in Pokémon. The premise is that players are only allowed to capture the first Pokémon encountered in an area, and any Pokémon which faints is considered dead and cannot be used again. Similarly, players of Fire Emblem games have turned to not restarting to ensure the original intention of perma-death could not be easily remedied. Players looking for an added challenge when playing Final Fantasy X have developed the No Sphere Grid Challenge -- a challenge that requires players never use the Sphere Grid to level or develop their characters. An even harder version of this challenge is the No Sphere Grid, No Aeons, No Overdrive challenge which sounds like it would be impossible and downright unenjoyable..

At the same time, gamers have also sought to bring self-imposed challenges to older games. I previously mentioned the Wooden Sword Challenge in the original Legend of Zelda which requires players to only use the Wooden Sword Link acquires immediately upon starting the game. Another challenge is the Three Hearts challenge which limits players to only the three initial hearts in various Zelda games. Since so many games involve a progression, where characters get stronger the deeper into a game a player progresses, many of these challenges are built around restrictions which maintain those initial powers or characteristics. Players looking to heighten the challenge of the original Mega Man games can attempt the Mega Buster Challenge which requires players only use Mega Man’s initial weapon and none of the powers acquired from the Robot Masters (although I wonder if some of the final stages are actually possible without those powers..). The older entries in the Final Fantasy franchise are no stranger to player imposed challenges. Whether it is the Four White Mage Challenge from the original Final Fantasy or the Four Job Fiesta in Final Fantasy V, gamers have been looking for ways to play through these classics in new and challenging ways.

For many, this modern era in gaming is viewed as easier and less challenging than the era so many of us grew up during. While yes, there are new technologies and changes which have made gaming easier, we can’t deny that the more time we spend as gamers, the more skilled we become. And even with all the developments which have occurred, gamers can still find ways to add extra difficulty to the games they play. Personally, I’m glad I don’t have a collection of games which I repeatedly fail to advance through. At the same time, there’s something to be said for overcoming a challenge which has slammed you down repeatedly. Final Fantasy XI was definitely brutally challenging during Chains of Promathia, but without a doubt, overcoming those challenges with a close group of friends was part of what made Final Fantasy XI so memorable.

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