{"id":60768,"date":"2026-08-01T12:01:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T16:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=60768"},"modified":"2026-07-31T19:45:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T23:45:51","slug":"difficult-vs-punishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=60768","title":{"rendered":"Difficult vs Punishing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been playing a game called “Dave the Diver” a lot as of late. It’s an indie game that oozes charm from its graphics and art style to its writing and sense of humor, it’s just a really awesome presentation with gameplay that I really enjoy. However, when you spend 20 minutes to a half hour exploring the ocean depths capturing and harvesting fish and then just get stuck in a bad spot where a shark combos you to death before you have much chance to react, it pisses me off. I don’t like wasting my time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When a game makes me mad I just switch off to a different one for a bit. So I’ve been bouncing between Dave the Diver and another lesser known title called “Dark Souls.” I have had the remaster sitting on my shelf for years now and I decided it was finally time to complete one of my favorite games again. I started a playthrough for the 50th or 60th time and it was exactly as I remembered. A bit difficult, but extremely punishing. And I use those words carefully because that’s the whole conceit of this article is. I mean, you read the title. It shouldn’t be a shock.<\/p>\n

Shamus very much did not like Dark Souls and honestly I think that’s fair. It’s not for everyone and it definitely has its flaws. The game takes an uncomfortable experience, a loss of progress, and makes it a core gameplay mechanic. Lore nerds like me know that the struggle of death after death in search for glory is literally built into the game’s story. That means that as you learn the game you are going to get sent back to your previous checkpoint without a shred of progress except whatever knowledge you gained from venturing forth. You have the option to get your “souls” which act as both your experience and your currency, but it’s very easy to rush too much and lose it. It’s crushing at times. However completing tough fights has a rewarding feeling every time for a lot of people, including me.<\/p>\n

The thing with Dark Souls, though, is that the mechanics aren’t actually all that difficult. Every animation is very reliable. Most combat takes place at a very deliberate pace. You don’t have to worry about combos like in a fighting game or character action game like Devil May Cry. You don’t have to time things super precisely, either. You just have to make decisions correctly and get over the feeling that things are unfair. Because sometimes things are unfair. Sometimes the difficulty spikes are drastic and a tough ask depending on how much experience you have. The Souls community agrees, though, that when the game acts unfair you act unfair right back. Does the boss flinch from a specific combo that’s repeatable? Spam that shit. Does a particular type of damage or a particular weapon get the job done better than everything else? I guess that’s the meta, then. The only exception is PVP invasions. Don’t be the guy that exploits bugs and ruins someone else’s good time because you just had to camp a low level area with high level gear and kill people that are barely getting started.<\/p>\n

All that is to say, I don’t think Dark Souls is that hard<\/em>. The perceived difficulty really just comes from the frustration of the punishing resets when you do end up inevitably failing. But if you know what you’re doing and accept that deaths are inevitable but not the end of the world, it’s not a rough time. It’s not like competitive shooters where I just can’t keep up with the aim and reflexes of the younger kids anymore. It’s not a fighting game where precise inputs is an absolute must. Even rhythm games have less room for slop than Dark Souls.<\/p>\n

I am not good at Souls-likes. I am routinely put to shame by even new players when I see them in person or on YouTube. I am just stubborn. Honestly I think the Souls series is responsible for a lot of personal growth. I used to be on a hair trigger with video games. When I had a bad night playing League of Legends I’d have sore hands from punching my desk and a sore throat from screaming. I was a toxic loser. Now I’m still a toxic loser but I’m in less pain and my wife is a bit less miserable. A win is a win.<\/p>\n

Dave the Diver is a blast and I highly recommend it. If you don’t suck as bad as I do you likely won’t die as frequently and won’t experience the rage that bubbles in me. Maybe you have good mental health and don’t let games become personal. Couldn’t be me. Regardless it’s definitely worth the try. And if you’ve ever considered Dark Souls but think the games are too hard or the community is too toxic, just ignore the elitists and gatekeepers. Use “overpowered” magic if that’s what you want. Use summons too. Play offline to avoid invasions in the games that still have an online presence. Play how you want to play. Or don’t. I’m not your dad. At least I hope not.<\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/p>\n

Also if you like horror movies and haven’t seen Obsession, go watch Obsession. It’s an instant favorite for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been playing a game called “Dave the Diver” a lot as of late. It’s an indie game that oozes charm from its graphics and art style to its writing and sense of humor, it’s just a really awesome presentation with gameplay that I really enjoy. However, when you spend 20 minutes to a half […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[640],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethanirl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60768"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60772,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60768\/revisions\/60772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}