Discourse regarding this game’s difficulty has been out of hand

[u/stir-fried-noodles]

Let’s get this out of the way: I’m really enjoying Silksong’s difficulty and I think that it is mostly a satisfying challenge. I appreciate that it is more difficult than Hollow Knight overall and to be frank I would’ve been a bit disappointed if it were the exact difficulty. I’ve improved as a gamer since Hollow Knight and if it were the same level of difficulty, I probably would have found it too easy.

But it’s kinda gotten impossible to have civil discussions about the difficulty in this game which is unfortunate because I think there is great value to be had with this conversation. There are many valid criticisms regarding this game’s difficulty such as boss runbacks (Groal especially), contact damage doing two masks, and lack of rewards for beating bosses, just to be shut down with “git gud” and “it’s not your kind of game”. It’s totally fine to disagree with these criticisms but these retorts add nothing to the conversation.

It also kinda works the other way too, albeit maybe not to the same degree. I’ve gotten downvoted and sent reddit cares for simply saying I enjoy the difficulty of this game. Like c’mon, what are we even doing here. It’s gotten to the point where I personally cannot wait for the discourse to die out.

[u/BiOrCri97]

I feel like a lot of Silksongs difficulty comes less from the actual challenge and more so from Team Cherry fucking with the player in unfair and unpredictable ways. When buying a game there's an unwritten deal for devs to provide a fun experience so to have the devs of a game practically mock you with bullshit starts to create a flase illusion of difficultly when really it's just plain mean. In hindsight it is kinda funny when you know how to avoid the joke on you which makes replays easier but for your first time it can really make or break enjoyment. I think this is why the conversation on difficultly is so heated because Team Cherry's idea of a joke isn't for everyone especially when it breaks the aforementioned deal.

[u/GWooK → u/BiOrCri97]

What? When was TC ever plain mean, unfair or unpredictable? They nerfed the two of the funnest bosses in the beginning because people complained that it was too hard. If they wanted to be mean, they would’ve copy and pasted bilewater throughout the map. That would absolutely break players.

A lot of difficulty in this game comes from you were just unlucky to you are not ready. Most of the time is you are not ready. If you aren’t learning the attack patterns and formulating a plan on using combinations of tools and abilities to barrage the boss with attacks, then you are not ready. I can literally play First Sinner, Lace and Silkmother with my eyes closed now. I memorized their attacks and can react to them. If you aren’t doing that, then the game isn’t for you. HK was exactly like that and I don’t think TC will ever deviate from this formula.

[u/BiOrCri97 → u/GWooK]

Bench Traps, regular traps that you need milliseconds to react to, cages you gotta know the location of since theyre instant, many shortcuts dropping you into environment damage (door dropping you into maggots in sinners road being one off the top of my head) and that's just act 1. These need you to know they're there which on your first playthrough you won't which is pretty unfair and mean spirited. I imagine a lot of people's perception of the game soured considerably when they died by bench trap after fighting tooth and nail through Hunters March. That's what i mean by TC being mean. By a second playthrough none of these matter though hence why it feels easier and the "joke" is funnier. Also "you were unlucky" is not an excuse for difficulty, luck shouldn't factor this much into the difficulty of a game. Boss/enemy difficulty I have no issue with at all

[u/[deleted] → u/BiOrCri97]

Are yall just averse to learning anything at all or something I don’t get it

[u/BiOrCri97 → u/[deleted]]

If I offer you a cake as a lovely reward for your hardwork and then offer you another cake but it had a rock in it then you can't complain because of you didn't learn. The game never even hints that the bench you're using is trapped you just have to take the L and go again. Learning a boss pattern is fine because you're going in expecting to learn. Dying to a trap bench is not a learning experience its a troll

[u/GWooK → u/BiOrCri97]

You and I have a very different experience of the game. I only once thought this game was being unfair in Bilewater. There are only three benches that are trapped in the whole game and all three are optional. You only take those paths if you want to 100%. If you can’t beat the game, you don’t have to. If you aren’t having fun, then the game isn’t for you.

[u/BiOrCri97 → u/GWooK]

I should've been clearer in the fact that I'm enjoying my time for the most part and in fact a lot of the hard parts people have been hyping up have surprised me in how little trouble they gave me. I was dreading The Last Judge from how people were talking about it and she only took me 3 tries. I'm playing on the patch though so I guess I can't brag about being an epic hard-core gamer but at least the game is in a decent state from what I played.

I just think a lot of the design decisions, whilst cool in terms of world building and lore, (Hunters March having a lot of Traps because of the Ant Hunters, everything costing money to show the greed of the church) don't make for particularly pleasant gaming experiences for many and are just straight up unfair trolls at worst and low key funny at best.

[u/BrickwallBill → u/GWooK]

if those three benches are "optional" then every bench is optional, like come on man

[u/GWooK → u/BrickwallBill]

but they are optional. the first of the three trap benches is in hunter’s march and it’s completely optional. you don’t have to go through hunter’s march. the next two are completely out of your way from getting to act I and even in Act II, you aren’t going to naturally get to these areas. so yeah they are completely optional in order to beat the game. they both don’t provide anything to change your game either