“Darks Souls will teach you how to expertly dodge and roll, just don’t expect to acquire these skills without ranking up a serious amount of respawns.”

Dark Souls II and its predecessor occupy a place in the relativity uncharted territories of Masocore gaming. The term a portmanteau of “masochism” and “hardcore”, a quite accurate description of what the genre is about. It is a genre of gaming that employ complex and extremely difficult gameplay mechanics as a method to deliberate frustrated the player. Generally the player will die or fail very easily and with very limited save points, they will often have to play certain sections of the game repeatedly. It is surprising that anyone would find this enjoyable and future more would be willing to pay for the privilege, but in truth the concept has existed since the early days of the industry. Many of the arcade classics featured harsh gameplay mechanics and due to the technical limitations of the day checkpoints where non-existent. In fact a lot of modern games borrow from the Masocore genre of gaming; they just don’t employ the technics to the extremes that games of that ilk do. An indie title like Super Meat Boy will sometimes stray into the Masocore genre or the gameplay mechanics of a game like QWOP could be viewed as somewhat masochistic. The classic example is the satirical platformer I Wanna Be The Guy, a game that has no qualms about testing the players’ tolerance for difficult gameplay. A more recent success in the genre is Flappy Bird, a game that is a case sample for studying gamer’s addiction for difficult games.

“Dwarf Fortress difficultly start with just trying to understand what the ASCII graphics represent, is it a game or a corrupted text file?”

The somewhat reclusive developer Dong Nguyen seems to have a penchant for Masocore as his avian side-scroller exemplifies the genre. The game went viral earlier this year, topping the mobile download charts for weeks until it was pulled down by its own creator. Nguyen citing that he had become too overwhelmed by the game success and his growing concern over it addictiveness. Many questioned such motives but maybe instead of been hounded for his actions he should be hailed for saving gamers from such a sadistic game. At the heart of its popularity is the sense of satisfaction the player receives when they manage to navigate the vertically challenged fowl through a certain number of marioesque pipes. Every time going back to the start and only through sheer perseverance each time managing to pass through more pipes. In some ways Flappy Bird is a more of a masochist game then Dark Souls, because even with successive attempts there is no acquired skill or hidden secret to bettering ones progress. It is a simply case of rinse and repeat with randomness, luck or even a glitch helping you progress further. As difficult as Dark Souls is, the player can learn through much trial and error how to beat certain enemies. The game does have a learning curve it just happens to be a very steep one, an ascent up the sheer face of the Matterhorn an apt analogy.

“Miyazaki has a bit of a thing for impossibly difficult games, with his previous effort Demon Souls testing the mental wits and perseverance of its players”

It is a key aspect of the Masocore genre that isn’t there to hold the players hand throughout the game, instead hoping that they learn from their own mistakes. Which is in part such games appeal that the player has to figure out for themselves how to master the game and not having it spoon feed to them through constant nagging hints. One interesting mechanic that the games designers used instead of more common insistent pop-ups is the player generated hints system. This can take two different forms; the most notable is the bloodstains left on the ground by other players after they have succumbed to an untimely end. Not reviling what killed them but giving the player some idea of the dangers that might be nearby. Other online players might also appear as ghostly phantoms, displaying their real-time progress and more often than not their eventual death. Instead of the video game developers setting out tutorials at the beginning of the game, the players themselves feed into a real time in game FAQ. Even with help from fellow gamers the game still poses a massive challenge for newcomers to the franchise.

“Entering an area covered in blood and filled with hapless phantoms having their heads caved in might be a warning to head in the other direction, or at least be ready to die over and over again.”

The creator behind the series Miyazaki last year announced that he was shifting his focus away from Dark Souls and onto a brand new IP. No information has yet been announced about his next title. However it would be no surprise if work on Demon Souls and Dark Souls over the last number of years will influence his next creation. Also owing to the fact that the Masocore genre seems to be growing in popularity, with gamers never tiring of challenging and strenuous gameplay mechanics. How many more cracked smartphone screens, dented controllers or smashed keyboards will come as result of the Masocore genre. Many studies have extolled the behaviour effect of violent video games, but a more recent group of researchers have linked aggressive behaviour to the frustration of losing while playing video games. Developers of Masocore games might have to think about the effects their complex and infuriating mechanics have on the psyches of gamers.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Dark Souls II Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

“I wonder if the creator of the Helicopter game harbours any notion of envy for Flappy Bird’s whirlwind success.”

As stated above the game is essentially the Helicopter Game, with a bird taking the place of the helicopter. The game challenges the player to fly the vertically challenged fowl through a series of green pipes that of course in no way resemble those of a certain Nintendo game. The player is rewarded for each set of pipes that they manage to pass through, the game becoming increasingly harder the longer it goes on. For most getting through the first few pipes is the initial stumbling block, with the bird’s controls been erratic at best. Flying like it’s the birds first day out of the nest not used to operating its wings. This been the main attraction of the game as it’s the difficult that is frustratingly addictive. If the player could simple pass through several pipes with ease, the appeal would be lost. Whereas a player who manages to make it past ten sets of pipes has a huge sense of achievement and wants to try again for more. Flappy Bird could be classed under the genre of a masocore game. The masocore genre of games are defined as containing trial and error gameplay with intense difficulty, which is designed to frustrate the player. The choice of platform has also served the game well as the smartphone is the new home for casual gaming. Although how many Apple and Android devices has been damaged in fits of rage over a miss timed finger tap leading to an abrupt end in flight.

“As soon as it started to climb the download charts, clones started to appear. Some looking to cash in on the craze others just creating humorous pastiches.”

The games creator similarly followed the path his games titular character and has come crashing down after a short lived ascent. Dong Nguyen a developer hailing for Hanoi, Vietnam is the focus of a media storm that has been revolving around him over the last few weeks. Interestingly the game had been on the market for the more than six months before it saw its surge in popularity. The game was released on the app store in May of last year but only came to the attention of the gaming community in early January. Its spike in the rate of downloads so long after its release has led some to question Dong Nguyen on suspicion of market manipulation. Nguyen has not made any official comments on the alleged use of shady methods to increase its rank in the app store. Not that any of this matters as the game has now been pulled from both the Apple and Google app stores. Nguyen citing the stress and unexpected attention he came under due to the games popularity, as the one of the reason for the games removal from the market. He has also stated that he is unhappy about the levels of addiction that people are experiencing with Nguyen’s intention to create a game that players would pick and play on a casual bases. It seems like Nguyen has decided to take the moral high ground and save gamers from his highly addictive game.

“$4,999 is a little ambitious by this seller. Nobody can be that desperate to play this game, can they?”

As soon as the game was taken down on the 9^th of February, outrageous offers were placed on smartphones with the game pre-installed on online auction site eBay. Some “Flappy Bird Devices” demanding in the region of $10,000 as a starting price, even though selling devices with pre-installed software goes against eBay policies. Those who missed the boat and want to experience the addictive frustration of Flappy Bird but lack deep pockets to shell out for a pre-installed smartphone. Can look no further than one the numerous clones that immediately sprang up in the wake of the games success. It’s not at all surprising to see other developers looking to leech of the success of a popular game, but now with the original off the market the clones stand a good chance to have their own moment in the spotlight. Splashy Fish an Ironpants the two apps battling it out be crowned the new Flappy Bird successor. Flappy Bird stands as a testament to our modern age, were success is instantaneous and is only present for a fleeting moment before it falls back into obscurity. With the game of the market and its creator looking to return to a private life, how long can its popularity last? It would be a surprise to hear that the game still been talked about in a few months’ time. Unless this is all just a massive PR stunt and Nguyen is going to return to the limelight with the announcement for Flappy Bird 2?

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Flappy Bird Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.