Ragnarok makes an important change in boss battles

There are few more contentious issues in modern games than boss fights. I would have thought a ridiculous claim had I not been on the receiving end of literally death threats Previously suggested Boss battles must be skippable. So there is no doubt that there will be a mixture of panic and exhilaration in the news God of War: Ragnarok It offers intermediate checkpoints to whoever wants it.

Having never before dared to say, due to the terrifyingly complex list of the various bans imposed Ragnarok Code review, I’ve been secretly pleased to discover this incredibly useful feature in the past week or so. I can finally share it! inside God of War: RagnarokAccessibility settings is an option to give miniboss battles a checkpoint in the middle of the road.

Now, let’s be absolutely clear: This is a file Selection. It’s off by default, and not promoted by the game, but in the middle of the impressive collection of more than 70 accessibility options, under the combat section, “Miniboss Checkpoints” appears. Turning this on means that if you can fight a boss to lower his health bar, and then lose, he’ll be halfway there when you restart.

The game notes, “This option is supposed to be activated if Miniboss presents an insurmountable challenge. He is locked in Merciless Difficulty and God of War.” But of course, for people who simply hate boss fights (and we are many), it’s an option that makes those cumbersome walls of difficulty less frustrating.

Such news was not met gracefully. When Defending Accessibility Steve Saylor He tweeted his enthusiasm for the choice, explaining that he also thinks it’s a blessing for all players, not just people with disabilities, of course people rushed to point out how awful this is. always use Abbreviation tamper advertisement To explain what this slippery slope is, the peculiar fear of people is that this kind of choice will somehow be forced upon them if it proves to be popular with anyone else.

Read more: God of War Ragnarok: Kotaku review

“Wouldn’t that just eliminate the boss’s battle objective?” asked one typical response on Twitter, and continued, “At this point, make the game an interactive movie or something.” It’s such a strange refusal to understand the issues at hand, given that Ragnarok It is a game based mainly on continuous combat, which is only occasionally interrupted by the most difficult boss fights. This ridiculous notion that giving a clearer path through these heights somehow reduces the entire game to a negative experience is Frustratingly persistent.

The alternative, which those staunchly defending boss fights often seem unable to comprehend, is to surrender. You paid $70 for a copy of the game, but early on you ran into a situation that — no matter how many times you tried — you just couldn’t get past it. This is it. Game over for you, you wasted your huge money. At this point, the only option is to see what happens after this point and, ironically, he is Totally negative experience: Watching it on YouTube.

Make fighting bosses much easier to get past, for Those who want itThis is a positive step for gaming, and I very much hope that others will ignore the noise of “git-gud” assholes and imitate Santa Monica’s actions here. Or even go further, and set the options to skip right over it, to keep playing the other 95 percent of the game. And no, no one is suggesting that this happen elden ring or whatever. But in cases where boss fights are insurmountable challenges that hamper the majority of the game, it’s arrogant to refuse to concede ground.