Hey, really hope you're all doing ok right now. Got a bunch more stuff in the works to keep you occupied during this weird, weird time. I really hope you enjoy it. If you want, you can really help me keep making videos by heading to patreon.com/writingongames for various perks (including early access to another video going up in about a week) but obviously make sure you're all good first. For now, keep washing those hands! We'll get through this eventually!
This is an interesting concept! But I did finish the entirety of SEKIRO in about 2 weeks, and that is the only FROMSOFTWARE game I've finished. Keep up the good work!
Something I want to say about Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing is that, all memes aside, the two are perfect companion games. One is extremely intense, violent, fast and absolutely brutal, after each level I need a break, it's like a dose of adrenaline right in the vein, while the other is very cute, comfy and relaxing. When you get tired of Doom, you go to AC. When you're done with AC, you can go have a blast in Eternal. The two franchises were destined to be friends truly.
It's funny how two games that could hardly be more different from each other have a surprisingly big overlap between audiences. Granted, it's being blown up by the memes, but I find a lot of people who share your sentiment: having a good relaxation time on your little island, and whenever the peace becomes suffocating or boring, rip and tear across the screen!
"One is extremely intense, violent, fast and absolutely brutal, after each level I need a break, it's like a dose of adrenaline right in the vein..." and the other is Doom Eternal
When I was 17 y/o I suddenly got daily panic attacks, depression and a really bad agoraphobia which forced me stay at home for a long time, quitting school, losing friends, losing the will to live, etc. One of the very few things that really helped me was playing Dark Souls. The game in a way taught me to confront my fears, to get some sort of achievement and satisfaction and to be "brave". It sounds so stupid to say out loud, but it really is true. I got a Dark Souls tattoo for that reason, this dark game helped me through a dark time in my life and when people keep asking me what my tattoo "means" I do not know what to say to them or how to explain it. This video explains it perfectly though and right now I am really glad to see that other people have that same experience. Thank you for this video.
reminds me when I watched total biscut's video on god hand and he said, that the game sets you up as the world's greatest fighter, you just have to prove it. and I remember that line really stuck with me because when I played god hand I was very depressed and going through the game, and struggling with the bosses made me feel something. and at that time I kinda forgot how feelings felt. god hand really made me feel like the world's greatest
I like to equate depression to the final boss, and you're the protagonist with a shovel and rusty shotgun set off on a quest to acquire enough gear to finally face off the final boss. You're the underdog against powers bigger than you, but you'll have to face them if you want to win.
Playing a souls/fromsoft games almost feel like meditating to me. Especially when fighting difficult bosses. You have to keep your mind clear and focused, get rid of intrusive thoughts. Any worries you have in real life was set aside for that five to ten minutes moment when all you need to think about is anticipating the enemy movements. And when you finally won, it's actually felt refreshing and rewarding.
That's pretty much how I feel when playing touhou games, but instead of it lasting for 10 minutes it lasts for between 30 minutes and an hour. I wish I'd found out about touhou at the start of quarantine, instead of months later.
Earlier this year a friend of mine attempted suicide and I intervened in time to stop it, was broken up with, and lost a publishing deal all within the span of two weeks. Afterwards I had flashbacks, couldn't sleep, and in general was in a bad way. However, I found solace in horror and action films/games. When I talked to a therapist and told them this, they said it wasn't good for me and instead I should focus on the grounding techniques on their worksheet when my heart started racing, and while those work, I think the best way to ground myself is to immerse myself into a flow state of a game. Everyone's body is different, but I genuinely have to attest to the effectiveness of punishing games when life is punishing to you. Because at least that punishing is fair, which is the magic circle that separates games from reality.
@@iangaskins3843 doing better, obviously being let go from my job and being in quarantine isn't great, but it's given me some time to work on my games which is cathartic.
Take care man and things will get better. Games help with escapism but also giving people a sense of achievement when they overcome a challenge in a game.
Nioh 2 and Doom: Eternal have absolutely been hitting this spot over the last few weeks, and you nailed exactly why. The regiment, routine and work it takes to actually get anywhere is offering a real sense of order and achievement in a time where I have no idea what day it is. Love you, you absolute man
My relationship of 4 years just ended. And in the time of a pandemic, I feel so incredibly alone and isolated. The first time I felt marginally better was when I picked up sekiro. It was on my waiting list for a long time but never got around playing it. getting into it was really difficult, but I feel better and better. Though less terrible would describe it better... Overcoming a tangible challenge helps me a lot, even though the situation is so fucked up currently. Get subject matter and very accurate!
I am with you on this. I used to play Dead Space before my professional exams (only in breaks from study, of course). I believe the very clear fear experienced there (including eventually playing it on the hardest difficulty) helped to contextualise the existential fear into something that could be tackled and conquered. In a later year I played Dead Space 3, which was much less disturbing, but still effective. I would love to go back to Dead Space 2 now except sadly I don't think I have the 30+ hours I would need. In any case thank you for this, in these times of worthless internet rubbish your good natured (and knowingly niche) point is all the more appreciated in your dependably professional format!
@HicksZ34 Good Luck With That. Darkmoon's Covenant Items are so annoying to get that, because Sliver Knight's Drop Rate for Those Items and It takes a long time to be summoned as Darkmoon.
@HicksZ34 Congratulations Man. It's so satisfying finally getting DS3 Platinum, after items grinding and hunting all the rings. I was thinking playing Sekiro next. But decided to go to back RE2 Remake and get all trophies i'm missing. same time, i'm getting Doom: Eternal soon and waiting for My Copy of P5R.
HicksZ34 Yeah, Gael was hard, but fun. He was a great boss to ended the DLC. Also you are not only one with huge backlog as well. (Sekiro, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Catherine: Full Body, Code Vein, DMC 5, Most Resident Evil Games, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Yakuza Zero/ Kiwami 2, Doom 2/3, Nier Automata and The Last Assassin's Creed Games from Ezio Trilogy)
Dark Souls, despite it being a meme these days, has been a perfect analogy for these confusing times. The game is certainly perilous, dark, and unflinching, but it does something most forms of media have never asked me to do: find hope and dig yourself out of this. The game is constantly pushing you down every time you try and get back up, but it really forces you to build a resolve within yourself instead of being a comforting pat on the back. Dark Souls kind of helped me to a really, really dark time. I don't wanna say I build my life around it, but it certainly helped me pick up the pieces of my life when I'd been stuck in what seemed like an endless loop of depression.
Doomslayer: "You will survive. You will energe stronger and wiser. You will conquer your fears. Your difficult moments will become your proudest moments. You will conquer!" Doomslayer: "SAY IT!" You: "I- I-" Doomslayer: "SAY IT!" You: "I will conquer." Doomslayer: "I WILL CONQUER!" You: "I will conquer!" Doomslayer: "I WILL COOOOONQUER!" You: "I WILL COOOOONQUER!"
Dark Souls got me through dark times. There was an underlying empathy with the telling of every story. Stories of grief, guilt, and loss. Each of the FromSoftware games brings something to the table that's emotionally grounded. It's just hidden behind layers of suffering and trauma. Trauma that you MUST deal with if you wish to feel profound catharsis. If you manage to persevere you come to realize: You are not a victim. You are a survivor. Don't you dare go hollow.
This lowkey explains my recent pang to return to Resi 4 and Dark Souls. Tight video as always Hamish 🙏 Also wishing you and your Family good health and sanity through all this 🙏
In a time when we are most likely dying of Boredom in our Homes. We tend to seek adventure and excitement, we can usually get that thrill from Intense Video Games.
I remember when I realized there was a strange link to my anxiety disorder, and my craving for games that terrify me. I really agree with the concept of it being a way to face negative emotions in a controlled environment. As far as entertainment, games are the only source of fear that hit close enough to home to actually make me feel anything. For some reason right now, I find myself smashing through my backlog of Assissins Creed games. Going back to work on Monday and the anxiety has been eating away at me after 2 weeks off. Wish me luck :P
Never really thought of playing Darks Souls-hard games during this time. Maybe I should put that into practice, but I'm already too invested with Doom Eternal now
It's so interesting to see this. I've been playing Mount & Blade, Doom II on a higher difficulty, and finally making another attempt at beating my childhood nemesis Resident Evil 4's "Professional" mode during this time. Most of the time I always look for ways to relax and conserve energy but not now. Because just recently I finally had the energy to go out and try getting a job (finally getting out of what I didn't even realize could be called a depression I'd been in for about four years) and then this pandemic happened and loads of people are being fired which naturally means most employers aren't even looking to hire right now and won't be for a good while, plus making it unwise to go to work for most places in general. So I've started seeking out outright difficult things to conquer so I can maintain this feeling like I can ACTUALLY accomplish something. I can definitely say the promising progress I've made in RE4 has helped me tons with this. It genuinely has me feeling good and capable in a way I haven't in a while. (Mount & Blade can still suck a dick tho) (For those who don't know, "professional" mode is dastardly enough you can end up without enough items to continue the game, and as a result negate several hours of work, _or_ an entire playthrough if you have limited save space - as I so happen to xD) All aboard the pain train, bby~
Ha, ha Krauser's QTE are quite hard on RE4's professional mode. I do enjoy a good Pro mode run though. I know what it's like to find the energy to get out there again. It's a good feeling.
I’ve been playing through the entirety of the Dark Souls games since I went into quarantine for two weeks and then was laid off. My partner didn’t quite get why I was playing so many video games. But dealing with a hard thing that I know I can and will get through given the time is therapeutic. Gonna see if she’s interested in watching this video!
I really connected with this video, largely because roguelikes are the genre I turn to most when I am feeling anxious or stressed, which seems a bit paradoxical. However, when playing these initially brutally hard games you slowly start to get better, and I find that process really meditative and inspiring. Speeding through the first areas of Spelunky is really cathartic once you get good enough to anticipate anything the game has to throw at you. Going back to roguelikes, it gives me a space where I have meticulously grasped these systems and getting to go back and exercise those skills to conquer challenges is honestly really relaxing. I saw that you used footage of FTL, and I wish you luck as you try to beat that game, it can be quite brutal at times. Great video!
Funny how this quarantine has been both a blessing and a curse for me. I broke up with my ex two weeks ago, I'm feeling lonely and demotivated, and I wanted to see new people and I can't, I wan to to get out make out and try to forget, now here's the catch I work in the same place as her and keeping my distance is a good thing right now, so I find my self playing more with my friends and working more to escape (home office), so games and friends are helping a bunch, on one hand I can't socialize and alleviate the frustration on the other I am keeping my distance from what is causing that, if the quarantine wasn't a thing I would be forced to see someone who doesn't love me anymore and that would stress me and hurt me a lot. Funny how life works sometimes.
In a game (unlike in RL) I KNOW that the challenge ahead of me is beatable, no matter how often I fail. That gives me a feeling of control, a perspective. And beating difficult games gives me the feeling that I'm good at what I am doing.
This idea definitely has merit, there is a natural dichotomy between acute and chronic stressors in loads of life's areas (like physical stress from exercise or mental stress due to a test at school) that allow you to grow/benefit rather than let it mess you up in the long run Subscribed!
In my psychology class, I teach a similar, if not identical concept that just needs expanded to gaming. It's called 'emotional voyeurism'. It's more related to why people are drawn to sad songs/movies and we love to share fearful experiences- telling scary stories and horror films. It's a way to, in a controlled format, experience emotions we typically deem negative or would want to avoid. This theoretically serves both a bonding and evolutionary survival purposes.
An exceptional video that has truly released at the most appropriate time. The catharsis of beating a hard game (or beating someone in a fighting game) has probably allowed me to function during times where i find it hard to.
My theory is that we are craving for experiences which are opposite to our daily activities. With our normal busy lives, when we reach our home we are often tired and we just want to relax instead of facing more challenges, however during these times we are lacking that challenge in real life, therefore we tend to look for it in virtual worlds. We need to feel that sense of accomplishment that is lacking in other areas and difficult games are a perfect medium for it.
Totally get what you mean here; I started Ruiner yesterday and I’m absolutely thriving off the face-melting speed it runs at - and the resulting wired feeling!
I used to work an incredibly shitty stressful job where I hated my bosses and the customers. DOOM was the best outlet for or the days rage I built up. The mix of aggression and speed would no shit be so satisfying after a long stressful day
Thank you Hamish. I find your point of view/analysis as interesting as whenever I find time to watch your vids, but this one was comforting and helped me put into... well thoughts of why I have been throwing myself into the brick walls of difficult video games lately. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
I'm writing a magazine about Dark souls and animal crossing in relation to mental health and the current situation for art school. This video helped me find some words for things I'm trying to say and it was a great video, thank you
I do the same sort of thing with games like this, but probably for different reasons. It's more with intense games, rather than specifically hard ones, although that obviously has a lot of overlap. These games demand such total focus for extended periods of time, it simply forces you to take your mind off anything that might be dragging you down. If an intense game is good enough to grab your attention like that, it holds on to it with a vice-like grip. I think there's also the element that the problems these games present you with tend to be very clearly communicated, and practically doable. It may be very fast and very hard, but it's not difficult to understand that you need to kill the bad guys before they kill you, avoid their attacks, etc. And of course these games are designed to make doing to as satisfying as possible too. So you have clear, consistent goals that provide a good emotional payoff as well. It makes committing to what these games are asking from you actually feel like it's worth the effort.
This’ll explain why I never liked dark souls before and could never get into it but after a pretty intense breakup and low time last year I got through the whole trilogy and have platinumed dark souls one. Taught me a lot about the joy of just seeing the sun again, something I think that was also covered on this channel. Taught me to not give up. It felt like therapy to conquer something like that
What an excellent piece. I would lie if I said I did not relate to what you were alluding to in regards to stressing games somehow helping to cope during depressive episodes.
Focus. And flow. Sure that effect you mentioned on horror films may be on the nose, but the way you talked reminded of focused attention and the state of flow; When someone is at a state of flow the brain super-focus blacking out most if not everything else and its highly enjoyable- its directly related to how familiar we are to something, like muscle memory, as well as how said thing challenges us be it on a high or low level of conscience... and in games reserch has show its directly related to difficulty, some goldlocks zone between hard enought its challenging but not too hard it pushs us away. Its why when we watch esport gamers faces they seem transfixated... and some game design patterns are great at making people meet that zone (like souls-like games, competitive games with good elo matching and racing... Why i think thats the main reason? It blocks everything else out. While i watch something or play games that are too easy (heck even some competitive games i good at when badly matched) i notice how i keep thinking and musing about other stuff. When im in a competitive match on my elo or nearly beating a hard boss? I can`t even tell if its day or night. I would compare it to one of the benefits of meditation (wich btw the flow state is compared to). They are interestingly oposites but similar- both puts our brainwaves in the extremes, meditation goes low, flow goes high- our brains love these extremes and the one thing similar is how it blocks out other toughts, worries and everything else. They`re both anti-noise and put our minds at ease. Id also guess the flow may be the best antidote to quarantine, since unlike meditation its about doing something. The worse of quarantine is how we`re stuck without doing things, so putting our brains into its highest gear is literally the most intense brain workout possible. To test the theory: try playing some rythm games to compare. Thumper, hexagon, audio surf, theres a bunch of others. Some you may need to adjust difficulty, but thumper is hard enough it will quickly demand your focus. I bet you will feel the same, and theres nothing horror-like, dreadful or punishing in themes like the examples you gave. I know you talked about difficulty as a whole but the examples in the video hint as if the themes necessirily would be dreadful as well
At about 3:25 where you were talking about hard games/horror films as a form of exposure therapy. That reminds me of what a lot of metal fans describe with music, a sense of catharsis for negative emotions evoked by the music. I do think there's some weight to that argument.
I'll be completely honest. I had a really bad bout of depression in 2018 (moved far away from family, didn't really have any real friends yet), Bloodborne almost singlehandedly helped me keep my head up. The minimal cracks in the "insurmountable wall" of a soulsbourne game is cathartic to me, and it helped me see the small victories in each day again.
This is similar to why I enjoy bullet hell games. It both paradoxically requires intense focus to dodge individual bullets, but it also requires me to almost unfocus my attention in order to grasp the larger patterns and to identify their gaps. It ultimately becomes strangely mediative where it feels like you're only making tiny adjustments at a time to find that pocket of Zen while hell is raining down around you, and I've found it has second order benefits in real life to help me remain calm and composed under pressure.
I'm at the point in my life where all I can do is manically life at how terrible my look has been since even b4 the year started so naturally some RIP & TEAR is therapeutic
Well, seeing how the current crap put me out of work, I use the time and frustration to get better at fighting games. And while it's not that significant, I feel like a lot of the more niche ones have been somewhat more active since the chaos began, which is always appreciated, even for the ones I don't like. It keeps communities together, and we're in dire need of healthy communties right now...
TOTALLY hit the nail on the head here. I’ve been wondering why animal crossing isn’t seeming as satisfying as I want it to. I started the Witcher 3 before this release and I find myself going back to it more and more. It’s like it feels better to fight through the anxiety.
At the end of the day, when it comes to playing these kind of games (or pretty much any other for that matter) to inspire us in these troubling times, it all boils down to Konrad's immortal words in Spec Ops: The Line: *"The truth, is, that you're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: a hero."*
I can definitely understand this. I picked up the remaster of Resident Evil 2 a little while ago and have been slowly making my way through the game despite the fact that usually i cannot deal with horror/tension. It was a cathartic experience to start off scared and confused and by the end having no fear and feeling like I've learnt the games tricks.
This was superb. I appreciate the point about controlled exposure to negative emotions. I play games for escapism, there's great catharsis in having problems you can stab until they go away
For me I’m been trying to finish long open world games that I haven’t completed yet, right now I’m bouncing between Assassins Cree odyssey and read dead 2. I find these game offer the ability to go “outside” but also their length gives me something to container to look forward without the stress of trying to bing them. I can take my time and enjoy each moment better then when they released.
Each time I watch a video of yours I expect an informative, well thought-out, and well put-together piece, and each time you manage to surpass my expectations. You summed up this weird situation of ours perfectly!
I recently started playing Pathologic, and while it's difficult in a very different way than something like Doom, being much more slow-paced and evoking more of a feeling of omnipresent dread than acute stress, I think there may be something similar going on. What I like about it is that I'm forced to learn about the various systems in the game in order to not die. While in other games I might only engage with shopkeepers to sell all my loot and maybe buy a cool item, in Pathologic, I have to learn which people to trade with in order to obtain which items most cheaply. It kind of feels like the entire game is fighting against me, and I have to find and exploit every trick I can in order to beat it.
I highly recommend Half-Life: Alyx along similar lines. Surviving a ton of horrible life-sized monsters in a quarantine zone, and also Jeff was extremely good for me. Thank you for your Niohman.
I've played through the entire game and started to get desensitized to much of the initial horror (not a gripe against the game, as this is expected), but in my last play session on my second playthrough, I got the every loving crap scared out of me from just a zombie being around a corner I thought was cleared. A threat looking like it exists right in front of you cannot be understated. I know it's not a game everyone can experience, but it is legitimately the most fear I've ever felt in any game, and second place probably isn't even close if I'm being honest.
When I'm really stressed/panicking I need something that keeps my entire brain engaged, because otherwise I'll keep spiraling. Bloodborne and sekiro did that for me. Got the plat for both
I played DOOM Eternal on Ultra Violence, despite not being great at FPS, and while it was tough, it was immensely rewarding. I could tell I was much more alert and tense while playing then I've been otherwise so it kind of felt nice. It definitely took my mind off the current situation whenever I was playing.
Reminds me of how I used to always watch Supernatural when I was depressed. It didn’t help, it wasn’t supposed to help. If anything, I was indulging in my own depression. Eventually I came to terms with the fact I had depression and would have to learn to live with it. You can’t address an issue you can’t face, can’t make peace with a foe you don’t know.
Current circumstances aside, I think another reason that you're enjoying Nioh 2 more than the first game is because it's - I would argue - a better game overall. I played both games back-to-back and thought 2 was a big step up, particularly with the boss battles.
I wish I felt this way about hard games right now. Dark Souls helped me cope when my Dad died but right now I cannot touch it because I feel too anxious. Animal Crossing though, a game I found boring and tedious in the past, now has an insane appeal to me
That’s a big part of why I’m playing pubg again. Short cycles of intense fear and dread that simultaneously remind me that I can have control over what happens to me (when I hunt) and that sometimes shit just happens (what I get shot from halfway across the map by a 12 year old) Helps to make the constant low level anxiety about the world a bit smaller.
Right now Nioh 2 is, to my own surprise, apparently exactly what I need right now. It just forces me to focus and rewards me when I'm able to overcome the next difficulty. Not much time to think about other things while doing it.
Doom Eternal on Nightmare is... whew, quite something in terms of intensity, but when you got through a difficult encounter, with the music dying down, on your HUD most likely flashing "Low Health" and "Low Ammo", you felt like a God.. until it threw even more at you next encounter lol.
Thank you for this right now Im playing Nioh 2 and loving every moment of it..for about two and half hard games mostly what people would call souls-likes is how I deal with my less than desirable life its not bad but not great and more often it feels like my fault I work long hours(night shift) at a warehouse live in a very rural part of the south in an old broken down trailer on a bit of land my father left me and trying to support my partner(animal crossing is their thing I dont really use the switch),our cats and myself I have no real skills to speak of and I would like to fix up our place and land but I really don't know how to start,but since I first played Bloodborne my first game after not gaming for like five years really it got me hooked on "souls-likes" it was hard but rewarding and the community was vast I have trouble making connections with others partiality because I have a speech impediment and I also have a lot just general anxiety but though playing and watching youtubers play the same game that Im playing and knowing that I struggled and overcome with them gives me a since of belonging and I know this sounds a bit pathetic but felt the need to share anyway.
I got my ps4 back home after almost 5 weeks without leaving the house, the operating system was fucked so i had to reinstall it and now im making my way through Lordran once more as all my saves are gone
That's why I am subscribed to this channel. Beautiful piece, weirdly, even though, I started to have more time I only played SW: Fallen Order, but added more workout to my routine and started drawing again (for the third time).
Modern Warfare 2 Remastered just came out and I’m keeping my fingers active by trying to beat the practice course best time for a trophy and also beating it on the hardest difficulty
I tired to distract myself with something cheery in my backlog. However, I was dissatisfied with playing Katamari Forever partly because it doesn't feel as fun as the first two games but maybe because it doesn't have anything profound to say. I switched over to Nier: Automata and I've become very engrossed with it despite the heavy dark themes.
I just bought a PS4 A few months ago and now that I have all this spare time I’ve finally come around to playing bloodborne. So far I’ve been really enjoying it but still have a little bit of trouble of getting out of that dark souls mentality.
Thanks for this video, it helped me a great deal. I never managed to complete Return to Castle Wolfenstein, I was too scared of the catacombs and crypt levels because of those undead monstrosities. I am now conquering it as I write this comment. I just keep failing at it, but I managed to get in without fear. I am still not able to complete the game, but that's because they always eat me. Or I toss a grenade at myself. Or the Indiana Jones-esque booby traps get me.
Welcome to the hard games clubs, its gonna hurt and you're gonna love every second of it. Me personally I find myself gravitating to easier games, playing 6-8 hours of dark souls or doom on nightmare level is leaving me empty. Usually I can afford playing 2-3 hours a day at most, I prefer games that give me the feeling of success. But now, I doing all the easy games I said I have limited time for them. I think what happens is you have more time and thus trying something new.
Before the pandemic I was progressing through Final Fantasy XIV's current Savage raid tier. I still am and thats provided some sense of normalcy. I helps to have this really hard content to master that you have to focus on 100%. Though I am playing Animal Crossing on the side so it helps to have a game for each mood lol.
I feel the same way with Hollow Knight. (Go ahead. Laugh.) It beats my ass, but I get just a touch farther each time. Or after a few times. (Okay, I ragequit a lot, but still I get a little better, and that helps.) Thank you for doing what you do. Stay safe.
There is a lot of different games that can calm us. I like FH3 and 4, if I want something slower ETS2 is great. For harder or a intense experiences for me at least they are good to release stress that build up over time or they are at lest for me. As the (proper not like ea defined it) sense of pride and accomplishment are great means of stress relief Stay healthy And keep enjoying gaming Have a nice time gaming!
I have to say though, the benefits come from well made games, well designed and at least well coded. But before anything, I need to disclaim a caveat. I am trained in software development and I do have a degree on game development (software, design, art, blah blah blah, at least the basics on pretty much everything). So my bar is a bit higher than most people, as it usually is for people who understand a craft is made. With that out of the way, lemme continue. Things that kill any cathartic power a game has to me are things like getting killed because the camera decides to be shite and the edge cases were polished with coarse sand paper. When the AI works not "randomly, but by design", but because it can glitch and get stuck unpredictably. W
If you want play something that really stresses you out, challenges you and is topical in regard to this whole pandemic thing, then please check out Pathologic 2.
I think part of what makes doom such good escapism is how much of a power fantasy it is, the game is challenging but it feels so good to overcome you feel like a god.
I do not have a controller, which made playing DS3 very clunky with mouse and keyboard - I killed Abyss Watcher using Uchigatana and went into Catacombs of Carthus and that was my last stop. I liked the game, but it was so weird moving, camera movement was pretty bad, I had a hard time making my character run and do run stabs, etc. I also saw that many other soulslike titles are made with controllers in mind. I also have a potato PC (can't run DS3 on more than mid- settings, or for example can't run BDO at all). But, maybe there are titles that I can run and can play with mouse and keyboard without being crippled. Any ideas? :) I really want more challenging games (I play(ed) lots of LoL and Counterstrike series with competitive mindset but I would like to try something offline).
I played through DS3 using keyboard+mouse on my first playthrough, and I actually had to replace that mouse midway through the playthrough (around the Cathedral of the Deep)... I'd pressed the right mouse button so intensely holding my shield up as I slowly inched around corners full of fear, that I actually broke it. You've gotten further than me without breaking anything, so good job! :3 (If you feel like giving DS3 another go sometime - which you totally should, because the area after the catacombs is the best in the entire game - you should start off by buying a Mace from the shrine handmaiden, it knocks most skeleton enemies apart and makes them much less of a threat)
And I do have a controller but my desk is buried in so much trash I couldn't reach my mouse with a team of archeologists... which is making DOOM Eternal very clunky... Swap?
(just for the record, the Catacombs connect to two areas, and the area that isn't the best in the game happens to be the worst area of the game. You'll be able to tell which one you found pretty much right away after entering the zone)
Funny enough I was going through exactly the same thing, during this whole COVID-19/Corona thing I decided to play through Ninja gaiden: Black and Ninja gaiden 2, and ace combat 7 :) I think it's a way to keep our brain busy and keep us from from burning out from lack of impulses.
Hey, really hope you're all doing ok right now. Got a bunch more stuff in the works to keep you occupied during this weird, weird time. I really hope you enjoy it. If you want, you can really help me keep making videos by heading to patreon.com/writingongames for various perks (including early access to another video going up in about a week) but obviously make sure you're all good first. For now, keep washing those hands! We'll get through this eventually!
This is an interesting concept! But I did finish the entirety of SEKIRO in about 2 weeks, and that is the only FROMSOFTWARE game I've finished. Keep up the good work!
Doom Eternal reinvigorated my passion to work harder.
Something I want to say about Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing is that, all memes aside, the two are perfect companion games. One is extremely intense, violent, fast and absolutely brutal, after each level I need a break, it's like a dose of adrenaline right in the vein, while the other is very cute, comfy and relaxing. When you get tired of Doom, you go to AC. When you're done with AC, you can go have a blast in Eternal. The two franchises were destined to be friends truly.
It's funny how two games that could hardly be more different from each other have a surprisingly big overlap between audiences. Granted, it's being blown up by the memes, but I find a lot of people who share your sentiment: having a good relaxation time on your little island, and whenever the peace becomes suffocating or boring, rip and tear across the screen!
Somebody put it into words! I've felt this feeling all the way back in 2016. THANK YOU!
Very elegant deduction, makes a lot of sense
"One is extremely intense, violent, fast and absolutely brutal, after each level I need a break, it's like a dose of adrenaline right in the vein..." and the other is Doom Eternal
@@michaelarcher4445 lmao
Dark Souls REALLY helped me through a bad part of my life, I agree.
Stg every time there are intense feelings it’s a new play through
When I was 17 y/o I suddenly got daily panic attacks, depression and a really bad agoraphobia which forced me stay at home for a long time, quitting school, losing friends, losing the will to live, etc. One of the very few things that really helped me was playing Dark Souls. The game in a way taught me to confront my fears, to get some sort of achievement and satisfaction and to be "brave". It sounds so stupid to say out loud, but it really is true. I got a Dark Souls tattoo for that reason, this dark game helped me through a dark time in my life and when people keep asking me what my tattoo "means" I do not know what to say to them or how to explain it. This video explains it perfectly though and right now I am really glad to see that other people have that same experience. Thank you for this video.
\[T]/
You should watch NakeyJakeys video about Dark Souls too, I think it'll bring a smile to your face
\[T]/
reminds me when I watched total biscut's video on god hand and he said, that the game sets you up as the world's greatest fighter, you just have to prove it. and I remember that line really stuck with me because when I played god hand I was very depressed and going through the game, and struggling with the bosses made me feel something. and at that time I kinda forgot how feelings felt. god hand really made me feel like the world's greatest
Same here with me and Dark Souls! Fond times with an old friend.
Hey hey Ido
@@IAmJeenyuss I feel that
@@simpiusmaximus4962 hey hey kittiwin
I like to equate depression to the final boss, and you're the protagonist with a shovel and rusty shotgun set off on a quest to acquire enough gear to finally face off the final boss. You're the underdog against powers bigger than you, but you'll have to face them if you want to win.
Hamish. Can we hang out more?
Maybe by the end of the year *_; P_*
What is this? A Crossover episode?
My friend, more famously known as "the guy I hang out with"
@@zoltankotolacsi6892 no that happened yesterday
Writing on Games you absolute legend
Playing a souls/fromsoft games almost feel like meditating to me. Especially when fighting difficult bosses. You have to keep your mind clear and focused, get rid of intrusive thoughts. Any worries you have in real life was set aside for that five to ten minutes moment when all you need to think about is anticipating the enemy movements. And when you finally won, it's actually felt refreshing and rewarding.
That's pretty much how I feel when playing touhou games, but instead of it lasting for 10 minutes it lasts for between 30 minutes and an hour. I wish I'd found out about touhou at the start of quarantine, instead of months later.
Earlier this year a friend of mine attempted suicide and I intervened in time to stop it, was broken up with, and lost a publishing deal all within the span of two weeks. Afterwards I had flashbacks, couldn't sleep, and in general was in a bad way. However, I found solace in horror and action films/games. When I talked to a therapist and told them this, they said it wasn't good for me and instead I should focus on the grounding techniques on their worksheet when my heart started racing, and while those work, I think the best way to ground myself is to immerse myself into a flow state of a game. Everyone's body is different, but I genuinely have to attest to the effectiveness of punishing games when life is punishing to you. Because at least that punishing is fair, which is the magic circle that separates games from reality.
Damn dude I hope you're doing well.
@@iangaskins3843 doing better, obviously being let go from my job and being in quarantine isn't great, but it's given me some time to work on my games which is cathartic.
@@StevenHarmonGames There'll be other jobs. Staying healthy and positive is the most important thing.
Take care man and things will get better. Games help with escapism but also giving people a sense of achievement when they overcome a challenge in a game.
Nioh 2 and Doom: Eternal have absolutely been hitting this spot over the last few weeks, and you nailed exactly why.
The regiment, routine and work it takes to actually get anywhere is offering a real sense of order and achievement in a time where I have no idea what day it is.
Love you, you absolute man
My relationship of 4 years just ended. And in the time of a pandemic, I feel so incredibly alone and isolated. The first time I felt marginally better was when I picked up sekiro. It was on my waiting list for a long time but never got around playing it. getting into it was really difficult, but I feel better and better. Though less terrible would describe it better... Overcoming a tangible challenge helps me a lot, even though the situation is so fucked up currently. Get subject matter and very accurate!
I am with you on this. I used to play Dead Space before my professional exams (only in breaks from study, of course). I believe the very clear fear experienced there (including eventually playing it on the hardest difficulty) helped to contextualise the existential fear into something that could be tackled and conquered. In a later year I played Dead Space 3, which was much less disturbing, but still effective. I would love to go back to Dead Space 2 now except sadly I don't think I have the 30+ hours I would need.
In any case thank you for this, in these times of worthless internet rubbish your good natured (and knowingly niche) point is all the more appreciated in your dependably professional format!
I actually finally started playing dark souls about a week ago. Haven't really been thinking much about my life since.
Praise the sun!
*See the title of this video*
Me: Playing NG+3 Dark Souls 3 in Quarantine.
@HicksZ34 I Got DS3 Platinum Last Week. You already finished Darkmoon's Covenant Items?
Just beat old Isshin and reached NG+3 with Kuros bell in Sekiro hell yeee
@HicksZ34 Good Luck With That. Darkmoon's Covenant Items are so annoying to get that, because Sliver Knight's Drop Rate for Those Items and It takes a long time to be summoned as Darkmoon.
@HicksZ34 Congratulations Man. It's so satisfying finally getting DS3 Platinum, after items grinding and hunting all the rings. I was thinking playing Sekiro next. But decided to go to back RE2 Remake and get all trophies i'm missing. same time, i'm getting Doom: Eternal soon and waiting for My Copy of P5R.
HicksZ34 Yeah, Gael was hard, but fun. He was a great boss to ended the DLC. Also you are not only one with huge backlog as well. (Sekiro, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Catherine: Full Body, Code Vein, DMC 5, Most Resident Evil Games, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Yakuza Zero/ Kiwami 2, Doom 2/3, Nier Automata and The Last Assassin's Creed Games from Ezio Trilogy)
Dark Souls, despite it being a meme these days, has been a perfect analogy for these confusing times. The game is certainly perilous, dark, and unflinching, but it does something most forms of media have never asked me to do: find hope and dig yourself out of this. The game is constantly pushing you down every time you try and get back up, but it really forces you to build a resolve within yourself instead of being a comforting pat on the back. Dark Souls kind of helped me to a really, really dark time. I don't wanna say I build my life around it, but it certainly helped me pick up the pieces of my life when I'd been stuck in what seemed like an endless loop of depression.
Doomslayer: "You will survive. You will energe stronger and wiser. You will conquer your fears. Your difficult moments will become your proudest moments. You will conquer!"
Doomslayer: "SAY IT!"
You: "I- I-"
Doomslayer: "SAY IT!"
You: "I will conquer."
Doomslayer: "I WILL CONQUER!"
You: "I will conquer!"
Doomslayer: "I WILL COOOOONQUER!"
You: "I WILL COOOOONQUER!"
Dark Souls got me through dark times. There was an underlying empathy with the telling of every story. Stories of grief, guilt, and loss. Each of the FromSoftware games brings something to the table that's emotionally grounded. It's just hidden behind layers of suffering and trauma. Trauma that you MUST deal with if you wish to feel profound catharsis. If you manage to persevere you come to realize:
You are not a victim. You are a survivor.
Don't you dare go hollow.
This lowkey explains my recent pang to return to Resi 4 and Dark Souls. Tight video as always Hamish 🙏 Also wishing you and your Family good health and sanity through all this 🙏
I'm playing terraria. A building game is what I'm craving nowadays.
Uhhh, been a while since my last period of sinking 100 consecutive hours into that game. Is the new update any good?
this is really helping me make sense of why I've suddenly gotten back into Doom in a big way...
In a time when we are most likely dying of Boredom in our Homes.
We tend to seek adventure and excitement, we can usually get that thrill from Intense Video Games.
I remember when I realized there was a strange link to my anxiety disorder, and my craving for games that terrify me. I really agree with the concept of it being a way to face negative emotions in a controlled environment. As far as entertainment, games are the only source of fear that hit close enough to home to actually make me feel anything.
For some reason right now, I find myself smashing through my backlog of Assissins Creed games. Going back to work on Monday and the anxiety has been eating away at me after 2 weeks off. Wish me luck :P
Never really thought of playing Darks Souls-hard games during this time. Maybe I should put that into practice, but I'm already too invested with Doom Eternal now
I'm getting trashed by marauders on UV
@HicksZ34 I finished brutal doom doom 2 on UV leading up to eternal. The icon of sin took me a week but I'll take him over the marauders any day.
It's so interesting to see this.
I've been playing Mount & Blade, Doom II on a higher difficulty, and finally making another attempt at beating my childhood nemesis Resident Evil 4's "Professional" mode during this time.
Most of the time I always look for ways to relax and conserve energy but not now. Because just recently I finally had the energy to go out and try getting a job (finally getting out of what I didn't even realize could be called a depression I'd been in for about four years) and then this pandemic happened and loads of people are being fired which naturally means most employers aren't even looking to hire right now and won't be for a good while, plus making it unwise to go to work for most places in general. So I've started seeking out outright difficult things to conquer so I can maintain this feeling like I can ACTUALLY accomplish something.
I can definitely say the promising progress I've made in RE4 has helped me tons with this. It genuinely has me feeling good and capable in a way I haven't in a while. (Mount & Blade can still suck a dick tho)
(For those who don't know, "professional" mode is dastardly enough you can end up without enough items to continue the game, and as a result negate several hours of work, _or_ an entire playthrough if you have limited save space - as I so happen to xD)
All aboard the pain train, bby~
Ha, ha Krauser's QTE are quite hard on RE4's professional mode. I do enjoy a good Pro mode run though. I know what it's like to find the energy to get out there again. It's a good feeling.
I’ve been playing through the entirety of the Dark Souls games since I went into quarantine for two weeks and then was laid off. My partner didn’t quite get why I was playing so many video games. But dealing with a hard thing that I know I can and will get through given the time is therapeutic. Gonna see if she’s interested in watching this video!
I really connected with this video, largely because roguelikes are the genre I turn to most when I am feeling anxious or stressed, which seems a bit paradoxical. However, when playing these initially brutally hard games you slowly start to get better, and I find that process really meditative and inspiring. Speeding through the first areas of Spelunky is really cathartic once you get good enough to anticipate anything the game has to throw at you. Going back to roguelikes, it gives me a space where I have meticulously grasped these systems and getting to go back and exercise those skills to conquer challenges is honestly really relaxing. I saw that you used footage of FTL, and I wish you luck as you try to beat that game, it can be quite brutal at times. Great video!
Funny how this quarantine has been both a blessing and a curse for me. I broke up with my ex two weeks ago, I'm feeling lonely and demotivated, and I wanted to see new people and I can't, I wan to to get out make out and try to forget, now here's the catch I work in the same place as her and keeping my distance is a good thing right now, so I find my self playing more with my friends and working more to escape (home office), so games and friends are helping a bunch, on one hand I can't socialize and alleviate the frustration on the other I am keeping my distance from what is causing that, if the quarantine wasn't a thing I would be forced to see someone who doesn't love me anymore and that would stress me and hurt me a lot. Funny how life works sometimes.
Yeah, it helps to count our blessings especially during times like this.
In a game (unlike in RL) I KNOW that the challenge ahead of me is beatable, no matter how often I fail. That gives me a feeling of control, a perspective. And beating difficult games gives me the feeling that I'm good at what I am doing.
This idea definitely has merit, there is a natural dichotomy between acute and chronic stressors in loads of life's areas (like physical stress from exercise or mental stress due to a test at school) that allow you to grow/benefit rather than let it mess you up in the long run
Subscribed!
In my psychology class, I teach a similar, if not identical concept that just needs expanded to gaming. It's called 'emotional voyeurism'. It's more related to why people are drawn to sad songs/movies and we love to share fearful experiences- telling scary stories and horror films. It's a way to, in a controlled format, experience emotions we typically deem negative or would want to avoid. This theoretically serves both a bonding and evolutionary survival purposes.
An exceptional video that has truly released at the most appropriate time. The catharsis of beating a hard game (or beating someone in a fighting game) has probably allowed me to function during times where i find it hard to.
My theory is that we are craving for experiences which are opposite to our daily activities. With our normal busy lives, when we reach our home we are often tired and we just want to relax instead of facing more challenges, however during these times we are lacking that challenge in real life, therefore we tend to look for it in virtual worlds. We need to feel that sense of accomplishment that is lacking in other areas and difficult games are a perfect medium for it.
Totally get what you mean here; I started Ruiner yesterday and I’m absolutely thriving off the face-melting speed it runs at - and the resulting wired feeling!
I used to work an incredibly shitty stressful job where I hated my bosses and the customers. DOOM was the best outlet for or the days rage I built up. The mix of aggression and speed would no shit be so satisfying after a long stressful day
I’m all about Nioh 2 right now, and the scale of the challenge is _exactly_ what I need at this time. The density of the systems... I needed this
Thank you Hamish. I find your point of view/analysis as interesting as whenever I find time to watch your vids, but this one was comforting and helped me put into... well thoughts of why I have been throwing myself into the brick walls of difficult video games lately. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
Dark Souls 3 recently helped me a lot and I never thought in my life that I would be able to complete the full game + DLC
I'm writing a magazine about Dark souls and animal crossing in relation to mental health and the current situation for art school. This video helped me find some words for things I'm trying to say and it was a great video, thank you
I do the same sort of thing with games like this, but probably for different reasons. It's more with intense games, rather than specifically hard ones, although that obviously has a lot of overlap. These games demand such total focus for extended periods of time, it simply forces you to take your mind off anything that might be dragging you down. If an intense game is good enough to grab your attention like that, it holds on to it with a vice-like grip. I think there's also the element that the problems these games present you with tend to be very clearly communicated, and practically doable. It may be very fast and very hard, but it's not difficult to understand that you need to kill the bad guys before they kill you, avoid their attacks, etc. And of course these games are designed to make doing to as satisfying as possible too. So you have clear, consistent goals that provide a good emotional payoff as well. It makes committing to what these games are asking from you actually feel like it's worth the effort.
This’ll explain why I never liked dark souls before and could never get into it but after a pretty intense breakup and low time last year I got through the whole trilogy and have platinumed dark souls one. Taught me a lot about the joy of just seeing the sun again, something I think that was also covered on this channel. Taught me to not give up. It felt like therapy to conquer something like that
What an excellent piece. I would lie if I said I did not relate to what you were alluding to in regards to stressing games somehow helping to cope during depressive episodes.
For me it's all about that focus. Something I can put my whole mind into and get into that flow state.
Focus. And flow.
Sure that effect you mentioned on horror films may be on the nose, but the way you talked reminded of focused attention and the state of flow; When someone is at a state of flow the brain super-focus blacking out most if not everything else and its highly enjoyable- its directly related to how familiar we are to something, like muscle memory, as well as how said thing challenges us be it on a high or low level of conscience... and in games reserch has show its directly related to difficulty, some goldlocks zone between hard enought its challenging but not too hard it pushs us away. Its why when we watch esport gamers faces they seem transfixated... and some game design patterns are great at making people meet that zone (like souls-like games, competitive games with good elo matching and racing...
Why i think thats the main reason? It blocks everything else out. While i watch something or play games that are too easy (heck even some competitive games i good at when badly matched) i notice how i keep thinking and musing about other stuff. When im in a competitive match on my elo or nearly beating a hard boss? I can`t even tell if its day or night.
I would compare it to one of the benefits of meditation (wich btw the flow state is compared to). They are interestingly oposites but similar- both puts our brainwaves in the extremes, meditation goes low, flow goes high- our brains love these extremes and the one thing similar is how it blocks out other toughts, worries and everything else. They`re both anti-noise and put our minds at ease.
Id also guess the flow may be the best antidote to quarantine, since unlike meditation its about doing something. The worse of quarantine is how we`re stuck without doing things, so putting our brains into its highest gear is literally the most intense brain workout possible.
To test the theory: try playing some rythm games to compare. Thumper, hexagon, audio surf, theres a bunch of others. Some you may need to adjust difficulty, but thumper is hard enough it will quickly demand your focus. I bet you will feel the same, and theres nothing horror-like, dreadful or punishing in themes like the examples you gave. I know you talked about difficulty as a whole but the examples in the video hint as if the themes necessirily would be dreadful as well
Yeah, it's like a form of Mushin aka mind without mind or "flow state" that meditators and martial arts try to get into.
At about 3:25 where you were talking about hard games/horror films as a form of exposure therapy. That reminds me of what a lot of metal fans describe with music, a sense of catharsis for negative emotions evoked by the music.
I do think there's some weight to that argument.
I'll be completely honest. I had a really bad bout of depression in 2018 (moved far away from family, didn't really have any real friends yet), Bloodborne almost singlehandedly helped me keep my head up. The minimal cracks in the "insurmountable wall" of a soulsbourne game is cathartic to me, and it helped me see the small victories in each day again.
This is similar to why I enjoy bullet hell games. It both paradoxically requires intense focus to dodge individual bullets, but it also requires me to almost unfocus my attention in order to grasp the larger patterns and to identify their gaps. It ultimately becomes strangely mediative where it feels like you're only making tiny adjustments at a time to find that pocket of Zen while hell is raining down around you, and I've found it has second order benefits in real life to help me remain calm and composed under pressure.
I'm at the point in my life where all I can do is manically life at how terrible my look has been since even b4 the year started so naturally some RIP & TEAR is therapeutic
Shibata Katsuie: Allow me to introduce myself.
Well, seeing how the current crap put me out of work, I use the time and frustration to get better at fighting games. And while it's not that significant, I feel like a lot of the more niche ones have been somewhat more active since the chaos began, which is always appreciated, even for the ones I don't like. It keeps communities together, and we're in dire need of healthy communties right now...
Keep up the good work and thanks for what you do Hamish!
Playing difficult games is some difficult task I am finally able to get done in my difficult life. That feels satisfying.
TOTALLY hit the nail on the head here. I’ve been wondering why animal crossing isn’t seeming as satisfying as I want it to. I started the Witcher 3 before this release and I find myself going back to it more and more. It’s like it feels better to fight through the anxiety.
Great video and some really important points.
Also, SnakeyBus is out on consoles now.
Stay safe.
At the end of the day, when it comes to playing these kind of games (or pretty much any other for that matter) to inspire us in these troubling times, it all boils down to Konrad's immortal words in Spec Ops: The Line:
*"The truth, is, that you're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: a hero."*
I can definitely understand this. I picked up the remaster of Resident Evil 2 a little while ago and have been slowly making my way through the game despite the fact that usually i cannot deal with horror/tension. It was a cathartic experience to start off scared and confused and by the end having no fear and feeling like I've learnt the games tricks.
This was superb. I appreciate the point about controlled exposure to negative emotions. I play games for escapism, there's great catharsis in having problems you can stab until they go away
For me I’m been trying to finish long open world games that I haven’t completed yet, right now I’m bouncing between Assassins Cree odyssey and read dead 2. I find these game offer the ability to go “outside” but also their length gives me something to container to look forward without the stress of trying to bing them. I can take my time and enjoy each moment better then when they released.
Each time I watch a video of yours I expect an informative, well thought-out, and well put-together piece, and each time you manage to surpass my expectations. You summed up this weird situation of ours perfectly!
I recently started playing Pathologic, and while it's difficult in a very different way than something like Doom, being much more slow-paced and evoking more of a feeling of omnipresent dread than acute stress, I think there may be something similar going on. What I like about it is that I'm forced to learn about the various systems in the game in order to not die. While in other games I might only engage with shopkeepers to sell all my loot and maybe buy a cool item, in Pathologic, I have to learn which people to trade with in order to obtain which items most cheaply. It kind of feels like the entire game is fighting against me, and I have to find and exploit every trick I can in order to beat it.
I highly recommend Half-Life: Alyx along similar lines. Surviving a ton of horrible life-sized monsters in a quarantine zone, and also Jeff was extremely good for me.
Thank you for your Niohman.
I've played through the entire game and started to get desensitized to much of the initial horror (not a gripe against the game, as this is expected), but in my last play session on my second playthrough, I got the every loving crap scared out of me from just a zombie being around a corner I thought was cleared. A threat looking like it exists right in front of you cannot be understated. I know it's not a game everyone can experience, but it is legitimately the most fear I've ever felt in any game, and second place probably isn't even close if I'm being honest.
When I'm really stressed/panicking I need something that keeps my entire brain engaged, because otherwise I'll keep spiraling. Bloodborne and sekiro did that for me. Got the plat for both
I played DOOM Eternal on Ultra Violence, despite not being great at FPS, and while it was tough, it was immensely rewarding. I could tell I was much more alert and tense while playing then I've been otherwise so it kind of felt nice. It definitely took my mind off the current situation whenever I was playing.
1:58 nice transition there boyo
Thanks for making this! Hope you are doing okay in these strange times
Reminds me of how I used to always watch Supernatural when I was depressed. It didn’t help, it wasn’t supposed to help. If anything, I was indulging in my own depression. Eventually I came to terms with the fact I had depression and would have to learn to live with it. You can’t address an issue you can’t face, can’t make peace with a foe you don’t know.
Current circumstances aside, I think another reason that you're enjoying Nioh 2 more than the first game is because it's - I would argue - a better game overall. I played both games back-to-back and thought 2 was a big step up, particularly with the boss battles.
I wish I felt this way about hard games right now. Dark Souls helped me cope when my Dad died but right now I cannot touch it because I feel too anxious. Animal Crossing though, a game I found boring and tedious in the past, now has an insane appeal to me
That’s a big part of why I’m playing pubg again. Short cycles of intense fear and dread that simultaneously remind me that I can have control over what happens to me (when I hunt) and that sometimes shit just happens (what I get shot from halfway across the map by a 12 year old) Helps to make the constant low level anxiety about the world a bit smaller.
Right now Nioh 2 is, to my own surprise, apparently exactly what I need right now. It just forces me to focus and rewards me when I'm able to overcome the next difficulty. Not much time to think about other things while doing it.
Doom Eternal on Nightmare is... whew, quite something in terms of intensity, but when you got through a difficult encounter, with the music dying down, on your HUD most likely flashing "Low Health" and "Low Ammo", you felt like a God.. until it threw even more at you next encounter lol.
i was slaying in Sekiro without effort even when everyone was shouting how hard it is, it made me feel good, nice vid
Thank you for this right now Im playing Nioh 2 and loving every moment of it..for about two and half hard games mostly what people would call souls-likes is how I deal with my less than desirable life its not bad but not great and more often it feels like my fault I work long hours(night shift) at a warehouse live in a very rural part of the south in an old broken down trailer on a bit of land my father left me and trying to support my partner(animal crossing is their thing I dont really use the switch),our cats and myself I have no real skills to speak of and I would like to fix up our place and land but I really don't know how to start,but since I first played Bloodborne my first game after not gaming for like five years really it got me hooked on "souls-likes" it was hard but rewarding and the community was vast I have trouble making connections with others partiality because I have a speech impediment and I also have a lot just general anxiety but though playing and watching youtubers play the same game that Im playing and knowing that I struggled and overcome with them gives me a since of belonging and I know this sounds a bit pathetic but felt the need to share anyway.
I got my ps4 back home after almost 5 weeks without leaving the house, the operating system was fucked so i had to reinstall it and now im making my way through Lordran once more as all my saves are gone
That's why I am subscribed to this channel.
Beautiful piece, weirdly, even though, I started to have more time I only played SW: Fallen Order, but added more workout to my routine and started drawing again (for the third time).
Too Young to Die: Here take this gun and have fun :D
Ultra-Nightmare: If he dies, he dies.
Because of this video, I broke out Resident Evil 4, and it has been very therapeutic.
Modern Warfare 2 Remastered just came out and I’m keeping my fingers active by trying to beat the practice course best time for a trophy and also beating it on the hardest difficulty
I tired to distract myself with something cheery in my backlog. However, I was dissatisfied with playing Katamari Forever partly because it doesn't feel as fun as the first two games but maybe because it doesn't have anything profound to say. I switched over to Nier: Automata and I've become very engrossed with it despite the heavy dark themes.
i was stuck on the first boss in nioh 1 for 6 months
i was playing Vanquish & Mega Man X but gave up on the last boss in both (someday...). gonna buy Doom Eternal soon!
I just bought a PS4 A few months ago and now that I have all this spare time I’ve finally come around to playing bloodborne. So far I’ve been really enjoying it but still have a little bit of trouble of getting out of that dark souls mentality.
Thanks for this video, it helped me a great deal. I never managed to complete Return to Castle Wolfenstein, I was too scared of the catacombs and crypt levels because of those undead monstrosities. I am now conquering it as I write this comment. I just keep failing at it, but I managed to get in without fear. I am still not able to complete the game, but that's because they always eat me. Or I toss a grenade at myself. Or the Indiana Jones-esque booby traps get me.
Thank you for this video! Thanks for your time and your work :D
I found this existentialy validating.
Bonus points for those Ace Combat clips ❤️
Gonna go see if I can finally beat getting over it.
Excellent work sir. An important bit of humanity in hard times.
Welcome to the hard games clubs, its gonna hurt and you're gonna love every second of it.
Me personally I find myself gravitating to easier games, playing 6-8 hours of dark souls or doom on nightmare level is leaving me empty.
Usually I can afford playing 2-3 hours a day at most, I prefer games that give me the feeling of success. But now, I doing all the easy games I said I have limited time for them.
I think what happens is you have more time and thus trying something new.
Before the pandemic I was progressing through Final Fantasy XIV's current Savage raid tier. I still am and thats provided some sense of normalcy. I helps to have this really hard content to master that you have to focus on 100%. Though I am playing Animal Crossing on the side so it helps to have a game for each mood lol.
I feel the same way with Hollow Knight.
(Go ahead. Laugh.)
It beats my ass, but I get just a touch farther each time. Or after a few times.
(Okay, I ragequit a lot, but still I get a little better, and that helps.)
Thank you for doing what you do. Stay safe.
I mean, its no secret that Hollow Knight is hard as balls, there's no shame in that!
There is a lot of different games that can calm us. I like FH3 and 4, if I want something slower ETS2 is great.
For harder or a intense experiences for me at least they are good to release stress that build up over time or they are at lest for me.
As the (proper not like ea defined it) sense of pride and accomplishment are great means of stress relief
Stay healthy
And keep enjoying gaming
Have a nice time gaming!
best 'Rip and Tear' use to date, well done
I have to say though, the benefits come from well made games, well designed and at least well coded. But before anything, I need to disclaim a caveat. I am trained in software development and I do have a degree on game development (software, design, art, blah blah blah, at least the basics on pretty much everything). So my bar is a bit higher than most people, as it usually is for people who understand a craft is made. With that out of the way, lemme continue.
Things that kill any cathartic power a game has to me are things like getting killed because the camera decides to be shite and the edge cases were polished with coarse sand paper. When the AI works not "randomly, but by design", but because it can glitch and get stuck unpredictably. W
If you want play something that really stresses you out, challenges you and is topical in regard to this whole pandemic thing, then please check out Pathologic 2.
This video is phenomenal. Well said.
>anxiety
that nioh face is what gives me anxiety
Another great video, keep it up!
I think part of what makes doom such good escapism is how much of a power fantasy it is, the game is challenging but it feels so good to overcome you feel like a god.
I do not have a controller, which made playing DS3 very clunky with mouse and keyboard - I killed Abyss Watcher using Uchigatana and went into Catacombs of Carthus and that was my last stop.
I liked the game, but it was so weird moving, camera movement was pretty bad, I had a hard time making my character run and do run stabs, etc.
I also saw that many other soulslike titles are made with controllers in mind. I also have a potato PC (can't run DS3 on more than mid- settings, or for example can't run BDO at all).
But, maybe there are titles that I can run and can play with mouse and keyboard without being crippled. Any ideas? :) I really want more challenging games (I play(ed) lots of LoL and Counterstrike series with competitive mindset but I would like to try something offline).
I played through DS3 using keyboard+mouse on my first playthrough, and I actually had to replace that mouse midway through the playthrough (around the Cathedral of the Deep)... I'd pressed the right mouse button so intensely holding my shield up as I slowly inched around corners full of fear, that I actually broke it. You've gotten further than me without breaking anything, so good job! :3 (If you feel like giving DS3 another go sometime - which you totally should, because the area after the catacombs is the best in the entire game - you should start off by buying a Mace from the shrine handmaiden, it knocks most skeleton enemies apart and makes them much less of a threat)
And I do have a controller but my desk is buried in so much trash I couldn't reach my mouse with a team of archeologists... which is making DOOM Eternal very clunky...
Swap?
(just for the record, the Catacombs connect to two areas, and the area that isn't the best in the game happens to be the worst area of the game. You'll be able to tell which one you found pretty much right away after entering the zone)
This is why a power fantasy can be a good thing
Funny enough I was going through exactly the same thing, during this whole COVID-19/Corona thing I decided to play through Ninja gaiden: Black and Ninja gaiden 2, and ace combat 7 :)
I think it's a way to keep our brain busy and keep us from from burning out from lack of impulses.