An Aside: Difficulty in STGs

Given the discourse surrounding Mark_MSX’s above video concerning STG difficulty, I felt compelled to also throw in my own two cents. I’ve embedded it below for reference:

To provide a bit of context and summarize the contents of the video, Mark argues that difficulty is a defining characteristic of the STG genre, and it is moreover one of the factors that makes them so compelling. From this point of view, he encourages newer players in the genre to challenge themselves by playing games at their arcade-default difficulty level, which he argues to be most reflective of the developer’s original creative intentions. He claims that in his experience, this is a better way to motivate newer players to commit to the genre, in contrast to the more hands-off “play what you are comfortable with” approach that is usually taken - especially when considering that most new people turn out to be “tourists” (my words) that disappear after a few months.

To Mark, the joy of experiencing these games and the magic of the finished product works better to inspire and captivate newer players, just as it did for him and so many others in the community. On the other hand, novice modes tend to “dilute” the experience and take away some of the magic that might otherwise make lifelong fans out of interested new players. Mark also acknowledges that there exist players who are content to stick with easier difficulties for a variety of reasons, whether due to necessity (physical limitations), or because they have no interest in an increased challenge. To him, it’s a completely valid view, and there’s nothing else to say about it. To those players, much of Mark’s opinions won’t and shouldn’t matter: if you’re having a good time then keep doing what you’re doing! This is something that he explicitly states throughout the video.

On the whole, it’s a nuanced viewpoint that is presented well, and it’s one that I generally agree with. It’s thus a bit surprising to me to see some of the discussion surrounding it, however, which dismisses Mark’s views as “gatekeeping” or “elitism”. I’m wondering how someone can come away from watching the video with these impressions.

From where I’m sitting, Mark gets a lot of things right. He’s interested in growing the STG community, which has an issue with retention of new players. In a lot of cases, Easy/Novice modes aren’t doing much to help with this, as they don’t typically serve to get new players deeper into the genre or its community in and of themselves. To put it another way, these modes are good for allowing newer players to experience the entirety of a game without making a hard commitment- but when getting more people to hard commit to the genre is your primary goal, it becomes obvious why this doesn’t really work.

The whole “difficulty issue” isn’t really limited to STGs- fighting game players have known for decades that making a game easier to play doesn’t translate into more fighting game players. You have to have a high quality product that can stand for itself first and foremost. Given that there are many such exemplary STGs that exist, it’s reasonable to believe that overcoming the genre’s “niche” status has more to do with exposure than game difficulty.

I think Mark hit a nerve because it’s hard to discuss how a game can be “too easy” without alienating those who relate more to the “casual” shmup enjoyer rather than the “hardcore” FULL SHMUP superplayer who has been trolling shmups.system11 for decades. However, it’s imperative to remember exactly what’s being discussed here: have easy modes helped casuals become lasting members of the community? The type of member that consistently talks in discord servers, follows/attends events, creates content, contributes to community resources, and plays the games for endless hours? Probably not. However, it’s also a LOT to ask from someone to commit in such a way, and saying “that’s NOT for me” is completely fine too!

Framing the topic in this way, I think that more people would be inclined to entertain Mark’s argument, as it eliminates any perceived judgement on one’s own skills or dedication to the genre when discussing. It’s a bit exhausting to have to start every discussion with such an exposition as I’ve written above, but it’s entirely necessary when exploring hard topics on the internet.

Anyway, that about sums up my own thoughts on the matter, as an STG casual myself.

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January 13th, 2023 by 1regretbeetle