Where XYZ is combat, lockpicking, archery, haggling, etc etc
First of all, from an in-game lore point of view, Henry is new to all of these things. He only just started learning to hold a sword as the game started and has never done any of these other activities. These things simply take time. In my game, I’ve played for about 12 hours now, which is 14 days in in-game time. If you ask me, going from zero to where I am now in two weeks is… unrealistically fast. Why would anyone expect Henry to become good at pretty much everything so fast?
Secondly, so far, all of these things have a skill or knack to them. They all get easier for me as I learn and improve myself. Player skill. Again, why would anyone expect to become good at something in a mere 12 hours? Acquiring a new skill takes time!
For me, the challenge is important. If everything is instant gratification staemroll through the game, then it loses any sense of accomplishment. When I do finally become good enough to beat every challenge with ease, its because I worked at it, not because the game spoon fed me and held my hand. If you want that, why not just watch a movie instead? I hate games with levelled enemies because nothing is ever any more or less challenging and I never have a sense that my skill or ingenuity got me through. Remember the days when you would spend literally weeks just to get through the first level? When completing a game was super rare? Remember how much satisfaction you felt when you did eventually defeat the challenge? Games like KCD do this and its fantastic. Its immersive too.
When you approach a new obstacle, if the first thing you tried always succeeded, then you wouldn’t have to think. You wouldn’t have to try and work out a solution. I want all of the approaches to be possible, so that if I try something I failed at again later (or in a future playthrough), they should work, but the first time, its ok to be stumped, its ok to go to bed thinking about how you would possibly do it. Its ok to abort your plan and try a different approach, or to come back to it later and do something else first. That’s how you learn and grow.
It seems to me, that this is what the devs were going for. If that’s not what you’re after, then perhaps this isn’t the game for you. They’ve been pretty upfront about it, IMHO.
So, please, Warhorse, don’t ever make the game any easier. To the players complaining about the difficulty of XYZ, learn to be a bit more patient, put the practice in and get good. You’ll enjoy the game more in the long run.
