Moments when too convenient accessibility features hurt your enjoyment of games.

[BossDumDrum]

I'd like to preface this thread with the fact that I am all for accessibility features in games, though I also admit that I am very bad at resisting the allure of using certain features to just make the game easier, or less fulfilling to myself if they are placed in such a way to be too convenient for me to not really use.

Its a tough balancing act.

My major point is actually about NSO NES and SNES games, while the ability to rewind was a feature I could appreciate for anyone who were frustrated with these games, the fact they were put on the triggers did rob me a lot of the fun of just completing the games. I would just rewind upon death, tell myself I wouldnt do that again. Rinse and repeat that in increasing number until i beat the game using rewinds to defeat all the challenges put ahead of me. Now I'm the kind of person who likes trial and error gameplay, so I in theory shouldn't mind, but I have an addictive personality, so the compulsion to rewind after failure is really strong for me.

This all changed thankfully when Nintendo implemented system button mapping, and I was able to disable the triggers function. So I had to do the game's challenge or go through the process of leaving the game and then resetting the controller inputs, etc. (An accessibility feature for the accessibility feature. Heh.)

This was mostly a thread made for this rant, but I'd like to know if there have ever been times when a game has been accessible to the point that it feels like the challenge was nulled for you.

 

[Temascos]

Automatic platforming or when you are locked onto something in a duel or something. It's meant to help but I feel it limits me and ends up killing me a lot of times in games. It took a while to adjust to Ghost Of Tsushima's duels because I got so used to the open world options that were available to me but in the boss fights you are much more limited. Thankfully you get more flexibility as time goes on in the game.

 

[kodax_shc]

Can't say I have ever been bothered by optional accessibility features.

 

[Deleted member 14377]

Can't say that I can think of any examples that were forced upon me? If they were options and I took advantage of that, then it's my fault and not the fault of game design.

I think RPGs with poor XP balancing, leaving you overleveled and taking out any bit of strategy from fights or inventory management. It's like... just make a story based game if you're gonna botch the gameplay that bad lol

 

[Transistor]

Skyrim and Oblivion with their "connect the dots" mentality just makes me enjoy them far less than Morrowind.

 

[mikhailguy]

I do think the checkpoint system in TLOU 1 + 2 are a bit too forgiving during encounters.

 

[CloudsFromSpace]

Whenever I see the existence of an easy mode in the menu, or, god forbid, subtitles and closed captioning in the options, I fly into a heedless rage and crush whatever controller I'm holding. Just thinking of all the ways that the pure, true intent of the developers were violated by these vile "accessibility" features. It makes me want to puke.

 

[Deleted member 30544]

Whenever I see the existence of an easy mode in the menu, or, god forbid, subtitles and closed captioning in the options, I fly into a heedless rage and crush whatever controller I'm holding. Just thinking of all the ways that the pure, true intent of the developers were violated by these vile "accessibility" features. It makes me want to puke.

Click to shrink...

Some of us a non native english speakers, so subtitles helps us a great deal in playing the games in their original lenguage.

Easy mode i don't care , but glad to have those options if needed.

What a shitty and embarrasing take to be honest.

But i guess that "HUR DUR HARDCORE PRO GAMERS HUR DUR" right Rambo?

 

[Chumunga64]

Some of us a non native english speakers, so subtitles helps us a great deal in playing the games in their original lenguage.

Easy mode i don't care , but glad to have those options if needed.

What a shitty and embarrasing take to be honest.

But i guess that "HUR DUR HARDCORE PRO GAMERS HUR DUR" right Rambo?

Click to shrink...

that was the most obvious sarcasm ever

 

[ultraluna]

There's never too much accessibility features on a game. The industry has evolved since the NES days, I don't really need to experience the games in a way that will frustrate me, hurt me physically (like Kid Icarus on 3DS or Monster Hunter on PSP) or simply waste my time (like a shitty checkpoint system or a game that's way too hard and I can't lower the difficulty). Don't even get me started on subtitles and localization.

 

[Deleted member 30544]

that was the most obvious sarcasm ever

Click to shrink...

ayyy LMAO

 

[CloudsFromSpace]

Some of us a non native english speakers, so subtitles helps us a great deal in playing the games in their original lenguage.

Easy mode i don't care , but glad to have those options if needed.

What a shitty and embarrasing take to be honest.

But i guess that "HUR DUR HARDCORE PRO GAMERS HUR DUR" right Rambo?

Click to shrink...

To be clear this was 100% a joke meant to mock people who get worked up about accessibility features and put "developer intent" on a pedestal. I figured that the language was absurd enough, but I guess not, so I apologize.

I'm very pro accessibility, and think that more games should have options like Celeste, where the game can be fine tuned to specific needs. I also have a lot of personal experience with the inadequacies of many PC games when it comes to compatibility with voice commands, virtual keyboards, custom keybindings, etc.

 

[Chopchop]

When your sidekick character endlessly spells out puzzle solutions to you before you even get a chance to try them yourself. Like Fi from Skyward Sword.

The Tomb Raider reboot holds your hand a little too hard sometimes. During "puzzle" sections, it makes the "reveal the answer-vision" button flash in a way that's very intrusive when you don't press it for too long because you're trying to figure it out yourself. It messages you that "a secret tomb is nearby" sometimes. It's hardly a secret when the game keeps announcing it to you.

 

[Deleted member 30544]

To be clear this was 100% a joke meant to mock people who get worked up about accessibility features and put "developer intent" on a pedestal. I figured that the language was absurd enough, but I guess not, so I apologize.

I'm very pro accessibility, and think that more games should have options like Celeste, where very the game can be fine tuned to specific needs. I also have a lot of personal experience with the inadequacies of many PC games when it comes to compatibility with voice commands, virtual keyboards, custom keybindings, etc.

Click to shrink...

NAh don't apologize that's on me. To be fair, catching sarcasm is very tricky nowdays, especially in a forum. I've been victim of that myself (people taking my sarcasm at face value) so i need to be more blatant. I legit thought you were serious LOL

 

[Bigkrev]

This is going to sound weird, but "comfort" options in VR games, such as teleportation instead of free movement, restricted viewing angles, camera resetting instead of movement are the only things in VR that ever make me feel queezy. I hate when VR games don't allow you to turn all of the comfort options off, it mkaes them harder to play

 

[weemadarthur]

Never.

Only forced tutorials, answer being given without requesting a hint, and attempts to force me to use my megalixirs even during the final boss fight, I'll decide when to use my hoard!

So basically, anything that interrupts my own button presses for system info, or that pop up and take the top window on a PC so I can no longer type until I click off it.

Guess those aren't accessibility at all, are they. Go fig.

 

[Igniz12]

Snap to target option when Im using a mouse. I cant recall which game had that but Im sure it has happened in some FPS. I might turn it on if Im lounging with a pad but if Im using mkb I wanna have full control.

Most of the time these kinds of accessibility features are optional so I can easily just turn them off but for the sake of this topic, if this was forced onto me without being able to turn it off then it would slightly ruin my enjoyment.

 

[Starlatine]

I like exploring open worlds generally but when theres a handy fast travel feature i cant control myself from using it. which is why i like hardcore modes that disable it

 

[Slamtastic]

EXP All with no option to disable it
Being healed after battles
Poison not persisting
Having Amie/Refresh/Camp to heal status and give the affection battle bonuses
PC box anywhere
Being told the effectiveness of moves with no memory required


In Pokemon.

Fast travel in games can be too much of a temptation too.

I like exploring open worlds generally but when theres a handy fast travel feature i cant control myself from using it. which is why i like hardcore modes that disable it

Click to shrink...

Same here.

 

[EggmaniMN]

If you support accessibility don't make a thread with the purpose of demonizing them and by extension the people who need them, especially very obviously following on the heels of the other thread filled with terrible people.

Being unable to control yourself doesn't make a feature bad.

I have never seen an accessibility option make a game worse unless it's something like a color blind option that was done incorrectly.

 

[Like the hat?]

Rewinding is fine, OP. same with save states. People like to act like it's done abomination but I'm a busy man. I got to the point, I could get there again. I'm just cutting out meaningless repetition.

If I can get to the end of a level but die at the end, why keep playing the part to get to the point I need to practice at?

 

[Deleted member 2620]

Wouldn't it make sense to ask more developers to include a rewind disable/lockout instead of talking about the downsides of the feature itself? Framing of the thread seems to be about the latter instead of the former.

 

[BossDumDrum]

Its cool that you all are able to control yourselves like that. I wish it was that easy for me in these moments, but eh.

Again, I'm glad these features are there for those who need it.

 

[BossDumDrum]

Wouldn't it make sense to ask more developers to include a rewind disable/lockout instead of talking about the downsides of the feature itself? Framing of the thread seems to be about the latter instead of the former.

Click to shrink...

You know. Thats actually a really good idea. Wish I thought of it like that. Most of my gripes are on the rewind feature really. (When I'm unable to disable it that is.)

 

[Magnet_Man]

In Mega Man X5, new character Alia acts as your navigator telling you about hazards and mechanics.

Against your will.

Every few steps she stops the game to hold your hand. And she tells you the most obvious information possible. You die in a pit, press up to climb a ladder, that crumbling piece of ceiling ahead will fall when you walk underneath it, HOW TO CROUCH BY PUSHING DOWN!

She made an already slow game practically stationary.

 

[Ryouji Gunblade]

Super Mario 3D Land

You use the ultimate power up they offer you and you lose out on completion.

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

The cheats on the remasters of Final Fantasy VII-IX.
You can activate invincibility which auto refills your health and fills your limit bars, just by clicking R3.
I accidentally activated it a few times. One of which was against Materia Keeper, when the fight was going poorly, and I likely would have lost.
Felt like shit, but I hadn't saved in a while, so I wasn't gonna reset the game over it, but I wasn't happy.

Button press cheats that you can't deactivate in general bug me.
Like rewind.
I don't like the temptation being there to use it if I mess up.
I'd rather they just have separate game modes where these are enabled or not.

 

[BAD]

what a wild thread title to go against accessibility options. there's no scenario where I have ever thought accessibility designs and features should be totally absent from a game due to a lack of self control. sorry. put it in the menus to enable it or disable it, but no argument to hide from accessibility for people now. plenty of people have reasonable ways they can be accommodated that people keep arguing against.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

This thread is embarrassing. How you enjoy games is on you and also if you disappoint yourself. And while I get where it's coming from along with the other thread People really need to stop = accessibility with difficulty, they are not 1:1 and while difficulty can be a part of the conversation it's not the only one and frankly it's getting to the point in this board where both sides are showing their asses.

 

[ghostemoji]

Never.

 

[Stuart Gipp]

The Tomb Raider reboot holds your hand a little too hard sometimes. During "puzzle" sections, it makes the "reveal the answer-vision" button flash in a way that's very intrusive when you don't press it for too long because you're trying to figure it out yourself. It messages you that "a secret tomb is nearby" sometimes. It's hardly a secret when the game keeps announcing it to you.

Click to shrink...

This is my pick.

 

[skillzilla81]

I have never been bothered by more people being able to play a game.

 

[knightmawk]

Ahhh, what a humorous parody thread! Thanks for the laughs!

 

[RPGam3r]

At first I laughed at this thread based on the title. No way could I think of something accessibility wise that hurt my enjoyment.

But then I remembered Luigi Assist mode in Mario Maker 2. I hated the way that was implemented even if with good intention. It was annoying and made me actively lose enjoyment of the game. I even heard my daughter yelling when it would pop up, so I know I'm not alone.

 

[bearbytes]

In Mega Man X5, new character Alia acts as your navigator telling you about hazards and mechanics.

Against your will.

Every few steps she stops the game to hold your hand. And she tells you the most obvious information possible. You die in a pit, press up to climb a ladder, that crumbling piece of ceiling ahead will fall when you walk underneath it, HOW TO CROUCH BY PUSHING DOWN!

She made an already slow game practically stationary.

Click to shrink...

Yup! In the past couple of years I've played through the first four Mega Man X games with a friend, and after finishing X4 I popped on X5 for a bit and the constant text box interruptions were super annoying. It's Mega Man, just let me run to the right and blast stuff!

 

[TheMadTitan]

This thread just serves to highlight that games need more options in general for end users to be able to adjust. One person might need the rewind function to help them get good at a game without being frustrated, someone else might see it as a cheat.

If the end user had the option to enable and disable everything, it wouldn't be an issue because people could further tailor their games to them and their needs for enjoyment.

 

[Kinsei]

Left 4 Dead 1 & 2. where the subtitles were too good. They let you know which special infected were near you before they were close enough for a player to hear. As such it was pretty much mandatory to turn them on to compete in vs mode.

Modern Pokemon games which actively take away options the series used to have in the pursuit of a more accessible experience for children.

 

[KillLaCam]

Unskippable tutorials. Just tell me the controls and let me play the game. Don't need someone to teach me how to pick up a weapon or need to know that you double jump if you press the jump button twice.

 

[Lemoncholy]

Can't say that I can think of any examples that were forced upon me? If they were options and I took advantage of that, then it's my fault and not the fault of game design.

Click to shrink...

I like exploring open worlds generally but when theres a handy fast travel feature i cant control myself from using it. which is why i like hardcore modes that disable it

Click to shrink...

Being unable to control yourself doesn't make a feature bad.

Click to shrink...

This is an interesting subject.

Sometimes accessibility features are well-defined as strictly for accessibility and ease of use, for example the rewind feature of NSO. This wasn't part of the original game and was added to make the experience easier for some. Same with the cheats in the Final Fantasy remasters.

But some of these features that people consider abusable are more like core game features, things that the developers seemed to have intended for everyone to use during general play. Fast travel in big open world games, for example. Foregoing fast travel is such an unheard of thing that you will find articles about peoples' experiences and struggles playing Skyrim that way. It's an integral part of the game's design, not something easily avoidable.

At some point, when you consider an integral part of a game to be a detriment to your experience, doesn't that leave the realm of accessibility and just become a regular game review? "I didn't like this."

You might as well call Mario's special suits in each Mario game accessibility features. Their improved movement options and extra hit you get to take before death certainly make the games easier.

If someone found a Mario game too easy, would you tell them it's their own personal failing for not being able to resist using the powerups? At what point does it become acceptable to conclude that maybe Nintendo just made the game a little too easy?

 

[Starlatine]

This is an interesting subject.

Sometimes accessibility features are well-defined as strictly for accessibility and ease of use, for example the rewind feature of NSO. This wasn't part of the original game and was added to make the experience easier for some. Same with the cheats in the Final Fantasy remasters.

But some of these features that people consider abusable are more like core game features, things that the developers seemed to have intended for everyone to use during general play. Fast travel in big open world games, for example. Foregoing fast travel is such an unheard of thing that you will find articles about peoples' experiences and struggles playing Skyrim that way. It's an integral part of the game's design, not something easily avoidable.

At some point, when you consider an integral part of a game to be a detriment to your experience, doesn't that leave the realm of accessibility and just become a regular game review? "I didn't like this."

You might as well call Mario's special suits in each Mario game accessibility features. Their improved movement options and extra hit you get to take before death certainly make the games easier.

If someone found a Mario game too easy, would you tell them it's their own personal failing for not being able to resist using the powerups? At what point does it become acceptable to conclude that maybe Nintendo just made the game a little too easy?

Click to shrink...

I don't think its bad and i'm not advocating it to be removed. Just because i cant control myself doesnt mean the feature is bad, the fault is on me. I just like when i'm "forced" to not use it and do something that i know i enjoy (walking around open worlds) without the guilt feeling of having a fast travel avaliable and "losing time".

 

[Lemoncholy]

I don't think its bad and i'm not advocating it to be removed. Just because i cant control myself doesnt mean the feature is bad, the fault is on me. I just like when i'm "forced" to not use it and do something that i know i enjoy (walking around open worlds) without the guilt feeling of having a fast travel avaliable and "losing time".

Click to shrink...

That's what I'm questioning, though. Are you really at fault when it's a core feature of the game?

Like, let's use a ridiculous example. Let's say a game has really easy boss battles. Before the boss attacks there's a loud sound cue where the boss says "I AM GOING TO HIT YOU NOW. YOU BETTER RUN TO THE LEFT BECAUSE MY FIST WON'T REACH THERE." And you do that and you win.

Is it really your fault the game was easy for taking advantage of what's plainly presented on the surface? Can people say, if you wanted challenge you really should've muted the game so you couldn't hear the sound cues?

 

[Starlatine]

That's what I'm questioning, though. Are you really at fault when it's a core feature of the game?

Click to shrink...

When its completely optional? Yeah, i'm at fault. I could just not use it. The game never forces me to fast travel, i can still walk everywhere just fine in other difficulties.

 

[K Samedi]

If a game is intuitive you really don't need all those accessibility features. A game can be hard yet if I die and I feel it's my own fault I don't mind. If the controls are frustrating or if the game isn't very good at level design then people get frustrated. Now obviously there are games that are very intuitive yet still frustrating for.a certain group but easy modes and stuff should be good enough. In case of NSO rewind, I agree. I used it a lot when replaying Mario just because I felt lazy to restart a level but you make a good point about remapping the buttons. I should try that.

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

warping dark souls 2