Why Lords of the Fallen is Better than Dark Souls II
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The editors at Noobfeed have editorialized about why they feel that City Interactive's Lords of the Fallen was the better game when compared to From Software's Dark Souls II, and since no specific platform is named, I'd have to assume they mean across the board. A sampling:
Oh, how the masses love throwing out the rhetoric of hand holding in modern games and how Dark Souls doesn't indulge in that. While that is true, it's also only half the truth. In reality, Souls games obtusely go in the opposite extreme, not saying anything anywhere. From its items to its statistics, any information is hard to come by in this game. Applying that vague roguelike trait to this RPG makes things much more confusing than they should be, given that the difficulty is purposely elevated enough as is. More so, the use of some items can be crucial to overall progress, with potential game-breaking effect upon their improper usage. Veering towards game-breaking states is never a good thing.
Perhaps even worse, this is justified under false pretenses. With that harkening back to olden days in mind, the Souls fanatic mentions that old games didn't explain how to play the game either. Yet, that had several different reasons. For example, tech limitations would severely impact what could or couldn't be said. As designs were also much simpler, there was less omission overall, so it was still possible to get a basic grasp of the whole. Older games were, logically, also not as evolved and as all processes, these things came with trials upon trials in game development. That's why lacking instructions are less present in contemporary games.
Now, in its defense, Dark Souls 2 has been more compliant with info spreading, if reluctantly as any leniency it yields. Not every small shard is a cryptic poem anymore. It still, however, tries to hold back as much as possible and that needs to stop. If the game really was about pure skill, like so many would believe, it wouldn't need to hide any descriptions. Sheer gameplay would take care of any amateurs. Players aren't studying for a test, they're sent in this nightmare world to conquer it by hand; practicality over all.
This category is won by Lords of the Fallen without much effort. It clarifies what things do, which is self-explanatory, really. Found a new item? Go into the menu and it will show exactly how this is different than the other. There's no trial and error needed, no theories pondered on what an item's effect may be, no constant fear of crippling the game by not applying the right abstract thought. Simple descriptions; that's all a game needs to do to be a better game. That's not the same as a step-by-step guide on how to beat the game. It clearly sets aside any confusion to let the gameplay do the talking. It's sort of mind-boggling that any game was able to throw a veil over that and have its crowd accept it so blindly.
