A couple of years ago, I was sitting with a group of other adults at a dinner table. In the middle of a lively discussion, a mother mentioned her frustration with one of her teenage sons playing video games. As I was listening, I thought about the many preconceived notions this mother had in relation to gaming. Unsurprisingly, her understanding was primarily limited to the existence of first-person shooters (FPS). She didn’t seem to grasp the point of it all. So as she went on to voice her concerns about how video games are responsible for this and that, I was thinking to myself: Well, occasionally I enjoy them too. But tonight, I’ll keep that to myself.
Personally, I don’t like first-person perspective games (excluding VR which I haven’t experienced yet). And I couldn’t care less about shooters. At least not in the first-person perspective. I did, however, tremendously enjoy a game called Control, which would probably qualify as a third-person shooter. Exceptions and such, I guess.
As someone who revels in all kinds of different activities, gaming seems to be the one that’s stigmatized the most. In my circles, that is. It’s a bit of shame, really. Especially since, by now, we have as many genres, sub-categories and so on as there are different tastes among the people who like to play the occasional (video) game. Board games are cool too, of course. But I haven’t heard people complaining about those so I’ll leave them aside.
While there are different reasons for playing video games, mine are fairly straightforward: fun, relaxation, and challenge — all wrapped into a strictly offline, almost always single player affair. For example, a game like Rayman Legends is a pure pleasure (with couch co-op being acceptable as well). On the other hand, games like The Pedestrian, Tetrobot and Co, or Dragon Quest Builders 2 are perfect to chill. In the middle: Death Stranding with long stretches of tranquility peppered with occasional moments of stress and confusion (after a while, I stopped following that story). Then, there are the rather challenging ones such as those already mentioned on my website: Sekiro (as of this writing still my favorite game) and Nine Sols. Since I’m no teenager anymore with super-human reflexes, I like to jokingly refer to such games as my routine to prevent arthritis of the hands. However, sometimes I wonder whether I have it backward and they may, in fact, end up being the cause for it. Regardless, I love playing them.
Now, when it comes to dealing with the difficulty in these games, there are a lot of opinions out there. From players voicing their frustrations to those giving advice that couldn’t be more helpful, expressed in two simple words: git gud.
Personally, I like to take a different approach. You see, being able to beat a difficult game isn’t anything particularly newsworthy. Nor would I be impressed or inspired by someone who takes pride in such an achievement. At best, it makes for an entertaining documentary film, at worst it comes of as obnoxious. To me, at least. Instead, I find value in learning how to be patient, to remain extremely focused, and to forget the fact that I’ll be spending hours appearing like a bumbling, young looking old person with a controller in my hands. In other words, I simply focus on enjoying the challenge — because a well-designed challenge keeps me coming back.
This brings me to the inspiration for this piece: the final boss in Nine Sols, Eigong. One of the aspects I enjoy the most in a game like Nine Sols is that its difficulty is still manageable at my current dexterity levels. However, Eigong made me seriously question whether I might be lacking in other departments.
The thing is, not unlike other players, I feel a sense of joy after overcoming what (at first) appears to be an insurmountable challenge. A good example is another boss in Nine Sols: Lady Ethereal. As of this writing, she delivers my favorite boss fight of the game (could’ve been Eigong, but more on that later). She has three phases with the first one simply being a warm-up during which the player gets an overview of the different attacks she’ll end up chaining together in subsequent phases. In a nutshell: the entire fight is pretty much a dance that gets faster and more intricate. And once I ended that dance, I was eager to repeat it because, as I wrote: a good challenge keeps me coming back for more. This leads me to the other side of the coin: frustration.
The line between a challenge that feels frustrating and one that comes with a sense of personal accomplishment is both subjective and paper-thin. In other words, I can absolutely relate to someone experiencing the Lady Ethereal boss fight as nothing but a pointless exercise in frustration. Sometimes, the challenge just doesn’t click — and no, it ain’t a simple case of git gud. Case in point: while seasoned Hollow Knight players might sweep through a boss fight like the one against Nightmare King Grimm, I couldn’t be bothered anymore to practice beating that fucker. I felt my time was better spent going for a walk in nature or, as the kids like to say these days: touching grass. In this particular case, I’m perfectly alright as someone who’s just not able to git gud enough.
Then, between Lady Ethereal and Nightmare King Grimm, there is Eigong. For me, at least. Your mileage may obviously vary. Eigong, being the last boss in Nine Sols, has either two or three phases depending on how we play the game. Personally, I have completed the game four times: once the normal ending in normal mode (two-phase Eigong), once in story mode (to chill and collect the one missing thing during the first playthrough), and twice the true ending (three-phase Eigong) in normal mode.
Unlike other bosses like Lady Etheral, beating three-phase Eigong for the first time just didn’t feel exciting. Instead, I felt lucky surviving long enough to somewhat miraculously land the final blow. No matter how hard I tried to focus, I could not follow these moves. Nothing to do with my dexterity. Just…my focus? So in a way, I did beat Eigong like I completed that dance with Lady Ethereal, but instead of an elegant set of moves I was simply stumbling over the finishing line. Way to go! Well, that’s probably why it felt more like giving up the fight against Nightmare King Grimm. Time to go touch more grass.
The decision to face three-phase Eigong for a second time was simply motivated by curiosity. Would I ever be able to come out on top again? I mean, putting so much effort into practicing the moves with laser-like focus on an elusive Eigong during the third phase only to end up dissatisfied with the victory? That just didn’t sit well with me. What I did enjoy, however, were the first two phases. And if the encounter ended after those two phases, she would’ve been my favorite boss in the game. At the same time, I think I can see why the developers added a third phase: the first two phases might feel like there’s something missing for a true final boss when compared to some other bosses in the game. Because when it clicks, dancing with Eigong turns into a breeze. At least for some players. That being said, even after making it through the third phase for a second time, the only clicking sound during that final stage was probably my clumsy attempt to tap dance through the fight. In other words, without more practice, third-phase Eigong remains out of my league…
With all that in mind, a video game that speaks to us is no different than a book, a song, a movie, or a walk in nature — taking into consideration that some of us simply don’t like to play (the same games), read (the same words), listen (to the same sounds), watch (the same films), or move (at the same speed in the same direction). And while I cannot speak for others, I probably should’ve spoken out at that dinner table. Could’ve told this mother that, like with everything else, the dose makes the poison; that video games themselves are not the issue, but rather how we approach them. Again, just like everything else. Besides, for those of us with a busy mind, video games are just another item among a plethora of tools to channel our thoughts, to have fun, to relax, or to remain hyper-focused for longer periods at a time.
Finally, while my curiosity to find out whether I can beat third-phase Eigong for a second time wasn’t rewarded with a proper sense of (video game) accomplishment, it at least killed the damn cat!