FromSoftware is known for its challenging games. Demon Souls, Bloodborne, and the Dark Souls series have developed reputations among the video game media and players as sometimes difficult, often frustrating, purposefully obtuse, yet ultimately rewarding games. In 2019 the developer released Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, an action adventure game set in a fictionalized version of feudal Japan, eschewing the European fantasy and horror tropes and settings of the previous games from FromSoftware. Sekiro provides new twists on the studio’s formula of action-adventure games. For the first time, players could jump and grapple, and the narrative was told in a more straightforward narrative style instead of relying on contextual and environmental storytelling.
Shortly after the release of the game, a discussion in video gaming media began, focusing on the lack of choice for players that wanted a more accessible version of the game from both a difficulty and a disability perspective. This debate largely focused on whether this game should have shipped with, or patched in, an easier version of the game, an “easy mode”. Those in favor argued that this would expand the game’s audience. Others felt this backlash contradicted the developer’s stated resistance to changeable difficulty modes.
The study proposed here will be a qualitative framing analysis of articles containing the phrase “Sekiro easy mode” posted after March 17, 2019. The research question at hand is: What were the frames used to argue for against the inclusion of an “Easy Mode” in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice? The number and exact nature of frames will continue to evolve and become evident as analysis continues. A preliminary analysis indicated possible frames centered around the loop of frustration/satisfaction in the game’s combat and mechanics, accessibility, games as art, and modding.
About the presenterAlexander R Jenkins
Alexander Jenkins received his Ph.D. in Communication, Culture, and Media from Drexel University. His research interests center on digital games and digital game players. He examines how players experienced mood and emotion in digital games, the relationship between morality and gameplay, and gaming media and paratext. He is an Assistant Teaching Professor in Communication and a member of the Communication, Culture, and Media Graduate Faculty at Drexel University.