Yesterday’s post dealt with the reality of game design, and the metaphysical idea of how some games do not necessarily predicate themselves on the notion of fun first and foremost. This might seem positively outlandish to some, or maybe even downright impossible to others, with the idea of video games firmly planted in their head as a form of entertainment. That phrasing I just used is most certainly an apt way to go about phrasing this little introspection, as entertainment itself has grown and evolved to such an abstract standard, what counts as entertaining at this point is so non-traditional, it essentially becomes amorphous, losing all meaning in the process of what the idea ends up fully encompassing.

Games have always been quite unique as a medium anyways, in that unlike most other forms of creative consumables, few others have a relevant benchmark of skill one needs to possess in order to participate. TV, movies, and music can be enjoyed passively, without any effort involved on the participant at hand, and though books do require one to have a certain reading comprehension level, audio books have helped to circumnavigate some of the treachery people have had in getting their read on, though I suppose that assessment comes with a modicum of controversy attached, as depending on your perspective of what “engaging with a book” qualifies as. Games though, very distinct entities, that will gate keep you out of content if you are not willing to put in the time to contend with their systems, and they are truly unique in that regard, in being a meritocracy of sorts, and something I touched upon recently, in my follow up of also discussing a “democratization of difficulty”, involved with the nerfing of Silksong’s level of challenge.

I digress slightly, however, with a bit of a truth bomb I’ve got to drop on you, as truth be told…I am oh-so-holy-shit kinds of exhausted today, making this current process of writing extremely difficult (speaking of challenges) to grapple with. I had a much greater desire to write a far more indepth article, detailing my continuation into the depths of The Citadel, as I make my way through the back 9 of Silksong, but my head is absolutely bumping right now, and both my energy levels and prose are taking a serious hit in terms of quality.

I joked the other day about not intending for a post to come off with the “contractual obligation vibe”, as the length of the write-up in question was tragically cut short as a result of lack of time. This unavoidable reality is rearing its ugly head once again, though as mentioned, the problem at hand is the lack of available energy reserves instead of time that betrays me. However, my desire to maintain what is a streak of about sixty days of consecutive articles has me compelled in putting some thoughts to the screen, to keep the ball rolling.

To that point: I think that nerfs or not, with some kind of rebalancing at play to level the difficulty playing field in mind, a good many people are destined to bounce off of Silksong, me thinks, as the game will likely ask too high a price of them to continue to engage with the challenge the game has to offer. After having entered The Citadel myself recently, and once again, wanting to detail that process more than my cognitive powers are allowing at the moment, I can at least truncate the thought that even *if people get to the boss that guards the entrance to The Citadel, it will likely be the resting place for many a players final moments, as in my eyes, if represents the ultimate bounce off moment for a number of reasons.

I think, fittingly, as a culmination of the design ethics involved with Act 1 of Silksong, “The Last Judge” boss represents the red flag of honesty signaling to most players that Silksong is about to get real, in ways it only teased at before, and that its pedigree as a metrodivania, is not to be outdone by its hybridizing genre sensibilities that its Soulslike DNA unabashedly grants it. Even if players *somehow do not have their spirits completely broken from the runback to the judge himself, and somehow find the patience to cultivate a strategy against the almighty skill check that is the gatekeeping reality of the judge, most will quickly realize just how emphatic the inner depths of The Citadel embody the basic truth that patience is a virtue, in regards to its traversal, and few possess the level of virtue required to find themselves safe passage.

Ultimately, Silksong is defined by its inspirations, and whether Team Cherry or the players involved want to confront the reality or not, a tortuous sense of masochism is as intrinsic to the experience as jumping is to Mario, with anything less acting as cheap imitation to the name in question.

-Pashford