By Lo-Fi Games published a video (noticed by PC Gamer) elaborating on the intense difficulty of the open-world survival RPG, Kenshi, a stance the developer wholeheartedly supports.
In the video, the lead developer, Chris Hunt, elaborated on the reasoning behind the game’s various challenges.
“It’s not akin to Dark Souls, where you perish and restart; rather, the objective is to persevere, as that’s the essence of storytelling,” he stated.
Hunt considers misfortunes to be “the essence of narrative” and indicates that a writer’s role is to challenge their characters, but he modified this perspective to view the player as the central character.
When discussing challenging games, certain titles invariably come to mind. Dark Souls is often synonymous with “difficult game”, alongside numerous NES-era challenges. Yet, one of the most unforgiving titles of the past decade has to be Kenshi, where players might lose a limb during skirmishes and must adapt.
Despite the harrowing experiences players encounter, Kenshi is quite popular, having sold 2.3 million copies as of the previous year.
“Many games allow players to triumph,” said Hunt. “You experience ‘oh it’s a power fantasy,’ effortlessly defeating foes and prevailing… which I find incredibly dull.”
Hunt elaborated, “Any show you’ve binged and become obsessed with remains engaging because of the wild events occurring to the character.”
He also expressed disdain for the “chosen one” concept in games: “Being a chosen one is simply absurd. Furthermore, I don’t aspire to be a monarch, aristocrat, or superhero. I want to witness a narrative about an ordinary individual facing challenges,” which indeed clarifies Kenshi’s design choices.