In the game I’m designing, enemies must be killed in order for the game to progress. Friendly units are subjected to the same rules as every other character: if their Hit Points (HP) go down to 0, the unit dies, disappears from the playing field, and is never seen again, save for a post-game epitaph. Recently, popular Fire Emblem games give an option to players to decide whether death is permanent, or if they would rather the characters… “return from the dead.” This is generally referred to as “Casual mode”. I will explain why there will be no such mode in my game, and why the decision to even include such a choice goes against the spirit of the games, diluting the experience and breaking a fundamental rule of their design.
This rule I just mentioned could be summarized as: we are all human, and death comes to all. That is, humans are all equal in death. In this way, older Fire Emblem titles, Tear Ring Saga, Advance Wars… are all pieces of art that are trying to express an idea through its symmetric death mechanic. Enemies die when their HPs are reduced to 0, but so do your companions. Any kind of Casual mode irrevocably breaks this symmetry, and cheapens the whole experience. Death comes to your enemies, but not to your weirdly immortal friends. Death is never this asymmetric.
In this way the developers bend the rules of the game around the player in a way I can only characterize as patronizing and condescending. A game where death of a character is permanent can only be more challenging. As such, the inclusion of Casual mode is just another way to lower the difficulty, to rope in more players, to make more money. And all it took was the sacrifice of artistic integrity.
The fact that Casual mode is optional and up to the player also undermines death, the artistry and message of the game. Humans get no say in the matter of their own death. Players should not get to decide whether characters are immortal or not, in a game where dying plays such a crucial role, where the rules are clear and rarely, if ever, broken. Rare are the Fire Emblem games where characters can be revived, when characters can be revived it is a convoluted process that can only be accomplished a very limited number of times.
Giving the players the choice to break the game (with Casual mode), to skip over levels, to the game to play itself also goes against the spirit of a video game. Books cannot stop you from reading it. Video games can, and will fight you every step of the way to the end, because that is the point. Some challenges might even be too much for you, and will defeat you. To progress, you need to become more than you were at that point before to overcome that challenge. Teaching humans that seemingly overwhelming obstacles can be overcome, no matter how hard they seem or how long it takes, is an immeasurably valuable lesson. I don’t want my game to include as many people as possible by making it less challenging or make it play itself. Rather, I want people to include themselves in the “cool kids club that beat the impossible game” through their own achievements. Too bad for the losers… but they can become winners if they work hard enough. It’s a video game anyway, how hard can it be? It’s not Rocket Science!
There won’t be a Casual mode in my game. Probably, this will turn-off a significant portion of potential buyers. Too bad. Assuredly, this will reduce the proportion of people that will finish the game. Also too bad. This is not my objective. I wish to capture something of the true essence of the mechanics, and mold it into new and hopefully good video game.
Average Bear's GameDev 