We had an interesting discussion on the discord about “hand holding” in video games. To describe a game as “hand holding” is 99% of the time a pejorative when I see it. So my question is 1) what constitutes “hand holding” and where would you say the line is? Is there “good” hand holding or is it always a bad thing akin to babying or not respecting the player? Always love good examples but mostly just curious what people think here.

  • BolexForSoup@kbin.socialOP
    1·
    1 year ago

    And there are absolutely games that aren’t handholdy enough, too - where players are just thrown in at the deep end without any explanation for what’s going on or how to play.

    Yeah I think this is where things get interesting. Some folks really relish that experience. They want to get angry/confused/frustrated/etc. because the “high” they get when they solve it is largely fueled by the contrast. In music you can often feel that effect when something loud, even rancorous and dissonant, suddenly crescendos into an incredibly clean melody or even silence. There’s this relief from the tension that just feels distinct and wonderful.