Lol what? Every Dark Souls game has an area that is similar to Blighttown in challenge and annoyance. There was very little in the way of iteration and refinement actually lol, and most people I've seen consider Demon's and Dark Souls 1 to be the best games in the series. Games like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are steeped in "archaic mechanics" and is unwelcoming by design, and people loved them anyway. They're niche gems that became successful through cult followings and massive word of mouth.
And it's not "shrugging off criticism" it's acknowledging the fact that we're never going to agree and don't want M&M to become another soulless modern MMO that sacrifices world building and community for ease and convenience. It's odd that wanting to allow something to be unique in the genre, at least in 2025, is so offensive to you.
Ah yes, the "Original Souls games are archaic too, therefore MnM is fine" defense. The equivalent of saying "my car doesn't need brakes because horses never had them." You're conflating
intentional friction designed to serve a gameplay loop with outdated systems that exist purely because nobody's bothered to replace them.
Every bit of punishment in a Souls title reinforces its design loop: you screw up, you learn, you get better. It's not just tedium for tedium's sake. MnM's version of "difficulty" is standing around watching your auto attack swing once every three seconds while praying someone else logs in before you die of boredom.
And let's kill this revisionist take while we’re at it: FromSoft absolutely iterated. Every title since Demon's Souls refined core systems - smoother animation timing, better checkpointing, streamlined build management, quality-of-life tweaks that respected player time without neutering challenge. DS3 streamlined movement, Elden Ring made exploration amazing, QoL crept in without gutting the soul. That's the point. They evolved the formula without diluting it. MnM's defenders seem allergic to that idea, as if iteration itself is a moral failing.
The "we’re just being unique" line is another tired deflection. Making something deliberately inconvenient isn't "visionary." There's a huge difference between rejecting corporate polish and rejecting progress. If your entire identity as a game is built around not doing what works, that's not "soul," it's stubbornness.
"Wah, you’re just offended that something’s unique." No, champ, I'm offended by bad design hiding behind nostalgia cosplay. There's a world of difference between rejecting handholding and rejecting basic flow and cohesion. Making your game a chore doesn't make it deep, it just makes it empty. A world can be beautiful and handcrafted all day long, but if the systems surrounding it are allergic to modernity, it'll still die on the vine. Souls games earned their cult status by pairing depth with design intent. MnM, so far, is just hoping nostalgia will do
all the heavy lifting.
I think this is a fair criticism but I also think that it's not applicable to every system in M&M with friction attached to it. Let's take a look at the lack of a compass, for example. In M&M, I'd say great care has been taken in order to support the removal of the compass via astrological systems (positioning of the sun and certain stars) and clear landmarks that can be viewed beyond the boundaries of a zone that typically align with cardinal directions (for example, if I exit Night Harbor through the west gate, go through all of Shaded Dunes and high into Fallen Pass, I know I'm facing east if I can see the huge dome of the Night Harbor palace in the distance).
While I agree that some of the frictioned systems are unfinished and unpolished, I do think that some of them have some intentional design attached to them that enhances the play experience.
That's a fair take, and I agree that some of the friction in M&M
could have purpose behind it - the compass example being one of the few that actually feels like it's been thought through a bit and given some intentionality. When visual landmarks or celestial positioning are used intentionally, it does build a sense of place and self-orientation that's rare in modern MMOs. I'll give credit where it's due there.
The problem is that this kind of deliberate design feels like the
exception, not the rule. A handful of clever systems don't change the fact that most of MnM's friction currently feels more like omission than intention. The compass example works because the world design supports it. But that same level of design clarity doesn't seem to extend to a lot of other mechanics that just add delay or opacity without giving anything meaningful back.
In short, yeah, friction can enhance immersion, if it's supported by equally thoughtful worldbuilding and feedback loops. But M&M keeps leaning on "old-school" as a justification for everything, even when the friction isn't in service of anything but inconvenience.
