#56: I cheat in video games

I cheat in video games, and I would do it again. Elden Ring on easy mode is the only way I can enjoy the game.

Good morning!

The Steam Summer Sale is in full force. As always, Chris looked at the best deals under $10 for Steam Deck.

There are some great titles, like The Witcher 3 for $4 and Celeste for $2.

…and with that, let's get to this week's newsletter.

I've been feeling better since last week, but I still had a few days of sick leave at the beginning of the week. I finally used the time to dig into Elden Ring. It was my first Soulslike, and it took about one hour until I stopped that playthrough, as I found the game too frustrating.

I know that part of Soulslike games is to "git gud" and then celebrate when you finally topple the enemy that killed you over and over and over (and over) again. But since I was sicker than a dog and just wanted to unwind (I play games to relax, after all, not to punish myself), I decided that Elden Ring was not for me in its current state.

Which is when I resorted to cheating. The thing is, I really like significant parts of Elden Ring: the world setting, the hidden (although sometimes a bit too hidden) storytelling, and the character and boss designs are all totally up my alley. But I just can't be bothered dying to the same freaking enemy 20x over because I pressed "B" on my controller a split-second too late!

So, I decided to cheat using the following mod. It basically enables easy mode by reducing enemy damage by 50%, enhancing the player's hit radius, and more. There are several versions of the mod, and I chose the "Personal Edit" version, which "enhances" many more aspects of the game. (If you want to try your hands on this mod, too, you HAVE to install the anti-cheat toggler. Also, never play the game online with that mod running. It might get you banned!)

Some might consider this cheating and ruining the spirit of the game. This might be the case, but I honestly couldn't be bothered. I know this is an age-old discussion, technically, since From Software publishes games, but I like to enjoy my games my way. This also isn't the first time I cheated in a game: the first thing I do in every Skyrim playthrough is to set the Smithing skill to 100 and the carry weight limit to 9999 (I'm a hoarder in RPGs!). I even have WeMod installed on my PC and wrote a guide on using cheats on Steam Deck.

After Elden Ring, I plan to tackle Sekiro and Lies of P (both games are currently on sale) and have already installed the respective "easy mode" mods.

So, yes rosebud. I cheat in videogames and will do it again, and I think you should, too. Except in online games. NEVER EVER cheat in online games.

In other news

You can get the LCD Steam Deck for 15% off during the Steam Summer Sale.
Epic Games has submitted their Epic Games Store for iOS and Fortnite to Apple. Apple now needs to notarize both so that Epic can launch the store and release Fortnite in the EU.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has shared that we're getting a few Assassin's Creed remakes, including a Black Flag remake. I'd argue we also need a remake for Unity. YouTube regularly recommends videos of people being absolute bosses in Unity, so I hope a remake can finally do justice to the game.
Anbernic has been keeping busy and has announced yet another handheld, the RG40XX H (what a name).
Hades II is still in early access, but it recently received a significant update that affected nearly every part of the game.
Valve added a new website to Steam that lists the top 100 games played on Steam Deck. And number 1 this week is, you guessed it, Elden Ring.
A recent leak suggests we can soon launch games in Nvidia GeForce Now directly in the Xbox app. I'm unsure if this is a PC-only feature, but it might also come to consoles.
Okay, this is technically not related to videogames, but it's still a game (and there's a digital version), and I make the rules here! We're getting a new Foundation set in Magic: The Gathering.
I received the AYANEO Pocket S. If you have any questions, send them my way!
And for some meta-news: We are done with the design work on the overkill redesign. Now, it's up to the developer to work on the theme.